Powerhouse Films

[Rob4]

It's the Michael Sarrazin character who is afraid of cats. If I recall rightly, its him and his girlfriend who want to kill a rich old relative for the inheritance but she lives in a house with dozens of cats. It was a late night staple back in the seventies. A little creepy but not a major genre entry. I'll be getting it though, for the nostalgia value, if nothing else

[Susan Foreman]

Apparently 'Corruption' (1968) is getting a Limited Edition Blu-ray release in August

[Michael Brooke]

Originally Posted by Rob4

It's the Michael Sarrazin character who is afraid of cats. If I recall rightly, its him and his girlfriend who want to kill a rich old relative for the inheritance but she lives in a house with dozens of cats. It was a late night staple back in the seventies. A little creepy but not a major genre entry. I'll be getting it though, for the nostalgia value, if nothing else

It’s worth bearing in mind that despite having more or less the same running time, the TV version is really startlingly different from the theatrical cut - not just the expected bowdlerisations (sex, violence, drugs references, people saying naughty words like “damn” or “hell”), but a complete re-edit of the climax so that it involves just one cat rather than dozens (you get to see dozens earlier on, but when they’re driven away halfway through, they don’t come back).

I edited a featurette exploring the differences, and it ended up clocking in at a whopping 38 minutes because there were so many.

[Dave Boy]

Blimey! I must have watched the tv cut then as the cats came back!

[Michael Brooke]

Originally Posted by Dave Boy

Blimey! I must have watched the tv cut then as the cats came back!

That’s the theatrical cut - so clearly at least one British telly channel rejected the ludicrous American TV edit.

[Rob4]

Originally Posted by Michael Brooke

That’s the theatrical cut - so clearly at least one British telly channel rejected the ludicrous American TV edit.

I saw it twice in the 1970s but can't remember what channel. Both times was the version with loads of cats at the end. I vaguely remember their was a bit of business with a step ladder. Does that gel with your more recent viewing?

[Michael Brooke]

Originally Posted by Rob4

I saw it twice in the 1970s but can't remember what channel. Both times was the version with loads of cats at the end. I vaguely remember their was a bit of business with a step ladder. Does that gel with your more recent viewing?

The stepladder's in both versions, but it's only the theatrical cut that ends with more than one cat. So clearly British telly (very sensibly) favoured the theatrical cut.

[Dave Boy]

Ahh, that's great then. I thought the ending with all the cats was great.

[Susan Foreman]

'Corruption' (1968) - Pre-order available at PowerHouse Films direct - £18:99

Release date: August 16

"In the 1960s, director Robert Hartford-Davis (The Black Torment, The Fiend) teamed up with producer/cameraman Peter Newbrook (The Asphyx) to make a series of low-budget films capitalising on the cinematic crazes of the day. In 1968, the duo stridently ventured into the surgical horror subgenre with Corruption, a grim update of Eyes Without a Face, transposed into the scenic south-coast seaside town of Seaford, via Swinging Sixties London.

In a surprising performance, Peter Cushing (Captain Clegg, The Revenge of Frankenstein) stars as a high-class plastic surgeon who is driven to murder as part of a demented quest to rebuild the decaying visage of his fashion model wife (Sue Lloyd, The Ipcress File), who has been severely scarred at a party.

A film that pushed the envelope of gore and sleaze in its era, Corruption is presented on home video for the first time in the UK."

Special features:

• 2K restoration from the original negative
• Two feature presentations: the theatrical version (92 mins); and the more graphic international version (91 mins)
• Original mono audio
• Audio commentary with Peter Cushing biographer David Miller and English Gothic author Jonathan Rigby (2013)
• The BEHP Interview with Peter Newbrook (1995): career-spanning audio interview with the producer and cameraman, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring Newbrook in conversation with Alan Lawson and Roy Fowler
• The Guardian Lecture with Peter Cushing (1986): audio recording of an interview with the legendary actor recorded at the National Film Theatre, London
• Interview with actor Phillip Manikum (2021)
• Interview with actor Billy Murray (2012)
• Interview with actor Jan Waters (2012)
• Whatever Happened to Wendy Varnals? (2013): interview with the English actor
• Stephen Laws Introduces ‘Corruption’ (2021): appreciation by the acclaimed horror author
• The Unkindest Cuts (2021): critic and writer Michael Brooke on the history of surgical horror
• Edgar Wright trailer commentary (2013): short critical appreciation
• Original UK theatrical trailer
• Original US theatrical trailer
• TV spots
• Radio spots
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
• Director’s shooting script gallery
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Laura Mayne, archival articles and interviews, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• Limited edition exclusive replica production stills
• UK home video premiere
• Limited edition of 5,000 copies

Extras subject to change

[Susan Foreman]

'Jagged Edge' (1985) - Pre-order available at PowerHouse Films direct - £15:99

Release date: August 16

"A classic neo-noir and a definitive 1980s erotic thriller, Jagged Edge stars Jeff Bridges (Fat City, Winter Kills) as a dashing newspaper publisher accused of brutally slaying his rich socialite wife in order to inherit her fortune. Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction) plays the high-achieving female attorney who is compromised when she enters into a torrid and steamy love affair with the accused.

Sleek, stylish and suspenseful, Jagged Edge benefits from assured direction by Richard Marquand (The Legacy), an ingenious script from Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct), and seasoned character actors Robert Loggia (The Garment Jungle, Scarface) and Peter Coyote (Bitter Moon) providing memorable support"

Special features:

• High Definition remaster
• Original stereo audio
• Alternative 5.1 surround sound track
• Interview with writer Joe Eszterhas (2021)
• Cutting Edge (2021): interview with editor Sean Barton
• David Huckvale on John Barry (2021): appreciation of the score by the acclaimed author and musicologist
• Original theatrical trailer
• Radio spot
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Maitland McDonagh, extracts from archival interviews with director Richard Marquand, a look at the making of the film, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and full film credits
• UK premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 3,000 copies

Extras subject to change