Upcoming US Blu-rays of interest

Some Blu-rays (specifically released in the US) of interest on their way to online stores, for your perusal:
The Red House (April) - an intriguing looking film-noir/chiller from the classic era;
Wizard of Gore/Gore Gore Girls (May) - double bill from Something Weird, following up from their triple bill Herschell Gordon Lewis extravaganza a while back - nice to see them active again;
42nd Street Forever (May) from Synapse;
Murder Obsession (May) - the Riccardo Freda film released by Raro Video;
Killer Nun (April) - from Blue Underground of course;
Mimic (May) boxed set, featuring all three films - I didn't even know there was a third film!
Demoniacs, La Viol Du Vampire, and Requiem for a Vampire (May) proudly presented by Redemption/Kino Lorber;
Twilight Zone (June) complete boxed set if you have $350 to spare;
Ubaldo Terzani Horror Show (April) - again from Raro;
The Asphyx (April) - another one from the Redemption/Kino Lorber partnership. Amazingly this is going to include both the conventional shorter cut that has been available on home video over the last fifteen years or so, and the long cut, which I've never seen (and was beginning to wonder if it even existed). However, the scenes that make up the longer cut have had to be culled from an inferior source due to lack of suitable materials - better that than not at all I think you'll agree. The image quality for the rest of the film is excellent.

Upcoming David Lynch UK Blu-rays (update)

Further to the revelation that UK fans are being treated to a whole batch of David Lynch blu-ray discs (reported at Grim Cellar here), it may be of interest to those who will be buying all or most of them that Universal are, for a fair price, also releasing a boxed set of all six on Blu-ray (i.e. includes Eraserhead, Dune, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway, Blue Velvet). Pre-orders can be made at Amazon, Zavvi, or Play.  Release date set at 4th of June.

The Crazies

2010, US, Directed by Breck Eisner
Colour, Running Time: 101 minutes
Review Source: Blu-ray, Region B, Momentum; Image: 2.39:1 1080p 24fps, Audio: LPCM 5.1

It’s certainly easy to become cynical when perusing what’s worth expiring some time with in modern film-making these days, particularly when most of what's being ejected from the ar*e of Hollywood tends to be a remake of something else generally more worthwhile, and just about everybody who’s into movies seems to be bored to death with the whole remake bandwagon. It’s also easy to become cynical about one of the iconic horror directors to have shaped the genre quite a few of us still love: George Romero. Not only does he seem unable to direct anything worth a rotting toenail anymore, but anything that he did direct that was any good seems to have been remade by someone else, generally with fine results (conveniently disregarding the Day of the Dead wastrel as well as the ‘3D’ attempt to update Night…) - Dawn of the Dead was very impressive, Night of the Living Dead (1990) wasn’t actually a bad movie, in fact quite enjoyable (directed by Tom Savini, it seems to have been all but forgotten about), and then there is The Crazies, which surprised me by not only providing a suitably good time, but actually managing to, on a proverbial level, drag me to the edge of my seat at several points. So this suggests that people remaking Romero movies are mostly doing a better job than he is directing his own films nowadays…

Romero’s version of The Crazies was a very low budget early seventies affair, shot on 16mm with not too much in way of resources to draw upon (compared to ‘big‘ movies). It stubbornly refused to be held back by these limitations, however, and proved to be a kinetic, exciting, smartly scripted and acted offering that also presented a frightening concept as a bonus: a military viral weapon is accidentally unleashed into the water system of a small town, forcing them to cordon off the perimeter as its denizens fall prey to a disease that causes death or homicidal insanity. The aggressive tactics of the army to contain the outbreak were pretty scary, and Romero displayed the raw talent for presenting spiralling chaos in the wake of an uncontrollable nightmare that would take full blossom in the delectable Dawn of the Dead a few years later. The main idea in the remake is the same, but this one spends a lot less time focussing on militaristic interaction and debating of moral dilemmas (one of the original’s strengths), and more time trailing a small group of people attempting to survive a microcosmic apocalypse. In this sense it’s actually closer in feel to Dawn…, along with several other films I love for similar reasons, for example Zombie Creeping Flesh and Nightmare City. There is also some contemporary influence from 28 Weeks Later in the containment camps set up by the army. As the protagonists are pulled into the nightmare they eventually manage to escape to the road in a desperate attempt to head for the next town. Along the way there are several crossings with either the army or the wandering mad (now, unsurprisingly in the wake of what‘s a bit too popular these days, actually resembling running corpses more so than just crazy people). There are some clichés that bring things down a notch, for example the now extremely predictable scenario whereby an assailant is about to knock off one of the main characters when suddenly one of the heroes or heroines blows away the threat from behind - almost unforgivably this happens not once but twice (the second time cheekily even upping the 'ridiculous' factor, to my disdain). In addition I felt there are issues with the nature of the biologically induced insanity adopted for the ’crazies’ themselves - there are points when I feel it’s a little too contrived in its attempt to create homicidal shock moments. But on the whole there are enough positive factors to fully outweigh any problems.

The film is very adeptly acted out and the set pieces are for the most part exceptionally well handled by the director of Sahara. One area of note here is the prolonged car wash sequence, which has its funny moments, but mostly is very damn frightening and with a great payoff too. Radha Mitchell, in ‘danger’ of getting herself a Scream Queen tag with the likes of Pitch Black, Silent Hill, the superbly frightening Rogue and this movie under her belt, is as always a welcome and attractive presence throughout, but equally welcome is her character’s husband and survival partner Timothy Olyphant (after delivering a brilliant performance in the previous year's A Perfect Getaway), who seems really suited to this role and actually a likeable protagonist (too many main characters nowadays just seem to irritate the viewer into wishing them serious harm - surely not intentional!?). I also noted that the film had a fantastic appearance, combining naturalistic colours with a brightness that gave it an overall vibrancy. Cinematographer Maxime Alexandre has previously also bestowed the likes of the Hills Have Eyes (remake!) and Haute Tension (Switchblade Romance) with very bold looks. The score itself is persistently brooding with periodic arousal into a bouncier, more dynamic rhythm when onscreen action requires it - again I think that this works very much in the film’s favour. Finally, I rather liked the story’s closing few minutes too - a good ending in my opinion is something that makes or breaks the viewer’s desire to revisit a film.  So, after having enjoyed 85% or more of what I’d witnessed it momentarily crossed my mind that if remakes can at least occasionally result in a gratifying couple of hours then perhaps the phenomenon isn’t such a terrible curse?

Originally seeing this at the cinema prompted me to pick up the Blu-ray Disc - the representation is quite wonderful, highly detailed and colourful with a loud, aggressive uncompressed audio track.  Quite a few extras pad out the disc, one of which had me squirming a little being the 'back-slapping' article on George Romero.  Obviously some of this is justified given his sixties to eighties output, but judging by the fact that Romero was executive producer on this remake, the cynical me can't help but feel that this piece is self'plugging propaganda rather than a worthy documentary addition to a decent Blu-ray.  Anyway, whether you're a fan of Romero's original film or not, The Crazies 2010 is not a bad (or expensive) addition to your collection despite a handful of obvious shortcomings.

Night of the Devils

1972, Italy/Spain, Directed by Giorgio Ferroni
Colour, Running Time: 91 minutes
Review Source: Italian DVD, Region 2; Video: 2.35:1, Audio: Mono

This obscure Italian/Spanish film (titled at source as La Notte dei Diavoli) is based on the 'wurdulak' legend - a vampiric creature originating, I believe, from either European or Russian mythology, who returns from the grave to sacrifice loved ones, bringing them into the netherworld, in order to combat the loneliness of limbo death. In the film a man (driven insane, Lovecraft-style, and recalling the tale in flashback) crashes his car when he believed he sees an elderly woman crossing the vehicle's path, someone who is nowhere to be seen when he emerges from the damaged motor. Wandering off in search of help that can't initially be found he discovers a local man who, after an amiable discussion, offers to let him stay at his house for the night. There he finds a family in the midst of perpetual fear as each evening a recently deceased family member returns to the building to summon them. The dead person seeks company in its lonely ethereal world paradoxically by killing those loved during life, and our protagonist finds himself apparently unable to escape this increasingly threatening and supernaturally plagued environment.

Bearing strong similarities to the vampire legend, the myths of the wurdulak have largely been ignored in cinema (arguably a missed opportunity, as there is a tragic richness to the concept), with one notable exception: Mario Bava's classic Black Sabbath (I Tre Volti Della Paura), where it occupied one third of the anthology structure (with Boris Karloff). Very effectively and artistically shot was the Bava film, unsurprisingly for anyone who's seen any of his other work, and Night of the Devils, directed by the lesser known Ferroni, understandably has a lot to live up to. Ferroni did, however, a decade or so prior to this shoot the Gothic delight that was Mill of the Stone Women and could be considered already qualified with such territory. Proceeding in a slow and solemn fashion Night of the Devils may struggle to keep many shaky-cam-weaned teens awake, and perhaps a shake-up in this department would have been of benefit, but what it lacks in urgency it makes up for in sinister, supernatural ambience. The fact that it's also punctuated by occasional gore and a grisly disintegrating head effect is of no great disadvantage either! The grim house in which Nikolas becomes trapped is enshrouded by an air of doom as the whole family lives in terror of the regularly returning 'corpse', and his inability to escape builds on this fear of the otherworldly. Eventually (and I do mean eventually!) the tension really picks up and finally pays off to an extent, as the escape attempt comes under repeated attack from the increasing number of wurdulaks, giving Night of the Living Dead a run for its rotting flesh. This great climax really strengthens the preceding sombre and plodding nature, but there is a further bonus in the slightly ambiguous angle of the conclusion itself. The score is a mixed bag - the theme tune itself tends to irritate, thankfully only being used two or three times but enough to desire for a different choice, whilst elsewhere the incidental soundtrack is suitably spooky.

Unfortunately the film is virtually impossible to find (although of note, there is a soundtrack CD available in Italy) therefore a remastering job by the likes of Synapse, Arrow, Severin, Shameless, etc., would be most welcome - it deserves to be seen by a wider audience and the Euro-horror crowd (of which I am one) in particular should be appreciative of any such release. The English dub track isn't too bad considering the period (my disc also has an Italian track albeit without any subtitles - I lament my lack of understanding of the language!) though its original language with subs would be preferable, however the chance to see it at all is something to be savoured.

*Update* Raro Video US have since put this out on Blu-ray - you can read The Grim Cellar's updated view here

Slaughter High

1986, US, Directed by George Dugdale, Mark Ezra, Peter Litten
Colour, Running Time: 91 minutes
Review Source: Satellite Broadcast; Video: 1.85:1, Audio: Stereo

Billed as a 'horror-comedy', Slaughter High (or April Fool's Day as it was shot, plus released in Japan on VHS - note this this not to be confused with another eighties slasher of the same name) kicks off with Caroline Munro playing an American teen who lures nerd-boy loser Marty into the shower for some apparent frolicking and other virginity-losing activity, only for Marty to find when he emerges from a shower cubicle without clothing that he's been the at the butt-end of another high school prank when he's photographed naked before having his head dunked into the toilet. The sadistic bunch of bullies get dragged into detention while one of them - apparently still on the lookout for more 'hilarious' pranks at the expense of Marty's sanity - tricks the nerd into smoking a spliff that results in the laboratory going up in flames and the young lad being scarred mentally and physically. Years later the same bullies arrange a little reunion at the now derelict high school, unaware that Marty is showing up on the same night but with vastly different intentions at heart - the homicidal manifestation of years worth of pent up rage; revenge.

The comedy aspect of this minor slasher from the eighties is to have a variable effect depending on viewer maturity levels I would imagine - very little in the film made my weary eyes crinkle at the other end of a smile, leading me to believe that the label was actually an excuse for the fact that most of the talent present is hopeless. Munro tries her best with a non-English accent, and at least looks very good as usual, while most of the other actors bumble through their lines in a fairly bizarre fashion. I also found it difficult to identify with the bullied boy, Marty, because he's such a rag that he's not even vaguely likable given the brief characterisation shaping him on screen. The deaths and gore effects are at least a little imaginative, plus the location of the abandoned school could have embellished the film with more atmosphere had it been played straight. But with feeble and illogical scriptwork, weak synth scoring, and humour that doesn't work for more than a couple of screen minutes in total, it's difficult to say - beyond the aforementioned gore/deaths, the weirdly offbeat nature, and an admittedly interesting ending - that this is essential viewing for anyone except slasher movie completists.

I viewed this via a Sky broadcast, thoughtfully presented in its original aspect ratio, however following a Lionsgate DVD release in the US a few years ago (both individually and as part of a four-film set), the best version on disc has appeared in the UK courtesy of Arrow Films (from which the above image is obviously taken) - a set that contains reversible cover artwork, poster, booklet, interview, biography of Caroline Munro, and two audio commentaries, as well as the film itself uncut for the first time in the UK. Royal carpet treatment indeed, though whether the film deserves it is as usual down to personal tastes.

Upcoming David Lynch UK Blu-rays

Further to the previous information at Grim Cellar (posted here) regarding the fantastic news that Lynch's seminal Eraserhead is on its way to UK Blu, it seems that Universal are treating UK fans to a batch of the unique director's films:  On their merry way are also discs of Dune (not sure which cut but I'm guessing the theatrical), Lost Highway, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Blue Velvet, and Wild at Heart.  I'll certainly be looking out for all of those, with the exception of Dune, which I wanted to like but ended up being transformed into cowdung through the sheer boredom of it all, and Wild at Heart, which features, er, Nicolas Cage.  Good news is the fact that these discs seems generally to be carrying a few extras to make them doubly worth picking up.  Lost Highway's one of my favourites of the great auteur so I think that will be top of my list (replacing the reasonable two disc DVD, which had a slightly dissatisfying transfer that was very soft and a tad indistinct as a result).

Upcoming UK Blu-rays of interest

April:
The Revenant - another zombie film - this used to be my favourite genre but seems to have been hijacked by the mainstream over recent years.
Dark Relic: Sir Gregory, The Crusader - perhaps Black Death has started something in the history horror hybrid genre?
The Howling Reborn - I can think of much more interesting stuff to exhume than the stale Howling series.
Grave Encounters - something actually happens on one of those reality TV ghost-hunting shows, at last!
Demons and Demons 2 of course - can't wait!
Shaun of the Dead - "augmented reality" edition - what the hell's that all about?  Great film but I'd rather them put out older stuff that's not already out on Blu-ray than repeatedly releasing the same titles.
The Mummy - ditto (I think you can guess which version this is...).
Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark - could be interesting; stars Guy Pearce and has had Guillermo Del Toro's participation.
The Wicker Tree - follow up to The Wicker Man (sans Nicolas Cage!) of course.
The Ghoul - the 1933 version; this is more like it!

May:
Underworld Awakening (in 3D) and predictably a simultaneous Underworld 1-4 boxed set.
House by the Cemetery (dual DVD/BD format and LE) - on of my favourites.
Mask Maker
Strippers Vs Werewolves - they do get around these strippers...
Hansel And Gretel - Eastern variety.
The Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile - two Hammer favourites.
Osombie
American Werewolf in London (Play.com steelbook edition)
Intruders
Island of Lost Souls - I would have held off buying the Criterion version had I known at the time this was coming out: will be available in both conventional and steelbook packaging.
From Dusk Till Dawn 2, 3, and complete boxed set varieties.

June:
Return of the Living Dead and Eraserhead as previously reported at The Grim Cellar.
Mimic 2
Zombie Apocalypse - come up with some new ideas, people!
The Woman in Black - Daniel Radcliffe meets Hammer!

Till Death

1974, US, Directed by Walter Stocker
Colour, Running Time: 71 minutes
Review Source: VHS, PAL, VideoForm; Video: 1.33:1, Audio: Mono

Wet rag Paul has dreams of driving along at night and spotting a woman in white near the roadside. Parking up to catch up with her he’s led to a tomb where he finds what may have been the woman lying in an open coffin, at which point the rotting corpse awakens to grab him. Back in reality Paul is getting married to a similarly soppy woman and the two of them set off in his car for a horny honeymoon, the comprising activities of which would make conventional sex addicts everywhere transform to dark matter in an instant. After hours of driving the dazed man almost hits a truck, swaying off the road in a horrific crash. While he sustains minimal injuries his new wife is killed instantly. Weeks or months of rehabilitation pass before Paul manages to build the strength of mind not only to leave the hospital but to visit his wife’s burial place. Arriving at the lonely cemetery he’s told by the caretaker that they close up in thirty six minutes so he should be out of the crypt by then, at which point the grief-stricken man heads down into the deathly tomb to mourn. Upon believing that he can hear a woman - his wife? - crying he collapses and knocks himself unconscious. The caretakers arrive some time later and, thinking he’s left the place to desertion, they lock up the crypt for the night before heading off home. When Paul awakens it’s a stormy night and he realises he’s stuck down there, but perhaps not alone! Certain that he can hear his wife moaning from behind the stone block between them, he grabs a pick axe and smashes it open where his wife appears to be alive…

A highly obscure, super-low-budget American film shot in the early seventies, this is something built out of modest film-making skills and ambitions that don’t step too far outside of the available finances. Because of the crew’s lack of experience there is a certain naivety about the production whereby conventions are inadvertently lost in the attempt to construct their own little chiller, for example the odd manner in which the opening credits suddenly appear around ten minutes into the film (against the soundtrack of a depressing country tune). The many scenes that take place early on in Paul’s car are merely filmed against a black background with fog drifting across the shot - the film itself probably cost more to process than paying for what’s actually captured by the camera. Mundane thespian abilities aside, once Paul gets himself locked in the strange little crypt he spends the rest of the film there - an unusual plot device, but one which builds a noticeable degree of creepiness as the storm outside kicks in and you realise that the main man really isn’t going anywhere for the duration of the night. An obvious ambiguity lies in the arrival of his ‘dead’ wife - is she a ghost, a reanimated corpse, or something inside his crazy brain? He did after all knock himself unconscious and has also been through a life-altering trauma, both of which could explain hallucination or unhinged thinking. Explanations are sensibly kept to a minimum, providing the story with a level of mystery that keeps it riding along in the manner of a Twilight Zone episode. Despite the clear limitations of the resources available at the time, Stocker managed to create a moody piece that, had he persevered, almost could have dragged him out of the first-time director pit (he never directed another film).

So obscure is this that I’m certain it’s never even received a legitimate DVD release anywhere. The review was taken from a pre-certificate videotape released in Britain some time around the early eighties and, image-wise, is a mass of speckles and scratches throughout, this somehow adding to its curiosity value. If this ever makes it to High Definition I’ll eat my hat, and my missus’ bra too (actually that last bit sounds quite appealing…).

Upcoming UK Demons Blu-ray

The Demons steelbook being released at the end of April by Arrow (in the UK) looks highly desirable.  Containing both 'proper' Demons films, this is a steelbook set bundled with a collector's booklet, both films mastered in HD on Blu-ray with (now this looks interesting...) Italian and English language audio tracks (not sure if I can tear myself away from that classic English dub, but it will be cool to see how the films appear in what is effectively their native tongue), English subtitles natch, interviews with Dario Argento (who of course produced the films), Claudio Simonetti, Luigi Cozzi (Black Cat please, Arrow?), Sergio Stivaletti, alongside audio recollections from Lamberto Bava (director of the two films if you weren't already familiar with them) and the cast/crew.  There also appears to be an Italian horror documentary tracing roots (from Mario Bava himself) through to the end of the classic era (which aptly reaches where Lamberto Bava was at the time).  Both films are to be available individually on Blu-ray and plain old DVD, but this steelbook looks like the thing to have (though unfortunately it seems as though the specially commissioned 'Demons 3' comic that is bundled with the individual Blu-ray releases is not going to be included with the steelbook, due to the dimensions... still the price difference of buying the steelbook over separate purchases kind of compensates for this).  It also actually costs less than what I originally paid for the imported uncut R1 Anchor Bay Demons DVD when it first came out back around 1999 - how times have changed!  Here are the cellar reviews for episode 1 and episode 2.

Upcoming Jean Rollin Blu-rays, Wave 2

Great news: following the recent batch of five Jean Rollin titles released on Blu-ray by Kino/Redemption (four of which I now have) they've now announced for May a further three titles: Rape of the Vampire/Viol Du Vampire (his first B&W feature, which effectively began life as a short film and was later extended), the much more interesting (IMO) Demoniacs, and one of his crowning acheivements Requiem for a Vampire.  Can't wait!