Dunn, Michael

Madigan

They don't make detective thrillers like this anymore. Madigan is a gem from the '60s, anticipating the more popular French Connection and Dirty Harry with its gritty urban realism. However, this film has a wonderful poetry and sense of camaraderie, thanks to Abraham Polonsky's writing and Don Siegel's inspired direction. Richard Widmark plays a hardbitten New York cop who must redeem himself after losing his gun to a psychotic thug (a plot somewhat reminiscent of Kurosawa's Stray Dog). Henry Fonda costars as a stern police commissioner overwhelmed by his day-to-day decisions. He can't stand Widmark's freewheeling attitude, but he's a hypocrite when it comes to his own private life. Moral decisions don't come easy in this contemplative film. Fine support is provided by Harry Guardino as Widmark's partner, Inger Stevens as Widmark's wife, James Whitmore as Fonda's slightly corrupt pal, and Steve Ihnat as Widmark's charismatic nemesis. --Bill Desowitz

Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda star in this critically acclaimed detective drama that takes a hard-hitting look at the lives and loves of New York City's top cops. Directed in gripping documentary fashion by Don Siegel, Richard Widmark portrays the veteran Big Apple detective who is given only a few hours to track down a vicious killer. Henry Fonda is the humane yet relentlessly foreceful police commissioner who orders Widmark into the streets to solve the case, even though he knows it might be his last assignment.

Ship of Fools

SHIP OF FOOLS is set on a German ocean liner during the Nazi regime of the 1930's. In the high class section are several well-to-do people while below deck are a horde of sugar field workers returning to Spain after a season of work in Cuba. The ship is a hot bed of disillusionment prejudice anddelusions of grandeur.System Requirements:Running Time: 149 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/CLASSICS Rating: NR UPC: 043396106321 Manufacturer No: 10632

An all-star drama in the grandest of Hollywood traditions, Ship of Fools is now a glossy, Oscar®-nominated relic from a bygone era, when actors were valued more than special effects. "Prestige" is the keyword in describing this high-toned Stanley Kramer production, and the passage of time brings the pros and cons of Kramer's filmmaking into stark relief. In adapting Katherine Anne Porter's acclaimed novel set aboard a German liner sailing from Mexico to Germany, Kramer and screenwriter Abby Mann (who shifted the story from 1931 to 1933) attempted to display the oncoming horror of Nazi Germany in microcosm, as represented by the ship's colorful variety of passengers, including maritally combative artists (George Segal, Elizabeth Ashley); a has-been baseball star (Lee Marvin); a pair of illicit lovers (Oskar Werner, Simone Signoret); a despondent divorcée (Vivien Leigh, shockingly garish in her final film); and several others who play symbolic roles with varying degrees of obviousness. Porter's potent themes are somewhat deflated by Kramer's pompous, heavy-handed approach, but powerful acting remains. Having lost what relevance it had in 1965, Ship of Fools is still fascinating as a showcase for well-drawn characters (including an observant dwarf, played by the late, great Michael Dunn) whose inner lives and outward interactions reflect a turbulent world irrevocably headed for war. --Jeff Shannon

No Way to Treat a Lady

Cry of the Banshee / Murders in the Rue Morgue

CRY OF THE BANSHEE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE

Elvira's Movie Macabre: Count Dracula's Great Love / Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks (Double Feature)

Elvira continues her late-night horror tradition with the MOVIE MACABRE series which finds the buxom Mistress of the Dark hosting a selection of campy horror classics. This volume presents a double feature of flicks: in COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE (1972) a group of comely young women seek refuge in a castle on a rainy night only to find themselves in the lair of a vampire king with a lust for female blood; and in FRANKENSTEIN'S CASTLE OF FREAKS (1974) libidinous dwarves and scantily clad lovelies figure into a story about a mad scientist who resurrects a Neanderthal caveman.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: NR UPC: 826663101720 Manufacturer No: D2D10172

The Freakmaker

A Frankensteinian twist on Tod Browning's classic FREAKS.

THE FREAKMAKER (aka The Mutations) stars Donald Pleasence (Cul-De-Sac, Fantastic Voyage) as Professor Nolter, a college science professor who believes it is man's destiny to survive an uncertain future by evolving into a hybrid plant/human mutation. To test his theories, Nolter supervises the abduction of young co-eds and fuses them with mutant plants he has developed in his laboratory, placing his rejects in a neighboring freak show (which stars such real-life oddities as the Alligator Lady, the Frog Boy, the Human Pretzel, the Monkey Woman, the Human Pincushion and the unforgettable "Popeye".

Not available on video since the 1980s, this classic also features such cult favorites as Academy Award nominee Tom Baker (Nicholas and Alexandra), Julie Ege (Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires), Jill Haworth (Tower of Evil), Brad Harris (Samson), and the extraordinary Michael Dunn (Ship of Fools, The Wild Wild West's "Dr. Loveless") in one of his final film roles. As with all Subversive releases, THE FREAKMAKER has been painstakingly restored and supplemented with numerous extras for its DVD premier.

"With its cast of 'human oddities', bizarre makeup effects and avant-garde music score, THE FREAKMAKER is a hothouse of horror that will grow on you!" -Tim Lucas, VIDEO WATCHDOG magazine

Dr. Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks

See the battle of the monsters, Goliath versus Ook! "South Pacific" star Rossano Brazzi plays the crackpot Frankenstein whose latest creature is a goofy, dome-headed neanderthal cleverly named Goliath. Typical of monsters, Goliath has the hots for Frankenstein's new squeeze, Krista, who likes to bathe in milk. When Genz, a horny necrophile dwarf, is expelled from the castle, he promptly makes friends with Ook, a second neanderthal just passing through town. Out for revenge, Genz lets Goliath loose to go head to pointy-head with Ook in a good old-fashioned monster rumble.

Elvira's Movie Macabre: Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks

Elvira continues her late-night horror tradition with the MOVIE MACABRE series which finds the buxom Mistress of the Dark hosting a selection of her favorite campy horror classics. This volume features FRANKENSTEIN'S CASTLE OF FREAKS (1974) an Italian sexploitation fest in which libidinous dwarves and scantily clad lovelies figure into a story about a mad scientist who resurrects a Neanderthal caveman.System Requirements:Running Time 89 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: R UPC: 826663101003 Manufacturer No: DVDSF10100

Mel Bay Django's Rhythm

In the world of Gypsy Jazz, the original Quintette of the Hot Club of France achieved an energy output seldom equaled or surpassed for 7 decades or so. Django wanted to have two rhythm guitars behind him when he soloed to give him a full sound. Then when Grappelli soloed, Django would interject himself between Grappelli and the rhythm guitar section. From this vantage point, he would "push" Grappelli with a series of well placed shots, shuffles, and turnarounds that would have the effect of driving the group to a greater energy output as the song approached its conclusion. In this DVD, the classic 4-to-the-bar rhythm is broken down into four separate unsable styles. After that, Django's syncopated rhythm shots are analyzed and presented by example from a simple backbeat to 2-bar long syncopated strums. My own philosophy is that the rhythm guitar section is the most important component of the Gypsy Jazz group. The rhythm guitar should be in a position to drive and not follow the group. The information contained in this DVD will give you the rhythmic tools to infuse the sound with the energy that this genre of music deserves. Remember that rhythm guitar is NOT "second fiddle."

The Varrow Mission

A group of teenagers go to an old haunted mill for a party and discover real extraterrestrial beings. Their terrifying experiences are based on reputedly true reports of alien sightings in rural Utah in the 1950s.System Requirements:Running Time: 89 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY/ALIENS UPC: 018619158906 Manufacturer No: 15890DVD