Children's Film Foundation Collection (Vol. 4): Scary Stories ( The Man from Nowhere / Haunters of the Deep / Out of the Darkness )

Children's Film Foundation Collection (Vol. 4): Scary Stories (DVD) (*)

$30.99

Original Title: The Man from Nowhere / Haunters of the Deep / Out of the Darkness
Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Mono )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
182 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Anamorphic Widescreen
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Booklet
Remastered

Movie filmed in 1975 - 1985 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
James Hill
Andrew Bogle
John Krish

Written By:
John Tully
Tony Attard
Terry Barbour
John Krish

Actors:
Sarah Hollis Andrews ..... Alice Harvey
Ronald Adam ..... George Harvey
Anthony McCaffery ..... Spikey
Shane Franklin ..... William
Reggie Winch ..... Nob
Robin Keston ..... Jim
John Forbes-Robertson ..... Mr Freeman
Edmund Thomas ..... Joe
Gabrielle Hamilton ..... Mrs Smee
Andrew Keir ..... Captain Tregellis
Barbara Ewing ..... Mrs. Holman
Bob Sherman ..... Mr. Roche
Brian Osborne ..... Mr. Holman
Tom Watson ..... Frank Lacey
Sean Arnold ..... Dave Shannon
Peter Lovstrom ..... Daniel Holman
Patrick Murray ..... Jack
Barry Craine ..... Trevor Dobson - Rescue Leader
Gary Simmons ..... Josh Holman
Amy Taylor ..... Becky Roche
Philip Martin ..... Billy Bray
Gary Halliday ..... Tom (as Garry Halliday)
Michael Flowers ..... Mike Neil
Emma Ingham ..... Penny Neil
Anthony Winder ..... Ghost boy
Michael Carter ..... Julian Reid
Jenny Tarren ..... Mrs. Neil
Eric Mason ..... Mr. Barrow
Charlotte Mitchell ..... Mrs. Barrow
Roy Holder ..... Garage man
Vivienne Moore ..... Jenny
Hilary Sesta ..... Young Else
Julia Gordon-Smith ..... Schoolteacher
Randal Herley ..... Estate agent

Synopsis:

For over 30 years the Children's Film Foundation produced quality entertainment for young audiences, employing the cream of British filmmaking talent. Newly transferred from the best available elements held in the BFI National Archive, these much-loved and fondly remembered films finally return to the screen after many years out of distribution in this specially curated DVD release from the BFI. The Man from Nowhere (1975) is a beautifully told Victorian gothic thriller from acclaimed director James Hill. Young orphan Alice has been invited by her rich uncle to live in his country mansion but she soon finds herself persecuted by the apparent visitations of an unsettling stranger. Who is this 'man from nowhere' and just why is he trying to scare her away? The events in Haunters of the Deep (1984) take place along the dramatic Cornish coastline. Intent on re-opening a disused tin mine, an American businessman ignores warnings about the site's grisly past. It's left to his bored daughter and local lad, Josh, to attempt a daring rescue when history threatens to repeat itself. In John Krish's Out of the Darkness (1985), a Derbyshire village is haunted by a tragic secret from the era of the Black Death. When the Neils decide to buy a run-down cottage they are unaware that it was once inhabited by a plague-stricken family. Soon, the Neil siblings find themselves in the middle of a thrilling adventure, assisted by their friend, Tom, and a local folklore expert (played by Michael Carter - The Keep, Return of the Jedi).

Containing James Hill's The Man from Nowhere, Haunters of the Deep and John Krish's Out of the Darkness, this is a quality collection with some outstanding storytelling, writes Graeme Hobbs. Just as its title promises, there are some genuine scares in the films here, but what really stands out in this geographically diverse collection is the quality of the storytelling. Weaving children's adventures through local folklore and history, these are no off-the-peg stories. The Man from Nowhere finds determined young orphan Alice confronted by a mysterious black-clad man who warns her away from Tower House, where she has gone to stay with her great uncle, her only surviving relative. The man seems to know her every move and his sudden appearances are as alarming for the viewers as they are for Alice - though thankfully (against the housekeeper's advice) she has befriended some local ragamuffins to help her get to the bottom of the mystery. Alice is well named as the young girl negotiating the unfamiliar, oversized surroundings of a manor house in the country - something which James Hill (Lunch Hour, The Home-Made Car, Born Free) understands well. And Sarah Hollis-Andrews is excellent as the wilful, occasionally terrified, girl, happy to accept her rich uncle's charity - but only on her own terms.
In its style and setting - a country estate where a person's arrival reveals latent, or here, threatened, forces - The Man from Nowhere resembles a Lawrence Gordon Clark BBC 'Ghost Story for Christmas' as it admirably treads the line between supernatural visitation and underhand goings-on. Music is from John Cameron (Kes, CCS) and the closing credits are delightful. Haunters of the Deep takes us to Cornwall with a tale of a haunted mine. The American CEO of Aminco Mining Corp. wants to re-open the tin-rich Strangles Head Mine, despite the dire warnings of old local miner Captain Tregellis (Andrew Keir, who himself started his working life in a mine at the age of 14) whose childhood friend had lost his life there many years before. Warnings are ignored (there's local employment to think of too) and its is up to Josh, whose older brother has taken a job in the mine, and Becky, the CEO's daughter, to set aside their initial animosity and bring about a rescue when the mine walls begin to let in the sea. With its Cornish coastal setting and elements of the supernatural - Spriggans and Jack o'Lanterns and the ghost of young miner lost decades before - Haunters of the Deep makes effective use of its distinct local setting. Finally, John Krish's Out of the Darkness takes us to a Derbyshire village, where a clairvoyant child is called upon by the ghost of an outcast 'plague boy' to lay his troubled spirit to rest. Inspired by the history of the plague village of Eyam, whose villagers isolated themselves in 1665 to prevent the spread of the disease, the film - typically for Krish - introduces notes that resonate more widely and darkly, such as the feral nature of mob mentality and the continuation of patterns of fear through the ages. As the young boy in the present age goes to 'the other side of the mist' and finds himself hounded into the hills in the way that another young boy had been centuries before, a present-day incarnation of the village mob assembles…

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 16 October, 2013.

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