Magic, Myth & Mutilation: The Micro-Budget Cinema of Michael J. Murphy, 1967–2015

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The clue to why lies in the subtitle of this box set, The Microbudget Cinema of Michael J. Murphy. Murphy never made a film that was widely distributed in cinemas or screened on any of the main British TV channels. He never took any of his movies to Cannes, and he was never even in consideration for any category of BAFTA. Yet after watching everything in this mammoth set, I was left with the suspicion that had he followed a different path, he might have done all three.

The only surviving film elements from Murphy's take on the Greek myth at the core of the 1981 Clash of the Titans, complete with a carboard Kraken that Perseus confronts with the head of Medusa. Was apparently intended as a pilot for a series and submitted to the BBC, who never returned it. Michael J Murphy Presents (2015, 19 mins): career-spanning tribute made shortly after the director’s death Here you are offered the option to play Murphy's director's cut or an early pirated 'bootleg' version that runs for a minute longer – presented here from a VHS source – which features the voices of the original actors who play William King and his secretary, Nikki. In the director's cut, both actors have been redubbed and Murphy provides the voice of King.Standard Definition presentations, newly digitised from Murphy's tape masters, of Qualen (1983), Tristan aka Legend of the Hero (1986), Death Run (1987), Avalon (1988), Second Sight (1992), The Rite of Spring (version one, 1995), The Rite of Spring (version two, 1995), Tristan (version two, 1999), Roxi (2004), and Skare (2008) A well assembled but spoiler-littered trailer for a film that it's best to go into knowing as little about how things play out as possible. Avoid until after the film itself. screens of production imagery, video and DVD covers, and posters, including a most unexpected Japanese one for Death Run with the Japanese title Saibā Jankushiyon, a katakana interpretation of Cyber Junction. Here endeth today's Japanese kana lesson.

Two versions of the film have been supplied for your edification here, the original 109 minute version and an 88 minute recut by Murphy himself that removes twenty minutes of footage to create a tighter version. Which you prefer will be a matter of personal taste – frankly I was fine with the original edit. A solid enough trailer that captures the essence of the film rather well, but given the subject matter, I'd question the use of a modern sans serif font for the graphics. Man, you can tell what I do for a living. All-new 2K restoration by Powerhouse Films of Bloodstream (1985), using Super 8 film elements from the Michael J Murphy archives That's followed by seven surviving film fragments: 1967's gory Atlantis: City of Sin (6m2s), 1968's Boadicea (5m28s), 1971's Gods and Heroes (2m31s), the first version of Seventh Day from 1976 (7m7s), 1978's Insight (3m13s), and the second version of Seventh Day from 1979 (5m7s) and its outtakes (2m11s). Finally you get a

The original opening scene, main title and closing credits from Skare before Murphy finished fine-tuning the film in 2009, which was the version released on DVD by Sarchophilus Films. The Making of ‘Atlantis’ (2009, 7 mins): alternative retrospective documentary, prepared for a planned, but unrealised DVD release But, contrary to the initial announcement, the original versions of The Rite of Spring and Tristan (1999) are sourced from 16mm - it's only the re-edited DVD versions that are SD-only (of necessity, since they were assembled on SD in the first place, with new electronic titles and sometimes VFX that were easier to create digitally). Murphy also added digital VFX to the DVD version of Invitation to Hell, enhancing four shots with glowing demonic eyes, but since this is the only difference between the 16mm print and the DVD (aside from the latter's horrendous cropping and stretching to get the original 1.37:1 picture to fit a 16:9 frame, which there was no reason to preserve for posterity), we decided that the best option was to add the same glowing eyes to the 1080p master and give the viewer the upfront option to watch the film with or without them.

The raw green screen footage of an erotic dance used for the parodically amusing title sequence for the in-film series, Alan Strange. Surviving fragments from six lost Murphy films: Atlantis: City of Sin (1967), Boadicea (1968), Gods and Heroes (1971), two versions of Seventh Day (1976/77), and Insight (1978) It may be presumptuous, but I'm very grateful to the posters exidor and Paul Moran, who came here to express their 'pleasant surprise'-addicting experience with this set. I never would've sought it or any of the films therein out on my own, but it means a lot when people post praise in releases' dedicated threads. I've sought out many terrific releases based on word-of-mouth here, and I hope people continue to put a good word in for stuff that strikes them, whether or not it's not accompanied by a detailed writeup. I feel like I had no idea so many people were smitten with quite a few Indicator releases that were apparently unanimously beloved to place high on the alternate criterion forum awards list, so I'm catching up on a That theme song from Stay, which plays over the rotating image of its 45rpm single release. I presume this is the real deal, and while I have no doubt the record was scanned and animated to fake the image of it spinning on a real turntable, whoever was responsible certainly took their job seriously, as it really does rotate 45 times over the course of a minute. And yes, I counted. What do you mean, I need a hobby? Laid out over 60 screens, the Bloodstream script suggests Murphy had bought an electric typewriter by then (nice font!), and unusually reduces character names to a single letter, which must have been fun for the actors.

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A smartly edited promo with a couple of potential spoilers for those with sharp memories (not me, then). The restored HD transfer has been used to reconstruct a trailer that was originally produced in standard definition and distributed on VHS. Neat. screens of photos and artwork for both of the films on this disc, including a French poster for Torment where the title change reveals a later plot twist and a DVD cover for Atlantis. Standard Definition presentations, newly digitised from Murphy’s tape masters, of Qualen (1983), Tristan aka Legend of the Hero (1986), Death Run (1987), Avalon (1988), Second Sight (1992), The Rite of Spring (version one, 1995), The Rite of Spring (version two, 1995), Tristan (version two, 1999), Roxi (2004), and Skare (2008)