The Tigon Collection [DVD]

The good stuff first; Witchfinder General (1968) is one of the very best British horror films (up there with The Wicker Man), directed by Michael Reeves, whose only other significant film was the The Sorcerers (also recommended) and who died very young just after this was released. It is beautifully shot, has a wonderful score, and features a great (underplayed) performance by Vincent Price.

The other standout film is Blood on Satan's Claw (1970) directed by Piers Haggard (who would go on to direct the ground-breaking TV series 'Pennies from Heaven'). Like Witchfinder General it makes excellent use of location shooting and its period setting, and has a superb score.

The other films dip substantially in terms of quality. The Haunted House of Horror (1969) is a mess, but that's not surprising considering the fact that the script was hacked about whilst the film was being shot and another director brought in to shoot clumsily edited additional scenes.

The Beast in the Cellar (1971) is a very tedious film about a mad chap locked up by his sisters (played in thankless roles by Flora Robson and Beryl Reid) who escapes to kill some squaddies. The direction is dull, the horror nonexistent, and the script is full of acres of excruciatingly dull expository dialogue; the final coffessional scene goes on forever and not even a skilled actress like Beryl Reid can do anything with it.

The Body Stealers (1969) is a witless sci-fi 'thriller' about disappearing parachuters with a laughably low budget and wooden characters.

The Virgin Witch (1972) is probably the very worst of the bunch; a quality-free soft-core potboiler concerning witches in deepest Surrey which will leave the viewer numb with boredom. There are a few unintentionally funny lines but they are few and far between; the only other (very minor) point of interest is that it appears to use the same country house location as Norman Warren's "Satan's Slave".

The DVDs are generally of very good quality; disappointingly the transfer for Witchfinder General is the same as for the previous single disc release. Extras for the lesser films are fairly thin (but one could argue that is a good thing considering how tedious the films are), but there is an entertaining commentary on 'The Haunted House of Horror" from the director Michael Armstrong who makes his opinions of the films producers crystal clear. 'Blood on Satan's Claw' also has a very amusing commentary from 3/4's of the cast of 'The League of Gentleman' that strikes a good balance between affection for the film and some very funny peripheral observations about such things as Mr. Kiplings cakes and the mysterious attraction between Frank and Betty from "Some Mothers Do 'ave 'em" (trust me these are relevant to the film).

Overall, if you already have Witchfinder General and Blood on Satan's Claw on single discs, then unless you are a horror film completist this collection is probably not worth your money. But if you don't have those, or like me you have a maniacal desire to own every single bit of British horror tat irrespective of quality then, for all its faults, this is a recommended purchase.