STAYING IN
‘Smiley opens a new slasher francise with an internet twist’
VIDEO NASTIES
There’s always a glut of horror DVDs released in time for Hallowe’en. Henry Northmore helps you pick your way through the bloody brilliant and the hideously horrible
W e open the crypt with The Mummy (Icon) ●●●●● one of the i rst Hammer Horrors, dating back to 1959. Peter Cushing stars as the stoic hero while Christopher Lee plays the lumbering monster – what more could you want from your retro horror thrills? Next, more Hammer with the new restoration of The Witches (StudioCanal) ●●●●●. Joan Fontaine takes the lead in this creepy tale of rural witchcraft in a 1960s English village. There’s more pastoral horror in a new cut of The Wicker Man (StudioCanal) ●●●●●. Edward Woodward’s journey into the dark side of Scottish paganism is still as disturbing as ever, and Lee reappears as pagan cult leader Lord Summerisle. After months of searching, StudioCanal unearthed some lost footage and this package comes with three versions of the i lm (the original theatrical cut, the i nal cut and the director’s cut) plus loads of extras. The picture quality does vary, but it’s a small price to pay to see the i lm as director Robin Hardy originally intended.
John Carpenter’s Halloween (Anchor Bay)
32 THE LIST 17 Oct–14 Nov 2013
●●●●● set the blueprint for every slasher that followed. The i lm has never looked or sounded better than on this new Blu-ray, and there are some new extras (including a new commentary from Carpenter and star Jamie Lee Curtis) and of course the i lm itself is still shockingly effective. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (Arrow Video) ●●●●● is played more for laughs as the Sawyer family sets up camp in an abandoned amusement park. What makes this Blu-ray release a must for TCM and Tobe Hooper fans is the inclusion of the director’s early i lms (including the feature-length Eggshells) on the second disc, and where else are you going to see Dennis Hopper in a chainsaw duel with Leatherface (Bill Johnson)? Killer doll Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) returns for the sixth Child’s Play movie Curse of Chucky (Universal) ●●●●●. It’s directed by series creator Don Mancini, and we’re back in darker territory after the broad comedy of the previous two instalments. Smiley (Signature) ●●●●● is a very obvious bid to start a new slasher franchise with an internet twist. There’s a vague commentary on
desensitisation to violence, but it’s all undercut by obnoxious, paper-thin characters.
Making its Blu-ray debut is one of the greatest horror comedies of all time: Creepshow (Second Sight) ●●●●●. Inspired by EC’s horror comics of the 50s, it’s written by Stephen King and directed by George A Romero with spectacular effects from Tom Savini − a real dream scream team. It is an anthology of i ve frightful shorts, each ending with a gleefully wicked punchline, and the primary comic colour palette really pops on Blu- ray, boasting ghoulish giggles from start to i nish. But when it wants to be creepy there’s a seamless transition to full-on terror. It’s impossible to review horror in 2013 without a found-footage section. V/H/S/2 (Koch Media) ●●●●● features four shorts − a ghost story, a mini zombie movie, an Indonesian cult and a dog’s- eye view of an alien invasion. The i rst two are kinda jokey and fun, but Gareth Evans nails it with his segment ‘Safe Haven’. The Conspiracy (Arrow Films) ●●●●● is a scary look at alternative theories concerning 9/11, shadowy cults and the