The Orchard End Murder (1981) Blu-Ray BFI, download for free

Mar12

The Orchard End Murder (1981) Blu-Ray BFI

by movieworld on March 12th, 2019 at 14:16

Posted In: .Other movies, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

It was the summer of 1966 in Kent, and Pauline Cox had been invited over to a rural location by a young man who had caught her eye, all so they could enjoy a cricket match he was playing in as well as one another's company. Once they were there, her new boyfriend almost missed his chance to play thanks to him being more wrapped up with Pauline in the nearby orchard, but she suddenly sat up and complained that she believed they were being watched from the bushes. He told her not to worry, and went off to the match leaving her wandering around the surroundings until she happened upon a railway station which had a selection of gnomes and garden ornaments decorating it. The station master noticed her there and invited her in for a cup of tea... a fateful meeting.

Written and directed by Christian Marnham and shot by Pete Walker's regular cameraman Peter Jessop, The Orchard End Murder is a violent, darkly humorous thriller, unseen since it originally shocked UK cinema audiences as the supporting feature to Gary Sherman's Dead and Buried.

Director: Christian Marnham
Cast: Bill Wallis, Tracy Hyde, Clive Mantle
Country: UK
Genre: Drama, Thriller

BD50 | 1080p AVC | 00:49:43 | 34.3 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: English

Extras:

• "The Showman" 1970 documentary short directed by Christian Marnham (25:46)
Wally Shufflebottom Sr. was a true to live carnival showman. His main attraction was knife throwing - by having young beautiful girls in scantily clad clothes or with topless girls to be standing at a wall as he would throw large knives and axes around the girls, never missing his intended marks. Knife throwing is not a magic trick but a true skill and the documentary short directed by Marnham captured the life and the skills of an art that even to this day causes more gasps of terror than a horror film.
in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.33:1, in English LPCM 2.0 with no subtitles

• "Christian Marnham on The Orchard End Murder" interview (37:26)
Although Marnham has not directed any work in nearly 30 years, he was thankfully a participant for interviews on this release. He talks about his start as an editor in the business, his move up to director, and how ”The Orchard End Murder” was commissioned and made. He recalls everything from the casting, the location scouting, the opening crane shot, using different film speeds, and the reception the film received. While his stories are very interesting to hear, one aspect not covered was what he has been doing in the last 30 years out of the entertainment world. Where has he been?!
in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English LPCM 2.0 with no subtitles

• "Christian Marnham on The Showman" interview (4:40)
Marnham gives additional information on his first documentary short. Interesting stories include how he and some of the other crew members had knives thrown at them for demonstration, how they had to recast the girls overnight as the original girl who has to have knives thrown at her actually ran away, and some of the camera techniques used for the shoot.
in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English LPCM 2.0 with no subtitles

• "From Melody to Orchard End Murder" an interview with Tracy Hyde (11:19)
Tracy Hyde started as a child model and actress with her big break in 1970’s “Melody” which was not a hit in the UK or the US but was a massive hit in Japan. Hyde talks about her unexpected rise to fame as a child gracing magazine covers in Japan and going on a tour there up to her later career as an adult. She eventually retired from acting in 1988 and has not contributed much in terms of interviews or much else in recent years so having this candid interview along with thoughts from the director after all these years are most pleasing. One annoying aspect in this particular interview is that the interviewer’s questions are sometimes heard, though since he is not using a microphone, it is hard to hear what he was asking at times.
in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English LPCM 2.0 with no subtitles

• An interview with David Wilkinson (12:28)
The actor that played the minor part of the cricket batsman gives an interview on his career as an actor and a producer plus memories of making the film. Interesting is how he was basically retired from acting at the time but was reeled back in for the minor role in “The Orchard End Murder”.
in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English LPCM 2.0 with no subtitles