Favorite DVD Releases of 2007: Part III. - Top 30 DVDs #11-20.

John Savage in The Killing Kind (1973)

The Killing Kind (Dark Sky Films)
Please see my brief look at this Curtis Harrington film HERE.

Latitude Zero (1969)

Latitude Zero (Dub Sub) (Media Blasters)
Please see my review of Ishiro Honda’s Latitude Zero HERE.

Legends of the Poisonous Seductress #1: Female Demon Ohyaku (1969)

Legends of the Poisonous Seductress #1: Female Demon Ohyaku (Synapse Films / Ryko)
Legends of the Poisonous Seductress #1: Female Demon Ohyaku (Yoen Dokufuden Hannya no Ohyaku, 1968) is the first film in a trilogy of pinky violence films released by Synapse / Ryko. I haven’t had the opportunity to see the other two films in this series yet, but Female Demon Ohyaku is an incredibly effective revenge tale featuring some bold black and white cinematography by Nagaki Yamagishi and impressive direction by Yoshihiro Ishikawa. The film stars the lovely Junko Miyazono as Ohyaku Dayu and she’s very good here as a young tightrope walker who falls in love with a handsome thief (Kunio Murai). After the two are involved in a failed plan to steal money from the local government, Ohyaku Dayu is tortured and her lover is brutally killed, so she vows revenge on his murderers. Legends of the Poisonous Seductress #1: Female Demon Ohyaku is one of the earliest examples of the pinky violence genre and the film is surprisingly erotic and brutal at times. The adult nature of the movie’s themes and its period setting give Yoshihiro Ishikawa’s movie an air of gravitas that is often missing from typical pinky violence productions. The Legends of the Poisonous Seductress series was never theatrically released outside of Japan but thanks to Synapse, western viewers now have the opportunity to see these fascinating films. The DVD includes a nice looking widescreen presentation of the film with English subtitles, commentary by Chris Desjardins (aka Chris D.), trailers for all three of the Legends of the Poisonous Seductress films and liner notes written by Chris Desjardins as well.

Julia Foster and Tom Courtney in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Warner Home Video)
In some ways Tony Richardson’s The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) could be viewed as a sort of older sibling of Lindsay Anderson’s If…., but Richardson’s film is a quieter movie in many ways and its power comes from the almost documentary-style direction Richardson uses while employing popular New Wave techniques such as montage and jump cuts to tell his tale. The film centers on an angry and self-destructive youth named Colin, who’s played wonderfully by the British actor Tom Courtney. Courtney may have been a few years too old for his role, but his world-weary looks only add to the effectiveness of his performance in my opinion. The film is based on a novel by Alan Sillitoe who also wrote the screenplay. Sillitoe had previously written Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, which was made into a film by Karel Reisz, and although both of Sillitoe’s novels helped give voice to Britain’s “angry young men” in the late fifties and early sixties, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a very different work that has a much stronger anti-establishment message than Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Besides Lindsay Anderson’s If…., The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner also shares a sportsmanship theme that is somewhat comparable to Anderson’s This Sporting Life, but neither of these films should be viewed as simple “sports” films. This Sporting Life and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner use football and long distance running as mere background elements to round out their complex narratives dealing with masculine pride and male identity in Postwar Britain. I hope to write more about this wonderful film in the future, but I will add that the new Warner DVD includes a terrific looking transfer of the film that has been enhanced for widescreen displays and the original theatrical trailer. I wish Warner had included more extras with this important release as well as a commentary track, but since this is the first time the film has officially been made available on Region 1 DVD, I can’t complain too much.

Helga Line and Tony Kendall in The Loreley’s Grasp (1974)

The Loreley’s Grasp (Deimos Entertainment / BCI Eclipse)
After being disappointed by Amando de Ossorio’s The Night of the Sorcerers (1973), which was also released on DVD last year by Deimos / BCI Eclipse, my expectations were extremely low for the director’s The Loreley’s Grasp (1974) (1974). Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised by this terrific film, which is undoubtedly one of the Amando de Ossorio’s most entertaining efforts. The Loreley’s Grasp is basically a monster movie with an attractive European cast, but Amando de Ossorio’s creative direction and writing combined with the beautiful locations, groovy fashions and the unusual folktale elements in his sctory really elevated the material in my opinion. The Loreley’s Grasp is stylish and occasionally trashy fun that is well worth a look if you enjoy European horror movies as much as I do. I’m grateful that Deimos / BCI Eclipse is making an effort to release so many previously hard to see Spanish films on DVD and The Loreley’s Grasp is definitely one of their strongest releases. The newly restored widescreen transfer looks terrific and the DVD comes with some nice extras including a theatrical trailer, two audio tracks (English subtitled and dubbed), the Spanish credit sequence, still gallery, and informative liner notes by author Mirik Lipinski.

Malpertuis (1971)

Malpertuis (Barrel Entertainment)
I’ve admired Harry Kümel’s marvelous vampire film Daughters of Darkness (1971) for many years but I’ve never had the opportunity to see any of the directors other movies. Thankfully that changed this year after Barrel Entertainment released Kümel’s fascinating Malpertuis (1971) on DVD in 2007. Malpertuis is an unusual and surreal film that mixes fantasy and horror elements with Greek mythology. The cast includes the talented British actress Susan Hampshire who starred in Neither the Sea Nor the Sand (another film on my list of favorite DVDs of 2007) and the enigmatic Orson Welles, who manages to make a big impression here even though his role is rather limited. Harry Kümel’s direction might seem a little muddled at times, but I was totally enchanted by this beautiful film and it was easily one of the most interesting movies I was introduced to in 2007. The film was definitely helped by Gerry Fisher’s color photography and a wonderful Georges Delerue score. While watching Malpertuis I was reminded of Guy Green’s underrated film The Magus (1968) that appeared on my list of Favorite DVDs last year. Both films share a similar sensibility and they would make for an interesting double feature. This two-disc DVD set is loaded with noteworthy extras including two versions of the film (the director’s cut and a copy of the English language version that debuted at Cannes in 1972), a trailer, multiple featurettes including Susan Hampshire: One Actress, Three Parts and Orson Welles Uncut, which collects rare outtakes of Welles on the set of Malpertuis while the cast and crew discuss what it was like to work with him. The DVD also features Audio commentary from Harry Kümel and a lengthy interview, but unfortunately the director comes across as a rather ungrateful and bitter man with a limited sense of humor. I was more impressed by the 7-minute featurette about the surreal novelist Jean Ray that was included on the DVD and it made me eager to seek out his work. Overall this is a really remarkable release!

Jean-Baptiste Thierree in Muriel (1963)

Muriel (Koch Lorber Films)
The more I’m exposed to Alain Resnais, the more I fall in love with his work so I was thrilled that Koch Lorber decided to release the director’s award-wining film Muriel (Muriel ou Le temps d’un Retour, 1963) on DVD last year. I had never seen Muriel before but I was utterly transfixed by the film. Like Resnais’ previous films, Muriel explores complex themes about memory and the passing of time as it’s experienced by people who have been deeply traumatized by events that are often beyond their control. Muriel stars the lovely and talented Delphine Seyrig in one of her least glamorous roles as a widowed woman in France trying to make sense of the past, while her family and friends struggle with the after-effects of the Algerian War. I loved the way Resnais creatively played with montage and color in Muriel, but the film occasionally appears a bit static when compared to his earlier efforts such as the magnificent Hiroshima mon amour (1959) and Last Year at Marienbad (1961). This is probably due to the lack of dolly shots in Muriel, which are often one of the director’s most notable trademarks. Critics love to use words like “impenetrable” when discussing Resnais’ films and I personally find his work complex but very accessible. As much as I love the visual poetry Alain Resnais is able to manifest in his work, I’m really drawn in by the language at times that has a lucidity and pure magic that I find utterly compelling. No matter what writer Resnais is collaborating with, the director is able to bring his own rhythm to the screenplay, which easily distinguishes the work of one of France’s greatest auteurs. The Koch Lorber DVD contains a nice widescreen presentation of the film with English subtitles, the original theatrical trailer and an interview with author Francois Thomas.

Sally Smith in Naked You Die (1968)

Naked You Die (Dark Sky Films)
Please see my review of Naked You Die at Cinedelica, which you can find HERE

Neither the Sea Nor the Sand (1972)

Neither the Sea Nor the Sand (Image Entertainment)
Please see my previous review of Neither the Sea Nor the Sand HERE.

Malcolm McDowell in O Lucky Man! (1973)

O Lucky Man! (Two-Disc Special Edition) (Warner Home Video)
Please see my brief look at Lindsay Anderson’s O Lucky Man! HERE.

Links to the first, second and fourth part of my Favorite DVD Releases of 2007 list can be found below:
- Favorite DVD Releases of 2007: Part I. - The DVD Year in Review - An Introduction
- Favorite DVD Releases of 2007: Part II. - Top 30 DVDs #1-10
- Favorite DVDs of 2007 Part IV. (#21-30)

The last part of my Favorite DVD Releases of 2007 - #21-30 will be posted tomorrow.

Favorite DVD Releases of 2007: Part II. - Top 30 DVDs #1-10.

Black Test Car (1962)

Black Test Car (Fantoma)
Yasuzo Masumura is one of my favorite Japanese directors, but unfortunately many of his films are unavailable on DVD and have never been seen outside of Japan. Thankfully Fantoma has been making an effort to release many of Masumura’s films and in 2007 they released his brilliant and extremely dark satire Black Test Car (Kuro no tesuto kaa, 1962). The film takes a rather unflattering look at the corruption and greed behind the burgeoning car industry in Japan and anyone who’s familiar with the director’s earlier film Giants and Toys (Kyojin to gangu, 1958) will immediately spot similarities between the two movies. Masumura was a director who was clearly interested in critiquing Japan’s economic boom and exploring the ways in which American capitalism was affecting Japanese society after WW2. As much as I enjoyed the director’s colorful satire Giants and Toys (1958), I personally think Black Test Car is a more effective film dealing with similar themes and I’m grateful that Fantoma has made it available on DVD. Black Test Car features some stunning black and white photography, and Masumura’s direction is top-notch here. All the actors involved with the production deliver some great performances, but I found Jiro Tamiya and Junko Kano especially effective as a young couple whose relationship becomes deeply strained throughout the course of the film. The Fantoma DVD contains an excellent widescreen transfer of the film along with the original theatrical trailer, a biography on the director and still galleries.

Peter O’Toole in Becket (1964)

Becket (MPI Home Video)
I enjoy well-done British historical dramas and many great ones were released on DVD for the first time last year including the wonderful Anne of the Thousand Days (1968), which I also considered including on my list. But my favorite film of the bunch was Becket (1964), which is based on the Tony Award-winning play written by Jean Anouilh. The film plays somewhat free and loose with historical facts, but still manages to be an engaging and thoughtful take on the important events surrounding the relationship between King Henry II and Thomas Becket (the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170). Becket was directed by the gay filmmaker Peter Glenville and he injects the film with a wonderfully subversive edge that hints at a deeper relationship between Becket and King Henry II, who are played brilliantly by Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole. The film can be viewed simply as a great historical drama and I first saw it presented as an education tool when I was in high-school, but I also think Becket is one of the most sentimental and moving films ever shot about unrequited love shared between two men. Watching Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton struggle with their feelings for one another is what really keeps the film interesting and adds weight to the political power plays in the film and its dramatic conclusion. The DVD features an audio commentary from Peter O’Toole, the original trailer, an impressive still gallery and archival interviews with Richard Burton as well as composer Laurence Rosenthal and editor Anne V. Coates.

Doris Day in Caprice (1967)

Caprice (20th Century Fox)
Like movies such as Last of the Secret Agents? (1966) and Skidoo (1968), Caprice (1967) is a film often talked about disparagingly by people who’ve never actually seen it and it’s nowhere near as awful as you’ve been led to believe. Yes, the film has its problems and its stars (Doris Day and Richard Harrison, who’s rarely looked so good) don’t seem to have much chemistry on screen, but this entertaining spy satire also contains some really funny bits, well-done action scenes, fantastic Ray Aghayan costumes and a wonderfully polished pop-art look thanks to director Frank Tashlin and Oscar winning cinematographer Leon Shamroy. I never expected Caprice to get a DVD release, much less one as wonderful as this, but 20th Century Fox really went all out last year. Besides a spectacular restored widescreen transfer of the film, the DVD also includes commentary tracks by film historian John Cork and Pierre Patrick, a fascinating interview with costume designer Ray Aghayan, radio interviews with Doris Day and Richard Harrison, a nice photo gallery and two interesting shorts called Double-O Doris and Doris and Marty that explores the strained relationship between the Doris Day and her husband & manager, Martin Melcher. Hopefully I’ll get around to writing a longer review of Caprice in the future, but in the meantime, I highly recommend the film if you happen to enjoy Dean Martin’s Matt Helm movies as much as I do.

Chosen Survivors (1974)

Chosen Survivors / The Earth Dies Screaming (Midnite Movies / 20th Century Fox)
Last year 20th Century Fox released some terrific films as part as their wonderful Midnite Movies series, including The House on Skull Mountain / The Mephisto Waltz double feature, which I also wanted to include on my list. I haven’t seen all of last year’s Midnite Movie double features, but Chosen Survivors / The Earth Dies Screaming was one of my favorites. Before the DVD was released I hadn’t seen either of these unusual science fiction films before, but I really enjoyed them. Chosen Survivors (1974) tells an apocalyptic tale about a group of strangers thrown together in a sort of underground holding tank by the U.S. military after a thermonuclear war has destroyed earth’s surface. Things get worse when bloodthirsty bats show up and start killing people. There’s something strangely compelling about the film, and it’s definitely helped by the wonderful space age set designs and cast, which includes Jackie Cooper in what has to be his creepiest role ever. The film was directed by Sutton Roley who made lots of films for television and Chosen Survivors often has a “small set” feel, but it’s also really entertaining. The Earth Dies Screaming (1964) has a somewhat similar theme involving space aliens who use poison gas to wipe out the earth’s population leaving only a handful of survivors to deal with the aftermath. It was directed by the talented British director and Hammer legend Terence Fisher, who brings a lot of stylish touches to this low-budget movie. Overall I enjoyed Chosen Survivors a bit more, but The Earth Dies Screaming contains some rather creepy moments reminiscent of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968). This nice looking two-disc DVD set from 20th Century Fox makes for a worthwhile night of viewing.

The Holy Mountain (1973)

The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky: Fando y Lis / El Topo / The Holy Mountain (Starz / Anchor Bay)
This impressive DVD collection features three of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s earliest films and besides one major complaint I have (when will we get a good NTSC Region 1 DVD release of the director’s best film, Santa Sangre?), this really is a spectacular collection of avant-garde cinema that should be savored. Jodorowsky’s surreal efforts play with genre expectations and are loaded with iconographic imagery and strange landscapes that I never get tired of exploring. El Topo (1970) is probably my favorite film in the collection, but The Holy Mountain (1974) gets more interesting with each viewing. Alejandro Jodorowsky is a fascinating artist and this important collection sheds some much needed light on his body of work. This new DVD set features beautiful restored and re-mastered transfers of his films, plus many impressive extras including soundtracks for El Topo and The Holy Mountain, exclusive in-depth interviews and a feature-length documentary about the director, photo galleries and Jodorowsky’s directorial debut short called La Cravate, which was long thought lost.

Anais Nin in Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954)

The Films of Kenneth Anger” Vol. 1 and Vol. 2(Fantoma)
Fantoma should be applauded for bringing this terrific two-volume collection of Kenneth Anger’s esoteric short films (1947-1981) to DVD. Previously I had only seen a few of Anger’s films (Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, 1954 and Invocation of My Demon Brother, 1969) on poor-quality videos, but Fantoma really did a spectacular job of restoring these experimental movies and they look better than ever. I’ve only managed to watch the first volume of this new DVD collection myself, but I wanted to include both volumes on my list because I think Anger’s work is smart, challenging, thought provoking and well worth seeking out. Many interesting counterculture figures and artists such as Anais Nin, Anton LaVey, Mick Jagger and filmmaker Curtis Harrington appear in Anger’s films and collaborated with him, which makes these films important historical documents as well as fascinating viewing. Extras include a deluxe 48-page book with an introduction by Martin Scorsese, audio commentary from Kenneth Anger, rare outtakes and more.

The Singing Street (1952)

Free Cinema (Facets)
This amazing three-disc DVD collection from Facets collects many influential short films from Britain’s Free Cinema movement, which helped reinvent documentary in the early 1950s and gave birth to the British New Wave. Working on shoestring budgets with hand-held 16mm cameras, directors like Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and Lindsay Anderson were able to create startling films that brilliantly brought Britain and its working-class citizens to life, while exploring the underlying social tensions that seemed to be lingering right under the countries surface after WW2. This is the first time these important films (shot between 1952-1963) have been made available on Region 1 DVD and they really highlight the imagination and intelligence of these young British filmmakers, who would go on to create some of the greatest films made in the sixties and seventies. This three-disc DVD collection includes an extensive booklet from the BFI (British Film Institute) and an interesting documentary about the Free Cinema Movement. I hope to write much more about the films in this wonderful collection soon.

Peter Cushing in From Beyond the Grave (1973)

From Beyond the Grave (Warner Home Video)
Please see my previous review of this terrific Amicus anthology film HERE.

Horrors of Malformed Men (1969)

Horrors of Malformed Men (Synapse Films)
For years I’ve been hoping someone would unearth this rare experimental Japanese horror film that was often assumed lost after it was banned in Japan shortly after its initial release, so you can imagine how happy and surprised I was to discover that Synapse was releasing it on DVD last year. Thankfully the film did not disappoint and Horrors of Malformed Men (1969) turned out to be one of the most fascinating Japanese horror films I’ve ever seen. Horrors of Malformed Men is based on an original novel by the popular Japanese author Edogawa Rampo that borrows a lot from H. G. Wells’ classic The Island of Dr. Moreau. Director Teruo Ishii takes what could have been a somewhat familiar premise and turns it into a fascinating fever dream that combines Butoh dance, stunning color photography and a haunting soundtrack by famed composer Masao Yagi. You might laugh, you might cry and you might even have your mind blown by this unapologetically strange and surreal film. Be sure to watch the great interviews included on the DVD with directors Shinya Tsukamoto and Minoru Kawasaki, which only add to the film’s enjoyment and offer an interesting look at the influence this unusual movie had on a new generation of Japanese filmmakers. Other great extras include audio commentary by author Mark Schilling, the original Japanese trailer, a poster gallery and detailed biographies of director Teruo Ishii and author Edogawa Rampo.

Malcolm McDowell in If…. (1968)

If…. (Criterion Collection)
When I first saw Lindsay Anderson’s If…. (1968) it deeply affected me and helped spark my lifelong interest in British cinema. Over the years my admiration for Anderson’s smart film about British youth “revolting against the status quo and daring to imagine what it might be like to put something else in its place” (David Ehrenstein - from his Criterion Essay written for DVD release of If….) has only grown. In the film Malcolm McDowell gives an iconic performance as a troubled student named Mick Travis who rebels against the system with his imagination and wits. I love the way Anderson creatively mixes color with black and white photography within If…. in order to give Mick Travis an inner life that’s so incredibly rich that he seems to literally live and breath right on the screen. If…. has often been compared to Jean Vigo’s 1932 classic Zero for Conduct and Anderson was undoubtedly inspired to some degree by that film, but If…. is clearly a product of the turbulant times that it was made in and frankly it’s a superior and more complex effort that ranks as one of the greatest and most important British films of the sixties. Criterion really did a remarkable job on their two-disc DVD presentation of If…., which includes a newly restored high-definition digital transfer of the film approved by cinematographer Miroslav Ondricek, an insightful audio commentary with actor Malcolm McDowell and film historian David Robinson, interviews with McDowell, Ondricek, Anderson’s assistant Stephen Frears, producer Michael Medwin and screenwriter David Sherwin, Anderson’s Academy Award–winning documentary about a school for deaf children called Thursday’s Children (1954) narrated by Richard Burton and a very nice booklet featuring articles about the film by David Ehrenstein, as well as screenwriter David Sherwin and director Lindsay Anderson.

Links to the first, third and fourth part of my Favorite DVD Releases of 2007 list can be found here:
- Favorite DVD Releases of 2007: Part I. - The DVD Year in Review - An Introduction
- Favorite DVDs of 2007 Part III. (#11-20)
- Favorite DVDs of 2007 Part IV. (#21-30)

Part III. of my Favorite DVD Releases of 2007 - #11-20 will be posted soon so stay tuned!

Last week I neglected to post my DVD pick of the week, but the pickings were slim and I couldn’t recommend anything. This week there are plenty of great new DVD releases to get excited about such as Polart’s release of Andrzej Zulawski’s The Devil (Diabel, 1972), The second Mario Bava DVD Box Set and Warner’s new Stanley Kubrick DVD Box Set, but my DVD pick of the week is Lindsay Anderson’s O Lucky Man! (1973), which was released by Warner as an impressive Two-Disc Special Edition on Tuesday.

I’ve been really happy to see Lindsay Anderson’s films finding there way onto on DVD this year. Anderson is one of my favorite British directors and one of the most important figures of the British New Wave, but his early films have often been hard to see in the U.S. and they were never made available on DVD until recently. Thankfully that’s finally changing. Criterion released Anderson’s brilliant If…. (1968) on DVD earlier this year and they recently announced their plans to release This Sporting Life (1963) in early 2008. Now Warner has entered into the Anderson DVD arena with their impressive Deluxe 2 Disc release of O Lucky Man! which as I mentioned over at Cinedelica earlier this week, promises to be one of the best DVD releases of the year.

O Lucky Man! is the second film in Lindsay Anderson’s trilogy focused around the character of Michael Arnold Travis aka Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell) who first appeared in If…. and made his last appearance in Anderson’s Britannia Hospital (1982). All three films offer a critical and humorous look at social and political concerns in Britain, which I personally find just as relevant today as they were some 40 years ago. O Lucky Man! is a sort of surreal musical satire that often veers off in the most unexpected directions, but I’ve always found it really engaging and that has a lot to do with Malcolm McDowell’s terrific performance as Mick Travis. Some of the musical numbers in the film don’t always work for me, but Anderson’s ability to mix brilliant eye-catching imagery with smart dialogue is hard to top. O Lucky Man! contains some of the director’s most impressive scenes, but this middle film in Anderson’s terrific trilogy seems to often be overlooked. Thankfully the new Warner DVD will give more people a chance to see the director’s follow-up to If…. and hopefully a new DVD release of Anderson’s Britannia Hospital is in the works since the Anchor Bay release is now out-of-print.

Recommended Links:
- My write-up on Warner’s new O Lucky Man! Two-Disc Special Edition DVD at Cinedelica
- Tim Lucas talks about Malcolm McDowell
- The Lindsay Anderson Memorial Foundation

A tsunami of great new DVDs have been hitting store shelves lately. I can’t keep up with all the great new releases, but this week there are some really terrific films finding their way onto DVD for the first time and I couldn’t resist mentioning them here.

Criterion is releasing Lindsay Anderson’s brilliant British drama If…. (1968) and I’ve been eagerly awaiting it for months. If…. has long been one of my favorite films after I first saw it playing in a theater as part of a double bill with Peter Brook’s wonderfully disturbing Lord of the Flies (1963) when I was just a teenager. Oddly enough I saw both movies as part of a class field trip. I was stuck in a sort of reform school for troubled teens at the time and for some reason the school supervisors thought the movies would be helpful to the students “psychological development.” The only thing I really wanted to do after watching both films was burn down the school and spit in the face of every authority figure that got in my way. I don’t think that was the outcome the school supervisors wanted, but I can’t imagine what kind of a reaction they were expecting from a bunch of rebellious teens?

Most of the other students who watched If…. with me left halfway through the film to go smoke cigarettes outside the theater much to our chaperone’s distress, but I was transfixed by what I was seeing on the screen. Lindsay Anderson’s film spoke to me in ways that no movie ever had before and I listened. I’m sure my own troubled youth spent in reform schools and shelters made it easy for me to quickly respond to the film’s anti-authority message since I was obviously questioning the adult world around me and often acting out in agressive ways. Even though the young British men in If…. would seem to be completely different creatures from the angry American girl I was at the time, I easily found common ground with them and developed a huge crush on the movie’s star, a very young Malcolm McDowell. The film has haunted me ever since. If…. always manages to find its way onto any list I put together of my favorite films and I suppose I have my old school supervisors to thank for that, so they must have been doing something right.

I own a video copy of If…. that I recorded off of TV in the late 80s, but I look forward to replacing it with the new Criterion DVD which is loaded with terrific extras.

Also worth a look is Marlon Brando and Stephanie Beacham in Michael Winner’s The Nightcomers (1972) which is an unusual take on one of my favorite horror stories, Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw. Lots of critics and film fans seem to have issues with Winner’s films, but I happen to think he’s an under-appreciated director. I’ve only seen The Nightcomers on TV and I caught it late one night after it had already started. I’m not sure if I missed anything and the version I saw was undoubtedly cut up, so I look forward to finally seeing the film in full.

The gritty drama Panic in Needle Park (1971) is another interesting movie finding its way onto DVD this week. The film features Al Pacino in his first starring role as a troubled small time criminal whose heroin addiction is slowly destroying him. I’ve seen this once on television many years ago so I’m looking forward to seeing it out again.

My vote for the week’s best DVD re-release has to go to Jean Herman’s entertaining crime film Honor Among Thieves (a.k.a. Adieu l’ami, 1968) which features Alain Delon and Charles Bronson in their first film together. I think Delon & Bronson work well as a team and if you enjoy good heist films Honor Among Thieves is worth a look. Both actors became friends on the set and would later go on to make the great 1971 western Red Sun (a.k.a. Soleil Rouge) together with Toshirô Mifune.

Last but not least Criterion is also releasing two films by Yugoslavian director Dusan Makavejev, W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism (1971) and Sweet Movie (1974). I haven’t seen either myself, but I’ve read a lot about them and they both sound really interesting so I’m looking forward to giving them a look in the future.