Just in time for fall is this dazzling array of gorgeously restored treats on Blu-ray- get ready to scald your eyeballs with new 4K incarnations of films about everything from vengeful rats to film noir femme fatales; gory highway safety education films; Italian heist thrillers; a ground-breaking Japanese mystery; fabulous Warner Brothers melodramas; one of the best “evil child” movies ever; supernatural Asian chillers; the fabulous life of Twiggy, and some glorious shots of Don Johnson’s ass in a neo-noir directed by Dennis Hopper.
Of Unknown Origin (Vinegar Syndrome) The Moby Dick of rat movies. Peter Weller stars (years before his breakout role in RoboCop) as the house-proud, successful Wall Street banker Bart Hughes, married to a sexy wife Meg (Shannon Tweed) and living with their young son Peter (Leif Anderson). He begins to see signs of a rat in his beautiful brownstone and hires an exterminator, but the wily rat keeps bypassing traps and making Bart’s life a living hell. Mercifully his wife and child leave to visit relatives and Bart hunkers down in an escalating war with his fiendish adversary. Director George P. Cosmatos admirably amplifies the suspense to unbearable heights. One of my very favorite films- I saw this 1983 Canadian shocker many times on Times Square when it opened and admit I pulled my feet up off the floor through most of the movie. Weller is just amazing in the film- it’s a real tour de force performance. This two-disc set includes a 4K UHD newly scanned and restored disc from the 35mm camera negative and looks astounding. There is audio commentary with George Cosmatos and Peter Weller. There is a new interview with “Dr.” Peter Weller, who discusses the making of the film in Montreal and his pleasure that Stephen King is a fan of it. Also, a new interview with actress Jennifer Dale and special effects artist Stephan Dupois and a video essay by film historian Samm Deighan on “animal attack movies.”
The Furious (Lionsgate Originals) One of the most outrageous, exciting and relentless action films I’ve seen in years. Two hours of non-stop hand-to-hand combat sequences climaxing in a five man fight to the death that will unhinge your jaw. Set “Somewhere in Southeast Asia” a mute father (Xie Miao), with a mysterious past, is spending time with his young daughter Rainy (Yang Enyou) before she goes back home to Mainland China. But she is kidnapped off the street by a gang of organized criminals who traffic in children. The father causes a wild melee at a nightclub run by the gang and then hooks up with Navin (Joe Taslim), who is searching for his wife- a missing journalist investigating the child abductions. Navin and “Dad” team up to bring down the whole ugly criminal enterprise (and the corrupt officials also involved), leaving a trail of broken bones in their wake. The choreography of the fight scenes is amazing and there are several memorable villains including a hulking muscleman who never seems to die and a long-haired archer leaving a trail of bodies with his trusty bow and arrows. Energetically directed by Kenji Tanigaki, it’s just the best.
Out of the Past (Warner Archive) “She can’t be all bad. No one is.” “Well, she comes the closest.” That’s some of the choice dialogue in this brilliant film noir, now given a glorious 4K UHD upgrade. (There’s an introduction to the movie by film noir historian Eddie Muller from TCM). Directed by the great Jacques Tourneur (Curse of the Demon/Cat People), this 1947 classic stars Robert Mitchum as gas station owner Jeff Baily, who was hired by gambling hood Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas) to track down Whit’s girlfriend Kathie Moffat (electrifying Jane Greer) who shot Whitt and robbed him of $40,000. Jeff tracked her down in Acapulco, disastrously fell for her, and got sucked into her diabolical manipulations, eventually finding himself wrongly accused of murder and on the run from the law. It just doesn’t get much better than is. The toxic “folie a deux” relationship in these films can be summed up the same way Jeff (Robert Mitchum) deals with the excuses his conniving girlfriend Kathie (Jane Greer) hands him: “Baby, I don’t care…”
Hell’s Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films (Kino Lorber) Terrific documentary on the origins of the “Driver Education” shockumentaries that were shown in high schools around the country beginning in 1959, using gory footage from real car accidents to scare kids straight. (I vividly remembering seeing “Mechanized Death” at my high school which had freaked-out students running up the aisle out of the auditorium). This excellent documentary by Brett Wood charts the rise of classroom scare films like “Teenicide” and “Last Date” with a young Dick York (Bewitched), to the more outrageous “Signal 80” with color footage of real mangled bodies and bloody corpses. There are even restorations of the three most notorious examples as extras. This film even covers when the makers of these movies decided to branch out onto other subjects- traumatizing a new set of youngsters with such scare films as “The Child Molester.” The late, great, Mike Vraney of Something Weird Video offers his wonderful, funny, observations of these legendary “blood on the highways” driver education flicks.
A Hyena in the Safe (Celluloid Dreams). A gorgeous restoration of a really rare 1968 Italian “giallo” thriller about a group of thieves who meet up at a luxurious villa (while it’s carnival time in the streets outside the gate) to split the spoils of a diamond heist. Each of the robbers holds a special key (all six keys are the only way to get into an elaborate safe). But when one of the crew mislays his key it sets into motion a series of mysterious, almost Agatha Christie-like deaths. What sets this apart is the stylized direction by Cesare Canevari and the wild pop art outfits and looks of the woman there- with big hair, dangling earrings, thigh-high go-go boots and outrageous, elaborate, eye make-up. Troy Howarth, in his encyclopedic, informative book on the “giallo” genre- So Deadly, So Perverse, says about the film, “A Hyena in the Safe (no, the title never really does make much sense), is brisk, stylish and very well made.” The Blu-ray looks sensational and has such excellent featurettes as, “7 Guests for a Massacre,” and “The Duplicitous Mystery of Hyena in the Safe.”
The Hot Spot (Radiance) Stunningly beautiful 4K UHD & Blu-ray of director Dennis Hopper’s eccentric 1990 neo-Noir based on Charles Williams’ Hell Hath No Fury. Don Johnson is sweaty, sexy and sensational as Harry Madox, who drifts into a seedy desert town, gets a job at a car dealership and becomes caught between two alluring women- Dolly (Virginia Madson), the scheming boss’s wife, and a sweet, troubled accountant- Gloria (Jennifer Connelly). As it goes in most of these film noirs it all leads down a road to treachery and murder. With wonderful supporting work from such great character actors as Jack Nance (Eraserhead), William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption) and Charles Martin Smith (The Untouchables), not to mention a kick-ass soundtrack featuring Miles Davis, Taj Mahal and John Lee Hooker. There are archival interviews with Dennis Hopper, Virginia Madsen and William Sadler and an extra on Charles Williams’ source novel. The Variety review nails it, saying the film, “seeps with atmosphere, unfolds at a deceptively relaxed pace, steadily accumulates noirish grit, then dizzily plunges into a Lynch-like plumbing of the dark passions and nasty secrets at the heart of Main Street, USA.”
Twiggy: The Woman Behind the Icon (Cleopatra Entertainment) (DVD only) Simply sublime documentary by Sadie Frost about Twiggy, the girl from northwest London who took the world by storm as the “It” model of the 1960s, her large-eyed, waif-like form was unlike any other model at the time and revolutionized the fashion world. But what’s so fascinating is the woman herself, and her indomitable spirit. And how she kept reinventing herself- working with Ken Russell in the glorious musical The Boy Friend, having a successful variety show, starring with Tommy Tune on Broadway in the Tony award-winning My One and Only, even putting out many records. The film charts her series of relationships, even ending on a high note with current, wonderful, partner- Leigh Lawson– who she has been with for over 40 years. The movie will make you fall in love with Twiggy all over again.
The Inugami Family (Radiance) Another stunning Blu-ray from Radiance, this exquisite restoration of a ground-breaking 1974 Japanese film by Kon Ichikawa, rarely seen outside of its home country. It concerns the death of the patriarch of a giant pharmaceutical company. When the will is read, the fortune is left to a young woman outside the family with the stipulation that she has to marry one of the three grandsons- one whose face was so scarred during the war he wears a full white rubber mask. The begins a series of murders within the family and a scruffy detective is brought in to help officials untangle this deadly web of secrets and revenge. Wildly popular at the time and a huge jolt forward for Japanese cinema. In an essay in the booklet included with the Blu-ray, Midori Suiren writes, “The Inugami Family is, on the surface, a murder mystery. We learn who the culprit is eventually, and yet it remains endlessly watchable. Why does it continue to captivate? Why does its spell never seem to fade?” This thrilling discovery (for U.S. audiences) comes with copious extras.
Hokum (Neon) Another blazingly original horror gem by Irish director Damian McCarthy (whose earlier film Oddity is pure nightmare-fuel). Adam Scott is terrific as an arrogant, rather unlikable author desperately trying to finish the final book in his “Conquistador” trilogy. He travels to a remote hotel in Ireland carrying his parents’ ashes, hoping to spread them outside the place where they spent their honeymoon. But this hotel is one strange place- there’s even a chained-off honeymoon suite supposedly haunted by a witch. The author begins to suffer from weird hallucinations while investigating a bartender’s sudden, mysterious disappearance, and then things get creepier and deadlier. There’s something chilling and claustrophobic about the last half of the film (reminiscent of McCarthy’s fascinating first feature- Caveat).
Torrid Zone (Warner Archive) A rollicking 1940 Warner Brothers potboiler starring James Cagney, Ann Sheridan and Pat O’Brien centered around a banana plantation in Central America. Pat O’Brien plays Steve Case, who manages the plantation and rules the police there too. When he sees the new American singer at a local club- Lee Donley (Ann Sheridan)- he forces the club manager to fire her and tries to ship her back to the States. Case also wants to bring back foreman Nick Butler (a mustached James Cagney) to help run the operation and aide in catching the wily revolutionary Rosario (George Tobias) who is causing endless trouble (like blowing up the tracks so the train cannot deliver its cargo). Lee Donley escapes from the boat and heads with Nick to the plantation where she locks horns with the cheating wife- Gloria (Helen Vinson) of the manager there. When she catches Gloria in a liplock with Nick, Gloria accidentally drops her lit cigarette on the floor. Lee picks it up and says, “I understand the Chicago fire started from something like that,” to which Gloria nastily replies, “The Chicago fire was started by a cow.” This causes Lee to wisecrack back, “History repeats itself.” As with Warner Archive’s amazing track record- the print quality is superb. Critic Pauline Kael was a big fan of this film. In her book 5001 Nights at the Movies she calls the movie “Steamy, hot and very funny.” She adds, “This tropical comedy-adventure, set in a Warners mockup of a plantation in Honduras, has James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, and Pat O’Brien shouting double-entendres at breakneck speed.” Directed by William Keighley (The Man Who Came to Dinner) with cinematography by the great James Wong Howe (Hud/Seconds/The Rose Tattoo).
The Devil Queen (Kino Lorber) 1974 film about a fearsome crime boss and drug lord of Rio de Janeiro- Diaba (Milton Goncalves). Directed by Antonio Carlos da Fontoura, the movie is like a Brazilian Scarface, except the Tony Montana character is now a vicious black drag queen wielding a straight razor. “Devil” lords over a motley crew of pimps, perverts and criminals who hang on his/her every mood. Unfortunately, there is all this secret scheming and double dealings by his underlings going on behind his back. A pretty boy pimp Bereco (Stepan Nercessian) is encouraged to rob gas stations and newsstands in order to buy a large amount of pot, but it could be a trap by the wily Catitu (Nelson Xavier), who plans to rat him out to the police. There are wonderfully grotesque parties, and a wild scene at a beauty parlor where a pack of queens torture a green-wigged prostitute to get information for the Devil Queen. This has been lovingly restored and deserves a cult following, that’s for sure. My favorite review was from the New York Times, which called it “A queer blood bath that’s so over the top, even Shakespeare would whisper, ‘Damn, girl’.”
Auntie Mame (Warner Archive) “Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!” is the motto of Mame Dennis, the colorful creation of author Patrick Dennis, which was turned into a smash Broadway play and then a glorious 1958 film version, starring a luminous Rosalind Russell in the lead (reprising her role on stage). Young orphaned Patrick Dennis is left in the charge of his flamboyant Manhattan aunt Mame, who takes to the boy as her latest hobby, opening his eyes to the world in ways he never could imagine. Mame’s friends, the tipsy stage actress Vera Charles (Coral Browne) and publisher Lindsay Woolsey (Patric Knowles), are skeptical but Mame and the child instantly bond and adore each other. That is until the stuffy Dwight Babcock (Fred Clark) of the Knickerbocker Bank, in legal charge of the child, puts its foot down and enrolls Patrick in a more upstanding boarding school. Set during the Depression, Mame’s finances take a hit and she is forced to find work, which proves hilariously challenging. That is until she meets the charming, and wealthy Southern gentleman- Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside (Forest Tucker). The movie charts all the incredibly funny twists and turns of Mame’s colorful life, and her deep love for Patrick. She even begins dictating a memoir to the schlumpy secretary Agnes Gooch (riotously played by Peggy Cass), and tries to keep Patrick from marrying into a hideous, bigoted Connecticut family. The movie is a joy from start to finish, wonderfully directed by Morton DaCosta and with a larger-than-life performance by Rosalind Russell (she won a Golden Globe for this and was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress). Her comic timing is peerless. The witty, wonderful screenplay was by Betty Comden & Adolph Green. This is a sublime 4K UHD of the film and the colors pop on your home screen- the movie looks better than it’s ever looked. One of the extras is a new conversation with Dave Karger at the TCM Film Festival with Jan Handzlik (who played young Patrick in the film).
Tag: The Assassination Game (Synapse) Nick Castle, who played Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s Halloween, has his directorial debut in this 1982 film about a bunch of students at a college playing a game of “tag” where they have to off their opponent using a rubber-tipped dart gun. Robert Carradine plays Alex, journalist for the school paper, fond of lying in bed smoking cigars and reading Raymond Chandler novels. Into his room one night, hiding from another student playing the game, comes Susan (lovely Linda Hamilton, in her film debut). Alex decides to write an article about the “tag” game, hoping to get closer to Susan, who he fantasizes as a film noir heroine. But one student- Gersh (Bruce Abbott/The Re-Animator), takes the game (and winning) psychotically serious- and is using real bullets in his gun to wipe out his opponents. Forest Whitaker makes his feature debut also in this entertaining thriller by Nick Castle, who went on to direct The Last Starfighter and Tap with Gregory Hines.
Laurin (Visual Vengeance) Moody, German period gothic tale by Robert Sigl, whose 1998 debut won acclaim at film festivals but whose subject matter caused controversy when it played. Set in a gloomy European seaside village in 1901 and mostly shot from the point of view of a young girl– Laurin (Dora Szinetar). Laurin’s father is always away at sea and she lives with a wheelchair-bound, pipe-smoking grandmother who is allergic to cats. Her mother was mysteriously murdered on a bridge one night, and a series of strange murders (of young boys) begins. The brutal pastor’s son, Van Rees (Karoly Eperjes), comes back from military service and begins teaching at the local schoolhouse, and Laurin first eyes at him with respect and happiness (because he reminds her of her father). But soon she notices a troubling, creepy side to him that frightens her. Like a Grimm’s fairy tale in many ways and gorgeous looking (it was shot in Hungary). There’s something eerie and haunting about all of it. This is a transfer from the film’s 35mm elements and comes with audio commentary by film historian Troy Howarth, author of Innocence Lost: Robert Sigl and the Curse of Laurin.
Careful (Kino Lorber) A beautifully bizarre 1992 film by the talented Winnipeg-based filmmaker Guy Maddin (Tales from the Gimli Hospital) about a remote alpine village where even the slightest sneeze could cause an avalanche, thereby forcing the town’s inhabitant to be extremely cautious. The elders are constantly issuing warnings, such as, “Never gamble with life,” or “Never hold a baby’s face near an open pin.” All of this repression makes the village a hotbed of dark fantasies and incestuous longings. Maddin’s beautiful film has the look of old, hand-painted photographs, and there is an eerie, scratchy noise on the soundtrack that makes it seem as if the film itself is ready to break. In addition to the surreal atmosphere, it’s also hysterically funny. This is a new lovingly restored version on Blu-ray and looks extraordinary.
The Bad Seed (Warner Archive) This is a new restored version of a 1956 film version of the hit Broadway play and book. Patty McCormack was nine when she played the stage role of Rhoda Penmark on Broadway and shortly after did the film version, all based on William March’s novel, about a conscienceless, murderous child. Patty admitted, in interviews, about playing Rhoda: “She simply thinks she’s right. All the time.” And that’s how she played her, flinging her blonde pigtails back with a flourish and slitting her eyes when she recalls killing a classmate over a penmanship medal. Nancy Kelly plays Rhoda’s mother who slowly realizes what a sociopathic monster her daughter really is. I love Kelly’s throaty theatricality in the film. Eileen Heckart has a show-stopping scene as the mother of the dead child who shows up drunk at the house. Wonderful Evelyn Barden plays the cheerful neighbor and Henry Jones is memorably creepy as the handyman who is on to Rhonda. Even though the “lightening” ending is not the same as the book or the play, it’s still explosively fun. Warner Brothers was nervous about the controversial material and has a ludicrous epilogue where Nancy Kelly mock spanks Rhoda (McCormack) on camera. This is a nice upgrade from the last time it was on Blu-ray and again includes an entertaining audio commentary with actress Patty McCormack and wildly talented actor/playwright Charles Busch. “What will you give me for a basket of kisses?” is said to Rhoda. “A basket of hugs….” she replies, with a murderous glint in her eyes. To be honest, it’s doubtful anyone is as good as being bad on screen as the astonishing Patty McCormack.
Shaw-Shock: Shaw Brothers Horror Collection V (Imprint) Two deranged Asian supernatural-themed excesses from the golden days of Shaw Brothers cinema plus a hilarious giant ape movie are unleashed in an impressive box set from Imprint. Founded by the wealthy Shanghai textile factory owner Run Run Shaw with his male siblings, Shaw Brothers became a phenomenal industry turning out hundreds of films- from action-packed Kung-Fu extravaganzas to whacked-out supernatural shockers. I was partial to the horror films they churned out in the late 70s and early 80s like Human Lanterns (1982), The Boxer’s Omen (1983), Corpse Mania (1981), etc. Included in this set are three films from director Ho Meng-Hua (The Oily Maniac). First up, the grisly Black Magic (1975), which proves that Obsession wasn’t the first film about a spell used to make a person love you. A wealthy widow has eyes for a construction worker who is engaged to be married. She meets up with an evil magician to cast a love spell on him. Wild mix of sex, violence and icky horror with everything from feeding centipedes to a man in the hospital, worms burrowing under the skin, and a death potion made up of blood, corpse juice and breast milk. Black Magic II (1976) (aka Revenge of the Zombies). A wizard who practices black magic has a secret army of undead who does his bidding until he yanks out the large nail in their head. He is in his 80s but drinks breast milk to retain his youth. A group of doctors notice a series of patients with baffling, weird ailments at the hospital they suspect are the result of black magic spells. One doctor’s wife comes under the wizard’s power when she pricks her finger on some roses and becomes pregnant overnight and gives birth to a deformed baby. Just fabulously insane! The Mighty Peking Man (1977) (aka Goliathon).A Hong Kong howler and shameless rip-off of Dino De Laurentiis’s 1976 King Kong, stars Danny Lee (The Killer) as Johnnie, a lovesick explorer who travels into the jungles of India to find a giant ape and his bodacious, blonde, vine-swinging companion (played by fetching Evelyne Kraft). The great beast is carted off to Hong Kong only to run amok and stomp up the city. The sight of Johnnie sucking the cobra venom out of Evelyne Kraft’s thigh alone is worth the price of admission. I am so not used to seeing them look so beautiful on Blu-ray. When I used to stalk the DVD and VCD bins in Chinatown for some of these rare titles I was resigned to settle for blurry, crummy looking copies with ludicrous, nonsensical English subtitles (often more amusing then the movies themselves). But what a twisted treat these three are! And they all look amazing.
