THE APPOINTMENT. (1981) REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.

The Wicker Man – The Final Cut Review

Certificate:
15 (UK)
Release:
11th October (Cinemas) and  14th October (DVD & BR)
Director:
Robin Hardy
Stars:
Edward Woodward, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, Britt Ekland, Christopher Lee
Buy The Wicker Man 40th Anniversary Edition: [DVD]/ [Blu-ray]
The Wicker Man is now considered by many to be the greatest British horror film ever made. It originally was released as support feature to Nicolas Roeg’s great Don’t Look Now. It faded into obscurity for a few years till the film magazine Cinefantastique called it “the Citizen Kane of horror movies”. I wouldn’t go that far but it is film from the get go that has such an atmosphere that is so off kilter and menacing. The closes I can compare it to something like Seconds or David Lynch even though it’s radically different in almost every way.

The film concerns Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward). He receives an anonymous letter that young Rowan Morrison is missing. Sergeant Howie travels to the remote Hebridean island. The local seems to have an ulterior motive from the get go, they keep saying they haven’t seen him for the bulk of the film. The film unsettling nature is certainly helped by the bizarre musical numbers that are sung by the locals. The film also has one of the most iconic endings in British film history, which is as bleak as you can get.

The film has a very interesting pro-Christian message through the film which very atypical of most films. The film Neil Howie is a devout Christian so much so he is still a Virgin and the villagers are all creepy and evil Celtic Pagans. The Pagans are lead by a deliciously creepy performance by Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle and gives one of his career best performances and it’s much better than his performances in those extremely overrated Hammer films.

The film over the years has developed a rabid cult following. Mark Kermode made a documentary on the film in 2001 that is also included on this Blu-ray. It is now considered one of the finest British films of all-time and along with the film it supported Don’t Look Now is cited as one of the truly great British horror films. The film was originally cut by about 8 minutes in it’s original release. It was restored to a 92-minute cut (which is called the Final Cut on this disc) and a later even longer “Director’s Cut”. The director Robin Hardy now considered the 92-minute cut to be “the final cut”. The disc is absolutely packed with tons of documentaries, interviews, commentaries and the 3 aforementioned cuts. The release also includes a soundtrack cd of those creepy folk songs.

★★★★½

Ian Schultz

Blu-Ray Review: Who Dares Wins

From famed British action producer, Euan Lloyd comes Who Dares Wins, patchy, all star action thriller.
Starring The Professionals' Lewis Collins, Judy Davis, as well as screen icons Edward Woodward and Richard Widmark, Who Dares Wins was one of Lloyd's last features. Here we are told of an SAS trouper infiltrating a group of radicals who plot to launch an attack upon the American embassy where several key dignitaries including the US Secretary of State, are staying.

The main issue with Who Dares Wins is its completely stodgy screenplay, which was surely felt dated even upon its 1982 release.  Feeling more like right wing Conservative propaganda commissioned by Margaret Thatcher, than an entertaining action film - you would be forgiven for siding with the terrorists here (well that would be if they were not so inept). It is a struggle to get past the concept that this is a terrorist group that wants nuclear disarmament, but they went to achieve this through the detonation of a nuclear bomb - someone needs rethink their plan. 

Considering that Who Dares Wins was inspired by a real event (the Iranian embassy siege in 1980), it feels completely unrealistic and unbelievable. Reginal Rose's screenplay also spends far too long focussing on Captain Skellen (Lewis Collins) infiltration of the terrorist group which verges on being completely tedious. At a bloated 125 minutes, the only particularly exciting sequence is the embassy raid - the key set piece of the film.

This sequence sees director Ian Sharp come into his own, showing a clear flair for the action scenes. Here bullets fly, smoke bombs are detonated and the previously wooden leading man, Lewis Collins gets a chance to shine as an action star. The raid sequence has not aged too well but in a film as patchy as Who Dares Wins, it is manages to become the most exciting sequence in the film.

 Fortunately appearances by the completely watchable Edward Woodward as a grandstanding police commander and Richard Widmark as the US Secretary of State, keep things reasonably entertaining. However, these are simply supporting roles with most of the screen time falling to Collins and Davis, who are rather part bland leads.

Being the top distributor that they are, Arrow Video have also included the more entertaining low-budget Italian feature The Commander (starring Lewis Collins, Lee Van Cleef and Donald Pleasence) on the release, which is worth a look.
Who Dares Wins is a forgettable, often hit or miss affair. Despite, the energetic embassy raid  in the film's latter half and two watchable supporting turns from Widmark and Woodward - there is not much else worth watching this stodgy feature for. 

Andrew McArthur

★★1/2☆☆

Starring:Lewis Collins,Judy Davis,Richard Widmark ,Edward Woodward
Director: Ian Sharp
Release: 8/10/12
Certificate: 15 (UK)
Buy Who Dares Wins: Blu-ray [1982]