BFI Flipside is dedicated to rediscovering the margins of British and Irish film, reclaiming a space for forgotten movies and filmmakers who would otherwise be in danger of disappearing from our screens forever. It is a home for cinematic oddities, offering everything from exploitation documentaries to B-movies, countercultural curios and obscure classics.
Below is the listing of all main releases with spine numbers in order, grouped by release type, followed by additional editions of those and an Out Of Print section.
BFI Flipside ◎ DVD-Only Releases
#000
See bottom of post for DVD versions of Blu-Ray releases.
BFI Flipside ◎ Blu-Ray + DVD Releases
#001-005
#006-010
#011-015
#016-020
#021-025
#026-030
#031-035
#036-040
BFI Flipside ◎ Blu-Ray Only Releases
#041-045
#046-050
Full Circle is Dual Format with 4K UHD.
#051...
That's the end of current announced spine numbers.
Other Blu-Ray Editions (no longer in print)
OOP - Out Of Print
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These are OOP according to fatboyslim142's post, but to be confirmed when the BFI Shop is back up:
Also Cosh Boy according to Ben Stoddart on Facebook if they followed through on that:
Older Blu-Ray Only Editions (no longer in print)
[Show spoiler]
DVD Versions
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No listing on this site:
The Black Panther DVD
This thread was originally posted by pro-bassoonist, show spoiler to check original post:
[Show spoiler]
Quote:
Discover The Flipside
A new DVD and Blu-ray strand from the BFI
On 25 May the BFI launches Flipside, a new strand presenting weird and wonderful British films in new high-quality editions on DVD and Blu-ray. The first three releases are Richard Lester’s darkly comic The Bed Sitting Room (1969) and Arnold Louis Miller’s pioneering Mondo-influenced ‘shockumentaries’ London in the Raw (1964) and Primitive London (1965).
Developed from its popular monthly screening slot at BFI Southbank, the BFI’s Flipside series on DVD and Blu-ray is designed to revisit and reappraise British films that have slipped through the cracks of cinema history – films that were overlooked, marginalised, or undervalued at the original time of release, or sit outside the established canon of recognised classics. Subject matter will vary widely (and will encompass everything from nuclear war to Soho striptease, from forbidden love to international intrigue) and is likely to appeal to a diverse range of film fans, many of whom may be unfamiliar with the BFI’s more traditional DVD and Blu-ray output.
All Flipside releases, newly-mastered in HD from original film elements, are presented with a wide array of special features and extensive illustrated booklets containing informative notes and thought-provoking essays. Initial contributors include respected writers Stewart Home and Iain Sinclair. They are priced at £17.99 on DVD and £22.99 on Blu-ray.
Three new Flipside titles will appear approximately every three months. Future releases include long-unavailable British cult titles such as Peter Watkins’ Privilege (1967), Clive Donner's Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1967) and Gerry O’Hara’s That Kind of Girl (1963). Details of the titles to be released on the 25 May are as follows:
The Bed Sitting Room (Richard Lester, 1969)
UK / colour / Cert tbc / 91 mins + 90 mins extra material / ratio 1.85:1 / optional subtitles for hearing-impaired / DVD cat no: BFIVD834 / BD cat no: BFIB1019
In the hazy aftermath of World War III, the fallout from a ‘nuclear misunderstanding’ (which lasted two minutes and twenty eight seconds, including the signing of the peace treaty) is producing strange mutations amongst the survivors, and the noble Lord Fortnum finds himself transforming into a bed sitting room…
This vividly imagined, darkly satirical filmic vision of a post apocalyptic England, directed by Richard Lester (A Hard Day’s Night, How I Won the War, The Knack), is based on the highly-regarded play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus. It also boasts great performances by the cream of ‘60s British comedy and acting talent: Rita Tushingham, Ralph Richardson, Peter Cook, Harry Secombe, Dudley Moore, Spike Milligan, Michael Horden, Roy Kinnear, Arthur Lowe, Dandy Nichols and Marty Feldman.
Sam Dunn, Head of BFI Video Publishing, comments: ‘Lots of people talk about “lost classics”, but The Bed Sitting Room is a film that truly deserves that description. It beggars belief that such a startling piece of British cinema could have remained hidden away for so long.’
Special features
* Archival interviews with Richard Lester (1967, 17 mins), Spike Milligan (1967, 40 mins) and Peter Cook (1967, 30 mins)
* Original trailer
* Illustrated booklet with essay by Michael Brooke (BFI Sight and Sound contributor) and original review and promotional material.
London in the Raw (Arnold Louis Miller, 1964)
UK / colour / Cert tbc / 76 min and 47 min versions + 80 mins extra material / ratio 1.33:1 / optional subtitles for hearing-impaired / DVD cat no: BFIVD840 / BD cat no: BFIB1021
‘The world's greatest city laid bare! Thrill to its gay excitement, its bright lights, but be shocked by the sin in its shadows!’
Following on from his Take Off Your Clothes and Live, and influenced by the world-wide success of Italian ‘Mondo’ movies, which combined documentary footage with staged sequences to salacious effect, legendary British low budget movie mogul Arnold Miller concocted this fascinating exploitation-style documentary. Peering voyeuristically behind the grimy net-curtains of London life into seedy bars and clubs for beatnik ‘art lovers’, and burrowing beneath the glittering façade of the capital’s glamorous cocktail lounges and casinos, London in the Raw provides a cynical, sometimes startling vision of life on and off the rain-spattered streets of 1960s London.
Special features
* Remastered to HD from the original negative
* Three 60s 'London Sketches': Pub (Peter Davis, 1962, 26 mins); Strip (Peter Davis, Staffan Lamm, Don DeFina, 1965, 26 mins); Chelsea Bridge Boys (Peter Davis, Staffan Lamm, 1966, 28 mins)
* Original trailer
* Original UK and continental versions of the feature
* Illustrated booklet with essay by novelist and critic Stewart Home (author of Down and Out in Shoreditch and Hoxton); original review and promotional material
Primitive London (Arnold Louis Miller, 1965)
UK / colour / Cert tbc / 87 mins + 65 mins extra material / ratio 1.33:1 / optional subtitles for hearing-impaired / DVD cat no: BFIVD839 / BD cat no: BFIB1020
The sensational follow-up to London in the Raw, Primitive London sets out to reflect society’s decay through a sideshow spectacle of 1960s London depravity – and manages to out do its predecessor. Here, we confront mods, rockers and beatniks at the Ace Café, cut some rug with obscure beat band The Zephyrs, witness a seedy Jack the Ripper re-enactment, smirk at flabby men in the sauna and goggle at sordid wife-swapping parties as we discover a pre-permissive Britain still trying to move on from the post-war depression of the 1950s.
Special features
* Remastered to HD from the original negative
* Carousella (John Irvin, 1966, 23 mins): a dramatised documentary on the lives of a group of striptease artistes
* Stuart McCabe (strip club owner) interview (1968, 15 mins)
* Shirley (stripper) interview (1968, 6 mins)
* Al Burnett (nightclub owner) interview (1967, 17 mins)
* Original trailer (English and French language options)
* English and French language versions
* Illustrated booklet with essays by Iain Sinclair, Vic Pratt (BFI Curator) and William Fowler (BFI Curator); original review and promotional material.
Last edited by T4ffer; 08-24-2025 at 06:51 AM.
Reason: Moved the BFI Flipside release listings and info to first post.
I’m suprised there isn’t a dedicated BFI Flipside thread now that they number over 50. It’s my favourite by far and probably really got me into collecting. I also think it’s such a rich topic for discussion so it would be good to converse with other enthusiasts on them. I did try on the BFI Facebook group but it didn’nt really go anywhere.
There’s many things I love about Flipside - they are pretty much all unseen to me before but I think it’s the wealth of extras more than anything (in some cases whole films) so even if the main feature doesn’t appeal - the extras alone make them worth it.
What are your favourites, what are underwhelming and what specific extras are hidden away thst really deserve to be talked about? And indeed how popular are the Flipside with fellow a collectors and what would we like to see in the future?
I know there’s the odd thread dated to a particular individual release but Hopeully this can be an overview of the series for general discussion.
I don't own very many Flipside titles, but the ones I do own are great. The Party's Over and Herostratus are brilliant, it's a shame they're not talked about more.
I don't own very many Flipside titles, but the ones I do own are great. The Party's Over and Herostratus are brilliant, it's a shame they're not talked about more.
I’m actually suprised they are not talked about more, thought they would really appeal to collectors more so than other releases that generate debate.
I have both those but not seen them yet, want to watch Herostratus with a friend but they are always busy!
Any releases you don’t have but have your eye on or on your wishlist? Her Private He’ll as a brilliant though slightly under the radar release. Unlike Norman J Warren’s other stuff
Unquestionably my favourite imprint. The Flipside has proved that British cinema is a rich seam; much more varied and arcane than has traditionally been understood.
There's social-realism (Bronco Bullfrog), arty-indulgence (B.S. Johnson), 'mondo' (Primitive London), psychodrama (Symptoms), sexploitation (Her Private Hell) and everything in-between! Every release is a surprise, and they keep on unearthing titles that are obscure, even to scholars of British cinema (the forthcoming Eclipse is a perfect example, with a comparatively sparse amount of online information available). Long may it continue!
Impossible to pick a definitive list of favourites, but Schalken the Painter, Deep End and The Appointment are just perfect examples of the Flipside ethos.
Great series one I really like is Sleepwalker(1984) but it's hard to describe because it's just so strange! A more normal one is I Start Counting(1969) you can almost smell the late sixties coming out of the screen and it's a pretty good story as well with a good cast.
Great series one I really like is Sleepwalker(1984) but it's hard to describe because it's just so strange! A more normal one is I Start Counting(1969) you can almost smell the late sixties coming out of the screen and it's a pretty good story as well with a good cast.
I Start Counting deserves a better cover art than the bland one it got in this line.
I’m suprised there isn’t a dedicated BFI Flipside thread now that they number over 50. It’s my favourite by far and probably really got me into collecting. I also think it’s such a rich topic for discussion so it would be good to converse with other enthusiasts on them. I did try on the BFI Facebook group but it didn’nt really go anywhere.
There’s many things I love about Flipside - they are pretty much all unseen to me before but I think it’s the wealth of extras more than anything (in some cases whole films) so even if the main feature doesn’t appeal - the extras alone make them worth it.
What are your favourites, what are underwhelming and what specific extras are hidden away thst really deserve to be talked about? And indeed how popular are the Flipside with fellow a collectors and what would we like to see in the future?
I know there’s the odd thread dated to a particular individual release but Hopeully this can be an overview of the series for general discussion.
I just got all 3 Short Sharp Shocks and I am going to watch them next week, what should I expect?
A selection-box of macabre moods and styles. From charmingly antiquated, Jackanory-style readings of ghost-tales, to minute-long public-information-film style stingers, to more ambitiously crafted mid-length excursions into terror. These were almost-always supporting feature programmes, designed as an aperitif to the main-picture, but the best of them arguably proved just as memorable in their own right. Personally, I adore them, but - hey! - suck 'em and see!
My absolute favourite is Duffer, it's surreal and strange keeps me wanting to rewatch it ever so often. Others I also love:
All the right noises
The pleasure girls
The party's over
Here we go round the mulberry bush
Deep end
Her private hell
Nightbirds
The black panther
Expresso bongo
Mr topaze
I start counting
Full circle
Cooking price-wise
And select shorts from the sharp shocks
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BFI Flipside ◎
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