Magic, Myth & Mutilation: The Micro-Budget Cinema of Michael J Murphy, 1967-2015
Edition no. 280/281/282/283/284/285/286/287/288/289
Amongst overlooked filmmakers, British director Michael J Murphy ranks as one of the most sorely neglected. Having cut his teeth on a variety of homemade 8mm shorts, he had completed three feature-length productions by the age of eighteen. Over the next five decades, Murphy would go on to make many more films across a variety of genres, dividing his production time between Greece, Portugal, and the UK, with family, friends, and local stage performers becoming his regular cast and crew in exchange for holidays in the sun.
Despite this prolific output – a total of more than thirty completed films over a half-century, of which twenty-six survive – Murphy’s work remains rarely seen and little championed. Fitfully available on videotape, and barely represented on DVD, this comprehensive and long-gestating ten-disc Blu-ray collection seeks to rectify that situation once and for all. Boasting all-new 2K restorations from archival 16mm and 8mm elements, as well as a number of new digital captures from Murphy’s personal tape masters, this extensive retrospective of the obsessive auteur’s work is bolstered by a wealth of bonus features, including surviving fragments from lost works, and a 120-page book, all of which provides the definitive account of the weird and wonderful worlds of Britain’s great unheralded DIY filmmaker.
Details by Film
Tristan and Iseult
Streaming Options
Happy Ever After
Secrets
Streaming Options
Almost a Movie
Streaming Options
The Cell
Streaming Options
Stay
Death in the Family
Invitation to Hell
The Last Night
Bloodstream
Moonchild
Torment
Atlantis
Road to Nowhere
Tristan
Version OneTristan
Version TwoZk3
Nekros: Isle of the Dead
The Return of Alan Strange
Qualen
Tristan: Legend of a Hero
Death Run
Avalon
Second Sight
The Rite of Spring
Version OneThe Rite of Spring
Version TwoRoxi
Skare
Release Information:
Technical Specifications
Supplements
- Audio commentary with Michael J. Murphy, and actors Sally Duncan and Phil Lyndon on Invitation to Hell (2008)
- Audio commentary with author and arts professor Johnny Walker on Invitation to Hell (2022)
- Audio commentary with Michael J. Murphy, Sally Duncan and Phil Lyndon on The Last Night (2008)
- Audio commentary with Murphy, actors June Bunday, Judith Holding and Phil Lyndon on Atlantis (2010)
- Audio commentary with Michael J. Murphy and Judith Holding on Skare (2009)
- Murphy’s Lore (2022): three-part documentary assessing Murphy’s five-decade career, featuring interviews with Michael J. Murphy, June Bunday, Judith Holding, Chris Jupp, Stephen Longhurst, Patrick Olliver, filmmakers Jackson Batchelor, Sam Mason Bell and Tom Lee Rutter, film historians Darrell Buxton and Johnny Walker, and film programmer Paul Cotgrove
- The Horror-on-Sea Interview with Michael J. Murphy (2013): the prolific filmmaker in conversation with June Bunday and Phil Lyndon, recorded for the British horror festival
- The Making of ‘Invitation to Hell’ and ‘The Last Night’ (2008): retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Michael J. Murphy, Phil Lyndon and June Bunday
- The Making of ‘Atlantis’ (2010): two-part retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Michael J. Murphy, Phil Lyndon, June Bunday and Judith Holding
- The Making of ‘Skare’ (2009): retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Michael J. Murphy and Judith Holding
- The Making of ‘Roxi’ (2004): documentary featuring interviews with actors Mary-Anne Barlow, Bruce Lawrence, Ross Maxwell and Valia Yanarou
- The Making of ‘ZK3’ (2012): retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Michael J. Murphy, Judith Holding and Phil Lyndon
- ‘The Rite of Spring’: Behind the Scenes (1999)
- ‘Nekros’: Behind the Scenes (2012)
- ‘Skare’ Script Readthrough (2008)
- Surviving fragments from six lost Murphy films: Atlantis: City of Sin (1967), Boadicea (1968), Gods and Heroes (1971), two versions of Seventh Day (1976/77), and Insight (1978)
- Outtakes from Moonchild, Torment, Atlantis, Second Sight, and Skare
- Mute rushes from the lost 16mm version of Skare, with optional selected scene commentary with actor Oliver Price
- ‘The Return of Alan Strange’ Test Footage (2014)
- Michael J. Murphy on ‘Beast’ (2010): interview with the filmmaker about Chris Jupp’s remake of his lost version of Skare
- Video Tour of Michael J. Murphy’s Home (2014)
- Michael J Murphy Tribute Video (2015): documentary short made for the Murlyn Films International website
- Home video footage shot by Murphy
- 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
- Original ‘Stay’ 7" single needle-drop recording
- Image galleries
- Script galleries
- Limited edition exclusive 120-page book with new essays by Murphy experts Wayne Maginn, Paul Higson, Darrell Buxton and Johnny Walker, a comprehensive filmography, and film credits

