Batshit Blu-rays of the Month- 13 for February

            Who needs valentines when these terrific Blu-rays are available this month? Each one like a lethal candy kiss. From an unforgettable Fritz Lang film noir, a fantastic Hong Kong action film with Michelle Yeoh; Annette Funicello dancing at a pajama party; James Dean ordering a chocolate malt in an early Douglas Sirk film; a bonkers 1970 French “giallo” about an amiable strangler; the Coen Brothers’ audacious first film; to a colorful Technicolor adventure film from the 1950s with Deborah Kerr in peril in Africa looking for a mythic diamond mine. 2 Good 2 Be Forgot 10.

            Scarlet Street (Kino Lorber) In Fritz Lang’s nightmarish noir, Edward G. Robinson brilliantly plays Chris, a kindly cashier leaving a dinner in Greenwich Village where he was honored and awarded a gold watch for his long-time service. He comes to the aid of a woman being beat up by a man and afterwards they go out for a cocktail. Her name is Kitty (Joan Bennett), and Chris, a henpecked husband who dreams of being an artist, becomes hopeless smitten. Kitty and her pimp boyfriend (a wonderfully sleazy Dan Duryea) figure Chris to be an easy mark, mistaking him for a wealthy man and Chris goes down the rabbit hole, setting Kitty up in an apartment where he can also paint. Joan Bennett is terrific as the crude, devious dame, playing poor Chis like a cat with a mouse. Kitty even steals his artwork, sells it to a gallery and takes credit for it. Not surprisingly, it all ends in disaster, death and a doomed soul forever wandering the city streets. Fritz Lang used all three leads previously in the similar-themed The Woman in the Window but that one had a twist ending. This spirals into darkness and despair. The 4K UHD deepens and enriches the blacks and grays, adding great texture to this fateful melodrama.

            The Heroic Trio/Executioners (Criterion) Two fabulous futuristic Hong Kong action films directed by Johnnie To with three beautiful, high-flying warriors. The Heroic Trio (1993) begins with a string of mysterious baby kidnappings (by an invisible adversary). The kids are being taken to the subterranean lair of a villainous master who plans to choose one to be the new emperor of China and turn the rest into monstrous demons. Working with him is “Invisible Girl” (Michelle Yeoh). She only does this to protect a sickly scientist working on perfecting the invisible cloak from UV light. A cop’s wife (Anita Mui) is secretly the masked “Wonder Woman,” who flies across power lines to save lives. Maggie Cheung is “Thief Catcher” driving a motorcycle, kicking ass and taunting the cops. Anthony Wong is a riot as a finger-eating henchman with a chain mail contraption that whips through the air and cuts off heads. It’s a wildly enjoyable mix of Wuxia, fantasy and dramedy. Executioners (1993) is set a few years later where the three have gone their separate ways while a facially-scarred fiend controls the water supply after a nuclear attack. The trio join up to prevent a military coup and find a clean water source in this grimmer, more politically-minded action film. 

            Blood Simple (Criterion) Joel and Ethan Coen’s dazzling debut film is this Texas neo-noir about a bar owner- Julian (Dan Hedaya), who hires a sleazy private investigator (a fabulously loathsome M. Emmet Walsh) to kill his cheating wife Abby (Frances McDormand) and her lover Ray (John Getz). Then things really go south. Like a murderous comedy of errors. Everything works- from the brilliant, audacious script; the wildly clever camerawork by Barry Sonnenfeld; the inspired score by Carter Burwell, not to mention fabulous musical selections from The Four Tops. And then there’s that superb cast, from the luminous Frances McDormand; terrific John Getz, scary Dan Hedaya to the outlandish, sweaty monster played by M. Emmet Walsh. I remember coming out of the NY Film Festival (where it premiered) excitedly thinking- who are these guys? There are great extras about the making of the film, not to mention Frances McDormand talking about getting the role and a funny story about how she worked herself up to play the tense finale. There’s also a fun extra with M. Emmet Walsh discussing his incredible career. The 4K digital transfer is absolutely sensational.

            Tom and Jerry (Thunderbeam) Not the Tom & Jerry (cat and mouse) cartoons you’re thinking of- these were the 1930s whacky animated features from Van Bueren studios for RKO. All 28 cartoons have been remastered and look amazing. Tom is the gawky tall one with a tiny hat, Jerry is the squat fat one with a tiny hat and their adventures are a series of surreal, off-the-wall visual gags and songs. In one they are chased around a castle by dancing skeletons and ghosts, in another they are shipwrecked at the North Pole and end up playing piano for the penguins and walruses singing a spirited version of “Nagasaki.” In another they eat some Swiss Cheese and suddenly are riddled with holes and chased by hundreds of mice. 

            The Black Room (Vinegar Syndrome) Wonderfully warped 1982 film about Larry (Jimmy Stathis), a bored suburban husband and dad who answers an ad in the personals: “Hollywood Hills- Live Your Fantasy! Hilltop Mansion Has Unique and Exotic Room for Rent.” He rents this swinger’s pad from a strange brother and sister- Jason (Stephen Knight) and Brigid (Cassandra Gava)- who prep the room when he brings over women to have sex with- they light the candles, put on the music, and secretly spy on the sex acts through a hidden hole in the wall. Not only that, they also kidnap Larry’s “dates” and drain them of blood. Jason has some sort of a rare blood disease that compels him to exsanguinate these victims. Larry’s wife Robin (Clara Perryman) discovers her husband’s secret and decides to get revenge by having her own extramarital trysts in the “Black Room.” Directed by Elly Kenner and written by Norman Thaddeus Vane– who demanded a co-directing credit. Vane apparently rented a similar “swingers” room in L.A. when he worked for Penthouse Magazine and was horrified to find his host was spying on him. This is a really unique twist on the vampire theme and gets really creepy and bizarre when the brother and sister kidnap Larry and Robin’s children to drain them of their blood. This is a 4K from the negative and looks incredible. The Blu-ray comes with an interview with the director and some of the cast, plus a fascinating extra featuring author Stephen Thrower on the wild life and career of Norman Thaddeus Vane.

            The Bridge (MHz/Kino Lorber) (DVD only) Great Danish crime series starring the amazing Sofia Helin as Swedish detective Saga Noren, definitely “on the spectrum,” but also an excellent investigator. This 4^th season has never been available on DVD here. Saga is in prison at the beginning of this season- her monster of a mother committed suicide and left clues so that her daughter would get blamed. Saga’s partner Henrik (Thure Lindhardt) is investigating the killing of a woman who headed the Immigration Department who was stoned to death. A radical left-wing group Red October is a possible suspect. Meanwhile Henrik is still trying to deal with the mystery of his wife’s death and the abduction of his two daughters 8 years ago. Then there’s a brutal cab driver who stalks his wife and son who have to relocate again and again every time he finds them. They accept sanctuary in this creepy compound run by a strange older woman. There’s also two homeless girls who unwittingly pickpocket the cell phone of a murderer. Nordic Noir at its best. A really tense, twisty season for the show’s finale.

            King Solomon’s Mines (Warner Archive) Rousing 1950 Technicolor adventure film based on the H. Rider Haggard novel and set in 1897 starring Stewart Granger as African guide Alan Quatermain. He begrudgingly agrees to go on an expedition to search for the husband of Elizabeth Curtis (Deborah Kerr), who disappeared while searching for a legendary diamond mine. Elizabeth’s brother (Richard Carlson) accompanies as they travel deep into dangerous country, encountering wild animals, hostile native tribes and feelings between Alan and Elizabeth go from adversarial to amorous. Filmed on location in Africa, the cinematography by Robert Surtees is extraordinary and he deservedly won an Academy Award for it. This looks just amazing on Blu-ray.  

            Suitable Flesh (RLJE & Shudder) A provocative, wickedly perverse tribute to the Stuart Gordon H. P. Lovecraft films of the 1980s. Especially since the film co-stars the still-gorgeous Barbara Crampton, so unforgettable in The Re-Animator and From Beyond. The script is also by frequent Gordon collaborator Dennis Paoli and based on Lovecraft’s The Thing on the Doorstop. The inspired direction is by Joe Lynch, who also has a cameo in the film as “Ross the Orderly” at the Arkham Sanitarium. Heather Graham plays Dr. Elizabeth Derby, a psychiatrist who crosses paths with a disturbed young man- Asa (excellent Judah Lewis), who is convinced an evil entity in his father (Bruce Davison) is attempting to invade and take over his own body. Jonathan Schaech plays Elizabeth’s loving husband, and Barbara Crampton plays her skeptical old friend and mentor Dr. Daniella Upton. (Graham, Crampton, Lewis, Schaech and Davison are all terrific). The fun is when this demonic entity hops from body to body fiendishly transforming the host. There are all these transgressive sexual aspects to the film also- a high point is when Elizabeth has a wild, violent lovemaking session with her startled husband while overtaken by this male entity. You don’t need the Necronomicon to enjoy this ghoulishly great treat.

            Leviathan (Kino Lorber) Gorgeous 4K UHD & Blu-ray set of a terrific 1989 action/horror film starring Peter Weller as the captain of a deep-sea mining team three days from the end of their 90-day mission mining silver from the ocean floor when they suddenly come on a sunken Russian vessel called Leviathan. Afterwards some of the crew start suffering from genetic alterations which eventually mutates into a hideous monster. The moral: don’t fuck with mother nature. Stan Winston created the effectively creepy creature effects. What really makes this click is the excellent, appealing cast- from Peter Weller to Ernie Hudson, Richard Crenna, Hector Elizondo, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern, Michael Carmine, and Lisa Eilbacher. Quite suspenseful and fun. This looks amazing now on Blu-ray and comes with audio commentary by film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson plus interviews with Ernie Hudson and Hector Alizondo and a featurette on the film.  

            Pajama Party (MGM) In this loony 1964 “beach party” movie Tommy Kirk plays a Martian sent to earth to make way for an alien invasion who falls for Annette Funicello instead. With Elsa Lanchester as a dotty, rich dowager who runs a dress shop that caters to teens. Buster Keaton shows up in Native American garb as Chief Rotten Eagle. Dorothy Lamour does the twist during a fashion show. Donna Loren sings. Don Rickles and Frankie Avelon are Martians. Candy Johnson is wildly frugging non-stop. If you squint you can see Teri Garr and Toni Basil dancing. Even columnist Dorothy Kilgallen shows up on the back of a motorcycle. And everyone ends up pushed in the swimming pool during the pajama party.

            Has Anybody Seen My Gal (Kino Lorber) Rock Hudson was a contract player at Universal when he luckily got the role in this 1952 comedy directed by Douglas Sirk– who later made Hudson a star by featuring him in his melodramas Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows and Written on the Wind. In this genial comedy, Charles Coburn stars as a hypochondriac millionaire in the roaring 1920s planning on leaving his fortune to the family of the “girl who got away.” He decides to travel incognito to spy on the family to decide if they are worthy of his fortune. Rock Hudson works at the local drug store with eyes for Millie (Piper Laurie), who is one of the possible heirs. Lynn Bari plays her social-climbing mother and Coburn weasels himself into their house as a border. Gigi Perreau is incredibly appealing as the daughter who quickly bonds with the border. Coburn ends up getting a job as a soda jerk. Comedy ensues. Look for an unbilled James Dean sitting at the drugstore counter who asks for a chocolate malt. There’s also a great extra- “Fun on the Lot: Piper Laurie and Gigi Perreau Remember Has Anybody Seen My Gal.” 

            Let’s Dance (Kino Lorber) Betty Hutton has this quality on screen- like she had 39 cups of coffee before she shot the scene. She used to really get on my nerves, but her role in Preston Sturges’ The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek won me over and ever since I’ve grown to appreciate her demented high energy in films. Now this 1950 Paramount musical co-starring Fred Astaire is one I was unfamiliar with. Filmed in gorgeous Technicolor, with dance numbers choreographed by Hermes Pan and songs by Frank Loesser. Betty plays a war widow with a young son. She’s in a custody battle with the child’s wealthy, disapproving grandmother who thinks show business is no place to bring up a youngster. Fred Astaire plays her former dance partner who gets her a job in his nightclub and keeps trying to marry her. The opening number- the manic “Can’t Stop Talking About Him”- is a deranged high point.

            The Strangler (Altered Innocence) An ultra-rare 1970 French thriller, directed by Paul Vecchialli, about a boyishly handsome serial killer- Emile (Jacques Perrin)- who only strangles women who are sad and depressed. And chokes them with a child’s white knitted scarf (the similar scarf he watched a murderer use when he was a boy). Detective Simon Dangret (Julien Guiomar) uses unorthodox methods to track the killer down and is approached by Anna (Eva Simonet), who wants to be used as bait to draw the murderer out. There’s a particularly great scene where a mob of prostitutes chase down a guy in the park they think is the strangler. It doesn’t play out like any “giallo” you’ve ever seen, that’s for sure, but is curiously fascinating from beginning to end and looks extraordinary on Blu-ray. What a weird one!