Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb 4K (1971)

One of Hammer’s more ambitious films that, like its contemporaries DEMONS OF THE MIND and HANDS OF THE RIPPER (both 1971), tried to do something a little different with what were by then well-worn themes, is getting a dual format 4K UHD and Blu-ray release from Studio Canal.

Valerie Leon is Margaret, daughter to Andrew Keir's Professor Fuchs, an egyptologist of distinctly dodgy inclination, who seems to have half a rebuilt tomb in the basement of his ordinary-looking suburban house, a whole load of Egyptian artefacts, and a number of colleagues who want nothing more to do with him after some escapade abroad many years ago, which culminated in their breaking into the tomb of Queen Tera (Leon again). Tera, by all accounts, was a pretty naughty piece of work (well, she was definitely pretty, and sadly we don't get to find out how naughty she was capable of being). What's far more worrying is that the professor seems to have some poorly researched and badly thought out plan that involves the life of his daughter and the supplanting of her existence by said evil queen on the occasion of her next birthday. 

Good old Hammer. Only at the height of their powers could they take a minor Bram Stoker novel, fill it with slashed throats, a crawling severed hand and a sexy leading lady, and just by accident produce an original and satisfying spin on the mummy theme that still works fifty five years on.

With a title that means nothing other than that James Carreras had learned to copy Tony Tenser's approach to titling films by reaching into a box of cards labelled with 'horror' words until the right combination came up, a director who died before filming finished, a star who left once filming had started, and a script by a writer who was both banned from the set and notorious for screenplays that were a bit difficult to make any sense of sometimes, it's a wonder that BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB is any good at all. What's more surprising than that is that it's actually well worth watching, and is easily the best (along with the 1959 THE MUMMY) of the films Hammer made that had a connection to ancient Egypt. It's rare that the fourth movie in any horror film cycle has anything to commend it, but following in the wake of CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB and THE MUMMY'S SHROUD this is surprisingly original, well directed, and being shot in what looks like the depths of winter only serves to heighten the creepy atmosphere that pervades the movie right up to that classic final shot.

The acting is fine throughout, with the usual collection of British character actors and eccentrics (Aubrey Morris take a bow you loveable weirdo, you) and Valerie Leon, having been used as decorative set dressing in a number of Carry Ons, getting the role that she was born to play. Hammer didn't always get their casting right but she is uncannily perfect for the roles of both Tera and Margaret. 

And uncanny is the work that best sums up BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB. This is Hammer unwittingly doing cosmic horror. Immense forces we cannot comprehend are being manoeuvred into position from an ordinary suburban house by people who have no real idea what they are setting in motion. It’s a setting and story worthy not just of Lovecraft but of more modern horror writers like Ramsey Campbell and, had Hammer lasted more than a few more years, represents a fascinating and potentially brilliant direction the company could have taken.

Studio Canal’s dual format set, like its other 4K Hammer releases, gives us some new material as well as consolidating archival extras from other releases. New to this disc is an interview with star Valerie Leon (9 minutes) and a talking head piece from Kim Newman (19 minutes). Archival extras consist of a Steve Haberman commentary, the making of featurette from Studio Canal’s previous Blu-ray release (18 minutes), and interviews with Leon & Wicking (10 minutes), sound recordist Tony Dawe (6 minutes) and camera operator Neil Binney (5 minutes). As well as behind the scenes and lobby card galleries and trailers you also get a 64 page book featuring new essays (including one by David Huckvale) and two posters.

BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB is out on 4K in a dual format UHD / Blu-ray release from Studio Canal on Monday 6th April 2026

Demons of the Mind 4K (1971)

        Getting a 4K UHD / Blu-ray release from Studio Canal, and a film that rarely finds itself on people’s lists of Top Ten Hammer films, DEMONS OF THE MIND is one of those curious, slightly overambitious projects Hammer made at a time when it seemed as if any producer with a completed script could get backing from the company. Its reach may well exceed its grasp, but that doesn’t stop DEMONS OF THE MIND from being one of Hammer’s more interesting films.

In his castle deep in the Hammerland countryside lives the Baron Zorn (Robert Hardy) with his two adult children Emil (Shane Briant) and Elizabeth (Gillian Hills). The Baron’s wife, a woman of peasant stock (or so we are told) committed suicide when the children were much younger. A strain of madness runs in the Zorn family and the Baron is terrified that it will be passed on to his children. Of further concern to him is the amorous interest they have begun to show in each other, with the result that he keeps them locked in their bedrooms and has Elizabeth bled regularly to keep her subdued. In an attempt to cure the family’s madness the Baron recruits the services of discredited charlatan psychiatrist Dr Falkenberg (Patrick Magee) who has some rather exotic theories about how best to treat insanity. 

While all this is going the local village is being terrorised by a killer who murders village girls and scatters rose petals over their bodies. A mad wandering priest (Michael Hordern) is convinced the girls’ disappearing is the work of the devil, and that the devil is currently resident at Zorn’s castle. Falkenberg solves the mystery of the killer as a mob of angry villagers descends on the estate looking for revenge.

The above plot summary makes DEMONS OF THE MIND seems less like a Hammer Film and more like something from the crazier side of EuroHorror. Indeed, one almost gets the feeling that if someone like Sergio Martino had been recruited to make a Hammer-style gothic, this is what he might have come up with. As it is Peter Sykes acquits himself admirably in the director’s chair and the flair evident in Sykes’ style is one of the reasons the film feels more progressive than much of Hammer’s output of the period.

What makes and breaks DEMONS OF THE MIND, however, is its script. Christopher Wicking does a splendid job of trying to do something a little bit different from Hammer’s usual gothic formula. There are some nice touches to the Baron’s backstory, especially the mention of bloodlust and ritual sacrifice of his ancestors that suggests that the Zorn psychological malady may at some time in the past have been thought to be vampirism or lyncanthropy, and the touches of cod psychiatry are neat and effective. Unfortunately it is also Wicking’s oblique narrative style that lets the film down, rendering much of what is going on confusing, a problem that plagued some of the other film projects he was involved with at that time. 

The second problem with the film is one of the performances. Both Shane Briant and Gillian Hills are very good in their portrayals of the tortured children and Patrick Magee towers over everyone with a skilful, layered performance as Dr Falkenberg, the quack who might be a genius (we never really get to decide which). Unfortunately Robert Hardy as Baron Zorn overbalances everything with a scenery-chewing eye-rolling performance that really needed reining in and quite possibly locking away in a box until it had calmed down. Hammer heroes are always pretty colourless specimens and Paul Jones puts in a likeable enough performance as the forgettable and ineffectual Carl the Medical Student.

Most of all, DEMONS OF THE MIND remains fascinating because of how everything turns out. It has to be one of the bleakest films Hammer ever made, with no happy ending for anyone as almost all the leads end up dead or insane by the end of the picture. In this respect it’s a little bit like Michael Reeves’ WITCHFINDER GENERAL, and Harry Robinson’s lush bittersweet music does much the same job as the Greensleeves-style portions of Paul Ferris’ score did for the Reeves picture.

Studio Canal’s 4K release has a new interview with actress Virginia Wetherell (14 minutes) and does a fine job of consolidating extras from previous releases. There are two commentary tracks, one from Steve Haberman and the other with Sykes, Wicking and Wetherell moderated by Jonathan Sothcott. There's also the making of featurette from the previous Studio Canal Blu-ray release (16 minutes), & an interview with camera operator Neil Binney (4 minutes). As well as behind the scenes and lobby card galleries you get a 64 page booklet featuring new writing on the film. 

Peter Sykes’ DEMONS OF THE MIND is on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Studio Canal on Monday 6th April 2026

The Day of the Locust (1975)

The film MIDNIGHT COWBOY director John Schlesinger made just before MARATHON MAN is getting a Blu-ray release from Arrow. Adapted by Waldo Salt (who also wrote the screenplays for MIDNIGHT COWBOY and SERPICO) from Nathanael West’s novel, it’s a film that lifts up the rock that is tinseltown to dispassionately examine the squirming creatures it finds beneath.

Hollywood, 1937 or thereabouts. Tod Hackett (William Atherton) gets a job at Paramount Pictures as a production illustrator. He gets on well with studio executive Claude Estee (Richard Dysart) and is soon moving up in the world, producing drawings for a production about the battle of Waterloo.

Meanwhile in his private life Tod is quickly becoming besotted with Faye (Karen Black) an extra who is happy to string Tod along while also entertaining the attentions of a number of other men including cowboy Earle (Bo Hopkins). Faye’s father Harry (Burgess Meredith) sells cleaning solvent door to door having failed to make the big time. Faye eventually moves in with bewildered accountant Homer Simpson (Donald Sutherland), but she soon leaves him, his resultant emotional trauma coinciding with the premiere of a new Cecil B DeMille movie leading to a climax of spectacularly grim and nightmarish proportions.

THE DAY OF THE LOCUST runs 144 minutes and in that time we meet hardly a single character who has any redeeming features. Instead they are all self-obsessed, unpleasant, lacking in empathy or morals and frequently just plain bizarre. The film has been likened to David Lynch’s later MULHOLLAND DRIVE and it’s easy to believe Lynch was influenced by many of the elements of this when he made his classic, from the place where Tod lives to the presence of a mysterious cowboy and the apparitions of strange screaming figures. Even so, the climax still comes out of left field and is not to be spoilt if you’ve never seen this. As well as the above, interesting faces amongst the cast include a very young Jackie Earle Haley as a disturbing child, and William Castle as the director of the Waterloo epic. The location used for his 1959 HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL puts in an appearance as well. 

Arrow’s Blu-ray features a 2K remaster from the original negative, with mono, lossless 5.1 and stereo 2.0 audio options. In 2004 the BBFC cuts scenes of cockfighting for the DVD release and it looks as if these have not been restored (which is of course unsurprising). 

Extras on the disc include a commentary track moderated by the late Lee Gambin that features an assembly of cast and crew members including costume designer Ann Roth, actors Grainger Hines and Pepe Serna, and title designer Dan Perri. Gambin returns for a visual essay on the film (25 minutes) and there’s another visual essay from costume and film historian Elissa Rose (18 minutes) which also features comments from costume designer Ann Roth, while critic Glenn Kenny provides an appreciation of the film (25 minutes). You also get behind the scenes galleries, radio spots, a reversible sleeve and a booklet featuring new writing on the film. 

John Schlesinger’s THE DAY OF THE LOCUST is out on Blu-ray from Arrow on Monday 6th April 2026

The Good Boy (2026)

“Top Notch Thriller ” 

Jeremy Thomas and Jerzy Skolimowski, both individuals with track records for making quality cinema, have their names at the front of this British-Polish co-production (once you have got past a staggering 13 logos) which is currently playing in selected UK cinemas from Signature Releasing. 

        If you're reading this in the US the film has been retitled HEEL to avoid understandable confusion with Shudder’s recent dog-starring ghost story movie. Indeed, the onscreen title on UK prints is GOOD BOY so presumably the ‘THE’ has been added here to try and help differentiate it as well. Whatever the title, it’s an excellent piece of cinema and well worth catching if you can.

Tommy (Anson Boon who played John Lydon in Danny Boyle’s PISTOL) is a monstrously awful 19 year old who spends his days bullying and stealing, and his nights living it up in a coke-fuelled haze. During one especially massive bender he’s kidnapped and wakes to find himself chained up in a cellar belonging to Christopher (Stephen Graham) and his wife Kathryn (Andrea Riseborough) who, it turns out, live in a remote country house with their son Jonathan (Kit Rakusen). 

It’s clear that Kathryn has undergone some previous trauma and there’s talk of a ‘Charlie’ who isn’t in the house any more. It’s never made clear who Charlie was, or indeed if Jonathan is their actual son or someone else they’ve kidnapped. Meanwhile Christopher takes the lead in ‘rehabilitating’ Tommy using various methods including playing the boy TikTok videos, Ludovico treatment-style, of his past crimes. Will the attempts at reforming Tommy work or will he escape and carry out the violent threats he keeps screaming at Christopher and his family?

THE GOOD BOY has a strong 1970s vibe, reminiscent of everything from Kubrick’s A CLOCKWORK ORANGE to Eloy De La Iglesia’s MURDER IN A  BLUE WORLD with a touch of Pete Walker’s HOUSE OF WHIPCORD for good measure. However as the film continues (and Tommy’s rehabilitation develops) fans of UK TV may also be reminded of the 2006 series LIFE ON MARS. 

        Even if you’ve not seen any of the above be assured that THE GOOD BOY is a fine thriller that will keep you guessing. As to the ending - I won’t say if it’s nihilistic or uplifting, because that’s for you to find out, and, like all the best EuroHorrors from back in the day, perhaps chat about in the car on the way home. Highly recommended and with excellent performances from all the leads. Here’s the trailer:

THE GOOD BOY is out in UK and Irish cinemas now from Signature Entertainment

Salem’s Lot 4K (1979)

“Excellent Tobe Hooper King Adaptation Still Holds Up”

Arrow are releasing a two disc set of Tobe Hooper’s 1979 TV adaptation of Stephen King’s SALEM’S LOT in 4K, with the original mini series on one disc and the feature film cut on the other, along with a bunch of extras.

Writer Ben Mears (David Soul) returns to his birthplace, the small town of Salem’s Lot, to research a new book and take inspiration from the old Marston House, a place with a grim reputation that always disturbed him as a boy. His arrival coincides with Straker (James Mason) making his preparations for the opening of a new antique shop to be run by himself and his mysterious business partner Kurt Barlow (Reggie Nalder) who is always absent. 

However, when two workmen are employed to bring a mysterious crate from the docks and install it in the Marston House it’s the signal for all manner of vampire mayhem to start infecting the town. Only Ben’s old schoolteacher Jason Burke (Lew Ayres, best known to horror fans as the one who succumbs to an icy fate in DAMIEN OMEN II) suspects the truth, and soon he is dead too, leaving Ben and a couple of other townsfolk fight the vampire menace that lurks in the Marston House. But the disease is spreading too rapidly and only the destruction of the fountainhead itself can possibly halt its progress.

The equivalent of what is now called ‘Water cooler TV’, everyone was talking about SALEM’S LOT back in the day, certainly on its first BBC1 screening. Most of the conversation was about eerie floating vampire children and it’s an effect that still holds up, thanks to a mixture of practical effects, contact lenses and grubby fangs, and the skill of Tobe Hooper’s direction. 

And yes, whoever thought of getting Tobe TEXAS CHAINSAW DEATH TRAP Hooper to direct this deserves plaudits themselves, as Hooper proves himself to be not just a master of restraint but a master at pushing the boundaries of what one could get away with in the notoriously restricting arena of American television. Several changes were made to the novel (in particular how Barlow was represented) and these are dealt with in the extras.

Arrow’s 4K set comes with two UHD discs. The first has the mini-series and gives you the option of watching it as TV intended, or as a single 183 minute piece with no recaps, etc. The two commentary tracks on here accompany that latter version. First is an archival commentary from Tobe Hooper who stays the course but there are a few gaps so if you’re wondering just keep listening and Tobe picks things up again. Far more chatty is the new commentary from the always excellent Amanda Reyes and Bill Ackerman. Disc one also has commercial bumpers, the US broadcast version of the ‘antlers death’ and the shooting script, which clocks in at an understandable whopping 197 pages. 

Disc two gives us the ‘Theatrical Cut’ which is 110 minutes long and has an enthusiastic Chris Alexander commentary to accompany it. We also get new interviews with King biographer (and well-known anthologist back in the day) Douglas E Winter (21 minutes), author Grady Hendrix (26 minutes) who gives an appreciation, and Mick Garris (13 minutes). Elijah Drenner provides an excellent concise piece on the filming locations (7 minutes), Heather Wixson gives us a video essay on the hero characters of SALEM’S LOT (9 minutes) and Joe Lipsett and Trace Thurmann provide a 20 minutes mini making of and analysis. You also get trailers and  an image gallery. Arrow’s limited edition set also comes with a booklet featuring new writing on the film, a double-sided poster, reversible sleeve and a Salem’s Lot sign sticker!

Tobe Hooper’s version of Stephen King’s SALEM’S LOT is out on 4K in a two disc UHD edition from Arrow on Monday 30th March 2026