Our pick of the week’s releases from WWII drama in Darkest Hour to vintage horror in The Last House On The Left
Also reviewed are Kiwi drama Smash Palace, the latest instalment of anime hit My Hero Academia, and series 1-4 of goofy TV comedy Plebs
There's blood, toil, tears and sweat in this week's Sun DVD reviews, as Gary Oldman gives us his best Winston Churchill impression in Darkest Hour.
There's also plenty of blood and tears in vintage horror The Last House On The Left, toil and tears in Kiwi drama Smash Palace and toil and sweat in the latest instalment of anime hit My Hero Academia, while the lovable Plebs are back with all those bodily fluids and a few more besides.
Darkest Hour
(PG), out now
A virtuoso, Oscar-winning performance from Gary Oldman brings to life the oratory, wit and bravado of Winston Churchill as he becomes PM with Europe on the brink of falling to Hitler.
Director Joe Wright manages to convey the desperation of Britain's situation, with 300,000 soldiers encircled in France and Churchill under pressure from ministers to seek a peace deal with Germany.
The tension is slightly tempered by knowing how it all ends, and a rather cheesy scene on the London Underground adds little.
However, you would be hard-pressed not to smile at some of Churchill's famous quips and feel a rush of patriotic energy as he addresses the House of Commons at the end.
Plebs: Series 4
(15) Out now
The departure of the best-known actor of the Plebs triumvirate, Joel Fry (Game Of Thrones, Requiem), felt like it could be the death knell for this TV comedy set in Ancient Rome.
Instead, as Fry's Stylax is unceremoniously squashed by a chunk of masonry, he's seamlessly replaced by newcomer Jason, played by Jonathan Pointer.
Jason's a cheeky chappie, a blond himbo who's a cross between Jeff Brazier and Rob Beckett, and within one episode feels like he's always been part of the gang.
He joins Marcus and his slave Grumio as a trio of chancers always trying to make a quick buck, or more accurately a quick denarius.
Most of the eight episodes centre on the gang's attempt to start up a wine bar in a disused public latrine, with Robert Lindsay, Aisling Bea and Maureen Lipman among the guest stars to liven proceedings up.
The main thrust of the show still holds up: Inbetweeners-style characters and dialogue and 21st century situations crowbarred into an Ancient Roman setting.
It's all slickly done with good performances and rattles along as an easy watch.
Unlike The Inbetweeners or, say, Blackadder, though, there aren't more than a couple of occasions where the script goes up that extra notch from gently amusing to give you a belly laugh, and it's doubtful it will entice you back for repeat viewings.
But as one episode involves the Plebs disposing of the body of one of their critics who gave them a lousy review, I'll end by saying they're a likeable bunch nonetheless.
My Hero Academia: Season 2 Part 2
(U) Out June 11
In an alternate cartoon society, approximately 80 per cent of the population are in possession of innate abilities known as "quirks" that run the gamut from limbs capable of regenerating themselves, to a frog-human hybrid and the superhero staples such as super strength and speed.
Despite the over-saturation of hero movies lately, where My Hero Academia excels is in building upon those tropes and giving them a fresh coat of paint; for example, one hero’s enhanced speed comes from naturally embedded engine exhausts in his calves. Sounds ludicrous on paper, but in practice the ingenuity and un-ironic enthusiasm is a welcome breath of fresh air.
In Season 1 we were introduced to our protagonist Deku, a teenager who has dreamt of being a hero his entire childhood and doesn’t let his lack of quirk get in the way of that goal. Through a combination of hard work and the world’s Number One hero All Might recognising his potential for greatness, Deku comes into the possession of his very own quirk and gains admission to the country’s top high school for heroes, UA Academy.
Season 1 and the first half of Season 2 explored his adjustment to this change and his wonderfully imagined classmates navigating their first term, with stunning animation that lingered in the mind’s eye.
The second half of Season 2 takes a slightly slower pace than the bombastic, edge-of-your-seat first 12 episodes, as the memorable, endearing cast of students participate in internships with professional hero agencies.
Whilst Deku is learning more about the origins of his quirk, a sinister evil is lurking in the shadows, known as the Hero Killer Stain (the name should give you a fairly good indication of what sort of threat he poses).
His fanatical ideology regarding "worthy" heroes is all the more terrifying for the logic behind it.
The students also face final exams which pit them against their teachers, meaning Deku has to face off against his idol All Might in some enormously fun-to-watch scenes.
An anime adapted from a manga that exceeds all expectations, and provides us with outstanding storytelling, gobsmacking visuals and a stellar voice cast, all without overstaying its welcome is a rare thing indeed.
Rating: *****
The Last House On The Left: Limited Edition Blu Ray
(18) Out June 18
Horror director Wes Craven's 1972 directorial debut was one of the most controversial film releases ever.
Cinemagoers walked out in disgust, stormed the projection booths and in one case suffered a heart attack, so graphic is the content of this tale of two young girls kidnapped by a quartet of warped fugitives.
As an early example of the torture porn genre, it's perhaps fitting that a couple of the actors were porn stars, and while the sexual content was heavily toned down from the original script, the combination of sex, violence, comedy and upbeat music has the feel of a Russ Meyer softcore film at times.
Nearly half a century on, the gore is nowhere near as chilling as it once must have seemed - the 2009 remake tried to recreate that level of revulsion - but it's still pretty shocking in parts and rarely feels 46 years old.
There's a bit of dodgy acting from a couple of characters, and Craven's clearly not as skilful at this stage of his career as he would later show in works like A Nightmare On Elm Street or Scream.
Notwithstanding that, it's still macabre and gripping, and David Hess eats up the screen as the psychopaths' leader Krug.
It's a worthwhile watch for those who've never seen the film before but those who are already fans get pretty much everything they could want thrown at them in this 3-disc limited edition release.
It comes with a poster, artwork cards, 3 cuts of the movie, the soundtrack and a host of deleted scenes and interviews with the creators and cast.
The interviews in particular are a highlight - neither cast nor crew pull any punches in telling the fascinating story of how the movie was made and its reception upon release.
Smash Palace
(18) Out now
No, it's not the story of Prince Harry's stag do - instead in this 1981 New Zealand drama, now given a Blu Ray rerelease, a dysfunctional marriage goes from bad to worse... and worse still.
Bruno Lawrence gives a bravura performance as Al, an emotionally repressed, ageing racing driver and owner of the Smash Palace car repair shop.
He has no time for his needy and attention-seeking French wife Jacqui (Anna Jemison) and as cracks begin to widen in their marriage, what at first seems nothing more than surly blokeishness is stripped back to reveal an underlying brutishness.
While they battle over their cute-as-a-button young daughter, it becomes clear that Al is far better at fixing cars than marriages. But how far will his desperation take him?
A slow starter that turns into an intriguing thriller.