Marlowe (1969)

Arrow Films are releasing director Paul Bogart, writer Stirling Silliphant and actor James Garner’s interpretation of Raymond Chandler’s classic detective, updating him to a contemporary (for 1969) setting on Blu-ray. 

Private investigator Philip Marlowe (James Garner) is employed by Orfamay Quest (Sharon Farrell) to find her brother Orrin (Roger Newman). Orrin has disappeared after taking some compromising photographs of top rated sitcom star Mavis Wald (Gayle Hunnicut) in a clinch with gang boss Sonny Steelgrave (H M Wynant). 

The last two people to see Orrin end up murdered with ice picks in their necks, Marlowe is warned to leave the case alone by the promise of a thousand dollars if he does and a serious kicking by Bruce Lee if he doesn’t. The police gets involved, as does Mavis’ exotic dance friend Dolores (Rita Moreno), and as things get even more complicated it becomes obvious to Marlowe that someone, and perhaps everyone, is lying. 

MARLOWE does as good a job at setting Chandler’s private eye in late 1960s LA as Robert Altman’s THE LONG GOODBYE would just a few years later, and James Garner makes for just as good a Marlowe, albeit rather less rumpled. As is often the case with this kind of plot that contains numerous people either being economical with the truth, telling outright lies, or being involved in multiple double crosses, you have to pay close attention to what’s going on, especially the dialogue, at all times. MARLOWE doesn’t waste a minute of its running time with the result that it’s an extremely satisfying example of its type.

Apart from a trailer and image gallery there’s only one extra but it’s a good one, as Howard S Berger goes large on the Marlowe character, beginning with his literary origins and moving through his screen incarnations. What Berger also does, though, is pull in some interesting, and very personal observations and comparisons between Marlowe through the ages and other popular characters in movies at the time, all the way from the Hope and Crosby Road pictures, through Paul Newman’s HARPER to James Bond (in many of his incarnations) and beyond. 

It runs 51 minutes but the time flies by and this is a fascinating piece that will be all the more valuable and informative to those who aren’t perhaps as familiar with the periods in cinema history Berger discusses as some of us are. Arrow’s limited edition Blu-ray also comes with a booklet featuring new writing from Jeff Chang and Priscilla Page, plus a reversible sleeve.

MARLOWE is out on Blu-ray from Arrow on Monday 8th June 2026

Affection (2026)

 

Blue Finch are releasing writer-director B T Meza’s AFFECTION on Digital platforms. It’s a film you can’t say too much about in reviews for fear of spoilers, but let’s take a look at the setup.

Ellie (Jessica Rothe from the HAPPY DEATH DAY movies) wakes up one morning to find herself married to someone she doesn’t recognise and with a daughter she doesn’t know. In fact she’s convinced she has a son and that, in fact, she has a completely different name from the one her husband Bruce (Joseph Cross) says she does. 

But Ellie has other problems, too. Bruce tells her she suffers from a rare neurological condition that involves seizures causing her brain to ‘reset’, and that she has been prescribed complete isolation in order for her to rehabilitate. Of course that’s not what’s going on at all but to say any more would be to spoilt it. 

Seasoned viewers of Hammer psycho thrillers, LES DIABOLIQUES ripoffs and all kinds of classic television (including at least one episode of The Avengers) will be wondering which variation on a well-worn plot AFFECTION is going to use. So be assured it doesn’t use any of them and begins its second act with some very strange stuff indeed that will have you wondering where it's all going. 

The leads performances are good, with Rothe giving another likeable and sympathetic performance, and while AFFECTION is essentially “a couple of people on a farm with a kid” it transcends this setting to become something quite original. Here’s the trailer:

AFFECTION is out on digital platforms from Blue Finch Releasing on Monday 8th June 2026

Kraken (2026)

“What’s That Coming Out of the Fjord?”

Actually you can probably guess, going by the title of this one. New Norwegian monster movie KRAKEN is getting a digital release from Signature Entertainment.

In Norway’s deepest fjord, with a maximum depth of 1300 metres, a salmon farm is using a revolutionary new sonic delousing device to rid its fish of unwanted parasites. But strange things are happening. Fish are throwing themselves onto the beach, crabs are leaving the water in a mass exodus and, as the film opens, two jet-skiers are pulled under the water by something huge.

Marine scientist Johanne (Sara Khorami) helped design the device and, now working for the environment, is called into find out what might be going on. She finds herself faced with a Norwegian salmon company keen to sign a massive deal with the Japanese and the discovery of some large bioluminescent parasites the size of dinner plates that suggest their host is colossal, while all the time the bodies are piling up.

KRAKEN doesn’t do anything especially new. In fact it’s derivative and cliched but it embraces those cliches in a setting we don’t see very often in monster pictures. It takes a while to get going, and the pacing is a little off as the film reaches its climax, but those who are old enough can think of this as a similar to a 1970s-era Dr Who six parter where all the action happens in episode five. Budgetary constraints mean we don’t get to see a lot of the titular monster (but you do see it, for those who might be worried) and while there’s some necessary reliance on CGI there could have been a lot more, and the Norwegian locations frequently look refreshingly green-screen free. Not a bad time at all if you’re looking for a new monster movie to watch. Here’s the trailer:

KRAKEN is out on Digital HD from Signature Entertainment on Monday 1st June 2026

The Cars That Ate Paris 4K (1974) and The Plumber (1979)

“Impressive Package of Early Peter Weir Works”

The BFI are releasing, in a limited edition two disc set, with either one 4K UHD disc and one Blu-ray or two Blu-rays depending on your preference, director Peter Weir’s first feature film, along with his later THE PLUMBER (1979) featured on the second disc.

Disc One: The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

The residents of the small Australian town of Paris have developed a novel way of sustaining their town: they set traps for people driving past so that they crash. The townsfolk strip the cars and, depending on their mental capacity after the accident, the victims are either absorbed into the community or become fodder for the local doctor’s brain surgery experiments, with most of them ending up as long-term psychiatric patients on Bellevue Ward at the Paris hospital. Arthur (Terry Camileri) is ‘lucky’ enough to be forced into joining a community where the bizarre annual local ball and the frustrations of the local youth in their souped-up salvaged cars are all going to collide.

THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS is a strange film that’s difficult to categorise. Featured in Philip Strick’s book Science Fiction Movies it isn’t SF really, unless you imagine we are seeing the behaviour of a small town just a few years into the future. Indeed, you can see a young George Miller relishing the mad vehicles and car crashes and saying “See? THAT is what I want for MAD MAX”.

It’s not really a horror film either, although it certainly has horror elements and that is how its director describes it in the extras. However, it’s also easy to see Peter Weir’s Monty Python-style group TV origins as well, and sometimes the film feels a little like a bizarre French black comedy (perhaps the name Paris isn’t so random after all). Castwise there will be some familiar faces for film fans including John Meillon from CROCODILE DUNDEE as the town mayor who runs everything, Bruce Spence from MAD MAX 2 and a hundred other highly recognisable character roles as one of the locals and Kevin Miles, veteran of literally hundreds of episodes of Australian television, as the doctor. 

Extras include a commentary track by Australian film expert Dr Stephen Morgan who, amongst other things, helpfully contextualises the film in relation to the state of small Australian towns at the time. Morgan also contributes an essay to  the accompanying booklet. There are two Weir-directed short films: 3 to Go: Michael is a 31 minute 1970 black and white piece commenting on contemporary youth, whereas Incredible Floridas is a 12 minute 1972 documentary short (12 minutes) about the avant composer Richard Meale and his piece of music which was inspired by the writings of poet Arthur Rimbaud.

There is a new interview with star Terry Camilleri (21 minutes), and archival ones with producer Hal McElroy (6 minutes), a 2003 interview with Weir about the film (11 minutes) and a longer career-length Guardian interview from 1985 which runs 70 minutes and is provided as an extra commentary track. There’s also a 15 minute video essay about the film from Chris O’Neill and the usual image gallery and trailer.

Disc Two: The Plumber (1979)

While her husband Brian (Robert Coleby from The Young Doctors and Chopper Squad) is busy engaged in medical research at the university, Jill Cowper (Judy Morris who also co-wrote the animated penguin movie HAPPY FEET) stays in their campus accommodation studying for her masters degree in anthropology. Her peaceful days are interrupted by Max the plumber (Iver Kants) who proceeds to turn the family bathroom, and thereafter her life, completely upside down, and not in a comedy way. Eventually things get so bad that Jill has to resort to desperate measures to get rid of a man who may be simply a ‘harmless character’ or a gaslighting maniac.

THE PLUMBER feels like an Australian take on the works of British writer Alan Ayckbourn, taking what initially seems to be a simple domestic situation and quickly escalating it to unbearable intensity. Weir keeps everything tight and at 77 minutes the tension never drops. It’s a fascinating well-made and well acted piece that Weir made after his classic THE LAST WAVE (1977).

Extras on disc two include a chatty commentary between Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson, an eight minute interview with Weir about the film from 2008 and, perhaps most interesting of all, Peter Weir’s Dream Within a Dream, a 19 minute installation piece that uses alternate takes and unused footage from his classic PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK alongside a new narration Weird recorded for it. Some of the footage looks a little rough but this is still essential viewing for PICNIC obsessives and a very nice addition to what is a very well put together set of early Weir works. Finally the set also comes with a booklet which features writing on both films as well as a Weir interview. 

Peter Weir’s THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS in 4K and THE PLUMBER in 1080p are being released by the BFI in a limited edition two disc set (one UHD & one Blu-ray or two Blu-rays), as well as on Apple TV and Amazon Prime on Monday 25th May 2026

Insomnia 4K (1997)

Second Sight are giving their extra special treatment to director and co-writer Erik Skjoldbjaerg’s Nordic Noir thriller starring Stellan Skarsgård, and which was remade a few years later by Christopher Nolan with Al Pacino in the lead.

Police officers Jonas Engström (Skarsgård) and Eric Vik (Sverre Anker Ousdal) come to the north of Norway to investigate the murder of a 17 year old girl. Engström is considered brilliant but a cloud hangs over him because of his sexual relationship with a witness in a previous case. A trap is set for the killer but it goes wrong and Engström mistakenly shoots Vik dead. His seniors believe the killer did it but a full investigation is ordered, meaning that as well as catching the girl’s killer, Engström now has to cover up his involvement in Vik’s killing as well.

A dog dies as part of Engström’s cover up. I’ll put that up there now because I know there are people out there who will want to know. In the Nolan version Pacino’s character comes across a dead dog but here Skjoldbjaerg is keen to blur the line between cop and criminal with Skarsgård’s performance, and while Engström is good at getting the job done he’s also ruthless, self-serving, and inappropriate with some of his female acquaintances. INSOMNIA is a cold, very blue (literally) film and if you’re a fan of Nordic Noir and haven’t seen this you’ll definitely want to add it to your list.

Second Sight’s 4K UHD / Blu-ray limited edition combo set comes with a commentary from Erik Skjoldbjaerg and co-writer Nikolaj Frobenius (in English, in case you were wondering) which is scene-specific. Other extras include interviews with Skjoldbjaerg (29 minutes), and producer Petter J Borgli (who explains why their names aren’t on the US version, 10 minutes). Alexandra Heller-Nicholas provides a 12 minute video essay analysis of the film, and there are three Skjoldbjaerg short films: Spor (17 minutes), Close to Home (31 minutes and made while the director was in the UK) and Near Winter (34 minutes).

The limited edition also comes with a 120 page book with new essays, six art cards and a rigid slipcase to keep it all in.

Eric Skjoldbjaerg’s INSOMNIA is out from Second Sight in a limited edition 4K UHD / Blu-ray set as well as standard edition separate UHD and Blu-ray releases on Monday 25th May 2026

The Devil’s Candy 4K (2015)

Writer-director Sean Byrne’s THE DEVIL’S CANDY, the film he made in between THE LOVED ONES (2009) and DANGEROUS ANIMALS (2025), is getting the special treatment from Second Sight with another of their limited edition 4K UHD / Blu-ray combo releases complete with art cards, 120 page book and slipcase, as well as getting standard separate 4K UHD and Blu-ray releases.

Extremely metal artist Jesse (Ethan Embry) moves with his equally heavy metal-loving teenaged daughter Zooey (Kiara Glasco) and his not quite as heavy metal-loving wife Astrid (Shiri Appleby from TV’s Roswell) to a big old farmhouse in the country. They get it cheap because two people died there, but who they really need to be concerned about is the still-living son of the family, Ray (Pruitt Taylor Vince), now holed up in a motel but still affected by a voice in his head that keeps telling him to abduct Zooey.

Meanwhile Ethan’s wall-sized art is progressing well, even if it isn’t the butterflies a bank has commissioned him for and is instead a hellscape filled with the heads of screaming children. Ethan frequently loses track of time, failing to pick his daughter up from school in the process, and it’s on one of those occasions that Ray is able to grab her.

THE DEVIL’S CANDY runs a sweet 79 minutes and leaves you with enough to think about as to what is actually going on, how much it has to do with the house itself that Ethan has moved into, and whether or not it will continue after the film is over. Byrne cleverly manages a fine, claustrophobic atmosphere even with the frequent use of wide shots, and Ethan’s artwork is a delicious confection of horrors in itself.

Second Sight’s 4K release comes with a Sean Byrne commentary and there are new interviews with Byrne (33 minutes), Embry (20 minutes), cinematographer Simon Chapman (25 minutes), editor Andy Canny (23 minutes) and production designer Thomas S Hammock (16 minutes), giving us nearly two hours’ worth of interviews in all. There’s also a short piece on the VFX work (3 minutes) and two Sean Byrne short films. Of most interest to horror fans will be Advantage Satan (11 minutes) about a couple trapped in a tennis court at night, and you also get Work? (11 minutes) which is about a sex worker. 

Sean Byrne’s THE DEVIL’S CANDY is out from Second Sight in a limited edition 4K UHD / Blu-ray set as well as standard edition separate UHD and Blu-ray releases on Monday 25th May 2026