This is an insane month for Blu-ray collectors! From sci-fi classics like The Mole People, Horror Express & The Giant Behemoth to Italian cannibal movies & thrillers, documentaries about “Giallos,” Mondo movies and Desert Fury, a film noir so laden with gay subtext you could scream.
The Mole People (Scream Factory) John Agar and Leave It To Beaver’s Hugh Beaumont play archeologists exploring a mountain area in Asian who discover a subterranean tunnel that leads them to an ancient underground civilization. The albino dwellers of this city don’t take kindly to the intruders. The monster mole people in the film- with giant bug-eyes and huge claw-like hands- are the slave workers who eventually rise up against their captors. This 1956 sci-fi film is great fun, with a howler of an introduction where a professor (Dr. Frank C. Baxter) gives the audience a lecture on the different layers of the earth. This gorgeous-looking Blu-ray also includes the hilarious Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode riffing during the film.
Desert Fury (Kino Lorber) Truly perverse 1947 desert-noir ripe with so much queer subtext you can’t believe your eyes. Lizabeth Scott plays Paula, the rebellious daughter of Fritzi (Mary Astor), who runs a Nevada gambling casino in a desert town. Tom, former rodeo stud, now cop (Burt Lancaster), has the hots for Paula, she only has eyes for Eddie Bendix (John Hodiak), a gambler and hood vacationing in town. Eddie has a male companion he has lived with for years and years- Johnny, played by Wendell Corey, and when Paula comes between the two men (and probable lovers), it makes for a lethal Freudian stew. Wait until you get to the story of how the two men first met: Eddie was broke and starving and Johnny picked him up in an automat on Times Square, fed him ham and eggs, and took him home. Directed by Lewis Allen (The Uninvited), this is such a weird film- everything is so overwrought and the music is constantly swelling- you feel you’ve dropped in the middle of a gay fever dream.
Summer Lovers (Kino Lorber) “Young, rich, nude and stupid,” was how John Waters aptly described this 1982 Randal Kleiser film about a young couple (Darryl Hannah & Peter Gallagher) vacationing in Greece who lose their inhibitions (and their clothes) and enter into threesome with a pretty woman they meet (Valerie Quennessen). What saves this romantic comedy is the stunning location of Santorini, where this was filmed, and the incredible beauty of the three leads.
Jungle Holocaust (Code Red) One of the early Italian cannibal films by Reggero Deodato (who was soon to make his sick masterwork- Cannibal Holocaust). Oil prospectors fly into a work site in the Philippines only to be attacked by a pack of hungry, blood-thirsty natives. Massimo Foschi plays Robert, who is captured, tied up and stripped naked by the cannibal tribe. (The full frontal male nudity is pretty outrageous). Robert makes contact with a pretty native (Me Me Lai) who helps him escape and flees with him through the perilous jungle. All the gory tropes that make these movies controversial are here, but this restoration (the most complete version ever) is a revelation. God forgive me, but I do love these films.
Halloween (Universal) I was wary of this 2018 re-imagining of the Halloween franchise by indie director David Gordon Green– which is a follow-up to the original John Carpenter film, and ignores any of the sequels. Boy, was I wrong. This is actually pretty brilliant, with a great performance by Jamie Lee Curtis, reprising her role as Laurie Strode. Laurie, who is so traumatized by what happened to her, lives a survivalist life out in the wilds, alienating her family, waiting for the worst to happen again. The institutionalized killer Michael Myers escapes on Halloween night and murderously cuts a path towards Laurie. This is meta without being too clever for its own good- it’s witty, often scary and just great.
Death In Venice (Criterion) Luchino Visconti’s masterful 1971 version of the Thomas Mann novel with a glorious Dirk Bogarde as an ailing composer vacationing in Venice who becomes obsessed with the beauty of a young male teenager- Tadzio (Bjorn Andresen). Talk about a slow burn, but I’ve always luxuriated in those lengthy scenes of Bogarde wandering the winding streets of that city spying on his young love, not to mention Visconti’s sweeping vistas of the bygone era of wealth and privilege at the hotel. That image of Bogarde in a deck chair, the shoe polish, he used on his hair to make himself look younger, dripping down his face in the sun will haunt me forever.
Cobra (Shout Factory) Ludicrous and fabulous Sylvester Stallone action film where he plays the all-so-cool L.A. detective- with a vintage car and always a match between his teeth, and fond of such cracks to perps- “You’re the disease and I’m the cure.” A secret group (who meet in warehouses and click axes together over their head) calling themselves the “New Order” are terrorizing the city, shooting people in supermarkets and attacking women in cars. A super-model (Brigitte Nielsen) is witness to a crime by the infamous night stalker killer (Brian Thompson), who is part of the gang, and Stallone has to protect her life. Brian Thompson may be one of my favorite villains- wildly musclebound, with that incredible face spitting out his crackpot philosophy in a showdown with Stallone at the end that is violently bonkers.
The Return Of The Vampire (Scream Factory) Set in London during World War II, German planes bomb a cemetery and cause a Romanian vampire Armand Tesla (Bela Lugosi) to come back to life. His assistant in the movie is a werewolf (Matt Willis), and he goes after a young woman (Nina Foch) he once bit when she was a child. This atmospheric horror tale was made by Columbia Studios and Universal Studios banned them from calling Bela “Dracula” even though this is clearly a sequel of sorts.
The Giant Behemoth (Warner Archive) Director Eugene Lourie’s 1959 reworking of The Beast From 20,00 Fathoms about a giant monster rising from the ocean to wreak havoc on London. A fisherman is discovered burned to death, and hundreds of irradiated fish float to shore in Cornwall. Scientists investigate and before long this atomic-caused giant prehistoric creature rises up to spread disaster and radiation. Willis O’Brien (who did the stop-motion animation on King Kong) and Pete Peterson did the special effects which are great.
All The Colors Of The Dark (Severin) Less an Italian “giallo” thriller and more of a Rosemary’s Baby chiller, this excellent Sergio Martino film stars the gorgeous Edwige Fenech as a woman traumatized by a car accident where she lost her expectant baby. She suffers surreal dreams which include a spooky man with bright blue contact lenses (Ivan Rassimov) and soon is menaced by him on the streets of London where she lives. Her handsome boyfriend (George Hilton) tries to talk her out of seeing a shrink, but a pretty neighbor befriends her and talks her into visiting her satanic cult she is a part of. A truly bizarre, strange film that is one of Martino’s best and criminally not as well-known as his other greats like Torso and The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh. This Blu-ray is spectacular- all the colors pop on this great disc.
Those Who Kill (MHz Networks) (DVD only) A wildly suspenseful 2011 Danish TV series about a female detective- Katrine (Laura Bach) who brings in a brilliant psychologist and profiler- Thomas (Jakob Cedergren) to hunt down serial killers. Lars Mikklesen plays Katrine’s crusty boss who is reluctant about Thomas’s input until he proves himself spectacularly. The first episodes about a killer who buries his victims alive is bone-chilling. Everything about this series rocks- the two leads are just phenomenal and the thrills are well-earned. If you are divesting yourself of cable you should sign up with MHz Networks monthly which has an astonishing array of international mysteries and other amazing series not available elsewhere.
Shame (Criterion) Ingmar Bergman’s shattering 1968 anti-war film starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann as a couple who move to an island to escape an armed conflict going on. But the war follows them to the island. There are images from the film that are burned into my brain. Sven Nykvist’s black & white cinematography is astonishing, and Bergman’s lack of musical score utilizing natural sounds, radio broadcasts and warfare is frighteningly effective. Criterion’s presentation is flawless. The disc includes a new interview with Liv Ullmann where she talks about her years married to Bergman on “Faro” Island where they filmed.
Possum (Dark Sky) (DVD) I’m not sure what to make of this creepy little film about Philip (Sean Harris), a weird, disturbed man who returns to his ramshackle home where his loathsome stepfather (Alun Armstrong) lives. He is carrying a leather valise which houses a disturbing spider-like puppet with a human head. A child-abduction looms in the background of this tale of Philip forever trying to destroy this spider puppet only to have to return time-and-time-again. Sean Harris is pretty intense in the lead, and the movie, directed by Matthew Holness, has truly unnerving sequences.
Valentine (Scream Factory) Alright, I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for stupid holiday-themed slasher films. In a prologue a young boy is unmercifully bullied at a school dance. 13 years later a cupid-mask-wearing killer stalks and slays his abusers. The maniac sends valentine’s cards first: “Roses are red, violets are blue, they’ll need dental records to identify you.” Starring Marley Shelton, David Boreanaz, and Denise Richards as the sexy vixen. There are a multitude of extras with interviews with many in the cast, a chat with the screenwriters, nearly two hours of behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes and other assorted treats.
All The Colors Of Giallo (Severin) An amazing 3 disc set including an excellent documentary of the Italian “giallo” thriller, a genre of film based on the popular yellow crime paperbacks. The documentary by Federico Caddeo examines the genesis of the films- from the German “krimi” movies of the 1960s (one disc is a collection of trailers from those films), to directors like Mario Bava and especially Dario Argento whose The Bird With The Crystal Plumage started an avalanche of these kind of sexy mysteries featuring black-gloved, masked killers. Other directors like Lucio Fulci, Sergio Martino, Luciano Ercoli, Aldo Lado and Umberto Lenzi are included, many of their films I wrote about here. There are also 4 hours of “giallo” trailers and a great soundtrack CD included.
Jack The Ripper (Severin) A 1959 British thriller based on the famed Whitechapel murders, this black & white film was bought by famed producer Joseph E. Levine, given a new score and a fabulous color insert at the end when Jack the Ripper is ironically killed. This includes both versions of the film and is great fun. I remember having the soundtrack album as a kid but had no idea that there was an alternate score by Stanley Black. This Blu-ray includes sexy European nudie inserts and commentary with the cinematographer and screenplay author Jimmy Sangster.
Suburbia (Shout Select) Penelope Spheeris, who made of the finest documentaries about the punk rock scene- The Decline Of Western Civilization, directed this 1983 film about a bunch of teenage runaways who move into abandoned suburban tract houses and start their own family. A vigilante group “Citizens Against Crime” rise up to take the law into their own hand and get rid of the misfits. “Flea” of the Red Hot Chili Peppers plays one of the punks in this memorable film.
Mondo Freudo & Mondo Bizarro (Severin) Because of the surprise success of the shockumentary Mondo Cane, many imitations followed. Two of the wackiest were done by Bob Cresse & Lee Frost (Love Camp 7 and The Scavengers). Mondo Bizarro uses hidden cameras to show us women changing in a lingerie store, voodoo rites in Nassau, male prostitutes and slave trading in the Middle East (actually California’s Bronson Canyon). Mondo Freudo uses infra-red cameras to spy on teenagers making it on the beach at night, topless Watusi bars, S & M clubs, Puerto Rican Satanists and lady mud wrestling. What more could you want from movies?
Horror Express (Arrow) Set in 1906, Christopher Lee plays an anthropologist traveling on the Trans-Siberian Express with a crate carrying a frozen primitive creature (actually an alien) who thaws and begins killing people on the train, sucking out their brains and leaving them white-eyed zombies. Peter Cushing plays a doctor aboard the train and Telly Savalas a Russian solider in this terrific sci-fi thriller directed by Eugenio Martin. This is a fresh scan of the negative (it looks just incredible) with tons of extras.
The Vengeance Of She (Shout Factory) “Olinka Berova– remember the name- you’ll never forget the woman,” screamed the trailer for this follow up to She starring Ursula Andress. The attractive Czech model plays Carol, the reincarnation of Ayesha, queen of the lost city of Kuma. She is whisked off to the hidden desert kingdom in order to walk through the eternal fire and take her place on the throne in this adequate Hammer Studios sequel, all vaguely based on the H. Rider Haggard fantasy classic.
Audition (Arrow) Directed by Takashi Miike, this 1999 shocker starts out slowly about a middle-aged widower (Ryo Ishibashi) who is encouraged by his teenage son to find a new wife. With the help of a film producer friend they advertise for actresses for a nonexistent movie so he can check out the prospects. When he meets the shy beautiful Asami (Eihi Shiina) he is immediately smitten. But what’s with that twitching, tied-up burlap sack in her apartment? The last twenty minutes are so horrifying, hair-raising and outrageous you won’t believe what you’re watching. Don’t miss this demented gem now in a new, restored Blu-ray.