The Spine of Night (2021)

After a successful festival run (including Nottingham's Mayhem Film Festival last year) and a release on Shudder's streaming service, Acorn Media International are releasing Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King's ambitious old-school animated fantasy THE SPINE OF NIGHT on Blu-ray.

Tzod (voiced by Lucy Lawless), a swamp witch, needs to find out more about a mysterious blue flower and its magical properties, and so she embarks on a journey, seeking out The Guardian (Richard E Grant). When she finds him, he has a number of tales to tell of the flower. They range from ultraviolent to weird to thought-provoking and we get to see them all via the stylised rotoscoped animation the film employs. Guest voices also include Joe Manganiello, Patton Oswalt and Larry Fessenden (as - what else? - the Prophet of Doom). 

It's always good to see animated epic fantasy aimed at grown-ups and THE SPINE OF NIGHT definitely isn't for kids or the overly sensitive. There's buckets of violence, lots of nudity (Tzod wears next to nothing for the entire film) and some of the terrifically trippy imagery is designed to give you nightmares. The animation style has been compared to that of Ralph Bakshi but THE SPINE OF NIGHT is actually quite a bit better and more interesting than fantasy efforts like WIZARDS or his version of THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Its plot is that of a lengthy fantasy book sequence (or perhaps even a 1970s concept album) and gets the whole thing done and dusted in 94 minutes.

Shudder's Blu-ray comes with an excellent thirty minute Making of which includes a lot of the filmed footage that was then rotoscoped, as well as interviews with the writers-directors, composer and assorted 'cast' members (but not voice artists) and which concludes with an excellent further recommend reading / watching list from those involved. You also get the two animated shorts that preceded the movie, EXORDIUM (8 minutes) and MONGREL (3 minutes) as well as trailers for PSYCHO GOREMAN, MANDY and ARCHENEMY. 

THE SPINE OF NIGHT is out on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from Acorn Media International now

Tales of Unease (1970)

Mention the phrase 'classic British anthology horror TV show' and titles like Thriller, Ghost Stories For Christmas, and Hammer House of Horror will come to mind. But there's also a number of other series out there, ones that often only lasted a handful of episodes and which have remained unseen since their original broadcast. 

One such show is TALES OF UNEASE, produced by ITV's London Weekend Television unit and lasting seven episodes. The title was taken from the Pan anthology series of the same name edited by John Burke and which lasted three volumes. Two of the seven stories broadcast were adapted from stories that appeared in the books (Michael Cornish's Superstitious Ignorance and Jack Griffith's The Black Goddess). Now Network have released TALES OF UNEASE on DVD the question remains - has it been worth the wait?

If you're a fan of the old Pan & Fontana paperback anthologies of the 1970s you'll probably appreciates the short but disturbing title sequence, featuring as it does a crudely fashioned wax head with one eye that emulates the covers of those old books. As for the stories the best, and the one that most evokes the feel of the newer stories that made it into those old anthologies, is Bad Bad Jo-Jo by James Leo Herlihy. Roy Dotrice plays a very successful and even camper and cattier writer whose success is based on the creation of a monstrous psychopathic killer and the old lady who controls him. He is visited by two fans who like to dress up as their favourite characters and want to 'play' with their creator, resulting in a decent, tense bit of studio-bound TV.

Other stories include John Burke's Calculated Nightmare, in which a computerised building is programmed to trap the two men responsible for a series of planned redundancies, Michael Hastings' Ride, Ride in which Susan George plays a ghost who spells death for a motorcyclist, and Superstitious Ignorance in which appallingly Bright Young Things Jeremy Clyde and Tessa Wyatt plan to buy a rotting old house only to find they may never leave. 

Comedy horror arrives in the form of Richardson Morgan's The Old Banger in which an abandoned car slowly makes its way back to its owners, while a writer's neglected wife locks him in his study in Andrea Newman's It's Too Late Now. Finally, miners have to deal with a cave-in in the Rhondda of 1932 in the Black Goddess.

If you're a fan of 1970s TV you'll want to have these. The transfers look as if they are mostly taken from tape transfers of 16mm film and you can see a thumb print at the bottom of the frame for most of one story. But it's classic TV and if you want more stuff that's in the vein of Brian Clemens' Thriller then you won't be disappointed. No extras were provided for review. Here's a trailer: 

TALES OF UNEASE is out from Network on DVD now

Brian and Charles (2022)

After its cinema run earlier this year, Mediumrare Entertainment are releasing the charming and eccentric British comedy BRIAN AND CHARLES on DVD & Blu-ray.

Painfully lonely Brian (co-writer David Earl) lives in a cottage on the outskirts of a tiny Welsh village. His fills his time inventing things and is keen to show them off in the semi docu-drama format the film employs. The problem is that Brian's inventions are utter rubbish (a pine cone bag, a device to suck all the air out of a diving helmet) and when he decides to build a robot out of a washing machine and mannikin parts nobody is more surprised than he when it comes to life.

The robot acquires the name Charles Petrescu (and is played by co-writer Chris Hayward) and despite being eight feet tall is very much a child in terms of what he needs to learn about the world, including its evils, which rear their head in the form of a nearby family who want Charles so they can burn him on the annual bonfire.

Based on an original short film that sadly isn't included on this disc, BRIAN AND CHARLES is the kind of comedy that British cinema excels at. Brian is initially painted as a sorry soul who lives in a ghastly house and has a life that's going nowhere, but as the film goes on both he and Charles and the people they interact with are allowed to develop as characters and by the end all have shown inner strength in a story that ultimately becomes quite poignant and life-affirming. It's a unique, charming affair with endearing characters and plenty of laughs to be had along the way.

Mediumrare's disc comes with a couple of extras: there's a three minute gag reel and another three minutes of Charles answering questions allegedly sent in on twitter. It would have been nice to have a commentary and as I said above, the original short film, but even so if you didn't catch it at the cinema BRIAN AND CHARLES is well worth picking up. 

BRIAN AND CHARLES is out from Mediumrare Entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday 24th October 2022

Post No. 1000: The Count Yorga Collection (1970, 1971)

The Count Yorga Collection, consisting of 1970's COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE and its 1971 sequel THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA, both starring Robert Quarry as the title character and directed by Bob Kelljan, is due out in a bit from Arrow Films.

But hang on a minute, I hear you cry! Didn't Arrow Films already release The Count Yorga Collection back in 2016? And you'd be quite right. But the Count has had an upgrade, with both films getting brand new 2K restorations from 4K scans of the original negative (they look fantastic, by the way) and a whole host of new extras. So let's dive in and take a look.

Disc One: Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)

With the vampire being so much of the gothic it's perhaps surprising to realise that the USA has a long tradition of presenting movie vampires in modern-day settings. Even Tod Browning's 1931 DRACULA is set in the 'present day' and here we have Robert Quarry's suave Count Yorga, popping up in Los Angeles (or rather, being delivered in a crate from the docks) and setting himself up as a medium in order to avail himself of the city's bright young things.

Shot with virtually no money at all, COUNT YORGA VAMPIRE still holds up as a smart, witty, and dead serious when it needs to be, contemporary vampire tale. Quarry is excellent in a pitch-perfect performance, but I'd agree wholeheartedly with Tim Lucas in his brand new commentary that the secret weapon of this one is Roger Perry's haematologist who has to do the heavy lifting in getting the cast (and the audience) to take the vampire threat seriously and is the closest thing this movie has to a Van Helsing. He was always my favourite character when I watched this & it's good to see both the character and the actor getting some recognition.

As well as the extremely listenable Lucas commentary, David Del Valle's and C Courtney Joyner's 2016 commentary track has been ported over. Other new extras include The Count in California in which Heather Drain discusses the film for ten minutes, and I Remember Yorga in which Frank Darabont reminisces about watching the film both as a child and an adult. A Vampire in LA is ten minutes of Michael Murphy talking about the making of the movie, while Fangirl Radio is a 45 minute podcast in which Jessica Dwyer talks to Tim Sullivan, close personal friend of Robert Quarry and director of I WAS A TEENAGE WEREBEAR amongst others. You also get trailers, radio spots, an image gallery with 83 still and poster images, and another gallery of Tim Sullivan's own personal Quarry memorabilia.

Disc Two: The Return of Count Yorga (1971)

A year later Robert Quarry was back in what's most likely a sequel but could also be considered a 're-imagining with more money and a better director of photography' to quote David Del Valle from the 2016 archival commentary he does with C Courtney Joyner that's been ported over. There's a new commentary track as well, this time from Stephen R Bissette who is so clued up he's even listened to Tim Lucas' new commentary on the previous film to avoid repeating anything on the first disc. Now that's dedication, and the extra detail here makes this commentary track also well worth a listen. 

Despite there being more money this time around the music is still performed by a small group of only eight players. We learn this in David Huckvale's excellent 35 minute piece 'Chamber Music of Horrors' in which he goes almost note by note over Bill Marx's score to both films. I'll admit I've never taken that much notice of Mr Marx's score before but having the influences and structure pointed out means if you're a movie music nut (and I certainly am) and you've already seen the movies before you might like to watch this before revisiting them.

Maitland McDonagh provides an 18 minute piece on 'The Count and the Counterculture' in which she discusses vampires with specific reference to how America was changing at the time the Yorga movies were made. You also get a trailer, radio spots, and a massive gallery of 148 stills and another of poster and front of house images.

But that's not all. Arrow's new Yorga set comes with a perfect bound book featuring new writing on the films, double-sided fold-out posters for both films, twelve double-sided lobby card reproductions and a reproduction press book:

Bob Kelljan's The Count Yorga Collection is out on Limited Edition Blu-ray from Arrow Films on Monday 24th October 2022

Two Witches (2021)

After its UK premiere at last year's Grimmfest, Pierre Tsigaridis' debut feature gets an extras-packed Blu-ray release from Arrow.

Consisting of two stories which eventually overlap, TWO WITCHES starts with 'The Boogeywoman', in which pregnant Sarah (Belle Adams) is convinced an old woman has given her the evil eye in a restaurant and is now pursuing her. A visit to her husband's new age friends and use of an ouija board means things soon take a turn for the worse. Meanwhile in 'Masha' the titular character is a young woman who will inherit her grandmother's powers when she dies. however, Masha already has a few of her own, and a cruel disposition to go along with them.

TWO WITCHES runs for nearly 100 minutes, but there's only enough real substance here to fill maybe one or two art house shorts. Tsigaridis has an excellent visual eye and there's a decent amount of blood and guts in a film that seems intended to emulate some of the Italian classics by Fulci et al, but by the end the film really does run out of steam, descending into confusion and ending on a note that's as inconclusive as it is frustrating. Add in a sound mix where much of the dialogue is recorded very quietly and the music very loud and the most suspense many will have with this one is whether or not they can get to the volume control in time to avoid upsetting the neighbours.

Modern micro-budget projects like these tend to be packed with extras to give plenty of value and TWO WITCHES is no exception. There are two audio commentaries, one from Pierre Tsigaridis and another from producer Maxine Rancon who both also feature in a Q&A at Grimmfest. There are also interviews with Marina Parodi who plays the old woman in the first story, and composer Gioacchino Marincola as well as Dina Silva who plays one of the new age couple. Finally there's test footage, trailers and image galleries, and if you get the first pressing there's a booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anton Bitel and a double-sided fold-out poster.

Pierre Tsigaridis' TWO WITCHES is out on Blu-ray from Arrow on Monday 17th October 2022

The Ballad of Tam Lin (1971)

 

One of the most fascinating fantasy/horror films of the early 1970s finally gets a Blu-ray release in the country where it was made, courtesy of the BFI's Flipside label.

An adaptation of an ancient folk tale that's essentially about the rescue of the title character from the Queen of the Fairies by a mortal woman, this version stars Ian McShane as Tam / Tom, Ava Gardner as Michaela Cazaret (the Queen) and Stephanie Beacham as Janet, made pregnant by Tom and the one who eventually rescues him from Michaela and her murderous coven through the power of true love.

The only film to be directed by Hollywood star Roddy McDowall (and on the basis of this it's a great shame he didn't make more), THE BALLAD OF TAM LIN was shot in 1969 in London and Scottish locations but didn't see cinema screens until 1972 in a vastly re-edited and truncated version in the US, and not until even later in the UK. All of these details and more are covered in the excellent commentary track on the BFI's disc from William Fowler and Vic Pratt.

It's a film that belongs to a very special sub-sub genre of British horror films made by individuals from outside the UK who are able to bring a unique eye to the landscape. These include Jorge Grau's THE LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE and Jose Larraz's VAMPYRES (both 1974). McDowall's film is as mystical and strange and beautiful as both of those and, coupled with the songs by The Pentangle and excellent performances, THE BALLAD OF TAM LIN a fascinating one of a kind watch.

As well as the commentary, the BFI's Blu-ray ports over a couple of the other extras from the recent Imprint Blu-ray release (but by no means all). These consist of interviews with McShane (11 minutes) and Beacham (10 minutes), an 11 minute David Del Valle piece and the archival Legendary Ladies of the Silver Screen in which Roddy himself gets to wax lyrical about Ava Gardner.

New extras unique to the BFI release include Listening In, a 27 minute interview with Jacqui McShee, lead singer of The Pentangle, who discusses her career and the writing of the songs for the film. The music extras continue with an excellent 20 minute interview with Hans Zimmer talking about his association with composer Stanley Myers. It plays as an audio track accompanying the film and comes to an end just in time to segue into one of the romantic cues of which Mr Myers was apparently so fond of writing.

Adventures Along the Way is just over half an hour of Madeline Smith reminiscing about her part in the film, the luxurious hotel they all stayed in in Peebles and her encounters with Sean Connery amongst others.  Finally we get some short films. RED RED? RED (1971) is 34 minutes documenting a hippy commune in Devon, and we also get two Border County docu-shorts - O'ER HIL AND DALE and QUEEN O' THE BORDER.

The bottom line: If you're a TAM LIN enthusiast like I am you'll already own the recent Australian Imprint Blu-ray. But there's enough new material on the BFI's disc with specific relevance to the movie that this new release is going to be an essential purchase as well.

Roddy McDowall's THE BALLAD OF TAM LIN is out on Blu-ray on the BFI Flipside label from Monday 10th October 2022

The Owl Service (1969)

I'll start this review of Network's new Blu-ray release of THE OWL SERVICE by admitting that, before I read Alan Garner's source novel or finally caught up with this TV version on DVD, I assumed it was about a WICKER MAN-style pagan religion that worshipped owls and had its own church where it conducted its services. Maybe I was alone in this but if not, and if you've never heard of this, the service in question is actually a set of dinner plates with intricate owl patterns on them that are discovered in an attic. 

The plates are discovered by teenagers Alison (Gillian Hills), and Gwyn (Michael Holden), and soon Alison's new stepbrother Roger (Francis Wallis) is involved as well as the reconstruction of the owl pattern as a paper model sets in motion the resurrection of an ancient love triangle with the three seemingly condemned to repeat it.

The original legend can be found in The Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh myths first put together around the 12th century. You might want to read that and / or Alan Garner's source novel first, because the TV adaptation of THE OWL SERVICE, even though it's eight episodes long and was broadcast on a Sunday teatime, doesn't exactly spoon feed its audience. Hints are dropped here are there and some of the clues flash so briefly on screen its hard to believe this was shown in an era when you couldn't rewind to check things. 

That said, THE OWL SERVICE (book and TV show) is a mature, considered and extremely intelligent piece of work that has rightly acquired the status of a classic. If you've never watched it then Network's new Blu-ray looks better than their previous DVD release, plus you get commentary tracks from Tim Worthington on four of the episodes, and two interviews with Alan Garner (conducted in1968 and 1980) as extra.

And now to my minor quibble, which also extends to Network's Blu-ray of THE INTRUDER, both of which have some real issues with bad subtitling. At times it's non-existent, claiming dialogue is unintelligible when it actually isn't, and at other times getting the transcription completely wrong. I was happy to ignore this until episode eight of THE OWL SERVICE where, at a crucial point during the climax a character says "By Damn!" and the subtitles render it as "Boy dumb," which changes the meaning of the scene. This just after a sequence where. the subtitles trail off into "...(speaks Welsh)..." when a character is very definitely speaking English but just has a slightly stronger Welsh accent. Mild swearing in THE INTRUDER, eg "Damn" gets transcribed as 'unintelligible' and there are other mistakes in there too. I guess the take home message unfortunately is that if you're hard of hearing you may want to watch these with someone who can tell you when the subtitles are wrong. Otherwise these releases are excellent. Here's a trailer. Without subtitles:

Alan Garner's THE OWL SERVICE is getting a Blu-ray release from Network (networkonair.com) on Monday 17th October 2022