Wrack and Ruin: The Rubble Film at DEFA (1946 - 1948)

Let's start with a couple of definitions. The 'Rubble' or 'Debris' film (from the German Trümmerfilm) is used to describe those films made by Germany immediately after the end of World War II. As their name implies, many of these feature bombed-out cities as their primary locations. DEFA stands for Deutsche-Film-Aktiengesellschaft. It was East Germany's state-owned film studio, founded in post-war Germany and authorised to make movies inside the Soviet occupation zone and overseen by the Soviet Military Administration. One of its main aims was to aid in the denazification of Germany. Eureka are now releasing five of DEFA's films in a box set with extras, so let's take a look at what we get:

Disc One

The Murderers are Among Us (1946)

The first-ever rubble film tells the story of Susanne (Hildegard Knef) who returns from a concentration camp to her Berlin apartment only to find a stranger living there. This is Han Mertens (Wilhem Borchert), a surgeon, who is carrying with him a terrible secret from the war, one which comes back to haunt him when he realises the commanding officer of the concentration camp in which he served is still alive. 

From the opening shot it's obvious that, as well as being well-made, THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US plans to pull no punches depicting the degree of devastation wrought by the bombing of Berlin. Director (and writer) Wolfgang Staudte manages some impressive camera setups (eg from on top of an overloaded train entering Berlin) and overall this is an excellent  film with a lot to say while also telling an engrossing story. 

Extras on disc one include a commentary track from Sergio Angelini which is very helpful if you've not encountered the rubble films before. From the Rubble is a 28 minute piece from Claire Knight about the founding of DEFA, Rebuilding Berlin is a 23 minute documentary from 1946 and to finish off there's newsreel footage from The Eyewitness from 1946 that includes material about the shooting of the film.

Disc Two

Somewhere in Berlin (1946)

The children (which basically means boys) who play on the rubble heaps are the main subject of this one, plus the adults they come into contact with. These include thief Waldemar (Fritz Rasp who would later appear in several Rialto Film Edgar Wallace krimis), a local artist, and a man who sells them stolen fireworks in exchange for food. When little Gustav's father returns from the war it signifies a change for all his family. 

The depiction of ordinary people taking advantage of the post-war situation must have been pretty unflinching for the period, and while that side of things is dealt with seriously, the film finishes with a note of tremendous optimism, suggesting Berlin will be rebuilt by its people, but it perhaps doesn't quite gel with what we've seen before.

Police Raid (1947)

A complete change of pace as we get a film that feels a lot more like the noir gangster pictures Hollywood was turning out at the time. Inspector Naumann (Paul Bildt) is determined to crack an organisation of black marketeers based at the Ali Baba club. A raid goes wrong and it turns out one of his men is an informant. The case is closed but Naumann carries on investigations on his own, with disastrous consequences.

Director Werner Klingler would go on to make 1962's THE TERROR OF DR MABUSE for Artur Brauner and here he demonstrates a keen ability for the police procedural, opening the film with scenes of crowds milling close to bombed out landmarks and contrasting these with the slick environs of the nightclub and those who profit from it.

Extras in disc two include commentary tracks on SOMEWHERE IN BERLIN from Elizabeth Ward and POLICE RAID by Sergio Angelini. Crimewave is a 20 minute visual essay by Sebastian Heiduschke which looks at plenty of imagery from the film. Rebuilding Potsdam is a 30 minute archival documentary from 1946 and we get another issue of The Eyewitness newsreel from 1946

Disc Three

Marriage in the Shadows (1947)

A change of pace again for this tale that begins in 1933. Elisabeth Maurer (Ilse Steppat) is a famous actress. Unfortunately she's Jewish and Nazism is on the rise. She marries fellow actor, the non-Jewish Hans (Paul Klinger) but their marriage is doomed to end in tragedy.

MARRIAGE IN THE SHADOWS is a remarkable film with a gut punch of an ending. Much of the dialogue in the earlier scenes will be terrifyingly prescient of events today as the proponents of Nazism face off against the more rational and tolerant. It's loosely based on the true story of the fate of the German actor Joachim Gottschalk and with its theatrical background the early scenes are reminiscent of some of the UK's output of the period.

The Blum Affair (1948)

Another film based on a true story, and another 'period piece' (it's set in 1926, during the Weimar republic). Dr Jakob Blum (Kurt Ehrhardt) is a Jewish industrialist who is accused of murdering his accountant, Wilhelm Platzer (Arno Paulsen). The actual murderer is a thief, Karlheinz Gabler (Hans Christian Blech) who is encouraged by the authorities to accuse Blum because Blum is a member of the current opposing political party. The courtroom drama that then ensues is riveting.

Again, like MARRIAGE IN THE SHADOWS, THE BLUM AFFAIR does a good job of contextualising the historical period in which its story takes place. Unemployment is high, people are desperate for work, and an advertisement for the position of a cashier in a remote bank is how Gabler goes about his crime. 

Extras on disc three include commentaries on MARRIAGE IN THE SHADOWS (by Sean Allan) and THE BLUM AFFAIR (by Rolland Man, written by David Melville Wingrove). Confronting the Past is 25 minutes from Sue Vice on DEFA and the Holocaust and there's a 37 minute archival documentary on 'Death Camp Sachsenhausen' with a warning at the beginning regarding its content that some may need to take heed of. There's also another issue of The Eyewitness, this time from 1947.

Finally, the set comes with a 60 page book featuring new writing on the films and a hardcase to keep everything in. This is a fascinating, educational and important set of films and full marks to Eureka for bringing them to a much wider audience in such an excellent package. 

Wrack and Ruin: The Rubble Film at DEFA is out from Eureka Entertainment in a three disc Blu-ray set on Monday 15th September 2025

The Man in Black (1950)

"All Rather Good Fun"

Hammer's latest posh 4K UHD and Blu-ray combo release is THE MAN IN BLACK, a crime thriller that will be of interest to anyone who loves the studio's later output (quite a lot of people), as well as enthusiasts of B movie big screen adaptations of radio properties (a rather smaller group of people).

The titular Man is 'our storyteller' (as he was on the radio show of the period) who, in the unmistakeable tones of Valentine Dyall (for an entire generation) introduces us to the characters and sets up for the story we are about to see, and which is to be told in flashback.

When rich yoga enthusiast Henry Clavering (Carry On's Sid James in one of the least typical roles of his career) dies, his evil new wife (Betty Ann Davies) and her equally evil daughter Janice (Sheila Burrell) conspire to drive Henry's daughter Joan (Hazel Penwarden) insane with the aid of 'opportunist' lounge lizard and frequent raider of the drinks cabinet Victor (Anthony Forwood). 

And why not? After all, Joan has just inherited Oakley Court (which fans will spot straight away) and pretty much all of her father's assets. However, when Victor seemingly kills the family manservant and in doing so discovers Henry's coffin to be empty, after which Victor himself disappears, what actually is going on?

A highly entertaining thriller in the vein of Hammer's later Jimmy Sangster written and produced pieces like TASTE OF FEAR (1961) or many of the British Merton Park Edgar Wallace adaptations of the early 1960s, THE MAN IN BLACK feels rather more 'Hammer' than their other recent 4K release BLOOD ORANGE. The settings are atmospheric, engendering a pleasing atmosphere of gothic lunacy, and Davies and Burrell are frequently electrifying as the scheming mother and sister.

Extras kick off with two new commentary tracks which do compliment each other although there's inevitably some repetition. The one with Will Fowler and Melanie Williams is slightly more formal whereas Paul Cornell and Lizbeth Miles' one is a little bit more chatty, plus Paul is the one who points out the framed photo of Jimmy Sangster on Janice's dresser so extra points for that.

There's a 28 minute piece on John Dickson Carr, the crime novelist who didn't write this one but was responsible for a lot of similar material that made it onto radio at the time. Panic Stations is an excellent 25 minutes on the history of post war genre radio that looks at both the US and UK output and how changes were sometimes made to the same material for broadcast on either side of the Atlantic.

Vic Pratt and Jonathan Rigby guide us expertly through Valentine Dyall's career in a 22 minute piece and there's a 20 minute excerpt from an audio interview with director Francis Searle from 1988. As well as the usual bits and pieces (image gallery and censor card) there are a few curious items. YOGA AND YOU is a 26 minute short film that begins with the promise of being a 'nudie cutie' but quickly turns into a serious look at yoga. Then there are three radio episodes of the the show Suspense from 1943, all hosted by The Man in Black (played by different people), and all running 30 minutes consisting of The Devil's Saint (starring Peter Lorre), The Customers Like Murder and Cabin B-13.

Finally, the package comes with a book featuring a decent amount of material including a making of, the radio show, the careers of Sid James, (in this case screenwriter) John Gilling and Anthony Hinds plus a tour of Oakley Court. Who would ever have thought a modest little B picture like THE MAN IN BLACK would be afforded such lavish treatment? And you know what? It's all quite excellent and, if you love this stuff, worth the investment of your time and money. 

Hammer's THE MAN IN BLACK is out from Hammer on Monday 8th September 2025 in a limited edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray package with all the trimmings

Deadstream (2022)

"Excellent Found Footage Horror Comedy"

It might be the best, actually, although admittedly there aren't many of them out there. After enjoying great success on the festival circuit (including Frightfest 2022) followed by a streaming release on Shudder, the writing and directing team of husband and wife Joseph and Vanessa Winter's DEADSTREAM is getting a Blu-ray release from Arrow.

Disgraced YouTuber Shawn Ruddy (Joseph Winters) made a name for himself performing daft and potentially dangerous stunts until one of them went wrong. Now he has a plan to win back not just viewers but sponsors as well: a live-streaming event in which he is going to explore an abandoned and quite possibly haunted house. In doing so his bumbling releases evil spirits and it's not long into the livestream that things start to take a turn for the sinister.

That rarest of beasts, DEADSTREAM is a comedy horror that's frequently very scary and very funny, often at the same time. It benefits greatly from a tremendous creepy setting, careful attention to detail on the part of the film-makers, and an EVIL DEAD 'throw anything and everything at its hapless central character' attitude. If that sounds like your kind of thing then you are going to love it.

Extras on Arrow's Blu-ray include an excellent commentary track from Winters and Winters as well as DP Jared Cook and co-star Melanie Stone, which goes to prove that good found footage horror is not a simple case of 'point the camera and wobble it a bit'. It also makes you want to watch the film again (you'll find out why) and that's no bad thing.

Other extras include the two minute, charming, To Hell and Back, a Winters short film from 2019, a tiny intro 'Just for you in the UK' and four deleted and four extended scenes. There are eight featurettes on the makeup effects (14 minutes), on set (12 minutes), test footage (17 minutes), cameras and lighting (11 minutes), sound design (20 minutes), out-takes (4 minutes), and two short pieces on real-life scary stories related to the location (10 minutes in all). There's also loads of cam footage. The set also comes with a booklet featuring new writing on the film and a reversible sleeve.

DEADSTREAM is out on Blu-ray from Arrow Films on Monday 1st September 2025

Lost in Space 4K (1998)

 

Arrow Films are releasing New Line Cinema's big budget movie version of the classic Irwin Allen TV show in a 4K restoration supervised by director Stephen Hopkins (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 5, PREDATOR 2, THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS) with a batch of newly filmed extras as well as plenty of archival material.

Originally conceived in TV land as The Swiss Family Robinson in space, the film spends the first half an hour of its running time setting up the characters of the Robinson family, consisting of father William Hurt, mother Mimi Rodgers, older daughter Heather Graham, younger daughter Lacey Chabert and young son Jack Johnson. Pilot Matt LeBlanc is going to fly them all across the solar system so they can set up a stargate to allow a dying earth's inhabitants to migrate to another planet. However, they reckon without saboteur Gary Oldman who causes the ship to end up lost in another part of the universe where they encounter a species of nasty spiders, crash their ship, and try to get back home. 

For a film based on a colourful TV show that tended towards having a 'daft thing happening of the week' (often a monster) this version of LOST IN SPACE is by turns drab, slow and frustratingly low on monsters, thrills and all the elements one assumes its core audience would have been looking for. However if you want to see Hurt and Rogers talking at length while they make a bed on their flying saucer, or LeBlanc's sub 1970s James Bond attempts to chat up Graham then you've come to the right place. 

The screenplay is courtesy of the notorious Akiva Goldsman, whom SFX magazine once dedicated an article to concerning the number of criticisms, hate mail and death threats the writer had received during this period for his services to truly terrible movie science fiction. His work is in evidence here from the very start with a clunky expository voice over followed by a lot of flashy crashing about accompanied by 'heroic' dialogue that would embarrass a ten year old. 

Someone at Arrow does, however, deserve a huge pat on the back for the wealth of new extras that have been put together for this release and if you're a fan of LOST IN SPACE 1998 you are going to love it. New interviews include director Stephen Hopkins (21 minutes), DP Peter Levy (17 minutes), Goldsman (18 minutes), art director Keith Pain (32 minutes), and Kenny Wilson of Jim Henson's Creature Shop (7 minutes), while critic Matt Donato provides an 18 minute video essay praising the film.

Archival extras include two commentary tracks (Goldsman and Hopkins on one, other key crew members on the other), 11 minutes of deleted scenes, 16 minutes on the special effects, 10 minutes on 'The Future of Space Travel' a 7 minute Q&A with the original TV cast, some of whom pop up in the film, two minutes of bloopers, a trailer and image galleries. There's also a booklet featuring new writing on the film. If you love LOST IN SPACE 1998 you are going to love Arrow's 4K package.

LOST IN SPACE is out from Arrow in a limited edition 4K UHD set on Monday 1st September 2025

Above the Knee (2025)

Amir (co-writer Freddy Singh) is obsessed with his left leg. Or rather, he's obsessed with having it removed, as he's convinced it's rotting and that he would be better off without it. On television he sees an interview with Rikke (Louise Waage Anda), a sufferer of Body Identity Dysmorphia, a condition in which individuals feel they should have been born blind despite being able to see (as in Rikke's case) or that they should be lacking a limb or other body part.

Having just gone back to work after being off sick due to what was thought to be a suicide attempt (but was actually a drunken attempt to saw his own leg off) Amir skives off to meet with Rikke and soon he's making plans to rid himself of his unwanted appendage, possibly with the unwitting assistance of his work colleague who likes rock climbing.

Directed and co-written by Viljar Bøe, who gave us Frightfest 2023's excellent twisted Inside No.9-style GOOD BOY, ABOVE THE KNEE offers us in Amir a central character whose life would actually be better if he could just be honest with his boss and his girlfriend and ask for help instead of fobbing them both off with excuses while indulging in time with Rikke. It's a concept that could easily have been played more for laughs but Boe keeps everything dead serious, offering a psychological drama  that will have you wondering where it's all leading.

Viljar Bøe's ABOVE THE KNEE screened at Frightfest in Discovery Screen 2 on Monday 25th August 2025. It's getting a Digital release from Blue Finch on Monday 8th September 2025