Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965/Sony/Columbia/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)/Don't Look In The Basement (1972, aka The Forgotten or Death Ward #13)/Film Chest DVD)/The Driver's Seat (1974, aka Identikit/MVD/Cheezy Flicks DVD)/The Fan (1981/Paramount)/Night Must Fall (1964/MGM)/Night Watch (1973/Brut)/Wicked Wicked (1973/MGM/Warner Archive DVDs)

Picture: B/C-/C/C+/C+/C+/C Sound: C+/C-/C/C/C/C+/C+ Extras: B-/D/D/D/C-/D/C- Films: C+ (Wicked: C)

PLEASE NOTE: Driver's Seat finally got a solid Blu-ray upgrade from Severin and is a highly recommended upgrade from the older DVD here. Bunny Lake Is Missing is now sadly out of print since we first posted our coverage of this limited edition Blu-ray and hope for a reissue or 4K upgraded edition soon, but The Fan, Night Must Fall, Night Watch and Wicked Wicked are now still only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive series and all can be ordered from the link below.

Here's a group of interesting, ambitious thrillers you should know about that are fun to watch, even when they have aged oddly or have limits to how well they work...

Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) is the famed producer/director's attempt to pull off a thriller in the Hitchcock mode, but he does it by way of William Castle and just misses the mark. Carol Lynley is an American mom in England who leaves her daughter Bunny at a new school, only to have her disappear. Then evidence that she ever existed starts to disappear, which we have seen, though we have not seen the child. Her brother (Keir Dullea of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey) is helping her get settled when Bunny disappears and the search is on, including from the local police led by a no-nonsense detective (Laurence Olivier in a scene-stealing role).

Did Bunny ever exist? Who took her and why? The film also wants to be a character study and (as the audio commentary rightly points out) has a huge slew of great British actors throughout. We meet more than our number of eccentrics and a few who cold be kidnappers and worse, but being eccentric does not mean being insane. Lynley (who had been working as a child actor including TV ads) was on her way to some stardom thanks to Blue Denim and The Pleasure Seekers (reviewed on this site) was in Preminger's The Cardinal before later success in The Poseidon Adventure, 1978 Cat & The Canary remake and many TV shows, plus the huge 1972 hit telefilm Night Stalker.

Saul Bass made the credits for the film (Bass frequently worked with Hitchcock and later Kubrick and Scorsese) making this a well-rounded A-level thriller, but the last 15 minutes (where they change the ending and killer versus the novel by Evelyn Piper aka Marryam Modell backfires hurting a film that almost pulled it off. Having music by The Zombies is a plus, though, joined by all these great actor including Clive Revell, Anna Massey, Adrienne Corri and Noel Coward.

Extras include another nice illustrated booklet on the film with an essay by Julie Kirgo, who joins in on the feature length audio commentary track on the film with film scholars Nick Redmond and Lem Dobbs. Also on the disc are an Isolated Music Score Track including those songs by The Zombies in stereo and three Original Theatrical Trailers including one featuring The Zombies that also exists as a radio version not on this disc.

S.F. Brownrigg's Don't Look In The Basement (1972, aka The Forgotten or Death Ward #13) is Film Chest's DVD version of what I previously described as a very politically incorrect thriller about mental patients (stereotypical at that) being allowed to act out their madness in freer ways than might be advisable. Of course, this assumes all persons mentally ill are potential killers, but that does not stop director Brownrigg from making what was a much censored film at the time. It is now interesting and amusing, if not totally successful.

I still think so, silly as ever, yet I can see why it is being issued by another company. I don't expect a cult to build around this one, but it is amusing enough and worth seeing again.

There are sadly no extras.

Giuseppi Patroni Griffi's The Driver's Seat (1974, aka Identikit) is the older of two wild thrillers Elizabeth Taylor made that we are covering in this review. With Vittorio Storaro as the Director of Photography and Andy Warhol showing up in a weird set of appearances as a mysterious character, we have an older woman looking for love in Italy and this includes wild sex in compromising positions. With atmosphere, suspense and an attempt to be artistic, the film is a mixed bag and wants to be European artsy with a Hollywoodish thriller narrative, but the two do not always gel.

I give credit to Taylor for being bold enough to even sign onto a film like this, which has its creepy moments and it sown unique style. Ian Bannen and Mona Washbourne join in to support a mostly Italian cast in a film originally issued in the U.S. by AVCO Embassy. This is the first time this has hit home video and though the Cheezy Flicks DVD might be basic with no extras, it's great to see the attempt that was made and how Liz made this one of her boldest film choices. Definitely worth a look.

Edward Bianchi's The Fan (1981) is a murder thriller from a few years later with another big movie star and Hollywood icon, Lauren Bacall, playing an actress who is still popular, loved and about to open up in a big stage musical on Broadway when her secretary (Maureen Stapleton) is violently assaulted after tracking a series of mailed letters by an obsessed fan (a young Michael Biehn, who is actually not bad here). James Garner plays Bacall's on again, off again love interest, but he never has an encounter with the deadly stalker.

If Liz Taylor went all out, Bacall plays it a little too safe as does the screenplay, though Angie Dickinson had it both ways with Brian De Palma's Dressed To Kill (1980, reviewed elsewhere on this site on Blu-ray) which combined the risks of an independent horror film with a major Hollywood release. Bacall is good here, as is Hector Elizando as the cop trying to solve the case. It is also well shot, but the conclusion is very anti-climactic. Produced by mega-music producer Robert Stigwood (The Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, Eric Clapton), he did better with his Rock Opera films (Tommy in particular), but he too seems to be trying to do a Grade-A Hollywood product at the expense of thrills from the end of a lost period where we could still get classy films like this.

Originally issued as a Paramount Picture, Warner has licensed it back into print via their Archive series and it too is worth a look. It is also a time capsule of a New York long gone, sleaze and all.

There are sadly no extras.

Karel Reisz's Night Must Fall (1964) remakes a 1937 thriller (two TV versions before this film and is similar to 1971's The Road Builder, another MGM film reviewed on Warner Archive DVD elsewhere on this site) has Albert Finney as a brutal psychotic killer who pretends to be a simple hard worker and lands up moving into the big house of an old rich woman (Mona Washbourne again) to fix things up, but has other ideas to use to job to hide his crime of a lust for killing. I wasn't for sure if this one would work or hold up, but it retains much of its creepiness and Finney is very effective as the killer.

Reisz (Sweet Dreams, French Lieutenant's Woman, The Gambler) turns in some of his best work here, backed by a fine music score by Ron Grainer and terrific black and white cinematography by legendary Director of Photography Freddie Francis. Often creepy and suspenseful, it holds up very well and was made by the British arm of MGM. Some parts may have dated, but it still works well enough throughout for you to check it out.

A trailer is sadly the only extra, but maybe a version with the TV versions would be nice.

Brian G. Hutton's Night Watch (1973) is the other independently produced thriller Liz Taylor made in her most daring period of film picks. This time, she is in England with Laurence Harvey as her new husband, trying to help her when she thinks she sees dead bodies in an abandoned house across from their fine home. Friend Billie Whitelaw is also concerned and the police investigate, but things only make her look like she is seeing things, though we know better. Well made, Hutton (Where Eagles Dare, Kelly's Heroes) had just worked with Taylor on X, Y & Zee, so they were up to speed when making this and it shows.

Not that it all works, but it is always solid viewing from the rest of the British cast (Roger Moore is not in it, but was a co-producer!) adapted by insanely successful British TV thriller writer Tony Williamson (The Avengers, Department S, Adam Adamant Lives!, Jason King, The Persuaders!, Return Of The Saint) from the story by Lucille Benson (Sorry, Wrong Number, The Hitch Hiker) has much going for it and is as good as any entry on this list, yet it comes up a bit short because it has one too many twists. Yet, that is not abrupt like it would be today, so it is a thriller worth going out of your way for just the same. Cheers to Director of Photography Billy Williams (Sunday Bloody Sunday, Billion Dollar Brain, Woman In Love, Suspect) and Kubrick/Bond veteran Peter Murton (Art Director here) for adding to the quality, atmosphere and suspense.

There are sadly no extras.

Richard L. Bare's Wicked Wicked (1973) is our last entry, an amusing thriller that uses hype in proclaiming it is breaking ground by showing its mystery in Duo-Vision, but this is simply showing most of the film in split screen (where we get a quality drop as the nice Panavision 35mm anamorphic photography is replaced by two 16mm frames on each side) but it is a fun, amusing gimmick as a hotel has murder after murder in what turns out to be a vengeful bellboy. Edd Byrnes plays one of the suspects, a laid-back counterculture guy who is instantly the top suspect, but we soon realize something more 'wicked' is going on.

This gets campy quickly, including a singer (and murder target) singing the title song to the film (you are not supposed to know your theme song, of course) and the split-screen can be anywhere from amusing to unintentionally hilarious throughout its long-enough 95 minutes. MGM had hoped for a big hit, but I bet some laughed this off as too much of a gimmick down to an old woman playing the 1925 score to the silent classic Phantom Of The Opera (reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) throughout the film! Still, people talk about it and it is nice to have it in print. Give it a try and try not to laugh. Scott Brady, Diane McBain and Arthur O'Connell also star.

A trailer is the only extra.

Now for playback performance. The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital black and white High Definition image transfer on Bunny rarely shows the age of the materials used, is far superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film and shows us how good this film in real anamorphic 35mm Panavision looks. Director of Photography Denys Coop, B.S.C., (Billy Liar, The Executioner, Asylum, The Double Man, And Now The Screaming Starts, Vault Of Horror) uses the very widescreen frame to its fullest extent with lots of interesting vertical compositions and superior applications of subtle lighting throughout. The result is a modern take on atmosphere that helps the film.

It is the best transfer on the list, and not just because it is the only Blu-ray as we get some amazing (or at least interesting) visuals out of every release on the list. The 1.33 X 1 image on Seat was issued in 35mm dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor prints, but this is a rough copy with a rough transfer, yet it deserves an HD restoration considering Storaro and Taylor alone are connected to it. Basement has the same frame and rough transfer not much better or worse than the VCI DVD they issued many years ago.

The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image on The Fan and Night Watch have some softness, but look good for the format, with Fan having soft shots on purpose and Watch also issued In 35mm dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor prints, which you get the idea of in this transfer form many scenes. The anamorphically enhanced black and white 1.66 X 1 image on Night Must Fall I also a little soft at time with some print issues, but looks good for the format throughout. That leaves the anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Wicked looking good in the 35mm anamorphic Panavision shots, but the 16mm on either side of the screen shows a drop in quality and that part of the copy can look more color challenged and limited.

The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 1.0 Mono lossless mix on Bunny is well mixed and presented, but can show its age, though it is quiet at times as expected for a thriller and has the best sound of all the films on the list. The Isolated Music Track in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless sound shows how and all The Zombies songs are presented in stereo, which is at least as good as the SA-CD (Super Audio CD) of their hits we reviewed years ago on this site from the now-defunct Audio Fidelity label.

Wicked is in lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and the sound is not bad for its age, leaving the rest of the DVDs with lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono sound. Except for Night Watch though, the sound on the DVDs are too low for our and their own good, so be careful of volume switching and high volumes.

Though the Bunny Lake Is Missing limited edition Blu-ray is out of print, you can buy other soon-to-run-out Twilight Time release and other great releases (including plenty of CD soundtracks, many of which are deluxe editions) while supplies last at this link:

www.screenarchives.com

...and to order any of the Warner Archive DVDs above, go to this link for them and many more great web-exclusive releases (now including Blu-ray discs) at:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20

- Nicholas Sheffo