PAYROLL

Available from 13th July on DVD Blu-Ray

and EST

PAYROLL stars Michael Craig (Sea of Sand, Mysterious Island) and Billie Whitelaw (The Krays, Hot Fuzz). Traversing the criminal underworld of the north-east of England some ten years before Get Carter, Johnny Mellor's band of ruthless criminals attempt to get away with murder, but as the police close in, the gang begins to fall apart, with each member seeking a way out - and in their panic, no on realizes there is one adversary they have all overlooked.

As part of the BFI's Britain on Film project, Payroll is apart of 1000's titles that will be digitised and made available online via BFI Player, as well as physical release. Britain on Film will be launched on July 7th. The Digital Film restoration was funded by STUDIOCANAL in collaboration with BFI's Unlocking Film Heritage Programme.

Payroll is the ultimate classic heist movie, the plot consists of a planned robbery, interpersonal conflicts, betrayals and tragedy, you can't really expect anything else from this film. The director Sidney Hayers does a great job of keeping the film flowing with a constant stream of action.

As well as focusing on the criminals involved in the heist we also get a look in to see what happens in the build up and aftermath of the heist through the eyes of the police, the inside man and also a wife who was affected massively. Each ;ook was interesting, fluid and not unimportant, which sometimes can happen.

The style of the film is very sixties (as you can imagine), the film is set in Newcastle, you probably wouldn't realise as their are no geordie accents, but there are definitely a lot of location shots.

Everything remains entertaining throughout with the plot being open enough to ensure that you can't quite predict exactly how it will end, as there could be a few possible endings. It really does make for an interesting watch well worth going back in time a good forty years.

Cert: PG
Running Time: 106mins
DVD RRP: £17.99
Blu-Ray RRP: £22.99

Brand new Extras: Introduction from Steve Chibnall (Professor of British Cinema, De Montfort University, Leicester)