This month there are Blu-ray releases of movies I never ever expected to have, or own, and especially in such stellar, digitally remastered condition. I wake up in the middle of the night and shake my head thinking that the Blu-rays of Dear Dead Delilah and Giallo In Venice are in the other room. And Queen Of Outer Space, Good Times & The Horror Of Party Beach– on Blu-ray? Too sweet.
Dear Dead Delilah (Vinegar Syndrome) A real rarity, and only before available on a blurry VHS. This is a Southern-gothic horror film about a series of murders set around an antiebellum mansion run by a dying, wheel-chair-bound, matriarch- (Agnes Moorehead), who rules the purse strings with an iron fist. The house is chock-full dysfunctional family members not to mention a new servant- Luddy (Patricia Carmichael), recently released from prison for axing her mother to death. What could possibly go wrong? The only film directed by John Farris (who wrote The Fury), and a lot better than I remembered. This looks incredible on Blu-ray, and has an enjoyable interview with the director.
Giallo In Venice (Scorpion) One of the most notorious, impossible-to-find, Italian thriller about a series of grisly killings in Venice. A bushy-haired, mustached detective, annoyingly always eating hard-boiled eggs, is convinced it’s a sex crime while others think it’s about drugs. Directed by Mario Landi, this 1979 shocker still packs a punch- the sleaze-meter is off the charts and the killings are outrageously gruesome. The film looks great on Blu-ray and has intelligent commentary by author Troy Howarth.
Village Of The Damned (Warner Archive) Great 1960 sci-fi movie where a small village in England is cut off from the world and everyone there falls into a deep sleep for several hours. Only later do they realized that many of the town’s women are pregnant and they give birth to blonde-haired children with “strange eyes.” Based on John Wyndham’s The Midwich Cuckoos the later scenes with the children laser-staring at people who wish them harm is extraordinarily effective and creepy. Starring George Sanders and Barbara Shelly, it looks fabulous on Blu-ray.
The Cyclops (Warner Archive) I have a soft-spot for director Bert. I. Gordon (Attack Of The Puppet People, The Spider) and especially this 1957 film starring Gloria Talbott who travels by plane (with three others) to a remote part of Mexico where her fiancé disappeared 3 years ago. When they arrive, they discover giant lizards, snakes, spiders and her ex, who has transformed (from the radioactive soil) into a hideous one-eyed 25-foot tall mutant. Lon Chaney Jr. plays a hot-headed passenger who thinks the land is rich with Uranium and now you can really see the sweat pouring down his face clearly with this glorious-looking Blu-ray.
Bound (Olive Signature Collection) Sexy, stylish 1996 neo-noir from the Wachowskis with a sublime performance by Gina Gershon as a tough, but tender, ex-con who hooks up with a mobster’s (wonderful Joe Pantoliano) hot girlfriend (superb Jennifer Tilly) and together they cook up a plan to rob the mob of $2,000,000 and ride off into the sunset. Things do not go as planned. The script, camerawork, music and performances all work beautifully. Watching this gorgeous new transfer (with rated and unrated cuts of the films) and marvelous extras, made me remember all over again how great this film is.
Good Times (Kino Lorber Studio Classics) A Sonny and Cher film directed by William Friedkin utilizing the skit strengths of their popular TV show. The movie is vaguely about Sonny (Bono) & Cher agreeing to make a film but finding the script so awful they have 10 days to whip it into shape. With lots of whacky daydreams of what the movie could be. I have always dreamed of owning this stinker- but on Blu-ray?????? And a 4k scan from the original camera negative? It’s too good to imagine.
The Baby (Arrow) A twisted 1973 gem about a man-hating mama (Ruth Roman) who keeps her mentally-challenged teenage son in diapers and in a playpen. A social worker (Anjanette Comer) is determined to free Baby from Mom and her two psycho daughters (Marianna Hill & Susanne Zenor), even resorting to murder to do so. This film, directed by Ted Post, straddles the bad-taste fence and then joyously leaps off. It also has one of the best, surprisingly warped ending of any movie I’ve ever seen.
The REC Collection (Shout Factory) The original REC (2007) was a genuinely frightening Spanish film about a television reporter (Manuela Velasco) assigned to follow around a group of firemen/emergency responders. They are called to an apartment building and find themselves locked and quarantined inside the building by SWAT teams while a fast-acting virus turns one after another into a fearsome killer. Directed by Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza, the whole Catholic-tinged horror element at the end is chillingly effective. The terror returns in REC 2 (2009), which picks up right after the end of the first film and involves a group of teens with a video camera who sneak into the building with perilous results. The sequel wisely expands the premise and the end is outlandishly creepy. REC 3: Genesis (2012) is director Paco Plaza’s rollicking, blood-spurting follow-up which takes place at a nearby wedding where the infection from the building spreads and turns the wedding guests into frothing killers. It’s outrageous as it is infectiously entertaining. The final entry was REC 4: Apocalypse (2014) which follows the original reporter on a sea voyage alongside scientists and military (plus the supposedly contained virus) only to have all hell break loose at sea. It’s a fitting end to a genuinely terrifying series.
My Man Godfrey (Criterion) A truly perfect comedy by Gregory La Cava with Carole Lombard (glorious) as a spoiled heiress who hires a homeless man (William Powell) as the family butler little knowing he’s not who she thinks he is. With the wonderful Eugene Pallette as the gruff father, Alice Brady as the flighty wife, and Gail Patrick as Lombard’s tart-tongued sister, it’s a sublime concoction of laughs and romance, with also a stinging social commentary. It’s thrilling to have Criterion give this their expert Blu-ray upgrade, with a high grade digital restoration and scads of extras.
The Horror Of Party Beach (Severin) This 1972 classic beach-party movie filmed in Connecticut is about sea creatures caused by nuclear waste. The monsters look like Black Lagoon-wannabes but with rows of hot dogs sticking out of their mouths. The Del-Aires perform The Zombie Stomp while carefree teens become food for the monsters. This Severin Blu-ray release is flawless and so much fun!
Queen Of Outer Space (Warner Archive) “I hate that kveen!” says Zsa Zsa Gabor in this 1958 camp classic about astronauts (including Eric Fleming, famous for TVs Rawhide) who land on a planet run by an evil, face-scarred, man-hating queen (Laurie Mitchell). This color CinemaScope howler was directed by Edward Bernds (The Three Stooges Meets Hercules) with left-over sets from Forbidden Planet and a giant spider from World Without End. Another hard-to-imagine-on-Blu-ray gem from Warner Archive.
Modus: Season 2 (Kino Lorber) This series is based on the wonderful Nordic Noir books by Norwegian author Anne Holt and stars a terrific actress- Melinda Kinnaman (the half-sister of actor Joel Kinnaman), as criminal psychologist and profiler Inger Johanne Vik. She is divorced, and has an autistic daughter who witnessed a murder in the first series, but scarily was unable to verbalize it to her mom. This season is about a female American President (Kim Cattrall) making a visit to Sweden who is kidnapped. Greg Wise is particularly odious as the President’s Senior Advisor who has a dark past with Inger. Excellent show.
Anthropophagous (Severin) Director Joe D’Amato’s great 1980 Italian shocker about a group of tourists aboard a sailboat who unfortunately stop at an island, seemingly uninhabited, only to be stalked by a mutant cannibal killer. Starring Tisa Farrow (Mia’s sister) as one of the unwary travelers, and George Eastman as the beast-man, it has some truly shocking sequences- including a heavily censored birth scene, and a finale that is jaw-dropping. Severin gives this gore classic a fully uncut, terrific digital upgrade from a 2K scan of the original negative.
Ghost Stories (Shout Factory) A professor (Andy Nyman) who debunks supernatural events and psychics on television is given three files to examine. Three cases of hauntings that are difficult to disprove. The first is about a former night-watchman of an abandoned mental hospital. The second a high-strung young man who recounts a terrifying night on a lonely country road when his car broke down. The third stars Martin Freeman (Sherlock) as a wealthy banker awaiting his child’s birth who experiences ghostly visions. Directors Jeffrey Dyson and Andy Nyman adapted this from their successful play and, while one wishes the stories were scarier, it does have a wonderfully warped ending.
Spiral: Season 6 (MHz Networks) (on DVD) It’s here! The new season of the best TV series since The Wire. This brilliant French show is about a group of hard-boiled detectives, prosecutors, and judges (good and bad). Each season starts with a crime and this one begins with a dismembered torso found in the trash which turns out to be a cop. Police detective Laure Berthaud (played brilliantly by Caroline Proust) throws herself into the case even though she has just given birth to a premature baby which is still in hospital, holding perilously on by a thread. A powerful, electrifying series. It just doesn’t get any better than this.