So many brain-melting cult films are out on Blu-ray this month. Not to mention a great box set of films by Luis Bunuel; a restored Nick & Nora Charles mystery; an exploitation movie about a gorilla-worshiping tribe in the Congo; a 3D slasher movie from 1984; a misunderstood masterpiece by the director of Donnie Darko; and Doris Day in the wonderful 50s musical- Pajama Game. What more can one want in the new year?
She Mob (AGFA) A deliriously demented exploitation wonder about a ragtag girl gang headed by a ruthless lesbian named “Big Shim” who wears a black leather pointy bra and enjoys licking her lips watching her girls masturbating. She even hires a local stud named Tony to satisfy her girls who they kidnap and hold ransom from his wealthy sugar mama. A private detective is called in to rescue Tony- a Honey West-like detective wearing zippered, metallic, revealing outfits- ‘Sweetie East.” Poor Tony gets beat up, dressed in drag and strung up by the girl gang, but Sweetie East saves the day. I’ve been insane over this ever since I discovered it on Something Weird Video. This disc comes with an equally sleazy co-feature: The Girl from Pussycat, shot in New York in 1969 about a sexually free-wheeling girl gang who decide to rob a bank. Afterwards they invite a few guys over and roll around nude in the stolen loot. Later a boyfriend is punished by being tied up and his hand pushed into a toaster. Yes, you heard right- torture by toaster.
Three Films by Luis Bunuel (Criterion) A magnificent collection of digitally restored discs of the last three masterpieces by the great Spanish surrealist and provocateur Luis Bunuel. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) is about a group of upper-middle-class friends who are constantly interrupted when they sit down to eat- by all sorts of wild, outrageous events. Interspersed are shots of the friends (who include acting luminaries like Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Stephane Audran, Michel Piccoli) walking down a long country road. Here Bunuel playfully tweaks his favorite subjects in hilarious, offbeat ways. Phantom of the Liberty (1974) is a non-linear surrealistic comedy- one story slides into another and they are all completely deranged, bizarre, funny and completely provocative. Any film that ends with a close up of an ostrich head is okay with me. That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) is based on the same 1898 novel that Josef von Sternberg used for The Devil is a Woman (1935). Here Fernando Rey stars as a widower, consumed with love and lust for the unattainable Conchita. In an inspired touch, Bunuel cast two separate actresses for the part of Conchita (Carole Bouquet & Angela Molina). Is it baffling and confounding? Damn straight it is, but fabulous, and proves that Luis Bunuel was chuckling sardonically right to the end.
Ingagi (Kino) A 4K restoration of a deranged pre-Code exploitation movie about an explorer who travels to the Congo and discovers a female tribe who worship gorillas. Many scenes of native women were shot in Los Angeles. This was another in a line of suggestive women & ape films that peppered grindhouses. This restoration was from a print preserved by the Library of Congress, of all things, and the Blu-ray comes with two separate audio commentaries. Astounding!
Pajama Game (Warner Archive) A truly great 1957 musical that used many from the original Broadway cast. With the exception of Doris Day, who gloriously stars as a worker at the Sleeptite Pajama Factory in Idaho, trying desperately to organize a strike with her co-workers. John Raitt plays the handsome new superintendent Day spars and falls for. With the hilarious Carol Haney as the boss’s assistant; the wonderful Reta Shaw, and a score that includes great numbers like “Hey There,” “Hernando’s Hideaway,” “Steam Heat,” and many others. Directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen, with incredible, athletic dance numbers. An absolute delight from beginning to end.
After the Thin Man (Warner Archive) The second of six films in the wildly successful mystery series about the martini-swilling detective Nick Charles (William Powell), his gorgeous, witty, wealthy wife Nora (Myrna Loy)- who can match him drink for drink. Leaving New York by train for San Francisco on New Year’s Eve they are forced to dine with Nora’s snooty, disapproving relatives. Nora’s cousin Selma asks them to find her missing cad of a husband- Robert. Selma’s old boyfriend (James Stewart) is paying off the husband to leave town but Robert ends up murdered. One of my favorite moments is when Nick and Nora arrive at a nightclub and a man is thrown down the stairs at their feet. “They’re throwing big confetti this year, “Nick dryly remarks. These restorations by Warner Archive are absolutely stunning- one hopes that soon all six will be restored on Blu-ray.
Just Before Dawn (Code Red) Frightening effective chiller by the terrific director- Jeff Lieberman (Blue Sunshine), starring Chris Lemmon, Deborah Benson-Wald and George Kennedy about kids who foolishly go camping deep in the Oregon woods only to get whittled down one by one by an inbred monstrous mutant. A slasher film with a decidedly feminist slant and with one of the most outrageous deaths of a bad guy in fright films. Great sound design and cinematography it’s so much better than those post Deliverance wannabes. And scarier too.
Southland Tales (Arrow) This film directed by Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) was hated when it premiered at Cannes. But critics I trust told me it was hands down the best thing they saw there. A re-edited version opened in the US to mixed reviews and not great box office, but I agree that it’s the best. Set in a post-apocalyptic America and several stories and characters intersecting which include Dwayne Johnson as an amnesiac former action-movie-star, Sarah Michelle Gellar as an entrepreneurial adult film actress, a weird cop (Seann William Scott), and our narrator is a shell-shocked pilot- Justin Timberlake. Bold, bizarre, the movie is a wild, sci-fi mind-fuck and dark comedy that was way ahead of its time. Here, finally this Blu-ray includes the original Cannes director’s cut of the film which is 20 minutes longer. Also included is the theatrical release.
Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America (Severin) Director Douglas Buck’s extraordinary American gothic trilogy of short films- Cutting Moments (1997), Home (1998) and Prologue (2003), which, when assembled as one film creates an unforgettable, nightmarish portrait of damaged families, twisted desires and madness. Cutting Moments is the most extreme, starring director Nicholas Ray’s daughter Nicca Ray as a troubled wife and mother, who eventually resorts to self-mutilation to cope with her torment. Home is about young married man (Gary Betsworthy– who played the husband in Cutting Moments) trying to bring to his marriage the lessons learned from his brutal, sadistic father. Prologue is a heart-breaking shocker about a young woman who returns home after long stint in rehabilitation. When she was younger she was found mutilated, sexually assaulted and with a broken back, with no memory of the crime. But her return home has her suddenly confronting her attacker. I remember being dumbstruck when I first saw it and watching this excellent Blu-ray presentation (with tons of extras) I was pleased that the film really holds up as a deeply disturbing but rare cinematic experience.
Tales of the Uncanny (Severin) Director David Gregory queries many directors and writers about their favorite horror anthology films- from Dead of Night to Tales from the Crypt to Trilogy of Terror to Creepshow. The exciting extras are a thought-to-be-lost 1919 German silent film Eerie Tales starring Conrad Veidt and a rare 1949 French film History Extraordinaires. Great fun!
A Serbian Film (Unearthed) The uncut version of this notorious film by Srdan Spasojevic (which for many years was not easy to find). It’s about a down on his luck ex-porn star Milos (Srdan Todorovic), with a beautiful wife and small son, who is lured back into the business by a shady businessman who refuses to show Milos a script and implies what they will make will be more potent and artistic than pornography. After that it’s like Alice In Wonderland for perverts, with Milos sliding down a dark rabbit hole into a hellish underworld. I think it’s a great film but I’ve lost quite a few friends showing them this.
Fade to Black (Vinegar Syndrome) An above-average, offbeat 1980 horror film about a movie-obsessed young man (Dennis Christopher), living with his wheelchair-bound Aunt (Eve Brent Ashe) in Venice Beach, whose new obsession with a Marilyn Monroe look-a-like (Linda Kerridge) causes him slowly to go off the deep end, dressing up like movie cowboys (Hopalong Cassidy) or famous monsters (Dracula, the Mummy) to get revenge on those who did him wrong. A very young Mickey Roarke comes under his wrath. Directed with great style by Vernon Zimmerman, it’s Dennis Christopher who deserves kudos for making this character so fascinating and weirdly sympathetic. This new 4k restoration is sensational, and the disc comes with commentary by Christopher and many, many extras.
Silent Madness (Vinegar Syndrome) A 1984 horror film about a psychopath who is accidentally released from a mental hospital. The authorities try to cover it up while a female psychiatrist tries to warn people in a college town that a madman is on the loose. This Blu-ray includes the 3D version (if you are lucky enough to have that set-up), but also the 2D version and an anaglyph 3-D version (and supplies the red and green 3D glasses). There’s also a 45-minute documentary of the making of the film. Here’s your chance to see Vivica Lindfors in 3D!
Forgotten Gialli: Volume 2 (Vinegar Syndrome) Included in this three-movie set of lesser known Italian thrillers is The Girl in Room 2A (1974), an Italian/American co-production set in Rome about a woman recently released from prison who takes a room in a rooming house helmed by the sinister Mrs. Grant and her weird son. They are secretly behind a cult of fanatics who dress in red robes and hold torture-filled inquisitions at a nearby villa. The French Sex Murders (1972) is set in Paris and is about a thief who is sentenced to death for the murder of a prostitute. At the trial he curses all who accused him and sure enough, those people start dying. There’s a Humphry Bogart-impersonator detective (Robert Saachi), a miserly madam (Anita Ekberg), a lounge singer (Roselba Neri), a weird scientist (Howard Vernon) and a final chase up the Eiffel Tower. My Dear Killer (1972) stars handsome George Hilton as a police inspector investigating a headless corpse at a quarry which leads him back to a prior crime of a little girl who was kidnapped and eventually found dead. A series of surprisingly brutal murders follow, the mysterious killer trying to erase any possible clue leading back to his crime. This is the best of this collection, a well-directed mystery with even a round-up-all-the-suspects-at-the-end revelation. And a score by Ennio Morricone.
Seven Women For Satan (Mondo Macabro) A wild 1974 French shocker about a decadent, wealthy businessman Boris Zaroff (Michel Lemoine)- who hunts down females at his country estate during the weekend, keeping tradition with his sadistic Count father. He also hallucinates his lost love from time to time. A couple show up one night after their car breaks down and the woman begs Boris to show her the torture chamber in the cellar. Bad idea. Howard Vernon plays the bitter butler. This was banned in France and was forgotten for ages. This restored new version is from the negative and comes with deleted scenes and a whacky, fascinating new interview with the director and star of the film- Michel Lemoine.
Sins of the Flesh (Mondo Macabro) Benoit (Francis Lemonnier) is the idle, decadent playboy, whose wealthy businessman father refuses to pay his gambling debts anymore. He meets a handsome young man- Jean-Pierre (Patrick Penn) trying to steal his car, and takes him to his father’s country house. Along the way, they pick up a 20-year-old girl Isabelle (Anne Libert) escaping a rape from her brutish stepfather. Benoit can only get off watching the young couple have sex and he ropes them into a scheme to rob his father and blackmail his wife (while videotaping her sleeping with Jean-Pierre). This 1974 French film was directed by Claude Mulot (who also directed the notorious porn film Pussy Talk). It’s a fascinating portrait of a cunning, sociopathic psycho.
An embarrassment of riches! I don’t know where to begin!