Talk about some great stocking stuffers. The Blu-ray releases this month cover the gamut from rare sleaze classics to the last film from beloved director William Castle Also a truly great supernatural TV series; an anthology horror film with one segment directed by the late, great, Ken Russell; a digitally remastered Monogram Studios horror cheapie; an outrageous Mexican musical melodrama from the 1950s; and some X-rated films directed by cult hero Edward D. Wood Jr. They are enough to make Santa’s head explode.
Who Killed Teddy Bear? (Cinematographe) A sleaze masterpiece, circa 1965, directed by Joseph Cates starring Sal Mineo as a Peeping Tom busboy who spies on leggy Juliet Prowse and makes obscene phone calls to her. There are a lot of scenes of Mineo in his underwear or in a revealing Speedo. With Jan Murray as a creepy cop and Elaine Stritch as the lesbian boss of a disco, who also has her eyes on Prowse. This trash classic, shot on location in New York, was released on DVD in Europe but missing key scenes of Mineo wandering around Times Square cruising sex shops. This is the fully uncut film in 4K UHD with audio commentary by Elizabeth Purchell and KJ Shepherd; a video essay by Chris O’Neill and a featurette on the Times Square locations.
Evil (Complete Series) (CBS) (DVD only) Why did this great supernatural-themed series have to end? I was obsessed when it aired on CBS for two seasons before moving to Paramount + for the last two. It was created by Robert & Michelle King (The Good Wife) and it was right up there with The X-Files for thrills, chills and howls of laughter. It was about three brave souls who were contacted by the Catholic Church to examine bizarre supernatural events. Katja Hebers played the skeptic psychologist living with her five daughters while her husband climbed mountains. Criminally handsome Mike Colter played David Acosta, studying for Priesthood. And Aasif Mandvi played the wisecracking tech whiz who also is a confirmed skeptic. Their nemesis is Dr. Leland Townsend (a deliciously fiendish Michael Emerson), who, with his satanic worshiping flock, is busy making plans for the birth of the Antichrist. Wallace Shawn enters later in the show as a closeted priest, and the fabulous Andrea Martin plays Sister Andrea, a nun with the power to see demons, and dispatch them with a broom if necessary. Just brilliant from beginning to its very satisfying finale.
Shanks (Vinegar Syndrome) The last film directed by horror showman and gimmicks great William Castle (The Tingler, The House on Haunted Hill, 13 Ghosts). Castle calls this 1974 film, in the credits, “A Grim Fairy Tale,” and it stars master mime Marcel Marceau as Malcom Shanks, a deaf mute who delights in doing puppet shows for the kids in town, in particular a young girl named Celia (Cindy Eilbacher), who adores him. He lives with his shrewish sister (Tsilla Chelton) and her drunken lout of a husband (Philippe Clay) who live off the money Malcolm makes working for a weird elderly scientist nicknamed Old Walker (also played by Marceau). Old Walker shows Malcolm how to reanimate corpses with electricity and utilizing weird hand-held devices. When the scientist unexpectedly dies. Malcolm raises his corpse from the dead and walks him through town. Soon other bodies in town are transformed into his personal human puppets. A birthday party for Celia at Old Walker’s mansion turns deadly when they are invaded by a motorcycle gang. Yes, it’s that weird. Wildly uneven and critically panned at the time, the movie bombed at the box office and practically disappeared from home viewing. What’s great about this 4K UHD 2-disc set is that it comes with all these extras and essays which cause you to look kindly towards this crackpot film. There’s a lovely long interview with Marcel Marceau about working with Castle and how he’s proud of the film and hopes that future audiences will come to appreciate it. Watching it again, especially how exquisite it looks on the disc, made me realize what a unique film this is. There really is nothing like it.
Fudoh: The New Generation (Media Blasters) Mega-violent 1997 Japanese gangster saga by Takashi Miike (Audition/Ichi the Killer) newly scanned and restored in 4K. Young Riki Fudoh (Shosuke Tanihara) witnessed the grisly beheading of his older brother by their own father, a Yakusa boss, to appease Triad gangsters. He vows vengeance by tattooing a figure on his back with his brother’s blood. A straight-A student, he secretly organizes a gang of kid killers (including gun-toting tots and sweet-faced schoolgirls who shoot lethal needles from their crotches). A mountainous giant who newly joins the school is roped into their posse. A wild, brutal, utterly amazing film. The special features include an interview with the director Takashi Miike and star of the movie- Shosuke Tanihara.
Trapped Ashes (Deaf Crocodile) A 2006 horror omnibus film with a wrap-around segments directed by Joe Dante and individual stories directed by Ken Russell, Sean Cunningham, Monte Hellman and John Gaeta. Henry Gibson plays a tour guide for Ultra Movie Studio. They get to the notorious House of Horrors used for the film “Hysteria” and Gibson ushers them in only to find themselves trapped. Their only way out is for each tell a personal horror story. The first is Ken Russell’s perverse entry called “The Girl with the Golden Breasts” about an aspiring actress (Rachel Veltri) who decides that breast implants are a way to boost her career. She unwisely chooses a procedure that uses organic material from corpses rather than silicone and the horrific side effect is that her breasts sprout teeth. Another story is about a couple’s trip to Japan and a fateful encounter with a corpse. John Saxon stars in one where falling in love with his best friend’s girlfriend turns out to be a deadly mistake. And one particular icky one is about a pregnant woman and an aggressive tapeworm. The extras include enjoyable audio commentary by Stephen R. Bissette and extended “director’s cuts” of the Ken Russell and Monte Hellman segments.
Scala!!! (Or, The Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World’s Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced a Mixed-up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits) (Severin Film). Wildly enjoyable documentary (by Jane Giles & Ali Catterall) about the notorious Scala cinema in King’s Cross, London. The theater was once a music venue which showcased Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and David Bowie before it became a movie theater in the early 1980s.The area was incredibly seedy and dangerous during the years the Scala ruled, where the programing was eclectic and outrageous and included all-night screenings with various themes, from horror to exploitation to music to classic films. (Their programming fliers are works of art). Anything went at the theater during those all-night evens and there are interviews with people who worked at the theater and customers who loved the funky, wild charm of the place. Even directors like John Waters admitted he’s been around the world but never were audiences more enthusiastic and insane than the ones at the Scala. Musicians, filmmakers and artists are interviewed about the legendary theater, and this three-disc set includes countless short subjects that were frequently screened at the cinema. A blast!
Blood and Lace (Kino Lorber) “Shock After Shock After Shock!” screamed the poster for this 1971 depraved treat starring film noir great Gloria Grahame. A teenage girl (Melody Patterson) is sent to an orphanage when her prostitute mother is bludgeoned to death (with a hammer) by one her of tricks. The seedy orphanage is run with an iron fist by Mrs. Deere (Gloria Grahame) and her brute of a handyman (Len Lesser) But what evil secrets lurk behind the walls of this establishment? I saw this first at a drive-in and flipped for it because it was so relentlessly nasty. The director, Philip Gilbert, directed TV episodes but, unfortunately, this was his only feature film. And it’s a pip.
Revenge of the Zombies (Kino Lorber) Fabulously enjoyable 1943 low-rent horror film from Monogram Studios and follow up to King of the Zombies. Robert Lowery plays stalwart hero Larry, who comes to the swamps of Louisiana with Scott (Mauritz Hugo) and wisecracking servant Jeff Jackson (Mantan Moreland). Scott is investigating the sudden and mysterious death of his sister Lila (Veda Ann Borg). Lily was married to a secretive scientist (John Carradine). But they soon find out Lila has been transformed into a walking dead by her husband, who is actually a Nazi with plans of mounting an army of the undead. Gale Storm, of all people, plays the scientist’s unwitting assistant in this fun cheapie. The disc looks amazing- never has anyone seen this movie look this good, and, as usual, Mantan Moreland rules.
Hard Wood (Severin) Edward D. Wood Jr. (Plan 9 from Outer Space) was on the skids when he worked on these hardcore and softcore films under various pseudonyms. But plenty of his oddball dialogue and weird décor shine through. Necromania: A Tale of Weird Love! stars Rene Bond and Ric Lutze as a sexually frustrated couple who check into the house of Madam Heles, who is a Necromancer and promises to cure their libidos. But she is sleeping in her coffin until midnight so the couple have sex with others in the house until then. Included are both the hardcore and softcore versions, with illuminating commentary by Greg Javer and Paul Apel. This three-disc set includes other oddball erotic films by Ed Wood Jr. including The Only House in Town, The Young Marrieds, Shotgun Wedding and assorted porn loops. There is a fun interview with Bobcat Goldthwait, where he comments favorably on Tim Burton’s film Ed Wood but says he probably would have made a movie about the sad declining years of Wood. There is also The Incredibly Strange Film Show episode, with host Jonathan Ross on Wood’s eccentric career.
The Block Island Sound (Synapse) Exceptionally creepy, beautifully acted, ecological chiller by the McManus Brothers (Matthew & Kevin). Set on Block Island, Harry Lynch (Chris Sheffield) is worried about his father (Neville Archambault), who has suddenly been behaving bizarrely- walking in his sleep, suffering blackouts and ending up on his boat in the ocean. When his body washes up on shore, his sister Audry (Michaela McManus), a marine biologist, and her young daughter (Matilda Lawler) arrive on the island and notice similar weirdness beginning to happen to Harry. Thousands of dead fish wash up on shore and dead birds fall from the sky. Is this all connected (like Harry’s conspiracy-theory-loving friend suggests)? The film sets the eerie mood early on (with excellent sound design) and it slowly builds as the puzzle pieces come together. The cast is just terrific and the McManus Brothers really create a unique and genuinely unnerving film.
Victims of Sin (Criterion) I am a huge fan of Cuban-born dancer/Mexican actress Ninon Sevilla, a force of nature on screen, who turned out some startling melodramas in the 1950s centered around the seedy cabaret scenes. The films often included prostitution, murder and revenge but never forgot the splashy musical numbers where Ninon Sevilla shines so brilliantly. In this one she plays Violetta, a cabaret star who ends up saddled with a baby when a co-worker chooses to leave the infant in a trash can so she can be with her pimp/lover. Violetta rescues the baby, loses her job and becomes a prostitute to put food on the table for the young boy. She even ends up prison for murder to protect him. Directed by Emilio Fernandez with amazing cinematography from Gabriel Figueroa, it’s wild and insane and has the most outrageous of dance sequences. Having been blown away by Ninon Sevilla when they released her film Aventurera in NYC in the 90s, it is a joy to be catapulted into another berserk melodrama of hers. This is a 4k digital restoration and comes with fascinating extras including cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto on the work of Gabriel Figueroa and filmmaker and archivist Viviana Garcia Besne on the life and work of the fabulous Ninon Sevilla.
