Stranger In The House (aka Cop-Out) was a British production, and it appeared in 1967- then seemingly disappeared, which is a pity as it’s quite a distinctive-if-at times slightly frustrating film, due to its often jarring tonal shifts. It was directed by Bulgaria born Pierre Rouve- this was his one & only directorial credit- though he was the producer on films like Blow-Up, Diamonds for Breakfast, and Libel- as well as writing screenplays for the likes of Trial and Error, I like Money and Stranger In The House.

The film's plot finds John Sawyer (James Mason)- a once eminent & respected barrister, who, since his wife left, has drifted into a life of drunkenness, and cynicism of 1960 culter, and mankind in general. He lives in a large house in Winchester, and this is slow, but surely like him in decline- with peeling walls, and rundown rooms. Living in the house with him is his late teen daughter Angela(Geraldine Chaplin)- she has a group of friends who are both getting into drugs, and involved in low key trouble-making. One day the group sneak on a seemingly empty cruise liner in Southampton harbor- here they come across deserting/ and unbalanced US Salier Barney Teale(Bobby Darin) who decides to blackmail the group of friends, and fairly soon he lands up dead in one of the rooms of the Sawyers house.  At first his daughter greek immigrant boyfriend is blamed- so Sawyer comes out of drunkenness & retirement to help the pair.

The whole film has a fairly jarring feel to it’s unfolding- as we often switch between grooving & drug tinged adventures of the group, which is soundtrack by a mix of psych-rock & upbeat swing. And the at times slightly more bleakly dreamy, and at times slightly surreal world of John Sawyer & his drinking/ cynicism. These switches often happen rapidly- meaning the tone of both the action, music & flow of the film is decidedly uneven- so this leads to more frustrating moments here.

On the whole, the cast is good and well-chosen- with Mason been most effective as the world tired drunk. Chaplin as his daughter is most worthy also- switching  between hurt little girl-ness, troubled lover, and young women out of her depth. And really right until the end your left wondering quite what will happen, and this certainly keeps you held into the film- which does feel a little overlong at one hour and forty minutes runtime. And when the finale finally rolls in it’s quite a revelation, which I really didn’t see coming. So on the whole Stranger In The House is somewhat of a 60’s curio, that if you hang in there is certainly worthy of your time and effort.

Moving onto this new duel disc set- and first off the print looks nicely defined and balanced- picking up well both sides of the film's personality, with the swinging 60’s teens and their environment featuring bold and colorful elements. And John Sawyer more dour, grey, at times sweaty bedraggledness. 
The first of the extras is a  new commentary track from  Vic Pratt and William Fowler- who are behind the Flipside series. This is leisurely, through at times fairly impassioned track, which sees the pair discussing whats going on in the film, the book the film was originally based on & how they differ, the crew & cast, pop art references, critical reviews of the time, the more difficult side of Mason- who apparently didn't get on with one of his co-stars, so a new actor was selected & new scenes filmed, and much more. On the whole, it’s an interesting and worthy track.
Next, on the extras side, we have short 1966 film G.G. Passion- this twenty five minute affair is a fairly arty, at times surreal short- about a teen pop stars who gets sentenced to death. There’s Southampton Docks- a twenty-four-minute British transport film about the day-to-day running of the docks. Then we have a few shorter minute or so things- a 60’s advert about coffee with a swinging and groovy leanings, Charlie Chaplin at Southampton, and a 1990 tram journey through Southampton. We also have an eighty six-minute audio interview from 1981 with James Mason, which sees him discussing his whole career. So, in conclusion, a good selection of relevant and interesting extras.

It’s fair to say that Stranger In the House is very much a curio, as it slips between a few different genres- with these shifts moving between effective and jarring. So if you have interested in more creative and daring films that sit just inside the mainstream, or if you enjoy groovy 1960’s fare with more shade, shift and variation then I’d say this duel reissue will be of appeal to you.