Published: 3 June 2010
by DAN CARRIER

A BIG shout going out to Optimum Releasing, the London-based film distributors working from down Soho way. They often tip me off to new DVD titles, and this week I see they have three superb Italian offerings. La Battaglia D’Inghilterra is a war film by Enzo Castellari, who made the original Inglorious Bastards. It tells the story of a gang of German spies who come to England before the Battle of Britain to disable radar stations, and the DVD includes an interview between Quentin Tarantino and Castellari.

They are also releasing the 1974 flick Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, an arthouse piece of horror about art dealer George (Ray Lovelock) who hitches a lift with the mysterious Edna (Cristina Galbó) after she runs into his motorbike at a petrol station. Mishaps mean they don’t part ways as quickly as they should – and things get mysterious when Edna claims to have been attacked by a man who locals say has died.

It reminds me of the novel by bus driver Magnus Mills, All Quiet on the Orient Express, and, considering I believe this is an undiscovered modern classic, it’s high praise indeed. The last on the list is the splendidly bizarre A Lizard In A Woman’s Skin, about a politician’s daughter whose over-active mind gets her into a murderous situation.

• All titles are available on Amazon, or all good DVD outlets.