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

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Murphy's second stab at The Seventh Day has ironically suffered the same fate as the first, being now lost save for five surviving minutes, which doesn't prove enough for me to state with any authority what is actually taking place. Anyhow, this review is long overdue and my proof reader is waiting for me to stop babbling and send him this overlong dive into the world of Michael J Murphy, so let's get going with… THE FILMS [Part 1: 1967-1986] The Making of ‘Invitation to Hell’ and ‘The Last Night’ (2008): retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Murphy, Lyndon and Duncan Murphy’s Lore, Part 3: Legacy (2023, 25 mins): final instalment of a three-part documentary assessing Murphy’s career and legacy, featuring interviews with British filmmakers, cinema programmers, film historians, and writers

The Making of ‘Roxi’ (2004): documentary featuring interviews with actors Mary-Anne Barlow, Bruce Lawrence, Ross Maxwell and Valia Yanarou The Making of 'Skare' (2009): retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Murphy and Holding Trailers for Invitation to Hell, The Last Night, Bloodstream, Legend of a Hero, Death Run, Avalon, Moonchild, Torment, Atlantis, Road to Nowhere, The Rite of Spring, Tristan, Roxi, Skare, ZK3, Nekros: Isle of Death, and The Return of Alan Strange

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Standard Definition presentations of Roxi (2004) and Skare (2009), newly remastered from Michael J Murphy’s digital archive The only surviving seven minutes of an ambitious-looking apocalyptic drama, in which a couple whose friend dies of a mysterious disease (at least that's what I'm guessing from what remains), so they bury the body and flee into town, where they discover that he was not the only one affected. Murphy's developing skills as cinematographer deliver a couple of neat and expressive shots here, my favourite being the wide pan of the couple running down the quay that ends on a closeup of a dead girl slumped over a table. This has been sourced from Murphy's own tape copy and has no sync sound, and instead has an unsettling violin score. All-new 2K restorations by Powerhouse Films of The Rite of Spring (1995) and Tristan (1999), using 16mm film elements from the Murphy archives The Making of 'Atlantis' (2010): two-part retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Murphy, Lyndon, Bunday and Holding To answer this in much more detail now that the final box set physically exists, Murphy shot almost exclusively on 16mm from the late 1960s to 1999, the exception being the Super 8-shot Bloodstream (1985).

Michael J Murphy Presents (2015, 19 mins): career-spanning tribute made shortly after the director’s death

Hiding the fact that you're working on a microscopic budget is a little easier to disguise when you're shooting on location, but once you start constructing sets with whatever you have to hand, it really shows. This, coupled with a theatrical acting style, does sometimes give Atlantis the feel of a stage play written and performed by an amateur theatre group that they have elected to make into a film using all their original costumes and sets. But if you can deal with all that – and by this point in this collection it should be no barrier – then Atlantis definitely has its pleasures. It's a fanciful take on the Atlantis myth concocted by Murphy himself and bearing precious little resemblance to Plato's original or even the variations on the tale that have appeared since. The reliance on gladiatorial swordfights to bring a bit of action to the drama is a weakness, as while the first fight is energetically performed, some of the others hampered by some too-clear attempts to avoid landing heavily on the hard concrete floor or bumping into the wobbly walls. The final, inevitable destruction of the city is a no-budget gem, all small-scale model work, overlaid fire and lightweight debris thrown at the actors, with split screen and matting used to place the performers in the midst of it all. Imagine the destruction of Pompei filmed on the special effects budget of an episode of Blake's Seven and you'll get the idea. Far and away my favourite character is Philip Lyndon's The Master, whose head and body makeup is impressively grotesque, and who late in the film reveals that his genitalia consists of an eye-melting explosion of light. All-new 2K restoration by Powerhouse Films of Bloodstream (1985), using Super 8 film elements from the Michael J Murphy archives Michael J Murphy on ‘Beast’ (2010): interview with the filmmaker about Chris Jupp’s remake of his lost version of Skare The raw green screen footage of an erotic dance used for the parodically amusing title sequence for the in-film series, Alan Strange. Not the most persuasive of sells, partly because it looks as cheap as the film probably was to make.