William Turner: “A New Herball” Vols 1 and 2: Parts I, II and III (Boxed Set)

Used Price: ?4.79
Customer Review: very scary !
there is another release of ” scarecrows” from jef films ,but this is better quality , the region 1 unrated version ,the picture is sharp & the soundtrack is good & its uncut! mgm have done exremely well here except there is no extras ! but its a gripping horror drama ,lots of gore & action . a group, of mercenaries hijack a plane after a robbery & they need to get to mexico ,but one of them is greedy & parachutes off with the money & lands smack in the middle of a field of scarecrows! the others force the plane to land & find a deserted farmhouse & the creepy scarecrows ,but this is just the start of a night of terror ! one criticism is most of the film is in the dark & you are struggling to see what is going on but ,its one hell of a movie ,buy the r1 on mgm ,sure to be a classic ! worzel gummidge it aint !
Customer Review: OVERRATED BUT STILL GOOD
After making a daring escape from a military base, a group of robbers, Corbin, (Ted Vernon) Curry, (Michael David Sims) Roxanne, (Kristina Sanborn) Al, (David James Campbell) and Bert, (B.J. Turner) lose their money in a cornfield, and after dealing with a traitor in their ranks, the group comes upon a small, abandoned house on the grounds. Thinking it’s the perfect place to regroup, they hole up and decide on a plan of action. After trying to make an escape, they find the scarecrows in the field are alive and hinting them down one by one. The Good News: This actually wasn’t as bad as I thought. One of the best things about this film is that it conjures up an effective and genuinely creepy atmosphere. The mystery surrounding the scarecrows is absolutely creepy, as they look just right and the aura created from them is remarkable. So much is derived from them and their look that they literally carry the film in the beginning. The biggest example of this is the first romp through the stalks. It’s a very long, drawn out sequence built around the faces and suspense from the scarecrows. A lot of it’s success is based on the scarecrows. It’s also pretty gory for what it is, and there’s some nice blood-splatter. The kills are nice and brutal as well, and feature a good dose of blood. There’s a hacksaw used to cut off a hand, a sickle repeatedly stabbed into the leg, and several stabbings. A gag with a bag up in a tree and the fact that every murder always features a graphic dissection doesn’t hurt it either. It’s simplistic story is also a big plus, keeping it upbeat along the way and putting all the focus where it should be. The Bad News: There’s several things in here that didn’t really sit all that well. First, and most aggravating was that the majority of conversations were held over headsets, and often times made it seem like no one on-screen was actually speaking. It’s incredibly irritating and makes it completely disjointed. This makes it worse as it’s during the best part of the film. There’s also an uncut version around that is far gorier than what is given, which seems believable as what’s on display is kinda choppy at times and looks like it was edited. But outside of a few other very small nit-picks, this wasn’t all that bad. Not great, but not bad. The Final Verdict: A little bit undeserving of it’s status as a cult classic, but it’s still a genuine creepy, features a memorable villain, and has some great moments spread throughout. There is some merit to it, though, so give it a chance. It’s fast enough that it won’t hurt much.
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Meet Dr Michael Hfuhruhurr (Steve Martin), the famous brain surgeon. Perhaps the name is not unfamiliar, though it is unpronounceable; the good doctor is the inventor of the celebrated “screw-top” method of brain surgery, in which the top of the skull twists off as easily as the lid of a pickle jar. The man may be a medical genius, but his talent for love leaves something to be desired, which explains his marriage to a gold-digging vixen (Kathleen Turner). Ah, but Dr. Hfuhruhurr may yet find true love, in the form of the disembodied brain he discovers in the lab of a mad scientist–David Warner, gone the Frankenstein route. (Lovely image: Hfuhruhurr in a rowboat, taking the brain out for a romantic ride on the lake.) Thus, in its own utterly goofy way, does The Man with Two Brains delve into the eternal dilemma of male indecision: does a man fall in love with a woman’s body, or with her mind? Along the way, of course, there are gags both highbrow and very, very lowbrow, a mind-body split that might be why critics have tended to prefer the more sophisticated slapstick of All of Me (directed, like this film, by Carl Reiner) and Roxanne among the early Steve Martin outings. Still, this is one of Martin’s funniest pictures, and a game Kathleen Turner, fresh off her Body Heat success, ably spoofs her own sultry image. The cerebral love object is voiced by Sissy Spacek. –Robert Horton
List Price: ?5.99
Used Price: ?0.90
Customer Review: Twice as boring
Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr (Steve Martin) has a problem choosing between brain waves, Anne Uumellmahaye (Sissy Spacek), and “Body Heat”, Dolores Benedict (Kathleen Turner). The whole premise is can love be found in a bottle. I thought ‘The jerk’ was bad until I saw this movie, both mysteriously directed by Carl Reiner. All he does is make faces with no real acting or thought behind them. A few faces are o.k. but over an over of watching grins and grimaces can get monotonous. I almost stopped watching Steve martin that is capable of making good movies like “House Sitter” (1992) with Goldie Hawn.
Customer Review: Dated movie but a classic
This is Steve Martin before he started making boring not so funny family type movies. It’s a bit dated but he is so silly. So many funny scenes, such as when he is rowing a boat on a lake with a brain in a jar and he sticks a pair of wax lips on the jar so he can kiss it (he fell in love with a brain).
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List Price: ?24.95
Amazon Price: ?17.49
Used Price: ?8.77
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William Turner: “A New Herball” Vols 1 and 2: Parts I, II and III (Boxed Set)
Customer Review: Good quality reproduction…but pricey!
This book is a great resource for researchers interested in early herbals. It provides a facsimile copy of all 3 parts of William Turners ground breaking “Herball” as well as translations into modern english (the orginal text is in heavy black lettered old english). The facsimile itself has been cleaned up and is very readable - unfortunately this loses the feel of the orginal book (its black and white, not grey scale and the text from the reverse page doesnt show through, the edges of the pages arent visible either so its almost like looking at a “posterised” version). The woodcuts (taken from Fuchs) are good quality but also only in black and white. There are no colour illustrations in the translations or appendices. All in all a good effort but at this price probably only of interest to the serious researcher…