Another great month for Blu-ray fanatics, with rare made-for-TV thrillers including the loony Scream, Pretty Peggy; the precursor to X-Files– Kolchak: The Night Stalker; a brilliant existential sci-fi classic- The Incredible Shrinking Man; an eerie Japanese chiller- Onibaba; the hilarious Marx Brothers comedy- A Night at the Opera; 4k restorations of Demons, Demons 2 and American Psycho; and Richard Cunha’s gloriously bonkers Frankenstein’s Daughter. Could Halloween get any better?
The Incredible Shrinking Man (Criterion) A gem of a sci-fi film about Robert Scott Carey (a haunting Grant Williams), on vacation with his wife on a boat when a weird, shimmering, irradiated cloud passes over him. Six months later he realizes his clothes no longer fit, and as he drastically shrinks in size he goes to a doctor, who tries to find an antidote. Carey continues to diminish, eventually pursued by a household cat when he is the size of a doll; accidentally knocked down in the basement which causes his wife to conclude he died. Carey then wars with a frightening giant spider for a moldy piece of cake left by his wife. Beautifully directed by Jack Arnold and based on a novel by Richard Matheson, this had the most existential of endings. The darkly poetic quality of the finale is mythic. In 2009 the Library of Congress named the film to the National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically” significant.
Scream, Pretty Peggy (Kino Lorber) A notoriously campy 1973 TV movie about a sculptor (That Girl’s Ted Bessell) who hires a college girl (Sian Barbara Allen) for a housekeeping job for his ailing mother (Bette Davis) in a gloomy mansion. Bette Davis is a riot as the slightly tipsy matriarch, hiding liquor bottles in the bookcase and warning the girl that she shouldn’t have taken the job. And who is the mysterious figure behind the curtains in the barred room over the garage? This howler that will have you spit-taking your cocktail during the last 10 minutes. One of the screenwriters- Jimmy Sangster wrote some the best Hammer films. And it’s directed by Gordon Hessler (Scream and Scream Again). Fun audio commentary by Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson make this a must own.
The Screaming Woman (Kino Lorber) Based on a Ray Bradbury story, Olivia de Havilland plays a frail, wealthy woman, recently released from a sanitarium, who hears a woman crying for help, buried underground, on her property but can get no one to believe her. Her greedy son (Charles Robinson) uses the opportunity to prove that she is unstable and incompetent in order to sell off her property. De Havilland has a field day with the material. Ed Nelson plays the wood-be-killer next door in this above-average 1972 Made-for-TV suspense tale directed by Jack Smight (Harper). Audio commentary by film historian Gary Gerani.
The Victim (Kino Lorber) A woman-in-peril made-for-TV thriller starring Elizabeth Montgomery who travels to her sister’s during a massive thunderstorm only to find the remote home empty, and her sister’s car in the garage. The surly housekeeper (Eilleen Heckart) says she doesn’t know anything and then leaves Montgomery alone, and definitely in danger since the audience sees her sister’s body in a wicker basket in the basement. When a woman on the phone suggests she call the police the phone lines are suddenly cut…and then the lights go out. George Maharis shows up later. Great atmosphere and tension and Elizabeth is always a pleasure on screen. Audio commentary by film historian Amanda Reyes.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (Kino Lorber) A great TV series (and inspiration for The X-Files) starring Darren McGavin as intrepid newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak forever investigating weird, supernatural events. Two successful TV movies The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler served as the impetus for the series but it tragically only lasted for one season. But what a season! Carl encounters zombies, Jack the Ripper, vampires, werewolves, Satanists and Native American bear spirits among other weird creatures. With his rumpled suit, trademark funky hat, driving around in a yellow Mustang, the outcome is usually the same- his camera’s film is exposed or higher-ups squash his article. Other memorable cast members are Simon Oakland as Carl’s hot-headed editor and lovely Ruth McDevitt as advice columnist “Miss Emily.” This terrific show has been digitally remastered for Blu-ray release. One extra is an interview with David Chase (The Sopranos), co-writer of 8 episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
Demons & Demons 2 (Synapse) 4k UHD Blu-rays of two horror classics. Demons was the 1985 Italian chiller by Lamberto Bava (son of the great Mario Bava) and produced by Dario Argento about a movie theater’s tragic opening night. A weird ceremonial mask in the lobby causes several theatergoers to transform into hideous demons biting others and turning the suddenly locked-in theater into a bloody nightmare. Demons 2 was Bava’s sequel, this time demons infect viewers through a TV broadcast and transform a high rise into a kill zone. (Look for a young Asia Argento). This remastered Blu-ray double feature includes alternate longer versions of the film in Italian or English language and scores of extras.
Deadly Friend (Shout! Factory) This 1986 sci-fi film by Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) doesn’t get a lot of love from fans but maybe this “Collector’s Edition” from Shout! Factory will help. The plot is about a nerdish computer geek kid (Matthew Labyorteaux) who transplants a robot’s hard drive into his neighbor’s (Kristy Swanson) head. She was a girl he had a crush on who was pronounced brain dead after pushed down the stairs by her abusive father. But there are unexpected results- she runs amok and starts killing people. There’s a memorable moment with a mean old lady in the neighborhood (Anne Ramsey) and a basketball. This is 2k restoration from the interpositive; and interviews with actress Kristy Swanson plus with the screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin and make-up effects artist Lance Anderson.
A Night at the Opera (Warner Archive) This was the Marx Brothers first film with MGM and their usual anarchic, surreal antics were tethered to a romantic plot about a tenor (Alan Jones) in love with an opera singer (Kitty Carlisle). But scene after scene of unbridled insanity shine through. Groucho Marx as Otis B. Driftwood’s hilarious sparring with wealthy patroness of the arts Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont); not to mention the unforgettable stateroom sequence on an ocean liner where at least 15 people end up contorting themselves into a tiny cabin on ship. I have never ever been able to hear snippets of the opera Il Trovatore without bursting out laughing thinking of this comedy classic. Commentary by Leonard Maltin and assorted shorts including a hilarious segment from The Hy Gardner Show where Groucho tells about when he, Chico and Harpo stripped naked in Irving Thalberg’s office when he kept them waiting.
The Window (Warner Archive) Poor, doomed child star Bobby Driscoll plays Tommy a 9-year-old who sleeps out on the fire escape during a sweltering tenement summer and sees a murder. Only no one will believe him because of his past tall tales. But the killers (Paul Stewart & Ruth Roman) want to silence him forever. Based on a Cornell Woolrich story, with the always sublime Barbara Hale as Tommy’s mom, this taut thriller is really memorable thanks to a stunning performance by Bobby Driscoll. In real life Driscoll was found dead in an abandoned East Village tenement, the result of years of drug abuse. He was only 31 years old.
American Psycho (Lionsgate) A 4K Blu-ray of Mary Harron’s subversive film version of the reviled Bret Easton Ellis book. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is young, successful, good-looking, and completely self-absorbed. He dresses in top label duds, gets into the hip, best, restaurants and spends each morning utilizing a complex skin regime. He also hacks up women, stabs homeless men, and takes an ax to his adversaries while wearing a see-through raincoat so as not to splatter his designer suit. Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial novel was a conceit that wore thin on page. What director Mary Harron (I Shot Andy Warhol) has done is zero in on the caustic black humor in purely cinematic terms. Christian Bale, with his beautifully sculpted body, has the right arrogance and narcissism for the role. Harron shows an icy restraint with the gore and while it still doesn’t completely work (the ambiguous ending feels like a cheat) it makes for a darkly fascinating look at the seething, soulless, misogyny hiding behind the perfectly tailored suit.
Onibaba (Criterion) Based on a Japanese legend, Kaneto Shindo’s eerie tale, set in the mid-fourteenth century, is about an evil mother and daughter-in-law, who survive amidst the tall reeds by killing soldiers, selling their armor and dumping their bodies in a deep pit. When the daughter-in-law sparks up a romance with a neighbor, the furious mother dons a hideous demon mask she has pried from the face of a murdered samurai soldier in order to scare the lovers. But the plan nightmarishly backfires. This digitally remastered edition of the 1964 classic comes with commentary by the director and on-location footage shot by one of the cast- Kei Sato.
The Fourth Victim (Severin) A deliciously twisty 1971 Spanish “giallo” starring Michael Craig (Mysterious Island) as an English playboy whose three wives have died unexpectedly and suspiciously. He meets a beautiful woman named Julie (Carroll Baker), renting a gothic mansion nearby, and their budding romance ends in matrimony. Does Julie have a hidden agenda, or will she end up the fourth victim? And who is the mysterious woman (Marina Malfatti) seen skulking in the shadows? This is the English language Blu-ray premiere of this fascinating rarity. Director Eugenio Martin, who, because he spoke fluent English, was assistant director for many British and American productions filmed in Spain before be began directing himself. An expert genre director of westerns, comedies, horror and sci-fi, Martin directed the sensational chiller- Horror Express starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. An excellent extra about the director and a deleted scene are included.
Midnight (Severin) John Russo, who co-wrote Night of the Living Dead, directed this grimly enjoyable shocker based on his novel and rounded up a lot of young Pittsburgh actors- including John Amplas, who starred in George Romero’s Martin. Melanie Verlin stars as Nancy, a good Catholic girl who is sexually attacked by her drunken-cop-step-father (Laurence Tierney). She takes off and hitches a ride with two guys in a van driving to Fort Lauderdale but along the way they get hassled by racists, stopped by psychotic cops and Nancy is captured by a family of redneck Satanists who plan to sacrifice her at “midnight.” Religion and devil worship seem the flip sign of the same coin as Nancy fights for her life against the demented psychopaths. This terrific-looking restoration has some nice special features including an interview with John Russo about the making of the film, and actor John Amplas, plus a short with Tom Savini, who did the special effects. A down-and-dirty, creepy little wonder.
A Day of Judgement (Severin) A curious 1981 Christian horror film from the Earl Owensby Studios in North Carolina directed by Charles Reynolds, who also plays a preacher in the film. Set in a small town in the 1930s, one night the grim reaper (complete with large scythe) comes to wreak vengeance on those sinners willfully breaking commandments. A vicious old woman who poisons a goat she imagines has disturbed her precious flowerbed; an adulterous couple; a son who tricks his parents into signing over the business to him; a hateful banker attempting to run a farmer off his land; a drunk who imagines his wife is fooling around with his old friend (now turned mortal enemy). They all get their comeuppance in imaginative ways in this oddball film that went straight-to-video. Author Stephen Thrower, whose terrific book Nightmare USA covers rural American horror films, does an enlightening extra about this rare film’s genesis and checkered history.
The Amazing Mr. X (Film Detective) A wonderfully atmospheric 1946 thriller thanks to the great cinematography by John Alton. A wealthy widow- Christine (Lynn Bari) keeps hearing her dead husband’s voice on the beach at night. She contacts a phony spiritualist Alexis (Turhan Bey) for comfort and guidance. Virginia Gregg plays Christine’s maid who Alexis has placed in her home for inside information. But even the spiritualist discovers there is an even deadlier plot going on against Christine. One of those oddball gems you love to show to friends who have never heard of it, unfortunately because it was a “Public Domain” title one had to suffer through abominable blurry videos and DVDs. This is a 4K transfer from original 35mm elements, and comes with an original documentary: Mysteries Exposed: Inside the Cinematic World of Spiritualism.
Frankenstein’s Daughter (Film Detective) Director Richard Cunha’s deliriously deranged 1958 film opens with bad girl and tease Suzie (Sally Todd), being dropped off by her blue balls boyfriend (Harold Lloyd Jr.). As he drives off she suddenly sees a young woman running down the sidewalk in a nightgown with hideous fangs and fuzzy eyebrows. The unfortunate “monster” is actually sweet, wholesome Trudy (Sandra Knight), who nightly is unwittingly slipped a drug concoction created by mad scientist Oliver Frank (Donald Murphy). Oliver works as an apprentice to Trudy’s Grandfather (Felix Locher) but is really Oliver Frankenstein, a relative to the infamous monster-maker and he is secretly using the lab to help cobble together a female creature from stitched-together body parts collected by the gardener- Elsu (Wolfe Barzell). His final creation is this hilarious giant-headed disfigured creature played by Wallace Beery’s understudy- Harry Wilson– who dubbed himself “The Ugliest Man in Pictures.” Late in the film Trudy hosts a rock and roll barbecue with boyfriend Johnny (John Ashley) around her pool and Harold Lloyd Jr. joins the band to croak out two lackluster tunes “Special Date” and “Fly Away Tonight,” music no teenager in their right mind would ever listen to again.
