Special Effects — Special Effects(Blu Ray)

From the early 1980’s, Special Effects was Larry Cohen's (It’s Alive Trilogy, The Stuff, God Told Me To Do It) take on the then-popular erotic thriller genre, with a twist of snuff-focused horror. It regards a blonde-haired Dolly Parton look-alike coming to NYC to make it in acting, who ends up dead, and a down-on-his-luck director played by Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio, Uncut Gems) decides to make a film with the lead suspect in the case. Here from Transmission, Radiance sub-label is a Blu-ray release of the film, featuring a new & archive commentary track, and two new interviews.

Cécile is Dead — Cécile is Dead (Blu Ray)

Cécile is Dead is an early 1940’s French detective mystery- blending in touches of noir, and light brushes of humour. It’s a decidedly dialogue-heavy affair, with a fair few suspects for the murder of three women being investigated by the cool, calm, and pipe-smoking Inspector Maigret. Here from Eurkea’s Master Of Cinema series is a Blu Ray release of the film, taking in HD scan, a new commentary track, and a mix of new archive extras.

Mancunian low-budget Movie Mogul

Cliff Twemlow On Severin

One of last year’s real big surprises in the world of Blu-ray box sets was Bloody Legend: The Complete Twemlow Collection, as it was a wholly entertaining, fascinating, and at times heart-warming set. The Severin released boxset brought together the work of one of the UK’s unlikeliest movie moguls- Cliff Twemlow, a Mancunian bouncer/ body builder, who went on to write/star in/produce a series of low-budget/ largely SOV films in the early 80s to early 90s- these moved between action, thriller, sci-fi, and horror. His most notable/notorious film was 1983’s G.B.H., which landed on the video nasty list, though he was connected to other ten feature films, many of which got their first real full/proper release on the boxset. Opening up the set was the excellent 2023 documentary Mancunian Man: The Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow, which really pulls you into the set. I caught up with Severn’s David Gregory and Jake West, director of Mancunian Man, to discuss the boxset and all things cliff.

Repetitious History - A Quick Trip Into The World Of The Fall

The Fall

MES( Mark E Smith- The Falls main creator) possessed the ability to cram phrases into impossible spaces - “I’m hunting and I’m trying to find” delivered as “hut’na tryna find”; the eight-syllable “mere pseud mag editor’s father” hastily squeezed into a manipulation of time and space, heralded by the prior line “twice each at least”, the latter naturally repeated thrice.