For those who scoff at collecting home media, having a library in these “self-isolation” times is a great joy. And this month there are so many crackpot goodies being released. From two loony Elizabeth Taylor vehicles- Reflections In A Golden Eye and Secret Ceremony; a restored version of Hammer Studio’s masterpiece Curse Of the Werewolf; Marlene Dietrich in the western comedy Destry Rides Again, slyly singing about what “the boys in the back room are having.”
Reflection In A Golden Eye (Warner Archive) A fascinating experiment by director John Huston to film Carson McCullers’ perverse novella, set around an army base in the deep south. Marlon Brando plays the closeted Major Penderton, who is married to the shrill, emasculating Leonora (Elizabeth Taylor). She is secretly having an affair with her neighbor- Col. Langdon (Brian Keith). Langdon lives with his emotionally fragile wife (Julie Harris), who is devoted to her fey houseboy Anecleto (Zorro David). Major Penderton desires and follows a handsome soldier (Robert Foster), who he spies riding naked on horseback. But what Penderton doesn’t know is that the soldier slips unseen into his house at night to watches Leonara sleeping. This hotbed of twisted passions is probably better on paper, but Huston has corralled an amazing cast. He also filmed through a gold lens which has a disorienting quality. This Blu-ray includes both the gold-tinted and regular color feature the studio forced Huston to release after early audiences complained. I saw this the first week it opened in a practically empty theater (in the “golden” version) and was utterly fascinated by it. Brando’s performance is absolutely phenomenal.
Secret Ceremony (Kino) Director Joseph Losey’s loony 1968 film set in London about a prostitute- Leonora (Elizabeth Taylor), mourning the drowning death of her daughter. She encounters a strange young woman with long black hair named Cenci (Mia Farrow) who insists Leonara is her own long-lost mother and drags her back to live with her at her gloomy mansion. Farrow is so good at playing those ethereal, waif-like oddballs. Both women enter into a strange, psychically unhealthy relationship. Robert Mitchum later shows up as Cenci’s menacing stepfather (who might share an incestuous bond with the girl). It’s all pretty preposterous and pretentious, but filmed with Losey’s chilly, austere, elegance. I adore this film. Yes, it’s ludicrous, but also fabulous too.
Supernatural (Kino) Sensational 2K master of a fascinating 1933 chiller about a notorious female strangler Ruth Rogan who is executed by the courts and whose spirit invades the body of a wealthy socialite (Carole Lombard), seeking revenge against the sleazy spiritualist (Alan Dinehart) who put her on death row. Lombard’s transformation scenes are subtle but incredibly effective, and handsome Randolph Scott plays her loyal boyfriend in this terrific little gem.
Midsomer Murders Series 21 (Acorn) This British detective series has been going strong since 1997, based on author Caroline Grahame Inspector Barnaby mysteries, all set in cozy but deadly English country villages. The latest box set has Barnaby’s cousin DCI John Barnaby (delightful Neil Dudgeon) still lead investigator and his nattily-dressed DS Jamie Winters (criminally cute Nick Hendrix) assisting. The mysteries are still macabre fun. From deadly feuds associated with participants of a dance contest; a man gunned down during a doll house exhibition; a honey empire and a series of strange, bee-hive-related deaths; and two festivals occurring in one village at the same time that causes a killer to surface- the search for a legendary giant fish, and a marathon obstacle course race. It just gets better.
An Ideal Place To Kill (Mondo Macabro) Ray Lovelock and Ornella Muti play a hippie couple on the run from the law for selling pornography. They break into the villa of a wealthy woman (Irene Papas) and she unwisely lets them stay for a while. It all evolves into a murderous plot, but against who? This clever Italian thriller is directed by Umberto Lenzi, who was the master of these kind of “giallo” films. This at first seems like a remake of his own film- Orgasmo (aka Paranoia) starring Carroll Baker, who also played a wealthy woman besieged by an evil young couple. But this film (also known as Oasis Of Fear) is even more deliciously twisted.
Murder He Says (Kino) Crackling, little-known, 1945 black comedy about a pollster (Fred MacMurray) who stumbles upon the ramshackle home of a family of hillbilly killers. Ma Kettle herself (Marjorie Main) plays the macabre matriarch, constantly cracking a bullwhip at her half-wit twin sons. Directed by George Marshall, this madcap murderous family could be a precursor to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre clan. The comedy is ramped up high with plenty of pratfalls and is enjoyably breezy. There’s a search for some hidden stolen loot by an escaped prisoner (Helen Walker) and poisons that cause people (and dogs) to glow in the dark. Great fun, this 2K restoration looks spectacular on Blu-ray.
The Beast And The Magic Sword (Mondo Macabro) Paul Naschy was known for playing the tormented werewolf Waldemar Daninsky, and this film set in the 16th Century has Daninsky traveling to Japan (along with the blind niece of a Jewish alchemist) to meet a powerful sorcerer and remove the witch’s curse that was responsible for his shapeshifting affliction. Unfortunately, it is during full moon and night after night local soldiers are being attacked and killed. Will the Japanese sage cure him or kill him? There is also a sorceress who promises to cure Waldemar (and return sight to the niece), but what is her real agenda? This weird mix of ninjas and night beasts is one of the hardest Naschy films to track down, and it looks sensational on Blu-ray. There is an introduction by Paul Naschy and an appreciation of him by author Gavin Baddeley (Frightfest Guide To Werewolf Movies).
Sweet Bird Of Youth (Warner Archive) Based on the Tennessee Williams play, director Richard Brooks uses many from the original Broadway cast including handsome Paul Newman as Chance Wayne, warily returning to his hometown accompanying the drugged and drunken, faded film star, Alexandra Del Lago (Geraldine Page). Old wounds are opened when Chance sees ex-girlfriend Heavenly (Shirley Knight), and he is in fear of deadly repercussions from her fearsome politician dad “Boss’ Finley (Ed Begley). This is definitely a castrated version of the play, which originally ended on a harrowing note. But these performances are so spectacular it’s worth watching. Geraldine Page is truly one of the greatest of actresses, and her full-throttled performance as Alexandra is a joy to behold.
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (Shout! Factory) An attempt by Hammer Studios to add a swashbuckling hero to their horror. Captain Kronos (Horst Janson), is a former swordsman of the King’s Imperial Guard, who is called to an English village to investigate a series of grisly murders of young women, not only sucked dry of blood- but also left hideously aged. Can he defeat this new kind of vampire with his trusty blade, fashioned from a graveyard cross? Directed by Brian Clemens (well-loved producer and writer of The Avengers series), and he does the audio commentary along with actress Caroline Munro on this wildly enjoyable, wonderful-looking Blu-ray.
Destry Rides Again (Criterion) A terrific 1939 western, directed by George Marshall and starring James Stewart as Tom, the mild-mannered son of a Sherriff father in the crime-ridden frontier town of Bottleneck, which is ruled by an unscrupulous saloon owner Kent (Brian Donlevy). When his father is gunned down, Tom is made sheriff, figuring him to be an ineffectual tool, but he turns the tables on everyone. Especially with the affections of Kent’s girlfriend, saloon singer Frenchy (Marlene Dietrich). One doesn’t have to go far in connecting Dietrich’s character in this film to Madeline Kahn’s “Lili Von Shtupp” in Blazing Saddles. This is a 4K restoration and looks glorious.
The Lost Continent (Shout! Factory) The first time I ever saw this bizarre, whacked-out 1968 Hammer film I was so stoned I thought I had lost my mind. Based on a Dennis Wheatley novel it’s set on an old freighter, with a weird assortment of characters who get stranded in a deadly swamp in the Sargasso Sea. The frightened travels encounter monsters, man-eating seaweed, and frightful pirates. This crackpot adventure flick comes from 2K-scanned elements from the 20th Century Fox vault and includes both the theatrical and extended cut of the film. Trust me, it’s weirder and more wonderful than you can imagine.
The Golem (Kino) This restoration is a cause for rejoicing. A 1915 German silent movie directed by Paul Wegener & Carl Boese about a Rabbi in 16th Century Prague, who uses the occult, a religious amulet and a secret word to bring to life a giant clay figure in order to protect his Jewish village. Unfortunately, the creature goes on a rampage, dragging the Rabbi’s daughter along behind it by the hair. No original copy of The Golem survives. This was assembled from two original negatives from around the globe. In America, the film was shortened considerably (the US release is also included) but this restores the film as authentically as possible. The color tinting was based on an Italian print from the Fonazione Cineteca Italiana. Now this magnificent film is crystal clear and visually stunning. Just the atmospheric art direction alone is revelatory.
Sixteen Candles (Arrow) The very best of director John Hughes’ coming-of-age teen comedies, starring a luminous Molly Ringwald as Samantha, a high-school senior depressed because her family has forgotten her 16th birthday because they are in a whirl about her sister’s (Blanche Baker) upcoming wedding. Samantha also longs for a jock-hunk who doesn’t know she exists (played by the frighteningly cute Michael Schoeffling). With hilarious performances by Anthony Michael Hall as geeky Ted, who hounds Samantha, and Gedde Watanabe as exchange student Long Duk Dong. This film has great heart. This is a 4K restoration from the film negative, and comes with many new interviews with cast and crew.
Curse Of the Werewolf (Shout! Factory) A high point in the history of Hammer Studios- director Terence Fisher’s brilliant, chilling, 1961 adaptation of Guy Endore’s The Werewolf Of Paris. A young, intense Oliver Reed plays a scholar, unfortunately cursed to become a wolf-like creature when the full moon rises. The back-story of the curse is vividly told, and Reed gives a fabulous, feral intensity to the lead role. The make-up effects are genuinely terrifying. Heavily censored at the time of its release, now we are able to enjoy all the nasty bits that were cut out in a 4K scan of the interpositive, with many fascinating extras.
Pandora And The Flying Dutchman (Cohen Media Group) Albert Lewin’s gorgeous, atmospheric 1951 fantasy set in 1930s Spain, starring James Mason as the Captain of a vessel cursed to wander the seas forever. Ava Gardner, at her most stunning, plays the seductive nightclub singer men fight over, who falls for the mysterious Captain. Can she free him from his endless voyage? Visually sumptuous, Martin Scorsese is a huge fan of the film and has said, “watching this film is like entering a strange and wonderful dream.” This 4K restoration actually played in theaters before it’s Blu-ray release.
Sleepless (Scorpion Releasing) Dario Argento, the Italian maestro of horror, returns from the financial disappointment of The Phantom Of The Opera with a return to form in this 2001 “giallo” thriller set in Turin. Max von Sydow stars as an ex-policeman who comes out of retirement because of a series of gruesome murders which mirror similar crimes he solved 17 years ago. Many of Argento’s “greatest hits” are on display- stylized murders (a chase through a deserted train is stunning); the murderer following the logic of a strange nursery rhyme; dwarf killers; not to mention music by Goblin. But the great joy in this Blu-ray, besides looking just stunning, is that it includes the Italian-language version. Unfortunately, you do miss hearing von Sydow’s distinctive voice, but the Italian language option makes it a different, better movie in my opinion. There is terrific, insightful audio commentary by authors Nathaniel Thompson (Mondo-Digital) and Troy Howarth (So Deadly, So Perverse).
