STOLEN FACE
Terence Fisher, director/Hammer
Hammer Films Redux continues to make available in absolutely splendid packages some hard to see vintage outings by the company, and collectors are of course particularly keen on tracking down the earlier work of the company’s key director Terence Fisher.. This is a very collectable issue of an early film which is sometimes thought of as a proto-horror film with its familiar still of a woman with facial mutilation. It’s actually a more straightforward thriller, and something of a riff on the Pygmalion myth with Paul Henreid granting a malicious female criminal a new face and paying a heavy price for the deed. Like all Trence Fisher films for Hammer, it’s well worth the time of aficionados of the company and the director. Lizabeth Scott gives a striking dual performance along with great André Morell in his first Hammer appearance,
FEAR IN THE NIGHT
Jimmy Sangster, director/Studio Canal
Is there a better loved actor in the whole of British cinema than Peter Cushing? Yes of course, there’s Christopher Lee, but Cushing is top of the tree for many. And this entry in the Les Diaboliques style homages has a deranged headmaster in a deserted school who is possibly menacing and Judy Geeson and Ralph Bates. Cushing’s part is judiciously threaded throughout the film, but boy did he earn his money, registering with maximum impact as we wonder whether or not he is a red herring or a psychopathic murderer. Multiple duties (director. producer, co-writer) for Hammer’s Jimmy Sangster.
CUTTER’S WAY
Ivan Passer, director/Radiance
For students of cinema phenomena, it’s both instructive and entertaining to see how certain films that initially met with a mixed response steadily establish themselves as cult favourites. A classic case of this syndrome might be Ivan Passer’s unusual Cutter’s Way, which is now appreciated as a bizarre blend of contemporary Film Noir (both beginning and ending with a murder) and an arthouse sensibility. The film is a rigorous examination of the legacy of the Vietnam war, with John Heard stealing the acting honours as – along with a reluctant Jeff Bridges – he attempts to right a wrong arising as much from societal prejudice and class distinction as from corrupt sexuality. This spruced-up new edition from Radiance is remarkable not just for the film but for its impressive extras which illuminate aspects of the film.
STRIPPED TO KILL
Katt Shea Ruben, director/Connectiv
The actress Kay Lenz made an impressive if rather low key debut with William Holden in a film directed by Clint Eastwood, Breezy, but the subsequent career that seemed to beckon did not really materialise. However, she makes a solid appearance in this erotic thriller which (like her debut) demonstrates her readiness to rely on something other than her acting assets to command audience attention. The director, Katt Shea Ruben, does a capable job.
HIDDEN ASSETS
various directors/Acorn Media International
Corruption galore in the in-you-face Irish crime drama Hidden Assets, making a third bow with a new series. Nora-Jane Noon returns as the brisk DS Claire Wallace with the Criminal Assets Bureau, here working in Northern Spain. Efficient and modestly effective.
