DVD Review: CHILLER - The Complete Television Series (1995)

CHILLER - The Complete Television Series (1995) 

2-Disc DVD

Label: Synapse Films 
Duration: 265 minutes
Region: Region 1 NTSC
Audio: English Dolby Digital English 2.0 Mono
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Full Frame 
Directors: Lawrence Gordon Clark, Anthony Horowitz, Glenn Chandler 
Cast: Nigel Havers, Martin Clunes, Sophie Ward, Kevin McNally

Synopsis: The television series Chiller was a five episode horror anthology that aired in the UK in 1995. Presented here for the first time in the U.S., these supernatural shockers feature malevolent spirits, a brutal serial killer and a haunted house set in contemporary England. Starring many of Britain’s leading actors like Nigel Havers (Chariots of Fire, TV’s Coronation Street), Martin Clunes (UK’s Men Behaving Badly), Sophie Ward (Young Sherlock Holmes) and Kevin McNally (Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean series), this compelling collection will leave you chilled to the bone!

I grew up on a steady diet of American TV anthology series beginning with vintage TWILIGHT ZONE episodes, the fantasy adventures of AMAZING STORIES, MONSTERS, the schlocky TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE,  HBO's EC Comics inspired TALES FROM THE CRYPT right up through to Showtime's MASTERS OF HORROR series. I definitely have a soft spot for the format, it was a treat to dip my toes into what the UK had to offer with the recent release of HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR from the legendary horror studio and now with this, a short-lived five episode horror anthology series broadcast in the UK in 1995 and now on DVD for the first time ever in the US from Synapse Films. Let's check out the episodes...

PROPHECY (52:55) A group teens hold a séance in the basement of a London café for shits and giggles but to their surprise they each receive a prophecy of their own deaths. Five years later, the fatal prophecies begin to come true in a very FINAL DESTINATION sort of way, this one was a good bit of fun, a great season opener with each of the character dying off in fun  and often bloody scenarios. Our main character Franny is trying to get to the bottom of the death curse before her ticket is punched, along the way she takes up with a man named Oliver and realizes that his son Edward is somehow connected to the tragedies. Some nice deaths and suspense here including few vehicular deaths, a grisly elevator ride, and some occult elements including spooky seances. The finale really ratchets up the tensions as the forces good and evil face off, while the script wanders a bit this one was quite entertaining with a strong cast.

TOBY (52:15) When Ray and Louise Knight lose their unborn son Toby in a car accident they are crushed, but when Louise discovers she’s pregnant again things seem to be on the upswing. However, a routine scan reveals she is not actually pregnant, the depression following the miscarriage seems to have spurred a hysterical pregnancy exhibiting all the physical signs of a baby being on the way, it's certainly an oddity, she even goes into labor which produces not a child but blood. Afterwards she is haunted by the incessant cries of a child emanating from her empty nursery, she even begins nursing this ghost child leaving her befuddled husband thinking she's gone nutters, but has she really? This one had some good creepy moments but fell a bit flat following the quite good first episode. 

HERE COMES THE MIRROR MAN (52:44)  This third episode features a newcomer social worker searching for a troubled, young homeless man named Gary who's plagued by a naughty friend named Michael whom may or may not be a demon force, either way he encourages Gary to commit murderous acts, at one point pushing our social worker's predecessor in front of an oncoming truck. This was a nice psychological thriller with strong performances, the ending is telegraphed pretty far in advance of the conclusion and the story is a bit subdued for my tastes but a decent episode nonetheless.

THE MAN WHO DIDN'T BELIEVE IN GHOSTS (52:56) When a a professional skeptic of the paranormal moves to the countryside and into a supposed haunted property with his wife and daughter, they find themselves the victims of unexplained events. As a matter of professional integrity the skeptic scoffs at the notion of an actual paranormal explanation and seeks to discover the true culprit but his stubborn quest strains his marital relationship and puts his family in harm's way. Strange happening include maggot infested fowl for dinner, chandeliers falling, doors locking, dead pets and a masked apparition, all dealt with in a very dry and British detachment. There's some great suspenseful elements here but the pace of the story is quite languid, however, a fiery finale nearly makes up for that despite not following up on a bizarre sexual attack that takes place earlier in the episode.

NUMBER SIX (53:15) The series finale is a pretty great atmospheric chiller with occult elements that opens with a fog-laden chase through the woods, right away you know your in for a treat - this was my favorite episode of the lot.A small Yorkshire town is plagued by a child killer whom has taken the lives of five children from the area, the deaths seem to be connected to an ancient Druidic area of the woods nearby. A young boy at school is haunted by dreams of spooky schoolmates telling him to "play with us" and indeed there are some strange goings on at the schoolyard. Meanwhile the boys father, a cop, and sets  about to solve the mystery before his son falls victim. This one had some nice red herrings,   suspense and loads of atmosphere plus a haunting finale, good stuff. 

DVD: Unfortunately there are no special features or cool episode introductions like we saw with the HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR release, those were very cool and contextualized each episode and something similar here would have been appreciated. The menu is very basic, you get a play all option or an episode index that features the episode title and air date.

All five episodes are presented in their original British broadcast versions and in the original 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio. The image is here is pretty grainy, somewhat murky and even a bit noisy, the series was shot on 16mm and transferred to video, it's not the most pleasing video you will see but it's quite serviceable. The English language Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 audio is also decent, a bit muted at times, but quite listenable and easily discerned.

Verdict: After Synapse's fantastic HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR release I was primed for more UK TV horror anthologies but I found this one rather dry, some decent bits of suspense and mystery but lacking overall the thrills and exploitation of the Hammer series. CHILLER is not too shabby, fans of Brit TV suspense and mystery might find more to love than myself but for me nothing here screams for a re-watch despite some enjoyment first time around. 2.5 Outta 5 

  

DVD Review: TONY (2009)

TONY (2009)

Label: Revolver Entertainment

Region Code: 1 NTSC

Rating: Unrated

Video: 16:9 Widescreen

Audiio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Director: Gerard Johnson

Cast: Peter Ferdinando, Ricky Grover, George Russo, Frances Pope

Tagline: It's Aways the Quiet Ones

This is a film that will have you second guessing that weird nut on the bus that sits next you that mumbles to himself a bit and occasionally yelps or elicits some other random verbal outburst or perhaps the strange guy that frequents your magazine shop every so often, till now you've suspected they were a bit "off" but mostly harmless otherwise. We have one where I work we call "Fake Business Man", a dapper dressed fellow who carries with him a briefcase at all times, we often wonder what's inside, some say a knife others claim to have seen a lone sleeve of saltines, but it definitely has garnered a legend of it's own not dissimilar to the suite case from PULP FICTION. One day he came in bought a bottle of Peligrino water and crawled on his hands and knees from the register to the end of the counter where he arose stating "I don't think they saw me this time" and then off he went, I doubt he's a serial killer or a threat but after seeing this film I may be a bit more guarded next visit just to play it safe.

Gerard Johnson's feature film debut TONY (2010) follows the exploits of the titular Londoner played by actor Peter Ferdinand.  He's stricken with a severe case of awkwardness, he's gaunt, wears thick glasses, has a bad haircut and a truly awful mustache. His daily routine consists of not much more than feeding his appetite for 80's action films on VHS over a bowl of cereal and beating off to porn on the shitter, sounds like a pretty typical blogger or podcaster if you ask me, trust me, I know. His daily ventures out into the surrounding working class neighborhood is frought with awkward interactions with addicts, prostitutes and drug peddlers. Most pay him no heed but occasionally one ends up back at his place for whatever reason and more often than not they end up cut into tiny pieces, wrapped in newspaper and placed in a blue plastic grocery bags and dropped in the Thames during a nice gingerly stroll.

TONY is a quietly intense portrait of a modern day serial killer, a deeply disturbed individual who appears troubled but is not someone you'd peg as a killer on sight. Tony doesn't set out to kill but instead is looking for that elusive human connection but he's so introverted that he's virtually incapable of interacting with others on any kind of meaningful level and as a result he is easily dismissed and his attempts to make friends just end badly, his particular way of dealing with it just happens to be to simply kill them. As we view Tony's daily routines i feels almost documentary style, it's voyeuristic and creepy, not much happens but when it does it's hair raising. Despite being a psychotic killer he's not a unsympathetic character, unlike nearly all his victims, but he's just so creepy that even low-rent prostitutes shun him, he's the guy in the neighborhood that everyone knows as the weirdo, not even the guy selling bootleg DVD's is willing to carry on a conversation with him. He resorts to consorting with drug addicts whom he scores smack with and takes back to his place, suffocating one with a plastic bag while he's strung out and imprisoning the other and then releasing him, apparently because he was nicer while the other was an asshole. A night out at the gay bar ends with him waking up next to a corpse whom he offers tea to while tucking it all nice and comfy into the bed, perhaps there's some necrophilia implied but it's not explicit. All this goes on under the noses of the neighborhood who seems not to suspect shenanigans despite a constant funky smell emanating from his flat until a young boy goes missing and the boy's father fingers the neighborhood nut as a suspect which puts the police at his front doorstep.

Don't come into the film expecting a gore fest or even a blood bath, while there's a foot in the sink and some entrails being packed into bags and what not this is more a chilling study of a deranged nutcase than a blood n' guts splatterfest. This is worse, this is the weirdo next door to you. 

Despite being a low-budget production the film looks great and was shot on film, not digital, and you can tell. Its gloomy with long languid camera shots, it's fascinating stuff and is anchored by Peter Ferdinand's stunning lead performance, and the film's eerie atmosphere is further complimented by a melancholy score from THE THE.

DVD: The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 surround sound mixes with optional English subtitles as well as a audio description audio track for the vision impaired. Special features include an informative audio commentary from director Gerard Johnson, producer Dan McCullock and actor Peter Ferindando. There are also two short films from the director; MUG (2004) follows the daily routine of a street mugger and it's a depressing bit of film and the short film that preceded the feature film TONY (2005) also starring Ferdinando in the lead role and featuring a few scenes that are fleshed out in the feature length production.

Special Features:

- Feature Commentary from Gerard Johnson, Peter Ferdinando, Dan McCulloch

- TONY (2005) Short Film (14:07) 16:9

- MUG (2004) Short Film (10:45) 4:3 Letterboxed


Verdict: A film that recalls some of the cinema's finest serial killer character studies like HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER and MANIAC. I give this a high recommend, it's a skin crawling film that will stay with you for some time afterwards, so watch out for the weirdos and pick this one up ASAP.

http://www.tonythemovie.com/