Norman Warren Collection

Anchor Bay UK

5 DVD Set

Anchor Bay has released a range of themed boxed sets in the UK, nicely presented in various shapes and formats. The Norman Warren Collection is part of the “Coffin” range covering horror and cult films. This set includes four films plus an extensive extras disc.

Produced with the cooperation of Warren himself this is quite an impressive offering. All films are presented fully uncut and with various sound options including a DTS track.

The extras disc is a real gem, put together by Norman himself there are some amazing documentaries and commentaries. Also included is Warren’s very first film Fragment as well as exhaustive stills galleries, filmographies and cut scenes.

Warren’s films are an acquired taste, having started in the exploitation market he moved into horror and Sci Fi bringing his sleaze with him. These films have always had a cult following and this release is certainly going to re-ignite interest in his films.

Satan's Slave

A young girl is taken in by her uncle after what seems to be a dreadful car accident in which her parents burn to death. She comes to fears that her uncle (Michael Gough) may be a Satanist with plans of using her for some kind of witches sacrifice... This was Warren’s first horror film and is a strange mixture of exploitation and horror.

The rather quirky combination of gore and sex made the film a moderate success but the plot and look leave a bit to be desired. The strange outfits worn by the Satanists look way too camp in retrospect and some of the acting is rather wooden. But it is a fun romp through Witchcraft, sacrifice and necromancy !

Prey

Prey takes the sexploitation game a little further, lesbians are always good for a hot story and no more so than in Prey. An alien assumes human form and preys on a lesbian couple living in the isolated English countryside...

While clearly a Sci Fi exploitation piece, the character development is surprisingly deep and the plot is certainly a lot more evolved than in Satan’s Slave. At the same time there is a sense that the story is not well paced, it gets bogged down in some scenes with too much story and character and then speeds off into wild exploitation in others.

It is an interesting tale and one which actually offers quite some insight into the personalities of its characters.

Terror

A witch's curse strikes down a number of unfortunate victims in modern day England. Beyond this it is hard to say what this film is about! The most incoherent of all Warren’s work it is his attempt to be Dario Argento and really doesn’t work. It looks nice and sustains a lot of suspense and textured mood, but don’t try to follow it ! Just allow this horror marvel to be a visual treat and you’ll be fine !

Inseminoid

A group of archeologists are working on the remote planet Cephus, excavating ancient tombs. One of them, Sandy, is attacked, indeed inseminated, by a very weird looking alien. She then goes berserk and kills her fellow crew members, drinking their blood and eating their flesh. This combination of Sci Fi and Horror is a strange amalgam which will have you laughing at its bizarreness. The fight scenes, for example, are undertaken by the actors themselves instead of stunt doubles so the results are spectacularly dismal !

Alien, Rosemary’s Baby, what is this film trying to be ? Lots of gore, terrible acting and ridiculous turns of plot make this a true cult classic.

Extras:

Satan's Slave Special features

Widescreen (2.35:1) Presentation enhanced for 16x9 TVs

Audio Commentary with Director Norman J. Warren & Scriptwriter David McGillivray

DTS

5.1

Theatrical Trailer

Featurette: All You Need Is Blood: The Making of Satan's Slave

Featurette: Devilish Music - Composer John Scott on the score for Satan's Slave

Deleted Tea Party scene

Deleted Dream Sequence scene

Stills Gallery

Terror Special features

Widescreen (1.85:1) Presentation enhanced for 16x9 TVs

Audio Commentary with Director Norman J. Warren & Scriptwriter David McGillivray

DTS

5.1

Theatrical Trailer

Deleted Scene: Bath time with Brenda (2 mins)

Deleted Scene: Night Club (2 mins)

Stills Gallery

Prey Special features

Full Frame (1.33:1) Presentation (as filmed)

Audio Commentary with Director Norman J. Warren & Author Jonathan Rigby

Theatrical Trailer

Inseminoid Special features

Widescreen (2.35:1) Presentation enhanced for 16x9 TVs

Audio Commentary with Director Norman J. Warren & Assistant Director Gary White

DTS

5.1

Theatrical Trailer x 2

Featurette: Subterranean Universe - The Making of Inseminoid (40 mins)

Featurette: Electronic Approach - Composer John Scott on the score for Inseminoid (13 mins)

Featurette: Inseminoid Girl - an interview with Star Judy Geeson (12 mins)

Bonus Disc

Featurette: Norman J. Warren: A sort of autobiography - Illustrated with Rare Film Clips, Photographs and Documents. (12 mins)

Short Film: Fragment - shown theatrically, this short film played a big part in getting Norman J. Warren the opportunity to direct his first feature film (11 mins)

Featurette: Creating Satan: The Making of Satan's Slave (40 mins)

Featurette: Keep on Running - The Making of Prey (35 mins)

Featurette: Bloody Good Fun - The Making of Terror (35 mins)

Stills Galleries for all Four Movies

The Norman Warren Collection is a superbly produced collection of exploitation cinema with an abundance of extras.

It will be a great addition to any cult lovers library with films definitely so bad they’re good !