James R | On 20, Aug 2016

Heard of BFI Player? Well, there’s also BFI Player+, a subscription service that offers an all-you-can-eat selection of hand-picked classics.

Every Friday, Mark Kermode highlights one of the collection’s titles with a video introduction. This week, it’s Hands of the Ripper, the Hammer Horror classic from 1971, which sees Freudian psychiatrist (Eric Porter) cover up for his patient, the homicidal daughter (Angharad Rees) of Jack the Ripper. Kermode highlights the surprising sense of style director Peter Sadsy brings to the tale.

What else is available to stream? Every week, we bring you a round-up of the latest titles on BFI Player+:

92 in the Shade

Thomas McGuane’s 1975 thriller stars Peter Fonda, Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton in a tale of warring Florida fishing gangs. A rare chance to see this in the UK.

Young and Innocent

This 1937 Hitchcock flick is another trend-setting piece for the director, as he establishes his man-on-the-run motif with the story of a witness to a murder, who is accused of the crime, leading him to evade arrest to find the real culprit.

Partie de Campagne

Jean Renoir’s short from 1936 follows a young girl who flees her family temporarily for a sensuous romance in the countryside. Nestled within that is a perfect demonstration of perspective and editing, as Renoir cuts between our heroine on a swing and unseen reaction shots of men around her to capture her burgeoning sexuality and her innocence without any need for gratuitous shots or explicit voiceover.

Twins of Evil

Still craving Hammer Horror? John Hough’s 1971 sees a pair of innocent twins come under the influence of the evil Count Karnstein. Real-life twins (and former Playboy Playmates) Mary and Madeleine Collinson play the twins, with Peter Cushing inevitably co-starring.

Quest for Love

Who says alternate histories have to be dystopian? Joan Collins stars in this 70s story about a man searching for the perfect woman he briefly met in a parallel universe. Based on a John Wyndham novel, the result is as much comedy as it is sci-fi.

Trans-Europ-Express

Alain Robbe-Grillet directs this cult erotic thriller from the 1960s, which stars icons of the French New Wave Jean-Louis Trintigant and Marie-France Pisier.

 

A BFI Player+ subscription costs £4.99 a month with a 30-day free trial. For more information, visit http://player.bfi.org.uk.

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