HORROR COILEC l ION
THE TIGON COLLECTION (18) 507min
(Anchor Bay UK) 000.
Most films contain a hidden ideological subtext, betraying, unconsciously, the
obsessions of their age. But films dealing with history, shaping events of the past to conform to our own perception of the present, are often particularly fascinating for this. A case in point is producer Tony Tenser’s Tigon films, which, at its best, produce not so much a history of such things as the English Civil War as the moral, political and psycho-sexual tensions of Britain in the few years around the turn of the 705.
These are very English films from a time when the Common Market loomed and Enoch Powell’s insistent questioning of white, British identity raised hysteria in the population. The Tigon horror series presented a series of not so much horror films as frightening, atmospheric, studies in hysteria.
Perhaps the best, Blood on Satan ’3 Claw (1970, 0000 ), is The Crucible with beer and sandwiches. In it, a sexually precocious teenage girl (Linda Hayden) possessing a vague, claw-like talisman of evil, creates all manner of legal and moral havoc in an English 17th century village, rallying the youth and outcasts of the town into a force of moral and physical panic. So, too, in Witchfinder General (1968, O... ), Wncent Price’s lecherous and venal charlatan, disguised as a sternly moralistic and bloodthirsty crusader against Papists and witches, might be seen as a parody of Powell, in its warped study of One Nation small C conservatism.
The Beast in the Cellar (1971, O... ) is an excellent character study of two old spinsters (splendid performances from Beryl Reid and Flora Robson) with a violent secret and a succession of grisly murders around a Lancashire military base. The psychological metaphor presented by the title is beautifully presented here. There are also much lesser films like The Haunted House of Horror (1969,
00 ) an unsuccessful attempt at an American-style teen chiller relocated to swinging London with Frankie Avalon, of all people, and Virgin Witch (1972, O ) a dismal tits’n’asser with Vicki Michelle, much later of ’Allo, 'Allo. A
terrible attempt to marry the James Bond cycle with sci-fi, The Body Stealers (1969, O ) containing an appropriately sinister character called Mrs Thatcher, completes the collection, but where is the excellent Neither the Sand Nor the Sea (1973), a scary and rather beautiful rendering of WW Jacobs’ The Monkey’s Paw? An omission, but these films are all interesting about the time they represent, if not of even quality. (Steve Cramer)
I ELEASggRBEAU But Clouzot's merciless (THE RAVEN) interrogation of the dark 'A 3mm my "inner (pG) 90min side of human nature,
coupled with stinging political engagement. goes way beyond Hitch. The stow about a provincial town awash in a wave of mounting hysteria — following the delivery of hundreds of poison-pen letters accusing prominent members of the otherwrse sleepy
(Optimum Home Entertainment DVD retail) 0...
With its glOriOtisly cinematic set-pieces. cleverly plotted narrative and perverse psychology. this riveting whodunnit cements Henri-Georges Clouzot's reputation as the ‘French Hitchcock'.
community of crimes including abortion. adultery and drug addiction — makes for a controversial subject in itself. not least because anyone and everyone appears to be guilty. The fact that Clouzot made the film during the German occupation of nOrthern France — and for a Nazi-controlled studio — at a time when its citizens were denouncing each other to their invaders. is nothing short
‘ ‘ of incredible.
Unsurprisingly, Clouzot himself was denounced by the French political left and right and the church (though not the Nazis. oddly). and didn't work again for two years. Minimal extras.
(Miles Fielder)
ANIMATION
HARVIE KRUMPET
(1 2) 47min (Metrodome DVD retail) OOOO
This stirring biography follows Polish Harvek Milos Krumpetski from the cradle to his dotage. as he flees the Nazi occupation and ends up working in an Australian rubbish dump. Afflicted by both Tourette's syndrome and a magnetised metal plate in his head. he finally finds love and purpose. deSpite his jeremiad of woes. while learning the 'fakts‘ of life.
Geoffrey Rush's narration. evocative of Richard Briers' on Roobarb and Custard. lends an air of gravitas to the whimsical proceedings. his polished tones the perfect counterpoint to director Adam Elliot's homely claymation world.
Elliot shows great affection for the outsider — understandable given that his own father was a
retired acrobatic clown - and infuses proceedings with equal measures of optimism and black humour, making it easy to see why he beat heavyweights like Disney and Pixar to the Oscar for best animated short film in 2003. Extras include the claymation trilogy of Uncle. Cousin. and Brother.
(Dave Martin)
HORROR RAZORBACK
(18) 95min
(Anchor Bay DVD retail) .0.
Russell Highlander Mulcahy's tongue-in- cheek tale of porcine vengeance is a Silly, gow prospect that remains one of Australia's finest horror films.
When Beth Winters (Judy Morris). an American reporter and animal rights activist. goes missing, her husband Carl (Gregory Harrison) visits Australia to investigate. There he hooks up with Jake Cullen (Bill Kerr), a grizzled old trapper whose grandson was killed by the titular wild boar. and together they go a-hunting.
The creature may be only marginally more terrifying than the giant rabbits from Night of the Lupus. but Mulcahy deals with the ridiculous premise by restricting glimpses of the boar and deftly using the outback as a surreal. nightmarish landscape.
Unashamed of its influences. such as the Baker brothers. trappers and pet-food entrepreneurs who appear to have blundered on-screen from the set of Deliverance. and the lingering shots of animal
carcasses straight from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this may not have dated well but is
still a treat for horror fans. Minimal extras.
(Dave Martin)
CLASSIC SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS
(PG) 108min (Universal Home Entertainment DVD retail) 0000
(ll
Part screwball comedy.
part Hollywood satire.
Preston Sturges' 19408 classic directly inspired Orson Welles and (years later) the Coen brothers. The story. about a successful but disillusioned Hollywood director taking to the road with a wannabe starlet (Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake) as a piece of Steinbeckian research for a social commentary film he wants to make called 0 Brother, Where Art Thou?. is a wonderfully mischievous conceit given its relation to Sturges' own life. Switching from madcap farce to (somewhat earnest) comment on the humble nature of his medium, Sturges is having his cake and eating it (something McCrea's Sullivan never manages). The boisterous comedy and rapid delivery witticisms are belly laugh-inducing, while Lake (best known as a film noir sex kitten) is a comic revelation. With Sullivan '3 Travels (a play on that other great satirist Jonathan Swift) Sturges. who doesn't enjoy the widespread reputation he should. made one of the finest ever movies about movies. Extras include a commentary by Sturges fan Terry Jones. (Miles Fielder)
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