Vernon Sewell’s accomplished B-movie from 1962, Strongroom, has a restoration and a new release on Blu-ray from the BFI, including among its extras his film from the previous year, The Man in the Back Seat. Review by Gary Couzens.
Two 1961 chillers from director Sidney J. Furie – The Snake Woman and Dr. Blood's Coffin – are to be released as Limited Edition Blu-ray editions by Hammer in May.
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Emerald Fennell’s stock-in-trade is revenge intrigue with a smear of soft-porn perversion. Her high camp take on Emily Brontë’s Gothic firecracker should sizzle with transgressive heat but is curiously cold, conservative and phlegmatic. All artifice and no soul, it is a fleeting thing of the moment. If it is a sign of our times, Jerry Whyte wonders what it signifies.
The second of the BFI’s releases from the Associated-Rediffusion catalogue, Daniel Farson’s Guide to Britain Volume 1 is released as a dual-format edition in which he looks at aspects of life, culture and famous people of the late 1950s to the early 1960s. Gary Couzens opens the time capsule.
After a couple of months away from the review desk due to difficult personal circumstances, Slarek gets to grips with the six British noir titles and the many hours of special features that make up Indicator’s splendid Blu-ray box set, Columbia Noir #7: Made in Britain.
Five early films from the great American documentarian, Cinema Expanded: The Films of Frederick Wiseman, is a three-disc Blu-ray set from the BFI. Review by Gary Couzens.
In a lengthy piece that has been seriously delayed by unfortunate personal circumstances, Slarek looks back at a few of his favourite films from 2025, goes on a political rant about why he has put his usual political rant on hold, has a heartfelt moan about the impact of AI, and fesses up to the biggest mistake he’s yet made as a reviewer.
François Truffaut’s The Wild Child (L’enfant sauvage), telling the true story of the Wild Boy of Aveyron, is released on Blu-ray by Radiance. Review by Gary Couzens.