Batshit Blu-rays Of The Month: 13 For June

Female Trouble (Criterion) John Waters’ hilariously prophetic dark comedy about the life and death of high school hellcat Dawn Davenport (Divine). From rebellious teen, to dissatisfied wife and mother, to her fateful meeting with beauty shop owners Donald & Donna Dasher (David Lochary & Mary Vivian Pearce) who corrupt her with their mantra that “crime is beauty.” It all leads Dawn to fame, murder and the electric chair. Edith Massey is unforgettable as the leather-clad Aunt Ida who lives next door and prays that her nephew will become gay. Mink Stole is brilliant as Divine’s demented daughter Taffy, who delights in playing car accident at home. This amazing Criterion Blu-ray is gorgeous-looking and comes with rare outtakes and extras galore.

The Woman In The Window (Kino Lorber) Edward G. Robinson plays a happily married college professor, whose family goes away on a trip. Fascinated by the portrait of a beautiful, mysterious woman in a gallery window, one night he meets the actually female who posed for the picture (Joan Bennett). He then gets mixed up in a dark web of murder and blackmail. Director Fritz Lang made two similar movies with the same cast. The other- Scarlet Street is way more nihilistic. Both are brimming with Lang’s sense of brooding paranoia. This film has a twist ending that will either charm or infuriate you. George “Spanky” McFarland from Our Gang plays a Boy Scout who finds the body.

The Reincarnation Of Peter Proud (Kino Lorber) Moody tale about Peter (Michael Sarrazin), a college professor haunted by reoccurring dreams about a former life- where he was once a handsome tennis-playing womanizer in the 40s who was murdered in a lake. He travels to Massachusetts to unravel the mystery of who he was, and comes face to face with the woman who was his wife (Margot Kidder) in a past life and her beautiful daughter (Jennifer O’Neill). The flashbacks to his past incarnation feature a handsome, and frequently nude Tony Stephano.

Night Of The Lepus (Scream Factory) Giant killer bunnies attack the West! “Rabbits with teeth that long,” says the Sherriff is this riotously stupid and utterly fabulous film. Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh play scientists trying to curb the skyrocketing rabbit population, but their experiments produce hundreds of huge, mutant “Lepus” that overrun the land, killing and hopping like crazy. Try as they may, it’s hard to make hordes of big bunnies look scary. My favorite moment is when a cop with a bullhorn warns people at a Drive-In Theater: “Attention-  Ladies and Gentlemen- Attention- there is a herd of killer rabbits headed this way and we desperately need your help!” Some scenes were used in Natural Born Killers.

Greaser’s Palace (Scorpion Releasing/Shout Factory) Robert Downey Sr.’s 1972 wonderfully surreal, wildly irreverent religious parable set in the old West where out of the sky (by parachute) comes a Zoot-Suit-wearing savior named Jessy (Allan Arbus) with a spring in his step who walks on water and brings back the dead by a laying of hands and the phrase “If you feel, you heal!” Luana Anders plays a saloon singer named Cholera and a young Robert Downey Jr. can be seen in the beginning, riding in a covered wagon.

The Curse Of the Cat People (Scream Factory) Not so much a sequel to Cat People, this haunting film sensitively directed by Robert Wise and Gunther V Frisch is really about the mysteries and terrors of childhood. Amy (Ann Carter) is a lonely little girl, whose only friend is an imaginary woman she conjures in the backyard (played by Cat People’s Simone Simon). Amy meets a weird old woman (Julia Dean) that lives in a nearby mansion who is cared for by her bitter, unhappy daughter (a wonderfully creepy Elizabeth Russell).

Jack The Giant Killer (Kino Lorber) Attempting to duplicate the success of The 7^th Voyage Of Sinbad reunites that film’s director (Nathan Juran) and stars- handsome Kerwin Mathews as the brave Jack, who rescues the King’s daughter from a monster conjured by an evil sorcerer (Torin Thatcher). In fact, the film was held up for years in a court battle by the makers of 7^th Voyage. What’s missing is the genius of Ray Harryhausen, whose stop-motion animation was visionary. This film’s monsters by Jim Danforth are not all that great, but the movie is surprisingly entertaining. This Blu-ray includes a later incarnation of the film- which turned it into a musical (!) The actor’s lip movements are often slowed down to fit the pitiful score which includes the non-toe-tapping “You Can Do It” and “Happy Ever After.” It’s still a revelation to see both versions of this on Blu-ray.

Edward II (Film Movement) Derek Jarman’s 1991 postmodern take on Christopher Marlowe’s tragedy about Edward II (Steven Waddington) and his love for Piers Gaveston (Andrew Tiernan), which causes Edward’s frustrated wife (the sublime Tilda Swinton) to conspire with political enemies to destroy both men. With stunning costumes by Sandy Powell which mixes period & modern, Jarman also infuses the film with radical gay politics and even Annie Lennox singing Every Time We Say Goodbye. This restored Blu-ray is stunning. So is the film.

The Maids (Kino Lorber) A film version of the Jean Genet play (based on an actual crime) of two maids (Glenda Jackson & Susannah York) who get into role-playing when their mistress (Vivien Merchant) leaves the house. Their lethal games eventually spin out of control and end in murder. Part of the American Film Theater series, this was directed by Christopher Miles. The performances are just extraordinary.

The Addiction (Arrow Video) This lyrical 1995 black and white film starring Lili Taylor as an NYU philosophy student whose study of the nature of evil gets her bitten and infected by a vampire. Director Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant) has his typical lapsed Catholic/druggie take on the subject.  Arty, insane and kind of beautiful.

2 Weeks In Another Town (Warner Archive) Edward G. Robinson plays a famed film director shooting a movie in Rome. When he has a massive heart attack, an old friend-  a washed-up actor (Kirk Douglas)- jumps in and finishes the film. In a way, this is director Vincente Minnelli’s attempt at a spiritual sequel to The Bad And The Beautiful. He even repeats the famous scene with Lana Turner freaking out in the car, this time with Cyd Charisse in an out-of-control sports car. George Hamilton ludicrously plays the temperamental young star of the movie. The kind of preposterous and enjoyable Hollywood melodrama they just don’t make anymore.

Kansas City Princess (Warner Archive DVD) Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell are perfect as two tough-talking manicurists in Kansas City. Blondell has fallen for a “mug” named Dynamite (Robert Armstrong) but Farrell encourages her that there are only three things that are really important: “Jack, Money and Dough.” Both girls end up stowaways on a boat headed for Paris in this breezy, fast-paced comedy.

Broadway Hostess (Warner Archive DVD) I only know Wini Shaw as the ghostly face singing Lullabye Of Broadway in Gold Diggers of 1935 and The Lady In Red number from In Caliente. But here she has a leading role as a singer who comes to Manhattan looking for fame who meets Lucky (Lyle Talbot), a local gambler, who sees her potential and becomes her manager. Soon she becomes the toast of the town singing torch songs in nightclubs but Wini’s heart pines for Lucky while the handsome piano player Tommy (Phil Regan) pines for Wini. There’s a great number toward the end with dancing girls inside a glass of champagne.