Doctor Who: The Light at the End (Limited Collector's Edition - CD)

The 50th anniversary of Doctor Who brings a treat from Big Finish with a multi-Doctor adventure available in three editions: a limited collector's edition CD (which is the one I have); the standard CD edition; and a vinyl edition. The CD editions are also available to download.

So, what do we have in this delicious collector's CD edition? Well, there are a total of five discs featuring the adventure itself on discs one and two. Disc three has a 'making of' documentary; disc four brings us another documentary: Doctor Who at Big Finish; disc five is an entry in the Companion Chronicles series called 'The Revenants' which features William Russell.

This limited collector's edition CD set is presented in a book-size hard shell slip case. This is individually numbered with total copies pressed being 10,000.

Inside the shell is a hardcover book which houses the discs and some excellent photographs and artwork featuring various Doctors, companions and others. A taste of these follows:

The Three Doctors

Grand Companions

Doctors United

Recent DVD Pick Ups: Slaughter Disc and Not Now, Comrade

 

An anti-porn porn film? kind of, I suppose. Slaughter Disc is actually pretty good given its lack of budget. It's essentially a horror film with hardcore sequences. Or is it a hardcore film with horror sequences? Well, it works either way as far as I'm concerned.

The lovely Caroline Pierce stars as murderous porn queen, Andromeda Strange, whose debauchery knows no bounds. Her latest fan is Mike, a porn addict who's on the lookout for new kicks. But it's not long before he discovers that porn kills as the gorgeously gothic Andromeda's craving for blood becomes ever more urgent.

The DVD boasts a nice selection of extras including a making of sequence and a couple of photo galleries. On the downside, the menu options are horribly placed so that they effectively run over the side of the screen which makes navigating a bit of a nuisance.




A Russian ballet dancer decides to defect to the West with the help of his striptease-performing girlfriend played by the wonderful Carol Hawkins. Her accomplices are played by Michele Dotrice and Ian Lavender whose frantic attempts to stay one step ahead of the authorities give rise to misleadings and misunderstandings aplenty.

This is a Ray Cooney farce. Much of the action takes place in the living room of one Commander Rimmington (Leslie Phillips). It's a nice living room - big with lots of space for slapstick and swinging doors. 'Not Now, Comrade' isn't quite as much fun as Cooney's 1973 farce 'Not Now, Darling', but it is still a more than pleasant way to spend an hour and a half. The cast also includes Ray Cooney himself along with Roy Kinnear, Windsor Davies and June Whitfield. There's also a cameo appearance from Don Estelle. However, the star of the show is Carol Hawkins.





Oh, Carol!

 

 

Recent DVD Pick Ups - 84 Charing Cross Road and, erm, Fantom Kiler 2

Don't know why it's taken me so long to pick up a copy of this film on DVD because I love it. I first saw it at the cinema on its release and subsequently owned a copy of the VHS and, of course, the book.

Lovely central performances from Anthony Hopkins as London bookseller Frank Doel, and Anne Bancroft as writer and bookworm Helene Hanff who cannot find the books she craves in New York. Given that the two leads do not appear on screen together and communicate only by letter there must have been a risk that this would look too much like a stage play. However, the excellent supporting cast along with the vibrant New York and staid London settings open the film out nicely.

And from the sublime to the ridiculous! I happened upon a second hand copy of Fantom Kiler 2 and obviously, I had to get it (I've already got entries 1 and 3 in the series). It's gloriously awful stuff with a crazed killer (or should I say 'kiler') on the loose who manages to find his way about even though his face is covered by what looks like a thick woollen sock. There's a detective on the case, though. Unfortunately, he's an arrogant moron who makes Inspector Clouseau look like Sherlock Holmes.

Stand by for inept English subtitles (that's when you can actually read them against the light backgrounds on the film), fake blood and naked loveliness. It's not quite as good as the first Fantom Kiler film - but what is, eh? What is?

And speaking of the first Fantom Kiler, here's a clip from that particular classic.

My Hammer Horror Top Ten

When I saw Alan Toner's blog post listing his top ten Hammer Horror films, it got me thinking about my own favourites and I decided to list my own top ten. So. . .

1. The Vampire Lovers (1970)









2. Vampire Circus (1972)

3. Twins of Evil (1971) 

4. Hands of the Ripper (1971)

5. Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

Recent DVD and Book Buys

TRUE GRIT Excellent stuff from the Coen Brothers with Jeff Bridges in fine form as Rooster Cogburn, a worse for wear U.S. Marshall who is persuaded by 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) to track down her father's killer. This is a visual feast and I'm glad I managed to get to the cinema to see it on the big screen. Hailee Steinfeld has been highly praised for her performance, and rightly so. Not to be missed.

 SAVAGE STREETS The BBFC kindly waived the film's previous cuts and Arrow's release of this vigilante "classic" is beautifully presented. There's the double sided cover (the alternative is a little more sedate than the one pictured), a poster-sized version of the cover picture and a booklet written by Kier-la Janisse (the author of A Violent Professional: The Films of Luciano Rossi) about the film and others in the female vigilante genre. A ton of bonus material is on the DVD including interviews with Linda Blair and Linnea Quigley, and three audio commentaries. The U.S.-released special edition is out of print, but the bonus material featured on Arrow's release is largely the same. That U.S. release will set you back a pretty penny, but this release is region-free and should serve as a good substitute albeit on a single-disc. The film follows a female gang, The Satins, who are out for a good time. They take a car belonging to a gang of testosterone-charged lunkheads on a joyride. The lads don't take kindly to this and in an act of revenge, they brutally rape the most vulnerable Satin, the innocent and deaf Heather (Linnea Quigley), leaving her almost beaten to death. Now, Heather's sister, Brenda (Linda Blair), is out for vengeance  . . . A film very much of its 1980s time, Savage Streets is pretty silly stuff, but I do like a vigilante film and I like this one very much.

DVDs I Got For Christmas 2010

Just finished unwrapping my Christmas presents which included some DVDs. Love getting DVDs!

Doctor Who - Kamelion Tales I love my Doctor Who and the two stories contained in this set (Planet of Fire and The King's Demons) are two that I've not seen since they were originally transmitted. Planet of Fire marked Nicola Bryant's debut in the show and this set also includes a special edition of this story. I liked Peter Davison as the Doctor and I hope he takes part in the audio commentaries: he's usually good value in them.

Being Human (Series One) and Being Human (Series Two) 
I had mentioned these show in my review for the SFX Vampire Special magazine earlier this year. However, I'd not previously seen the programme. To put that right, I rented both series, but my series two experience was ruined because the second episode would not play properly (the disc was very badly scuffed). I knew enough by that time, though, that this would be a show that I could happily watch again. And now, thanks to my generous brother, I can!

DVD Review - Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide

I originally posted this review on the Killer Reviews website, but they recently removed their movie reviews forums. So, for what it's worth, I thought my review may as well live on here . . .


Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide contains three DVDs with material as follows:

Disc One: A documentary about the video nasty controversy. This has a running time of approximately 72 minutes. There are also 50 minutes of company idents which will give some of us UK citizens of a certain age pangs of nostalgia. This disc ends with an image gallery containing cover art of the 80 titles that were on the Department of Public Prosecution’s section three list. These films were not liable for prosecution under the Obscene Publications Act, but they could be seized by the police. Some of the titles on this list were: The Hills Have Eyes, Friday 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Zombies: Dawn of the Dead.

Disc Two: Introductions and trailers from the 39 “nasties” that were successfully prosecuted in the UK courts and deemed liable to deprave and corrupt. Anyone found supplying these titles could face a fine or a prison sentence. Some of the titles on this list were: Cannibal Holocaust, I Spit on Your Grave, The Burning and Driller Killer. The running time for this section is approximately 4 hours and there’s an option to view the trailers only. There’s also an image gallery containing cover art for the 39 titles.