Dr. Gore's Funhouse.com » DVDs http://drgoresfunhouse.com A Celebration of the Bizarre and the Macabre Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:51:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 TOP TEN DVDs From the Criterion Collection http://drgoresfunhouse.com/top-ten/dvds-top-ten/top-ten-dvds-from-the-criterion-collection/ http://drgoresfunhouse.com/top-ten/dvds-top-ten/top-ten-dvds-from-the-criterion-collection/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:23:42 +0000 Christian Sellers http://drgoresfunhouse.com/?p=4807 With the recent news that Criterion will be forced to withdraw many of titles from their excellent Criterion Collection, perhaps now is an ideal time to take a look through some of the releases that this company have been responsible for. When you purchase movie from the Criterion Collection range you know that you will get value for money: a two-disc set, loaded with a ridiculous amount of special features and a pristine, remastered print.

Sadly, according to Collider it has been revealed that Criterion are about to lose several titles to StudioCanal. By the end of next month, over twenty films will be unavailable from Criterion, both on DVD and Blu-ray. This will be a major blow to film collectors as Criterion are renowned for releasing a range of cult pictures (including the likes of Alphaville, Slacker and Solaris) and those that releases StudioCanal substitute them with will no doubt be inferior.

So, to celebrate the end of an era, here’s our Top Ten DVDs from the Criterion Collection…

HÄXAN
Long before the horror genre had found its place in cinema, Benjamin Christensen’s Häxan (Witchcraft Through The Ages) was released in 1922. Less of a traditional movie and more of a study of the occult and susperstition, the movie was banned in the United States for many years.
DVD includes Music from the original Danish premiere, commentary by Danish silent film scholar Casper Tybjerg, Christensen’s introduction to the 1941 re-release, outtakes, Bibliothèque Diabolique: a photographic exploration of Christensen’s historical sources and stills gallery.

M
Fritz Lang’s controversial 1931 masterpiece M marked the first ‘talkie’ for the legendary filmmaker and was inspired by the true crimes of Peter Kürten, dubbed the ‘Vampire of Düsseldorf.’
DVD includes commentary by German film scholars Anton Kaes and Eric Rentschler, Conversation with Fritz Lang: a 50-minute film by William Friedkin, Claude Chabrol’s M le Maudit: a short film inspired by M, classroom tapes of M editor Paul Falkenberg, Interview with Harold Nebenzal, a physical history of M, stills galleries and a 32-page booklet.

THE BLOB
At the height of the 1950s b-movie/Communist paranoia, director Irvin Yeaworth and star Steve McQueen collaborated on The Blob, a low budget thriller that became a surprise success at the box office.
DVD includes Two audio commentaries: one by producer Jack Harris and film historian Bruce Eder and the other by Yeaworth and actor Robert Fields, BLOB-abilia!: collector Wes Shank’s rare trove of stills and special collectible poster.

LES YEUX SANS VISAGE (EYES WITHOUT A FACE)
Dr. Génessier (Pierre Brasseur) abducts a series of young women in an attempt to graft their faces onto his horribly disfigured daughter, Christiane Génessier (Edith Scob).
DVD includes Blood of the Beasts (Le Sang des bêtes), director Georges Franju’s 1949 short documentary, archival interviews with Franju, excerpt from Les Grands-pères du crime: a documentary featuring Eyes Without a Face writers, stills gallery and new essays by novelist Patrick McGrath and film historian David Kalat.

PEEPING TOM
Despite ruining the career of Michael Powell, 1960’s Peeping Tom (which was released around the same time as Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal masterpiece Psycho) has since gained acclaim for its disturbing portrayal of a demented young man who films the reactions of his victims as he kills them.
DVD includes audio essay by renowned film theorist Laura Mulvey, A Very British Psycho: Channel 4 U.K. documentary about the life of screenwriter Leo Marks and stills galleries.

FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN
Produced by controversial artist Andy Warhol and directed by regular collaborator Paul Morrissey, Flesh for Frankenstein (also known as Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein) proved to be the breakthrough role for cult actor Udo Kier, who starred as the infamous Baron Frankenstein in this loose reworking of the Mary Shelley classic.
DVD includes audio commentary with Morrissey, Kier and film historian Maurice Yacowar, stills gallery and excerpts from the Claudio Gizzi musical score in stereo.

SISTERS
Before finding acclaim with the likes of Carrie and Dressed to Kill, filmmaker Brian De Palma first found success with the 1973 Hitchcockian thriller Sisters, in which future Superman star Margot Kidder co-starred as siblings Danielle and Dominique Blanchion.
DVD includes De Palma’s 1973 Village Voice essay Murder by Moog: Scoring the Chill, 1973 print interview with De Palma, Rare Study of Siamese Twins in Soviet: the 1966 Life magazine article that inspired De Palma, excerpts from the original press book and stills galleries.

VIDEODROME
Having explored such dubious subjects as venereal disease, cult filmmaker David Cronenberg soon turned his attention to the effects that violent and pornographic imagery have on its viewer.
DVD includes two audio commentaries – one from Cronenberg and DP Mark Irwin and the other from stars Woods and Deborah Harry, Camera: a short film by Cronenberg, Forging the New Flesh: a new half-hour documentary, Effects Men: a new audio interview with special makeup effects creator Rick Baker, Bootleg Video: the complete footage of Samurai Dreams, Fear on Film: a 26-minute roundtable discussion from 1982 and stills galleries.

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is given the task of tracking down Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) and is forced to play mind games with the brilliant but deadly convicted psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal ‘the Cannibal’ Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). Winner of five Academy Awards.
DVD includes commentary from director Jonathan Demme, Foster, Anthony Hopkins, screenwriter Ted Tally and FBI agent John Douglas, seven deleted scenes, film-to-storyboard comparison, FBI crime classification manual and Voices of Death: word-for-word statements of convicted serial killers.

C’EST ARRIVE PRES DE CHEZ VOUS (MAN BITES DOG)
Long before Cloverfield, District 9 or even The Blair Witch Project, three Belgian film students shot a mockumentary in which a film crew followed around a serial killer, documenting his disturbing activities and eventually becoming involved themselves. Winner of the International Critics’ Prize at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.
DVD includes 1993 video interview with the filmmakers, No C4 for Daniel-Daniel: a student short by the filmmakers and stills galleries.

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