The Rev (2023)

"The Vicar Did It"

Exactly what he did is just one of the fascinating things detailed in this true crime documentary, and the possible reasons why is another. THE REV, the true story of the bizarre facts in the case of the Reverend Emyr Owen, is getting a digital release on the Icon channel before being distributed on all major UK digital platforms.

It all 'started' in 1985 when Detective Constable Glyn Owen Roberts reached the culmination of his investigations into a series of poison pen letters in a small Welsh seaside town. His investigations led him to the house of a local minister who quickly confessed to the crime. However nothing prepared the police for what they found when they searched his house. As well as a number of books on cannibalism and gay pornographic magazines, they also found sets of slides that showed that the Reverend Emyr Owen had mutilated the bodies of three of his deceased male parishioners prior to their burial, removing the genitals and using them for his own purposes. 

The subsequent court case, which was without precedent in the UK, the case files, transcripts and subsequent psychiatric analysis of Owen are all detailed in this 93 minute documentary, which includes interviews with as many of the involved parties as are still living as possible. It's a fascinating and frequently sad story, soberly told for the most part, although the wheeling on of a graphologist who claims she can tell if somebody is homosexual from their handwriting does threaten to overbalance the story into ludicrous speculation early on. Even so, THE REV is a well-told story of one of the more bizarre cases (he never killed anyone and, as is gone into in welcome detail, didn't technically commit any serious crime) in Welsh criminal history. Here's the trailer:

THE REV is on the Icon Film Channel from Monday 9th October 2023 and all other major UK digital platforms from Monday 8th January 2024

No Man of God (2021)

"Excellent True Crime Drama"

Following its premiere at this year's Frightfest and a digital release back in September, Amber Sealey's NO MAN OF GOD is coming out on UK Blu-ray from 101 Films in a nicely presented box set that includes some special features.

Serial killer Ted Bundy (Luke Kirby) has been caught and sentenced to death. Now he sits in a Florida penitentiary waiting to hear the outcome of his latest appeal or if the date of his execution has finally been set. Meanwhile, FBI analyst and new kid on the block Bill Hagmeier (Elijah Wood), recruited to the organisation's new profiling service, volunteers to attempt to talk to the notoriously interview-shy Bundy in an attempt to profile him. What follows is the development of a fascinating relationship between the two men, one that lasts all the way from 1984 to Bundy's execution in the electric chair in 1989.

Written by C Robert Cargill (SINISTER), the screenplay for NO MAN OF GOD uses Hagmeier's real-life transcripts and interviews with the FBI agent. Director Amber Sealey gets the absolute most out of a film that is essentially two men talking in an interview room and her skill, combined with the talents of the two leads, result in a film that is utterly riveting. NO MAN OF GOD is a must-see for true crime aficionados but its appeal is wider than that. This is a great, absorbing piece of cinema and kudos to producers Daniel Noah and Elijah Wood for getting this project to the screen.

101 Films' Blu-ray contains 80 minutes of interviews - half an hour with Elijah Wood, 40 minutes with Luke Kirby and ten minutes with co-star Aleksa Palladino who plays Bundy's defence lawyer. The disc comes in a rigid box featuring newly commissioned artwork and a set of art cards. It's a film that deserves some special treatment and while it premiered at what many would consider a horror film festival, this is mainstream true crime cinema at its best. Nice job 101 Films.

Amber Sealey's NO MAN OF GOD is out in a Special Edition Blu-ray from 101 Films on Monday 25th October 2021