From the early 1970s Voices is an are-they-mad-or-not psychological thriller, which were rather popular during the decade. Thankfully, it features some creative at points spooky twists that make it stand out from the crowd.  Firstly, it blends film and video footage in quite an interesting, at times unease manner. Next, a large part of the film takes place in just one room with just two characters- giving it of a stagey quality. And lastly, we get some neat 'n' nasty twists happening in the films last quarter. Here from Powerhouse is Blu Ray release of the film

Voices (aka Nightmare) appeared in the year 1973. It was directed by Englishman Kevin Billington, who between 1963 and 1993 he had nineteen credits to his name. Though only five were feature lengths- these went from Interlude (1968)- a romantic drama, which finds a famous conductor having an affair with a reporter.  Political satire featuring Peter Cook, The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970), and lulling dysfunctional family drama Reflections (1984), 

The film kicks off with lengthy pre-credits- that finds the then real-life husband and wife Robert (David Hemmings) and Claire (Gayle Hunnicutt) on a cannel trip with their young son. They moor up near a mini waterfall lock with father and son going out to look at the lock, and mess around a bit. Next thing the couple decide to get it on, pushing the boy out to play on his own. The pair awaken after lovemaking to find there’s no sign of the boy- they run across the lock, into the woods and no sign of him- with the opening credits rolling as the pair look for the boy in a boat. Next, we get a rapidly cut- yet grim collage of Claire trying to overdose, slashing her wrists and getting sent to a psychiatric hospital. Then we see the pair in a car travelling in dense fog. It’s implied they’ve not seen each other in a few years, and they are on their way to stay at a long-dead relatives house in the countryside that hasn’t been occupied for some years- and this is where most of the film plays out, with occasional flashbacks & brief journey’s into the fogging outside.
We don’t really get to see the full interior of the house- with the film playing out in just a large room with a staircase, dust sheet-covered furniture, and a fireplace in. To start with the pair lightly bicker- with he been keen to physically reinstate their relationship, and she is not so sure. As time goes on, he pops into other rooms & outside, and this is when she first hears children's voices- as things go on she hears them when he’s in the room, with her behaviour getting more erratic- though he is equally showing the strain of the situation too. 

The films drama and discord is played out with dramatic swelling, to a slightly sinisterly angular orchestrated score. When they are inside the house/ room- we get the video filmed footage, and this gives the whole thing a slightly strange & bright quality- which adds to the whole is she-mad-or-not plot unfold. 

Both Hemmings & Hunnicutt act well & believable together, and due to the quality of the acting/ script one is constantly switching back and forth between thinking she’s mad, or something else is going on here. I of course won’t reveal what happens, but we get some fairly neat and ultimately creepy twists occurring in the films last quarter. I will say that there could have maybe been a trim of say ten or so minutes to some of the in-house interaction, as at points it does feel like certain elements are overplayed- and the one hour and thirty-one minutes runtime does lag in places.

Moving onto this region free release, and we get a new 4k scan of the film- this is good, though it does highlight more the shifts between the filmed and video elements. Next, we get a commentary track from writers and genre experts Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman, and as you’d expect this is very pro and fact-packed affair. They begin by discussing the pre-credits filming location which apparently was used on an episode of Dr Who at the same time. They discuss the other work of the film's director, pointing out other worthy & less worthy things he did. They talk about this version of this story is the fourth or fifth version, and it first appeared in 1953 as a half-hour episode of the radio play series Suspense. Later on, they talk about David Hemmings career commenting on it right up until the early 2000s when he appeared in the likes of Gladiators and Last Orders. They discuss how the story feels pulled out in its film form and how it lags a little in the middle. They talk about other films/ stories with similar plots/ themes, and much more.
Next, we get Wide Boys- this runs eighteen minutes and finds film historian Vic Pratt discussing how production company Hemdale was formed- Voices was one of the many films it released. It went from a formed in the pub venture that had £100's worth of shares in 1967, going on to be a £100, 0000 company that released the likes of the first Terminator, Platoon, and The Last Emperor. He discusses Hemmings early career, and how 1966's Blow-Up was his big breakthrough. He also talks of course about the other half of Hemdale- wheeler-dealer producer John Daly. This is a most fascinating featurette, and as always Mr Pratt does a great job. There’s Mon Brave!- an eight-minute on-screen interview with filmmaker Peter Crane talking about his personal and professional relationship with Hemmings. Lastly, we have Voices from the Past- a four-minute featurette talking about the processes of restoring the film, and again this is most interesting- so a good selection of extras on the disc. The finished release comes presented with a thirty-six-page booklet featuring a new essay by Julian Upton, archival interviews with actors Hemmings and Gayle Hunnicutt, a look at the source play, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits.

It is great to see Voices getting this classy & worthy extra lined reissue from Powerhouse- as it’s a fairly distinctive and one-off example of a British genre picture from the 1970s.  And I can see it appealing to those who enjoy mixed-media filmmaking in general, and of course stagey psychological thrillers.