Son of the White Mare (1979-1981)

There currently seems to be a resurgence of interest in animated fantasy features not intended for children, with THE SPINE OF NIGHT enjoying a recent festival run followed by streaming and Blu-ray releases, and the ultra-violent UNICORN WARS still currently receiving deservedly rave reviews on the festival circuit. 

       So it makes sense that older movies are being brought out of the vaults, dusted off, and given Blu-ray releases. One such example is Hungarian film-maker Marcell Jankovics' SON OF THE WHITE MARE, a feature-length animated film that took three years to make and which is now getting a Blu-ray release from Eureka.

The story is based on mythic folk tales, some of them Hungarian, and tells the story of Treeshaker, a man born of a horse, who has to defeat evil dragons that have taken over the world. He enlists the aid of his two brothers, Stonecrumbler and Ironrubber, and together they set off for the underworld. During their quest they encounter princesses to be rescued, an evil gnome, a griffin, and other mythical creatures.

The style of animation employed in SON OF THE WHITE MARE is possibly best described as 'trippy', as the stills used to illustrate this review hopefully demonstrate. Some may find the whole 86 minutes of its bright colours and swirling animation to be really quite the brain-frying experience. One imagines a unique film-maker like Panos Cosmatos (BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW, MANDY) being inspired by it, and if you love his films you'll definitely want to check this out. 

Extras include Jankovics' first feature Johnny Corncob (which runs 78 minutes and there's also a three minute making of on the disc), Sisyphus (2 mins), The Struggle (2 mins), and Dreams on Wings (an 8 minute ad for Air India). You also get a 33 minutes interview with Jankovics from 2020, and a 10 minute featurette on the director by the Hungarian Film Archive.

Marcell Jankovics' SON OF THE WHITE MARE is out on Blu-ray from Eureka on Monday 14th November 2022

Strangled (2016)

Good, grim, unsensational Hungarian psycho-thriller

After the entertaining KILLS ON WHEELS, Eureka strike again with another well-made, throughly engrossing piece of Hungarian cinema, this one with a decidedly grimmer theme.

Hungary - the mid 1960s. In the small provincial town of Martfu a serial killer is at large, raping, strangling and mutilating young women. The modus operandi seems to be the same as a similar case a few years previously, where the killer was apprehended amidst a media frenzy and sentenced to life imprisonment. Is this a copycat? Or was the wrong man convicted in the first place?

Based on true events, director Arpad Sopsits' film is frequently stylish without ever being sensationalist. The crimes are portrayed brutally, and the police procedural aspects documented dispassionately. Stripped right down, the plot could easily have been the basis for one of the typical flamboyant Italian examples of giallo cinema in the 1970s. If it had been made in England at that time, it would probably have been so sleazy and grim as to have been pretty much unwatchable.

Thankfully, STRANGLED is 21st century and Hungarian, and takes its subject matter seriously while never overdoing the grimness when it isn't necessary. The press release mentions Fritz Lang's M (1931) (couldn't really see that myself) and David Fincher's ZODIAC (now actually that's more like it) and certainly if you're a fan of Fincher's 'docudrama' then STRANGLED may be just the thing for you. 

Extras are pretty much non-existent but don't let that put you off. Eureka are doing valuable work here making some fine examples of modern overseas cinema available to UK audiences and STRANGLED makes another impressive addition to their library of titles. 

Arpad Sopsits' STRANGLED is out on dual format Blu-ray and DVD on Monday 5th February 2018 

Kills On Wheels (2016)

Thoroughly Entertaining Hungarian Wheelchair-Based Action Thriller

Here's something different, and if you fancy a change from the usual Hollywood multiplex fare this is well worth checking out. Attila Till's gritty, brutal and yet ultimately uplifting thriller is getting a dual format release from Eureka.

Best friends Zoli (Zoltan Fenyvesi) and Barba (Adam Fekete) both suffer from congenital physical developmental abnormalities that mean they spend their dull days in a long-term rehabilitation facility. Zoli needs life saving surgery because his spine is starting to curve to such an extent that his internal organs are beginning to crush one another. 

Zoli's long-absent father is willing to pay for the operation but Zoli doesn't want him to. Enter wheelchair-bound hit man Rupasov (Szabolcs Thiroczy, looking like an older Jeremy Renner) who has just been released from prison and who still has connections to various crime syndicates. He has a scheme to help make Zoli the money he needs - by the two friends helping him bump off the hits he gets assigned. 

Gritty and grim, and pulling no punches as regards the abilities (and disabilities) of its three leads, KILLS ON WHEELS does a marvellous job of giving centre stage to the kind of characters that are too often only on the sidelines in movies, if present at all.  

A lot of the PR for KILLS ON WHEELS calls it a comedy. I didn't find much of it very funny, which is not to do the film down at all - it's really very good indeed - but don't go in expecting barrels of wheelchair-based laughs or you're going to be disappointed. 

Refreshingly uncategorisable, the film swings from downbeat to funny to blood-soaked to incredibly emotionally warm and moving by turns with never a mis-step. Eureka's disc only has the trailer as an extra but don't let that put you off getting this - I wouldn't be at all surprised if this turns up on best of lists in years to come, although best what I'll leave to the list compilers to decide.

Attila Till's KILLS ON WHEELS is out on dual format DVD & Blu-ray from Eureka on Monday 15th January 2017