Classic Cinema
Blu-Ray Review: The Blood on Satan’s Claw
When discussing British horror films produced in the 1960s and ‘70s, thoughts naturally turn towards Hammer or Amicus. However, whilst the name might not be as well know, Tigon or Tigon British Film Productions were responsible for some of the most memorable genre cinema of the time. Witchfinder General is undoubtedly their most famous production …
Blu-Ray Review: La Ronde
There’s a strange and quite frankly farcical notion that in the ‘good old days’ everyone held hands until after marriage and promiscuity was something which only happened in the shadows. Sure, your gender and social class had a huge bearing on your ability to ‘play the field’, but it wasn’t the be all and end …
Blu-Ray Review: Julius Caesar
During the 1950s and 1960s Hollywood couldn’t get enough of big budget historical epics. The likes of Spartacus, Cleopatra, Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments proved incredibly popular as well as being critical acclaimed. Whilst Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Julius Caesar is slightly different owing to its Shakespearean heritage, it still contains all the elements you’d expect …
Blu-Ray Review: The Woman in the Window
Whilst it might be a slightly tender subject, when a man reaches a certain age he often yearns for his more youthful and carefree years. A midlife crisis can take many shapes and forms but it usually involves one or all of dressing stupidly, chasing ‘girls’ young enough to be your daughter, taking up an …
Blu-ray Review: Room at the Top
The end of World War II was meant to herald a turning point for British society and the institutionally ingrained class system which harked back to feudal times. In reality, whilst things did start to change, in many ways the rich and privileged just became better off. Young men returned from war to find themselves …
Blu-Ray Review: The Night of the Generals
It may come as a surprise to many but there were five different attempts to kill Adolph Hitler during the Third Reich. The first was an obsessed Swiss college student in 1938. This was followed by a beer hall bomb, death in a brandy bottle, a suicide mission and a conspiracy of officers. The latter …
Blu-Ray Review: The Song of Bernadette
Today, Lourdes is one of the most famous places of pilgrimage in the world. The fortunes of the quiet, rural, non-descript town in the foothills of the Pyrenees was changed forever in 1858. It was a small community whose most notable feature was a garrison. The kind of place people passed through to get somewhere …
Blu-Ray Review: One, Two, Three
James Cagney had one of the most interesting career arks in twentieth century Hollywood. He started out in cinema playing the tough guy in films during the 1930s and 1940s. The likes of Angels with Dirty Faces, The Public Enemy and White Heat made his name. Frustrated with being typecast, he always wanted more and …
Blu-ray Review: The Caretaker
Harold Pinter was one of the most influential and accomplished playwrights and poets of the twentieth century. Whilst he’s best known for his theatrical work, Pinter was also an accomplished screenwriter; adapting several of his own works as well as many by other writers. In 1963, he wrote the treatment of his own play The …
Blu-Ray Review: The White Reindeer
Myths, legends and fairy tales have long fascinated humans, permeating into just about every society and culture around the world. Folklore, passed down by word of mouth, song and eventually through the written word, still plays an integral role in many communities. These stories have often been thinly-veiled cautionary tales or moralistic parables to control …