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

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For me, this proved intriguing and a little saddening, a too-pertinent reminder, perhaps, of the steadily decreasing limits of my own mortality, and the mountains of discs and memorabilia I will leave behind with no named benefactors. While all this is going on, the two escaped criminals, Mike (Steven Longhurst) Gary (Colin Efford), sneak in and make their way up to the loft with the aim of hiding out there for a few weeks after the performance ends and the theatre closes.

Not a 'making of' featurette in the usual sense, this consists of a single blue-screen shot of Murphy talking straight to camera in which he reflects on the experience of making Atlantis. We'd also occasionally have to repair damaged footage by resorting to SD inserts (this mostly applies to the very early work on Disc One, whose 16mm materials were sometimes in very rough shape). In the second half, he shows us film books in which he gets a mention, then regales an unseen interviewer with amusing and winningly self-depreciating microbudget filmmaking anecdotes whilst seated in in his garden and flanked by regular actors Patrick Olliver and Phil Lyndon. Despite this prolific output – a total of more than thirty completed films over a half-century, of which twenty-six survive – Murphy’s work remains rarely seen and little championed. screens (well, 22 if you don't count the title cards) of stills, video covers and posters from Roxi and both versions of Skare.This a skill that even trained actors have to work at to master, and expecting non-professionals to emote whilst watching the film and trying to match the timing of your words to the mouth movements of your character is a big bloody ask.

And since the film then had to be sent off for processing, you might have to wait up to a month to see if what you had shot was what you wanted or was even any good. Some shots linger on for longer than is needed, but the cut from Boadicea and Prasutagus kissing on the shore to Boadicea cradling her first child is a genuinely inspired time-jump edit.Given that these compromises allowed Indicator to present each of the films in this set in the most complete possible form, I found this easy to live with. I was hit by a wave of nostalgia when watching Murphy shoot with the same Canon DV camera that I once worked with and the exact bargain basement dolly that I used for years, including on fellow site reviewer Camus's feature, Kelling Brae.

He also says of his earlier work, "As I get older, I look back on some of these films I made, and some of them I think, 'what was I thinking of?The influence of home invasion thrillers of the 1970s like Death Weekend and The Last House on the Left is evident here, but by shifting the location to a creaky provincial theatre, Murphy gives familiar tropes an interesting edge. He also acknowledges up front here his repeated use of what became his trademark before-camera flames and his beloved Celtic font.

I'd have trouble working out exactly what the story was from this disconnected assembly of shots and lines of dialogue. It certainly prompted me to give the film another look and yes, see it in a more forgiving light, but I completely disagree with his assertion that it's a far superior film to The Last Night. None of which should take anything away from a release that I genuinely can't easily see anyone topping this year. This has effectively put every other disc review on hold and thrown my planned review schedule for the first two months of the year into chaos. Boasting all-new 2K restorations from archival 16mm and 8mm elements, as well as a number of new digital captures from Murphy’s personal tape masters, this extensive retrospective of the obsessive auteur’s work is bolstered by a wealth of bonus features, including surviving fragments from lost films, and a 120-page book, all of which provides the definitive account of the weird and wonderful worlds of Britain’s great unheralded DIY filmmaker.

For me, this proved a fascinating and often surprising journey, with the films I expected to like the most overshadowed at seemingly every turn by ones I would not have expected to have warmed to so readily. Fireworks stand in for volcanos, and the sword used for the beheading was clearly constructed by covering the blade of a plastic weapon with tinfoil. With more experienced and expressive actors, I have a feeling this could have made a greater impact than it presumably did. On the basis of the premise and some of the dodgier acting and production values in his previous films, I have to admit to having low expectations for what is his longest film yet, but have rarely been so happy to eat my words. A smartly edited promo with a couple of potential spoilers for those with sharp memories (not me, then).