I am so overjoyed that I soon will own a Blu-ray box set of the films of one of my favorite Exploitation auteurs- Al Adamson. Not to mention new Blu-ray restorations of other favorites like the fantastic “giallo” The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh; the restoration of a 1932 two-strip color horror film from Warner Brothers; a 3D Douglas Sirk film starring Rock Hudson as a Native American (!); a whacked-out new film- Come To Daddy, and the loony Horrors Of Spider Island. Perhaps things are looking up for a change.
Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection (Severin) Al Adamson was one of those enterprising directors who thrived in the late 60s and early 70s. He kept to genre pictures: cheesy monster movies, biker films, sex comedies, violent westerns, even kiddie flicks. If possible, he threw them all into one movie. After all, these films pandered to the drive-in trade, which was a rather indiscriminate lot. Open any film encyclopedia and the term you’ll likely find to describe his movies will be “god-awful.” But I love his movies- they’re crackpot, crazy-quilt messes at times but they just delight me to no end. And then there’s his wife= Regina Carrol: the “freak-out girl”, with piled high hair, white lipstick and a showgirl figure- she’s just dynamite on screen. This collection has it all- remastered Blu-rays of 32 of his films including Satan’s Sadists (with Russ Tamblyn); the indescribable Dracula Vs. Frankenstein; The Female Bunch (a violent western shot at Spahn Ranch); Blazing Stewardesses co-starring Yvonne De Carlo and the Ritz Brothers plus his loony sci-fi/sex/musical/comedy- Cinderella 2000, among many deranged others.
Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death Of Al Adamson (Severin). This excellent documentary about exploitation director Al Adamson is included in the box set but also as a stand-alone Blu-ray. Directed by David Gregory the film charts Adamson’s rise as director, his friendship and partnership with Sam Sherman, meeting his future wife and star of his films (Regina Carrol) when she spilled coffee on him while working at a restaurant. There are wonderful stories by his cast and crew including actor Russ Tamblyn, and a chilling account of his eventual murder. It’s a sensational story, even wilder than you can imagine, and a great tribute to Adamson. This Blu-ray also includes his violent western The Female Bunch too!
Alice In Wonderland (Kino Lorber) A wonderfully surreal 1933 live-action version of the Lewis Carroll classic. Charlotte Henry plays Alice, lounging with her cat by the fire one day who steps through the looking glass and enters a strange, topsy-turvy fantasy world filled with Mad Hatters, Cheshire Cats, mad Queens. Stars from the studio outfitted in weird, outlandish over-sized masks show up like Cary Grant as the Mock Turtle; Gary Cooper as the White Knight and W. C. Fields as Humpty Dumpty. The use of distorted sets, creepy masks and wild art direction make this the ultimate trip.
Marihuana: Weeds With Roots In Hell/Narcotic (Kino Classics) Two great drug exploitation movies from the 1930s by Dwain Esper. Marihuana: Weeds With Roots In Hell is about a sweet high-school girl (Harley Wood) who, after a wild, pot-fueled party where a skinny-dipping friend ends up drowned, ends up a hardened, heroin-addicted drug dealer nicknamed “Blondie” (“the ice queen of the snow peddlers”). Narcotic, is actually based on a real scoundrel- Dr. William G. Davis (Harry Cording)- who was once a respected doctor but, because of his love for opium, ends up a carnival barker snake-oil salesmen. He sold the supposed miracle health cure “Tiger-Fat” to rubes. His slide to dereliction and depravity is dramatized with sordid sex parties and it all ends in madness and suicide. This outrageous Blu-ray includes great audio commentaries and some crackpot Esper shorts like: How To Take A Bath and How To Undress (In Front Of Your Husband).
Tomorrow’s Children/Child Bride (Kino Classics) Two more great exploitation titles from the 1930s. Tomorrow’s Children is a surprisingly chaste melodrama, supposedly addressing the controversial subject of forced sterilization, which soon would be appropriated by Nazi Germany. The plot is about a crusading doctor who is trying to stop the ordered sterilization of a pretty young woman. Child Bride is about another crusader- this time a school teacher, (Diana Durrell) deep in the back-water Ozark hillbilly country, trying to stop the practice of child marriage. Shirley Mills plays sweet 13-year-old Jennie whose mother is blackmailed into letting her daughter marry the villainous moonshiner Jake Bolby (Warner Richmond). Angelo Rossitto (from Freaks) mercifully comes to Jennie’s rescue on her wedding night. The movie was made notorious for Jennie’s innocent but revealing “skinny dipping” scene (with predatory Jake Bolby spying on her from above, hidden in the rocks). Appalling and amazing.
Come To Daddy (Lionsgate) In this crackpot, violent, blackly-funny, and consistently inspired film directed by Ant Timpson, Elijah Wood plays Norval, who receives a letter from his father- a man who walked out of his life when he was five and he has never seen since. Norval treks to a remote seaside house (that resembles a flying saucer overlooking the sea) only to confront his dad (Stephen McHattie), a grouchy alcoholic, who doesn’t seem at all happy to see him. Things go south from there, but in ways you’ll never expect. The eventual bloodbath that follows is so unexpected and wild and fun your jaw will unhinge. A deranged delight.
Mystery Of The Wax Museum (Warner Archive) A glorious restoration of what was once thought to be a lost film- this 1932 two-strip color horror film from Warner Brothers. Lionel Atwill plays a mysterious sculptor at a wax museum in Manhattan. Glenda Farrell plays the wise-cracking reporter investigating the story of a hideous monster stealing corpses from the local morgue and the clues lead her to the wax museum and the resemblance of a missing body to one of the figures. House Of Wax starring Vincent Price (and in 3D) was the remake. Fay Wray plays the fiancé of a man working at the museum who unmasks the fiend in this fabulous, fast-paced pre-Code shocker.
The Postcard Killings (Image) Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays NY detective Jacob Kanon, who has traveled to London to identify the body of his daughter. She and her husband, honeymooning in England, were brutally murdered, their bodies mutilated and arranged in some indecipherable manner. The only clue is a postcard sent by the killer (or killers) to a journalist before the crime. In searching down clues to his daughter’s death, Jacob discovers a series of murders in different countries with equivalent modus operandi. He begins a globe-trotting journey to reveal the culprit, and hooks up with a Swedish journalist (Cush Jumbo) who received one of the enigmatic postcards. Morgan has the right gravity, sensitivity and tough-guy status to inhabit this role. He plays a man haunted by his daughter’s death but dogged in his obsession to stop further killings. Famke Janssen plays Jacob’s devastated ex-wife, and the always-wonderful Denis O’Hare pops up later in a sardonic cameo.
Idle Hands (Shout! Factory) All slacker teen Anton (Devon Sawa) wants to do all day is smoke pot, watch TV and hang with his friends (Seth Green & Elden Henson). But an evil spirit has entered his body and controls his right hand forcing him to commit murders. Including his parents and best buddies (who return as zombies). But when the hand attempts to go after the pretty girl next door it’s up to Anton to stop those demonic digits for good. This black comedy was unfortunately released after the Columbine High School massacre and audiences were in no mood for teen-on-teen violence. But there’s something weirdly quirky and cool about this movie actually. Also interesting to see Devon Sawa at the height of his short-lived teen heartthrob phase.
Satanico Pandemonium (Mondo Macabre) Directed by the prolific Mexican filmmaker Gilberto Martinez Solares, this 1975 movie is about a kindhearted novice who has visions of Satan. She climbs nude into the bed of a sick boy and stabs him to death, chokes the Mother Superior with a rope and stabs a nun who refuses her lesbian advances. (Salma Hayek’s character in From Dusk Till Dawn was named in homage to this twisted tale).
Husbands (Criterion) In John Cassavetes’ brilliant, punishing 1970 drama, three friends (Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk) go on an epic bender when their good friend dies. They even fly off to London in a vain attempt to recapture their misspent youth by gambling, carousing and eventually imploding. Cassavetes’ films always have a heightened naturalism to them (thanks to the improvisation), which makes for often uncomfortable, powerful viewing. This is one of his best films and amazingly potent thanks to the truly incredible performances.
Danger: Diabolik (Shout! Factory) A wild pop-art 1968 action fantasia directed by Mario Bava and based on a comic book by Luciana and Angela Giussani. John Phillip Law plays the masked criminal (in a full head-to-toe black leather), planning incredible jewel heists with his beautiful partner (Marisa Mell). With wild art direction, great sports cars, hidden underground lairs, incredible costumes, rolling around nude in stolen money and a fabulous score by Ennio Morricone, this is a sexy blast from beginning to end.
Dance, Girl, Dance (Criterion) When a dance hall gets raided the chorines chose different paths. Bubbles (Lucille Ball) becomes a burlesque queen and Judy (Maureen O’Hara) her “stooge” in the act while dreaming of becoming a ballerina. Things go south when they both fall for the same man- a divorced playboy (Louis Hayward). Directed by the fascinating Dorothy Arzner, one of the rare female directors in the Studio system who was able to inject a strong feminist sensibility into her melodramas. Ironically Lucille Ball would end up owning the studio (RKO) where this was made.
Evil Of Frankenstein (Shout! Factory) The third of Hammer’s Frankenstein series, with Peter Cushing again as the mad doc, returning to his old town of Karlstaad only to find that his belongings have been stolen by the Burgomeister. While trying to retrieve his goods he is chased by authorities into a cave where he finds the frozen body of his monster. He and his assistant thaw it and restore it to life and guess what happens next? Directed by Freddie Francis this looked washed out in its earlier debut on Blu-ray. This “Collector’s Edition” by Shout! Factory is a 4K restoration and restores the vibrant, lurid Hammer color.
Escape From L.A. (Shout! Factory) In John Carpenter’s sequel to Escape From New York, Kurt Russell returns as the eye-patch-wearing tough guy Snake Plisskin. It’s been 16 years since he rescued the President and now the new POTUS (Cliff Robertson) wants him to retrieve his renegade daughter from Los Angeles (which has broken free after an earthquake and is now an island prison and home to criminals). The President’s daughter Utopia has joined forces with a South American revolutionary and is in possession of a deadly doomsday device. It’s up to bad-ass Plisskin to save the day, and his own skin because he has been infected with a deadly disease and can only get the antidote if he rescues the “black box.” Despite this failing at the box office, it’s a lot fun thanks to some great co-stars like Steve Buscemi, Peter Fonda and the sublime Pam Grier.
Horrors Of Spider Island (Severin) Whacked-out 1960 West German horror film starring Alexander D’Arcy as Gary Webster, transporting some voluptuous showgirls from New York to a club in Singapore. Their plane crashes in the ocean and they make their way to a mysterious island where a giant spider bites Gary and turns him into a frightening, fanged monster with an uncontrollable urge to kill the girls one by one. The weird mix of cheesecake and horror is what makes this so much fun. The Blu-ray includes the complete uncensored European print as well as the U.S. release.
The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh (Severin) In Sergio Martino’s 1971 film the eternally beautiful Edwige Fenech stars as a married woman in Vienna who is stalked by a sadistic old lover, blackmailed by a stranger and forced to ward off attacks from a razor-wielding serial killer. Convoluted, preposterous and utterly fabulous.
Taza, Son Of Cochise (Kino Lorber) A 3D western directed by Douglas Sirk starring Rock Hudson (in full dark Native American drag) as Taza, the peace-loving son of Cochise (Jeff Chandler), whose death threatens the treaty set up between the Apaches and the American government. Ian McDonald plays Geronimo who wants to lead his people back into war. If you can get past the discomfort of watching Barbara Rush as a “squaw,” you can relish the stunning Utah backdrops, and if you’re lucky enough to have a 3D TV- flaming arrows headed right towards your face.
The Woman (Arrow) In this brutal, harrowing Lucky McKee film, Sean Bridgers plays a well-respected lawyer, hunter and dad named Chris Cleek, who captures a feral, cannibalistic woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) out in the forest. He drags her home, chaining her in the root cellar for his sick amusement. His sadistic son (Zach Rand), a chip off the old block, enjoys tormenting Daddy’s new toy, while Chris’s abused wife (Angela Bettis) and daughter (Lauren Ashley Carter) suffer in silence.