BFI Releasing The Appointment

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Coming in June.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082025/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[Lorne Marshall Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lorne Marshall]

This is a pretty offbeat film that I have been waiting for years to be offered for a wider audience, as I don’t think it has come out in any other form since its Sony VHS release back in the 80’s (at least not in the U.S.). It’s a cautionary supernatural tale about the consequences of taking one’s familial relationships and responsibilities for granted, and it features a “disappearance” that is one of the eeriest opening sequences I’ve ever seen.

[Weirdlingwolf Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Weirdlingwolf]

'The Appointment' (1981) - Lindsey Vickers.

These BFI discs always have such sublime extra features!

[Lorne Marshall]

Me, too:

https://rockshockpop.com/forum/movie...he-appointment

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Here's the full press release.

BFI Flipside presents release No. 044
THE APPOINTMENT
A film by Lindsey C. Vickers
Edward Woodward, Jane Merrow

BFI Blu-ray release on 11 July 2022 and on iTunes and Amazon Prime on 25 July 2022

An evil and enigmatic power throws a family into turmoil in Lindsey Vickers’ much sought-after cult horror. An unsettling journey into the world of the supernatural guaranteed to give you sleepless nights, the long-lost chiller THE APPOINTMENT is at last available on Blu-ray from BFI Flipside, sourced from the best materials yet discovered.

Among the usual raft of fantastic extras is a new audio commentary by the director and newly filmed interviews including with Lindsey Vickers and actor Jane Merrow. Other extras include an interview with assistant director Gregory Dark, Lindsey Vickers’ 1978 film The Lake (including newly recorded audio commentary) and extensive galleries featuring rare production material.

When suburban father Ian (Edward Woodward, The Wicker Man) is unable to attend his daughter’s violin recital, he and his wife Dianna (Jane Merrow, The Lion in Winter) are troubled by prophetic nightmares that seem to foresee a looming tragedy. Are dark forces about to be unleashed upon their comfortable life?

Special features
• Presented on Blu-ray in Standard Definition
• Newly recorded audio commentary by director Lindsey Vickers
• Vickers on Vickers (2021, 41 mins): the director looks back on his life and career
• Another Outing (2021, 16 mins): Jane Merrow recalls co-starring in The Appointment
• Appointments Shared (2022, 7 mins): Lindsey and Jan Vickers remember the making of the ‘haunted film’
• Framing The Appointment (2022, 19 mins): Lindsey Vickers recalls making the film
• Remembering The Appointment (2022, 10 mins): assistant director Gregory Dark shares his recollections of the film
• The Lake (1978, 33 mins): Lindsey Vickers’ eerie short finds young lovers choosing to picnic at a spot haunted by echoes of a violent event
• Newly recorded audio commentary on The Lake by Lindsey Vickers
• Splashing Around (2020, 18 mins): actor Julie Peasgood on making The Lake
• Galleries featuring annotated scripts, storyboards, images and production materials
• Newly commissioned sleeve art by Matt Needle
• ***First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with new writing by Lindsey Vickers including a message about this release, Vic Pratt and William Fowler; biographies of Edward Woodward and Jane Merrow by Jon Dear, notes on the special features and credits

Product details
RRP: £19.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1460 / 15
UK / 1981 / colour / 89 minutes / English language with optional subtitles for the Deaf and partial hearing // original aspect ratio 1.33:1 BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

[Lorne Marshall Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lorne Marshall]

It’s fantastic to see they’re including Vickers’s short film THE LAKE - which was one of the items in BFI’s 2020 collection Short Sharp Shocks - as it’s supposed to be excellent (Mondo Digital described it as “blood-freezing”). Extra bonus!

[Spaghetti Monkey Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Spaghetti Monkey]

Never been on my radar before, but with endorsements from Lorne and WW, seeming like a must.

[James Reed Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close James Reed]

I saw this on USA Network back in the 1980s. I liked it. It was interesting to see 'The Equalizer' in a horror movie!

[agent999 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close agent999]

Holy shit, what bravura opening and climax sequences! Not one for those with low boredom thresholds, but if you like ambiguous, atmospheric slow burners this one could be your discovery of the year. Some of the acting isn't great and I can see why it only had festival screenings as more people will hate it than love it. The cleaned up tape master looks quite good. I'm surprised this was never on my radar, I haunted all the local video stores from 1982 onwards but never saw it in the wild. Anyway, better late than never.