Lars von Trier's Europa trilogy comes to the UK [25 Jun 2005]

Tartan have announced the August release of Lars von Trier's Europa Trilogy, also known as the E-Trilogy, consisting of Element of Crime (1984), Epidemic (1988) and Europa (1991), all remastered and packaged as a 4-disk box set with a host of splendid extras. This is not before time, of course, as although two of the films are already avaliable from Tartan, the disks leave something to be desired - Element of Crime is non-anamorphic, and Europa has the original 2.35:1 picture cropped to 1.85:1, and neither are hot on extras. Epidemic will be receiving its first release in the UK as part of this set. Element of Crime will feature two commentary tracks, the first by von Trier, writer and editor Tomas Gislason and director of photography Tom Elling, the second by von Trier expert Peter Schlepelern and director Stig Bjørkman. Also included are two documentaries, Ennenstadt Europa, wich was shot for Danish TV in 1984, and the newly made Anecdotes from Element of Crime. Epidemic has a commentary by von Trier and a new documentary Anecdotes from Epidemic. Europa also has two commentaries, the first by von Trier producer Peter Albaek, the second by von Trier and actors Udo Kier and Jean-Marc Barr. A behind-the-scenes documentary made for French TV in 1991 is also included, as is the expected new Anecdotes from Europa documentary. All of the commentaries are in Danish but with optional English subtitles.

Tartan have also announced that the first two disks will also feature easter eggs, consisting of von Trier's 1980 short film Nocturne (which was also included on the Cinema 16: European Shorts DVD) and his 1982 short Befrielsesbilleder (Images of Relief). Now while we welcome these inclusions, we feel compelled to point out that if you announce them as part of the pre-publicity then they are not easter eggs at all but extra features - easter eggs are supposed to be hidden extras that you did not know were included. Sorry, that's just one of those things that annoys us. Anyway, included in the set is a fourth disk featuring von Trier interviewed by journalist Bo Green Jensen, two documentaries on Tom Elling, trailers, European documentaries on von Trier and the films and featurettes on Europa.

Street date for this wonderful set is set for 22 August. If you can't wait that long then you needn't worry - the full set, easter eggs and optional English subtitles included, is already available as a Danish release from Electric Parc (that's it pictured above), whose sterling work on putting this together is effectively being repackaged by Tartan for the UK market. Not that we're complaining, not for a second....

Val Lewton box set on region 1 in October [20 Jun 2005]

In the world of auteurist cult cinema, there are few producers whose works is more frequently identified with them than with the films' directors, but pretty much top of the pile has to be Val Lewton, who between 1942 and 1946 was responsible for a series of wonderfully atmospheric and low key horror films whose unity of style has been credited firmly with Lewton, no mean feet given that the directors included such luminaries as Robert Wise and Jacques Tournier. In the latest in a run of marvellous box sets, Warner have announced The Val Lewton Collection for a 4th October release on region 1, a 5 disk set containing 9 films and a fair splash of extras. The films are the classic 1942 Cat People, its differently toned but beautifully realised follow-up The Curse of the Cat People (1944), the supremely creepy I Walked With a Zombie (1943), the Boris Karloff starring The Body Snatcher (1945), Isle of the Dead (1945) and Bedlam (1946), The Leopard Man (1943), Ghost Ship (1943) and The Seventh Victim (1943). Extra features include audio commentaries on Cat People and Curse of the Cat People (historian Greg Mank, with extracts from an interview with lead actress Simone Simon), I Walked With a Zombie (critic and horror writer Kim Newman and horror expert Steve Jones), The Body Snatcher (film historian Steve Haberman and director Robert Wise), Bedlam (film historian Tom Weaver), The Leopard Man (Exorcist director William Friedkin) and The Seventh Victim (Steve Haberman), plus a new documentary Shadows in the Dark: The Val lewton Legacy. Cat People and Curse of the Cat People, I Walked With a Zombie and The Body Snatcher, and Isle of the Dead and Bedlam will also be available seperately on double-bill releases.

In Your Hands on region 2 in July [15 Jun 2005]

Annette K. Oleson's In Your Hands (Forbreydelser), the last official Degme '95 film sanctioned by the movement's co-founder Lars Von Trier (and promoted as a celebration of the movement's tenth anniversary) is set for a UK DVD release from metrodome on July 4th. The story of childless theologaian Anna, whose life is transformed when she takes up the position of chaplain at a women's prison and meets recently transferred inmate Kate, who is rumoured to have the power to perform miracles, Oleson's film has met with widespread acclaim and has collected its share of film festival awards, with the lion's share of the praise being directed at the director and her performers, in particular Ann Eleonora Jorgensen (last seen here in Italian for Beginners) as Anna. Metrodome's DVD will feature behind the scenes footage, a Q&A and with director Olesen and interviews with the cast, writers and director. No news yet on the picture and sound status.

The Twilight Zone Definitive Edition on region 2 [7 Jun 2005]

I see little point in trying to reproduce that most famous of theme tunes in textual form, but few such musical riffs are so instantly identifiable. I can name that tune in two. Well now Cinema Club (yes, you heard) are set to release the first season of Rod Serling's cult show on region 2 DVD in what they describe as 'The Definitive Edition', and this self-appointed label could well be justified. A handsomely presented box set consisted of 6 DVDs containing all 36 episodes of the first season, it will initially be relased as a numbered limited edition and will include a book, The Twilight Zone Companion by Marc Scott Dicree and a detailed episode guide. Additionally, some episodes will feature audio commentaries from the likes of Earl Holliman, Martin Landau, Rod Taylor, Martin Milner, Kevin McCarthy, Ted Post and William Self. Other extras will include vintage audio recollections with Burgess Meredith, Douglas Heyes, Richard L.Bare, Buck Houghton, Anne Francis and Richard Matheson and audio lectures by Rod Serling given at Sherwood Oaks College. Retailing at £59.99, the set will be released on 22 August 2005.

My Own Private Idaho SE on region 2 [1 Jun 2005]

OK, Criterion did it again with a special edition of Gus Van Sant's fascinating tale of young hustlers, narcolepsy and Shakespeare's Henry IV, but as usual it looks a bit pricey to buy and unless you might get clobbered for the import tax and the like. So what do you do. Well, curiously, you wait until June 27, when Entertainment in Video appear to be releasing the film with almost identical specs on UK region 2. Featuring an anamiorphic 1.85:1 transfer (we can only dream that it is the same one as on the Criterion disk) and 5.1 sound, the extras include: a comprehensive 7-part documentary The Making of My Own Private Idaho; Kings of the Road, an essay by film scholar and critic Paul Arthur on the links between the film and Shakespeare's play; a conversation with Gus Van Sant and fellow indie director Todd Haynes; a conversation with producer Laurie Parker and Rain Phoenix, brother of the film's late star; and a converstaion with author JT Leroy (author of The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things) and director Jonathan Caouette (Tarnation); and, possibly, deleted scenes. All of which was on the Criterion release. It's very unusual for Criterion to licence out their disk contents to another distributor, so we will be watching this to see just how many of these features appear on the DVD when it comes out, but for UK DVD buyers it could represent an interesting, not to say welcome trend.

Cronenberg cult favourites from Anchor Bay in July [30 May 2005]

At long last, two of David Cronenberg's early cult favourites from the 1980s - The Brood and Scanners, are to be released on region 2 with anamorphic transfers and 5.1 and DTS sound. But once again it's a good news/bad news scenario. The Brood arrives in a two disk edition, which sounds rather lovely, but announced extras so far are a little sparse, being limited to an American Film Institute 'The Directors: The Films of David Cronenberg', film notes, biographies and trailers. With the film's running time just 92 minutes, this looks suspiciously like another case of a single disk stretched over two disks in an effort to enhance its status as a Special Edition - the lack of a commentary is especially disappointing, given the quality of Cronenberg's other commentary tracks. All in all, it's only the documentary that makes this release notably different from the MGM region 1 disk already available (given the film's original mono audio, I would be surprised the DTS track is a genuine remix). But we shall see. Scanners is particularly welcome because there is no decent version avalable on any region, so a quality re-release has been a long time coming. Although also to be released seperately, the film is initially coming out as part of a four disk box set, also containing the vastly inferior Scanners II: The New Order and Scanners III: The Takeover. The fourth disk contains...wait a minute...an American Film Institute 'The Directors: The Films of David Cronenberg', the exact same documentary that is included on The Brood. Hmmm.... The Brood is priced at £16.99, the Scanners Boxed Set at £24.99. No prices yet on the seperate Scanners disks. Both The Brood and Scanners Boxed Set will be available from 18 July.

The Comic Strip Complete Collection in July [16 May 2005]

In the 1980s a group of young upstart comedians based around London's stand-up venue The Comedy Store began making their own programmes for television. Possibly their most famous creation was The Young Ones, but they also created a whole string of one-off half-hour comedies and (eventually) a small sprinkling of feature films. The cast varied according to the needs of the show in question, but the core group included Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and the marvellous Peter Richardson, a creative force whose on-screen persona was rarely loud enough to compete with his more exuberant colleagues, but who given the right role was possibly the funniest of the lot. Now Channel Four have announced a 9 disk set featuring all 38 short films and the first feature, The Supergrass (1984), plus a small collection of extras on the ninth disk. Highlights include the team's hilarious Enid Blyton parody Five Go Mad in Dorset and it's dafter follow-up Five Go Mad on Mescalin, the pre-Spinal Tap rockumentary parody Bad News Tour, the nicely oddball A Fistful of Traveller's Cheques, the excellent The Bullshitters (a wonderful piss take of the ghastly TV cop show The Professionals featuring the great Keith Allen and the aforementioned Richardson) and its glorious follow-up Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown, the Golden Rose winner The Strike (it would be nice to see this without the swearing censored), the extraordinarily anarchic Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door and the thunderously funny dig at the Hollywoodisation of small stories that was GLC, which features a rousing theme song by Kate Bush. It has to be said that some of the films have dated better than others - the Bad News sequel More Bad News in particular seems painfully self-indulgent and unfunny now, but the balance is still well in favour of the good stuff. Either way, it represents a very important, very exciting release, though the complete lack of commentaries is to be mourned, and given that these were shot on 16mm we'll have to wait and see how well they transfer over to DVD. Those of you salivating can start saving now - the retail price is £49.99 (but discounts are already being offered on-line) and the release date is 4 July.

Q: The Winged Serpent in June [14 May 2005]

Larry Cohen is a cult horror director whose body of work appears to have been lost in time and remains relatively unknown to the post-Scream horror audience, most of whom would simply not understand the appeal of his sometimes delierious mix of b-movie ethics and toungue-in-cheek humour. I mean, you'd have a hard time even getting any of them to watch a low budget film about murderous ice-cream (I know, I've tried), but his 1985 The Stuff, but it's a hugely enjoyable work with a wittily delivered subtextual message about drug addiction. But perhaps his crowning glory remains the 1982 Q, retitled Q: The Winged Serpent - presumably so that people would not confuse it with a James Bond spin-off series - a genuinely glorious tale of a gigantic flying lizard that is terrorising New York. Hunting it down are world weary cop David Carradine and petty thief with big ideas Michael Moriarty, who wild-eyed, manic performance is a joy in itself. Finally, FINALLY it arrives on region 2 from Anchor Bay in June, though how well it will do is anybody's guess - it has a substantial cult following, but given that the region 1 version has been available for almost two years now most that audience will have long ago snapped it up. If you haven't, well here's your chance. The disk features an anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer, Dolby 2.0, 5.1 and DTS soundtracks, biographies, poster and stills galleries and, we are told by the publicity, an 'all new' audio commentary by director Larry Cohen. So exactly the same features as the region 1 disk, then.

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