BFI – Vincent Price Legacy UK

You don’t need to be a master chef to join cinema’s master of terror, Vincent Price, in the kitchen for Cooking Price-Wise, a brilliantly bizarre crash course in very 1970s cookery!

Never previously released before, it comes to Blu-ray courtesy of BFI Flipside on 25 November.

Many extras include a new interview with Victoria Price, new audio commentaries, Silver Screen Suppers’ Jenny Hammerton preparing classic Price dishes and much more – including an article written by Vincent Price Legacy UK curator Peter Fuller.

During the early years of that delicious decade that was the 1970s, while Vincent Price was on a sojourn in England, the iconic screen star and fine-dining aficionado took an unlikely break from macabre movies to rustle up this six-part television series, a labour of love designed to get bored British housewives serving up something a little different.

From melon monsters to crocodile cucumbers, not forgetting the perfect soufflé, the marvellous Mr Price is your genial and garrulous host amid the paisley-patterned saucepans as he demonstrates favourite recipes from around the world – in a fantastic, long-sought-after full-fat celebrity cookery show unlike any other.

Special features

Presented on Blu-ray in both High Definition and Standard Definition
Until We Eat Again (2024, 18 mins): Vincent Price’s daughter, the writer and inspirational speaker Victoria Price, reflects upon her father’s love of the finer things in life
Audio commentaries on selected episodes: Episode 1: Potatoes (Vic Pratt and William Fowler), Episode 3: Bacon (Lisa Kerrigan and Dr Josephine Botting), Episode 4: Cheese (Jenny Hammerton and Peter Fuller)
Monster Munch (2024, 25 mins): the Queen of the Kitchen, Jenny Hammerton of Silver Screen Suppers, demonstrates how you too can prepare classic Vincent Price dishes in this all-new kitchen caper
Kitchenfinder General (2024, 21 mins): Jenny Hammerton celebrates Vincent Price’s writing on cookery and his love of all things edible
A selection of food-related films made by the Central Office of Information (1940-1949, 30 mins total): Oatmeal Porridge, Potatoes, When the Pie Was Opened, How to Cook a Cabbage and The Good Housewife ‘In Her Kitchen’
Tea Making Tips (1941, 10 mins): take the strain out of brewing up a perfect cuppa with this handy wartime instructional film
Centenary Express (1980, 7 mins): a gastronomic journey from Yorkshire to London on board a special train formed of vintage restaurant cars and hauled by a steam locomotive
***First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with new writing by Victoria Price, Peter Fuller, Jenny Hammerton and Vic Pratt; notes on the special features and credits

Product details
UK / 1971 / colour / 143 mins / English language with optional descriptive subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.33:1 // BD50: 1080i, 25fps, LPCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

Where to buy: Pre-order from the BFI Shop

Great news for UK fans of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and classic British horror, 1969’s The Oblong Box, is getting a Blu-ray release courtesy of the BFI (available from Monday, 21 October 2024).

In shadow-shrouded Victorian England, Sir Julian Markham (Price) is a landowner hiding a terrible family secret, while Dr Neuhartt (Lee) is a surgeon carrying out dreadful experiments upon stolen cadavers. When their disparate destinies entwine – and a mysterious murderer in a red mask begins a mission of vengeance – a series of brazen, bloody atrocities ensue.

Those masters of terror, Price and Lee, are both at their spine-chilling best in this grisly gothic tale of the macabre, inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe story and produced and directed by Gordon Hessler for American International Pictures. Actors and crew that worked on 1968’s Witchfinder General were brought together again for this stylishly shot, fast-paced slice of Grand Guignol from 1969 – featuring customarily powerful performances from its charismatic cast.

Released by the BFI – its first time on Blu-ray in the UK, extras include a newly filmed interview with Victoria Price, who discusses her father’s career, and an article about the film’s production by — guess who? Yep! Me! I do hope you enjoy reading it and adding the film to your Vincent Price Blu-ray collection.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Presented in High Definition
Audio commentary by film historian Steve Haberman (2015) – ported over from the US Kino Lorber Blu-ray release
The Immortal Mr Price (2024, 17 mins): Victoria Price discusses her father’s career and his trips to England in the late 1960s
The Bells (1913, 15 mins): Edgar Allan Poe’s poignant poem underpins this silent film rarity, which tells a melodramatic tale of love and death
Prelude (1927, 7 mins): Rachmaninov’s wonderfully disturbing ‘Prelude in C-sharp minor’ sets the tone for a silent, nightmarish reverie on Poe’s The Premature Burial
The Pit (1962, 27 mins): a strange and experimental gothic short, adapted from Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum
Roger Corman on Edgar Allan Poe (2013, 9 mins): the legendary director and producer discusses his Poe adaptations, including The Pit and the Pendulum and The Masque of the Red Death
Image gallery: original stills and promotional materials
Theatrical trailer
***First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with essays by Peter Fuller and Benjamin Halligan: notes on the special features and credits