Vinegar Syndrome (Blu-ray & DVD) (US R0 HD/NTSC), Odeon (DVD) (UK R0 PAL), Image (US R1 NTSC) / WS (1.78:1) (16:9) church and a citywide sprint from Kenny's latest victim, generating some tension as death draws near. It's a weird opening, but sadly, it's the last

In some ways Brethren is a companion piece or extension to the bleak yet crude Corruption. Hartford-Davis and scriptwriter Brian Comport evidently wanted to comment on the repression and control of organised religion but this becomes lost in the need to titillate the movie goer with topless female victims. This lessens the impact and tension of the story. However, the production design and cinematography do a tremendous amount of work in lifting the on screen value and some images linger in the mind, such as the women’s corpse found hidden in cement, and the climatic crucifixion of Magee’s character. Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. The film opens with shots of a terrified young woman in a mini skirt fleeing for her life along a riverbank, interspersed with scenes of a Brethren baptism service in full swing complete with gospel-style music and the congregation working itself into a religious frenzy. The girl is finally cornered by her unseen pursuer, strangled, stripped naked and thrown into the river at the same time as a boy is symbolically submerged during the baptism service.The version broadcast on the BBC (22.09.01) is uncensored and thus different to the cut version that played British cinemas (in 1971) and the identical Derann tape release that appeared in 1981.

scenes of murder and holy manipulation, but it takes a long time to get anywhere of note in the picture. Director Robert Hartford-Davis and SPECIAL FEATURES
• INCLUDES FIRST PRESSING MATTE LAMINATE SLIPCASE with NEW ARTWORK BY SIMON PRITCHARD It's not the most polished of films, but the directing is pretty good and the acting pretty solid throughout - with a convincing enough ratio of ham, menace and believability - with the script and storyline excellent. Overall the results, particularly when taking the fairly small budget into consideration, really are very, very good indeed. Which is why I honestly think this film was years ahead of it's time.

The Fiend as originally released runs for 98 minutes, but an edited version of 87 minutes (removing most of its more graphic content) was produced for the American market. The film was released on DVD in 2005; however the DVD uses the cut version. Also included is a booklet with two essays about the film. Jon Dear’s The Fiend and the Flesh examines some the possible inspirations for the film in real life cases of crime and religious cults. Andrew Graves’ UK Grime Scene attempts to contextualise Brethren’s place in the world of 1970s British horror. The always erudite Flipside maestro Vic Pratt contributes an excellent video overview on Hartford-Davis’ career and the film itself in the One Moment in Time (23 minutes). Film historian Melanie Williams offers a pleasing overview of Ann Todd’s career in the A Woman on A Mission (17 minutes). An original cinema trailer and a comparison of the UK cinema and uncut international versions of the film round up the extras.