Flipside 41/43/47: Short Sharp Shocks Vols. 1-3

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MichaelB
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Flipside 41/43/47: Short Sharp Shocks Vols. 1-3

#1 Post by MichaelB » Fri Oct 30, 2020 12:14 pm

Full specs announced:
BFI Flipside presents release No. 041
Short Sharp Shocks

2-disc Blu-ray release on 23 November 2020


Enjoy the trailer

This compelling new BFI Flipside collection revisits the heyday of the supporting programme with a compendium of eerie and eccentric British short films presented for the first time in High Definition. Settle in for a strange cinematic journey through uncanny stories, twists in the tale, low-budget weirdness and oodles of atmosphere.

This carefully curated collection, the first of its kind anywhere, includes a plethora of sought-after titles, some newly remastered in HD for the very first time and showcases an eclectic range of delights spanning the 1940s to the 1980s. The films are:

LOCK YOUR DOOR Anthony Gilkison, 1949
Master storyteller Algernon Blackwood relates his own tale of an elderly spinster overcome by ghostly voices and a creeping sense of horror in a remote country cottage.

THE REFORMATION OF ST JULES Anthony Gilkison, 1949
There’s something strange in the sky as sci-fi and religious revelation collide – and only legendary Weird Fiction writer Algernon Blackwood can suggest an explanation.

THE TELL-TALE HEART J B Williams, 1953
Stanley Baker gives a virtuoso performance by candlelight as Edgar Allan Poe recounting his classic tale of horror.

DEATH WAS A PASSENGER Theodore Zichy, 1958
A chance encounter with an enigmatic nun on a train evokes eerie, half-forgotten memories of a perilous wartime escape attempt in occupied France.

PORTRAIT OF A MATADOR Theodore Zichy, 1958
An artist becomes unhealthily obsessed with his painting of a dead bullfighter in this bizarre tale of romance, intrigue, insanity and auto-suggestion.

TWENTY-NINE Brian Cummins, 1969
Promiscuous young man Baird (Alexis Kanner, The Prisoner) wakes up in a strange flat, wearing clothes that don’t fit, with a hangover and a half-remembered memory of a visit to a strip club. What happened last night?

THE SEX VICTIMS Derek Robbins, 1973
The bizarre sight of a naked woman on horseback leads an unwary truck driver into a supernatural spiral of pursuit and destruction in rural England.

THE LAKE Lindsey C Vickers, 1978
The tranquil stillness of a romantic picnic for young lovers Tony (Gene Foad) and Barbara (Julie Peasgood, House of the Long Shadows) is threatened by echoes of the horrific violence that happened nearby in this hauntingly evocative ghost story from Lindsey Vickers (The Appointment).

THE ERRAND Nigel Finch, 1980
A soldier at an elite military institution is sent on a strange and increasingly nightmarish mission in this full-on fever-dream thriller from long-time Pete Walker collaborator David McGillivray (House of Whipcord).

Special features
Man With a Movie Camera (2020, 42 mins): interview with Twenty-Nine producer Peter Shillingford
A Crazy, Mixed-up Kid (2020, 43 mins): interview with David McGillivray, writer of The Errand
Telling Tales /Arthur Dent and Adelphi: Films in the Family (2020, 37 mins): Kate Lees, of Adelphi Films, discusses the family business and the discovery of 1953 short The Tell-Tale Heart, long believed lost
Almost Thirty (2020, 15 mins): interview with Renée Glynne, script supervisor on Twenty-Nine
Splashing Around (2020, 18 mins): interview with Julie Peasgood, star of The Lake and House of the Long Shadows
• Image galleries for The Tell-Tale Heart, The Lake and The Errand
• Script galleries for The Lake and The Errand
• Gallery of the original short story The Errand
• Newly commissioned sleeve artwork by renowned illustrator Graham Humphreys
• ***First pressing only*** illustrated booklet with an essay by BFI video producer Vic Pratt and curator William Fowler, co-founders of the BFI Flipside strand and Josephine Botting, curator in the BFI National Archive; notes and credits on each film and notes on the special features

Product details
RRP: £24.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1396 / BFI Flipside No. 041 / 18
UK / 1949-1980 / black and white, colour / 216 mins / English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratios // BD25 + BD50 / 1080p, 24fps, LPCM mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

jlnight
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Re: Flipside 041: Short Sharp Shocks

#2 Post by jlnight » Sun Nov 01, 2020 3:34 pm

I'm not sure about the earlier films but some of the later films played as support to some of the following: Twenty-Nine played with If..., The Sex Victims played with The Other Canterbury Tales in 1973, The Lake played with A Force of One in 1980 (it might have supported The Silent Partner in 1978), and The Errand played with both Happy Birthday to Me and Outland in 1981.

The two Anthony Gilkison films have turned up on Talking Pictures TV in recent times.

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DeprongMori
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Re: Flipside 041: Short Sharp Shocks

#3 Post by DeprongMori » Wed Jun 30, 2021 10:41 am

BFI have announced that their initial run of Flipside 041: Short Sharp Shocks has sold out from their warehouse. Subsequent runs will not include the booklet, so best to try to find a copy soon.

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Re: Flipside 041: Short Sharp Shocks

#4 Post by swo17 » Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:33 pm

Volume 2
The latest in the critically acclaimed BFI Flipside series – continuing its ongoing mission to curate an alternative Brit-screen history of overlooked rarities in deluxe home –entertainment editions – is a second edition of strange, striking, thrilling, horrific, eerie and eccentric short subjects from the heyday of the British cinematic supporting programme.
This carefully-curated collection includes a plethora of sought-after titles, many newly remastered in HD for the very first time – and showcases an eclectic range of delights spanning the second half of the 20th century.
A lavish double-disc limited edition set, it comes complete with an illustrated booklet with full credits and new contextual writing on the films by devotees of the field. Expect strange, spooky stories, odd twists in the tale, imaginative low-budget weirdness and oodles of atmosphere in these juicy bite-size morsels of cult film delight from decades gone by.
Featuring the following films:
Quiz Crime No.1 (1943, 14 mins) | Quiz Crime No.2 (1944, 19 mins) | The Three Children (1946, 3 mins) | Escape from Broadmoor (1948, 39 mins) │ Mingaloo (1958, 20 mins) | Jack the Ripper with Screaming – Lord Sutch (1961, 3 mins) | The Face of Darkness (1976, 57 mins) | The Dumb Waiter (1979, 18 mins) │ Hangman (1985, 17 mins) | The Mark of Lilith (1986, 33 mins)

Extras

• New interview with The Mark of Lilith director Robert Bierman (2021)
• Other extras TBC

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Re: Flipside 041, 043: Short Sharp Shocks Vols. 1-2

#5 Post by Stefan Andersson » Wed Sep 29, 2021 4:41 pm

More specs for Short Sharp Shocks Vol. 2:
http://www.cineoutsider.com/news/storie ... 10913.html

Related reference material:
http://www.smguariento.com/take-an-unea ... branaghan/ - good resource about British theatrical horror short subjects 1976-1983
https://darrellpbuxton.wixsite.com/passthemarmalade - list of UK horror films, features and shorts
Last edited by Stefan Andersson on Thu Sep 30, 2021 7:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

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MichaelB
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Re: Flipside 041, 043: Short Sharp Shocks Vols. 1-2

#6 Post by MichaelB » Thu Sep 30, 2021 5:00 am

Full specs announced:
BFI Flipside presents release No. 043
SHORT SHARP SHOCKS VOL.2

2-disc Blu-ray released on 25 October 2021

Pre-order from the BFI Shop


After BFI Flipside’s SHORT SHARP SHOCKS VOL. 1 became of the BFI’s best-selling Blu-ray releases of 2020, we raided the archives again! Return once more to the heyday of the supporting programme with a second cornucopia of eerie, eccentric and edgy short films.

This strange cinematic journey traverses uncanny stories, twists in the tale, low-budget weirdness, stylish spectacle, peculiar public information, monstrous music and provocative experiment – all with oodles of atmosphere, and in High Definition too. Plus there are new interviews with some of the writers and directors. The films and special features are:

QUIZ-CRIME NO 1 Ronald Haines, 1943
Can you beat master sleuth Detective Inspector Frost at his own game? Take his vintage whodunit test, in the case of the golfing-holiday murder and the affair of the slain showgirl.

QUIZ-CRIME NO 2 Ronald Haines, 1944
‘Everyone likes a detective story,’ chuckles the Detective Inspector. But can you crack the cases of kidnap in the Soho backstreets and a bloodily botched boarding house murder?

THE THREE CHILDREN 1946
The public information film takes an eerie turn in this disquieting child-peril frightener crafted to unsettle neglectful post-war parents.

ESCAPE FROM BROADMOOR John Gilling, 1948
An insane killer is on the run (Dad’s Army’s John Le Mesurier in an edgy early role) in this weird, torn-from-the-headlines thriller by John Gilling (The Plague of the Zombies).

MINGOLOO Theodore Zichy, 1958
A clockwork dog with a sinister secret haunts the dreams of all who see it. What is the nightmarish answer to its riddle?

JACK THE RIPPER WITH SCREAMING LORD SUTCH 1963
Joe Meek-produced rock’n’roll and tasteless Hammer-inspired theatrics collide in a bloodcurdling proto-music video.

THE FACE OF DARKNESS Ian FH Lloyd, 1976
A politician (Lennard Pearce, Only Fools and Horses) out to reinstate the death penalty stirs a malignant medieval spirit.

THE DUMB WAITER Robert Bierman, 1979
A woman (Geraldine James, Beast) receives a mysterious phone call, beginning a night of knife-edge terror in this debut shocker from the director of cult favourite Vampire’s Kiss.

HANGMAN David Evans, 1985
Industrial accidents are presented with graphic glee by a mysterious masked executioner, who seems to enjoy his work, in a video nasty-era public information film like no other.

THE MARK OF LILITH Bruna Fionda, Polly Biswas Gladwin, Zachary Nataf 1986
Black lesbian filmmaker Zena becomes involved with Lillia, a white undead wraith in a radical dismantling of the cinematic vampire mythos.

Special features
Darkness Falls (2021, 43 mins): an interview with The Face of Darkness writer and director Ian FH Lloyd
Heads Will Roll (2021, 40 mins): an interview with The Dumb Waiter writer and director Robert Bierman
Making Their Mark (2021, 33 mins): an interview with The Mark of Lilith directors Bruna Fionda, Polly Biswas Gladwin and Zachary Nataf
Puttin’ on the Ritzy (2021, 13 mins): Ritzy alumnus Clare Binns celebrates the radical history of the legendary London cinema where The Mark of Lilith was shot
• Image galleries for The Face of Darkness, The Dumb Waiter and The Mark of Lilith
• Newly commissioned sleeve artwork by renowned illustrator Graham Humphreys
• ***First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with contributions from filmmakers Ian FH Lloyd and Robert Bierman and other writing from Vic Pratt, William Fowler, Josephine Botting, Jon Dear, Jonathan Rigby and Caroline Champion; notes and credits for each film and for the special features

Product details
RRP: £24.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1431 / BFI Flipside No. 043/ 15
UK / 1943-1986 / black and white, colour / 217 mins / English language, with optional subtitles for the Deaf and partial hearing / original aspect ratios 1.37:1, 1.66:1 / BD25 + BD50: 1080p, 24fps, LPCM mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

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Re: Flipside 041, 043: Short Sharp Shocks Vols. 1-2

#7 Post by What A Disgrace » Thu Aug 03, 2023 11:02 am

Volume 3 will be released on October 9, and will contain the following films:

Return to Glennascaul (Hilton Edwards, 1951, 22 mins)
Strange Stories (John Guillermin and Don Chaffey, 1953, 45 mins)
Strange Experiences (1955, 10 mins)
Maze (Bob Bentley, 1970, 15 mins)
Skinflicker (Tony Bicât, 1973, 41 mins)
Beach Litter: Broken Bottle (1 min)
Firework: Chick (1 min)
Wings of Death (Nichola Bruce and Michael Coulson, 1985, 20 mins)
The Terminal Game (Geoff Lowe, 1982, 40 mins)

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MichaelB
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Re: Flipside 41/43/47: Short Sharp Shocks Vols. 1-3

#8 Post by MichaelB » Thu Aug 03, 2023 11:47 am

If Beach Litter: Broken Bottle is what I'm thinking of - and I can't see why it wouldn't be - it's pretty much impossible to watch it without wincing.

Try it for yourself.

(I assume the version on the Blu-ray will be considerably more detailed.)

And it's nice to seen an acknowledgement of the undoubted truth that many - perhaps even most - of the most disturbing films made in Britain in the 1970s were public information films. I mean, get a load of this, from the mighty John Krish.

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Re: Flipside 041, 043: Short Sharp Shocks Vols. 1-2

#9 Post by colinr0380 » Sat Aug 05, 2023 3:30 pm

What A Disgrace wrote:
Thu Aug 03, 2023 11:02 am
Return to Glennascaul (Hilton Edwards, 1951, 22 mins)
That's the one with the Orson Welles narration made around the time of Othello, which Hilton Edwards acted in. I wonder if this will also include the introduction from Peter Bogdanovich from its early 1990s re-release.

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Re: Flipside 41/43/47: Short Sharp Shocks Vols. 1-3

#10 Post by colinr0380 » Sat Aug 26, 2023 4:19 pm

MichaelB wrote:
Thu Aug 03, 2023 11:47 am
If Beach Litter: Broken Bottle is what I'm thinking of - and I can't see why it wouldn't be - it's pretty much impossible to watch it without wincing.

Try it for yourself.

(I assume the version on the Blu-ray will be considerably more detailed.)

And it's nice to seen an acknowledgement of the undoubted truth that many - perhaps even most - of the most disturbing films made in Britain in the 1970s were public information films. I mean, get a load of this, from the mighty John Krish.
Here's a fun music video about some of those gleefully disturbing PIFs! The frisbee one and the railway safety films were the big ones still circulating (and being shown at school) in my childhood in the 1980s. Although the rug one may be my favourite as it is hard to shake the notion, with the jolly music and excited demeanour of the lady laying it out, that it was all a pre-meditated act to get rid of the son-in-law who had just knocked her daughter up!

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Re: Flipside 41/43/47: Short Sharp Shocks Vols. 1-3

#11 Post by jlnight » Sun Aug 27, 2023 7:55 am

Update:

Return to Glennascaul (Hilton Edwards, 1951, 22 mins) (Dublin Circle Theatre/Louis Ellman)
Strange Stories (John Guillermin and Don Chaffey, 1953, 45 mins) (Vandyke)
Strange Experiences: Grandpa's Portrait (Derick Williams, 1956, 4 mins) (Derick Williams)
Strange Experiences: Old Silas (Derick Williams, 1956, 4 mins) (Derick Williams)
Maze (Bob Bentley, 1970, 15 mins) (Royal College of Art)
Skinflicker (Tony Bicât, 1973, 41 mins) (BFI)
Broken Bottle (1973, 1 min) (COI) (aka Beach Litter: Broken Bottle)
Don’t Fool Around With Fireworks (1973, 1 min) (COI) (aka Firework: Chick)
The Terminal Game (Geoff Lowe, 1982, 34 mins)
Wings of Death (Nichola Bruce and Michael Coulson, 1985, 20 mins) (BFI)

The Terminal Game is described as a short British thriller "in which a man attempts to shut down a futuristic computer programme". The Colin Towns LP Making Faces has a track on it called The Terminal Game (From the Film). Strange Experiences was the ITV show from 1955-56, basically a slot for 5-min films.

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