You cannot beat a month in which you can purchase digitally restored Blu-rays of movies by film maverick Ida Lupino, not to mention other gems like Criterion’s glorious version of John Waters’ Polyester, Warner Archive’s new editions of Jezebel starring Bette Davis & Nicolas Roeg’s wickedly fun The Witches plus Abel Ferrara’s criminally unseen vision of Pasolini’s last days. And I have to admit my mouth still waters at the continuing Hammer Films restorations from Shout! Factory plus their releasing sleaze greats like Circus Of Horrors.
Ida Lupino Filmmaker Collection (Kino Lorber) Ida Lupino (1918-1995) was as distinctive behind the camera as she was in front of it. Onscreen, she played a score of hard, troubled, complex women. She was also a pioneer, challenging the studio system in 1949 by creating her own production company, named Emerald Pictures after her mother. She directed low-budget films that tackled such social issues as illegitimacy, bigamy and rape. Martin Scorsese calls her work “resilient, with a remarkable empathy for the fragile and the heartbroken.” Thanks to Kino Lorber this is a wonderful Blu-ray collection of some of the key films of this period including Not Wanted (1949) about an unwed mother (Sally Forrest), The Bigamist (1953), a compassionate study about a man (Edmond O’Brien) who juggles two families, Never Fear (1949) where a young dancer (Sally Forrest) is struck down by polio, and the nerve-shredding The Hitch-Hiker (1953) about two buddies (Edmond O’Brien and Frank Lovejoy) on their way to Mexico for a fishing trip unwisely stop to help a man on the side of the road. He turns out to be a crazed killer (Perry Mason’s- William Talman) who takes them hostage. This set is a must for film lovers.
The Witches (Warner Archive) A delicious, incredibly enjoyable Nicolas Roeg film, based on a Roald Dahl book, about a young orphaned boy traveling with his loving Norwegian grandmother (filmmaker Mai Zetterling) who end up at a hotel chuck full of witches having a top-secret convention. The head witch (sublime Anjelica Huston) plots to transform all the children of the world into mice using a secret serum. I’d forgotten how wonderful this film is, and that Ab Fab’s “Bubble” (Jane Horrocks) played Huston’s harried assistant, and Brenda Blethyn played the hysterical mother of an overweight boy transformed into a mouse. Watching the lustrous Warner Archive Blu-ray is a true delight.
The Homecoming (Kino Lorber) Perhaps one of my favorite of Harold Pinter’s plays, this claustrophobic sardonic drama is brought impeccably to life by director Peter Hall as part of the American Film Theater series. A professor (Michael Jayston) warily introduces his new wife (astonishing Vivien Merchant) to his family, who live in a squalid flat in London. Talk about in-laws! There’s his hateful father (Paul Rogers), his brother Sam- Cyril Cusack, a fastidious chauffeur, and the two sons- Ian Holm plays the smalltime pimp Lenny and Terence Rigby is the thick-headed boxer Joey. With Pinter’s razor-sharp, deadpan dialogue with perverse pauses, this plays out with fiendish glee right up to the memorably twisted ending.
Pasolini (Kino Lorber) Abel Ferrara’s savagely beautiful portrait of the last days of the great master of Italian cinema, Pier Paolo Pasolini (uncannily played by Willem Dafoe). The film charts the day-to-day life of Pasolini at home with his family, just finished with the controversial and scandalous final film Salo, or the 120 Days Of Sodom. His brutal murder is horrifyingly filmed on the exact spot where he actually died. A tender and potent film.
Who Saw Her Die? (Arrow) Moody 1972 thriller by Aldo Lado, set in Venice, about a sculptor (George Lazenby) and his wife (Anita Strindberg) searching for the black-veiled psychopath who killed their daughter (Nicoletta Elmi). This stylish “Giallo” wasn’t released in the States and popped up on DVD in 2002. But this impeccable Arrow release is a 2K restoration from the film’s negative and has optional English or Italian audio choices. Definitely preceding other Venice-based chillers like Don’t Look Now, the Blu-ray includes great commentary, new interviews with director Lado and a wonderful extra about memorable child-actress Nicoletta Elmi (Deep Red, A Bay Of Blood, Flesh For Frankenstein).
Polyester (Criterion) Criterion has done another superb job with a John Waters film. This hilarious 1981 Sirk-ian satire about troubled housewife with a heightened sense of smell- Francine Fishpaw (Divine) who has to deal with a philandering husband (David Samson) who runs a porn theater, a delinquent daughter Lulu (Mary Garlington), a foot-stomper drug-addled son (Ken King) and a hateful mother (Joni Ruth White). Her only friend is her former maid (Edith Massey) who inherited a fortune and wants to become a debutante. At the site of a car accident she meets the man of her dreams- Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter). A “Scratch-and-Sniff” card that were handed out in theaters is included in this juicy Blu-ray with scores of extras- including Waters’ unforgettable “No Smoking” commercial for theaters and some riotous deleted scenes.
Hellraiser (Arrow) Clive Barker’s visceral horror classic (and directorial debut) about a small ornate puzzle box that opens a door into a dimension inhabited by nightmarish demons. The creature with nails hammered into his face (Doug Bradley) nicknamed “Pinhead” by fans, became a horror icon. Clive Barker admits, “this is a very unforgiving movie,” and revealed that the cube was inspired by Eastern puzzle boxes that his grandfather, a ship’s cook, brought to him as a child. This impressive-looking Blu-ray from Arrow is pretty definitive.
Jezebel (Warner Archive) In a way this is Bette Davis’ revenge for not getting the lead in Gone With The Wind. This 1938 classic was brilliantly directed by William Wyler (one of the directors Davis truly admired) and set in the antebellum era about a headstrong Southern belle who flaunts convention by wearing a red dress to a ball, which backfires big time, irrevocably alienating her from her date (Henry Fonda). Years later Davis redeems herself during an outbreak of yellow fever and reunites selflessly with her lost love. Bette Davis received her second Oscar for this valiant performance, which must have been sweet revenge for not having snagged the role of “Scarlett O’Hara.”
Vampires (Shout! Factory) I love director John Carpenter, and these new-improved Blu-rays of his later films help fortify their strengths (and some of their weaknesses). In this 1998 film, James Woods plays Jack Crow, a vampire slayer funded by the Catholic church, who roams the southwest with a high-tech crew rooting out nests of the undead and dragging them into sunlight to burst into flames. But a powerful vampire- Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith) wastes his posse and Crow races to stop him from acquiring a legendary black cross that will enable him to walk in the daylight. Daniel Baldwin plays Crow’s loyal friend, and a fearless Sheryl Lee plays a hooker bitten by Valek, whose telepathic connection with the fearsome vampire is used to defeat him. Almost obnoxiously macho, this movie is still is a lot of fun, and the visuals (they filmed in New Mexico) are extraordinary. The always wonderful Tim Guinee is particularly terrific as the novice priest-turned-slayer and has great stories of the making this film included among the copious extras.
Darlin’ (Dark Sky Films) Ferocious follow-up to The Woman & Offspring (which you actually don’t need to have seen to appreciate this film). In a nutshell, the amazing Pollyanna McIntosh plays the Woman, the surviving member of a cannibalistic tribe who ended up chained in a root cellar by a sick, abusive husband and father. She escaped at the end of The Woman and fled into the forest with the young daughter “Darlin’” and they’ve been living wild ever since. At the beginning of this movie the Woman drops a teenage “Darlin’ (Lauryn Canny) off at a hospital and the only one who can calm this feral wild-child is a gay male nurse- Tony (Cooper Andrews). Darlin’ is then sent to St. Philomena’s Group Home For Girls, where a creepy Catholic Bishop (Bryan Batt) attempts to rehabilitate the snarling, biting child and teach her the word of the Lord. But the Woman is scarily headed their way. Sardonically well-directed by Pollyanna McIntosh (who again plays the Woman), the film builds with intensity to a bloody showdown at a Holy Communion that is savagely liberating.
A Bucket Of Blood (Olive Signature) A bumbling busboy (Dick Miller), working in a beatnik coffeehouse, accidentally becomes an acclaimed artist when he coats a cat he accidentally killed in plaster. But to feed his art he has to keep killing. (To be honest, most of the murders are ludicrously accidental). One of Roger Corman’s early dark comedies (along with Little Shop Of Horrors) with a skid-row budget and his wonderful stable of actors like Ed Nelson, the divine Barboura Morris, Bruno Ve Sota etc. Just so much fun, this has been kicking around in many sub-par editions for years because of copyright issues. This is mastered from a 4K scan and comes with scads of extras. What the hell are you waiting for?
Two Evil Eyes (Blue Underground) Dazzling 3-disc 4k restoration of this ambitious experiment of having horror masters- George Romero and Dario Argento– adapt two Edgar Allan Poe stories. Romero’s choice is The Facts In The Case Of Dr. Valdemar and stars Adrianne Barbeau as the murderous wife of a wealthy man who uses her doctor/lover to hypnotize her ailing spouse into a catatonic death-like state. But he rises for revenge. The best is Argento’s demented version of The Black Cat starring Harvey Keitel as a crime scene photographer who revels in photos of death and darkness. He slides into madness, even killing his girlfriend, and her vengeful black cat torments him. Argento really infuses this material with unnerving violence and Keitel is just incredible.
Scars Of Dracula (Shout! Factory) Hammer Films returns to its gothic roots with this fifth Dracula film, this one directed by Roy Ward Baker. Christopher Lee slips back into the cape after being reconstituted by a blood-dripping bat. When a village girl is found drained of blood the townspeople storm the castle and return to their church only to find all their wives and family members slaughtered. A young man, and his buxom girlfriend (Jenny Hanley), arrives in town to rescue his brother, who is trapped in Dracula’s castle. Obviously made with a tighter budget, I still think this one works great. The extras here are super- especially Jenny Hanley’s amusing recollections about her uncontrollable giggles when they filmed a fake bat biting at her bosom (which infuriated the deadly serious Christopher Lee).
Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb (Shout! Factory) This Hammer horror is based on Bram Stoker’s The Jewel Of The Seven Stars. An archeologist (Andrew Keir) returns to London with the perfectly preserved mummy of evil Queen Tara (Valerie Leon). Years later he gives the Queen’s ring to his daughter Margaret (also Leon), who becomes infected with the spirit of the fiendish queen. A lot of bad “juju” was attributed to this film- Peter Cushing, who had originally signed on for the lead, had to bow out when his wife passed away and director Seth Holt died during the shoot (Michael Carreras finished the film). But I’ve always championed it, and it looks just spectacular on Blu-ray.
Circus Of Horrors (Shout! Factory) An outrageous mix of sex, sadism and sleaze- and from 1960, too! Anton Diffring plays a plastic surgeon on the run (his own face scarred and replaced after a car accident). He ends up heading a circus populated by criminals and ex-prostitutes, whose faces he has altered. When any performer tries to leave, they are met with a hideous “accidental” death in the ring. This ill-fated circus really starts to see profits from bloodthirsty crowds anticipating disasters. If you saw this as a kid (and I did) you were permanently fucked-up.
Fear No Evil (Shout! Factory) Andrew (Stefan Arngrim) may be a straight-A student but he’s also the Antichrist in this 1980 low budget oddity shot in Rochester, New York and directed by Frank LaLoggia (who was 23 at the time he made the film). Andrew ravishes a pretty classmate in her dreams, forces a school hood to kiss him on the lips while naked in the locker room shower, and his eyes glow yellow when he uses his evil powers to cause a coach to kill another student (and romantic rival) with a dodgeball. There’s a big showdown between two female archangels (in human form) in a crumbling castle in this weird, interesting little horror film.
John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum (Lions Gate) God, I love these films. Keanu Reeves is just perfection as the lean, mean, fighting machine John Wick, and in this exhaustingly action-packed entry he is “excommunicado” and there is a price on his head (for flaunting the rules of his hit-man organization). Every killer on earth comes after him. Scene after scene boggles the mind. The library fight, the snarling dog fight, etc. Wick finds respite with an old mentor (Anjelica Huston) and a reluctant friend from the past (Halle Berry). Director Chad Stahelski barely lets the audience catch a breath in this deranged bullet ballet.