Film and TV

Blu-ray: The Beastmaster (1982) A buff Marc Singer in a loin cloth. Tanya Roberts boobs. A tiger painted black. Stunt ferrets. A human baby born from an ox. All the above, and more, is in The Beastmaster; a movie that is as mad as a box of frogs and non-stop fun for its entire 118 […]

Blu-ray: Doom Asylum (1987) Despite its relatively short 78 minute running time (which includes lots of clips from old movies, and the repetition of many shots), Doom Asylum packs in more than enough (cheap) gore, belly laughs, and absolute sheer insanity that puts many of its low budget rivals to shame. Mitch (Michael Rogen) is […]

Blu-ray: Bride of Re-Animator & Beyond Re-Animator (1989 & 2003) Following on from Tina’s review of Re-Animator (a fantastic 1st entry in Umbrella Entertainment’s new ‘Beyond Genres’ series of releases) it is now my pleasure to dip into Volume 2 of Beyond Genres and the wild and wacky happenings in the double bill of Bride […]

DVD: Norbert Smith, A Life (1989) Originally broadcast on 3rd November 1989, Norbert Smith, A Life is a ‘mockumentary’ starring Harry Enfield as the titular Norbert; an octogenarian actor, who while being interviewed by Melvyn Bragg, reminisces about his long and varied career, while showing clips of him in his acting roles. Despite its lean […]

Blu-ray & DVD: Sweet Country (2017) Thematically similar to both the recently reviewed The Tracker and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Sweet Country once again highlights the mental and physical abuse of indigenous Australians at the hands of white oppressors with their over-inflated sense of self importance and egos so big that it’s no wonder […]

DVD: Plebs (2013 – ) Plebs was first broadcast on ITV2 from March 2013, and COMPLETELY passed us by at 60MW Towers. I’d seen the odd advert for it, but just never seemed to catch it when it was on. Normally when we get offered full series of TV shows I am quite hesitant, as unless I’ve […]

Blu-ray: Modern Romance (1981) “You’ve never heard of an unwinnable situation? Vietnam? This?” It is unsurprising in a post Generation X world filled with modern anxieties that sardonic, dry wit is an expected reaction to the world around us. Laughing in a sarcastic tone at our daily misfortunes is how many of us fool ourselves […]

Alan Bleasdale is an English screenwriter who has written for radio, stage and screen. Born in Liverpool, his social commentary focuses on the underprivileged working class within society, and often showing a gritty, realistic depiction of what it is like to survive from day to day. Simply Media have released 5 of Bleasdale’s Channel 4 […]

DVD: Filmworker (2017) “An abusive relationship? No, I was quite willing”, so says Stanley Kubrick’s assistant Leon Vitali after the release of Filmworker, and it’s a telling quote as at times, this 2017 American documentary film directed by Tony Zierra about Vitali, can be a hard watch. After being hand picked to play the part of Lord Bullingdon […]

Blu-ray: Xtro (1982) Written and directed by Harry Bromley Davenport (a man whose 12 IMDB directorial credits are 25% the Xtro trilogy) Xtro is a low budget, yet strangely addictive sci-fi movie that narrowly avoided prosecution on the original ‘video nasties’ list. Sam Phillips (Philip Sayer) is playing with his family in the back garden of […]