A veritable Thanksgiving feast for Blu-ray fanatics including Paul Morrissey’s Flesh for Frankenstein, and some very rare 40s thrillers from Kino that I never dreamed I would own like Among the Living and The Mad Doctor. Also, 4k Blu-rays of some classics including Deep Red, Mulholland Drive and Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers. W. C. Fields joins the Blu-ray upgrade, not to mention one of my horror favorites- The Mill of the Stone Women. A rare Barbara Steele gothic chiller. The first season on Rod Serling’s Night Gallery is now on Blu-ray- with the pilot episode directed by Steven Spielberg starring Joan Crawford. Warner Archive releases Peter Lorre’s macabre classic Mad Love and two great Val Lewton chillers. And Severin once again outdoes itself with a great pair of film noir films by Jess Franco and a box set of Nunsploitation treats. Pass the gravy.
Flesh for Frankenstein (Vinegar Syndrome) A 4K restoration of one of the two glorious horror films Paul Morrissey directed in Italy in the 70s. Both Blood for Dracula and Flesh for Frankenstein feature a mix of deadpan black humor, lots of spurting blood, and one of the sexiest leading men ever to hit the silver screen- Joe Dallesandro. Flesh for Frankenstein was first released in 3D and this Blu-ray includes the 3D version if you have that kind of set-up. It allows the gore and guts to be thrust right in your face. Udo Kier (also brilliant in Blood for Dracula) plays the Baron, who beheads a cute farmer (Srdjan Zelenovic) in order to assemble a mate for his female creation. Meanwhile the Baron’s sister (Monique van Vooren) seduces both the servant (Joe Dallesandro) and the new stitched together monster. The Baron’s servant, Otto (Arno Jurging) takes one of his master’s pronouncements too literally. “To know death, Otto, you have to fuck life in the gall bladder.” This exciting three-disc set includes also 2 hours of newly shot video interviews with members of the cast.
Secret of the Blue Room (Kino Lorber) This classic 1933 mystery was remade three times, but this is the first, and best, and stars Lionel Atwill, Gloria Stuart and Paul Lukas. it’s about three suitors of Gloria Stuart’s character Irene, who gather at a castle on a stormy night for her 21st birthday. The discussion turns to the mysterious “blue room” which has been shuttered for 20 years because of the tragic deaths that happened there. Each suitor decides to spend the night alone in the cursed room. Other versions include: The Missing Guest (1939), about a tenacious reporter named “Scoop” Hanlon (Paul Kelly) who lies his way into the mansion that includes the deadly “Blue Room” and is witness to disappearances and murder. Two ex-crooks turned detectives show up and are truly irritating. The Murder in the Blue Room (1944) follows a similar plot but adds an Andrews Sisters-like singing group called the “Jazzy-Belles” to joke up the film and sing songs like “Boogie Woogie Boogie Man.” “IT’S MUR-DER TO MUSIC” screamed the ad for that film. This Blu-ray of the 1933 version is stunning looking.
The Spider Woman Strikes Back (Kino Lorber) Jean (Brenda Joyce) plays a young woman who comes to “Domingo” Nevada to be companion to a blind woman- Zenobia Dollard (Gale Sondergaard) at a spooky old mansion where she lives with a creepy mute servant (Rondo Hatton). Nightly Jean is given a glass of drugged milk and then Zenobia extracts blood from her which she feeds to her exotic plants in the basement which Mario uses to poison the livestock in the town. This is truly one of the most bizarre Universal horror films, and impossible to see, never having been out on home video. Sondergaard admitted to Leonard Maltin, “I almost had hysterics at one time out of just hating it so.” But it is a great thrill to finally see this wonderfully weird, rare hour-long chiller looking beautiful on Blu-ray. Movie historian Tom Weaver does the informative audio commentary.
The Mad Doctor (Kino Lorber) A rare 1940 Paramount thriller starring the always excellent Basil Rathbone as a suave Bluebeard-like wife killer. As a psychiatrist in Manhattan he romances a death-obsessed heiress (Ellen Drew) hoping to wed and murder her, but John Howard, as a wily newspaper man, is determined to unmask him as the malevolent fiend he really is. The fascinating thing in the film is the relationship between Rathbone and his assistant (Martin Kosleck) which clearly has homosexual overtones. Historian David Del Valle, during his informative audio commentary, relates how actor Martin Kosleck told him that he and Rathbone definitely played these characters as a couple. It’s a moody, weird, great film.
An Angel for Satan (Severin) One of the last gothic chillers actress Barbara Steele made in Italy (having started with Mario Bava’s unforgettable Black Sunday). Set in 19th Century Italy, the saucer-eyed, dark-haired beauty Steele stars as Harriet, the mistress of the mansion who returns home as a cursed statue is unearthed from the water nearby and a handsome sculptor (Anthony Steffan) is brought in to restore it. Soon Harriet seems possessed by a vengeful spirit and wreaks havoc on the superstitious villagers, causing death and suffering. A rare gem, looking gorgeous on Blu-ray, with audio commentary with Barbara Steele and film historian David Del Valle. This also includes an arty French short- Venus in Furs, starring the bewitching Steele.
Franco Noir (Severin). Two sensational film noir-like crime dramas by prolific Spanish director Jess Franco. Death Whistles the Blues (1964) two musicians trucking fruit for a gangster are stopped by police who find guns hidden in the crates. Years later the criminal kingpin responsible is living well in Jamaica with his beautiful wife when he gets a letter from one of the men (who he thought was dead) threatening revenge. Filled with great jazz (written by Franco) and moody, great cinematography (also by Franco) this will be an eye-opener for fans of the sexy horror films that the director is most known for. Rififi in the City (1963) is about a Detective Sergeant doggedly going after a corrupt political figure who is responsible for an undercover man’s brutal murder. But someone else is bumping off the underworld figures responsible for that man’s death also. There is an extended extra with author Stephen Thrower, who wrote two exceptional books about Jess Franco’s career.
Homebodies (Kino Lorber) Fabulously offbeat 1974 black comedy, filmed in Cincinnati, written and directed by Larry Yust, about a group of elderly residents in a tenement slated for demolition who band together to keep from being evicted by sabotaging the construction site nearby and killing off city officials and greedy developers attempting to relocate them. The character actors are sublime- from prune-eating, fiendish Mattie (Paula Trueman), the genteel, agoraphobic Miss Emily (Frances Fuller), the aged Super and his wife (Ruth McDevitt and Ian Wolfe), and the crafty blind man (Peter Brocco). The movie still packs a sardonic punch. Audio commentary by director Larry Yust.
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (Kino Lorber) Based on a Cornell Woolrich novel and imaginatively directed by underrated John Farrow (The Big Clock), this 1948 film noir is mixed with the supernatural. Edward G. Robinson stars at Triton, a stage mentalist who is suddenly overcome with real visions of deadly future events. Gail Russell plays an heiress Triton is convinced will die soon “under the stars” and while he desperately tries to alter her fate, the police and her fiancé (John Lund) consider him a con man and suspect. Russell is perfect for the part- she always had a haunted quality on screen which suits her character’s fatalistic nature. It’s a really unusual, tense and beautifully filmed thriller, suffused with a sense of poetic, impending doom. The disc has a superb audio commentary by film historian Imogen Sara Smith.
Night Gallery (Kino Lorber) Rod Serling’s follow-up to The Twilight Zone was this horror anthology show. Serling shows up in front of different paintings to introduce his macabre tales. The pilot includes an amazing sequence directed by a young Steven Spielberg and starring Joan Crawford as a wealthy Manhattan blind woman who blackmails a surgeon (Barry Sullivan) into transplanting the optic nerves from the eyes of a poor soul in need of money (who gives up his own sight for $9,000) just so she can see for 11 hours. It’s inventive filmmaking and Joan Crawford gives a great performance and the ironic ending is just sublime. Night Gallery ran for three seasons and this 1st season looks startling and great on Blu-ray. With guest stars like Roddy McDowall, Richard Kiley, Ossie Davis, Diane Keaton, etc. There are audio commentaries on several episodes.
Among the Living (Kino Lorber) The long-awaited debut of this creepy, atmospheric, Southern gothic 1941 film directed by Stuart Heisler (The Glass Key). An extraordinary Albert Dekker plays Paul “a hopeless maniac,” locked up in a crumbling mansion and cared for by a servant and a doctor who has falsified his death certificate. After the death of his father, his twin brother John (Dekker) arrives for the funeral with his wife (Frances Farmer) only to discover that his brother is alive and unfortunately has escaped and is murdering people. A young Susan Hayward is a spitfire as the spunky daughter of the landlady of the rooming house Paul rents a room in. the beautiful Frances Farmer made only one other film before her mother had her committed to a mental institution. Moody and morbid, I can’t tell you what a joy to finally see this outside of a blurry bootleg. Audio commentary by Professor Jason A. Ney.
The Designated Victim (Mondo Macabro) Wonderfully perverse 1971 Italian “giallo” take on Strangers on a Train, with the always great Tomas Milian as Stefano, who runs a successful ad agency but is unhappily married to a bitter, wealthy wife. Vacationing with his mistress in Venice, Stefano keeps crossing path with the androgynous Count Matteo (Pierre Clementi), who eventually suggests, “what if I kill your wife and you kill my brother?” Stefano doesn’t take him seriously but Matteo impulsively murders Stefano’s wife and blackmails Matteo into bumping off his brother. The homoeroticism of the Patricia Highsmith’s original is even more overt here with the effete Count practically courting Matteo, who seems fascinated and amused by the attention at first until it turns deadly. Stylishly directed by Maurizio Lucidi, this is a 4k restoration from the camera negative. One of the extras is a fascinating interview with Balthazar Clementi, the son of Pierre Clementi. The visually striking Clementi, known as the “Pope of Counter Culture” in France, worked with Visconti, Bertolucci, Bunuel, Pasolini and has always been a true hero of mine.
It’s Nothing Mama, just a Game (Mondo Macabro) Bizarre Spanish film starring David Hemmings (Blow-Up) as Juan, a Latin American aristocrat, cultivating “dwarf pines” on a hacienda with his mother (Alida Valli). But mama covers up when son plays his sadistic game of chasing beautiful village women (in rabbit costumes) through his woods in a deadly hunt. Juan’s psychosis stems from youthful memories seeing his randy father killed. The pretty young woman hired to be a servant in the house Lola (Andrea Rau) catches Juan’s eye but proves to be a major challenge to seduce. This sleazy wonder was also known as Beyond Erotica and comes with audio commentary by Kat Ellinger and a visual essay on David Hemmings and this kinky gem.
The Bank Dick (Kino Lorber) A true comedy classic with W. C. Fields once again as a henpecked husband named Egbert Souse, who stumbles onto a movie set and bullshits his way into the director’s chair and later takes credit for stopping a robbery and gets an ill-fated job as a bank guard. Fields used the pseudonym of “Mahatma Kane Jeeves” for the riotous screenplay. There’s a great moment with Fields at the Black Pussycat Café where he asks the bartender if he spend a 20 dollar bill the night before. When the bartender replies that he had, Fields says in relief, “Oh boy, what a load that is off my mind. I thought I lost it.” At the bank a little boy points out Fields’ bulbous nose and says it’s “funny looking” and his mother admonishes, “You mustn’t make fun of the gentleman. Clifford. You’d like to have a nose like that full of nickels, wouldn’t you?”
It’s a Gift (Kino Lorber) My personal favorite of all of W. C. Fields films if just for the exchange when someone accuses henpecked New Jersey grocer Harold Bisonette (“it’s pronounced Bee-soh-nay”) of being drunk and he replies, “And you’re crazy. But I’ll be sober tomorrow and you’ll be crazy for the rest of your life.” The tight direction of Norman Z. McLeod makes this 1934 comedy classic zip along. It’s about the harried grocer buying an orange grove in California and trucking his hideous family there with a surprising outcome. But for me the scene with Harold trying to get some sleep on the back porch only to be tormented by annoying babies and insurance men yelling up looking for “Carl LaFong- Capital L, small a…” makes me fall off my couch laughing every time.
Deep Red (Arrow Video) A new 4k restoration of an early masterpiece by Dario Argento starring David Hemmings as a jazz musician in Rome who is a witness to a murder and becomes a target for the killer. With the glorious Daria Nicolodi as a journalist who tags along with him and puts herself in the crosshairs of the deranged murderer. This was the film where Argento moved from straightforward “giallo” thrillers into more stylishly outlandish territory, with inventive camera movements, disturbing murders and a pulse-pounding soundtrack by Goblin. A huge international hit but severely pared down in the States. This Blu-ray has both versions of the feature and optional Italian language soundtrack. This also comes with a fold-out poster, an illustrated booklet, six reproduced lobby cards and new audio commentary by Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson.
Mad Love (Warner Archive) A true horror classic starring an unforgettable Peter Lorre as the bald, bug-eyed Doctor Gogol, lovesick over an actress in a Parisian Grand Guignol theater- Yvonne (Frances Drake). But Yvonne is married to a famous pianist (Colin Clive), so Gogol keeps a wax figure of her in his apartment. When the pianist’s hands are mangled in a train wreck Gogol amputates and successfully sews on the hands of an executed murderer. Later he tries to convince the husband he now is capable of murder. The direction by Karl Freund is visionary, with striking imagery (from cinematographer Gregg Toland) filled with unnerving camera angles and a great score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Lorre’s performance is legendary and the Blu-ray looks just astonishing.
The Ghost Ship/Bedlam (Warner Archive) Two terrific Val Lewton-produced, atmospheric films newly restored and remastered on Blu-ray. The Ghost Ship (1943) stars Russell Wade as Third Officer on a sailing ship with a well-respected Captain (Richard Dix), who he slowly realizes is a psychotic killer. Dix is mesmerizing as the affable but bonkers Captain. Bedlam (1946) stars Boris Karloff as the evil Master Sims, the brutal ruler of a harrowing asylum in London in 1761. Anna Lee plays the quick-witted protégé of Lord Mortimer (Billy House) who tries to reform the hideous conditions at the asylum and ends up an unwitting patient. Both films glisten now on Blu-ray.
Children of the Damned (Warner Archive) “I should have crushed you to death the minute I held you to my breast,” says a distraught mother to her silent, scary, brilliant son in this sequel to Village of the Damned. After the upset mom says that, her little boy genius stares malevolently at her and afterwards she, zombie-like, walks out into traffic. Yes, the creepy mind control tots are back in this London-set sci-fi film where 6 like-minded children from different international embassies escape to an abandoned church while the military plot their downfall. There’s a dour, Cold War paranoia to this film and the audio commentary is by original screenwriter John Briley.
Mulholland Drive (Criterion) A 4K presentation of David Lynch’s dark masterpiece which was supposed to be the pilot of an ABC series until the executives freaked out when the saw the final results. An incandescent Naomi Watts stars as the wide-eyed innocent aspiring actress Betty who arrives in Hollywood only to find a beautiful stranger (sultry Laura Elena Harring) in her shower suffering from amnesia and with a purse full of cash. The other oddball plot lines include bumbling hitman, threatened film directors, scary gangsters, mysterious midgets, blue keys, and Ann Miller as the landlady! There are cameos by Lee Grant, Chad Everett and even Billy Ray Cyrus. I can only imagine what the TV executives thought of all this creepiness. It’s like Melrose Place meets Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. L.A. never looked so ominous, and it is vintage Lynch– scene after scene so bizarrely funny it fries your brain.
Star of David: Beautiful Girl Hunter (Impulse) In an extra on this Blu-ray, Japanese director Norifumi Suzuki says that his film deals with the “joys of being evil.” Nikkatsu studios was known for “Roman Porno” films mixing sex and violence but this one takes the cake. This notorious 1979 film is about a deranged young man Tatsuya (Shun Domon) with an unhealthy, morbid fascination with the Holocaust. He is the product of the rape of his mother by a crazed killer who tied up his father and forced him to watch. Tatsuya, now of age inherits his family home and transforms the basement into a sex dungeon. He kidnaps young women, brutalizes and defiles them in sadistic fury. He is finally reunited with his rapist father for a further wallow in degradation. Based on a manga strip by Masaki Soto, this outrageous shocker is beautifully filmed but so morally bankrupt you may need a shower afterwards.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Kino Lorber) A 4K presentation of Philip Kaufman’s excellent 1978 remake of Don Siegels’ original film about spores from space that drift down, grow into pods and inhabit people’s bodies when they sleep, causing the newly infected to conspire to overtake the world. Set in San Francisco, Donald Sutherland and the wonderful Brooke Adams are on the run from these unemotional aliens. While the original film reflected the McCarthy Era this is dotted with all sorts of ‘70s tropes, like New Age gurus etc. But it makes for one hell of a sci-fi thriller.
Mill of the Stone Women (Arrow Video) A macabre masterpiece, set in 19th century Holland, this French/Italian production stars handsome Pierre Brice as a student who comes to the famous windmill of Professor Wahl (Herbert A. E. Bohme) which contains a carousel of stone women. The professor is actually kidnapping women, draining them of their blood to save the life of his beautiful daughter (Scilla Gabel) and turning their bodies into mummified statues. Drenched with atmosphere and dread, this truly is a poetic nightmare along the lines of movies like Eyes Without a Face. This 2-disc limited edition includes a 2k scan from the negative and four different versions of the film. There is also an illustrated collector’s booklet and a fold-out poster of the film.
The Gestapo’s Last Orgy (88 Films) One of the most notorious of the depraved sub-genre of Nazisploitation films that came out of Italy in the 1970s, director Cesare Canevari borrows heavily from Salon Kitty and The Night Porter for this sordid tale of a Concentration Camp Commandant who meets up years after the war with a Jewish woman he had a sexual relationship with in the camp. Filled with lots of nasty stuff- a feast scene that devolves into cannibalism is particularly jaw-dropping. This is a 2k restoration from the negative and comes with great audio commentary by historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson, and an alternative slightly longer Italian ending.
Nasty Habits: The Nunsploitation Collection (Severin) A 4-disc Blu-ray box set of several sleazy, fabulously sacrilegious “nunsploitation” films. Blame Ken Russell for this trend in exploitation for his controversial film The Devils. Afterwards the floodgates opened for European and Asian movies that reveled in nun-on-nun action. This set includes the extended Italian cut of Cristiana: Devil Nun. The daughter of a prostitute makes a deal with God during a rocky plane ride from Athens to Rome that if she survives she will devote her life to Christ. But even as a nun she can’t escape her promiscuous urges. Director Joe D’Amato’s notorious Images in a Convent is about a mysterious injured man who is taken in by the nuns at a remote convent and one by one they are turned into lascivious, devil-worshiping sinners. Story of a Cloistered Nun is about a girl who refuses an arranged marriage and is placed in a convent only to find she is in the middle of a power struggle between a debauched nun and the Mother Superior who both lust after her. The True Story of the Nun of Monza is about a new Mother Superior (Zora Kerova) who finds her convent a hotbed of wickedness with horny priests and lecherous nuns. Even plenty of self-flagellation isn’t enough to hold back this tsunami of sin. This disc also has 25 minutes of deleted scenes. I wonder how many “Hail Marys” you will have to do after watching this set?