Here are some lurid and entertaining Blu-ray stocking stuffers to make the spirit bright for certain demented family members. I would go insane to find any one of these under the Christmas tree.
Horrors of the Black Museum (VCI) A lurid 1959 horror gem directed by Arthur Crabtree starring Michael Gough as Edmond Bancroft, a successful true crime author in London brought in by Scotland Yard to help solve a series of brutal murders in the city. Trouble is, Edmond is the one committing the crimes- helped by his hypnotized assistant. There are fiendish murders- one including a trick pair of binoculars at the beginning that is unforgettable. And there are weird undertones in the movie, particularly when the male assistant brings his girlfriend (beautiful Shirley Anne Field) over to see the private “black museum” and Edmond goes bonkers that he had the audacity to bring a woman over. The sadism, misogyny and homoerotic undercurrents were startling at the time. This Blu-ray has been a long time coming but I am overjoyed to bask in the film’s sleazy beauty. This comes with the original U.S. “HypnoVista” opening with psychologist Emile Franchel. Also, an archival audio interview with Michael Gough and a 2018 interview with Shirley Anne Field.
Days of Heaven (Criterion) Terrence Malick’s 1978 masterpiece is truly one of the most visually stunning films I can ever remember seeing in a theater. Set before World War 1, Bill (Richard Gere) accidentally kills a steel mill foreman and goes on the run with his girlfriend Abby (luminous Brooke Adams) and her kid sister Linda (astonishing Linda Manz). They end up working the wheat fields of a farmer (Sam Shepard) where Bill and Linda pretend to be siblings. The farmer falls for Linda and their marriage results in tragedy. Every frame resonates, and there are sequences (like a locust invasion) that are unforgettable. The leads are so visually beautiful you could die, and Linda Manz’s hilariously offbeat voice-over makes it that much wonderful. This is a new 4K scan from Criterion and comes with great extras.
The Monster Squad (Kino Lorber) I’ve long been a fan of this wildly enjoyable 1987 tale of a posse of suburban misfit kids (and lovers of horror movies) who end up battling real monsters that have invaded their town. From Count Dracula, the Wolfman, the Mummy to the Gill Man. The little sister befriends the towering Frankenstein monster (beautifully played by Tom Noonan) who teams up with the tykes. Wonderfully directed by Fred Dekker (who helmed the sci-fi great Night of the Creeps), this movie is from a kid’s point of view, but not without the rudeness and messiness. This 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray is from a scan of the 35mm original negative and looks glorious. It comes with scores of extras and documentaries on the making of the film and audio commentary with the director and cast members.
The Day of the Locust (Arrow) John Schlesinger’s corrosive portrait of the early days of Hollywood based on a book by Nathanael West didn’t get much love at the time of its release which was a shame. Because it attempted something grand and dark and apocalyptic and for the most part nailed it. Karen Black is remarkable as the young actress desperate for fame, who goes to sordid lengths to achieve her goals. The story’s narrator is Tod (William Atherton) who arrives in 1930s Hollywood to do set and costume design and is bewitched by his neighbor, the alluring Faye (Black). Burgess Meredith plays Faye’s drunken, former vaudevillian, father. Donald Sutherland plays the deeply repressed Homer, mad for Faye. And Jackie Earle Haley brilliantly plays the hateful little 12-year-old child star Adore. It all boils over during a chaotic movie premiere. Director William Castle (The Tingler) shows up as the director of a Napoleon-like epic, and Geraldine Page as an Amiee Semple McPherson-like evangelist. It’s a dark, cynical film, but a fascinating one too. This Arrow Blu-ray is a 2K restoration from the negative and comes with audio commentary by film historian Lee Gambin; an appreciation by film critic Glenn Kenny and visual essays on the movie.
The Terror/Little Shop of Horrors (Film Masters) Roger Corman finished up his Poe horror/comedy epic The Raven early and decided to scramble together a script and shoot a film in two days while he still had Boris Karloff under contract and sets from the film available. The result was the gothic horror film The Terror starring Jack Nicholson as a French soldier who is bewitched by the beautiful but deadly spirit of the Baron’s (Karloff) late wife. It may have taken 2 days to film but it was a 9-month ordeal to complete, including using the aide of 5 directors. Always available on VHS and DVD because it was in “public domain” at least Film Masters has provided a wonderful-looking newly restored Blu-ray. The big treat is a stunning looking extra- Corman’s delightfully macabre The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) starring Jonathan Haze as Seymour, working at a skid-row florist shop, who becomes famous for nursing a weird plant back to health that keeps growing larger (thanks to feeding it blood and eventually bodies). The plant also talks, shrieking “Feed Me!” at poor, hapless Seymour. The film was remade as a hit musical and then another film based on the musical but the original is still whacky fun. Particularly Jack Nicholson as the crazed masochist who keeps returning to a dentist for unnecessary drilling. This looks incredible on Blu-ray.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (Universal) Based on the “captain’s log” section of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, concerning the grim fate of the sailors aboard the ship that sailed Dracula’s body (in a crate of home earth) to London. I was hesitant about this one, considering we all know how this story ends, but director Andre Ovredal (who did the spectacularly scary The Autopsy of Jane Doe) really creates an old-fashioned gothic mood for the film and adds all sorts of clever touches, not to mention a creepy bat-like, winged, toothy creature which rises at night taking out the crew one by one. Corey Hawkins is quite good as the doctor who joins the crew for this doomed voyage. So is Aisling Franciosi ss poor Anna, the unwilling stowaway and victim of Dracula. The disc comes with an alternative opening and deleted scenes; commentary by the director and a “making of” documentary.
The Violent Years (AGFA) Paula Parkins (Jean Morehead) is the innocent-looking daughter of a prominent newspaperman, but secretly the leader of a group of pistol-whipping gals who rob filling stations, abduct and rape men, and smash up schoolrooms for a Communist organization. “These aren’t kids, these are morons!” says the policeman. This riotous black and white wonder, written by bad movie master Edward D. Wood Jr. (Plan 9 From Outer Space) ends with the dying Paula giving illegitimate birth in a prison hospital ward, croaking out her final words, and, philosophy of life: “So What!” This is a restoration from the original negative and comes with great audio commentary by filmmaker Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case) and Ed Wood biographer Rudolph Grey. And if that isn’t enough there is a bonus film- Anatomy of a Psycho (1961) about Chet (Darrell Howe) who becomes deranged when his older brother, who raised him, is sentenced to death for murder. He loses all reason and goes after the people in the legal system he considers responsible. Ed Wood Jr. supposedly had something to do with the original story for the film.
Les Vampires (Kino Lorber) This stunning 10-part silent film serial about a bloodthirsty gang of criminals that call themselves the Vampires is the work of French director Louis Feuillade (1873-1925). Operating out of club called The Howling Cat, the Vampires unleash a reign of terror throughout Paris- beheading policemen, poisoning ballerinas, asphyxiating and robbing the bourgeoisie. Star reporter Phillipe Guerande (Edouard Mathe) goes after the dastardly villains with his goofy sidekick Mazamette (Marcel Levesque). Throughout the course of their dangerous exploits, there are many successors to the Grand Vampire- from the evil Satanas to the diabolical chemist known as Venomous. But none are as deadly as the raccoon-eyed Irma Vep (played by Musidora). Singer, master of disguise and head strategist of the gang, her name is also an anagram for “vampire.” Ms. Vep and the crew, who climb walls and scurry across roofs in skin-tight black outfits, were an inspiration to Surrealists such as Aragon, Breton and Eluard. Modern filmmakers like Olivier Assayas tackled Irma Vep in his own inimitable way. This 1915 series was mastered in HD from a 1996 35mm restoration supervised by Louis Feuillade’s grandson Jacques Champreux.
The Fugitive (Warner Brothers) 1993 action classic based on the long-running TV series. Harrison Ford played Dr. Richard Kimble, wrongly accused of the murder of his wife and sentenced to death, who goes on the run to find the real killer. Tommy Lee Jones plays Deputy U.S. Marshall Sam Gerard doggedly hunting him Richard down. Nominated for 7 Academy Awards this was expertly directed by Andrew Davis and still holds up well. It’s filled with incredible action sequences- particularly the gasp-inducing crash between the bus carrying convicts and an oncoming train in which Richard Kimble makes his daring escape. This 4K restoration was sourced from the original camera negative. It comes with an introduction by Andrew Davis and Harrison Ford, commentary by Davis and Tommy Lee Jones and several “making of” documentaries.
Dr. Butcher M.D./Zombie Holocaust (Severin) I still can’t get over it- a stunning 4 disc Blu-ray set of both versions of this notorious staple of 42nd Street grindhouses. Zombie Holocaust is the original Italian shocker about a mad scientist experimenting on natives and causing an army of walking dead. Aquarius Films acquired the movie and incorporated scenes from a student film by Roy Frumkes and the result was Dr. Butcher M.D. (Medical Deviate). The ad campaign screamed: “He is a depraved, sadistic rapist. A bloodthirsty homicidal killer. …and he makes house calls!” The set include the 2 4K UHD versions of both Dr. Butcher and Zombie Holocaust with scores of extras, both versions restored and uncut, this is a must own for gore hounds. Actor Ian McCulloch gives a witty interview discussing the making of the movie which he recalls as very pleasant and the fact that he’s never seen the film. There is also an interview with director Enzo G. Castellari about his father Marino Girolami (who directed this film under the name Frank Martin). It also comes with a Dr. Butcher M.D. barf bag!
Count Dracula (Severin) Early this year a Madrid film archivist discovered an uncut camera negative for this 1970 Jess Franco film starring Christopher Lee as the legendary blood sucker. Lee had been disheartened by the Hammer sequels to Horror of Dracula, so he was persuaded to do a version that stuck closely to Bram Stoker’s novel. In this film, Lee plays the Count with grey hair, who gets younger looking with every bite. Herbert Lom plays his nemesis Van Helsing, Maria Rohm plays Mina and Klaus Kinski wordlessly plays the fly-eating Renfield. This impressive set includes the 4K UHD Blu-ray, the Blu-ray release, a documentary about the making of the film, plus a separate CD of the soundtrack. Over 5 hours of extras!
The Quatermass Xperiment (Kino Lorber) A Blu-ray reissue of a truly great 1955 sci-fi film, and a film that changed the course of Hammer Studios, which up until then had turned out low-rent comedies and crime dramas. This became an international hit- it was called The Creeping Unknown in the US, and after that Hammer released The Curse of Frankenstein and Horror of Dracula and the rest is cult history. This was adapted from Nigel Kneale’s BBC television serial and stars Brian Donlevy as the gruff, no nonsense scientist Quatermass. baffled when a three-manned spaceship he sends up crashes back to earth with only one man aboard. Richard Wordsworth gives an amazing, wordless, performance as the changed astronaut, inhabited by some unknown entity. He is part tragic and heartbreaking but also chilling and malevolent as he begins to morph into something monstrous. Great direction by Val Guest and an incredible score by James Bernard turn this into a terror classic.
Madame Bovary (Warner Archive) There is a scene in Vincente Minnelli’s 1949 film version of the Flaubert classic where Emma Bovary (Jennifer Jones) is at a ball and is swept off her feet to dance the waltz by a dashing soldier (Louis Jourdan). The music swells, the dancers swirl around and around as the camera spins with them building to a dizzying moment when Emma cries out that she is going to faint which causes the servants to smash the windows out with chairs. This choreography by Minnelli was specifically designed with the music and is so brilliant and cinematic it takes one’s breath away. The film opens with Gustave Flaubert in a courtroom testifying against the banning of his novel “Madame Bovary” for obscenity (which did happen). Then we get to the tale of poor, doomed Emma, who marries a country doctor (Van Heflin) and tragically begins a disastrous affair with a dastardly soldier. This is a 4K scan of preservation elements, and any lover of film owes it to study the cinematic daring and brilliance of Vincente Minnelli.
The Great Ziegfeld (Warner Archive) Bloated, but entertaining 1936 MGM bio-pic about the great theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. (William Powell). We chart his humble beginnings trying to promote singer Anna Held (Luise Rainer) and then mounting eye-popping extravaganzas on stage and making stars of Fannie Brice and others. Myrna Loy plays Billie Burke, who Ziegfeld eventually married. Rainer won an Oscar for her performance (her phone call scene pretending to be happy for Florenz marrying Burke was her hammy, scene-stealing moment). But what’s so much fun is that the film is jammed with musical numbers, comedy bits, showgirls galore and the unforgettable “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody” number with a giant revolving cake-like set on stage with hundreds of extras. It only reminds you that, “they don’t make ‘em like that anymore.”
