Batshit Blu-rays of the Month- 17 for November

            There are so many deliriously deranged Blu-rays out this month (that I desperately need), I’ll be living on white rice for the next 5 months. From the glorious Fellini box set from Criterion to two drive-in classics How to Make a Monster and War of the Colossal Beast. Two terrific early films with Clint Eastwood. A goofy, sweet Japanese sci-fi movie from 1956. A chance to re-watch Ray Milland’s haunting performance in The Lost Weekend. The chilling and surprisingly moving new film- The Relic. The LGBTQ community can celebrate with a 4k restoration of the elegant, lipstick/lesbian/vampire movie Daughters of Darkness, and Hammer Studio’s gay-ish Baron bloodsucker in Brides of Dracula. And we get to see Alain Delon’s penis in the rare French thriller Shock Treatment. Talk about a Thanksgiving feast! 

            Essential Fellini (Criterion) An incredible box set of 14 films directed by the great Italian director- Federico Fellini. From early landmarks like Variety Lights; The White Sheik; Il Bidone to the hauntingly personal I Vitelloni. His heartbreaking La Strada, which starred the amazing Giulietta Massina, who became the director’s wife (and muse), starring in films like the heart-ripping Nights of Cabiria, and the phantasmagorical Juliet of the Spirits. Included is Fellini’s scandalous international hit- La Dolce Vita, starring Marcello Mastroianni as a journalist chronicling the decadent nightlife in Rome at the time, with that memorable scene with Anita Ekberg jumping into the Trevi fountain. Then there’s Fellini’s masterworks- 8 ½ and Amarcord. His bizarre, homoerotic classic Satyricon. The delightful, crackpot travelogue- Roma. Not to mention later treats like And the Ship Sails On and Intervista. These are all 4k restorations and included is a digital restoration of a short film Fellini made for the horror anthology Spirits of the Dead– Toby Dammit with Terence Stamp as a drunken, druggy actor attending a film festival in Italy just so he can get a Ferrari. Vaguely based on Edgar Allan Poe, this surreal, visually sumptuous gem is a high point in Fellini’s career. If I don’t get this for Christmas I’m going to kill myself.

            V for Vendetta (Warner Brothers) In this daring, politically-charged, live action graphic novel. Natalie Portman plays Evey, living in a futuristic London lorded over by a religious zealot (John Hurt) who controls the people with an iron fist. Out after curfew, Evey is attacked by a pack of goons, but saved by a mysterious figure wearing a cape and a Guy Fawkes mask. He lets Evey witness his first act of explosive sabotage, and hints at an even grander plot against the government to come. Stephen Rae plays a policeman who, while tracking down the masked man, uncovers secret medical experiments, biological attacks blamed on Muslim extremists, and a host of other evil doings. Sci-fi can be a great subversive tool- look at how Invasion of the Body Snatchers echoed the McCarthy era. What the Wachowskys do so brilliantly is to play it straight on the surface. The masked figure and the damsel who unlocks his heart may feel like Phantom of the Opera but the movie bristles with the revolutionary undercurrents of a William Burroughs novel or Lindsay Anderson’s film If. The Rolling Stones’ Street Fighting Man is a fitting hymn to close this radical film with.

            Relic (Shout! Factory) Director Natalie Erika James’ first feature-length film is a terrifying, and surprisingly moving, film. Emily Mortimer plays Kay, who drives from Melbourne with her older daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) because a neighbor reports to the police that Kay’s elderly mother Edna (Robyn Nevin) hasn’t been seen in some time. They arrive at the house and Edna is nowhere to be found, which precipitates a police search in the nearby woods. But one morning Edna is suddenly there in the kitchen, making tea and seeming no worse for wear, except for a disturbing bruise on her chest. Kay realizes she has to make some sort of decision about how to deal with her mom. She even considers putting her in a facility in Melbourne, but granddaughter Sam suggests she could move in with Edna. But there are all these strange sounds coming from the house at night, and elongated mold stains coming down from the ceiling. Edna acts more frightened as the days go by and is caught talking to herself, and fearfully asking Kay to check under her bed at night, saying “he’s here!” Then there are all the puzzling new locks on the doors. Is this the creeping dementia, or is there something more sinister going on? Trust me, the film builds with such mounting unease and the creepy Alice in Wonderland shift during the last third of the film all help create a daring, deeply unsettling movie.

            Play Misty for Me (Kino) Clint Eastwood’s 1971 directorial debut is still one of his best. Clint plays radio disc jockey Dave Garver, who makes the big mistake of sleeping with an obsessed fan- Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walter). Afterwards she stalks him relentlessly and turns murderously dangerous. Shot over a period of five weeks with a limited crew on natural locations, Eastwood turned out a great thriller with a career-high performance by Jessica Walter, who is genuinely chilling as her assault on the disc jockey’s life escalates frighteningly. The great jazz soundtrack is pure Eastwood.

            The Beguiled (Kino) Clint Eastwood plays an injured Union soldier who is hidden and nursed back to health at a Confederate southern girl’s boarding school during the Civil War. His presence sexually stirs up turmoil in the house. It does not end well. Geraldine Page, as head mistress is just the best, as is Elizabeth Hartman (A Patch of Blue). But it’s Eastwood who gives a terrific performance. Directed by frequent Eastwood collaborator- Don Siegel, this was a bomb at the box office (no one wanted to see Dirty Harry as a victim), but it just gets better and better with age. A moody, southern gothic passion play. One can easily see why Sofia Coppola wanted to remake it.

            Warning from Space (Arrow) Japan’s first color sci-fi movie is a 1956 film about friendly aliens (star-shaped creatures with blinking blue eyes on their bellies) who have come to warn humans about Planet R, which is apocalyptically hurtling towards the earth. The aliens are from the planet Paira, and their appearance initially causes fright when they land in Japan. “Are we considered hideous?” they ask each other. “Are they more beautiful than us?” So, they transform and disguise themselves as earthlings (even replicating a female singing star) to make contact with scientists on how to save the planet. The Japanese title was “Spacemen Appear in Toyko,” and the American version begins the movie with the space creatures, whereas it takes some time before they make an appearance in the original version. It’s a movie that didn’t really get a theatrical release in America- it went straight to television, but it’s just a delight, and this transfer is just spectacular.

            The Lost Weekend (Kino) Ray Milland deservedly won an Oscar for his raw, powerful performance as Don Birnam, an alcoholic writer on a four-day bender. Directed flawlessly by Billy Wilder, this 1945 film was a landmark at the time because of the subject matter and the daring way the story was told. Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder’s screenplay, based on Charles R. Jackson’s novel, sidestepped the subtext in the book that implied Don was a closet homosexual (much like the author), but successfully painted a haunting portrait of a poor soul hitting rock bottom at the bottom of a bottle.  

            Death of Me (Lionsgate) In the new film from director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II), a young couple vacationing in a tropical paradise find themselves in a living, waking nightmare. Luke Hemsworth plays Neil, a travel writer, visiting an island off the coast of Thailand with his wife Christine (Maggie Q). They wake up one morning not remembering what happened the night before. They also discover their passports missing, making it impossible for them to catch the ferry they were supposed to take to the mainland. Then they find a video of themselves downing an unknown drink at a strange bar, where Christine received an unusual amulet on a necklace. Later, on the video, Neil can clearly be seen strangling the life out of his wife. As they race around trying to unravel the mystery the weirdness keeps getting worse, as a sudden celebration has them mingling on the streets with locals parading around wearing frightening masks. Any who have seen movies since The Wicker Man, or countless demonic town movies, know that some places have superstitions and dark religions that are inescapable. What’s nice is how director Bousman turns the exotic (and quite beautiful) locale into something quite sinister without getting xenophobic.

            Daughters of Darkness (Blue Underground) A 4K Ultra High Definition restoration (from the long-lost camera negative) of an elegant, erotic horror film starring the divine Delphine Seyrig as an ageless vampire countess traveling with her cool, dark-haired lover (Andrea Rau), stopping at a coastal off-season hotel in Ostend. There, she and her protege seduce and quench their blood lust with a newleywed couple (Danielle Ouimet & John Karlen).. Directed by Harry Kumel, there are visually sumptuous scenes of mayhem (one involving a glass bowl is particularly inspired). Once again Blue Underground knocks it out of the park with this upgrade. The 3-disc set comes with the soundtrack CD; audio commentary by director Harry Kumel; an excellent booklet/essay by Michael Gingold, and a cool 3D box cover.

            Brides of Dracula (Scream! Factory) When Christopher Lee declined to be in a Dracula sequel, Hammer Studios scrambled and came up with one of their very best, with David Peel as the blonde, effete Baron Meinster, chained up in the castle by his mother (Martita Hunt) and cared to by a psychotic housekeeper (scene-stealing Freda Jackson). A pretty teacher (Yvonne Monlaur) unwittingly frees the Baron and it’s up to vampire hunter Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) to stop his reign of terror. David Peel adds a wonderfully perverse sexual ambiguity to this gothic great, stylishly directed by Terence Fisher. This is a 2K scan of the interpositive and comes with tons of extras.

            How to Make a Monster (Shout! Factory) Robert H. Harris plays a legendary make-up artist (famed for his monsters) who is given the sack by his studio. He creates a special make-up that when applied reduces the wearer to a mindless zombie that will do his bidding. He sends out his hypnotized “monsters” to kill studio heads he has a beef with. The finale, when he invites two of his hunky teen actors- Gary Conway (Frankenstein) and Gary Clarke (Werewolf)- to his home with his “assistant” (Paul Brinegar) is when the black & white movie turns to color for the fiery finale. This is a 2K scan of a fine grain print and comes with two audio commentaries an extra about producer Herman Cohen (who always added subversive touches to his monster movies). 

            War of the Colossal Beast (Shout! Factory) A high point of director Bert I. Gordon’s “giant monster” movies. A sequel to the film about Colonel Glen Manning (Dean Parkin), who, after a plutonium blast is transformed into a rampaging giant. Thought to have died in his fall off Hoover Dam, Manning shows up in Mexico, now brain-damaged, pissed off and with a hideous, disfigured face. Military men drug and transport poor Glen back to America where he, of course, breaks free. Let the carnage begin! This drive-in-favorite turns color briefly at the end. This is a 2K scan of a fine grain print and also includes an alternate “black & white” finale.

            Tourist Trap (Full Moon) A gonzo 1979 horror film about some kids driving the backroads who break down and end up at a broken-down western museum run by the mysterious Mr. Slausen (Chuck Conners). He lets them stay overnight but warns them not to venture out after dark. That might have something to do with his weirdo, psycho/brother who is a master of telekinetically bringing the mannequins to life and wears a strange, female-looking mask with a blonde wig. When this was released before on Blu-ray it was missing five minutes of the movie. Hopefully everything is rightfully restored in this big VHS box version with includes the Blu-ray and DVD of this offbeat classic.

            Ghost Dog: the Way of the Samurai (Criterion) Forest Whitaker plays an enigmatic, bearlike contract killer who raises pigeons on his New Jersey rooftop, studies the way of the samurai and pledges loyalty to a small-time mobster named Louis (John Tormey), who once saved his life.  But when a Godard-esque girl reading Roshamon witnesses a hit, Whitaker’s character is forced to wage war on the hoods when they order him eliminated. Jim Jarmusch’s hip-hop rethinking of Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samourai retains that film’s hypnotic intensity, but it’s infused with wild bursts of deadpan humor, pulpy crime movie thrills and flashes from crackpot cartoons like Felix the Cat and Itchy and Scratchy. Ghost Dog has a sensational score by Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and a wonderfully whacked-out array of characters- low-rent wise guys (Cliff Gorman, Henry Silva, Victor Argo), a French-speaking ice cream man (Isaach de Bankole) and a literary little girl (Camille Winbush)- but it’s Whitaker’s odd, soulful presence that anchors this gangsta’s (stranger than) paradise.

            Patrick Still Lives (Severin) A great big helping of Eurosleaze. This outrageous 1980 Italian take-off of the Australian horror movie Patrick (about a man in a coma with telekinetic powers) now takes place at a “wellness” clinic run by mysterious Dr. Herschell (Sacha Pitoeff). His comatose son is Patrick (Gianni Dei) and the mad doctor has been boosting his son’s brain power to take revenge on those who caused his accident. A pair of disembodied eyes appear before each psychic attack. One by one people invited to the clinic start dying in gruesome fashion. One death in a kitchen is the reason for the film’s notorious reputation. Directed by Mario Landi (Giallo in Venice), this gorgeous, uncensored print is a scan from the 16mm negative.

            The Black Cat (Severin) Frequent Dario Argento collaborator Luigi Cozzi’s (Contamination) unofficial sequel to Argento’s “Three Mothers” witch trilogy. Urbano Barberini (Opera) stars as a director attempting to star his actress wife (Florence Guerin) in a film about the famed witch- “Levana.” But the actress is hallucinating the real witch in her mirror- a hideous hag who warns her she will never make this movie. A confused jumble of gore and occult nonsense, with a sci-fi slant. The producers made Cozzi insert a few shots of black cats to tie it to a tagged-on Edgar Allan Poe title. Caroline Munro (The Last Horror Film) plays a scheming actress and Michele Soavi (Cemetery Man) pops up as a horror film director. This rarity is transferred in 2K from pristine vault elements.

            Shock Treatment (Severin) A fascinating French thriller directed by Alain Jessua with some nice full frontal nudity by star Alain Delon (Purple Noon), who plays the mysterious head of a seaside Thalassotherapy Centre, geared towards wealthy clients. Annie Girardot (Rocco and His Brothers) plays Helene, a weary boss of a woman’s wear clothes empire, who comes to the clinic for a rejuvenating cure and to combat her fear of aging. She endures seaweed saunas, strange injections, plenty of carrot juice and nude swims in the ocean with the doctor who runs the clinic (Delon) and his disciples. But a gay friend she runs into warns her that the treatment is, “like a drug- soon you become hooked.” Helen also notices that the young Portuguese men that have been trucked in to work are dropping like flies. “They aren’t used to the climate,” the staff cheerily explains but Helene starts to believe the reality is more sinister. Trust me, it is.