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SAXON

(15) 92min rPeccadrllo DVD retarli O.

Semvblrnded dere lSean l larrrsr has to pay off hrs debts otherxzrrse he'll lose an eye to the gangsters who plucked out the other one. He's handed a lrfellr‘e by chrldhood sweetheart. the yarealthy l rnda (Sarah Matrayersi. ‘.'.rho rs looking for her mrssrng husband. She'll pay hrm ‘-.'.rell if f ddre can find hrrn.

You only .need to have seen the recent Gomorrah to know how impressive a frlm about gangsters and housing projects can be. Saxon. set on a since demolished Groydon housing estate rs yet another loi.'.r-budget Brrt flick with nothrng much to say about a yrolent mrlreu. Aside from some deft uses of the lump cut. this is cumbersomer acted. directed and shot. L—xtras include cast and crevyr rnter‘xreyzs and a behind the scenes documentary. r'lony McKrbbrnr

ACTION ()GMl—DY POSTAL

(18) 99min lMetrodome DVD rental retarll .0.

PSIAL

Uwe Boll doesn't have the best pedrgree rn movies: he's an oft l'(,“.’l|(}(i rlrrector‘ with a penchant for vrdeogame adaptatrons. But one thing you can't drsrn ss rs; tlizit if)(} rriziri ilét$3

halls. and Postal rs flat» out in your'r-face nut/ord entertainment of the most dubious variety. It's another yrdeogame adaptation rnrxrng the rrbald comedy of the /'irr,r)/ane series with a subversrye take on terrorism and an ever rrsrng body count.

lhe plot rs almost Incidental -- chucking in a terrorist cell. a doomsday cult. dy'rarves and poor old 'Postal Dude' r/ack Wardi stuck rn the rnrddle. lhere's Benny Hrll style saucrness. bad taste ‘/any' humour. m; ss shoot outs and a self referential appearance by Boll ras himself). Not forgetting a cutting take ()reramaBrn laden and George W Bush's r‘elatronshrp and a truly apocalyptic ending. It‘s chaot:c but so utterly insane its hard to drag your eyes T'rom the rl-lenr‘y Northmorer

HORROR

WHILE SHE WAS OUT

(18) 82min

()ptrrnum DVD

retail rentalr O.

lhrs urban chrller executive produced by Mexrcan fantasrst Guillermo del lore and starrrng the endurineg gorgeous Kim Basrnger and evergreen teen alike lukas l laas starts off pr'ornrsrngly but all too s‘.'.rrftly proves as lame as its pedestrian trtle. Basrnger‘ plays a bar; ssed houseyyrrfe who storms out of her gated community home one dark festive season 'trght. rntendrng to cool off wrth a little ()hrrstmas shopping after a row with her abusive husband. lhtngsgo front bad to ‘.'.rorse as she's accosted by four yrolent youths and chased into a nearby forest with only the toolbox from her car to defend herself. lhereafter. hoy'~.re\.rer.

the victim predator roles are reversed. Sadly. the potentially smart subversron of genre conventions rs obliterated by ropey and lrnally laughable thrrller rnelodrarnatrcs reminiscent of recent Brit horror Fde/‘r lake. Glasgow born y'.rr'rter'- director Susan Montford should stick to her day rob as a l lollyy'rood producer of. among other forthcoming frlrns. Prxar's scr fr fantasy. John Carter of r':./r’ar's. No extras. rlvlrles Frelderr

DRAMA

THE VOYAGE (PG) 97mins r()ptrrnum DVD retail. .0.

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Vtterra (:e Sca r8172 .04.} [tr/eves. 7.»,7rrac/e rr: 'xfr/art ‘.'.'as one of 'ne great verses o‘ fine lta rar‘ "ec rea'rst ‘mn 'ne‘.'e'r‘en’.. lle paras arse. aias. not a".‘.rays fine "cs: 1".l)()\.'£t'.r‘.(} o‘ i"l“ll‘£ir<(3l'S. and (Ms. M; as'. (:orr‘oreted fir" "iade EiT-l. 's a creaky Prrantlei‘o adaptatror‘. lhe use of stale /oom shots. rttrlky' filters and dubbing that kills any potentral off screen 'space' renders the frlm dead on the screen. lhe story rs of 'l couple of brothers illrchar'd Burton and Ian Bannen. yurhose father's y'xrll rnsrsts that Hannen marry the beautiful Sophia l oren: f?‘.(}l) though rt rs obvious that l oren and Burton are H) love wrth each other. \‘frll true love prevail. and if rt does. at what price? Produced by Carlo Pontr and with all the y'xasted hallmarks of a cl; ss production. Mrnrmal extras. r lony McKrbbrnr

l)()()lll\/ll NlAHY TIGRERO: A FILM THAT WAS NEVER MADE (E) 75mins

(Bluebell [)Vl) retail) 0..

Drmrnutrve. pugnacrous and legendary director

TV DVD BOXSET

DERREN BROWN: THE SPECIALS

(4DVD) 196min

Almost five years ago to the week that Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand were threatened with being burnt at the stake. another witch-hunt was conducted for another man merely seeking to thrill us. In October 2003. Derren Brown asked a member of the public to place a bullet in the chamber of a handgun. which the ‘mentalist' placed against his head. finally winning a televised game of deadly cl‘iance. The moral crusaders (Roy Hattersley and Lorraine Kelly among them) were rabid in their condemnation when it leaked out that this perilous pursuit took place in Jersey tin order to get round the UK's firearms laws). wasn't quite live (had the stunt gone wrong. the more sensitive among us rriig'nt have appreciated that two-second delay) and the bullet was in fact a blank (forgetting that the show had already displayed the carnage a blank shot at close range was still able to wreak). All of which missed the basic point: this was staggering, stunning. edge of the seat telly. And now the whole Russian Roulette Live 0000. process is captured in a boxset featuring four of Brown's one-off spectaculars.

Hrs most recent illusory wind-up is The System 000

in which he

appeared to have discovered a fail-safe method of wrnning bet after bet at the races. Yet the final baffling twrst lends more weight to the formulaic set up. could have been a very different affair had the essential plot (fOur rndrvrduals have a set of ideas and [)Sny‘)()IOQICa| triggers rrrtplanted in their brains so that when they stumble upon a lone security guard rn a deserted London street. they can't stop themselves from hijacking the booty. With more information on the ultrmate aim held back. the finale of The Heist could have been Jaw dropping rather than simply highly impressive.

Srmilarly. The Heist 000

The Séance 0000

does have its own twist. though. after a bunch of

students are scared witless rn a spooky old building which reeks of the spirit world. While your rewind button allows you to work cut one of the key tests. the sheer terror of certain passages; makes Most Haunted seem about as scary as Heartbeat while the clever denouement leaves this as one of Brown's

most creeprly memorable projects. (Brian Donaldson)

Sam l uller rlhe Brg Hod ()ne. Pickup on South Street. Shock Corridor) returns to the Ama/onran rungle where 40 years previously he had attempted to make

a harsh on location adventure frlm with John \r’Vayne and Ava Gardner that would use the indigenous people. But the production stalled when studio execs reckoned the area ‘.'.ras too dangerous.

l'hrs trrne he rs rorner by hrs No.1 fan. cult frlmmaker .er Jarmusch rSfrt'inge-r Ihan /')(1/'(1(//S<?. Ghost Dog). l uller throws off anecdotes about the earlier productron. his phrlosophy of lrfe and muses over how much has changed in the intervening years. all

wrth \Jar'rnuscli lrstenrng along intently ll) hrs own rnrmrtable spaced out array. lhere are elements of mockumentary to [fig/(w) Mlkét Kaurrsmakr :brother' of Akrr has an eye for the awe rnsprrrng but also for the absurd. lntr‘rgurngiy the ever resourceful l uller ended up usrng sortie of the footage he shot for his ur‘frnrsl‘ed Jungle epic later check eat some of the scenes from his lftt‘fi masterpiece Shock (Zor‘r‘rder. lvlrnrmal extras rlnrry Mt‘Kil)t\rrtl

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