First, two films starring Terence Stamp: the UK Blu-ray premiere release of William Wyler’s adaptation of John Fowles’ twisted classic The Collector (1965), co-starring Samantha Eggar (Psyche 59, The Brood) as the object of Stamp’s unhealthy obsession; and the world premiere Blu-ray release of the rarely-seen, Frankenstein-inspired Amicus sci-fi/horror The Mind of Mr. Soames (1970), co-starring Robert Vaughn and Nigel Davenport.
Also on 24 September, Indicator presents the UK Blu-ray premiere of Anthony Page’s underrated mystery-thriller Absolution (1978). Based on a screenplay by The Wicker Man writer Anthony Shaffer, this unsettling drama stars the late, great Richard Burton, Sir Billy Connolly (in his first feature-film role), Kes star Dai Bradley, and the inimitable Brian Glover (Kes, Jabberwocky, Alien3).
September’s disturbing quartet is completed by the world Blu-ray premiere release of director Jamil Dehlavi’s hallucinatory mystical-horror film Born of Fire (1987), starring Peter Firth (Equus) and Suzan Crowley (The Devil Inside). Overflowing with rich and powerful imagery, this is the third feature from Pakistani filmmaker Dehlavi, who is the subject of a career retrospective at the BFI Southbank over the weekend of 10-12 August. Anyone attending the BFI that weekend will also get the opportunity to see Indictor’s new restoration of Dehlavi’s extraordinary fourth film, Immaculate Conception (which will receive its Blu-ray premiere from Indicator later in the year).
Mastered from the finest available materials, each of these collectable editions will contain a range of new and archival extra features, English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, and come packaged with comprehensive booklets featuring newly commissioned writing, archival material, contemporary reviews, and full film credits.
The Collector (William Wyler, 1965) | £15.99
The great Hollywood director William Wyler (Jezebel, Wuthering Heights, The Heiress, Ben-Hur) took John Fowles’ celebrated novel and turned it into one of the finest – and most controversial – psychological thrillers of the 1960s.
A lonely, unbalanced young butterfly collector (Terence Stamp – Far from the Madding Crowd, The Mind of Mr. Soames, Superman II) stalks and abducts a young art student (Samantha Eggar – Psyche 59, The Brood), keeping her imprisoned in a stone cellar as if she were one of his specimens.
Stamp and Eggar won Best Actor prizes for their roles at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival, and the film remains a surprising and often shocking depiction of psychotic obsession.
Indicator Limited Edition Blu-ray features:
- 2K Restoration
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with author and film historian Neil Sinyard
- Interview with Terence Stamp (2018): a new interview with the iconic actor
- Interview with Samantha Eggar (2018): a new interview with the award-winning actor
- Richard Combs on ‘The Collector’ (2018): a new appreciation of the film by the renowned critic, lecturer and broadcaster
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional photography and publicity material
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Carmen Gray, an overview of contemporary critical responses, historic articles, and film credits
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
- All extras subject to change
The Mind of Mr. Soames (Alan Cooke, 1970) | £15.99
Based on a best-selling novel by Charles Eric Maine, Amicus Productions’ The Mind of Mr. Soames is a contemporary reworking of the Frankenstein story. Terence Stamp (The Collector, Far from the Madding Crowd) is a young man left comatose from birth, who is awakened live on TV into a world he can’t comprehend, and exploited as a living curiosity.
Remarkably prescient in its depiction of reality television and media turpitude, the film also boasts a superb supporting cast, including Robert Vaughn, Nigel Davenport, Christian Roberts, Donal Donnelly and Vickery Turner, and features luminous cinematography by the great Billy Williams (Women in Love, The Wind and the Lion, Gandhi).
Indicator Limited Edition Blu-ray features:
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with film historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby
- Interview with actor Christian Roberts (2018): new and exclusive interview
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional photography and publicity material
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Laura Mayne, an overview of contemporary critical responses, historic articles, and film credits
- World premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
- All extras subject to change
Absolution (Anthony Page, 1978) | £15.99
At a Catholic boys' school, domineering disciplinarian Father Goddard (Richard Burton – Look Back in Anger, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold) rules over his pupils with an iron hand. When one of his teenage charges confesses to murder, the dogmatic but deeply repressed Goddard finds his faith challenged and his life spiralling dangerously out of control.
Also starring Billy Connolly (in his first feature-film role), Dominic Guard (The Go-Between, The Picnic at Hanging Rock), Kes star Dai Bradley, and the inimitable Brian Glover, and written by the great Anthony Shaffer (The Wicker Man, Sleuth), Absolution is one of British cinema’s most underrated chillers, not least for a towering central performance by Burton.
Indicator Limited Edition Blu-ray features:
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with film historian Kevin Lyons, editor of The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television
- Interview with director Anthony Page (2018): a new interview with the great theatre, film and television director
- Interview with actor Dominic Guard (2018): a new interview with the young star of the film
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional photography and publicity material
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Neil Sinyard, an overview of contemporary critical responses, historic articles, and film credits
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
- All extras subject to change
Born of Fire (Jamil Dehlavi, 1987) | £15.99
Following the mysterious death of his beloved father, classical musician Paul Bergson (Peter Firth – Equus, Tess, TV’s Spooks) is haunted by visions and nightmares. With his lover (Suzan Crowley – The Devil Inside), he travels to remote Turkey on a quest to find The Master Musician, only to encounter a creature of unimaginable evil.
Steeped in mysticism and music, and mixing the avant-garde with supernatural fantasy, stunning visuals and a terrific score by Colin Towns, Born of Fire is a bold and poetic horror film from one of international cinema’s great maverick talents.
Indicator Limited Edition Blu-ray features:
- High Definition remaster
- Original stereo audio
- Qâf – The Sacred Mountain (1985, 26 mins): Jamil Dehlavi’s acclaimed art-documentary, with music by Tangerine Dream and Popul Vuh, chronicling a volcanic eruption in exquisite and hypnotic detail
- Interview with director Jamil Dehlavi (2018)
- Interview with actor Peter Firth (2018)
- Interview with composer Colin Towns (2018)
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Dr Ali Nobil Ahmad, an overview of contemporary critical responses, historic articles, and film credits
- World premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
- All extras subject to change
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