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Review Warner Home Video / City Hall [1996]
Actors & Directors
  • John Cusack
  • Danny Aiello
  • Bridget Fonda
  • Martin Landau
  • Al Pacino
  • Harold Becker
Release date: 2000-08-21
Run time: 107 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £1.11

Review City Hall [1996] / Warner Home Video:

This complex 1996 drama directed by Harold Becker (Sea of Love) attempts to explore big-city corruption and the flexibility of what's right and wrong in the political arena. John Cusack plays the senior aide to mayor John Pappas (Al Pacino), a popular and seasoned politician whose administration is threatened when what seems to be an accidental shooting of a child reveals a nest of corruption and lifelong personal debts. This tests Cusack's loyalty to the man he thought he knew. Pacino turns in a finely textured performance as a man who has his own lofty ideals, but whose pragmatism sets in motion a series of events with tragic results. Cusack admirably captures the essence of someone polished and savvy at his job but must cope with fundamental disillusionment. This political thriller suffers at times from a lack of focus, but still offers an insightful and poignant treatise on the quagmire of politics in the modern age and the human toll it sometimes exacts. -Robert Lane.

Review Hollywood Pictures Home Video / Deception [2000]
Actors & Directors
  • John Frankenheimer
  • Charlize Theron
  • Ben Affleck
  • Gary Sinise
  • James Frain
  • Dennis Farina
Release date: 2005-08-01
Run time: 100 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £4.98

Review Deception [2000] / Hollywood Pictures Home Video:

A solid enough thriller held together by some somewhat implausible plot devices, Deception stars Ben Affleck as Rudy, whose cellmate Nick is lucky enough to be pen-pal to the beautiful Ashley (Charlize Theron) who in turn has pledged herself, body and soul to the man inside whom she has never set eyes upon. Upon his release, Rudy decides to pose as Nick in order to take up with this luscious and adoring female. Unfortunately, the scheme backfires on Rudy when he discovers that Ashley was apparently a pawn in her ruthless brother Monster's game to coerce him into helping him and his gang of gun-runners rob a casino that Nick used to work in. Deception rumbles along at a pretty seedy, violent pace for a long time, with Rudy's efforts to escape resulting in Monster (a menacing Gary Sinise) using him as a dartboard in one memorably brutal scene. Following their raid on the casino, however (clad in Santa outfits), the plot takes a couple of devilish twists and turns which reward the viewer prepared to come this far down the road with these people. The lack of empathy may be redeemed by some viewers with a scene featuring Charlize Theron naked in a pool. -David Stubbs.

Review Wgbh Boston / The Inspector Lynley Mysteries 6 [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Nathaniel Parker
Release date: 2008-09-02
Run time: 172 min.
Creator: Sharon Small
Price: £10.65

Review The Inspector Lynley Mysteries 6 [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Wgbh Boston:


Review Lions Gate Home Entertainment / The Hunted [2003]
Actors & Directors
  • Benicio Del Toro
  • Jenna Boyd
  • Connie Nielsen
  • Tommy Lee Jones
  • Leslie Stefanson
  • William Friedkin
Release date: 2003-10-06
Run time: 91 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £2.40

Review The Hunted [2003] / Lions Gate Home Entertainment:

William Friedkin's taut direction highlights The Hunted, a bloodsport thriller that works best without dialogue. It's a prime vehicle for co-stars Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro, whose rugged screen personas are perfectly matched in a manhunt between a military assassin and the man who trained him to kill. Traumatised by atrocities in Kosovo four years earlier (the site of an action-packed prologue), Hallam (Del Toro) is seemingly psychotic and now killing in the forests of Oregon; Bonham (Jones) is lured out of retirement by a tenacious FBI agent (Connie Nielsen) to end Hallam's murder spree. The hackneyed plot is derivative to a fault (no surprise from the screenwriters of Collateral Damage), and the whole movie's a foregone conclusion, but Friedkin inspires fine work from his well-trained stars while exploring the ambiguity of Hallam's character. Lushly photographed by Caleb Deschanel, The Hunted is a survivalist's dream, militarily authentic and most effective when its primal instincts are cinematically expressed. -Jeff Shannon.

Review Tartan Video / Funny Games [Blu-ray] [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Michael Haneke
  • Michael Pitt
  • Naomi Watts
  • Tim Roth
  • Brady Corbet
Release date: 2008-07-28
Run time: 107 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £17.89

Review Funny Games [Blu-ray] [2007] / Tartan Video:

Michael Haneke is a modern master, which his spellbinding films Cache and The Piano Teacher proved to an international audience. When it came time for a Hollywood remake of his ultra-disturbing 1997 picture Funny Games, who better than Haneke himself to helm the new version? And indeed, the second Funny Games bears the impeccable sense of control and technique that the Austrian version had: it is a horrifyingly precise account of a family terrorized by two psychopathic young thugs at a vacation home. For anyone who's already seen the '97 film, this new one-a nearly shot-by-shot transcription of the original-will seem superfluous, no matter how impressive the performances of Naomi Watts and Tim Roth are. (Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet are suitably creepy as their menacers, too. ) For newbies, the movie might be as infuriating and thought-provoking as Haneke intends it to be. That's because Funny Games is an intellectual game itself, a direct rebuke to the audience that gobbles up gratuitous violence and cynical manipulation. Haneke sets up our expectations, and then refuses to provide the conventional catharsis. or the conventional anything. [+]
All of this was pretty bracing in the first go-round, but feels like gamesmanship in the remake. Even if you dig what Haneke's up to, this is a brutal movie-watching experience. -Robert Horton.

Review MGM Entertainment / The Silence Of The Lambs [1991]
Actors & Directors
  • Jodie Foster
  • Scott Glenn
  • Anthony Heald
  • Anthony Hopkins
  • Ted Levine
  • Jonathan Demme
Release date: 2001-08-06
Run time: 113 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £2.99

Review The Silence Of The Lambs [1991] / MGM Entertainment:

Based on Thomas Harris's novel, Jonathan Demme's terrifying adaptation of Silence of the Lambs contains only a couple of genuinely shocking moments (one involving an autopsy, the other a prison break). The rest of the film is a splatter-free visual and psychological descent into the hell of madness, redeemed astonishingly by an unlikely connection between a monster and a haunted young woman. Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter, virtually entombed in a subterranean prison for the criminally insane. At the behest of the FBI, agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) approaches Lecter, requesting his insights into the identity and methods of a serial killer named Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In exchange, Lecter demands the right to penetrate Starling's most painful memories, creating a bizarre but palpable intimacy that liberates them both under separate but equally horrific circumstances. Demme, a filmmaker with a uniquely populist vision (Melvin and Howard, Something Wild), also spent his early years making pulp for Roger Corman (Caged Heat) and he hasn't forgotten the significance of tone, atmosphere and the unsettling nature of a crudely effective close-up. Much of the film, in fact, consists of actors staring straight into the camera (usually from Clarice's point of view), making every bridge between one set of eyes to another seem terribly dangerous. -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com On the DVD: On disc one, the film itself looks clinically sharp in a faultless widescreen (1. 85:1) anamorphic transfer, while the Dolby 5. [+]
1 soundtrack makes the most of the chilling sound effects and Howard Shore's masterfully understated score. Unlike the Region 1 Criterion Collection, however, there is no audio commentary at all. On the second disc, the all-new hour-long "making-of" documentary features contributions from the screenwriter, producer, composer, costume designer, make-up effects people and even the moth wrangler ("There were no moths harmed in the filming!") as well as Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill) and Anthony Hopkins, who talks at length about creating Lecter. Conspicuous by their absence are Jonathan Demme and Jodie Foster. Aside from the usual trailers and stills gallery there are 21 deleted scenes, many of which are not whole scenes but deleted excerpts, a promotional featurette made in 1991 and an outtakes reel that proves the cast really did have fun making this scary picture. For those who want to scare all their friends, there's also an answerphone message from Anthony Hopkins "in character". -Mark Walker.

Review Acorn Media / Taggart - The 2008 Collection
Release date: 2008-12-27
Run time: 270 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £11.98

Review Taggart - The 2008 Collection / Acorn Media:


Review Uca Catalogue / Devil's Own [1997]
Actors & Directors
  • Alan J. Pakula
  • Brad Pitt
  • Margaret Colin
  • Harrison Ford
  • Ruben Blades
  • Treat Williams
Release date: 2005-12-19
Run time: 107 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £2.90

Review Devil's Own [1997] / Uca Catalogue:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / The Stepford Wives [1975]
Actors & Directors
  • Katharine Ross
  • Tina Louise
  • Nanette Newman
  • Bryan Forbes
  • Paula Prentiss
  • Peter Masterson
Release date: 2004-08-09
Run time: 100 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £4.09

Review The Stepford Wives [1975] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

Ira Levin's scary novel about forced conformity in a small Connecticut town made the Stepford Wives a compelling 1975 thriller. Katharine Ross stars as a city woman who moves with her husband to Stepford and is startled by how perpetually happy many of the local women seem to be. Her search for an answer reveals a plot to replace troublesome real wives with more accommodating fake ones (not unlike the alien takeover in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers). The closer she gets to the truth, the more danger she faces-not to mention the likelihood that the men in town intend to replace her as well. Screenwriter William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) and director Bryan Forbes (King Rat) made this a taut, tense semi-classic with a healthy dose of satiric wit. -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com.

Review Cinema Club / Gangster No.1 [2000]
Actors & Directors
  • Malcolm McDowell
  • Paul Bettany
  • David Thewlis
  • Kenneth Cranham
  • Saffron Burrows
  • Paul McGuigan
Release date: 2002-06-12
Run time: 99 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £7.68

Review Gangster No.1 [2000] / Cinema Club:

Gangster No. 1 is without doubt the most stylish British violent crime thriller from the many produced at the end of the 20th century. For all the pop-video glamour of Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, neither have anywhere near as much a sense of danger as is shown here. Paul Bettany ignites the screen with a fury that explodes far more than it smoulders beneath his tautly kept temper. The tale concerns his ascent to the titular position of primacy in 1960s London, told in flashback by his present-day self (an equally riveting Malcolm McDowell). A lust for power won't allow anything to stand in either incarnation's way, especially the foppish posturing of established crime boss Freddie Mays (David Thewlis). What distinguishes this from many other tales of greed is that the never-named Gangster actually wants to be Freddie, not simply replace him. Saffron Burrows plays the suffering trophy moll in the middle of this personality clash and provides about the only level head and gentle tongue in what is otherwise a super-violent and super-profane script. This is what The Krays should have been, and therefore not for the squeamish. -Paul Tonks.

Review Universal Pictures UK / Very Bad Things [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • Christian Slater
  • Daniel Stern
  • Cameron Diaz
  • Peter Berg
  • Jeanne Tripplehorn
  • Jon Favreau
Release date: 2005-08-15
Run time: 96 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £2.09

Review Very Bad Things [1998] / Universal Pictures UK:

Peter Berg's dark comedy about a bachelor party gone horribly awry is highly ambitious in its attempts to satirise suburbia, male bonding, and self-help philosophy, and for the most part it does succeed in hitting its targets with a malicious, misanthropic glee. When five buddies arrive in Las Vegas for some pre-wedding shenanigans, things quickly spiral out of control when the requisite prostitute falls victim to a grisly accident, igniting a spark in an already unstable powder keg of personalities. Following the lead of real estate agent and self-help guy Robert (Christian Slater), the men warily agree on a cover-up and covert desert burial. A couple hours and another corpse later, however, they're already at each other's throats, and their escalating breakdowns threaten to disrupt the highly prized wedding of hard-as-nails bride Laura (a stunning Cameron Diaz). Berg, like most actor-turned-directors (this is The Last Seduction star's filmmaking debut) helms the film with a wildly sliding tone and tends to weigh its strengths heavily on its performers. Slater's psycho turn is by far his most inventive yet (he's more in control than ever before), Diaz effectively mixes sunshine with poison, and Jon Favreau is effective and understated as the hapless bridegroom; the rest of the cast, however, tends to play up the histrionics. Be warned, though: Those expecting a sunny-style There's Something About Mary gross-out comedy will probably be shocked by Berg's take-no-prisoners agenda; this is comedy at its absolute blackest, and no one is spared. -Mark Englehart.

Review Odeon Entertainment / Blackout/Bond Of Fear [1950]
Actors & Directors
  • Maxwell Read
  • Dermot Walsh
  • Henry Cass
  • Eric Pohlmann
  • Janet Barett
Release date: 2008-05-26
Run time: 134 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £7.14

Review Blackout/Bond Of Fear [1950] / Odeon Entertainment:


Review MGM Entertainment / James Bond - Diamonds Are Forever (Ultimate Edition 2 Disc Set) [1971]
Actors & Directors
  • Charles Gray
  • Bruce Cabot
  • Guy Hamilton
  • Sean Connery
  • Lana Wood
  • Jill St. John
Release date: 2006-07-17
Run time: 120 min.
RRP: £16.99
Price: £3.82

Review James Bond - Diamonds Are Forever (Ultimate Edition 2 Disc Set) [1971] / MGM Entertainment:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Hard Eight [1997]
Actors & Directors
  • Philip Baker Hall
  • Samuel L. Jackson
  • John C. Reilly
  • Gwyneth Paltrow
  • Paul Thomas Anderson
Release date: 2008-04-07
Run time: 97 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £4.98

Review Hard Eight [1997] / Paramount Home Entertainment:


Review Optimum Home Entertainment / Seven Days To Noon [1950]
Actors & Directors
  • Audre Morell
  • Barry Jones
  • Hugh Cross
  • John Boulting
  • Roy Boulting
Release date: 2008-07-14
Run time: 93 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £34.89

Review Seven Days To Noon [1950] / Optimum Home Entertainment:


Review MGM Entertainment / Dead End [1937]
Actors & Directors
  • Sylvia Sidney
  • Joel McCrea
  • William Wyler
  • Humphrey Bogart
Release date: 2005-07-11
Run time: 88 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £3.98

Review Dead End [1937] / MGM Entertainment:


Review Universal Pictures Video / Half Light [2006]
Actors & Directors
  • Demi Moore
Release date: 2006-08-21
Run time: 106 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £3.75

Review Half Light [2006] / Universal Pictures Video:


Review Criterion / The Small Back Room [1949] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Michael Powell
  • Kathleen Byron
  • Milton Rosmer
  • Jack Hawkins
  • Cyril Cusack
  • David Farrar
  • Emeric Pressburger
Release date: 2008-08-19
Run time: 107 min.
Price: £16.26

Review The Small Back Room [1949] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Criterion:


Review Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / Panic Room - Special Edition [2002]
Actors & Directors
  • Jodie Foster
  • Jared Leto
  • David Fincher
  • Forest Whitaker
  • Dwight Yoakam
  • Kristen Stewart
Release date: 2004-07-19
Run time: 107 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £3.16

Review Panic Room - Special Edition [2002] / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:

An effective exercise in "confined cinema", Panic Room is a finely crafted thriller that ultimately transcends the thinness of its premise. David Koepp's screenplay is basically Wait Until Dark on steroids, so director David Fincher (Seven, The Game) compensates with elaborate CGI-assisted camera moves, jazzing up his visuals. A relocated New York divorcée (Jodie Foster) and her diabetic daughter (Kristen Stewart) fight for their lives against a trio of tenacious burglars (Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam) in their new Manhattan townhouse. They're safe in a customised, impenetrable "panic room", but the burglars want what's in the room's safe, so mother and daughter (and Koepp and Fincher) must find clever ways to turn the tables and persevere. Suspense and intelligence are admirably maintained, with Foster (who replaced the then-injured Nicole Kidman) relying on her Silence of the Lambs resourcefulness. It's not as viscerally satisfying as Fincher's previous thrillers, but Panic Room definitely holds the viewer's attention. -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Review Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm / Snake Eyes [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • John Heard
  • Gary Sinise
  • Nicolas Cage
  • Stan Shaw
  • Carla Gugino
  • Brian De Palma
Release date: 2006-06-15
Run time: 94 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £1.00

Review Snake Eyes [1998] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:

Brian De Palma's 1998 thriller is largely an exercise in airing out his orchestral, oversized visual style (think of his Blowout, Body Double or Raising Cain) for the heck of it. The far-fetched story featuresNicolasCage as a crooked police detective attending a championship boxing match at which the Secretary of Defence is assassinated. The unfortunate Secretary's right-hand man (Gary Sinise) happens to be Cage's old friend, a fact that complicates the cop's efforts to reconstruct the crime from conflicting accounts-a directorial strategy bearing similarities to Kurosawa's Rashomon. The outrageousness of the scenario essentially gives DePalma permission to construct a baroque cathedral of spectacular camera stunts, which (he well knows) are inevitably more interesting than the hoary conspiracy plot. (The opening scene alone, which runs on for a number of minutes and consists of one, unbroken shot that moves in from the street, following Cage up and down stairs and in and out of rooms until finally ending ringside at the match, is breathtaking. ) The shifting points of view-based on the contradictory statements of witnesses-also give De Palma licence to get creative with camera angles and scene rearrangements. The script bogs down in the third act but De Palma is just revving up for a big, operatic finish that is absolutely gratuitous but undeniably impressive. Yes, it's style over substance in Snake Eyes but what style you're talking about. -Tom Keogh.

Browse Crime, Thrillers & Mystery:

Models & Brands:
City Hall [1996], Deception [2000], The Inspector Lynley Mysteries 6 [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC), The Hunted [2003], Funny Games [Blu-ray] [2007], The Silence Of The Lambs [1991], Taggart - The 2008 Collection, Devil's Own [1997], The Stepford Wives [1975], Gangster No.1 [2000], Very Bad Things [1998], Blackout/Bond Of Fear [1950], James Bond - Diamonds Are Forever (Ultimate Edition 2 Disc Set) [1971], Hard Eight [1997], Seven Days To Noon [1950], Dead End [1937], Half Light [2006], The Small Back Room [1949] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Panic Room - Special Edition [2002], Snake Eyes [1998]

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