LATEST ADDITIONS

With the remake currently stinking up multiplexes on both sides of the Atlantic, it's no surprise that Warner Home Video has seen fit to bring the original Fame to Blu-ray this week.

Shot guerrilla-style on the streets of New York city, this clumsily-titled shocker is one of the most impressive micro-budget horrors this reviewer has encountered in some time. The story follows a group of neighbours from a dilapidated apartment block who find their mundane lives turned upside down by an outbreak of violence that sweeps across the city.

Based on one of the lesser known works by writer and dramatist Edward Plunkett (better known as fantasy pioneer Lord Dunsany), this delightful shaggy dog story deals with an eccentric cleric who believes he had a past life as a canine. Set in the early years of the 20th century, the movie stars Jeremy Northam as Henslowe Fisk, a young man forced every Thursday to pay a visit to his cranky father Horatio (Peter O’Toole). The latter has closed himself off from the world since the death of his other son during the Boer War and the passing of his wife soon after.

Taking elements from three of Bernard Cornwell novels (Sharpe's Tiger, Sharpe's Triumph and Sharpe's Fortress) this 2006 production finds Sean Bean's legendary British soldier undertaking 'one last mission' for the Duke of Wellington. The story takes him to India, where he must put pay to the treacherous Major William Dodd (Toby Stephens) and rescue the lovely Celia Burroughs (Lucy Brown) from the the leader of a local revolt. It's all fairly brisk paced stuff - especially as this disc only features the shorter 106min cut, not the original two-part 138min version - with Bean scowling and swashing his buckles at every opportunity. Fans of Primeval stunner Lucy Brown are also in for a real treat - head to 20mins 19secs for an unhindered look at here *ahem* two biggest assets, and visit 35mins 35secs for a slightly less clear, but still skin-tastic, bath scene.