Young David Mendenhall stows away aboard a starship commandeered by a pirate gang led by Vince Edwards in SPACE RAIDERS.
scene from STAR WARS is par- ticularly hampered). Of the adult cast, only Edwards (who had some experience with this sort of thing, having directed episodes of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) and Christopher (as the same sort of humanoid alien he had previously portrayed on BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY) get much of a chance to stand out, though Corman icon Dick Miller also ap- pears briefly as a fast-talking, used spaceship salesman. The 1080p 1.78:1 Blu-ray of- fers a very good presentation of this rather blandly photographed film, previously available solely on videocassette from Warner Home Video. Some horizontal image flutter is occasionally in evidence during the credit crawls, but offers only a minor distrac- tion; the mono audio is fine for the age of the mix. Extras con- sist of the action heavy theatri- cal trailer, trailers for other Scorpion releases, and a trio of interviews. Eleven years old when he made the picture, David
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Mendenhall speaks well of every- one involved with the production and provides some additional info on his career. Running a full half hour, it would have served its purpose at half the length and the endlessly looped music in the background grows aggravating. Post-production supervisor Clark Henderson relays some general (and generally foggy) memories of the time and this production, while Corman discusses the de- cision to divert from his usual formula and make a child the center of the story.
SUPERNATURAL 1976/1977, BFI,
398m, £13.50, PAL DVD-2 By Brad Stevens
SUPERNATURAL was a British anthology series created and (with the exception of a single episode) written by Robert Muller, a Jewish refugee who escaped to England from Nazi Germany in 1938, and became a successful television writer. It was broadcast on BBC1
during the summer of 1977, but cancelled after eight episodes due to poor ratings. I was ten years old at the time of the initial (and indeed only) broadcast, yet still have vivid memories of it. I was already a fan of the Amicus hor- ror anthologies, and this regretta- bly short-lived series bears a familial resemblance to DR. TERROR’S HOUSE OF HOR- RORS (1965), TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972) and THE VAULT OF HORROR (1973). Each epi- sode takes place in a 19th cen- tury gentlemen’s club known as the Club of the Damned. Each week, a new guest is invited to tell a genuine tale of the supernatu- ral. If he succeeds in terrifying the older members, he will be permit- ted to join the club; but if even one person finds his story uncon- vincing, he will be put to death. This structure has roots in classi- cal literature—the most famous example being Scheherazade— but it was probably the first time I’d seen storytelling portrayed as a matter of life and death, which
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