With just 39 days to go until the bid day (so to speak), we have a glorious double bill of cinematic horror goodness. However both are with a slight twist. Blurring fact and fiction, truth and virisimilatude to shocking effect. Both derive there scares from the power of the video recorder. Sounds simple but thsi everyday object becomes the portal taking in all the menace and madness unravelling before our eyes. The first is the exceptional LAKE MUNGO from Australia, which questions death, memory and remorse. The second film, to put on straight after is Spain’s REC, which shows how journalism can have teeth.
39 – LAKE MUNGO
WHATS IT ABOUT?
When their sixteen-year-old Alice drowns tragically in Lake Mungo, the Palmer family are left devastated. However a serious of strange events leave mother questioning father, son fearing familia breakdown and the audience unsure who is telling the truth. Concerned that Alice could still be alive, they call in a paranormal expert who consoles more than constructs the families emotions into a series of shocking revelations. As the sadness blurs the events and the reality, take shocking turns.
WHY SHOULD WE WATCH IT FOR HALLOWEEN?
The jolts are one thing for film fans over the Halloween period. However many film fans want to have the opportunity to ride
along with an engaging narrative, a hone cinematic experience and maybe more than just jump scares. LAKE MUNGO mixes perfectly the best of the video record experience with darker insight into the nature of family and suburbia.
WHAT SHOULD WE LOOK OUT FOR?
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Emma Westwood brilliant commentary is a must visit after you watch the film. These two are great film writers from the land of Oz.
BUY IT NOW
https://secondsightfilms.co.uk/products/lake-mungo-limited-edition
Special Features
- Archive audio commentary by Producer David Rapsey and DoP John Brawley
- New audio commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Emma Westwood
- Captured Spirits: an interview with DoP John Brawley
- Ghost in the Machine: an interview with Producer David Rapsey
- A Cop and a Friend: an interview with Actors Carole Patullo & James Lawson
- Kindred Spirits: Filmmakers Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead on Lake Mungo
- Hosting Spirits: Filmmaker Rob Savage on Lake Mungo
- Simulacra and Spirits: a video essay by film academic Josh Nelson
- Autopsy of a Family Home: a video essay by filmmaker Joseph Wallace
- Deleted Scenes
- English SDH subtitles for the hearing impaired
Limited Edition Contents
- Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Thomas Walker
- 80 page soft cover book with new essays by Sarah Appleton, Simon Fitzjohn, Rich Johnson, Mary Beth McAndrews and Shellie McMurdo; an interview with actor James Lawson by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas; plus rare behind-the-scenes photos courtesy pf John Brawley
- 3 art cards with new illustrations by Thomas Walker
38 – REC
WHATS IT ABOUT?
We did a full review of this film recently but here is the simple synopsis. A camera crew are dispatched to a fire station and on a routine call out, a zombie attack is captured on film.
WHY SHOULD WE WATCH IT FOR HALLOWEEN?
After the brilliant body punches of LAKE MUNGO, REC plays to the audience with a simplicity that created a horror franchise. Watch it for the splatter, thrills and zombies but note it rapid pacing and direct drive to the jugular!
WHAT SHOULD WE LOOK OUT FOR?
A heap of great extras aside, it is that frankly superb Production edit that deserves the real love. With the night in full swing, it will make the experience swift enough to maybe feast on all that candy!
BUY IT NOW
https://arrowfilms.com/product-detail/-rec–blu-ray/FCD2104
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
- High Definition Blu-ray presentation with two viewing options: the “theatrical version” (24fps, 1080p, 78 mins) as shown in cinemas, and the “production version” (25fps, 1080i, 75 mins) as originally filmed
- Original Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 audio options on both versions
- Optional English subtitles
- New audio commentary by film critic and historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, author of Found Footage Horror: Fear and the Appearance of Reality
- Archive commentary by directors Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza
- The Making of [REC], an archive featurette examining the process of production featuring interviews with cast & crew
- How to Shoot a Horror Movie, a French-language featurette presented by directors Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza
- Archive interview with Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza looking back on the film
- The Fantastic Four, an archive panel discussion with [REC] directors Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza and new wave Spanish horror contemporaries Gonzalo Lopez Callego and Juan Antonio Bayona
- On set footage of the cast & crew at work on key scenes including “the attack on Mrs. Izquierdo” and the “climb to hell”
- Archive interview with director of photography Pablo Rosso
- Archive interview with sound supervisor Xavi Mas
- Archive interview with sound designer Oriol Tarragó
- Confidences, a video diary by star Manuela Velasco
- Deleted and extended scenes, including “Fire Station Redux”, “The Secret Archive” and “Corridors of Nails”
- Casting, original video footage from the audition process
- Trailers and TV spots
- Image gallery
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais
