Buster Keaton: Three Films Volume 2 (1924-26)

"More 4K Keaton!"

Eureka continues its essential work of ensuring there are as many Buster Keaton 4K restorations on Blu-ray on UK shelves as possible with the release of three more of his longer works. I previously reviewed Volume One in the series here and Eureka's impressive box set of Keaton's short work here. As with the previous volume this one comes with a 60 page book and a wealth of extras on the discs. So what do we get this time around?

The Navigator (1924)

Coming after SHERLOCK JR, THE NAVIGATOR was the biggest hit of Keaton's career. He plays rich Rollo Treadway, who gets on the wrong boat after plans for a honeymoon in Honolulu go awry. However, his bride to be, Betsy (Kathryn McGuire) has also got on the same boat and together they find themselves adrift and alone, without a clue how to power the vessel, or even cook dinner. Encounters with cannibals and creatures of the deep do not help. 

Extras include a commentary track by film historians Robert Arkus and Yair Solan, Boats Brides & Boxers -  a 34 minute video essay by David Cairns covering all three films in the set, and Of Buster, Boats, Other Seacfraft and Working on THE NAVIGATOR, a nine minute featurette by Bruce Lawton.

Seven Chances (1925)

Buster is Jimmy Shannon, junior partner in a law firm that is horrifically in debt. His problems may be solved when he inherits seven million dollars.The only problem is he has to be married by the end of the day. A climax that involves Keaton being chased by hundreds of potential brides through a number of increasingly perilous-looking set-pieces makes SEVEN CHANCES possibly the highlight of the set. 

Extras include a commentary track from Joel Goss and Bruce Lawton and there's an extra twenty minute Keaton short, WHAT! NO SPINACH? as well.

Battling Butler (1926)

Keaton is rich spoiled dandy Alfred Butler, sent into the wilderness to 'be a man' by his father. With only his trusty manservant, a huge tent, several suit changes and enough posh gear to equip an army, Alfred discovers love in the mountains. However, the girl's family only agrees to allow him to marry after they are led to believe he is another Alfred Butler, prizewinning lightweight boxer who is shortly due to take on The Alabama Murderer. Apparently BATTLING BUTLER was one of Martin Scorsese's inspirations when making 1980's RAGING BULL.

Extras on this disc are five different audio interviews with Buster Keaton adding up to three hours' worth of material, as well as the trailer for the film.

      The accompanying book contains new writing on all three films and the whole thing comes in the kind of limited edition hardbound slipcase that this kind of set deserves. Another winner from Eureka,

Buster Keaton: Three Films Volume 2 is out on Blu-ray from Eureka on Monday 30th March 2020

Magic (1978)

"Horror - for Dummies!" 

Richard Attenborough's film of William Goldman's novel gets a sparkling UK Blu-ray release courtesy of Second Sight.

Down on his luck magician Corky Withers (Anthony Hopkins) finds success when he incorporates ventriloquism into his act in the form of the foul-mouthed Fats (also voiced by Hopkins). Fame and national television beckon but Corky's not so keen on taking the necessary medical required by the TV network, despite the insistence of his agent Ben (Burgess Meredith). Panicking, Corky takes off for the town of his birth, not realising that taking Fats with him will lead to tragedy.

The  Michael Redgrave 'dummy' segment of the classic DEAD OF NIGHT is always mentioned in the same breath as MAGIC and it's easy to see why, but where the Ealing film's emphasis is on the isolated nightmare of a fragmenting mind, MAGIC opens up the idea to show the effect it has on those around the sufferer. The fact that this works so well is down to the lead performances, including Ann-Margret who plays Corky's lost love Peggy. Attenborough takes Corky away from the hustle and bustle of New York to somewhere so gloomy and wet anyone from Wales will swear Hopkins has actually gone all the way to his real place of birth. 

  And Hopkins really is the star of MAGIC, delivering a subtle, nuanced, twitchy performance that increasingly teeters on the edge of barely repressed madness. You know he's going to crack but are not at all sure when it's going to happen. Thank goodness he was the star and not Klaus Kinski. 

Disc extras include a revealing interview with William Goldman, archival video and radio interviews with Hopkins, a piece on cinematographer Victor Kemper and an Ann-Margret makeup test. Also included is Fats and Friends, a decent 30 minute featurette on ventriloquism (including its appearance in movies) by the man who was the consultant on MAGIC and who was often just out of shot operating Fats.

The transfer is excellent, by the way - MAGIC has never looked this good, and with the extras on board, Second Sight have given us the definitive package of Attenborough's film. 

MAGIC is out on UK Blu-ray from Second Sight on Monday 23rd March 2020

Come to Daddy (2019)

"Winning Directorial Debut from the Producer of ABCs of Death"

After deservedly huge acclaim on 2019's festival circuit, Ant Timpson's twisty turny frequently hilarious horror comes to disc and digital HD from Signature Entertainment on the Frightfest Presents label.

Urban hipster Norval (Elijah Wood) receives a letter from the father he hasn't seen since he was five inviting him to the man's remote Oregon home. When Norval gets there he is met with nothing but animosity, threats, and a refusal to discuss why his father has even invited him from a man superbly played by Stephen McHattie. 

        Then something happens that plunges Norval into a world I wasn't expecting at all & neither will you which is why I'm not going to say any more. Great performances, a quirky script from Toby Harvard (who co-wrote THE GREASY STRANGLER but don't let that put you off) and carried off with a serious amount of style from director Ant Timpson (the man behind THE ABCS OF DEATH) COME TO DADDY is as the 2019 Frightfest programme put it, a 'deliciously edgy stunner'. 

Extras on the Blu-ray (but not the DVD) include CRAB BOY, Ant Timpson's eleven minute bizarre black and white first short film. Is this the only movie to credit the creator of 'Crab Gloves'? You also get a Michael Smiley red carpet interview, and a far more indepth interview with Ant Timpson conducted by Paul McAvoy, where Timpson talks about, amongst other things, the extraordinary real-life situation that inspired his original idea. No commentary track unfortunately, but you do get 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo sound options.

Ant Timpson's COME TO DADDY is available from Signature Entertainment's Frightfest Presents label on digital HD from 21st February 2020 and on UK Blu-ray and DVD from 2nd March 2020

Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

"Easily As Charming, Entertaining and Funny as the First"

In a world filled with disappointing comedy sequels (ZOOLANDER 2) and poor horror sequels (pretty much all of them) here's a real surprise - a comedy horror follow up that's taken ten years to appear and is actually even more entertaining than its predecessor.

Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) are still together, surviving the zombie apocalypse of ten years ago with the aid of Columbus' never-ending set of rules. They return to the Whitehouse where Columbus proposes to Wichita and Little Rock bemoans her lack of a boyfriend. The next day both women have left, leaving a briefly scribbled note and two perplexed men.  

Discovering ditzy Madison (Zooey Deutch) at the mall, Columbus enjoys a brief relationship before Wichita's unexpected return with some worrying news: Little Rock has found herself a hippy boyfriend and they're off to gun-free vegetarian paradise Babylon by way of Graceland. Our heroes set off in pursuit, encountering zombies, Rosario Dawson and Columbus and Tallahassee's own doppelgängers (played by Thomas Middleditch and Luke Wilson) along the way.

With the same writers (Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick) and the same director (Ruben Fleischer) in addition to the same cast, it looks as if it was the right thing to take a bit of time in getting ZOMBIELAND DOUBLE TAP together. The chemistry between the leads is a sparkling as ever and the situations in which they find themselves as entertaining as in the first film. There's even a remarkable fight scene about halfway through (after a game of Magic the Gathering) that tops anything from the first movie. 

        It's rare that a sequel can take this long to come out and be this good but ZOMBIELAND DOUBLE TAP looks like it's going to be the exception that proves that particular rule. Don't leave at any point during the end credits if you were a fan of Bill Murray's appearance in the original because there's a whole extra bit just for you. 

Extras on all formats include a director's commentary where there is much Emma Stone idolising, featurettes on 'The Rides of Zombieland' (detailing the vehicles used in the film), 'Rules of Making a Zombie Film', 'Making Babylon' and 'New Blood' (profiling the actors new to the franchise).

Exclusive to the 4KUHD and Blu-ray releases are a blooper / gag reel, a piece on the 'doppelgangers' with Middleditch and Wilson, nine alternate and extended scenes, and the featurette 'A Day With Bill Murray'.

ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP is out on 4K Ultra HD, 

Blu-ray and DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on Monday 24th February 2020

Daniel Isn't Real (2019)

"Excellent Psychological Horror... With Added Demons"

Arrow Films, generally considered a boutique label concentrating on releasing extras-packed packages of classic (and sometimes not so classic) cinema, have started to make inroads into bringing out some of the better movies to have played on the festival circuit in the past couple of years. Adam Egypt Mortimer's new film DANIEL ISN'T REAL is their latest release and it's very good indeed.

As a boy Luke witnesses the aftermath of a mass shooting and finds himself with an imaginary friend called Daniel. That is, until Daniel makes him poison his mother. After that Daniel is banished to an old doll's house. Years later, and at university, various stressors cause Daniel to resurface. Luke's new / old friend helps him to be successful with women, pass exams, and to express himself artistically, but it all comes at a terrible price.

With influences that could include the art of Hieronymous Bosch and the horror novels of 1980s authors like Clive Barker and Christopher Fowler (especially Spanky), Adam Egypt Mortimer's second feature is a mind-bending melodrama that's redolent with hellish imagery that deliciously embellishes the is-he-or-isn't-he-mad plot. To say anything more would spoil the surprise, suffice to say there's plenty of nightmarish set-pieces in here that culminate in a satisfying ending. 

Like their recent release of HARPOON, among the wealth of extras on Arrow's disc is the introduction and post-screening Q&A from the film's UK premiere at Frightfest last August, as well as an interview conducted at the festival.

In addition there's a director's commentary track, another Mortimer interview, a video essay on the movie from Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, trailer and still galleries. The first pressing of the disc also comes with a booklet featuring new writing on the film from Katie Rife. 

Adam Egypt Mortimer's DANIEL ISN'T REAL is 

out on Blu-ray from Arrow Films on 

Monday 10th February 2020

Under the Shadow (2016)

"An Iranian Urban Ghost Story"

Babak Anvari's domestic horror picture set against the backdrop of the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s gets a whistles and bells limited edition Blu-ray release from Second Sight.

Tehran, 1988. Shideh (Narges Rashidi) is desperate to continue her medical training, but she's refused entry to the local university because of her previous political activism. Her husband Iraj (Bobby Naderi), currently a practicing doctor, is preparing to be despatched to serve in the war. The apartment block in which they live is in constant danger of being bombed. 

After Irak leaves and a missile wrecks the roof of the building, most of the occupants flee and Shideh and her daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi) are left on their own. Or are they? Dorsa has been told a story by a supposedly mute boy about a Djinn that takes personal items in order to entrap its potential victims. Dorsa's favourite doll has gone missing and soon other items start to disappear as well. And what's that floating shape that can occasionally be seen out of the corner of the eye?

Rather than being a film intent on hammering home any number of messages, instead UNDER THE SHADOW uses its elements of frustrated motherhood against a backdrop of war to help ramp up the suspense of what becomes, in its final act, a fine example of the urban ghost story, one which could easily stand alongside the literary works of authors such as Fritz Leiber and Ramsey Campbell. The effects are sparse but effective, with the use of distorted facial characteristics contributing immensely to the occasional jump scares.

Second Sight's disc comes with Babak Anvari's BAFTA-nominated short film TWO & TWO and a number of interviews, including 30 minutes with the writer-director himself and further chats with star Narges Rashidi, producers Lucan Toh and Oliver Roskill, and cinematographer Kit Fraser. There's also a new commentary track from Babak Anvari with Jamie Graham.

The limited edition set also comes with a rigid slipcase featuring new artwork from Christopher Shy, a book with new writing on the film from Jon Towlson and Daniel Bird that also contains behind the scenes photos and concept art, and there's a poster featuring the new artwork.

Babak Anvari's UNDER THE SHADOW is out on Blu-ray 

in a limited edition set from Second Sight on 

Monday 10th February 2020

Bliss (2019)

"A Nightmarish Visual & Aural Assault on the Senses"

I mean that as a good thing, by the way. In fact quite possibly a brilliant thing. Joe Begos' exhausting, exhilarating, cathartic take on art, drug addiction, vampirism and so much more gets a UK Blu-Ray release from Eureka.

Blocked artist Dezzy Donahue (Dora Madison) is going through a bad patch. Struggling with her latest work, dumped by her agent and behind on the rent, instead of sorting out her life she spends her nights in a haze of drunken drug and sex-fuelled debauchery. Somewhere along the way, she's given something that might (or might not) turn her into a vampire.

Whether it's the drugs, the blood, or something else, suddenly Dezzy can paint again and she starts work on what she is convinced will become her masterwork, even if everyone she knows is going to end up as bloody casualties of her newfound addiction as a result.

With a pounding soundtrack (which sounds great on Eureka's 5.1 mix), enough camera craziness to make Gasper Noé jealous and a tremendously assured visual sense of the artsy sleazy world Dezzy operates in, BLISS only lasts 80 minutes but that's quite long enough to spend with your breath held and every muscle tensed. It's such an assault on the senses that anyone despondent about the lack of colour and intensity of experience offered by the SUSPIRIA remake would be well advised to check this one out. 

        Reminiscent of the work of Abel Ferrara and early Penelope Spheeris, BLISS has the original EVIL DEAD's sense of ferociousness in its no-holds-barred take-no-prisoners approach to its storytelling. Dezzy's artwork, once complete, is a hellish joy all its own to behold, like something from Lovecraft filtered through the lens of MANDY. 

Eureka's Blu-ray offers three commentary tracks. Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger offer a detailed contextualisation of the film both in terms of vampire cinema and modern horror film. Joe Begos and Dora Madison provide a laid back but information commentary on the making of the film, backed up by the third commentary track which features Begos, producer Josh Ethier and the FX team. There's also a deleted scene and a trailer.

Finally, if you get the limited edition (1000 copies) there's also an O Card slipcase with laminated finish and a booklet featuring new writing on the film from Alexandra Heller-Nichols & an interview with Joe Begos. 

Joe Begos' BLISS is out on Blu-ray from Eureka on Monday 10th February 2020