It’s the lazy, hazy days of summer. So, what the hell are you doing outside in skin cancer wonderland? Get back to your Blu-ray player and put some of these deranged discs in. From the glorious 4K UHD of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, to the divisive (but still funny) The Boys in the Band, looking better than ever, to Joan Crawford and Clark Gable in a religious parable for MGM, to gothic weirdness from Hammer Studios, to the giant ant movie that will make you forget picnics forever, to a sci-fi classic about a suspicious food product, to Gloria Swanson’s (unfinished) dream project, an underrated Wes Craven film, to strange films from Hong Kong, France and Italy. And the holy grail of missing films- Frank Perry’s brilliant Last Summer. Time to toss out the sunscreen and hoist up a big drink in front of the TV.
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (Sony) A 4K UHD of this classic 1958 fantasy film which was brought to life by the wonders of “Dynamation,” or, in actuality, the genius of stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen. Sinbad (criminally handsome Kerwin Mathews, is the Caliph of Bagdad, engaged to the Princess of Chandra- Parisa (lovely Kathryn Grant). An evil magician Sokurah (fiendishly good Torin Thatcher) shrinks down the Princess in order to force Sinbad to return to the island of the cyclops for him to retrieve a magic lamp, wherein resides a boy Genie (Richard Eyer). The legendary creatures Harryhausen creates boggles the imagination- the two-headed giant Roc bird, the cyclops, a fire-breathing dragon, even a sword-wielding skeleton. With a thundering, heart-pounding Bernard Herrmann score, I have deeply loved this movie since I saw it as a wide-eyed child and will buy any new improved version of the film. This looks pretty amazing in 4K, with great flesh tones and deep blacks. The extras include vintage audio commentary with Ray Harryhausen, “Remembering The 7th Voyage of Sinbad,” “This is Dynamation,” and more. It comes with an extra Blu-ray disc too.
The Boys in the Band (Cinematographe) Michael (Kenneth Nelson) is throwing a birthday party for his frenemy Harold (Leonard Frey). When Harold shows up fashionably late, an annoyed Michael says: “You’re stoned and you’re late. You were supposed to arrive at this location at 8:30 dash 9:00.” To which Harold acerbically replies, ‘What I am Michael, is a 32-year-old pockmarked Jew fairy, and if it takes me a little while to pull myself together, and if I smoke a little grass before I get up the nerve to show my face to the world, it’s nobody’s god-damned business but my own. And how are you this evening?” This is one of the many sardonic exchanges in director William Friedkin’s excellent film version of the controversial play by Mart Crowley. This pre-Stonewall portrait of gay friends congregating for a party is a time capsule of a different time, more closeted, more self-loathing, but also filled with sharp, witty observations of this diverse cast of characters. The performances (many from the original production) are flawless, including Cliff Gorman as flamingly funny Emory, Laurence Luckenbill as Hank, the butch boyfriend of promiscuous Larry (Keith Prentice), and Robert La Tourneaux as the cowboy hustler (and gift for Harold). Friedkin had filmed theater before (Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party). Here he really nails the drama and humor. It’s difficult to imagine what young gays would think of this now- even when I saw it when it came out in 1970 it rather rankled me. But I’ve come to appreciate it through the years (and relieved that gay life is no longer this caustic and bitter). This is a 2-disc set- one a 4K UHD restoration of the film and the region A Blu-ray. The 4k is just stunning- the color, the blacks, the details really pop on screen. It comes with archival audio commentary by William Friedkin, a new audio interview with actor Laurence Luckinbill (whose agent dumped him when he bravely took this role). There’s a new interview with journalist Michael Musto; a fascinating overview of the play to film by film historian Mark Harris; a full-length documentary of William Friedkin’s career; and the Turner Classic Movies introduction by Ben Mankiewicz and Mario Cantone.
Strange Cargo (Warner Archive) Bizarre 1940 MGM melodrama directed by Frank Borzage and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz starring Clark Gable as a convict from a French Guiana penal colony who escapes with a bunch of prisoners, not to mention a tough-as-nails saloon girl (Joan Crawford), who end up on an ill-fated sea voyage towards the mainland. Ian Hunter plays a Christ-like figure who tries to steer each man towards a sense of grace before they die. Peter Lorre plays M’sieu Pig. Variety praised Joan Crawford’s glamour-free performance, “Miss Crawford is provided with a particularly meaty role as the hardened dance-hall gal who falls hard for the tough convict.” Once again, the star wattage of Gable and Crawford is on full display in this strange religious allegory. Believe it or not, this was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency for its “irreverent use of Scripture, and lustful complications.”
Demons of the Mind (Studio Canal) (aka Blood Will Have Blood) A 1972 gothic psychological thriller from Hammer Studios about a nineteenth-century Bavarian Baron (Robert Hardy, chewing the scenery) who is convinced his son Emil (Shane Briant) and daughter Elizabeth (Gillian Hills) have inherited the family’s cursed madness. “There is a heritage of disorder in her blood,” the Baron explains to a young medical student (played by Paul Jones, the good-looking lead singer of the Manfred Mann group). Marianne Faithfull was originally supposed to play Elizabeth. An eccentric doctor is brought in (the inimitable Patrick MaGee) who becomes convinced the real problem is with the Baron, and, meanwhile, several women in the nearby village are being brutally murdered in the woods. (There was a lycanthropy angle in the original script that was jettisoned by the studio). This is really an oddball Hammer film which feels like an atmospheric gothic horror but is chuck full of unsavory aspects including incest and insanity. But, trust me, no one can pronounce “demons of the mind!” like Patrick Magee. I have such fondness for the weirder films Hammer studios turned out in the 1970s and this is definitely one of the strangest. This was unceremoniously dumped in theaters on a double bill with Tower of Evil at the time and panned by critics, but has generated a deserved cult following through the years. The 4K UHD disc is gorgeous and comes with great extras, lobby cards, a poster and a fascinating booklet with incisive essays on the film. For the extra Blu-ray you will need an all-region player.
Them! (Shout! Factory) An extraordinary 4K UHD Blu-ray of a truly great 1954 sci-fi classic. What makes this work so well is that director Gordon Douglas doesn’t play it like a monster movie but a tense mystery. A little girl is found wandering the New Mexican desert in a dazed state carrying a broken doll. Her parents RV is found down the road, completely gutted, as is the local grocery store nearby. Strange prints are discovered outside which are sent to Washington and a scientist (Edmund Gwenn) and his daughter (Joan Weldon) arrive, convinced that the prints may be that of giant ants (perhaps created during the early nuclear bomb tests). James Whitmore is great as a compassionate cop and James Arness plays a concerned F.B.I. agent. The effects (for the time) are pretty terrific, as is the sound (especially the eerie, high pitched screeching of the monstrous ants). This new restoration is incredible- everything pops on screen with new luster and depth.
The Resurrected (Vinegar Syndrome) Director Dan O’Bannon (The Return of the Living Dead) surprisingly faithful 1991 adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. A private eye (John Terry) is hired by the beautiful wife (Jane Sibbett) of Charles Dexter Ward (Chris Sarandon) to find her missing husband. Ward is a scientist that has been dabbling in the occult practices of his warlock ancestor. This mix of Dashiell Hammett with The Re-Animator-like icky special effects is a bit of a slow burn, but when they start investigating the creepy underground catacombs of the scientist’s lair it gets really fun. This 4K UHD Blu-ray is extraordinary looking and sounding- the flesh tones really come alive on screen. With scores of extras including archival features and new interviews with actors Chris Sarandon, Robert Romanus and a new overview by critic Kim Newman.
Creepy (KimStim) Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s (Pulse) profoundly disturbing 2016 film about a former detective- Koichi (Hidetoshi Nishijima) (now professor lecturing on serial killers) and his wife Yasuko (Yuko Takeuchi), who move into a new home. They attempt to meet their neighbor Mr. Nishimo (Teruyuki Kagawa)- who lives with an ill wife and a teenage daughter- only to find him uncomfortably weird. Koichi is also drawn back into investigating a cold case of a missing family by a detective friend, only to find the circumstances eerily similar to his new neighbor. Kurosawa lets the story build in insidious, unsettling ways until it becomes a true nightmare. Christ, is this “creepy.”
Waves of Lust (Raro/Kino Lorber) Fabulously perverse erotic thriller by Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust) about a mysterious, good-looking, young couple vacationing in Sicily- Irem (Al Cliver/Zombie) and Barbara (Silvia Dionisio– who was married to Deodato at the time). They follow around an arrogant, wealthy industrialist Giorgio (John Steiner) and his girlfriend Silvia (Elizabeth Turner), who Giorgio enjoys abusing and brutalizing. Irem and Barbara insinuate themselves in Giorgio’s life and he invites them to cruise with he and Silvia on his massive yacht. But as Giorgio keeps hurling down his scotch the trip turns sexual and dark and eventually deadly. John Steiner is fabulously loathsome, and in an interview on the Blu-ray director Deodato admits, “It’s difficult to direct your wife while she’s naked.”
Soylent Green (Arrow Releasing) Dystopian chiller (set in the year 2022) by Richard Fleischer starring Charlton Heston as Thorn, a detective who stumbles on the truth about the food product the government is fervently touting (supposedly a high-energy source created from ocean plankton) called “Soylent Green.” Because of “greenhouse gases” it’s always a heatwave. Tenements are filled with people sleeping on the stairs and flickering lights. The wealthy are granted “furniture,” women who go with the apartment. Leigh Taylor-Young plays Shirl, who had been partnered with political lawyer Simonson (Joseph Cotton), who was assassinated while she was out shopping. People are rioting in the streets for food- especially on Tuesday, “Soylent Green” day. Edward G. Robinson plays Sol, living next door to Thorn, who works as his researcher, trying to uncover the truth about so many unsolved murders. Robinson hid from the cast and crew that he was dying of bladder cancer while shooting the movie- he died 12 days after completing filming.
Queen Kelly (Kino Lorber/Milestone) A glorious new reconstruction and 4K restoration of Erich von Stroheim unfinished 1929 epic. This was a dream project actress Gloria Swanson and her lover at the time Joe Kennedy (who was bankrolling it) brought to director Erich von Stroheim (Foolish Wives, Greed), thinking him a perfect fit for some of the excesses of the plot. Unfortunately, Stroheim’s own excesses caused the budget to skyrocket and some of the later shots in a bordello were so outrageous (and would never have been allowed by the censors) it caused Swanson to contact Kennedy complaining “the director is a madman.” Stroheim was fired after three months and they cut their losses by editing together what they had. The whole second half of the film was deleted. The plot of what might have been a five-hour film was that of an innocent convent girl Kitty Kelly (Swanson) whose flirtations to Prince “Wildman” Wolfram (Walter Byron) causes him to kidnap her in the middle of the night and bring her to the castle laying out a feast and bottles of champagne. However, the ferociously jealous Queen Regina V (Seena Owen), drunkenly wandering the castle with her fluffy white cat, about to marry Wolfram, discovers Kelly and literally whips her out of the castle. That scene is vintage Stroheim in its gratuitous perversity. The second half of the film (now reconstructed with some newly found footage and stills is when Kitty is sent to her dying aunt (Florence Gibson) in Dar-es-Salaam, German East Africa. There she is forced into marriage to the hideous, syphilitic Jan (Tully Marshall), who runs the local brothel. The breaking point for Swanson was when Stroheim filmed Jan dribbling tobacco juice into her hand. The great irony in this debacle was when Stroheim and Swanson were reunited for Billy Wilder’s corrosively brilliant Sunset Boulevard they inserted (at Stroheim’s suggestion) a shot of Swanson and William Holden watching a projected screening of Queen Kelly. Queen Kelly is still a beautiful, truly mad film. One can only imagine what might have been.
The Double (Radiance) Utterly fascinating 1971 Italian thriller by Romolo Guerrieri (The Sweet Body of Deborah). Told in a rather fractured style, the film opens with Giovanni (handsome Jean Sorel), gunned down in a parking garage by a mysterious bearded assailant. Giovanni’s flashback is unreliable at best. He’s a dreamer, an architect who basically lives off his family money. His wife is Lucia (Ewa Aulin), a young, flirtatious girl who is quick to put her husband down for being a loser. While they are vacationing in Morocco, Giovanni becomes unreasonable jealous over a handsome hippie named Eddie (Sergio Doria) he thinks Lucia is coming on to. Then Lucia’s gorgeous mother Nora (Lucia Bose) shows up and Giovanni turns his erotic obsessions towards her. When she starts hanging out with Eddie, Giovanni begins to seriously fantasize killing the hippie in different ways. How this all ends up in a bloody shoot out in a parking garage is a series of unexpected twists. Ripe for rediscovery, it’s really unusual and intriguing. There’s a great overview of the film by author Stephen Thrower as an extra on the disc.
La Tete Contre Les Murs (Radiance) Jean-Pierre Mocky wrote and stars in this heartbreaking 1959 film as Francois, a rebellious young man fond of motor-cross racing, gambling and wearing black leather. He steals from his lawyer father to pay a gambling debt and also sets fire to a legal brief on his desk just for spite, which enrages the father. Instead of having him arrested, he has his son institutionalized. The head doctor (Pierre Brasseur) of the institution believes his patients are incapable of being cured and should stay locked up forever. A Doctor (Paul Meurisse) from another hospital believes in rehabilitation but Francois’s father is all too happy with never laying eyes on his son again. Francois escapes to be with his girlfriend (gorgeous Anouk Aimee) but the authorities are following close behind. Directed by Georges Franju (Eyes Without a Face), this co-stars Charles Aznavour as a depressed mental patient, and lovely Edith Scob (Eyes Without a Face) plays “The Madwoman Who Sings.” The film was an indictment at the time on how families just had their siblings institutionalized who were “unruly,” and it was almost impossible to get released. The film was based on a novel by Herve Bazin, who was institutionalized in just that manner.
The Nine Demons (Visual Vengeance) Totally crackpot, 1983, martial arts/supernatural, lunacy by director Chang Cheh, after leaving working for the Shaw Brothers. When their fathers are poisoned, sons “Joey” and “Gary” (yes, you heard right) barely escape with their lives. Joey falls down a hole into hell and meets the Black Prince who offers him a way to save his captured friend Gary by pledging allegiance to him. Joey is gifted 9 demons (who refigure into a skull necklace around his neck). He saves Gary and kills all those responsible with his little demons (who transform into acrobatic mischievous children who are fond of savagely biting into necks. There is a larger female demon who chomps her way into villain’s throats also. But these bloodsucking minions seem to have a mind of their own. With absolutely hilariously bad dubbing, making it laughably wonderful. This is a 2K transfer from original film elements with commentary by martial arts film historians, and a video essay about The Nine Demons cinematographer James Wu Kuo-Ren.
Don’t Play with Fire (Cult Epics) (AKA Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind). Nihilistic 1980 crime drama from director Tsui Hark (Once Upon a Time in China) about three nerdy, bespectacled teens who borrow one of their dad’s cars and go for a joyride. They accidentally run over a man and speed off, but they are all seen by a sociopathic girl named Pearl who hunts them down and blackmails them into committing crimes with her. Pearl lives in a lowly tenement with her thuggish cop brother and amuses herself by playing with her brother’s gun and imagining shooting the neighbors. She also delights in torturing her pet white mice. The teen gang’s criminal antics (forcing a bus load of tourists to strip and leaving them stranded) takes a dark turn when Pearl steals a package from the car of a hired killer containing millions of Japanese yen and they are then pursued by cops and lethal ex-CIA agents. Initially banned because of the violence by local censors and heavily edited, this 2-disc Blu-ray includes the new 2K transfer of the uncensored International version, plus the banned Chinese edition and the English dubbed cut. Still pretty strong stuff.
Deadly Blessing (Kino Lorber) Underrated 1981 Wes Craven film set in the Midwest about a creepy, Amish-like, Hittite farm community, ruled by a fanatical leader (Ernest Borgnine). Maren Jensen plays Martha, the recent widow of a shunned member of the sect, who lives in a nearby farmhouse. Her two girlfriends (Susan Buckner and a young Sharon Stone) drive from L.A. to cheer her up. Then weird things (and shocking deaths) begin. Lois Nettleton (always terrific) plays a woman that lives nearby with a strange artist daughter (Lisa Hartman). Unforgettable-looking Michael Berryman (who co-starred in Craven’s The Hills have Eyes) has a juicy part as a man-child Hittite who spies through Martha’s window at night. Gets pretty wild at the end with all sorts of crackpot revelations. This is a 4K UHD/Blu-ray 2-disc set that looks sensational. It comes with vintage audio commentary with Wes Craven and another commentary with film historians Troy Howarth and Eugenio Ercolani.
A Shriek in the Night (Shoreline Entertainment) A crackling 1933 pre-Code mystery set in New York, where a wealthy philanthropist (with mob ties) mysteriously falls to his death from his penthouse apartment. His secretary Pat Morgan (Ginger Rogers) is undercover as a reporter, but get scooped by a rival newshound- Ted Rand (Lyle Talbot), who is continuously asking Pat to marry him. Many murders follow as Pat and Ted search for clues. A card with a drawing of a hissing snake with the threat: “You Will Hear It” is sent to each victim. Unfortunately, the quality of the print is atrocious- and weirdly colorized. There is also a strange sound issue where it sounds like it’s raining outside- throughout the entire film. Too bad, because the movie is lots of fun.
Last Summer (Warner Archive). Powerful, unsettling, remarkably acted, 1969 coming-of-age film, sensitively directed by Frank Perry with a bold, unflinching script by Eleanor Perry based on a novel by Evan Hunter about several rootless young people meeting during a hot, carefree summer on Fire Island. Dan (Bruce Davison) and Peter (Richard Thomas) meet a beautiful girl named Sandy (Barbara Hershey) on the beach caring for a wounded seagull. They nurse the bird back to health (Peter even removes a fishhook from it) and hang out with each other, drinking, playing truth games, smoking pot and shamelessly flirting with each other. But things take a darker turn when they meet shy, sensitive, braces-wearing Rhoda (Catherine Burns). What’s still so thrilling about the film is how raw and real it feels. That has a lot to do with the performances. In a fascinating extra Larry Karaszewski (who has been pushing for this restoration for years) interviews Barbara Hershey and Bruce Davison in L.A. after a screening and Richard Thomas after a New York screening and they all admit how young and green they were and how they really bonded making the film. This was well reviewed at the time and did well at the box office. Roger Ebert gave it 4 stars and called it, “One of the finest, truest, most deeply felt movies in my experience.” Catherine Burns was justly nominated for a Best Supporting Actress for her heartbreaking turn as Rhoda. But the film has not been seen since- not on VHS or DVD. This is a great relief for film fans who have long-waited for this excellent drama to rise to the surface again. It’s an incredible achievement that after all these years still packs an emotional punch.
