Short Sharp Shocks Volume 3 (1951-1985)

The BFI provides another welcome release in their series of strange, eerie, and occasionally positively eccentric short subjects that were intended for the nation's cinema screens back in the day. Like volumes one and two, we once again have a two disc set with a number of subjects from across those decades. So let's take a look at what we get this time:

Disc One:

Return to Glennascaul (1951)

Orson Welles suffers a spot of actor's block on the set of his OTHELLO and sets off for a bit of a drive in his car. He picks up a man having car trouble and then relates to us the story the man told him about picking up two female hitchhikers who took him back to their place. Oscar nominated for best short subject that year, RETURN TO GLENNASCAUL is a slight but entertaining enough tall tale which I'm not going to spoil for those who haven't seen it.

Strange Stories (1953)

Two short stories in 45 minutes, the first related by Valentine Dyall as he drives John Slater to the railway station and telling of the story of a man named Bartleby (the always watchable John Laurie) who applies for a job at a solicitors specifically because it has been there for a hundred years. The second is related by Slater after he has missed his train. This one's an entertaining mini-romp as a murderer and his wife try to escape justice by getting on the slowest boat ever to Tasmania. Familiar faces amongst the cast include Helen Horton (as the wife) whose other credits include PHASE IV, ALIEN, The Benny Hill Show and Dick Emery. What a CV. 

Strange Experiences: Grandpa's Portrait and Old Silas (1956)

Two very short (three minutes) and extremely slight weird tales which are worth watching for entertainment value. 

Maze (1969)

The only film in the set that may have you scratching your head, MAZE is 12 minutes of a camera following different people around London and documenting their interactions. And that's about it.

Extras on disc one include a fascinating seven minute piece from Vic Pratt about the company that made STRANGE STORIES, while director Bob Bentley discusses MAZE (and does explain it) in a piece that lasts longer than his film did.

Disc Two:

Skinflicker (1973)

A grim and intense forerunner of the found footage subgenre as three 'everyday normal people' - a teacher, a nurse and a parks gardener (played by Henry Woolf who was appearing in children's educational programme Words and Pictures around the same time) travel to the remote country home of 'a public figure' and proceed to kidnap him, brutally beating his wife and child in the process, before bringing him back to their London lockup where they torture and eventually kill him. The whole thing is recorded on a mixture of super 8mm and grainy 16mm footage with plenty of to camera commentary by the kidnappers that makes for an unsettling 44 minutes.

Broken Bottle (1973) and Don't Fool Around With Fireworks (1973)

Where would these discs be without a couple of public information films designed to wedge themselves into your brain in an attempt to deter you from, in these cases, leaving broken glass on the beach and throwing a firework in the face of a pretty girl.

The Terminal Game (1982)

This 33 minute piece is all about the sinister world of computers, and an evil tech company that's been rumbled by someone who has died under mysterious circumstances. His colleague follows in his footsteps and discovers he has to play an early 1980s text adventure game. After that it all gets a bit confusing but at least there's a decent music score from HAUNTING OF JULIA's Colin Towns

Wings of Death (1985)

Originally shown before Wes Craven's A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET during it's UK release from Palace Pictures, WINGS OF DEATH features Dexter Fletcher as a young man spending a disgusting, hallucinatory and occasionally seriously creepy night in a boardinghouse. The 20 minute short is actually all about drug misuse, something that 1985 audiences had no trouble picking up, but the rocket-breasted mother and the bit where Dexter pulls off the top of his skull to reveal his brain certainly evoked a response back in the day.

Extras in disc two include three featurettes of about half an hour each in which the respective directors (Tony Bicat, Geoff Lowe and Nichola Bruce & Michael Coulson) discuss SKINFLICKER, TERMINAL GAME and WINGS OF DEATH. Composer Colin Towns talks about the score for TERMINAL GAME and there's behind the scenes footage and an image gallery for WINGS OF DEATH. Finally, the set also includes a 34 page booklet featuring new writing on all the films included in the set. 

Short Sharp Shocks Volume 3 is out from the BFI on their Flipside label as a two Blu-ray set on Monday 9th October 2023

Bagpuss (1974)

"189 Minutes of Nostalgic Delight"

For those who grew up in the 1970s it might come as something of a surprise to learn that there are only 13 episodes of Bagpuss, and now Fabulous Films are releasing the lot on Blu-ray and DVD with a bunch of extras.

What? I hear you cry. Does early 1970s stop motion kids' animation shot on 16mm in a barn by two blokes (Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin) who did absolutely everything apart from a couple of the voices warrant the Blu-ray treatment? Well surprisingly enough Blu-ray really does make a difference, and if you've ever fancied revisiting the show this is the set to do it with.

For those few (and BAGPUSS really is a famous piece of TV, at least here in the UK) who are unfamiliar with the show, it's set in a nebulous sepia-tinted world (Postgate wanted it to have a 'timeless Edwardian feel') where a little girl called Emily (Firmin's daughter) owns a shop that, in the way of children's programmes of the period, doesn't actually sell anything.

What it does contain is lost objects, which Emily has found and brought home to Bagpuss, the saggy old cloth cat who sleeps in the shop window. Despite being constructed from pink and white wool (in reality he was meant to be marmalade but something went wrong during the dyeing process) Emily merely has to say a few magic words (which some reading this will likely be able to repeat now) to cause Bagpuss to wake up. 

And when Bagpuss wakes up, all his friends wake up, too. These friends consist of a weird jumble of characters typical of other Postgate-Firmin productions, in this case including a wooden woodpecker apparently inspired by Bertrand Russell (Professor Yaffle) and a toad (Gabriel) based on a character from the long-running radio soap The Archers.

Each 14 minute episode then consists of a story built around the object that has been brought in. There's often a song, and the mixture of folk music, fairy tale, and the comforting environment in which this all takes place has all likely contributed to Bagpuss' longevity.

Extras on Fabulous Films' disc include 10 minutes of Peter Firmin at Home With Bagpuss, The Story of Smallfilms (24 minutes) and the sequence from the BAFTA Children's Awards when Peter Firmin was given a special presentation. There's some duplication amongst the extras but fans will be delighted to see some of the original puppets and props, backdrops from shows like Ivor the Engine, and if you're a fan of Gabriel they even show you how he was worked. All superbly lovely stuff. 

BAGPUSS is out on DVD and Blu-ray from Fabulous Films on Monday 9th October 2023

End of Term (2023)

"Uneven Horror With An Interesting Cast"

There's that distinct feel of a job half done with END OF TERM, which is getting a digital release from Reel 2 Reel Films.

A student at a prestigious arts academy is taken in for questioning by police after she is found at the remote institution in a state of shock and with her face scarred. She relates a story to DS Stacy Harcourt (Julie Graham from TOWER BLOCK and lots of TV) and  DI Jim Burman (David Bamber from LIMEHOUSE GOLEM and lots of TV as well) that leads us into a series of flashbacks about the final day of term.

There's an art exhibition hosted by the academy's principle (Peter Davison) and attended by, amongst others, a snooty art critic (Ronald Pickup) who meets a horrible end. Back at the academy the end of term party descends into a bloodbath, with the killings possibly linked to famously loony artist Garth Stroman (Ivan Kaye from TV's Vikings). Or are they?

Despite boasting an interesting cast and a plot that culminates in something appropriately bonkers, END OF TERM has a very half-baked feel to it indeed, as if about an hour of footage was shot before the production ran out of money, or time, or the will to live. The running time is padded out with dull police interrogation footage and the film eventually staggers to something of a non-ending. And that's a real shame because with the talent on show here END OF TERM could have been a seriously decent British horror picture in the style of 1971's CRUCIBLE OF TERROR, or even a Pete Walker film. 

A quick check of imdb suggests that it was originally shot in 2016, and there's a copyright date of 2019 on the end credits, but the film hasn't been released until now. The fact that the credited director is different from the director on the press release (who on the film is only cited as directing the 'Brighton footage') might also be significant. Horror fans with long memories may be reminded of when Lucio Fulci fell ill making ZOMBIE 3 and had to have his movie completed in the gratingly different style of Bruno Mattei. One suspects the story behind the making of END IF TERM might possibly be more interesting than the actual end product, but pontification on that alone may provide enough entertainment value for some.

END OF TERM is out on Digital from Reel 2 Reel on Monday 2nd October 2023

Targets (1968)

After a bit of a delay, the BFI's Blu-ray release of Peter Bogdanovich's remarkable directorial feature debut is finally with us.

Aging Hollywood horror star Byron Orlock (Boris Karloff) decides he has had enough of the business and announces his retirement following a preview screening of his latest movie (actually clips from another Roger Corman production, the infamously cobbled together THE TERROR). His film-making associates are horrified at the prospect, especially Sammy Michaels (Bogdanovich himself) who has written Orlok's next script. 

While he and others are doing their best to convince their star to keep working, we are also being shown scenes in the seemingly unrelated life of ex Vietnam veteran Bobby Thompson (Tim O'Kelly). Bobby lives with his wife and his parents, has a large gun collection, and is convinced there is something wrong with him. His attempts to talk to his wife prove fruitless and the next day he kills her and his mother and anyone else who happens to be around before driving off on a killing spree. That spree reaches its culmination at a showing of THE TERROR where Orlok is due to make a personal appearance.

Boris Karloff was the only star of horror's golden age to truly breach the gap between the old gothic horrors of the 1930s and what was then emerging as a more extreme US cinematic movement grounded in reality and evolving partly in response to the Kennedy assassination and very much in response to America's involvement in Vietnam. To emphasise that we are in the 'real' world, Bogdanovich is careful to ensure that the only music we hear is either on the radio or during the clips of THE TERROR that we see. Bobby's murder of his family is all the more shockingly effective for being played out in such a mundane, non-melodramatic manner, and the climax at the drive-in is an unforgettable juxtaposition of real vs reel horror.

The BFI's Blu-ray is of a new restoration supervised by Bogdanovich and looks excellent. A previously available director introduction and commentary (both from 2003) are included, as well as a new commentary track from critic Peter Tonguette. Other extras concentrate mainly on Karloff with a 40 minute featurette of Sara Karloff talking about her father, a 17 minute piece from Stephen Jacobs about Karloff's career in the 1960s, with Vic Pratt also providing a short eight minute video essay about the star. 

Two Guardian interviews are also included - Roger Corman from 1970 and Bogdanovich from 1972, and Joe Dante provides a commentary on the trailer as one of the Trailers From Hell. You also get a booklet with a set of essays and there's an image gallery, too. For anyone who might be wondering, this is a lot more extras than the US Criterion disc has that was released earlier this year, so the BFI disc is definitely the one to get.

Peter Bogdanovich's TARGETS is out on Blu-ray from the BFI on Monday 25th September 2023

Don't Look Away (2023)

Here we go with an ultra low budget killer mannequin picture that's getting a digital release from Central City Media.

A large container lorry carrying nothing but a single packing case is hijacked. Soon whatever was in the crate has killed the thieves and the lorry driver has been accidentally run over by Frankie (played by Kelly Bastard. Yes that's her name.). She's so traumatised she drives home with her windscreen covered in blood (you would think the police who interviewed her at the crime screen would have at least offered to give it a wipe).

Frankie lives with Steven King. Yes that's the character's name  and when he isn't exposition dumping he's delivering dialogue lifted pretty much verbatim from Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING. Do Warner Bros. know about this?

Frankie is sure she saw a mannequin standing at the crime scene. She goes to a disco without Steven King. She sees the mannequin again. Soon everyone at the disco is dead except the friends she went with, who are now targeted for a gory death by the mannequin. No-one ever sees it move but if you look away (aha!) it gets you, Dr Who weeping-angel style.

Feeling less like an well-rounded feature and more like a first year film student's attempt at making a horror movie (and a student who's a bit too obsessed with THE SHINING at that), DON'T LOOK AWAY engineers some highly atmospheric and spooky sequences that involve the mannequin. Unfortunately everything else is strictly amateur night, with little talent on display in either the acting or writing departments. The director himself turns up close to the end as a character who supplies minimal explanation as to what's going on and turns out to be rather older than the first year film student one might have been expecting. Fun if you're very forgiving and it's a very slow night.

DON'T LOOK AWAY is out on digital from Central City Media on Monday 25th September 2023

Calvaire (2004)

"An Everyday Story of Belgian Country Folk"

Known on its original release in English-speaking territories as THE ORDEAL, Fabrice du Welz's entry into the 'New French Extremity' subgenre is getting a digital re-release from Blue Finch.

It's close to Christmas and Marc (Laurent Lucas), a travelling entertainer, bids farewell to the old folks' home that was his last venue, and the nurse who harbours hidden desires for him (a nice little turn from exploitation regular Brigitte Lahaie). On the way to his next gig his van breaks down on a country lane in the middle of the night. He eventually finds his way to a terrifying-looking inn run by Paul Bartel (no, not that one, but presumably a truly bizarre homage).

Bartel gives Marc a bed for the night and promises to get his van fixed. The next morning the local mechanic is apparently unavailable so Bartel promises to have a go himself. Meanwhile Marc goes for a walk through some forbidding grim countryside before witnessing some local farmers engaged in a ritual of disgusting proportions.

I won't spoil any more of CALVAIRE, suffice to say that a terrible fate awaits Marc back at Bartel's Inn, while the local villagers have some even more bizarre rituals that may threaten to cause a giggle as well as a chill. 

        It's likely that's the intention of director Fabrice du Welz. While much of the final act of the film anticipates the territory established (or soon to be) by extreme movies of the period like Aja's HAUTE TENSION (2003), Maury and Bustillo's L'INTERIEUR (2007) and Laugier's MARTYRS (2008), there are moments of grotesque humour here. Be assured, however, that overall CALVAIRE is a strictly grim and downbeat affair that's for fans of extreme cinema rather than the casual horror fan. Let's have a trailer:

Fabrice du Welz's CALVAIRE is out on digital from Blue Finch Releasing on Tuesday 19th September 2023