Negatives (1968) (Blu-ray) (UK Import)

Living above a dusty old antiques shop, deeply enmeshed in archaic Edwardiana and wrapped up in moth-eaten old clothes, two passionate but embittered lovers play out their lives in performative acts of sexual fantasy – with shop-owner Theo (Peter McEnery) as notorious killer Crippen and his partner Vivien (Glenda Jackson, Women in Love) disguising herself as both the wife and the lover of the meek but murderous doctor. Tensions between the two escalate still further when uninhibited German photographer Reingard (Diane Cilento, The Wicker Man) moves in with them, bringing bizarre fantasies of her own.

Director Peter Medak (The Ruling Class, The Krays), made his provocative debut with this ostentatious first feature, a dreamlike acutely-cinematic character study which penetrates the dark heart of unconventional relationships in the free love era – a no-holds-barred arena in which games lovers play can have unimaginably complex and destructive consequences.

Special Features

Audio Commentary with Tim Lucas
Audio Interviews with Peter Medak by Lee Gambin with David Gregory (2024, 89 mins): two audio interviews with director Peter Medak, the first conducted by the late author and film historian Lee Gambin, and the second with Severin’s David Gregory, conducted at the director’s home
Interview with Peter McEnery (2025, 10 mins): newly recorded interview with actor Peter McEnery
Interview with Barrie Vince (30 mins): an interview with the award-winning editor of Negatives, Smashing Time, Deep End and The Shout
Positives From Negativeland: Scrapbook From a Grand Debut (2025, 16 mins): Peter Medak takes us through his production scrapbooks for Negatives, as well as A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, recalling his memories of each experience
The Doctor Will See You Now (2025, 24 mins): an interview with Dr Clare Smith, the historic collection curator at the Metropolitan Police Museum, who discusses the life and crime of Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen
llustrated booklet featuring new essays by Dr Josephine Botting and William Fowler