McQueen****

(Cert 15, 111 mins, available from October 22 on DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

BORN and raised in the London borough of Stratford, Lee Alexander McQueen was a tortured genius of working-class origins who challenged the fashion establishment with his catwalk shows influenced by death, depravity and violence.

He was a defiantly original yet heartbreakingly fragile voice in a rarefied world that didn't always understand or appreciate his bold ambitions.

The press labelled him a misogynist for his 1995 Highland Rape collection, which draped torn Scottish tartans over bruised models, who staggered down the runway as if they had just been assaulted backstage.

Mesmerising documentary McQueen charts the rise of the openly gay trailblazer from his awkward teenage years, through an enduring friendship with mentor Isabella Blow and a controversial appointment as lead designer of Parisian fashion house Givenchy.

Archive footage and recollections from mentors - McQueen listened obsessively to Sinead O'Connor, confides Red Or Dead's John McKitterick - are intermingled with the designer's personal testimony about his craft and a penchant for shocking his audience.

Key collections and catwalk shows are meticulously dissected, including the 1999 ready-to-wear collection which culminated in model Shalom Harlow posing on a revolving wooden platform as two robot arms sprayed her strapless white dress with streaks of yellow, green and black paint.

"You don't move forward if you play safe," McQueen professes.

His drug-fuelled battles with personal demons are illustrated in tearful confessions from close collaborators although there is a curious absence on-screen of ex-husband George Forsyth.

Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui's artfully staged biography is a beautifully tailored tribute to a man who irrevocably changed the trajectory of British fashion.

Ocean's 8***

(Cert 12, 109 mins, available from October 22 on DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £26.99)

DANNY OCEAN'S younger sister Debbie (Sandra Bullock) emerges from a five-year stint at Nichols Women's Prison with 45 dollars in her pocket and revenge on her mind.

Her target is former lover Claude Becker (Richard Armitage), an art gallery owner who set her up for fraud.

Debbie's cunning plan is to frame Becker for the theft of "blingy Liz Taylor jewels" worth 150 million US dollars, which are set in a necklace that self-absorbed actress Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) is due to wear to the annual Met Gala fundraiser.

To defy the Metropolitan Museum of Art's supposedly impenetrable security system, Debbie assembles a crack crew from the wrong side of the law including best friend Lou (Cate Blanchett), fence Tammy (Sarah Paulson), jeweller Amita (Mindy Kaling), pickpocket Constance (Awkwafina), hacker Nine Ball (Rihanna) and Irish fashion designer Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter).

The con is on.

Ocean's 8 is a convoluted and effervescent caper which subtly acknowledges seismic shifts in gender politics.

Bullock doesn't need to flex her comedic muscles, allowing Bonham Carter's eccentricity and Hathaway's diva to pickpocket big laughs alongside James Corden as a wily insurance fraud investigator.

A loosely coiled plot, co-written by Olivia Milch, requires similar suspensions of disbelief to previous chapters but there's a loopy logic to each narrative twist.

Our enjoyment stems from watching the pieces of an elaborate puzzle fall into place, often with seconds to spare.

Gary Ross's stylish picture goes down smoothly and sweetly as a freshly shaken martini, set to a groovy score composed by Daniel Pemberton.

Crime pays handsomely.

The Little Vampire**

(Cert U, 82 mins, Signature Entertainment, Animation/Adventure/Drama/Comedy/Romance, available from October 15 on Amazon Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store, also available from October 15 on DVD £14.99)

VAMPIRE covens flock to Transylvanian catacombs to celebrate the coming of age of reluctant birthday boy Rudolph Sackville-Bagg (voiced by Rasmus Hardiker).

"I'll be 13... for the 300th time!" he despairs to his father Frederick (Tim Pigott-Smith), mother Freda (Alice Krige), older brother Gregory (Hardiker again) and sister Anna (Phoebe Givron-Taylor).

The festivities are interrupted by vampire hunter Rookery (Jim Carter) and his apprentice Maney (Joseph Kloska).

They trap the bloodsuckers in the catacombs but Rudolph and most of his clan escape.

Rookery and Maney give chase and Rudolph seeks refuge in a guesthouse in the Black Forest, where he meets 13-year-old vampire fanatic Tony Thompson (Amy Saville), who is on a "creepy castle tour" with his parents (Kevin Otto, Julia Rhodes).

The adolescent mortal charms Rudolph and becomes a trusted ally in the battle against Rookery.

The Little Vampire is a lacklustre computer-animated adaptation of the children's book series penned by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg, which is drained of energy and big laughs.

Richard Claus and Karsten Kiilerich's film doesn't quite hammer a stake through the heart of beloved source material... but it comes close.

Their version desiccates a familiar yarn of friendship and acceptance, bolted together with outlandish action sequences and a sense of humour unabashedly aimed at younger viewers.

Core messages of tolerance and co-operation are draped over every frame like bouquets of garlic to ward off evil spirits.

The quality of the animation is poor and regional stereotypes are perpetuated with glee.

Matthew Marsh and Miriam Margolyes adopt exaggerated German accents as guesthouse owners who might have stumbled out of the 1980s sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!.

Damon Smith