04/09/08

CLOVERFIELD (2008, Paramount). Only three months or so after a short run in theaters, producer J.J. Abrams and director Matt Reeves’s post-9/11 take on the giant monster genre debuts on digital versatile disc in a nice special edition from Paramaount.

The paper-thin plot has a group of 20-somethings attempting to find and rescue a friend in a New York City that is under assault by a strange, alien-looking gargantua and its vicious, insectoid parasites. Shot in a manner intended to simulate a first-person home video documentation of events, the film is fast-paced (once it gets going), full of surprises, and entertaining. It’s about as inherently goofy as any other giant monster movie and doesn’t hold up to a lot of heavy critical analysis, but you know what? It’s a giant monster movie. It really doesn’t need to. All it needs to do is be fun, and I thought it was definitely that.

Awesome giant monster? Check. Massive and spectacular scenes of destruction? Check. Surprises? Check. Scary scenes? Oh yeah. Moderately interesting characters? Close enough.

And, for what it’s worth, I really enjoyed seeing a giant monster movie from the perspective of the civilians on the ground, rather than from the POV of yelling generals, brilliant scientists and heroic soldiers. The creature design by the Tippett studio was quite unique and unusual, as well.

Paramount’s DVD offers the film in a flawless, anamorphic widescreen presentation and 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. Special features include a commentary track by Reeves, a handful of behind-the-scenes documentaries, a few thankfully deleted scenes, a gag reel, and two alternate endings, neither of which are particularly interesting.

It’s a decent package, but I’m guessing there will be probably be a double-dip in a few months. Nevertheless, I dug the movie and recommend picking it up.

EVIL DEAD: THE ULTIMATE EDITION (1981, Starz/Anchor Bay). Five college students travel to an isolated cabin in the woods for a vacation, where they unwittingly release evil spirits which possess them, one by one. Carnage ensues.

The most recent DVD release of this legendary ““ and much-reissued ““ indie horror classic from director Sam Raimi (SPIDER-MAN) and star/producer Bruce Campbell (BUBBA HO-TEP) is not quite the definitive edition promised, but it’s very, very close.

The set contains two versions of the film, each on their own disc. On disc one, you have EVIL DEAD presented matted to 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, accompanied by a previously recorded commentary track by Raimi and producer Rob Tappert that dates back to the laserdisc release of the film by Elite Entertainment in the 90’s. It’s a still a great commentary, though. This disc also includes a new (?) and very well-made documentary, ONE BY ONE WE’LL TAKE YOU: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE EVIL DEAD.

Disc two features the film in its original full-frame format and is accompanied by the equally-old solo Campbell commentary. Although it was recorded about a decade ago, it holds up as one of the greatest DVD commentaries ever, and is worth listening to again and again. This disc also includes TREASURES FROM THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR, a collection of outtakes and deleted scenes.

The third disc contains the remaining extra features, including a bunch of material promoting the recent tour of the film’s leading actresses, “The Ladies of EVIL DEAD.” There are also a handful of TV Spots, make-up test footage, the original theatrical trailer, a photo gallery, a poster & memorabilia gallery, and various interviews.

If you already own one of the previous versions of THE EVIL DEAD, this so-called “Ultimate Edition” does not contain every feature previously issues with the movie, so be forwarned. If you don’t already own a version of the film on DVD and would like to, you won’t find a better-looking presentation of the movie, and the extras are pretty good.

It’s a really nice set. It’s just not “Ultimate.”

HATCHET: UNRATED (2007, Starz/Anchor Bay). A group of college students and other born-victims are in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. For a lark, they take a late-night boat tour of the nearby bayous, and find themselves stalked and killed one at a time by a deformed, nigh-invulnerable axe murderer with a colorful legend.

Sigh. From the praise heaped on this by-the-numbers, self-parodying, routine stalk-n-slay flick, I expected something special. But instead, it plays out as an 80’s slasher film fan’s valentine to the genre”¦ a notably uninspired valentine without a single new idea or thing to say. Yeah, okay, it’s nice that they got Kane Hodder to play their killer, “Victor Crowley.” But he plays it pretty much exactly the same way he played Jason in the countless FRIDAY THE 13TH sequels he did. Robert Englund and Tony Todd have been making a career of cameos in recent horror flicks, trading off their fright film cred, but their appearances in HATCHET are so brief and corny as to be pointless. The main cast is adequate, considering the banal, predictable script, and BUFFY/ANGEL fans will enjoy seeing actress Mercedes McNab (Harmony) flashing her boobies. But that’s about all this has goes going for it.

Okay, to be fair, it’s quite well shot, and the pace is pretty good, but it’s hardly a classic.

The Starz DVD is of their usual high quality, with a pristine 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and both 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Surround Sound. The disc includes and audio commentary by writer/director Adam Greenm cinematographer Will Barratt, and cast members Tamara Feldman, Joel Moore and Deon Richmond. Three are a handful of behind-the-scenes featurettes, a gag reel, and a trailer. There’s also a weird featurette that’s nothing more than director Green’s love letter to Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider”¦ but it’s more interesting than the feature.

Recommended only for undemanding gorehounds.

RICCO THE MEAN MACHINE (1973, Dark Sky Films). This Italian exploitation effort stars Robert Mitchum’s son Chris as the son of a mobster who returns home after a stay in prison to discover that his father has been murdered and the family business taken over by a rival criminal. In true revenge movie form, he sets out to avenge his family honor with the help of a hot mob babe (Barbara Bouchet).

RICCO is a tedious, plodding, “inaction” film with little to recommend it aside from the bountiful charms of frequently naked Euro-vixens Barbara Bouchet and Malisa Longo. The only other point of interest in the entire movie is a surprisingly graphic shock sequence wherein a bunch of gangsters cut off a man’s genitalia and stuff them in his mouth before dumping him into a vat of acid. It looks fake as hell, but at least it’s memorable.

Dark Sky Films have put together a nice package for this rather undeserving film, with a remarkably clean 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and an on-screen interview with star Chris Mitchum, who discusses his exploitation acting career and working in the shadow of his super-star father.

Not a great movie, but Dark Sky steps up with another high quality DVD. Recommended only for fans of the film ““ if there are any ““ and aficionados of Euro-starlet skin.

BEOWULF: UNRATED (2007, Paramount). The legendary warrior (Ray Winstone) takes on the horrific monster Grendel (Crispin Glover, WILLARD) and the creature’s seductive mother (Angelina Jolie, TOMB RAIDER) in ancient Denmark.

Robert Zemeckis (BACK TO THE FUTURE) continues his unhealthy love affair with modern technology with this cold, mostly uninvolving computer-animated adventure based on the ancient epic poem. The script by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary is fairly decent, and almost manages to invest the film with some soul. Unfortunately, the CGI animation and motion-capture performances, while technically quite remarkable, place a huge barrier between the audience and its plastic, action figure-looking characters, and it’s difficult to get emotionally involved in the story. Visually, it’s pretty amazing, but the neither live action-nor-fully animated nature of the filmmaking can be off-putting.

Paramount’s DVD is, like the film, technically astounding. The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen direct digital transfer is crystal sharp, and the Dolby 5.1 audio is thunderous. The Unrated DVD is fairly loaded with special features, including deleted scenes, numerous “making of” featurettes, and trailers.

Clearly, I found BEOWULF to be disappointing, but if you’re a fan of the movie already, the DVD is definitely worth having, as the presentation is inarguably excellent.

DRAGONLANCE (2007, Paramount). Based on a series of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS tie-in adventure novels, this PG-13 animated fantasy film revolves around a cosmic battle between good and evil, and the group of heroes who gather for a quest which will benefit the forces of good. Pretty standard stuff.

The producers have rounded up a geek-friendly cast of voice actors, including Kiefer Sutherland (THE LOST BOYS), Lucy Lawless (XENA), Michael Rosenbaum (SMALLVILLE) and Michelle Tratchenberg (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), and the script, based on the novel by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, is fairly solid, if routine, fantasy material. Unfortunately, the animation, directed by toon vet Will Meugnot, looks like it was done in the mid-Eighties. Compared to other recent, direct-to-DVD animated features like JUSTICE LEAGUE: NEW FRONTIER, HELLBOY ANIMATED or TUROK: SON OF STONE, DRAGONLANCE looks downright prehistoric.

The character designs are bland and uninspired, the backgrounds are under-detailed, and the animation itself is stiff and awkward. The limited computer animation never blends well with the hand-drawn material, and is frequently jarring. I suppose, if you were a fan of that awful DUNGEONS & DRAGONS cartoon from the Eighties, this movie might make a decent companion piece, but really, it’s just not very good.

Parmount’s DVD is fine, with a sharp, anamorphic widescreen transfer and robust Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The skimpy extra features consist of some early test animation and the original character designs.

I love good adventure animation, but this isn’t good adventure animation. Not recommended.

GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE: THE ORIGINAL ANIMATED SERIES (1967, Classic Media). To tie-in with a new GEORGE animated series for Cartoon Network, Classic Media has collected the entire original series from Jay Ward (ROCKY & BULLWINKLE).

George is a dim-witted Tarzan who lives in a treehouse with his girlfriend Ursula (who he often refers to as “Fella”), his “doggie,” the elephant Shep, and an erudite gorilla called Ape. Each 30-minute episode includes a roughly 7-minute GEORGE adventure, and two equal-length installments of TOM SLICK, about a race driver, and SUPER CHICKEN, the adventures of a potion-sipping, super-powered fowl. The episodes are obviously fast paced, and like other Ward productions, the humor works on several levels, making them as funny for adults as for kids.

Classic Media has packaged all 17 episodes of this 40-year-old toon in an attractive, two-disc, hardback case. The full-frame transfers are clean and fairly bright, showing only minimal dirt and some minor age-related damage. Overall, the episodes look quite good for a TV a cartoon of its vintage.

A great, funny cartoon, far funnier than those Disney live-action rip-offs. Recommended.

GONE BABY GONE (2007, Miramax). This contemporary crime thriller from director Ben Affleck, and based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, was one of the best films of last year. As far as I’m concerned, Ben did such an assured job helming this disturbing drama, that he can give up acting and move behind the camera permanently.

The downbeat story involves two young Boston private investigators (Casey Affleck of AMERICAN PIE and Michelle Monaghan of KISS KISS BANG BANG) who are hired to find a kidnapped little girl. Rich with authentic Beantown atmosphere and filled with great supporting performances from both unknowns and veterans like Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman, GONE BABY GONE hits all the right notes for a modern noir.

The Miramax disc offers a sterling 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a robust Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound track. Director Affleck and screenwriter Aaron Stockard provide an informative and involving audio commentary track. The behind-the-scenes featurettes focus primarily on the director’s choice to shoot in his hometown, and the effort made to ensure the verisimilitude of the project. There’s a handful of deleted scenes (with commentary) and a fascinating alternate ending.

GONE BABY GONE is a strong, effective film, and the DVD is highly recommended.

THE PHANTOM CREEPS (1939, VCI). Legendary screen villain Bela Lugosi stars in this12-chapter cliffhanger serial, as scientist Dr.Alex Zorka, a certifiable madman determined to take over the world with his inventions, which include exploding spiders, an invisibility belt, an awesome 8-foot robot with a monster’s face, and a nearly-indecipherable accent. In each chapter he is opposed by the forces of law and order, who find themselves completely overmatched by the nutty professor’s brilliance”¦ and their own astounding incompetence.

VCI’s disc presents all 12 chapters in their original full-frame, 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Print quality is generally terrible, with tons of damage and bad contrast ““ but it’s more bearable than any other DVD I’ve found of this serial. The disc includes a Porky Pig cartoon, PORKY’S MIDNIGHT MATINEE, as a bonus feature.

It’s not one of the best serials, but Lugosi is a pleasure to watch, and he seems to be having fun, too. For cliffhanger fans or Lugosiphiles, I doubt you’re going to find a better version available commercially.

THE PHANTOM EMPIRE (1935, VCI). Another classic serial from VCI, this one features singing cowboy star Gene Autry playing a fictionalized version of himself ““ a western music radio star who broadcasts daily from a dude ranch. Unfortunately, gangsters want the land the ranch is built on for its rich radium deposits, and know that if Autry misses a broadcast, he’ll lose his contract and the ranch. Oh, and there’s also the super-scientific lost city of Murania built in the caverns below the ranch, filled with ray gun-wielding Thunder Riders, robots with aluminum cowboy hats, and a sexy queen with a TV set that can allow her to see anyone and anywhere she wants (does the NSA know about that?). Both the gangsters and Muranians want Autry off the property, and will do whatever they can to stop him from making his broadcasts.

This famous cliffhanger features lots of exciting western action mixed with FLASH GORDON-styled sci-fi thrills, and plenty of country crooning. VCI’s DVD ““ like THE PHANTOM CREEPS, above ““ shows lots of age-related damage and debris, and plenty of random missing frames. Still, it looks better than most of the budget DVD versions of the serial that are commercially available.

The set also includes a bonus Gene Autry western, BOOTS & SADDLES, a couple of informative text features, a retrospective featurette, various cliffhanger trailers, and a still gallery.

This is the best version of THE PHANTOM EMPIRE I’ve seen on DVD. If you’re a serial fan, you might want to pick it up.

THE WILD WILD WEST: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON (1968-69, CBS). Television’s greatest Western, sci-fi, spy fantasy series comes to its conclusion with it’s fourth and final season. Unfortunately, while there are many fine episodes in this batch, most suffer from the absence of co-star Ross Martin, who was struck by a severe heart attack during production, and missed many episodes while he recovered. Also, Robert Conrad received a serious head injury during a botched stunt (which was used anyway!), and had to cut back on some of the more risky action scenes. Still, it’s a great season with many memorable guest stars and strong scripts, and worth checking out.

CBS’ DVD release presents all 24 episodes in crisp, clean full-frame transfers and clear mono sound. Unfortunately, there are no bonus features.

As with all three previous season box sets, THE WILD WILD WEST Season 4, is highly recommended.

WALKER, TEXAS RANGER: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON (1995-96, CBS). Although I grew up watching and enjoying Chuck Norris’ theatrical action films, I never really warmed to his WALKER television series, despite it being clearly inspired by LONE WOLF McQUADE, my favorite Norris movie. Too much talking, perhaps, or maybe it was the pedestrian TV-safe scripting that lacked the more lurid and over-the-top elements that made his movies so much fun. It’s slick and well-produced, but too wholesome and tame for my tastes.

But the show has its fans, and stands as one of the last honest-to-goodness action-adventure series to achieve any longevity and success on network television. CBS has been collecting the long-running (9 seasons!) cops & karate series in solid season sets, and the latest volume includes all 27 episodes of the 95-96 season in crystal sharp, full-frame transfers. There are no extras”¦ unless you count hearing Norris sing the title tune, “Eyes of A Ranger,” at the open of every episode. Personally, I consider that a real treat.

Recommended only for WALKER fans, and Norris completists.

THE EQUALIZER: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (1985-86, Universal) This was one of my favorite television shows back in the Eighties, and I was surprised to find that it still holds up quite well. Edward Woodward (THE WICKER MAN) brings considerable dramatic heft, humanity and intensity to his role as Robert McCall, a middle-aged ex-secret agent who takes out newspaper advertisements offering to help people in trouble in a menacing, pre-Guiliani New York City. Using espionage tradecraft and many of his old black ops cronies, McCall fights for the underdog against street gangs, blackmailers, assassins, white slavers, malicious businessmen, callous slumlords and industrial spies. It’s great stuff, with twisty scripts by TV veterans like Mark Frost (TWIN PEAKS) and Michael Sloane (KNIGHT RIDER). Among it’s producers was 24’s Joel Surnow, who clearly learned something about gritty espionage stories while working on this series.

Universal’s box set includes all 22 first season episodes in solid full-frame transfers that show only minimal age-related wear. The mono sound is clear and sharp. The only extras are a commentary on the pilot episode by creator Michael Sloane and a bonus episode from the second season.

THE EQUALIZER was one of the best, and most unique, crime shows of the Eighties, and it still holds up. Recommended.

SCHOOLGIRL REPORT VOL 3 (1971, Impulse Pictures). The third entry in the notorious series of German sexploitation flicks pretends, like the first two, to be a serious documentary about the disturbing sexual liberation of 70’s Teutonic teenage girls, with authoritative narration, woman-on-the-street interviews and elaborate, softcore “re-enactments” that just coincidentally display copious amounts of attractive, nubile Euro-flesh in highly eroticized situations. Of course, the film warns that all this unbridled, uninhibited behavior leads inevitably to grim retribution in the form of unwanted pregnancy, STDs or public humiliation.

Impulse Pictures presents this latest installment of the long-running series, directed by Walter Boos and Ernst Hofbauer, in its original German, with English subtitles. The 1.66:1 anamorphic transfer is a bit worn and faded, but is presented uncut. There are no extras.

For collectors of vintage sexploitation, these campy, softcore “classics” are worth checking out.

42ND STREET FOREVER: EXPLOITATION EXPLOSION (Synapse Films) and TRAILER TRASH (Camp Motion Pictures/Pop Cinema). Trailer compilations aren’t for everyone, but I enjoy them. It can be a kick seeing how distributors and exhibitors have tried over the years to sell their wares, and when the wares in question are sleazy exploitation films, the trailers can often be more fun than the movies they promote.

Synapse Films’ third volume of vintage grindhouse trailers, 42ND STREET FOREVER: EXPLOTATION EXPLOSION, features 101 minutes of fantastically lurid and memorable coming attractions, covering the gamut from Filipino martial arts imports to Roger Corman sexploitation and even trucker movies! Here’s some of the titles included: SUDDEN DEATH, THE ONE ARMED EXECUTIONER, JAGUAR LIVES!, ENTER THE NINJA, LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH, FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH, THE STRANGER & THE GUNFIGHTER, DEMONOID, DEVIL TIMES FIVE, PHASE IV, THE UNCANNY, THE PACK, ALLIGATOR, KILLER FISH, BLOOD BEACH, HOT T-SHIRTS, CHEERLEADERS’ WILD WEEKEND, SUMMER SCHOOL TEACHERS, KING FRAT, PRISON GIRLS, CHAIN GANG WOMEN, NIGHT CALL NURSES, THE HAPPY HOOKER GOES HOLLYWOOD, GUYANA ““ CULT OF THE DAMNED, SAVAGE STREETS, HIGH BALLIN’, TATTOO, and a bunch more. Picture quality and aspect ratio varies from trailer to trailer, but they’re all watchable and entertaining. This volume includes a mostly-informative audio commentary track by Fangoria Managing Editor Michael Gingold, AVManiacs editor Edwin Samuelson, and film historian Chris Poggiali. There is also a handful of great TV spots, too.

TRAILER TRASH is a two-disc collection of promos for virtually all of EI Entertainment/POP Cinema’s multitude of video releases, covering all of their many labels, from Camp Motion Pictures and Seduction Cinema, to the company’s Shock-O-Rama, and Secret Key imprints. Some of the many titles included in the set’s 5+ hour running time are: PLAY-MATE OF THE APES, SPLATTER BEACH, 2069: A SEX ODYESSY, CANNIBAL CAMPOUT, SWEDISH WILDCATS, WOMEN’S PRISON MASSACRE, INGA, BITE ME!, SIN SISTERS, WOODCHIPPER MASSACRE, RUN VIRGIN RUN, SATAN’S SCHOOL FOR LUST, DRAINIAC, PSYCHO KICKBOXER, BACTERIUM, SLIME CITY, 5 BLOODY GRAVES, CHAINSAW SALLY, SUBURBAN NIGHTMARE, SINFUL, THE HOUSE ON HOOTER HILL, CREATURE FROM THE HILLBILLY LAGOON, EROTIC GAMES, CHANTAL, ABIGAIL LESLIE’S BACK IN TOWN, THE SEXPERTS, and tons more, including the complete Misty Mundae collection. As the majority of these trailers are for home video titles, and have never been spooled through a projector, 90% of these promos are of high visual quality. Only those for the studio’s “retro” releases show any wear and tear. The 2 disc set also includes a handful of documentaries created by the studio for various DVD releases. If you’re already a die-hard fan of this company’s productions, or have never sampled their product and are curious, TRAILER TRASH is the perfect sampler, containing, as it does, the good, the bad, and the ugly of EI’s output.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

Reviews of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, WRESTLEMANIAC, THEM, ENCHANTED, WOODY WOODPECKER & FRIENDS VOL. 2, 101 DALMATIANS PLATINUM EDITION, WAR OF THE WORLDS 2: THE NEXT WAVE, VOYEUER, LOST HIGHWAY, BIONIC WOMAN VOLUME ONE, IRON KING: THE COMPLETE SERIES, DIE AND LET LIVE, CLOAK & SHAG HER, THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE and more!

For older Late Show columns, visit the recently revamped DVD Late Show website and archive. For additional pop culture musings, occasional DVD previews and lots of shameless self-promotion, you might try checking out my blog.

Comments, DVD questions and review requests can be directed to: dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com

02/06/08

It’s a been a while since my last DVD Late Show column. Aside from the usual holiday chaos, this winter has found me been utterly buried in freelance work. I’m scripting a couple of original graphic novels, including an adaptation of an upcoming Lion’s Gate horror film, writing several short stories for upcoming anthologies and juggling a couple of graphic design gigs. I’m also currently trying to shepherd three comic book series that I’ve written to your local dealer’s shelves, which has demanded a lot of my remaining time.

So, you can understand that I’ve been busy.

Being away from this column so long gave me some time to analyze what I’ve been ““ and not been doing ““ with this column, and to try and figure out whether or not I wanted to continue with it. And if so, whether I could work out how to produce it on a more regular schedule. Let’s face it ““ this column’s pretty much always lived up (or down) to the “Late” part of the name, and it’s been frustrating for me as well as for you.

Well, I want to keep writing this column. I’ve written around forty installments and covered almost 300 titles since I started this thing”¦ and I’ve enjoyed all of it, even if it’s been surprisingly hard work. I’ve been able to see films I might never have experienced otherwise, and hopefully thrown a small spotlight on some deserving releases.

So, here I am, back on the job, focused and ready to review.

But there will be some changes. The columns will be shorter, and there will be fewer titles covered in each installment. On the other hand ““ at least for a while ““ I’ll be trying for a weekly schedule, so it doesn’t necessarily mean fewer reviews overall.

Let’s begin”¦

MIDNIGHT MOVIES: FROM THE MARGIN TO THE MAINSTREAM (2007, Starz Home Entertainment). This documentary by director Stuart Samuels chronicles the rise of the “midnight movie” movement in the Seventies, when theater owners began running low budget, offbeat flicks at late night screenings in an effort to raise some extra cash. Several of these films ended up attracting huge crowds, and gave rise to the whole “cult film” phenomenon.

The film takes an in-depth look specifically at the six films that most defined the movement ““ Alejandro Jodorowsky’s allegorical western, EL TOPO, George Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, John Waters’ PINK FLAMINGOS, the reggae-flavored THE HARDER THEY COME, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW and David Lynch’s ERASERHEAD. Through well-chosen clips and thoughtful, perceptive commentary by exhibitors, distributors, critics and filmmakers (including Romero, Waters, Lynch and Jodorowsky), MIDNIGHT MOVIES offers a fascinating look at the pre-home video era of cult films.

Starz bare-bones DVD presents the documentary in a crisp, 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a stereo soundtrack. There are no extras.

THE KILLING KIND (1971, Dark Sky Films). A subtle little thriller by director Curtis Harrington (NIGHT TIDE), with outstanding performances by Ann Southern, John Savage (THE DEER HUNTER) and a surprisingly sexy Cindy Williams (yep, of LAVERNE & SHIRLEY fame), THE KILLING KIND tells of an over-protected mama’s boy (Savage) who is sent to prison for participating in a game rape. Upon his parole, he moves back into his mother’s (Southern) boarding house, where he finds himself driven by uncontrollable urges ““ both sexual and violent ““ to avenge himself on those he feels have wronged him.

Smart, suspenseful and shocking, Dark Sky has given this obscure Seventies thriller a sterling release on DVD, with an uncut, remastered anamorphic widescreen transfer, clear Dolby 2.0 Mono soundtrack, and a bonus, on-screen interview with director Harrington, recorded shortly before his death last year.

Recommended.

IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA and EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS (1955/1956, Columbia/Sony). In the Fifties, special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen contributed his groundbreaking stop-motion animation to three low budget Columbia science fiction potboilers. All three of these titles ““ 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH, IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA and EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS ““ were released to DVD a few years back as part of the “Ray Harryhausen Collection,” in fine editions. Well, now the studio has re-visited the titles with new transfers, new extras and, new, digitally-colorized versions of the films. I haven’t gotten a hold of the new 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH yet, but I can happily report that the other two discs are great!

IT tells the story of a giant octopus, mutated by atomic bomb testing, which attacks San Francisco, while the rather literally-titled SAUCERS, well, tells of a war between the American military and alien invaders. Both films are fast-paced, entertaining relics of an earlier era of filmmaking, with stoic, square-jawed heroes, attractive heroines, and plenty of patriotic military might. Of course, in both cases, it’s Harryhausen’s innovative and inspired effects work that really make the movies memorable and still worth watching today.

Both discs feature new black & white transfers that are notable improvements over the previously released versions, with sharper images and better contrast. Most of the remaining damage and dirt has been digitally removed, as well. Columbia has also provided colorized versions, which can be accessed through the main menu or by using the “angle” button on your remote.

While I’ve seen worse, the colorization still looks bad to me ““ with an overall brown-ness that is just unappealing and unnatural. But at least they kept the original version available.

Each 2-disc set includes trailers for DRAGON WARS and the new CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND Ultimate Editions, audio commentaries by Harryhausen, other effects artists and film historians, behind-the-scenes featurettes, still galleries, original ad artwork, a Tim Burton-Harryhausen video conversation, and much more. They each also feature cover art that’s much superior to their original DVD releases.

In both cases, these are double-dips that mostly justify their existence, and are highly recommended to Harryhausen fans and Fifties sci-fi aficionados.

TWIN PEAKS ““ GOLD BOX COLLECTION (1990-92, CBS/Paramount). David Lynch and Mark Frost’s mind bending murder mystery/surreal soap opera has had a twisted history on home video, but finally, someone’s managed to pull all the pieces together for one incredible, comprehensive, definitive DVD release.

When a high school senior named Laura Palmer is found dead, wrapped in plastic on the bank of a Washington river, eccentric FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan, DUNE) is assigned to investigate. Arriving in the rural community of Twin Peaks, Cooper meets a variety of odd and unusual characters and discovers that the pretty murder victim was, in life, the center of a swirling mass of dark secrets.

Way back in 2001, Artisan released Season 1 on DVD sans Pilot, and it wasn’t until earlier this year that Season 2 finally made it to DVD from CBS/Paramount. However, this new “Gold Box Collection” has it all – the rare pilot TV movie, the home video/European theatrical version, and every one of the 29 episodes including the Bravo Network Log Lady introductions written & directed by Lynch. The set also includes collectable post cards. Please note that it doesn’t contain all of the supplements found on the previous First Season and Second Season box sets, but the series’ devoted fans will already have these sets anyway.

The episodes look and sound better than they ever have, with new, high-def transfers, fully restored and remastered under the direction of co-creator David Lynch. Extras are bountiful: there are exhaustive behind-the-scenes documentaries, deleted scenes, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’s TWIN PEAKS sketch, on-air promos, TV spots, Japanesse coffee commercials with the PEAKS cast, an on-screen conversation between Lynch, Kyle MacLachlan and lovely Madchen Amick, the “Log Lady” introductions shot by Lynch for Bravo’s TP reruns, still gallerises and tons more.

For TWIN PEAKS fans, this is a must-buy, and it’s highly recommended for anyone interested in innovative, imaginative television.

GALACTICA 1980: THE COMPLETE SERIES (1980, Universal). The original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA series was cancelled by ABC in 1979 not so much because of low ratings, but because of the astronomical cost of producing the show. So, after failing to replace the show with anything more successful on Sunday nights, ABC forced Universal and producer Glen Larson into resurrecting the series, insisting that it be produced much cheaper. Reluctantly, the studio went to work, and ended up with GALACTICA 1980.

This DVD set contains all ten episodes of this low-budget, kid-friendly continuation, which chronicled the Galacticans (as the Colonial survivors now referred to themselves) discovery of Earth. Most of the original cast chose not to return to the show, so it was set 30 years after the original, and a new generation of characters (with the exception of Lorne Greene’s “Adama) were introduced. Stories were flat-out stupid, and production values were embarrassingly non-existent. Still, it had a few moments.

The full-frame transfers are adequate, and the Dolby 2.0 Mono is clear enough. There are no bonus features. Universal has released this generally ignored sequel (labeling it “The Original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s Final Season) hoping to trade off the popularity of the reimagined version of GALACTICA airing on the SciFi Channel (see RAZOR review below), but only devoted franchise completists (like myself, admittedly) will want it.

DVD LATE SHOW CULT TV CAPSULE REVIEWS:

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: RAZOR (2007, Universal). This epic GALACTICA TV movie “event” maintains the reimagined series’ high standards of writing, performances and direction, while adding greater depth and deeper backstory to the ongoing series. Specifically, RAZOR delves into the history of Michelle Forbes’ character, Admiral Cain, and her command of the Battlestar Pegasus. It also brings back the old school, Seventies Cylons, so you know I love it. Universal’s disc includes both the original SciFi Channel version as aired, and an extended, home video cut. There are also a handful of webisodes, deleted scenes, a short “Look of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA” featurette, a sneak peek of Season 4, and a commentary accompanying the extended version by writer Michael Taylor and producer Ronald Moore. Recommended.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY ““ THE COMPLETE SERIES (1964-1966, MGM). In the world of pop culture addicts, there are Munsters people and Addams people. Me, I’m more a Munsters guy, but I love the spooky, altogether ooky Addams clan, too. MGM Home Entertainment has collected their three previous DVD releases into one attractive box set, containing all 64 half-hour episodes on nine double-sided discs. The set also contains a slew of special features, including commentaries by cast members, crew and fans, still galleries, retrospective featurettes, trivia quizes and even theme song karaoke. The full-frame transfers are remarkably nice, with only minimal age-related wear and tear, and the original mono soundtrack is sharp and clear. For fans of the show, this is a must-have.

CHARLES IN CHARGE ““ THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (1987, Arts Alliance America). Not one of my favorite 80’s sitcoms, but my wife dug it. Of course, she’s seven years younger than I am, and was still in her teens when this Scott Baio/Willie Ames sitcom was new, and, you know… a girl. This set features the show’ second season, when it moved to syndication, dumped most of the original cast, and got even sillier. The full-frame transfers are surprisingly sharp, and the stereo sound is loud and clear. If you’re a girl who grew up with Baio and Ames, and still can’t get enough of them, you might want to pick it up.

MAGNUM P.I. ““ THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON (1986-87, Universal). Originally intended to be the final season of the most popular private eye series of it’s era, Season 7 of MAGNUM was a marked improvement over the prior two seasons. In general, the writing and direction were a lot stronger, and the character was granted a new, welcome maturity. This season also featured the infamous MURDER, SHE WROTE cross-over, and both parts are included in this set. Universal’s DVD set is comparable with the earlier season releases with fairly clean full-frame transfers and Dolby 2.0 Mono sound. The only bonus features are the MURDER, SHE WROTE episode, “Magnum on Ice” (concluding the crossover) and the Sleuth Channel speciual, AMERICA’S TOP SLEUTHS.

COMING SOON: THE EVIL DEAD: ULTIMATE EDITION, HATCHET: UNRATED DIRECTOR’S CUT, THE PHANTOM CREEPS, IRON KING: THE COMPLETE SERIES, THE WILD WILD WEST SEASON 3, RICCO THE MEAN MACHINE, 2012: DOOMSDAY. DARGONLANCE, MILLENNIUM CRISIS, CLOAK & SHAG HER, THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE and more!

For older Late Show columns, visit the recently revamped DVD Late Show website and archive. For additional pop culture musings, occasional DVD previews and lots of shameless self-promotion, you might try checking out my blog.

Comments, DVD questions and review requests can be directed to: dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com

11/30/07

Sick of those never-ending Thanksgiving leftovers? If so, here’s a potential cure: Halloween leftovers! That’s right, a whole bunch of great (and not-so-great) monster and horror films were dug up by the studios this year for the spooky holiday, and if you missed “˜em in October, it’s not too late to catch up now”¦ hell, they’ll make great Christmas gifts!

This year was particularly great for old school horror and monster fans, as MGM Home Entertainment, and their new distributor, 20th Century Fox, decided to resurrect the popular “Midnite Movies” line, dipping into the musty vaults of both companies for this year’s offerings of cinema macabre.

Among the most welcome of this year’s “Midnite Movies” releases is director Michael Reeves’ final film, WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968). Previously only available in edited form as THE CONQUEROR WORM, with the home video addition of cheesy synth music replacing Paul Ferris’ lush symphonic score; this new edition finally restores the film to the filmmakers’ original intentions.

Vincent Price plays Matthew Hopkins, who travels the English countryside, selling his services as a “witchfinder.” For a fee, he puts accused witches to sadistic “˜tests,” to determine whether they are truly in thrall to Satan. But, inevitably, he picks on the wrong victims, and finds an angry young soldier (Ian Ogilvy) on his trail.

The last film of cult director Michael Reeves, who died of a drug overdose shortly after completing the movie, WITCHFINDER GENERAL has become something of a holy grail for horror film buffs. Now that it is available in its original form, fans can determine for themselves whether it lives up to its vaunted reputation. It’s a good film, no question, with one of Vincent Price’s most layered, serious performances ever. The whole cast is solid, the production values are strong, and the climax is startling even today.

MGM has given this classic horror film a fine treatment with this new release. The gorgeous transfer is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The soundtrack is in its original mono. Unlike most of the newer “Midnite Movies” titles, WITCHFINDER includes a couple of welcome bonus features: an audio commentary by actor Ian Ogilvy and co-producer Philip Waddilove, and an informative, well-produced retrospective documentary. My only complaint is that it would have been nice to have the U.S. opening titles (as THE CONQUERER WORM) with Price’s reading of the Poe poem as another extra.

Recommended.

For fans of giant monsters and rampaging behemoths, there’s the destructive double bill of YONGARY, MONSTER OF THE DEEP/ KONGA (1967/1961).

YONGARY was Korea’s first entry in the Asian giant monster genre, and it’s pretty awful, although MGM’s newly restored DVD helps it quite a bit. The plot is simple: a giant saurian emerges from the ground and rampages through the Korean country-and-city-side until it is defeated by a noble scientist. With the obligatory obnoxious kid in short pants and scenes of model airplanes being batted from their strings by the guy in the monster suit, the film satisfies all the requirements of the kaiju genre. It’s all just a bit ineptly done, unfortunately.

Never previously available in the U.S. in widescreen (the film was bought by AIP television in the Sixties and released to syndication only in a 16mm, horrifically cropped, full-frame version. MGM’s new, restored DVD is in 2.35 anamorphic widescreen, and looks terrific, with a sharp picture, solid colors, and virtually no visible print damage. There are no extras provided, unfortunately.

KONGA was an American-International release directed by John Lemont and produced by Herman Cohen. Michael Gough (HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM, Alfred in the first four BATMAN films) plays Doctor Charles Decker, an arrogant botanist and college professor whose experiments turn a small chimp named Konga into a rampaging giant gorilla.

It takes a while to get there, though, and the audience has to sit through more than an hour of Gough being a complete prick to everyone around him and a few Rue Morgue-styled murders before Konga shoots up to King Kong-like proportions and begins the obligatory rampage. Fortunately, Gough’s Decker is an utter bastard, so fun to watch that it keeps your attention until the monkey business begins. Plus, there’s a buxom blonde co-ed, a goofy gorilla suit and some truly ridiculous pseudo-science to keep you entertained ““ just don’t ask how the chimp switches species to become a gorilla. No one knows.

This “Midnite Movies” presentation is a direct port of the previously released Sony/MGM disc with a crystal clear full-screen (1.33:1) transfer. The picture quality is so sharp that it actually betrays the movie’s special effects work, making the process shots and the Barbie dolls that Konga carries around way too obvious. The sound is a clear mono, with only minimal background noise. The otherwise bare-bones disc even includes trailers for several unrelated Sony DVD releases from a few years ago, when Sony handled MGM’s distribution.

Arguably the best of the rampaging reptile subgenre, 1980’s ALLIGATOR comes to DVD in a surprisingly nice edition from Lion’s Gate.

A little girl’s pet baby alligator is flushed down the toilet by her asshole dad. Twelve years later, the reptile has grown to tremendous size, having fed on the carcasses of illegally dumped test animals, and begins preying on errant sewer workers. Detective David Madison (the great Robert Forster, JACKIE BROWN) is assigned to investigate, and with the help of a cute herpetologist (Robin Riker), he tries to convince the authorities that they have a monster carnivore on their hands.

When screenwriter John Sayles struck out on his own as a highbrow independent filmmaker, the world of schlock cinema lost a great asset. Sayles’ B movie scripts (PIRANHA, THE HOWLING, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS) always showed rare intelligence and wit, and his sly screenplay for ALLIGATOR is no exception. His story suffers a bit at the workmanlike hands of director Lewis Teague (CUJO), but it’s still one of the best examples of its particular genre.

The best thing about the film though, is the beastie itself. Brought to life with both real alligators on detailed miniature sets, and utterly convincing animatronics, the toothsome terror is a formidable ““ and tangible ““ menace. Compare the reptile in this film to the CGI critters in recent killer lizard flicks, and tell me which one is more frightening.

Lion’s Gate graciously gives this long awaited genre gem a restored & remastered 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, and it’s the best the movie has ever looked on home video. Sharp, detailed, with solid blacks and vivid colors, the seventeen-year-old, low budget film looks brand new. Surprisingly, LG has also sprung for a couple of bonus features, including and audio commentary by director Teague and an on-screen interview with screenwriter Sayles. There are also trailers for a handful of other LG titles.

Recommended.

This Fall, MGM revisited Dan O’Bannon’s 1984 zombie classic with a new “Collector’s Edition” of THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD.

Taking place over the course of one evening in Louisville, Kentucky, RETURN tells the twisted tale of two employees at a medical supply warehouse who inadvertently release a toxic gas into the atmosphere. This gas, created by the Army, reanimates the dead, and turns them into fast-moving, intelligent ghouls that crave human brains. Did I mention that this warehouse was next door to a graveyard? Or that a group of teenage punks are partying among the tombstones?

One of the true horror classics of the Eighties, RETURN deftly mixes horror and humor with a steadily rising tide of hysteria that leads to an inevitable, and utterly nihilistic climax. A talented cast of veteran character actors (Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa), young faces (Thom Matthews, Beverly Randolph) and scream queens (Linnea Quigley, Jewel Shepherd), remarkable zombie make-up and practical effects, and a witty, intelligent screenplay combine, under O’Bannon’s deft direction, to make a damn near perfect fright film.

Sporting a new transfer and a bunch of newly created bonus features, this new “Collector’s Edition” trumps the version released a few years ago, but it does not include quite everything from that edition. If you have the old one, you may want to hang on to it, too. First off, the movie is given a new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, culled from a flawless source. Colors are bright and solid, details are sharp and well defined, and there are no noticeable artifacts or print damage. It looks gorgeous. The Dolby stereo sound is strong, with the film’s punk rock score coming through loud and clear”¦ along with all the screams and zombie moans. There are two commentary tracks provided. First is an informative commentary by director Dan O’Bannon and production designer William Stout, ported over from the previous edition. New to this disc is a second commentary track by most of the film’s cast, joined once again by Stout. This track is a lot of fun, and well-worth listening to. MGM has also included a couple of silly gimmicks: “zombie subtitles” and an Easter Egg “zombie thoughts” track. I appreciate the effort, but both are really lame.

MGM has also produced two new featurettes for this edition: “The Dead Have Risen,” a making-of documentary with most of the cast and crew represented, and “The Decade of Darkness,” a retrospective of 80’s horror films, filled with clips and interviews with filmmakers like John Landis, Joe Dante and Stuart Gordon. A third featurette, “Designing the Dead,” is retained from the previous release, and includes interviews with O’Bannon and Stout. Also retained from the original DVD are a couple of trailers. Missing from this edition is the full-frame version of the film (no great loss), some TV spots and some beautiful concept art by Stout.

If you’re a fan of this film ““ and if you’re not, you should be ““ this new Collector’s Edition is a no-brainer (if you’ll pardon the expression). Even if you have the previous DVD release, it’s definitely worth buying again. This is one of the few double dips I don’t resent, as it really is an improvement over the old version.

Highly recommended.

Another 80’s horror classic was just reissued as part of Starz Entertainment’s “Anchor Bay Collection,” in the form of Clive Barker’s original HELLRAISER (1987).

Barker’s feature directing debut is the twisted and disturbing tale of a couple (Andrew Robinson of STAR TREK: DS9, and Clare Higgins) who move into an old house and discover the undead form of the husband’s brother (who was also the wife’s lover) in the attic. His earthly body having been taken by bizarre, sadistic demons known as Cenobites, he forces his former mistress to bring him his human sacrifices so he can recreate his body…

A disturbingly graphic and highly effective horror film, the original HELLRAISER stands as one of the best true horror films of the Eighties. With a palpable sense of dread and depravity, the film still has the power to shock and horrify.

Starz gives the movie a fantastic new1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a Dolby 5.1 surround mix. The disc is loaded with extras ““ some from previous editions of the film on DVD, some new ““ including five featurettes, an audio commentary by Barker, TV spots, trailers, several still galleries and the first and final drafts of the screenplay on DVD-ROM. I haven’t seen the previous DVD releases of this film. But I doubt they looked this good. If you’re a fan, you might consider upgrading to this edition for the excellent transfer and new featurettes.

HELLRAISER is an important and still-effective horror classic that has been given a very solid release by Starz/Anchor Bay. Recommended.

Remembered ““ and sometimes reviled ““ as the cheapest producer in Hollywood, the legendary “Jungle Sam” Katzman is celebrated in Columbia’s new ICONS OF HORROR COLLECTION: SAM KATZMAN boxed set. This collection includes four of the genre films that he produced for Columbia Pictures, among them the most ridiculous giant monster flick of the Fifties and a genuine low-budget lycanthropic gem.

THE GIANT CLAW (1957) features probably the most absurd giant monster of all time in the form of a gangly, apparently molting marionette representing an “antimatter bird” from another dimension. Aside from that, though, it’s not a terrible slice of 50’s sci-fi, with a fairly imaginative script, and a good cast featuring Jeff Morrow (THIS ISLAND EARTH), the lovely Mara Corday (TARANTULA) and solid direction by veteran Fred F. Sears (EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS). Shame about the puppet, though.

Scripted by Curt Siodmak (THE WOLF MAN, DONOVAN’S BRAIN), 1955’s CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN stars Richard Denning (CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON) as a police scientist embroiled in a plot involving gangsters, Nazi scientists and reanimated atomic zombies. Decent direction by Edward L. Cahn (IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE) and a cast full of familiar serial vets make for a fast-paced 69 minutes of vintage schlock.

Cahn also helmed ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU (1957), a sluggish tale of sunken treasure and its undead protectors somewhere on the African coast. The best part of this interminable potboiler is the presence of sexy Allison Hayes (the 50-FOOT WOMAN herself) as a spoiled bitch-turned-zombie.

The best film in the set, though, is Fred F. Sears’ THE WEREWOLF (1956), a sci-fi take on lycanthropy, featuring hapless Steven Ritch as the victim of a couple of mad scientists. Never before available on home video, this briskly paced, well-acted chiller benefits from lots of authentic snowy mountain locations and is a great atomic age twist on an old theme.

Columbia presents CLAW, ZOMBIES and WEREWOLF in beautiful new B&W transfers, correctly framed at 1:85:1 and anamorphically enhanced. ATOM BRAIN is presented full-frame. Columbia has also included the second chapter of the Katzman-produced movie serial MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1951), which purports to be based on the Jules Verne novel, but is instead a ludicrous mishmash of cliffhanger cliches. There’s also a Mr. Magoo cartoon, a somewhat tedious comedy short, MIDNIGHT BLUNDERS, and trailers for all four features, as well as for other vintage Columbia genre titles.

A fantastic package, affordably priced, and highly recommended.

Probably the most memorable horror franchise of the Fifties is collected in Fox’s new THE FLY COLLECTION box set, featuring all three of the films in the series, including one that has never been available on home video before.

THE FLY trilogy chronicles the efforts of the scientifically-minded Delambres family, and their obsession with creating a working matter transportation device (like STAR TREK’s “transporters.”).

In the big-budget, Technicolor, Cinemascope opus, THE FLY (1958), David Hedison (THE LOST WORLD, LICENCE TO KILL) is Andre Delambres, handsome young scientist who builds a pair of teleportation chambers. After a successful test with an animal, Andre decides to try the device himself, unaware that a fly is in the transmitting chamber with him. In the test, body parts are switched, and Andre emerges with a giant fly head and limb. Keeping it a secret from his wife (Patricia Owens) and brother Francois (Vincent Price, WITCHFINDER GENERAL), Andre attempts to reverse his condition ““ but he needs to find that fly!

THE RETURN OF THE FLY (1959) takes place 15 years later, when Andre’s son, Phillipe (Brett Halsey, ROY COLT & WINCHESTER JACK) attempts his father’s experiment, with similar results ““ and an even bigger fly head! Vincent Price returns as Francois, with a larger role, as Phillipe’s reluctant assistant.

CURSE OF THE FLY (1965) is the final, belated entry in the trilogy, with Brian Donlevy as the latest teleportation-obsessed scion of the Delambres family. There are no giant fly heads in this one, but that’s not to say that the guy’s finally got that damned machine to work ““ on the contrary. In this particularly grim and downbeat entry, we have a whole slew of deformed, inhuman matter transporter mutations.

All three films are presented on their own discs in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers. The first two films look significantly better than in their previous DVD release a few years ago. THE FLY has been given a 4.0 Dolby Surround mix, while the other two are in mono only. The extra features have been placed on a fourth disc, which includes trailers and still galleries for the three films, the Vincent Price A&E BIOGRAPHY episode from 1997, a new featurette on the series, and trailers for a bunch of other Fox horror films ““ most of which are currently available as part of the “Midnite Movies” line.

Overall, it’s a great package and presentation of three classic, vintage sci-fi/horrors, and is highly recommended.

CAPSULE REVIEWS

PLANET OF DINOSAURS (1978). Uber-low budget sci-fi schlock saved solely by some stunning stop-motion animated prehistoric beasts, PLANET chronicles the adventures of a group of spaceship crash survivors on an uncharted world populated by, well, dinosaurs. The acting is terrible, with the biggest name in the cast being James Whitworth (THE HILLS HAVE EYES), and the story is paper-thin. But the stop-motion effects are great, and many of the people who worked on them went on to much bigger films.

Retromedia’s 30th Anniversary Edition (although it says “20th” on my DVD cover) presents the film in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, sourced from both 16mm and 35mm elements. Some parts of the film show serious damage, while the rest looks great. There’s a commentary track with director James Shea and effects artists Doug Beswick and Steve Czerkas, as well as a couple of vintage TV spots and two silent stop-motion shorts by KING KONG’s effects genius, Willlis O’Brien.

Recommended for fans of Ray Harryhausen-styled effects and dinosaur buffs.

28 WEEKS LATER (2007). A superior follow-up to the pseudo-zombie hit of a few years ago, 28 DAYS LATER, this sequel ramps up the action a bit, with a plot reminiscent of George A. Romero’s THE CRAZIES. Six months after the Rage virus turned the population of England into mindless killers, the U.S. military has moved into London to clean up the starved corpses and begin repopulating the city with citizens who were abroad when the virus hit. Sure enough, it isn’t long before another outbreak occurs, and the film follows a small group of survivors as they try to escape both the Rage-infected and the American soldiers.

The Fox DVD presents the film in a nice, sharp, 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer and51. Dolby Surround sound. There’s a commentary track by director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, a few “Making Of” featurettes, several deleted scenes, a semi-animated presentation of a 28 DAYS LATER graphic novel, and trailers or other Fox DVD titles. I liked this one a bit better than the original, but I really think these guys should be paying Romero royalties.

PLANET TERROR (2007). Director Robert Rodriguez’ half of the GRINDHOUSE double feature is a loud, violent, and cheerfully incoherent zombie pulse-pounder, filled with gruesome gore effects, over-the-top action scenes, and a game cast comprised of such familiar faces as Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Michael Biehn, Michael Parks, Bruce Willis, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey and pretty much all of the director’s pals and family.

Genius Products/Dimension’s 2-platter DVD presents an extended and unrated cut of the film in an anamorphic widescreen transfer that preserves all the digitally-added scratches, specks, splices and artificial print damage of the theatrical presentation. It looks like shit ““ but that’s part of the gag. The first disc also includes a Dolby 5.1 audio mix, a commentary track by Rodriguez, an “audience reaction” track, a poster gallery, and the MACHETE bogus trailer. Disc 2 holds four “Making Of” featurettes, including an installment of Rodriguez’ patented “10-Minute Film School.”

I liked it better than a lot of reviewers, and really enjoyed the ride. The DVD is pretty solid, and should hold over fans until the Weinsteins get around to releasing the whole GRINDHOUSE double bill together.

FRANKENSTEIN (1973). In the Seventies, Dan Curtis was TV’s king of gothic horror. His daytime soap opera, DARK SHADOWS, ruled the ratings with its witch’s brew of vampires, werewolves and heaving breasts, while his production company churned out movies of the week based on DRACULA and DR. JECKYLL & MISTER HYDE. Somewhere in there, he cranked out this two-part, shot on videotape, mostly-faithful adaptation of Mary Shelly’s novel, with Robert Foxworth (PROPHECY) as the mad doctor and Bo Svenson (WALKING TALL PART 2) as his creation.

Dark Sky’s disc features a full-frame transfer that looks about as good as possible for a shot-on-70’s-video production to look. There’s some video noise and color bleeding, but it’s quite watchable. The disc also includes the original network TV promos and bumpers. Fans of Curtis’ DARK SHADOWS or aficionados of Shelly’s novel will want to check this out.

THE AMICUS COLLECTION. Dark Sky Films repackages three previously-released fright films from England’s Amicus Studios ““ ASYLUM (1972), AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS (1973) and THE BEAST MUST DIE (1974) in one, convenient box set. (I reviewed ASYLUM and BEAST in this column when the discs were first released.) ASYLUM is a creepy horror anthology with five fiendish stories by famed author Robert Bloch, AND NOW”¦ is a stylish, if slightly hokey, gothic thriller starring handsome Ian Ogilvy and the lovely Stephanie Beachum, and BEAST is an odd combination of murder mystery, blaxploitation actioner and horror flick, full of high-camp fun. All three films feature horror icon Peter Cushing (CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, STAR WARS), along with a plethora of outstanding British film and stage veterans. Each film is presented in anamorphic widescreen and there are some appropriate and enjoyable extras. Great spooky fun, and if you don’t already have any of the individual discs, this box is well-worth getting.

COMING SOON: Plenty of TV on DVD releases, including: WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE SEASON 3, TWIN PEAKS GOLD BOX COLLECTION, CHARLES IN CHARGE SEASON 2, MAGNUM P.I. SEASON 7, MIAMI VICE: THE COMPLETE SERIES, NORTHERN EXPOSURE: THE COMPLETE SERIES, THE ADDAMS FAMILY: THE COMPLETE SERIES as well as a handful of animation discs like MEET THE ROBINSONS, SHREK THE THIRD, THE PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION and A WISH FOR WINGS THAT WORK. And after that”¦ we’ll be back to the best B-movies and exploitation cinema on digital disc!

For older Late Show columns (adding up to well over 200 reviews!), visit the recently revamped DVD Late Show website and archive. For additional pop culture musings, occasional DVD previews and lots of shameless self-promotion, you might try checking out my blog.

Comments, DVD questions, review requests and offers of money can be sent to: dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com

10/12/07

This is the best time of the year for fans of offbeat and bizarre cinema. This is the season when the studios unearth the cult horror and other exploitation stuff from their vaults, and dress it up nice for the Halloween consumers. As a fan of these kinds of flicks, I couldn’t be happier, but as a collector, I do wish they’d spread these cool genre releases out over the course of the year; it’d be considerably easier on the wallet.

There’s a lot to cover this time around, so let’s get right to the reviews, shall we?

When Stuart Gordon made his directorial debut with 1985″˜s RE-ANIMATOR, he hit it out of the park with one of the smartest, most rewarding horror films of the Eighties. Some people forget, though, that his follow up was damned near as good, if not better. Now, after a long wait, MGM Home Video has finally unleashed FROM BEYOND: UNRATED DIRECTOR’S CUT (1986), a fully re-mastered and restored version of the 80’s horror masterpiece.

Two scientists create a machine that enables them, by stimulation of the pineal gland, to perceive a parallel reality populated by grotesque, monstrous beings. When their first experiment apparently leads to the death of one of them, a beautiful psychiatrist (Barbara Crampton, RE-ANIMATOR) and a police officer (Ken Foree, the original DAWN OF THE DEAD) escort the survivor (Jeffrey Combs, RE-ANIMATOR) back to the isolated laboratory to re-create the experiment and prove that he did not murder his colleague.

Loosely based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft, and filled with fantastic, pre-CGI “practical” effects, plenty of gore and slime, kinky sex and sheer, unbridled depravity, FROM BEYOND was pretty heady stuff for ’86, and suffered heavily at the hands of the MPAA, who demanded multiple trims before they’d grant it an “R” rating. MGM Home Video, in association with the Monsters HD channel, has restored the film to director Gordon’s original version, and given the whole movie a digital clean-up and restoration. It looks fabulous.

MGM’s new “Unrated Director’s Cut” has been given a sterling 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer (previous home video versions were presented in open-matte full-frame, which spoiled a number of the effects), and a booming Dolby Surround mix. In addition, they’ve provided an entertaining and informative commentary by Gordon and key cast members, several retrospective featurettes, a storyboard comparison, and more.

With a talented cast that understands the genre, a unique visual look, and sharp direction by Stuart Gordon, FROM BEYOND stands as one of the most ambitious and original horror films of its era, and still has the power to shock and surprise today. MGM’s new DVD is a solid package and is very welcome.

Highly recommended.

After a couple of years’ drought, while switching from distributor to distributor, MGM has finally ““ and gloriously ““ resurrected their marvelous Midnite Movies line of cult films. Among this new wave of rare and offbeat genre titles comes director Bert I. Gordon’s (AMAZING COLLOSAL MAN, EMPIRE OF THE ANTS) 1976 drive-in favorite, FOOD OF THE GODS (1976).

On a visit to an isolated Canadian island community, a football pro (Marjoe Gortner of STARCRASH and BOBBI JO AND THE OUTLAW) finds himself trapped in the farmhouse of elderly Mrs. Skinner (film legend Ida Lupino, HIGH SIERRA) with several others, surrounded by various giant critters, including man-sized, voracious rats.

The cast is the film’s strongest aspect. Ex-child evangelist Gortner makes a decent enough hero, Lupino manages to bring some gravitas to her stock role, former Mike Hammer Ralph Meeker (KISS ME DEADLY) makes a convincing corporate asshole, pretty Pamela Franklin (THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE) is, well, pretty, and Joe Dante favorite Belinda Belaski (PIRANHA, THE HOWLING) is quite good in her role as an unmarried mom-to-be.

Unabashedly goofy, FOOD OF THE GODS is the type of exploitation film that not only requests a willing suspension of disbelief, but begs for it. The wholly illogical plot, sketchy (if well-cast) characters and sub-par (even for 1976) special effects can only be enjoyed if you shut down all your critical faculties and just go with it. If you can accomplish that, you might have some fun.

The MGM/Fox Midnite Movies DVD features a strong, 1.85 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a clear mono soundtrack. There are no bonus features, and the menu ““ as on all of these newest MM releases ““ is uninspired and dull.

Recommended for fans only, or those nostalgic for Seventies-styled drive-in schlock.

After hitting box office gold with 1958’s JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, based on the Jules Verne adventure novel of the same name, 20th Century Fox was eager to repeat that film’s success with another big-screen dinosaur epic. Wanting it in theaters quickly, they turned to notoriously efficient producer-director Irwin Allen (VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, THE POSIEDON ADVENTURE), who chose another classic novel to adapt. The resulting film, THE LOST WORLD (1960), based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, was a Cinemascope and Technicolor (expensive processes reserved for the studios’ most important films) epic with an all-star cast, and did big business when released.

Crotchety Professor Challenger (Claude Rains, THE INVISIBLE MAN) leads an expedition comprised, in part, of a big game hunter (Michael Rennie, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL), a hot redhead in skintight pink Capri pants (Jill St. John, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) a reporter (David Hedison, THE FLY), a couple of Latin stereotypes and a poodle, to an isolated plateau deep in the Amazon jungle. There, above unscalable cliffs, savage dinosaurs (photographically enlarged lizards) and other prehistoric life forms survive to the present day (or at least, to 1960). Before long, the explorers run afoul of some cave-dwelling natives, and must find a way off the plateau before it is destroyed by volcanic eruptions.

A lavish, all-star big-budget epic, with impressive sets and A-list production values, THE LOST WORLD, is, ultimately, a silly Saturday afternoon matinee adventure with big lizards. That producer/director Allen was too cheap and in too much of a hurry to consider using stop-motion animation for the dinosaurs critically damages the film ““ even the kids in the audience are likely to snicker when the esteemed paleontologist Challenger identifies a komodo dragon as a “brontosaur” or oversized iguana as a “Tyrannosaurus Rex!”

Still, if you’re in the right mood, the fast pace, colorful characters and solid ““ if unchallenging ““ acting add up to a pretty fun 96 minutes.

Fox’s 2-disc special edition presents THE LOST WORLD in a crystal sharp, brilliantly colorful 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer that preserves the aspect ratio of the original Cinemascope presentation. The film has been given a Dolby 4.0 surround mix for this disc, along with the original stereo mix. Extra features include a vintage promotional featurette, newsreel footage of the film’s 1960 premiere, the original trailer, a still gallery, and scans of the Dell comic book.

Disc 2 includes the original, 1925 silent version of THE LOST WORLD, presented in full-frame format with color tinting. This copy of the film ““ though not as complete as the version released by Image Entertainment a few years ago ““ features still-remarkable stop-motion dinosaurs by KING KONG effects genius Willis O’Brien, and looks very decent for its age. Several minutes of animation outtakes are also included.

Recommended for dinosaur film completists and cult movie buffs only.

Also hitting shelves right around now are two good-natured vintage teen comedy romps from Crown International that probably should have been packaged as one of BCI’s “Starlight Drive-In” double bills. Instead, they’ve been released as WELCOME TO THE GRINDHOUSE DOUBLE FEATURE: THE BEACH GIRLS/COACH (1982/1978). Oh well, regardless of the format, they’re still worth checking out.

1982’s THE BEACH GIRLS is a charmingly lowbrow time killer packed with bare-breasted young beauties, cheap jokes, and consequence-free sexual hijinks. The plot, such as it is, revolves around three sexy young college students spending the Summer at a Southern California beach house belonging to one of the girls’ uncle. They immediately begin partying, and the remainder of the flick is pretty much non-stop sex and drug (marijuna) humor. Yet, THE BEACH GIRLS has a pleasant innocence about it, and is an enjoyable relic of a time when movies were often just about escapist fun.

The second feature on the disc, 1978″˜s COACH, stars Cathy Lee Crosby as a former Olympic running champion who lands a job as the coach of a boy’s high school basketball team. Over the flick’s 91 minutes, she overcomes the sexist prejudices of the school board and her team, begins an affair with one of the teenaged players (Michael Biehn, THE TERMINATOR), and leads her charges to victory in the state championship. Utterly predictable but unpretentious, COACH is undemanding entertainment from a simpler era.

Both movies are presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and look great, considering their age. COACH looks a little soft, but it may have been shot that way. Sound appears to be simple stereo. On COACH, the dialogue is frequently muffled or echo-y, which suggests that it was recorded on-set and not cleaned up. It’s always understandable, though.

BCI’s disc allows you to watch the movies individually, or as a “Grindhouse Experience” double feature. This includes trailers for other Crown International comedies, including THE VAN, JOCKS, MALIBU BEACH and MY TUTOR.

Fun flix. Cheap DVD. You could do worse.

Heavy metal rock music got a bad rap back in the late Eighties, with parents groups and TV religious leaders loudly denouncing the music of several high profile bands as “Satanic.” There was a fear that heavy metal would corrupt the impressionable minds of teenagers, brainwashing them with subversive lyrics and subliminal messages of evil. 1988’s BLACK ROSES plays off that paranoia with its very dated, somewhat goofy tale of rock & roll horror.

A heavy metal rock band with a few successful studio albums goes on tour, and makes its first stop in a small town, where it’ll play the local high school auditorium for three nights. After the first show, the kids start acting up, and the local English teacher (soap opera vet John Martin) starts getting suspicious. Turns out he has a right to be alarmed, as the band’s music turns kids into demons! Can the teacher save his students from the infernal influence of the Black Roses and their charismatic front man, Damien (Sal Viviano)?

With rubbery monsters, gratuitous boobage, some fairly decent music and an early role by THE SOPRANOS’ Vincent Pastore (who is eaten by a stereo) and Lou Ferrigno’s wife, Carla, BLACK ROSES was director John Fasano’s slightly more polished follow-up to his notorious ROCK “˜N ROLL NIGHTMARE of the previous year (also available from Synapse Films). Very much a product of its era, and clearly made on the cheap, it’s still fairly entertaining as long as you don’t take it seriously.

The DVD from Synapse Films features a decent 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer mastered from the original camera negative in high-def. It still shows its age though, with a slightly soft image and a few specks here and there. The Dolby Stereo mix is adequate, but unspectacular. The best bonus feature is a very entertaining commentary track by director Fasano, writer Cindy Sorrell, actress Carla Ferrigno, and Fasano’s kids (the daughter makes the best comments). Also included are some trailers and audition tapes.

Back in the VHS days, this one sported a flashy, 3-D embossed box, and that is still probably the most memorable thing about BLACK ROSES. But every movie is somebody’s favorite, especially in the horror genre. So if you’re a fan of this one, the DVD is a very respectable presentation, and worth picking up.

One of the most personal films B-movie mogul Roger Corman ever made (and the only one not to turn a profit theatrically), THE INTRUDER (1962), comes to DVD in a new edition courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. An intense, disturbing civil rights drama, with a surprisingly powerful performance by a pre-STAR TREK William Shatner, THE INTRUDER still has the ability to provoke strong emotions, forty years after it was made.

Shatner plays Adam Cramer, a charming, charismatic, racist agitator who comes to a small Southern town to incite the white population to violently oppose court-ordered school integration. Soon though, he finds that his efforts have been too successful, and things begin to get out of hand.

An excellent script by frequent TWILIGHT ZONE scribe Charles Beaumont (based on his novel), naturalistic direction by Corman, and a sly, astonishing performance by Shatner, result in a memorable, uncomfortable look at a turbulent time in our cultural history. THE INTRUDER is a remarkable film.

As usual with Buena Vista’s handling of the Roger Corman titles, the presentation is nothing to write home about. THE INTRUDER is presented in an unmatted, 1.33:1 full-frame transfer, sourced from a hazy, scratchy print. There are even a few jumps here and there from missing frames. The mono soundtrack is a bit fuzzy, but is understandable. Although labeled as a “Special Edition,” extras are the absolute minimal, consisting of a single, short featurette, “Remembering THE INTRUDER,” featuring interviews with Corman and Shatner, both of whom are obviously very proud of the film.

Despite the mediocre technical presentation, THE INTRUDER is a minor classic of independent filmmaking, and is recommended.

I was already in my 20’s when the original craze hit. I never watched the cartoon and never played with or collected the toys, so I had no real axe to grind with (or much interest in, frankly) Michael Bay’s big-budget, live-action version of TRANSFORMERS (2007). And I’m not a fan of most of Bay’s features, either (except for THE ROCK), finding them mostly just flash-bang and shallow, so if anything, my expectations when the advance screener showed up in my mail were on the low side.

Well, I liked it. It may not be a great movie, but everything considered, it was a lot more enjoyable than it had any right to be.

Teenager Sam Witwicky (appealing “everyman” Shia LaBeof, HOLES) buys a beat-up, used, yellow and black Camaro, which is eventually revealed to be the morphing alien “Autobot” Bumblebee. Before long, Sam and his new girlfriend Mikaela (sexy Megan Fox) find themselves embroiled in a conflict between the friendly Autobots (who change into cars & trucks) and their enemies, the evil, warlike Decepticons (who change into war machines like tanks and fighter jets). Both groups of bots are searching for a powerful artifact known as the Allspark, which crashed to Earth in the distant past and is now in the hands of a secret government agency.

Now, a couple things about this film impressed me. First, writers Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (MI:III, STAR TREK) managed to make me interested in both the human characters and the ridiculously named robots. Second, the CGI effects were damn near flawless, which really helped me buy into these automatons as actual characters. I was also impressed at how unabashedly corny the filmmakers allowed themselves to be. It really worked for this particular film.

Paramount’s 2-disc special edition sports a flawless 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, and deafening 5.1 Dolby Surround sound. There are a whole crapload of featurettes, covering almost every imaginable aspect of the making of the film and the history of the franchise, trailers, and various Easter Eggs.

If you’re a fan of the film or the Transformers in general, this is the edition to buy. If you know nothing of the franchise (as I did) you might want to rent it when it hits shelves next week. It’s a loud, fast-paced entertainment with a surprising amount of heart. Recommended.

DVD LATE SHOW CAPSULE REVIEWS!

JERICHO ““ THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (2006-07). A riveting post apocalyptic soap opera set in tiny Jericho, Kansas in the aftermath of a series of nuclear attacks by terrorists, JERICHO unfairly suffered in the ratings due to a crappy timeslot opposite AMERICAN IDOL. But if you missed it on television, as I did (ummm”¦ I wasn’t watching IDOL, I just missed it), you now have a chance to catch up with one of last season’s finest dramas on DVD. With a talented cast led by Skeet Ulrich (SCREAM), taut, emotional scripts and gritty, suspenseful direction, this underrated series is addictive and rewarding.

Paramount’s DVD set includes all 22 episodes of the first series in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby 5.1. Surround Sound. Extras include a “Making Of” doc, a “What If” featurette, many deleted scenes, and several episode commentaries by cast and crew. Highly recommended.

SPLATTER BEACH (2007). Hitting streets this week is this shot-on-video surf schlock-o-rama starring Erin Brown (better known as “Misty Mundae”) and Erika Smith. Rampaging fishmen attack a beachside music festival; horror and hilarity ensue. The beach looks cold, the gore effects are really fake, the acting is terrible, and the direction by the Polonia Brothers (SPLATTER FARM) isn’t much better. The 2-disc unrated edition includes a commentary by the directors and cast member Ken Van Sant, a couple of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a soundtrack CD. Not one of Pop Cinema’s finer efforts, unfortunately, released as part of their “Camp Motion Pictures” label.

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER “POWER COSMIC EDITION” (2007). The plucky underachiever of Marvel Comics movie franchises returns with a second installment that, as seems to be the case with these series, is an improvement over the first. Unfortunately, two of the titular four are still hideously miscast, the horribly ill-conceived version of Victor Von Doom returns, and the direction by Tim Story is still purely by-the-numbers. That said, I’ve read worse FF adventures in the comics over the years, and the film’s portrayal of the noble space sentinel, the Silver Surfer, is pretty damned cool.

Fox has given the film a nice 2-disc deluxe edition right out of the gate (instead of waiting a year or so like with the first film), with a crystal sharp 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer (there’s a full-frame version on the flip side), and 5.1 Surround sound mix on disc 1. There are also two commentary tracks, by director Story and other crewmembers. Disc two includes a bunch of extended/deleted scenes, a slew of “Making Of” featurettes, several still galleries, trailers, and a cool doc discussing the comic book origins of the Surfer.

You already know if you want to buy the movie, most likely, and if you’re a fan, this is a great DVD package and worth picking up. Otherwise, rent it.

ELIOT NESS: AN UNTOUCHABLE LIFE (2007). This feature-length one-man show chronicling the life of the famous Prohibition lawman is essentially a videotaped stage performance (with three sets), written and directed by mystery novelist and independent filmmaker Max Allan Collins (MOMMY). Actor Michael Cornelison gives a tour de force performance as an aging Ness reminiscing about his life and triumphs as a law enforcement officer, and Collins’ well-written script/monologue (Collins has penned a number of historical mystery novels about Ness) is both fascinating and compelling. VCI gives the production a solid 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a crisp Dolby stereo audio track. Extras include the short film that was used to raise financing for the feature, excerpts from live performances of the play, commentary by Cornelison and Collins, a bonus short film, “An Inconsequential Matter” (also directed by Collins and starring Cornelison), a deleted scene, and trailers for other VCI releases.

An interesting and involving performance makes a unique viewing experience. Definitely worth checking out.

KNOCKED UP ““ EXTENDED & UNRATED (2007). From the creators of 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN and television’s FREAKS AND GEEKS, comes a surprisingly grown-up comedy about, well, growing up. Judd Apatow regular Seth Rogen plays a slacker who, after a drunken encounter with sexy Katherine Heigl, finds himself about to become a father. So, despite having nothing in common, the couple tries to forge a relationship and deal with their situation. Funny and heartfelt, KNOCKED UP is a great modern comedy. Universal’s 2-disc “Unprotected” Edition features an extended, unrated cut of the film in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby 5.1, nearly three hours of extras including tons of bloopers and deleted scenes, video diaries, and featurettes. If you dug 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, or smart comedies in general, you’ll enjoy this. Recommended.

VINTAGE EROTICA ANNO 1960. As with previous volumes (ANNO 1920, 1930, 1940, & 1950) from Cult Epics, this is a fascinating collection of silent, black & white stag loops from Europe, this time shot during the swingin’ Sixties. This volume includes twelve erotic shorts of varying picture quality, though most look pretty bad, suffering from serious age-related damage and inferior film stock. The Cult Epics presentation is 1.33:1 full-frame, and they’ve provided a generic “psychedelic” score. There’s also a Sixties-era gallery of nudes. It’s more of a historical artifact than porn, although the material is definitely hardcore. Recommended for scholarly smut collectors only.

DVD LATE SHOW NEWS!

I was going to review VCI’s new special edition of director Bob Clark’s (PORKY’S, DEATHDREAM) zombie thriller, CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS (1972), this week, and warn that the version on the disc was edited and not in the best of shape. However, other reviewers got to it first, and VCI, to their credit, has admitted that they made a mistake and announced an immediate recall of the flawed disc. Citing internal miscommunication resulting in the wrong master being used, VCI intends to have the disc redone and will replace consumers’ copies with the corrected version.

Visit VCI’s website for more information.

NEXT TIME: A “monster” of a Halloween column, with a bunch more Midnite Movies (WITCHFINDER GENERAL, YONGARY, THE PHANTOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES, BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, VAULT OF HORROR), THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD COLLECTOR’S EDITION, ALLIGATOR, THE FLY COLLECTION and more!

For older Late Show columns (adding up to well over 200 reviews!), visit the recently revamped DVD Late Show website and archive. For additional pop culture musings, occasional DVD previews and lots of shameless self-promotion, you might try checking out my blog.

Comments, DVD questions, review requests and offers of money can be sent to: dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com

9/25/07

Welcome back to the Late Show. The last couple of installments skewed a bit heavily toward major studio releases, so I thought it was time to get back to the real “popcorn cinema” and devote a column to a batch of recent and upcoming “B” movie DVDs.

With that in mind, I’ve dug a Corman drive-in classic, an offbeat kaiju flick, a couple of European sexploitation “shockers,” and some brand new, ultra low budget exploitation movies out of the review stack. Let’s check ’em out, shall we?

At the height of his popularity as “Richie Cunningham” on HAPPY DAYS, actor Ron Howard was offered a part in a Roger Corman-produced, country car chase movie. Now, Corman says he didn’t actually expect the red-haired TV icon to accept, but Howard agreed to do the flick ““ if Corman promised him an opportunity to direct another. The resulting film, EAT MY DUST (1976), went on to become one of the biggest drive-in hits of the era, and one of the highest grossing films released by Corman’s original New World company.

The plot ““ if I may dignify it with such a term ““ is simple: to impress a shallow, speed freak blonde in itty-bitty hotpants (soap opera mainstay Christopher Norris, AIRPORT 1975), Hoover Niebold (Howard), the son of the local sheriff (veteran character actor Warren J. Kemmerling, GODZILLA 1985), steals a stock car and takes her on a reckless joyride across rural Puckerbush County. Soon, his father and a bunch of deputies ““ as well as a posse of drunken racecar drivers ““ are on the kids’ tail, resulting in plenty of high-speed pursuits, car crashes and other blatant traffic violations.

With, ironically, pedestrian script & direction by Corman vet Charles B. Griffith, EAT MY DUST is pretty thin, nonsensical stuff. But I’ll give it this: it keeps moving, is never boring, and the ending is rather perfect. That said, Howard’s follow-up for Corman, GRAND THEFT AUTO, is a much better movie.

An aside: something I find interesting, since it’s from a producer known more for imitation than innovation, is that EAT MY DUST actually predates, by a year or so, the whole SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT/DUKES OF HAZZARD phenomenon of the late Seventies. Hmmm.

Buena Vista’s new “Supercharged Edition” sports a decent, if unremarkable, 1.33:1 full frame transfer and Dolby stereo sound. The meager extras include an introduction by producer Roger Corman, the original theatrical trailer, and a retrospective documentary, “How to Crash on a Dime,” which features on-camera interviews with lead actress Norris, as well as he film’s stunt coordinator and film editor. Unfortunately, as on the GRAND THEFT AUTO disc, there’s no participation by Howard himself.

It’s not a classic, but it’s a fun example of 70’s drive-in fare. For fans of the car chase genre, EAT MY DUST is worth checking out.

When an evil corporation (What? Another one?) illegally dumps some biogenetic toxic waste into a small rural lake, it isn’t long before ravenous mutant fishmen rise from its murky depths to slaughter the local population of beer-swilling, inbred rednecks.

That’s the high concept of Pop Cinema’s CREATURE FROM THE HILLBILLY LAGOON (2007), one of the latest releases in their Shock-O-Rama exploitation/horror line.

Directed by Richard Griffin, HILLBILLY LAGOON is a hilariously bad, cartoonish horror comedy with a silly script, terrible, campy acting by a strictly amateurish cast, and goofy gore effects. On the other hand, it’s surprisingly entertaining, rather well shot, the music’s pretty good, and the creature suits aren’t bad, either. I even like the art on the DVD cover. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s one of those so-bad-it’s-kinda-good flicks, in a TOXIC AVENGER sort of way.

Pop Cinema’s DVD offers up the shot-on-digital video feature with a very respectable 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The disc includes a commentary track by director Griffin, a Behind the Scenes featurette, some deleted scenes, and the usual Shock-O-Rama Trailer Vault.

Definitely worth a rental for schlock-oholics.

I’ve written before about my admiration and appreciation for low-budget filmmaker and effects maestro Brett Piper (SHOCK-O-RAMA, SCREAMING DEAD), so I was excited when his latest film for Pop Cinema’s Shock-O-Rama label, BACTERIUM (2007), showed up in my mailbox. Needless to say, I had the disc out of its shrinkwrap and spinning in my Sony within minutes.

A group of young paintball players stumble across a seemingly abandoned mansion. Investigating, they find a deranged scientist conducting experiments in the basement. Realizing that this isn’t a good thing, they decide to bail, only to find the building surrounded by armed soldiers who will not let them leave. Turns out that the doc is on the run from the government with a virulent bioweapon, and they’re trapped with him and the rapidly reproducing and growing flesh-eating organism. The question then becomes: can they escape ““ without becoming infected themselves ““ before the government takes decisive action to contain the bacterial threat?

With better-than-average production values and acting for a shot-on-video production, the PG-13 rated BACTERIUM is a nifty little 50’s styled sci-fi thriller, reminiscent of British films like THE CREEPING UNKNOWN and FIEND WITHOUT A FACE, with a bit of THE BLOB thrown in for good measure. A definite highlight is Piper’s handcrafted “bacterium” effects, which appear to combine stop-motion and puppetry with detailed miniature sets.

The Pop Cinema DVD presents the digital video feature in a nice, crisp 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The limited extras include a short, but informative “Making Of” featurette, a commentary track by Piper and producer Michael Raso, and a slew of Shock-O-Rama trailers.

Considering the budget and limited resources, BACTERIUM really delivers the old school sci-fi shivers, and may be Piper’s best film to date. Imaginative, witty, and remarkably well made, BACTERIUM is enthusiastically recommended for fans of indie horror and sci-fi.

Another mutated single-cell life form causes havoc in Inshiro Honda’s (GOJIRA) kaiju spoof, SPACE AMOEBA (GEZORA, GANIME, KAMEBA: KESSEN! NANKAI NO DAIKAIJÛ, 1970), the last non-Godzilla film from the man who pretty much defined the genre.

An alien organism catches a ride on a space probe returning to Earth, which crashes into the Pacific near a small, tropical island inhabited only by a few native fisherman and a group of entrepreneurs planning a tourist resort. Unfortunately for them, the organism soon causes three local sea creatures ““ a cuttlefish, a turtle and a shrimp ““ to mutate into giant monsters”¦ and they’re hungry.

The film is a colorful, fast-paced kaiju fantasy that is, in many ways, an affectionate satire of the studio’s successful and popular GODZILLA series and Toho’s other kaiju klassics. In fact, while SPACE AMOEBA eschews the usual model city smashing and mass armies of model tanks, it offers the viewer an enjoyable tropical romp with some truly inspired monster designs, marvelous vintage effects, plenty of action, and lots of intentional humor.

The recent DVD from Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock presents the film (originally released to America as YOG, MONSTER FROM SPACE) in a beautiful, almost flawless 2.35 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The movie’s been given a new 5.1 Surround mix, and includes both English and Japanese dialogue tracks. There’s a commentary by producer Fumio Tanaka, a documentary on the three real-world sea animals that Toho reimagined as giant monsters for the film, and two original Japanese theatrical trailers.

For fans of Japanese giant monster films looking for something a bit different, SPACE AMOEBA is highly recommended.

Dark Sky Films is about to unleash a new, Director’s Cut edition, of Jack Hill’s seminal horror comedy, SPIDER BABY (1968), and as a fan of the film, I’m thrilled.

The twisted story centers on the remaining members of the Merrye family ““ Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn), Virginia (Jill Banner) and Ralph (Sid Haig, THE DEVIL’S REJECTS) ““ three adult “children” who suffer from a rare genetic disease which causes them to mentally regress as they age. Under the guardianship of chauffeur Bruno (screen icon Lon Chaney Jr., THE WOLF MAN), the Merrye “children” live in the isolated family mansion, away from the outside world. This is necessary because their condition instills in them a childishly cruel bloodlust. When a pair of distant relatives and their lawyer show up with designs on the family estate, an evening of horror and madness begins.

Shot under the title CANNIBAL ORGY: OR THE MADDEST STORY EVER TOLD, director Hill’s (FOXY BROWN, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS) is a sublime black comedy that pays affectionate homage to classic horror films while foreshadowing the psychotic killer-styled terror that would soon come into vogue. Deftly mixing humor and horror, with charming performances by Chaney, the late Jill Banner and the rest of the cast, SPIDER BABY is somehow genuinely creepy and disturbing, yet a lot of fun to watch.

Previously issued some years ago by Image Entertainment, this version restores some previously deleted footage and sports a brand-new, hi-def transfer from the original 35mm negative, along with a number of new bonus features. The beautiful black & white photography of Alfred Taylor is well served by the new 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, as is Ronald Stein’s bouncy-but-eerie score by the Dolby Digital mono tracks. None of the Image extras are included (which included a Hill commentary and cast reunion), but Dark Sky has assembled a fine batch of new material for this release. There’s a new commentary by Hill and actor Sid Haig, a retrospective documentary featuring pretty much all the surviving cast and major crewmembers, a short featurette focusing on composer Ronald Stein, a new visit to the “Merrye House” location, a still gallery, the CANNIBAL ORGY alternate opening credits, and an extended scene.

SPIDER BABY is one of the great cult films, and Dark Sky has given it a definitive release. If you own the Image disc, you may want to hang onto it for the old extras, but this new edition is a must-buy.

Highly and enthusiastically recommended.

It seems like there have been a fair number of films and TV shows lately with “seeing the future/past” gimmicks, and the latest one to come across my desk is the Nicholas Cage vehicle, NEXT (2007).

Cage plays a small-time Vegas “psychic” and magician who actually can see the future ““ his own future, anyway, and then only two minutes ahead. This allows him to make a killing at the gaming tables, and inadvertently brings him to the attention of FBI agent Ferris (Julianne Moore, HANNIBAL), who wants his help in defusing a terrorist plot. But Cage only wants to pursue his destiny with his dream girl (Jessica Biel, BLADE TRINITY), and goes on the run.

NEXT isn’t a genre classic, but it’s certainly a decent enough 90 minutes of undemanding entertainment, with good performances, exciting action scenes and a fairly involving storyline. The ending may annoy some viewers, but I thought it gave the flick a nice, TWILIGHT ZONE sort of denouement.

Paramount’s DVD presents NEXT in a solid 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, all pretty standard for a brand new release. Not a lot of extras ““ a couple of featurettes and some trailers ““ but the movie isn’t really demanding a full-fledged “special edition,” anyway.

An unremarkable but entertaining mainstream thriller with a sci-fi flavor; recommended for a weekend rental.

DVD LATE SHOW CAPSULE REVIEWS!

CHEECH & CHONG’S UP IN SMOKE (1978). I’m about as boringly straight as a guy can be, but I can still get a chuckle or two out of stoner comedies, especially when they star Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. In this, their first feature film, the boys smoke a dogshit doobie, try to score pot off a psychotic Vietnam vet (Tom Skerritt, THE DEVIL’S RAIN), are conned into smuggling a van made of marijuana (!) into the U.S. from Mexico, are pursued by a hard-nosed cop (Stacy Keach, MIKE HAMMER), and win a battle of the bands. Paramount’s new special edition is loaded with features, beginning with a very solid anamorphic widescreen transfer and a new Dolby 5.1 Surround sound mix. The disc also includes a commentary track by Cheech Marin and director Lou Adler, a handful of deleted scenes, a retrospective documentary, an animated music video, and vintage advertising (which shows that Paramount’s PR department had no idea at all how to sell this picture back in ’78!). For fans, this is definitely worth picking up.

WELCOME TO THE GRINDHOUSE DOUBLE FEATURE: DRAGON PRINCESS/KARATE WARRIORS (1976). Two classic Sonny Chiba (STREET FIGHTER, KILL BILL) martial arts exploitation films from the swingin’ Seventies are presented as a “grindhouse” double feature, complete with appropriate trailers and other theater programming. In DRAGON PRINCESS, Chiba is defeated in personal combat by a rival and blinded in one eye. in shame, he leaves Tokyo and heads to New York City, where he trains his young daughter (Etsuko Shihomi, a/k/a Sue Shiomi, SISTER STREET FIGHTER) in the killing arts, so that she may someday avenge his honor. KARATE WARRIORS is a contemporary (1976), urban remake of YOJIMBO, with Chiba playing two gangs against each other in order to wipe them both out. Great stuff. BCI has given both films decent 2.35:1 anamorphic transfers, that show some age and wear, but are far better than any previous U.S. home video release. Viva Chiba!

THE COMPLETE UNDERDOG ULTIMATE COLLECTION Vols. 1-3 (1964). Forget the recent lameass theatrical film, this is the real deal. Classic Media’s digitally remastered 18 episodes of the original UNDERDOG cartoon, and packed them onto three awesome collector’s discs. The full-frame transfers have been cleaned up a bit from previous home video releases, although these 40-year old toons still show some age-related wear and have somewhat faded colors. But who cares? The witty, clever scripts, top-notch voice acting and attractive ““ if limited ““ animation still provide plenty of smart entertainment for kids and nostalgic adults. In addition, the discs include various bonus features ““ trivia quizes, sing-alongs, storyboards, etc. Good stuff, and worth picking up for cartoon fans.

FACE/OFF: SPECIAL COLLECTOR’S EDITION (1997). His recent films may be kinda unmemorable, but I don’t care; John Woo (HARD BOILED, THE KILLER) is still my favorite living action director. This sci-fi cops & robbers thriller, starring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage, is, despite a ludicrous central premise, probably Woo’s last good film to date, and the best he’s made in Hollywood. Stylish direction, top-notch action sequences with human stuntwork, solid acting, and a script that leavens the outrageous storyline about a cop and a terrorist who switch faces and identities with heaping helpings of sentiment and heart, combine to make an enjoyable, fast-paced, cinematic experience. Paramount’s new 2-disc Collector’s Edition offers a sterling 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and both Dolby 5.1 and 6.1 DTS sound, commentary tracks by Woo and the film’s screenwriters, 7 deleted scenes and an alternate ending, an exhaustive “Making of Documentary,” and a John Woo biography. I like this movie a lot, and if you do, too, this new edition is highly recommended.

SCHOOLGIRL REPORT Vol. 1 & 2 (1970-71). These two German sexploitation gems pretend to be serious documentaries about the “terrifying” sexual liberation of 70’s Teutonic teenyboppers, with authoritative narration, woman-on-the-street interviews and elaborate “re-enactments” that just coincidentally display copious amounts of attractive, nubile Euro-flesh in highly eroticized situations. Of course, the films warn that all this unbridled, uninhibited behavior leads inevitably to grim retribution ““ a teenager seduces a school bus driver and is expelled; another bunch of female students seduce their hirsute science teacher only to have him commit suicide; a virgin’s first sexual experience results in pregnancy ““ you know, just like in real life. Impulse Pictures presents these first two installments of the long-running series, directed by Ernst Hofbauer, in their original German, with English subtitles. The 1.66:1 anamorphic transfers are a bit worn and faded, but are presented uncut. There are no extras. For collectors of vintage sexploitation, these campy, softcore “classics” are worth checking out.

Thanks for spending some time with me today. Next time, I hope to have a few “Midnite Movie” reviews, as well as looks at FROM BEYOND, THE LOST WORLD, VANESSA, CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS, THE INTRUDER (with William Shatner!), UNHOLY and more.

For older Late Show columns (adding up to well over 200 reviews!), visit the recently revamped DVD Late Show website and archive. For additional pop culture musings, occasional DVD previews and lots of shameless self-promotion, you might try checking out my blog.

Comments, DVD questions, review requests and offers of money can be sent to: dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com

9/11/07

Welcome back to the Late Show, kids! This time, we’ve got Spaghetti westerns, space westerns, giant monsters and a variety of horror and action flicks ““ along with another six-pack of capsule reviews. Can’t say we don’t cover all the bases here at the Show!

Let’s start off with probably the most famous and influential Euro-Westerns ever made, the “Dollars Trilogy,” starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Sergio Leone. All three of these classic films, as well as the James Coburn-starrer, DUCK YOU SUCKER!, are now available in brand-new editions as part of MGM’s recent box set, THE SERGIO LEONE ANTHOLOGY.

Previously released a few years ago in England and Europe, but delayed here, in part, by the various changes in management and distribution suffered by MGM Home Video over the last few years, these newly-restored and remastered editions are a film buff’s dream come true.

A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (PER UN PUGNO DI DOLLARI, 1964) introduced Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone to filmgoers with a gritty, dark remake of the Akira Kurosawa samurai epic YOJIMBO. It also kicked off the Spaghetti Western genre in high style, with its stylish direction and amoral protagonist.

FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (PER QUALCHE DOLLARO IN PIÃ, 1965) added American character actor Lee Van Cleef to the recipe, along with a bigger budget and a more character-driven story.

Then came THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (IL BUONO, IL BRUTTO, IL CATTIVO, 1966), a sprawling, utterly involving tale of greed and betrayal set against the backdrop of the American Civil War. This allowed Leone to add some epic battle scenes to the formula, and he pulls them off magnificently.

For this DVD release, the TGTB&TU has had several scenes restored that were included in the International versions but never shown in the U.S., and thus, never dubbed into English. For these scenes, Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach returned to the recording studio and dubbed their new lines (another actor filled in for Lee Van Cleef). The audio was also fully redone in 5.1 Surround, with some sound effects added and some sweetened or completely changed.

DUCK, YOU SUCKER! (GIÃ LA TESTA a/k/a A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE, 1971) stars James Coburn and Rod Stieger in an overtly political story set in Revolutionary Mexico. MGM has restored the film with around 20 minutes of footage never seen in the U.S.

Each film is presented in newly restored, damn-near pristine anamorphic 2.40:1 widescreen transfers, with cleaned up, juiced up sound, and commentaries by film historian and Leone authority, Christopher Frayling. Each film is also given a second disc containing various bonus features, including trailers, outtakes, interviews with Eastwood, and rarities, like the only-seen-once network TV prologue to FISTFUL, featuring Harry Dean Stanton.

No self-respecting film fan can afford to pass this box set up. Highly recommended.

Upon his return to the New World, Eastwood continued to tread the prairies and deserts of the cinematic West for various studios. Universal has collected the three that he did for them and packaged the films into another of their low-cost “Franchise Collection” sets. In this case, it’s the CLINT EASTWOOD WESTERN ICON COLLECTION, which includes HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1973), JOE KIDD (1972) and TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA (1970).

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, directed by Eastwood himself, is the best of the three, a macabre, downbeat Western nightmare, with Clint as a nameless stranger bent on avenging the death of a lawman by ruthless gunmen ““ and punishing the townspeople who made no effort to stop it. Spooky, possibly supernatural (or possibly not) DRIFTER is pretty harsh stuff, even today. A minor classic.

JOE KIDD is a routine, somewhat uninvolving oater, despite being directed by THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN’s John Sturges and being based on a solid Elmore Leonard novel. Eastwood is good as usual, and Robert Duvall and John Saxon both turn in decent performances, but somehow it never quite comes together.

TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA teams Clint with Shirley Maclaine as an unusual nun in a decent little Western adventure directed by Don Siegel (DIRTY HARRY). I had avoided this one for years, “˜cause I’m not a fan of MacLaine, but it’s not bad. The leads have some decent chemistry, the plot is solid, and the climax is appropriately explosive. Not Clint’s best, but a decent time-killer.

Universal’s “Franchise Collection” 2-disc package has DRIFTER and KIDD on disc 1, and SARA on the second disc. Each film is given a decent 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Mono sound. The only extras are the original theatrical trailers.

Once again, a bare-bones, budget release from Universal, who clearly don’t give a damn about their older library titles beyond just getting them out there with the least possible effort. DRIFTER, in particular, is really deserving of a Special Edition treatment ““ I’d love to get a definitive answer to Eastwood’s intentions re: the possible supernatural elements of the flick. But that’s not likely at this point, unless there’s a major shake-up over at Universal Home Video before the aging Eastwood passes away”¦.

Worth getting, but only because this is the only way to (legally) get these particular Eastwood films on DVD in quality widescreen versions.

Westerns aren’t always historical, though. There’s nothing new about fusing horse opera and space opera, for instance, and Heretic’s PLANETFALL (2005) is one of the more recent examples of that particular genre fusion.

Shot on hi-def on a very small budget, this sci-fi homage to Spaghetti Westerns sends a couple of competing female bounty hunters into a hostile section of the psi-war-torn planet Zita, in search of a mysterious crate called “Planetfall.”

While certainly ambitious, with its copious CGI effects and virtual backgrounds, PLANETFALL is, unfortunately, too slow-paced and chatty to really work. The pace is draggy, and the too-wordy script overwhelms the cast, most of who appear to be amateurs. Considering the limitations of its cast, the film would have benefited from a simpler, more action-driven plot and a lot less expositional backstory. The computer effects are fairly decent, considering the budget, but the extensive use of green screen also has the unfortunate side effect of making the film feel like a video game.

While inexpensive CGI has opened doors for independent filmmakers in allowing them to attempt types of stories that previously would have been prohibitive, it doesn’t make up for weak scripts or performances.

Heretic’s DVD of PLANETFALL presents the feature in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby 5.1/Dolby 2.0 Stereo. There are 3 commentary tracks, a 60 minute behind-the-scenes documentary, a production design featurette, deleted scenes, a documentary about some of the locations where the film was shot, and an interview with B-movie director Ted V. Mikels (ASTRO-ZOMBIES).

As an example of ambitious ultra-low budget fantasy filmmaking, PLANETFALL is worth a viewing. There’s a certain amount of talent and potential evident, but it’s really not a particularly good movie.

Of course, if you’re into space westerns, you can’t ignore Joss Whedon’s cult television favorite FIREFLY, and its theatrical sequel SERENITY (2006), which has just been double-dipped by Universal in the shape of a new collector’s edition.

In this feature film follow-up to the short-lived series, the rag-tag crew of the tramp spaceship Serenity find themselves the target of a deadly government operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor, CHILDREN OF MEN) who’s after their slightly-daffy and decidedly dangerous passenger, River Tam (Summer Glau). In order to save his crew, Captain Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion, SLITHER) goes on the offensive, determined to expose a conspiracy that could potentially tear down the galactic government.

A smart, action-packed space adventure that may be just a bit inaccessible to anyone who isn’t already familiar with the TV series (although my in-laws had no trouble following it when we saw it at the theater), SERENITY is a lot of fun.

Previously released by Universal in a more-than-satisfactory single-disc edition, this new 2-disc “Collector’s” set includes a gorgeous 2:35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, and Dolby 5.1 Surround sound.

But while the previous DVD release was fine, true fans (or “Browncoats”) will want to upgrade to this new version for the added extra features, which include extended Scenes, a feature commentary with Whedon and several cast members, four featurettes, and “Session 416,” a series of internet webisodes that expand upon the River character’s backstory. The two discs are packed into an attractive box that’s as big as the one containing the entire TV series.

Like I said, fans will want to trade up to this new edition, and while I’m still annoyed at the studio’s crass exploitation of fans with these double-dips, I know they’re not going to stop. In any case, it’s a good movie and a fine package. Recommended.

Poor Eugene Lourie. A talented Art Director, he finally got his chance to helm his own motion picture with 1953″˜s THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, a rousing B-movie creature feature that benefited heavily from Ray Harryhausen’s innovative stop-motion effects. Unfortunately for the neophyte director, the film was so successful that Lourie was about as typecast as it is possible to get: he only directed two more features and both were virtual remakes of BEAST.

The first of these was THE GIANT BEHEMOTH (1958), which takes the basic plot of BEAST ““ a prehistoric monster rising from the sea and rampaging through a modern metropolis ““ and transplants it from New York to London. In this case, it’s a radioactive bronto with a bad attitude that trashes Londontown before being taken out by a mini-sub in the Thames. Gene Evans (DONOVAN’S BRAIN) is the American scientist who leads the British into battle against the behemoth, which is brought to life on screen by pioneering stop-motion animator Willis O’Brien (KING KONG). Unfortunately, O’Brien was getting pretty old, and the budget was small, so the effects are occasionally shoddy, but the creature is still pretty impressive; nicely designed and scary.

(Lourie followed THE GIANT BEHEMOTH with 1961″˜s GORGO ““ which is available on DVD from VCI ““ which had an almost identical plot.)

Recently released by Warner Brothers as part of their recent “Cult Camp Classics” line, THE GIANT BEHEMOTH has been given a solid 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer culled from a decent print. There’s a little damage and speckling, and some effects shots are grainy ““ but they always were. The disc includes the original theatrical trailer and a commentary track by modern day FX artists Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett. I found the commentary to be pretty awful, myself. Muren and Tippett didn’t sound like they prepared for it at all. They had virtually nothing to reveal about the making of the film or the people who made it, and I found many of their more snarky comments to be disrespectful and even insulting to O’Brien, who, after all, was one of the true pioneers of the field in which they earn their livings.

For fans of 50’s creature features, it’s worth picking up. I’d skip the commentary, though.

I’d been looking forward to seeing the Indians Vs. Vikings epic, PATHFINDER UNRATED (2007) for some time, but after reading the almost universally negative reviews online and at the IMDB after it was released, my expectations were considerably diminished. Nonetheless, my collection includes hundreds of films that everybody else says suck, and I can usually find something to like in even the most abysmal drek, so I decided to give the film a chance anyway.

The plot is pretty straight-forward: after a raid by Vikings on an Indian tribe, a young Viking boy is left behind and is raised by native villagers. Fifteen years later, the Vikings return and kill his adoptive family and burn their village to the ground. The young man (Karl Urban, LORD OF THE RINGS, XENA) is now set on a Rambo-like spree of guerrilla warfare against his own kind.

Well, once again, I’m going to buck the tide. I liked it. Anyone who calls this the “worst movie ever” just hasn’t seen enough movies.

First off, the look of the film is exceptional. The production design and photography are amazing and nicely stylized; the film looks as if every frame was painted by Frank Frazetta. There is very little dialogue, and what there is is of the “There are two wolves in every man’s heart: love and hate,” variety, but what do you expect from a sword & moccasin saga? Criticizing it on a historical basis is kinda pointless, too ““ the filmmakers have made no claims as to it being a history; in fact, they clearly label it a legend in the opening titles. And those who think the movie unfairly portrays Scandinavian explorers”¦. Cripes.

Is it a great movie? I wouldn’t go that far, but it sure doesn’t suck. The pace is good, the action sequences are well staged, the violence is appropriately graphic (no bloodless sword wounds here), and the cast ““ which includes Clancy Brown (HIGHLANDER) and Rolf Mueller (TV’s CONAN, unrecognizable under the make-up and Viking beard) is perfectly adequate for this type of action-driven flick.

This Fox DVD presents the unrated version of the film in a crystal 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The clanging steel, rolling thunder and rousing score are nicely served by a robust Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound audio mix. Bonus features are plentiful: there is a commentary track by director Marcus Nispel, deleted scenes, a half-dozen production featurettes, a “Clancy Brown: Cult Hero” featurette, the theatrical trailer, and an atmospheric “concept trailer” shot by Nispel to sell the project to studio suits.

For the visuals alone, it’s worth checking out, but if you’re one of those who go into films looking for reasons to dislike them, this isn’t for you. On the other hand, you’re up for 107 minutes of bloody escapism, you might want to give PATHFINDER UNRATED a shot.

At first, I thought that John Milius’ (CONAN THE BARBARIAN) Reagan-era exercise in Cold War paranoia was an odd choice for a “Special Edition” treatment, but then I remembered how much impact the movie had on my generation and how fondly I recalled it. Apparently someone at MGM also recognizes just how much of a generational touchstone it was, because the 2-disc RED DAWN ““ COLLECTOR’S EDITION (1984) is a great DVD set.

I’m not saying the movie is great, necessarily, but MGM Home Entertainment has done a hell of a job on this DVD.

The plot is simplicity itself: when the American Midwest is invaded and occupied by the combined forces of the Soviet Union and Cuba, a group of Colorado teenagers flee to the mountain wilderness, eventually becoming partisans who fight a guerilla war against the foreign invaders.

Starring a bunch of young actors who soon went on to major Hollywood stardom ““ Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey ““ as well as some veteran character actors like Harry Dean Stanton, Ben Johnson, Ron O’Neal, Powers Boothe and William Smith, RED DAWN is packed with solid performances. The script is ludicrous (much of the dialogue is corny) but the film is executed with a certain amount of conviction by the eccentric Milius, and his cast, and the audience is soon caught up in the story. The gorgeous location photography doesn’t hurt, either.

This new Collector’s Edition features, on the first disc, a new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Stereo sound mix. This disc also includes a somewhat tasteless ““ but undeniably fun ““ extra feature in the form of a “carnage counter,” which, if you choose to activate it, keeps a running tab of every death, explosion, and act of violence in the film.

The second disc includes a great retrospective documentary which includes candid interviews with most of the primary cast ““ including Swayze, Sheen, Thompson and Howell ““ all of whom seem pretty proud of their association with the film. Director Milius is also interviewed. This doc is one of the best I’ve seen in a while, and is really worth watching. The disc also includes three other featurettes ““ one on building the “Russian” tanks and vehicles for the film, one on the military training the cast was given prior to filming, and, finally, a return to the town that was used as the primary location for filming. This includes on-screen interviews with a number of residents, who seem extremely pleased with their association with RED DAWN.

If you grew up in the Eighties, chances are that RED DAWN left an impression on you, positive or negative. If your memories are good ones, I highly recommend this new edition. The film looks great, the documentary is exceptional, and the price is reasonable.

I wish more “Special Editions” were this good.

I missed this on television, but I’ve just watched HEROES ““ THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (2006/07) on DVD, and I have to admit that I’m impressed and pleasantly surprised.

Essentially, the debut season of HEROES chronicles the interconnected lives of a group of people with extraordinary powers ““ invulnerability, flight, precognition, invisibility, etc. ““ as they attempt to prevent (or cause) a nuclear catastrophe in the heart of New York City.

Smartly-written scripts that give viewers credit for some intelligence, extremely good acting, and solid Hollywood production values combine in what may be the most challenging network television series since the first season of LOST ““ and unlike that show, HEROES actually makes a point of rewarding it’s audience with occasional answers to its many questions. Not everything is neatly resolved, however, and there are plenty of surprises and twists in the show, which gleefully bounces around within its own timeline, keeping viewers on their metaphorical toes.

The cast, which includes Ali Larter (JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK), Adrian Pasdar (NEAR DARK), Hayden Panettiere, Milo Ventimiglia (STAY ALIVE), Zachary Quinto (the new Spock) and Jack Coleman, is uniformly exceptional, and the genre-friendly guest stars include George Takei (STAR TREK), Richard Roundtree (SHAFT), Christopher Eccelston (DR. WHO), Eric Roberts (BEST OF THE BEST), and Malcolm McDowell (TIME AFTER TIME), adding considerably to the show’s geek factor. My personal favorite character is the time-bending teleporter Hiro (Masi Oka), who not only lives up to his name, but brings considerable charm and humanity to the show.

Universal’s standard DVD set presents all 23 episodes of the premiere season in razor sharp 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Each episode features deleted scenes, and many have commentary tracks by creator Tim Kring and various cast and crew members. The set also includes several behind-the-scenes featurettes, a profile of comic book artist Tim Sale (whose art is featured prominently in the show) and an extended, 73-minute “director’s cut” of the pilot episode.

HEROES manages to take the Marvel Comics-styled super-hero soap opera and bring it to television in a modern, stylish manner. While the fanboy in me wishes that at least one of them would put on some spandex (preferably Larter), I have to admit that Kring and his crew have really made the super-hero genre work for 21st Century television, and I can’t recommend this set highly enough. If you’re already a fan, you’ll want this set for the bountiful extras, and if you missed this on TV, like I did, you really need to check it out. It’s great fantasy television.

DVD LATE SHOW CAPSULE REVIEWS!

HALLOWEEN (1978). I guess with Rob Zombie’s new remake hitting theaters, they had to do something to tie-in”¦. By my count, this is the seventh or eighth version of John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN to be released by Anchor Bay/Starz Home Entertainment. This one features a newly “restored” THX video transfer from a new interpositive culled from the original negative, supervised by cinematographer Dean Cundey. The disc also has an all-new Dolby 5.1 Surround audio mix. And yes, it looks and sounds terrific. But with the same DVD player, sound system and TV I’ve got, it’s not really a notably different viewing experience than the 25th Anniversary Divamax version I already had. Extras are a bit lean, too: there’s a compromised full-frame version of the film (which kinda undercuts all the new tech improvements, if you ask me), a 7-year-old documentary, trailers, TV and radio spots and a couple of still galleries. If you don’t already have it, this is a fine DVD, but I’m not sure it’s really worth upgrading. Your mileage may vary.

BUBBA HO-TEP ““ HAIL TO THE KING EDITION (2003). Identical to the previous DVD release except for the new gimmicky packaging, this Bruce Campbell (EVIL DEAD) vehicle, directed by Don Coscarelli (PHANTASM) is still one of the best “cult” films of the decade. An aged Elvis Presley battles a soul-sucking mummy in a Texas rest home with the aid of a black JFK”¦. what else do you expect from the mind of Joe Lansdale? MGM’s “Hail To The King Edition” has the same 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, same extras (including “Elvis'” commentary track)”¦ hell, it’s apparently the same damned disc. But now you get a stylin’ Vegas jumpsuit to put it in.

UGLY BETTY ““ THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (2006-07). An odd choice for this column, perhaps, but this comedic soap opera (based on a South American “telenovella”) was one of the most addictive shows of the past TV season, with its campy cliff-hangers, outrageous plot twists and the heaving bosoms of some of the most gorgeous women on the tube ““ including Vanessa Williams, Rebecca Romijn, and Salma Hayek. But it’s also a surprisingly smart and occasionally touching series, with the admirable and heroic America Ferrera’s “Betty Suarez” overcoming adversity and never succumbing to fear or embarrassment. Disney’s DVD set presents the first 23 episodes in sparkling, anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen transfers, and Dolby 5.1 Surround sound. Extras include several behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentaries, a slew of deleted scenes and a blooper reel. Sure it’s a “chick show,” but if you check it out, who’s gonna know?

VOYAGERS! ““ THE COMPLETE SERIES (1982). An ex-pirate (Jon-Erik Hexum) and an 80’s kid (Meeno Peluce) travel through time attempting to keep the timeline straight and teach kids history. It’s pure kid’s stuff, but fairly-well produced for the early 80’s. This series is fondly remembered by those who watched it as children, and it’s not hard to see why. The leads are appealing, the scripts are fun, and it’s wholesome family fare with imagination. Universal’s new box set includes all 20 episodes of the short-lived series in their original 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio and 2.0 Dolby Stereo. Image quality is decent, sowing only a bit of age-related wear and some excess grain. Recommended for nostalgic adults and their kids.

THE BOURNE FILES (2002/2004). The first two cinematic adventures of Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) ““ THE BOURNE IDENTITY and THE BOURNE SUPREMACY ““ are double-dipped by Universal, and bound together in a cute “File Folder” package. It won’t fit on your shelf with your other DVDs, but it does contain the earlier “Special Edition” versions of the Bourne discs, with an additional bonus disc that includes a preview of the current third entry in the Trilogy, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM. If you don’t already have them, this is an inexpensive way to catch up with this superior action/spy franchise. Both films have sterling 2.35:1 anamorphic transfers, 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound, and a bunch of extra features.

Thanks for spending some time with me today. Look for my next column soon, with reviews of SPLATTER BEACH, FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD, SPACE AMOEBA, THE COMPLETE UNDERDOG COLLECTION, UNHOLY, VANESSA, WELCOME TO GRINDHOUSE DOUBLE FEATURE; DRAGON PRINCESS/KARATE WARRIORS, and more!

For older Late Show columns (adding up to well over 200 reviews!), visit the recently revamped DVD Late Show website and archive. For additional pop culture musings, occasional DVD previews and lots of shameless self-promotion, you might try checking out my blog.

Comments, DVD questions, review requests and offers of money can be sent to: dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com

7/31/07

Welcome back to the Late Show, kids!

This week, I’ve tried to be a little more detailed with my reviews, and focus on discs that are more-or-less current; some of these discs are streeting today and others have hit the shelves in the past few weeks. In fact, several of these titles have been eagerly awaited by cult film fans since the advent of the DVD format. We also have some good news about MGM’s revived “Midnite Movie” line, and a preview of some of the titles that will be hitting stores this fall for Halloween.

Let’s get started, shall we?

“It is going to get wet in here tonight. Lace your boots up, kiddies…”

I recently watched the Starz Media DVD of BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON (2006). This unique take on the slasher subgenre had been garnering a lot of positive reviews in recent months, and although I haven’t really been in a horror movie mood of late, I was curious.

I persuaded my wife ““ who grew up on 80’s slasher franchises like FRIDAY THE 13TH and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET ““ to join me, and we gave the disc a spin.

The premise and plot of the film is that a small group of college journalists are offered the opportunity to accompany and interview an 80’s-styled psycho killer as he goes about his preparations for a full-blooded killing spree. From selecting the right female victim to terrorize ““ a virgin, of course ““ to planting the seeds of an appropriately spooky “legend,” to setting the scene for the final slaughter, the “mockumentary” portion of the film is both amusing and occasionally chilling, with plenty of dark humor and thought-provoking insights into the conventions of the genre.

Now, if that was the entire film, it would probably be fine and fun, but in the final reels, BEHIND THE MASK metamorphoses into a genuine slasher film, complete with last minute twists and ““ despite the fact that the whole formula has just been deconstructed in front of you ““ a suspenseful and frightening edge-of-your-seat climax.

Virtually everything about this film works. Lead Nathan Baesel is excellent, sliding startlingly from charming and amusing to terrifying with no apparent effort. Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund, is well cast in his small role, as is POLTERGEIST’s Zelda Rubinstein, who delivers a long expository speech in one perfect take. Especially good is veteran character actor Scott Wilson, from 1967’s IN COLD BLOOD, as Leslie’s “mentor” and confidante.

The screenplay by Scott Glosserman and David J. Stieve shows not only a deep understanding for the genre, but a genuine affection for it as well. Glosserman’s direction is brisk and breezy during the mockumentary sequences yet taut, atmospheric and chilling once things get bloody. It’s great stuff.

Starz Media gives BEHIND THE MASK a sterling, 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation, with Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Stereo audio. There’s a fun and informative commentary by the main cast members, two “making of” featurettes, deleted and extended scenes, and some nicely edited trailers. As usual, Starz has included the screenplay as a DVD-ROM downloadable bonus.

For fans of the slasher film subgenre, BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON is strongly and enthusiastically recommended. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s one of the best horror films I’ve seen in the last two years.

Check it out.

“Sergeant Butterman, the little hand says it’s time to rock and roll! “

What I really dug about Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s SHAUN OF THE DEAD was how they were able to so effectively parody and satirize a genre while never being mean-spirited or cynical about it. Their affection for George Romero’s “Living Dead” films was palpable and refreshing. I was also impressed at how well they could parody a particular genre of film while simultaneously making a perfect example of that genre.

Well, they’ve done it again, and this time they’ve set their sights on the overblown cops n’ robbers genre, with the delightful HOT FUZZ (2007).

Simon Pegg (“Shaun” of SHAUN) is Nicholas Angel, a London supercop, with the most impressive arrest record on the force. He lives, breathes, eats and sleeps his job and while that’s hell on his love life, it’s also making the rest of the department look bad. So he’s reassigned to the seemingly crime-free village of Sandford, where he’s befriended by fellow officer Danny Butterman (Nick Frost, “Ed” from SHAUN), who sees in Nick all of the Hollywood cops he idolizes. Soon Nick begins to suspect that the small town’s many fatal accidents are less accidental than they seem, and begins to investigate despite the derision of his colleagues. What is Sandford’s dark and deadly secret?

HOTT FUZZ is a great comedy and a pretty damned decent cop flick, too. The cast is filled with talented and familiar British stars, including Jim Broadbent (MOULIN ROUGE), Paul Freeman (RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK), Bill Nighy (UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION), and former Bond, Timothy Dalton (in a particularly devilish role). The script is sharp, smart and funny, and even when the plot gets ludicrous, it’s still completely logical within the framework of the story being told. There’s some high-octane action in the last act, as well as some surprisingly gruesome gore effects. But mostly, it’s just a hell of a lot of fun.

Universal’s DVD gives HOT FUZZ a first-class treatment, beginning with a reference-quality 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that is absolutely flawless. The Dolby Digital 5.1 EX audio is vibrant and appropriately explosive.

There’s not a whole lot of extras, but what there are, are swell. There’re outtakes, deleted scenes, a trivia game, a commentary with Pegg and director Wright, as well as a few cute bits like “Danny’s Notebook,” “Hot Funk,” and “The Man Who Would Be Fuzz.” Intrigued? Check out the disc.

HOT FUZZ is one of the best comedies I’ve seen in along time. Buy it, rent it”¦ just see it.

“You can’t escape/From the kiss and rape of the Glove”¦”

Two Seventies revenge thrillers share the bill in Dark Sky Films’ most recent DRIVE-IN DOUBLE FEATURE: SEARCH AND DESTROY / THE GLOVE (1979).

In SEARCH AND DESTROY, ten years after a jungle combat mission goes sour, a group of Vietnam veterans including Perry King (CLASS OF 1984) and Don Stroud (HELL’S ANGELS UNCHAINED), find themselves being hunted down and executed by the understandably disgruntled ARVN officer they left behind.

Shot in and around Niagara Falls, with George Kennedy (THE NAKED GUN) playing yet another cop, SEARCH & DESTROY is a moderately entertaining low-budget actioner, with some decent chase and fight sequences, ably directed by William Fruet (DEATH WEEKEND, SPASMS).

In THE GLOVE, former football star Rosey Grier (THE THING WITH TWO HEADS) plays an ex-con who dresses up in black riot gear, dons a lethal lead and steel glove, and sets out to brutally beat the hell out of a bunch of prison guards. Exploitation vet John Saxon (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) plays the down-on-his-luck bounty hunter who is out to bring him in.

Not as exploitative as it’s sold, devoting most of its screen time to dialogue and character development over the expected violence, THE GLOVE is nonetheless a fairly decent little flick. Saxon is particularly good here, giving his L.A. bounty hunter a lot of depth and providing a noir-esque voice-over narration. Grier is physically intimidating and, despite his limited thespian skills, still manages to make his killer sympathetic and his motives understandable. The cast includes a bunch of familiar B-movie faces, including Aldo Ray, Joanna Cassidy, Keenan Wynn and Joan Blondell, all competently put through their paces by director Ross Hagen, who has acted in more than a few B-movies himself. It also has a funky theme song that must be heard to be believed.

Dark Sky’s double-layer DVD presents both films in remarkably clean 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers, and Dolby 2.0 Stereo sound. The disc is set up to play both features with vintage drive-in intermission programming (doesn’t that concession food look gross? Who looked at those ads and thought, “Yeah, I could go for that?”) and some awesome exploitation trailers from the proper era (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, EATEN ALIVE, THE LAST HUNTER, THE DEVIL’S RAIN and ONE-ARMED EXECUTIONER). While the default drive-in program is the preferred way to enjoy this fun double bill, both films can also be played individually, if you’re so inclined.

Overall, it’s a great evening’s worth of Carter-era drive-in thrills, nicely assembled by the folks over at Dark Sky. I preferred THE GLOVE to SEARCH AND DESTROY, but then, I’m a John Saxon fan (isn’t everyone?). Check it out.

“Guess who?”

I was never a big fan of the red-plumed, cackling cartoon bird created by Walter Lantz, but I even I have to admit that the new WOODY WOODPECKER & FRIENDS CLASSIC CARTOON COLLECTION is an amazing anthology of theatrical animated films, many of which have never appeared on home video before in any format.

The collection includes digitally remastered toons from the Thirties, Forties and Fifties, as well as a handful of rare, vintage shorts and featurettes. The cartoons are uncut, complete with politically incorrect gags and artwork. Universal has even labeled the packaging (albeit in small print) as for adult collectors ““ nothing here has been sanitized for the protection of today’s small minds (and I don’t mean kids).

Aside from superstar Woody ““ who undergoes an amazing series of dramatic physical transformations over the years ““ Andy Panda and penguin Chilly Willy (a personal favorite) are well represented, along with some very early Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shorts. Among the earliest cartoons in the collection is a great parody of KING KONG, “King Klunk,” as well as a bunch of musical “Swing Symphonies,” like “Abou Ben Boogie,” “The Pied Piper of Basin Street,” and the politically incorrect “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B.”

The cartoons are presented full-frame, with eye-popping colors and rock solid transfers. There’s a fair amount of wear and scattered dirt and debris, but it’s not overly distracting; generally speaking, the clean-up and restoration efforts are outstanding. A lot of work went into this set, and it ranks right up there with Warner Brothers’ exemplary LOONEY TUNES GOLDEN COLLECTIONS.

Most of the bonus features are, unfortunately, previously-existing promotional material, and somewhat dated, although the single episode from the later Woody Woodpecker TV series, a Halloween special called “Spook-A-Nanny,” is really bizarre. I might wish there had been at least one new historical featurette or maybe some commentary tracks by contemporary animation experts, but it’s a minor complaint.

For fans of classic, hand-drawn theatrical animation, the WOODY WOODPECKER AND FRIENDS CLASSIC CARTOON COLLECTION is highly recommended.

“Wolfman’s got nards!”

After two decades of grotesquely panned and scanned, grainy VHS dupes and late night/early morning pay cable airings, Fred Dekker’s heartfelt valentine to the Universal monster films of Hollywood’s Golden Age, THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987), finally makes its way to the digital format with a beautiful, 2-disc 20th Anniversary Edition from Lions Gate.

Best described as “The Little Rascals (or The Goonies) meet The Universal Monsters,” THE MONSTER SQUAD tells of a group of 80’s kids who must save the world when Count Dracula, The Frankenstein Monster, a werewolf, a mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon’s clone show up in their small Southern bayou town in search of a magic amulet. The amulet is the key to keeping Good & Evil in cosmic balance, and Drac wants to tip the scales.

A charming, somewhat Spielbergian family film, SQUAD features a top-notch cast of talented young and veteran actors, fantastic monster make-ups by Stan Winston (PREDATOR) and his crew, a superior musical score by the underrated Bruce Broughton (SILVERADO), and a funny, yet suspenseful script by director Dekker and a young Shane Black (LETHAL WEAPON, LAST BOY SCOUT), filled with quotable dialogue and memorable moments.

For fans of classic horror, the movie is a treasure trove of references and homage ““ armadillos inexplicably haunt Dracula’s castle, just as they did in the 1931 Tod Browning DRACULA, the Monster first encounters little Phoebe (Ashley Bank) at the side of a pond, evoking strong memories of Boris Karloff and his doomed playmate in the original FRANKENSTEIN ““ but more than that, the film treats the classic creatures with respect and allows them to be scary. Most notable, perhaps, is Duncan Regehr’s Dracula, who combines Christopher Lee’s imperiousness with Lugosi’s reptilian menace, in a portrayal that ranks among the undead Count’s finest.

Lions Gate new 20th Anniversary Edition DVD is a 2-disc package. Disc 1 contains a gorgeous, 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer from pristine source material, and a new, 5.1 Dolby Surround mix. This disc also includes two commentary tracks. On the first, Dekker sits with cast members Andre Gower (“Sean”), Ryan Lambert (“Rudy”) and Ashley Bank (“Phoebe”) for an anecdote-filled trip down memory lane. On the second, Director of Photography Bradford May joins Dekker for a more technically informative audio commentary.

The second disc is dominated by “Monster Squad Forever,” a five-part documentary that recounts the making of the film and its slow rise to cult status, with extensive interviews with crew and cast. A lot is covered here, including the studio’s concerns over the kids’ occasional use of expletives, the difficulty in marketing the film back in ’87, and the disappointing downward arc of writer/director Fred Dekker’s filmmaking career. It’s a great, nostalgic documentary, filled with fascinating stories. Disc 2 also includes a few deleted scenes, the original theatrical trailer and TV Spots, a still gallery, and a “Conversation with Frankenstein” ““ an amusing interview with actor Tom Noonan in the Frankenstein Monster make-up, conducted during the original filming. It’s cute, but runs a little too long.

I’ve been a dedicated fan of this flick for years, and I’m grateful to Lions Gate for finally bringing it to DVD in a well-produced, thoughtful special edition. They’ve really treated the film well, and I cannot recommend this set ““ and this movie ““ more highly.

“Flash, Flash, I love you, but we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth!”

I make no apologies or excuses for this: Mike Hodge’s FLASH GORDON ““ SAVIOUR OF THE UNIVERSE EDITION (1980) is one of my all-time favorite movies. Based on the classic newspaper strip by Alex Raymond, the film is a gleefully silly, joyously tongue-in-cheek interplanetary fantasy that never fails to bring a dopey grin to my face. And now, finally, there’s a home video edition that does the movie justice.

When an unknown force from space threatens the Earth, a pro football quarterback named Flash Gordon (Sam J. Jones. ONE MAN FORCE, THE HIGHWAYMAN) and a pretty travel agent by the name of Dale Arden (Melody Anderson, FIREWALKER), find themselves kidnapped by slightly mad ex-NASA scientist Hans Zarkov (Topol, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY), and taken to the alien world of Mongo. There they meet merciless dictator Ming (Max Von Sydow, NEEDFULL THINGS), who rules the fantastic world with an iron fist, keeping its various kingdoms constantly warring and thus unable to unite against him. Faced with Earth’s imminent destruction, Flash must find a way to bring the tyrant’s enemies together in rebellion and save his home world.

The film story follows the original strip continuity fairly closely, although screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr. (1976 KING KONG) obviously can’t take the material very seriously. But that’s all right, because this is one film where a tongue-in-cheek approach actually works. Under the guiding hand of versatile British director Mike Hodges (the original GET CARTER, CROUPIER), the colorful, fetishistic fantasy embraces its campy nature and plays out with infectious good humor.

For FLASH, the producers assembled a prestigious supporting cast of Brit and Euro thespians that includes a pre-Bond Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde, Richard O’Brien, and the gorgeous Ornella Muti, but it’s really Danilo Donati’s set designs and costumes that are the stars of the picture. Blindingly colorful, overly elaborate and utterly decadent, the movie looks exactly like an Alex Raymond or Al Williamson Flash Gordon comic strip come to life. Even the odd choice to get rock gods QUEEN to provide the film’s score works surprisingly well, with their pounding beat giving the film its pulse, electric guitars underlying the excitement of the movie’s various chases and battles.

I saw this film in the theater several times and owned it on VHS, laserdisc, and the previously-issued Image DVD, and this 27-year-old production has never, ever looked as good as it does here, on Universal’s new “Saviour of the Universe Edition.” The studio has given this release an incredibly sharp, perfectly color calibrated, 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, newly remastered and restored. The film’s colors have never been so vibrant. Special effects scenes have been cleaned up, removing virtually all of the era’s telltale matte lines and compositing artifacts. Detail is astounding: I’ve seen this movie dozens of times, and yet, there were a number of background elements, objects and sight gags that I had never before noticed until watching this new transfer. The audio has been pumped up, too, with a new Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that finally does justice to QUEEN’s triumphant score and the flick’s innovative sound design.

The extra features are a bit disappointing. One would have hoped for a nice, comprehensive retrospective documentary with cast & crew interviews and behind-the-scenes anecdotes, but the closest we get to that is a brief interview with screenwriter Semple, who admits that he never really read the comic strip before writing the script, and thought the whole enterprise was a lark. Fortunately, this is counterbalanced by an interview with acclaimed comics artist Alex Ross (Marvels, Kingdom Come, etc.), who is, quite possibly, the world’s biggest FLASH GORDON fan. He speaks with adult eloquence and adolescent enthusiasm about the film, its impact on him and his art, and the pure joy he derives from it. Ross also provides the new cover art for this edition, and a collectible art card by Ross is included in the package. The disc also includes the original theatrical trailer, the first complete chapter of the 1936 FLASH movie serial with Buster Crabbe, and an amazingly lame promo for the new SciFi Channel FLASH television series.

Aside from the (only slightly) underwhelming extras, this is the definitive DVD edition of the beloved cult classic. Highly recommended.

“I don’t know anything about saints, but I have an uncanny instinct for sniffing out a son of a bitch.”

Pretty much every thing you’re gonna read about the new adult animated film RENAISSANCE (2007) is going to name-check SIN CITY and BLADE RUNNER”¦ so I figured I ought to get it out of the way as early in this review as possible.

Paris, 2054: A young female researcher for the powerful Avalon Corporation has been abducted and maverick cop Karas (voice by Daniel Craig) is assigned to the case. With the help of the missing woman’s sister, Karas finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy and targeted by Avalon’s high-tech stealth assassins. In the end, Karas unravels the mystery and discovers the earthshaking secret at its core.

A visually stunning combination of hand-drawn/created elements, CGI and motion-capture technologies, Christian Volckman’s RENAISSANCE is a unique, computer animated movie for grown-ups, one that successfully attempts to mimic the harsh, high-contrast B&W imagery of the Sin City comics or the early Brian Bendis written-and-drawn graphic novels Jinx and A.KA. Goldfish. Backgrounds are gorgeously executed with endless little details, and the characters are generally distinctive and fairly easy to tell apart.

In terms of story, it’s yet another sci-fi noir with an overcomplicated plot and plenty of “˜40’s crime fiction tropes and iconic tough-guy characters transplanted into a dystopian futurescape, where the only real difference between it and a vintage detective film is a sci-fi MacGuffin. That’s not to say it isn’t involving or interesting ““ because it is ““ but it’s funny how filmmakers keep looking back narratively, while the technology to make the films keeps accelerating forward.

Miramax’s DVD sports a solid 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer and a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Bonus features are lean ““ there’s a single “Making Of” featurette and a handful of other Miramax trailers, and that’s it.

While the story is literally nothing new, the visuals are innovative and unique. If you like BLADE RUNNER and similar films, you’ll probably enjoy this one, too. I thought it was pretty good, and would definitely recommend at least a rental.

DVD LATE SHOW CAPSULE REVIEWS!

In my continuing efforts to catch up with some of the older discs of interest that piled up during the last few months while I was ill, here’s some more “Capsule Reviews” of DVDs that are long overdue for some Late Show attention:

SUBURBAN SECRETS (2006). Seventies sexploitation director Joe Sarno (INGA, LAURA’S TOYS, MOONLIGHTING WIVES) teams up with the Seduction Cinema starlets to craft a modern version of one of his acclaimed erotic soap operas ““ which means lots of sweaty softcore sex, stilted line delivery and an actual, if sordid plot. Chelsea Mundae (SIN SISTERS), AJ Khan (SHOCK-O-RAMA) and other familiar bodies from the studio’s stable are joined by hardcore star Tina Tyler in this Michael Raso production. The sex scenes are pretty hot, if repetitive, and the performances are incredibly uneven, but there’s a lot worse out there. The 2-disc set from Pop Cinema includes a “Director’s Cut” and a “Hot TV Cut,” a couple of “Making Of” documentaries, a collection of Sarno trailers, and a booklet with liner notes by film historian Ed Grant.

KING KUNG FU (1976). An utterly unfunny but endearingly awful comedy made in Wichita, Kansas and starring a guy in a bad gorilla suit, KING KUNG FU chronicles the misadventures of a talking simian martial artist and the John Wayne-impersonating police captain who’s out to get him. This Image/Retromedia DVD presents the rare, regionally produced low budget spoof in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and includes the original theatrical trailer.

BLIND WOMAN’S CURSE (1970). A disturbing blend of historical Yakuza drama and graphic horror, this chiller features 70’s Japanese cult actress Meiko Kaji (LADY SNOWBLOOD, FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION) in her first starring role. Filled with macabre imagery, savage action and grotesque horror, Teru Ishi’s filmic head-trip is not for the faint-hearted. Diskotek’s special edition includes a good 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, audio commentary by Japanese film expert Chris D., a theatrical trailer and photo gallery. Challenging stuff, and worth a look.

DARKMAN TRILOGY (1990/1994/1995). Universal has just repackaged Sam Raimi’s (EVIL DEAD) pre-SPIDER-MAN superhero effort with its two direct-to-video sequels in one, handy, low-priced, 2-disc “Franchise Collection.” The first film stars Liam Neeson (KRULL) as a hideously scarred scientist who can create temporary new faces with which to fight crime, while Arnold Vosloo (THE MUMMY) takes over the role in sequels. As to those sequels, they’re not so hot; shot in Canada on tight, TV budgets, but then, the original feature wasn’t the greatest, either. Supporting actors include Larry Drake (DR. GIGGLES), Renee O’Connor (XENA), Kim Delaney (PROJECT: METALBEAST), Roxanne Dawson (ST: VOYAGER) and Jeff Fahey (SCORPIUS GIGANTUS)

The first disc contains DARKMAN and DARKMAN II: THE RETURN OF DURANT, and includes trailers for both films. The second disc contains only DARKMAN III: DIE DARKMAN DIE, and doesn’t even have a menu screen. All three films are presented in 1.85: anamorphic widescreen and look fine. For fans of the series, it’s an inexpensive, convenient package.

DVD LATE SHOW NEWS!

One or two of you may remember back in the early days of this column, when I championed MGM’s “Midnite Movie” line of cult and exploitation titles. Well, after a several year drought will the management of the MGM library shifted between several companies, a new batch of “Midnite Movies” titles have been announced by MGM and their new distributor, Fox Home Entertainment. In fact, the forthcoming “Midnite Movie” discs will include titles from both studios, and will be hitting shelves beginning in September.

Among the titles announced: THE WITCHFINDER GENERAL, FOOD OF THE GODS, RETURN OF DRACULA/THE VAMPIRE, THE BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES/PHANTOM FROM 10,000, PHARAOH’S CURSE/CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN, THE BEAST WITHIN/THE BAT PEOPLE, KONGA/YONGARY, MONSTER FROM THE DEEP, TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972)/VAULT OF HORROR (1973), CHOSEN SURVIVORS/THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING, DEVILS OF DARKNESS/WITCHCRAFT, BLUEPRINT FOR MURDER/MAN IN THE ATTIC, GORILLA AT LARGE/MYSTERY AT MONSTER ISLAND, THE HOUSE ON SKULL MOUNTAIN/THE MEPHISTO WALTZ.

In addition, there will be a new VINCENT PRICE COLLECTION (THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN, TALES OF TERROR, TWICE-TOLD TALES, THEATER OF BLOOD, MADHOUSE and WITCHFINDER GENERAL) a new ROGER CORMAN COLLECTION (BLOODY MAMA, THE YOUNG RACERS, A BUCKET OF BLOOD, GAS-S-S, THE TRIP, THE PREMATURE BURIAL, X: THE MAN WITH X-RAY EYES and THE WILD ANGELS.), a three-disc special edition of THE FLY, RETURN OF THE FLY and (the never before on video) CURSE OF THE FLY, a new special edition of RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and a lot more.

Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to review much of this Halloween bounty here at the Late Show. For more information on these titles and scans of the cover art, check out George Reis’ DVD Drive-In website.

Thanks for spending some time with me today. Look for my next column soon.

For older Late Show columns (adding up to well over 200 reviews!), visit the newly updated-and-revamped DVD Late Show website and archive. For additional pop culture musings, occasional DVD previews and lots of shameless self-promotion, you might try checking out my blog.

Comments, DVD questions, review requests and offers of money can be sent to: dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com

7/18/07

Welcome back to the Late Show. This time around, we’ve got looks at a lot of cult TV shows, both old and new, plus a bunch of B-movie reviews and another handful of capsule reviews as I work steadily to reduce the tottering stack of DVDs on my desk to a safer height. After all, if those things fell over on me now, it might be weeks before they could extricate my corpse.

You know what’s great about this gig? It’s picking up something I’m sent to review and looking at the box art and thinking that it looks like crap or just isn’t my “thing,” but upon viewing finding that I really enjoyed it. It doesn’t happen as often as I’d like, but I’ve had a few good experiences along that line in the last few weeks.

The first of these was the Starz Media (formerly Anchor Bay) direct-to-DVD horror flick DEVIL’S DEN (2006). From the uninspired packaging and rote synopsis on the back, this looked like just another SciFi Channel hack job, with a derivative premise and some familiar faces in the cast just to make it saleable.

Well, I was half-right. The plot definitely is derivative, borrowing heavily from Richard Wenk’s 1986 favorite VAMP and Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino’s FROM DUSK “˜TIL DAWN. And there’s some familiar faces filling out the cast.

Witness: two young slacker types are on their way back from Mexico with a suitcase of alleged “Spanish Fly.” They stop at an isolated tittie bar to try out the product, and discover that the strippers are all monsters when one of the guys is killed. The remaining slacker (Devon Sawa, IDLE HANDS) then teams up with a gun-toting hottie (Kelly Hu, X2) and a samurai sword-slinging monster hunter (Ken Foree, DAWN OF THE DEAD, FROM BEYOND) to battle the bodacious but bloodthirsty bitches.

Seen it before. But”¦

Here’s where I was wrong. It’s no hack job. Director Andrew Dunt and writer Mitch Gould weren’t content to just go through the paces. No, they chose to add some style, some wit, some depth of character to their chosen flick formula and shake up the recipe a bit. It’s still an oatmeal cookie, but it’s a really tasty oatmeal cookie.

Everyone in the main cast does an outstanding job. Sawa’s character starts out as a complete asshole, and slowly transforms into”¦ well, still an asshole, but a likable one. Ken Foree’s still busting monster skulls”¦ but he’s getting’ older, and his character is, too. Kelly Hu is not only gorgeous, but she handles the action scenes with sublime grace and convincing athleticism. Not only that, but she manages to give her comic book character a lot of depth and sympathy.

In fact, everyone involved in this seems to have put in just a little extra effort. Certainly more than they needed to on a film like this. The direction is taut and tense, the writing is witty and wry, the cinematography is excellent and the stuntwork top-notch. The monster make-ups and gore effects are completely professional and state of the art and deliver the requisite grue.

Starz presents DEVIL’S DEN in a rock-solid 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio, with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. There’s a fun and informative behind-the-scenes documentary, an interesting and engaging audio commentary track, an amusing blooper reel, and a photo gallery. There’s also the film’s screenplay on DVD-ROM, and trailers for additional Starz/Anchor Bay horror titles.

DEVIL’S DEN isn’t a classic. But there’s a lot of talent on display and it’s a lot of fun. Check it out, and see if you don’t agree.

Another pleasant surprise was EUREKA ““ THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (2006) from Universal Home Video.

I’d seen the promos, but I had no real interest in this SciFi Channel Original series. I knew nothing about it except that it was about a secret town of scientific geniuses”¦ and that didn’t intrigue me in the least. But I was sent the first Season of twelve episodes, and figured I’d at least check out the Pilot. Well, my wife watched it with me, and we were soon hooked.

U.S. Marshall Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson) and his delinquent teenage daughter inadvertently stumble upon the northwestern community of Eureka after a car accident. While waiting for their car to be repaired, Carter finds himself helping the local authorities deal with a series of strange events, which are soon revealed to be a scientific experiment gone awry. Carter then learns that Eureka is the home of the world’s top minds, all working under the protection of the U.S. government to push the limits of technological advancement. Proving his worth to the authorities through solid detective work, he is promptly reassigned to be the town’s new sheriff.

A great ensemble cast and a light touch gives this NORTHERN EXPOSURE/X-FILES hybrid a broad appeal, with an eccentric but likeable bunch of townspeople (including MAX HEADROOM’s Matt Frewer, T2’s Joe Morton and Debrah Farentino of EARTH 2), a few dark mysteries and conspiracies, and a smart, sharp sense of humor.

Universal’s 3-disc set is packed into an eco-friendly recycled package and contains all 12 episodes from the first season in crystal sharp 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers. The disc includes over 10 hours of bonus features, most of which are commentaries and/or podcasts. There are some deleted scenes, and a couple of funny mock infomercials for “Made in Eureka” products.

EUREKA is a clever mix of sci-fi, drama and comedy, and I’m eagerly looking forward to season 2 on DVD (I guess it’s currently airing on SciFi).

And, also in the category of “better than I expected,” comes the animated movie STAN LEE PRESENTS: THE CONDOR (2006), written by comics vet Marv Wolfman and directed by Steven Gordon, based on a concept by Stan “The Man” Lee.

This animated film tells the origin story of a young Latino superhero called The Condor, alias Tony Valdez (Wilmer Valderrama, THAT 70’S SHOW). After his scientist parents are murdered by their evil business partner and his legs crippled, Tony uses their experimental cybernetic technology and becomes a superhero with a high-tech skateboard.

Not a lot of originality in the story, but the animation by Film Roman (the studio behind the same company’s HELLBOY ANIMATED features) is solid TV fare, while the script by comics pro Wolfman deftly fleshes out the characters and sets things up with some style. Voice work is competent, and the overall result is a pleasant ““ if predictable ““ superhero adventure.

Starz Home Entertainment gives THE CONDOR a rock-solid 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation, with a robust Dolby 5.1 Surround sound track. Both English and Spanish 2.0 tracks are also provided. Extras include a corny on-screen intro by Lee, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a couple of art galleries and a DVD game.

A decent superhero cartoon with an appealing hero, THE CONDOR is worth a rental for comic book animation fans.

Perhaps not the best entry in the long-running Godzilla series from Japan’s Toho Studios, INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER (GODZILLA Vs. MONSTER ZERO, KAIJÛ DAISENSO, 1965) is, nonetheless, my personal favorite.

In this kaiju classic, two astronauts ““ American Glenn (Nick Adams, DIE MONSTER DIE) and Fuji (Akira Takarada) are sent to investigate a newly discovered planet near Jupiter. Upon their arrival, they discover that the natives are under constant siege by the space monster, Ghidorah. But the aliens of Planet X have a plan: they’d like to “borrow” Godzilla and Rodan from Earth, and use them to ward off the three-headed space dragon. Glad to get rid of the titanic terrors, Earth’s governments agree”¦ but can the aliens be trusted?

A fun mix of 60’s space opera and giant monster mayhem, ASTRO-MONSTER is a colorful, fun and exciting creature feature. Nick Adams is great as the randy, hotheaded American astronaut, while series regular Kumi Mizuno makes an extremely fetching alien. Former menaces Godzilla and Rodan have completely morphed into heroic creatures by this film, firmly on the side of Earth and humanity. The FX scenes are well crafted, with the 3-way monster battle on Planet X particularly memorable, if too brief.

Classic Media/Genius Entertainment’s new DVD edition features both the Japanese and slightly altered American (GODZILLA VS. MONSTER ZERO) versions of the film in their proper 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratios. The Japanese version includes English subtitles. Extra features include an audio commentary by author Stuart Galbraith IV, an image gallery, poster gallery and the original Japanese trailer.

You know how much I like these movies, and Classic Media’s special editions are first rate. Highly recommended.

Jeffrey Combs gives a tour de force performance as Edgar Allan Poe for frequent collaborator Stuart Gordon (RE-ANIMATOR, FROM BEYOND, CASTLE FREAK) as the acclaimed horror director takes his second stab (after 1991’s THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM) at the works of the tortured American author, with MASTERS OF HORROR: THE BLACK CAT (2007).

Working again with frequent writing partner Dennis Paoli, Gordon has deftly combined elements of Poe’s own real life with the events of the famous short story. The result is a nightmarish descent into madness. I don’t want to give a synopsis here: to do so would betray some of the short film’s best surprises, but I will say that even with the liberties taken, it may be the most faithful adaptation of the Poe classic ever committed to film.

Atmospherically shot by Jon Joffin, THE BLACK CAT has the look and feel of a Val Lewton 40’s B&W horror classic (specifically, THE BODY SNATCHER), with the only vivid color being the red of blood. And there’s plenty of that, as Gordon gleefully indulges his flair for gore. The make-up job on Combs is excellent; the likeness to Poe is amazing. Performances are excellent across the board, with Elyse Levesque’s sensitive and moving portrayal of Virginia Poe being of special note.

THE BLACK CAT comes to DVD in a perfect 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, with Dolby 5.1 Surround sound. As usual, Starz/Anchor Bay has provided a plethora of bonus material, including a couple of “Making Of” featurettes, a great commentary track by Gordon and Combs, a photo gallery, and trailers for other MASTERS OF HORROR titles.

As a fan of Stuart Gordon’s work in the genre, I loved it. Recommended.

Universal’s new release of THE INCREDIBLE HULK ““ THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (1978-79) lives up to the quality of the first volume, with the entire sophomore season of the popular series on five discs.

As Season Two kicks off, Dr. David Banner meets and marries a terminally ill scientist, and continues to wander the country, helping people in need and searching for a cure, while managing to “Hulk-out” at least twice a show.

Comic book fans can be pretty unforgiving about media adaptations of their favorite characters, and this show often takes a lot of heat for the changes made to the character and his milieu. But for the budget, and considering the realities of network television in 70’s, I think producer Kenneth Johnson made absolutely the right choices in developing the show. His FUGITIVE meets JECKYLL & HYDE approach not only allowed him to do some decent adult drama (usually) but get some serious mileage out of the fantasy elements, too.

Generally smart scripting (there’s only a couple of clunkers in the bunch) and the rock-steady presence of Bill Bixby as the sympathetic and believable Banner, made THE INCREDIBLE HULK one of the best fantasy shows of its era.

Season Two presents all 22 episodes in decent full-frame transfers. Colors are good, and there’s relatively little wear or damage evident in the source prints. This volume includes an introduction by producer Kenneth Johnson, and a Johnson commentary track over the season premiere episode, “Married.” The set also includes a bonus episode from Season Three.

Recommended.

Another Seventies superhero show, Filmations THE SECRETS OF ISIS (1975) has also just come to DVD courtesy of BCI.

The star of one of Saturday morning’s first live-action adventure shows, the lovely Isis (sultry Joanna Cameron) fought crime and saved lives every week, usually managing to teach a nice moral lesson, too. With the occasional assistance of SHAZAM’s Captain Marvel, the bookish high school chemistry teacher with the powers of an ancient Egyptian goddess gave prime time’s Wonder Woman a run for her money as TV’s sexiest super heroine for two seasons. (And for my money, Isis wins.)

BCI’s new DVD set includes all 22 episodes of the classic kid’s show, in full-frame transfers. Unfortunately, as the show was shot on cheap 16mm stock, usually outdoors, the source material looks very faded, grainy and washed out. It’s still watchable, but don’t go expecting reference quality transfers from this 30-year-old low budget program. As with the label’s other Filmation releases, there’s plenty of great bonus materials. There’s almost 2 hours of on-camera interviews with the producers crew, and cast of the show (excluding Cameron, unfortunately), isolated music and FX tracks on selected episodes, a commentary on episode 15, Three extensive still galleries, scripts on DVD-ROM, and a complete episode of the animated series FREEDOM FORCE, which also featured the Isis character. There is also the usual slew of BCI/Filmation trailers.

Another childhood favorite comes to disc courtesy of BCI, and since Joanna Cameron was one of my first celebrity crushes, I’m grateful to have the series on DVD today.

DVD LATE SHOW CAPSULE REVIEWS!

In my continuing efforts to catch up with the notable discs that piled up during the last few months, here’s some more “Capsule Reviews” of DVDs that are long overdue for some Late Show attention:

THE SEXUAL STORY OF O (1984). One of Jess Franco’s more coherent productions, this erotic epic actually has no connection to the famous “Story of O” (novel or film), but was deceptively re-titled by the distributors. Lovely Alicia Príncipe is seduced into a swinging three-way by an adventurous couple, and it’s all fun and games until they introduce their young conquest to a decadent older couple who are into S&M. Then, things take a nasty turn. Not much of a plot, but Príncipe is beautiful, and so is much of the photography. Severin Films presents this minor Spanish sexploitation effort with a sparkling, 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and English subtitles. There’s also a new interview with the prolific Franco, who seems rather proud of this one.

COOL McCOOL: THE COMPLETE SERIES (1966). Created by BATMAN creator Bob Kane, the crudely animated adventures of superspy Cool McCool mix GET SMART antics with BATMAN-styled villains in 20 incredibly stupid episodes. Even for the presumably less sophisticated kids of the Sixties, this stuff is insultingly bad. The villains (Hurricane Harry, the Owl, The Rattler, et al) are lame, the animation is terrible, and the vaunted voice work by Chuck McCann and others is pedestrian at best. Nonetheless, BCI’s Ink & Paint label presents the entire series on 3 discs, with solid full-frame transfers of slightly worn and faded source prints. As is usual with BCI, there’s a whole bunch of extras including audio commentaries, an interview and episode intros by the aforementioned McCann, A music video, and previews of other, better, Ink & Paint releases.

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE ““ THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (1959-60). The first season of this classic Western show, starring the young and intense Steve McQueen (BULLITT), was released three or four years ago by New Line Home Video, who then abandoned the series. Fortunately for fans, BCI has now picked up the license. The Season 2 set is packaged to complement the first one, with similar graphics and art direction. The only difference is that the four discs are packaged in slim cases this time around. The transfers look on a par with the earlier set, with a solid, B&W full-frame image. Only one extra this time: a featurette called “The Women of WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE.” A great show, with expertly written 30-minute dramas, very well acted. Highly recommended.

For older Late Show columns (adding up to well over 200 reviews!), visit the newly updated-and-revamped DVD Late Show website and archive. For additional pop culture musings, occasional DVD previews and lots of shameless self-promotion, you might try checking out my blog.

Comments, DVD questions, review requests and offers of money can be sent to: dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com

6/28/07

It’s an interesting time to be a movie buff. Even with new HD formats battling for supremacy, the studios continue putting out amazing stuff on DVD. With all of the older library titles and more obscure, rarer films making their way to disc lately, there’s a lot to choose from out there. Titles that have never been previously available on home video and television series that you never imagined you’d actually be able to own, as well as intriguing oddities you’ve never heard of before.

And I love it!

You’ve noticed, no doubt, that I’m still struggling to balance the demands of my various commitments and carve out a regular niche for this column. Still, I’m hopeful that I’ll soon be on track. For now, though, I’ve got a bunch of new reviews for your DVD purchasing/renting guidance”¦

He claims it’s his last “martial arts” movie, and if that turns out to be true, then JET LI’S FEARLESS (HUO YUAN JIA, 2006) certainly allows the titular martial arts master to go out on a high note, with one of the finest films in the genre.

Directed by Ronny Yu (FREDDY VS. JASON), FEARLESS is based on the true story of Martial arts legend Huo Yuanjia (Li) founder and spiritual guru of the Jin Wu Sports Federation. When an ill-advised fight destroys the reputation of the arrogant martial arts champion and his family, he must set out on a spiritual quest for redemption. Ultimately, this quest brings him to an exhibition match with the most accomplished fighters in the world ““ a British boxer, a Spanish swordsman, a Belgian soldier, and a Japanese martial artist ““ a match intended to crush the spirit of the Chinese people.

Li’s performance is flawless, and the martial arts choreography by Yuen Wo Ping (THE MATRIX, KILL BILL) is astounding. The story is engrossing, and the cinematography is gorgeous. This is arguably one of the greatest martial arts films ever made.

Universal’s DVD includes both the theatrical cut of the film as well as an unrated director’s cut, both presented in sparkling 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen. The disc is light on extra features, but there is a deleted scene and a short featurette in which Li talks about the project, and what he means when he says it’s last martial arts movie.

Universal’s JET LI’S FEARLESS is a great movie with a disappointingly average presentation.

Blue Underground has recently re-visited a project originally intended as a vehicle for a young Bruce Lee (ENTER THE DRAGON) and his pal James Coburn (OUR MAN FLINT, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN), but ultimately realized years after Lee’s death by other filmmakers, with the CIRCLE OF IRON ““ 2-DISC SPECIAL EDITION (1978).

A young martial artist known as Cord the Seeker (Jeff Cooper), competes for and loses the right to go on a quest for the Book of All Knowlege held by a wizard named Zetan (Christopher Lee, LORD OF THE RINGS), but he stubbornly sets out to find Zetan anyway. Along the way, he meets a stranger with a flute (David Carradine, KILL BILL, DEATH RACE 2000) and faces a series of tests and challenges by several warriors (also played by Carradine) before he can achieve his goal.

Based on a screenplay called “The Silent Flute,” by Lee and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Stirling Silliphant (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT), the script was eventually purchased and produced by exploitation specialist Sandy Frank. It was filmed in Israel by cinematographer Richard Moore (his only directing credit) with Carradine and TV actor Cooper in the lead roles.

The film is beautifully shot, but pretty horridly acted, with the exception of a handful of well-known character actors, (Roddy McDowell, Eli Wallach and the aforementioned Lee) in supporting roles. Carradine isn’t terrible, either, obviously relishing his multiple roles, but Jeff Cooper is awful; unconvincing as a martial artist or as an emoting human being.

The Blue Underground DVD is virtually identical to their previous release, with more bonus features and split across two discs. The first disc contains a gorgeous, 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and both DTS and Dolby 5.1 Surround sound. Also on Disc One is a audio commentary track by director Richard Moore, theatrical trailers and TV spots. Disc Two features on-screen interview segments with Carradine, producer Paul Maslansky, martial artist Joe Lewis (FORCE FIVE, JAGUAR LIVES) and a vintage audio interview with screenwriter Silliphant. There’s also a text history of the project, poster and still galleries, and the original screenplay on DVD-ROM.

A cult film more famous for what it isn’t than for what it is, CIRCLE OF IRON is a deeply flawed but still entertaining martial arts film that takes a more philosophical approach to the genre. Other movies have better martial arts scenes and acting, but CIRCLE OF IRON still remains a tantalizing glimpse at the thoughts and philosophies of the late Bruce Lee, and tour de force for Carradine.

For fans of the film, this new edition is a worthy upgrade.

Athletic Laurene Landon (I THE JURY, MANIAC COP) portrays female barbarian warrior HUNDRA in the 1983 sword & sorcery flick of the same name, now available as a special edition DVD from Subversive Cinema.

When an all-female Amazon tribe is wiped out by marauders (in a scene similar to and nearly as well executed as the opening of the first CONAN picture), man-hating tribal huntress Hundra is the sole survivor. To ensure that her tribe does not completely die out, she sets out (with her faithful horse and dog) into the savage world beyond her forest home in search of a worthy man to impregnate her with a daughter.

Pretty much a feminist-slanted remake of the first CONAN film, Matt Cimber’s HUNDRA boasts some fine cinematography, great Spanish locations, a brisk pace, a nice Ennio Morricone score, impressive stunts (many performed by Landon herself) and plenty of bizarre bits, including Hundra’s battle with a blue-painted midget. But there’s also bizarrely twisted sexual politics, some bad swordfighting, terrible dubbing and a lead actress who cannot act.

Subversive’s DVD presentation is really excellent, with a surprisingly sharp 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, that’s a little grainy in places, but otherwise more than acceptable. There’s also a full-length audio commentary track by director Cimber and star Landon, An interesting behind-the-scenes featurette with on-screen Cimber and Landon interviews, cast & crew text bios, and an original HUNDRA comic book. (It’s pretty crappy, though.) The first 5,000 copies also include a bonus soundtrack CD of Morricone’s (A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, THE UNTOUCHABLES, RED SONJA) rousing film score.

A sword & sorcery movie that’s decidedly short on sorcery, HUNDRA is, nonetheless, one of the better entries in the early 80’s fantasy cycle, and is worth checking out for fans of the genre.

A sorta sci-fi take on the immortal film noir classic, LAURA, Touchstone’s DÉJÀ VU (2006) is a satisfyingly slick little time travel thriller, one of the best treatments of the subject since Terry Gilliam’s 12 MONKEYS.

Denzel Washington (TRAINING DAY) is a federal agent called to New Orleans after a terrorist bomb attack on a ferry. Soon, a new weapon on the war on terror is revealed to him: a time-shifting surveillance device that can see exactly four and a half days into the past. The investigation is soon complicated by his growing emotional attachment to a woman he observes with the device ““ a woman who is apparently a victim of the bomb blast.

DÉJÀ VU is a big-budget, A-list studio thriller with the heart of a B-movie. It’s relatively smart and involving, trotting out the usual paradoxes and twists inherent in the time travel genre. Washington and the supporting the cast ““ including Val Kilmer, Bruce Greenwood and Jim Caviezel ““ are fine; each turning in exactly the performances you’d expect, with no notable flourishes or individual style. Veteran Tony Scott (TOP GUN, CRIMSON TIDE) turns in his usual, souless, slick directorial job, although the editing on this one’s a bit more coherent than usual.

The Touchstone DVD is solid, with a pristine 2.35: anamorphic widescreen transfer, a thundering Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound track, and a handful of slick behind-the-scenes featurettes and the usual deleted and extended scenes. There are also trailers for other current Touchstone/Disney releases.

A decent sci-fi thriller, worth a rental.

I’ve only seen a couple of Spanish genre filmmaker Paul Naschy’s (real name: Jacinto Molina) horror films, and frankly, those didn’t exactly make me a fan. Of course, I respected that he wrote and directed many of his films as well as starring in them (often in multiple roles), and I liked that he stuck to tried-and-true gothic formulas right out of the old Universal and Hammer monster flicks. In fact, his most famous role is that of tortured werewolf Waldemar Daninsky ““ a fur-faced wolfman who appeared in at least thirteen films ““ including 1980’s NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF (EL RETORNO DEL HOMBRE-LOBO).

Also distributed under the inexplicable but very 80’s title of THE CRAVING, RETURN OF THE WEREWOLF is a great little gothic Euro-horror, with all the classic elements of the genre, executed with style and some sly humor.

The film is a pseudo-remake of Naschy’s earlier WEREWOLF SHADOW, pitting the immortal wolfman against the equally immortal vampire Countess Elizabeth Bathory, in a sanguinary battle of fangs and claws. The film is loaded with great sets and medieval locations, hot babes ““ both good and evil ““ some decent old-school werewolf attacks, and even a zombie!

This is the best performance I’ve seen from the often-wooden auteur, who, in this film, is surprisingly charismatic with lots of star quality. The perfectly-cast Julia Saly’s Countess Bathory is disturbingly otherworldly and still oddly sexy ““ a perfect vampire queen.

Deimos/BCI’s excellent new DVD edition offers the complete, uncut version of the film with a very nice and nearly-flawless 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation. It looks gorgeous, with only a few small instances of wear or grain. Audio is provided in both Spanish and a lousy English dub, and there are optional English subtitles. Extra features include some classy and creepy menu screens, a deleted scene, a charming, on-screen introduction from Naschy himself, the original Spanish credits sequence and international trailer, and, finally, an extensive still gallery. The disc also includes informative liner notes by Naschy expert Mirek Lipinski.

For Naschy fans and fans of traditional gothic monster bashes, NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF is highly recommended.

The Elizabeth Bathory legend also makes an appearance in the second and latest of Starz Media’s direct-to-DVD series, HELLBOY ANIMATED: BLOOD & IRON (2007).

Once again, the feature film cast of Ron Perlman, Selma Blair and Doug Jones ““ this time joined by John Hurt ““ recreate their live action roles in a cartoon thriller that draws its inspiration from Mike Mignola’s acclaimed graphic novel series.

In this one, the B.P.R.D. (Bureau of paranormal Research and Defense) team of good-guy demon Hellboy (Perlman), pyrokinetic Liz (Blair), and fish guy Abe (Jones) are joined by their mentor Professor Broom (Hurt) in investigating a haunted New England mansion that entrepreneurs intend to make into a tourist attraction. Soon the B.P.R.D. team is up to their necks in witches, ghosts and vampires ““ including one the Professor has battled before.

While I enjoyed BLOOD & IRON, it seemed to be a bit of step down from the first Hellboy Animated feature, SWORD OF STORMS. In fact, it felt rather like one of the better SCOOBY DOO direct-to-vid movies ““ not bad, but not all that great, either.

The animation is solid and decently designed, and the voice performances are dead-on, but the script seems a little too predictable and formulaic for a Hellboy adventure. With all of the great horror menaces and stories in the graphic novels, we get another New England haunted house and retelling of the Bathory legend?

Starz Media (formerly Anchor Bay) gives HELLBOY ANIMATED: BLOOD & IRON a very nice DVD presentation with a beautiful, perfect 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and robust Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo tracks. There’s the usual ton of behind-the-scenes featurettes, an extra cartoon short, an E-Comic, and a commentary track by Mike Mignola, and directors Tad Stones and Vic Cook.

BLOOD & IRON is good, but not great. Hopefully, this is just a sophomore slump, and the next entry will have a stronger and more original story. And since it appears that it will feature one of Mignola’s more imaginative creations ““ the hero known as Lobster Johnson ““ I’m very hopeful.

From Classic Media/Genius Products comes another excellent Toho kaiju classic, GHIDORAH THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER (1964).

In this exciting entry in the long-running Godzilla series, the Big G, Rodan and larval Mothra must team up to protect Earth from the invading golden space dragon known as Ghidorah. It’s with this film that Godzilla first becomes a good guy (albeit reluctantly), and it’s the first of Toho’s giant monster flicks to feature more than two monsters in the main action.

The DVD is another fantastic package from the Classic Media folks, containing both the original Japanese cut of the film, and the somewhat altered and shorter U.S. version (GHIDRAH). Both transfers are very nice: sharp, clean and colorful, with only minor print damage. Both versions are presented in their correct anamorphic 2.40:1 widescreen aspect ratio. Bonus features include an audio commentary by author and G-fan David Kalat, a movie poster slide show, the original theatrical trailer, and a text biography of effects maestro Eiji Tsuburaya.

Highly recommended.

Universal’s PIRATES OF THE GOLDEN AGE collects four Fifties swashbucklers in one low-priced, 2-disc collection. All four films are presented in crisp, colorful, full-frame transfers, with clear mono sound. There are no extras aside from a couple of trailers.

AGAINST ALL FLAGS (1952) is the best film in this set, with an aging Errol Flynn returning to the genre that made him a star as a British naval officer who goes undercover to infiltrate a pirate enclave on Madagascar. There he meets and woos buccaneer beauty Maureen O’Hara (hotter than ever) and incurs the wrath of sly Anthony Quinn. Despite the low budget, heavyset hero and stage-bound action, FLAGS is a great little b-movie swashbuckler and alone worth the price of the set.

BUCCANEER’S GIRL (1950) is more of a bodice-ripping period romance than a pirate film, with a young and sexy Yvonne De Carlo (THE MUNSTERS) as a feisty New Orleans saloon entertainer who falls for a legendary pirate captain. It’s a decent little B-film, if you’re in the right mood.

YANKEE BUCCANEER (1952) re-uses most of the FLAGS sets and sea footage in an overly talky tale about the crew of an American naval vessel pretending to be pirates of the Caribbean. A good, likeable cast, led by Jeff Chandler, can’t quite make up for the lack of thrills, but they try.

DOUBLE CROSSBONES (1950) is the other gem of the GOLDEN AGE set, a kid-friendly spoof of pirate flicks with Donald O’Connor (the FRANCIS THE TALKING MULE series, SINGING IN THE RAIN) as a bumbling shopkeeper’s assistant who inadvertently becomes a pirate captain. It’s fun and funny, and a cheerfully silly diversion.

Thanks to Johnny Depp and his friends, Universal has unearthed this affordable chest of minor treasures, and as a fan of the genre, I’m grateful. I’m especially pleased to finally have AGAINST ALL FLAGS on DVD ““ it’s long overdue.

Sort of a big-budget, smarter version of those made-for-SciFi Channel “giant reptile” flicks, Michael Katleman’s PRIMEVAL (2006) has just a little bit more going for it than your average formula creature feature. For one thing, it’s true.

Sort of.

The film, which is “inspired by” true events, follows a news team as it sets out for a war-torn African nation in search of a giant man-eating crocodile called “Gustave” by the natives. (Do a Google search and be stunned.) The beastie’s grown gigantic on the war-created carcasses dumped into its river and has developed a taste for human flesh. But catching the croc isn’t going to be easy, and there are plenty of other dangers ““ of the human variety ““ around.

In PRIMEVAL, a talented cast led by Dominic Purcell (BLADE: TRINITY), sexy Brooke Langton (MELROSE PLACE) and Orlando Jones (EVOLUTION) end up playing second fiddle to an expertly-rendered CGI crocodile. Katleman’s direction is tight and suspenseful, and even though the terrible “Gustave” doesn’t make his first appearance until well into the picture, the characters and set-up are intriguing enough to hold the viewer’s interest.

The Buena Vista DVD features a rock-solid 2.35:1 enhanced widescreen transfer that maintains its integrity even during the numerous dark scenes. There’s an excellent 5.1 Dolby Surround track and an audio commentary with the director and effects supervisor. The disc also includes the obligatory “Behind-the-scenes” featurette showing the always-exciting sight of computer geeks sitting at their monitors while the humming machines slowly render the animation, and brief interviews with the cast and crew. There are a few deleted scenes and trailers/promos for other Disney empire releases.

An exciting, well-made monster flick with a sheen of verisimilitude, PRIMEVAL is worth an evening’s rental.

DVD LATE SHOW CAPSULE REVIEWS!

In another attempt to catch up with the mountain of notable discs that piled up during the last few months, I’m once again providing a handful of “Capsule Reviews” ““short, sweet and to the point! Here’s a few more DVDs that are long overdue for some Late Show attention:

PETER PAN ““ 2-DISC PLATINUM EDITION (1953). The latest video incarnation of the Disney cartoon classic is a marvelous package, with an absolutely stunning, restored presentation of the film. Die-hard animation buffs may debate the accuracy of the colors or the sharpness of the picture, but to these fannish eyes, the movie has never looked better. Disney has provided, along with the new transfer, a new Dolby 5.1 sound mix, as well as the original mono track. Loaded with bonus features ““ games and stuff for the kiddies, along with archival and behind-the-scenes materials for the adult animation buffs (and an absolutely pointless music video) ““ this “Platinum Edition” really delivers.

LAURE. (1976) A beautifully-shot (in the Phillipines) bit of otherwise dreary erotica, LAURE’s claim to fame is that it was written, directed and stars the original Emmanuelle -““ Emmanuelle Arsan. Actually, it’s written & directed by her husband (the real author of the Emmanuelle novel), Louis Jacques, and Arsan plays only a supporting role to Euro-cutie Annie Belle, who stars as the titular character. The dialogue is ridiculous, the sex scenes mostly unmemorable, and aside from the gorgeous location photography, the only redeeming feature of the film is Miss Belle’s near-constant nudity. Severin Films nonetheless gives the flaccid flick a beautiful 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a couple of interesting extras (more interesting than the feature in fact): interviews with producer Ovidio Assonitis and stars Annie Belle and Al Cliver.

PHANTASM. (1978) The second classic re-issue in “The Anchor Bay Collection,” is this new, and greatly improved edition of the nightmarish Don Coscarelli (BUBBA-HO-TEP, BEASTMASTER) horror classic about macabre alien shenanigans in a mortuary. With a new widescreen anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer that’s vastly superior to the previous MGM disc, and a hearse-load of supplemental features, including a new 30-minute documentary, and a bunch of material (interviews, commentaries, rare TV clips) ported over from the old Image laserdisc, this edition is a must-have for PHANTASM and classic horror fans. Highly recommended.

RAPTOR ISLAND (2004) is another Sci-Fi Channel “classic,” starring Lorenzo Lamas (SNAKEATER) as the leader of a Navy SEALS unit pursuing a terrorist leader in the South China Sea. Through a series of contrived incidents, the SEALS, the terrorist, and a female CIA agent, all end up on an uncharted island inexplicably inhabited by a horde of bloodthirsty velociraptors. So, what’s wrong with this film? Nearly everything ““ from the shoddy CGI dinos to the Canadian forest unconvincingly standing in for a tropical jungle isle. Yet, the pace is brisk, the raptor attacks fairly violent, and I didn’t feel like clawing my eyes out before the climax. Could be worse, I guess. Anchor Bay gives this dino dropping a sharp, 1.85 anamorphic transfer and that’s it.

BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP ““ Vol. 2. (1976) The second half of the first season of this WWII adventure series has finally made it to DVD, several years after Volume 1, and still a bit overpriced. This 3-disc set includes 12 exciting and entertaining episodes of the Robert Conrad (THE WILD WILD WEST)-starring series, filled with familiar TV faces (John Larroquette, Larry Manetti, Dirk Blocker, Simon Oakland, Robert Ginty), some thrilling aerial combat footage (both stock and staged), and manly tales of camaraderie under fire. Occasionally hokey, but fun, BAA BAA is given an adequate, no-frills presentation, with clean, full-frame transfers and clear mono sound. Commercials for other Universal TV-on-DVD releases are included. BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP is one vintage television show that would be perfect for a modern feature film treatment.

REFINEMENTS IN LOVE (1971). Director Carlos Tobalina’s incoherent sexploitation film disguised as a meaningful documentary on changing sexual mores in America liberally mixes faux documentary footage and staged interviews with fake experts with scenes of hardcore Triple-X sex. As a movie, it’s impossible to follow ““ it almost seems as if the reels are mixed up (although Impulse Pictures insists that it’s correct on the DVD). Narrated by cult actress Liz Renay (THE THRILL-KILLERS) and featuring an early, uncredited appearance by porn starlet Rene Bond, REFINEMENTS IN LOVE is recommended only for die-hard fans of “mondo” and sexploitation flicks of the era.

DVD LATE SHOW GUEST REVIEW: ALTERED

James Chambers is a good pal, an occasional collaborator, a contributor to the DVD Late Show website, and a talented writer of horror fiction. He recently sent along this review of the Universal DVD release, ALTERED and I thought I’d share it with you. Jim’s website is James Chambers Online.

The fact that ALTERED (2007) did not get a theatrical release is a sad glimpse into the state of horror cinema these days. But then I guess this flick had a few things going against it: a lack of big stars, a modest use of CGI (at least as far as I could tell), a distinctive style and vision, and a healthy respect for its audience and genre. ALTERED is a monster movie, the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long, long time, and while it’s not perfect, it does deliver a tight, atmospheric, creepy, and fast-paced horror story. Considering today’s Hollywood brain trust seems to think that “horror” equals star-powered crap like GODSEND or HIDE AND SEEK or unjustifiable remakes like BLACK CHRISTMAS, THE FOG, and THE WICKER MAN, it’s no surprise that the mainstream movie industry might not get something like ALTERED. But then, really, the best horror movies have almost universally come from independent filmmakers for going on close to four decades now.

What surprises me most, though, is that the word-of-mouth I’d heard about ALTERED was all negative. Maybe Sanchez’s pedigree as one of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT creators drove expectations sky high and people simply couldn’t be satisfied no matter what he delivered. In my case the opposite held true. I never thought much of BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, beyond being impressed with the massive hype that manufactured its status as a horror icon. For my money both the CURSE OF THE BLAIR WITCH and BLAIR WITCH 2: BOOK OF SHADOWS hands down beat the original, which I’ve only ever found to be entertaining at best.

So to some extent I watched ALTERED in search of proof that Sanchez had the chops to tell an actual horror story sans gimmicks and marketing madness. And, yes, he does.

The premise of ALTERED is simple: Years ago a group of friends were abducted by aliens. Most of them were soon released, but two were kept for several days, and one of them died. Three of the abductees have been staking out the woods where they were taken ever since, and now they have actually captured one of the aliens. With revenge on their minds, they bring the creature to the compound of the other surviving abductee, where they’ll determine the fate of their prisoner. But the alien is not going down without a fight.

The extraterrestrials in ALTERED are no knobby-limbed puppets who come in peace; they’re vaguely reptilian, mean as hell, and downright scary. Their motives are inhuman and thus unclear, but they’re unmistakably malicious. The movie makes no bones about the fact they’ve been screwing with these guys for years, leaving them little choice but to hit back even though the battle may ultimately be hopeless.

ALTERED quickly revs up to a suspense-charged, claustrophobic night terror seasoned with the kind of surreality that characterizes so many real-world reports of alien encounters and abduction experiences. It draws effectively on alien/UFO lore as it plays out its “turning-the-tables” twist that makes the otherworldly visitor the prisoner this time. And, as in so many alien accounts, there is a fair amount left unexplained here.

And that perhaps marks both the movie’s greatest weaknesses and one of its greatest strengths.

Audiences looking for a neat explanation for everything they see on-screen will be disappointed. ALTERED is very much a slice out of a larger story that is mainly alluded to; it is one night in the lives of people involved in a phenomenon that has been going on for years and will clearly continue even after the credits roll. Unaccountable strangeness occurs. Answers and explanations are ambiguous. Characters learn only fragments of the truth, and maybe, if they live long enough, they’ll someday come to know the whole picture.

Therein lays the horror of ALTERED – to be isolated and caught in the grip of an unending nightmare, only vaguely aware of the part you are meant to play, and unable to every fully escape it. That’s not to say that there is no logic to the story. There is, but the filmmakers have wisely chosen not to make us privy to it all – all the better to preserve the mystery. They also avoid the pitfall so many other movies stumble into of offering step-by-step explanations of things the audience can better deduce on their own. There are, however, some minor plot holes, which I’ll refrain from describing for fear of giving too much away, but they didn’t spoil things.

Suffice it to say that ALTERED is a genuine horror flick, rich in mood and unflinching without being gratuitously gore-drenched. Among its many virtues is the fact that the alien is played by an actor decked out in practical SFX rather than a glorified, motion capture, CGI video game character. And what a wonderful difference that makes.

Given its direct-to-DVD release it’s unlikely ALTERED will immediately find the audience it deserves, but I hold out hope that, with time, it will come to be recognized as the important genre entry that it is. I also hope Sanchez doesn’t take another eight years to deliver his next feature.

Thanks, Jim.

That’s it for this time. More reviews coming soon.

For older Late Show columns (adding up to well over 200 reviews!), visit the newly updated-and-revamped DVD Late Show website and archive. For additional pop culture musings, occasional DVD previews and lots of shameless self-promotion, you might try checking out my blog.

Comments, DVD questions, review requests and offers of money can be sent to: dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com

May 8, 2007

Yep, just when you were certain I was gone for good, I have returned”¦ with plenty of DVD goodness… and badness! Obviously, I’m still nowhere near getting this column back on a weekly schedule, but I’m trying. Starting this week, I’ll be shooting for biweekly updates.

Wish me luck.

To help make up for the infrequent updates, though, I’ve got reviews here for a whopping fourteen recent DVD releases! Let’s get going”¦

One of the biggest surprises of the DVDs I’ve watched recently, was Lionsgate’s high-octane action flick, CRANK (2006).

Now, I enjoy Jason Statham’s TRANSPORTER flicks, for all their faults, because the guy is pretty much the only screen action hero tough-guy right now that I actually believe is tough. For all I know, he may be a big ol’ pansy in real life, knitting doilies and playing with kittens, but in his movies, I genuinely buy him as a badass. There aren’t many guys like that around anymore. Most of today’s leading actors just don’t possess whatever it is that makes for a convincing hardcase. Eastwood, Bronson, Marvin… those guys had it… and Statham does, too.

In CRANK, Statham plays hitman Chev Chelios, who wakes up one morning to discover he’s been injected with a fatal drug that will kill him in an hour. Not one to waste time, Chev heads out to find the guy who poisoned him ““ and say goodbye to his girl (Amy Smart, STRANGELAND). He soon discovers that keeping his adrenaline levels maxed out slows the progress of the poison, and he starts doing everything he can to stay cranked up long enough to get his revenge.

It’s basically a video-game ““ an ultraviolent, hard-R cartoon that I can best describe as D.O.A. meets RUN, LOLA, RUN meets a Chuck Jones or Friz Freleng Road Runner short. It’s got tons of gratuitous violence and sex, and it’s utterly without redeeming value… except that it’s also funny as hell ““ intentionally so ““ and it was the humor more than anything else that won me over.

And the funniest thing is that the DVD comes with a “family friendly” audio option that removes all the swear words. A feature which ““ considering all the film’s gory violence, constant drug use, explicit public sex, on-screen blowjobs and scenes of Statham running around the city in a hospital gown, bareassed and sporting wood ““ just cracks me up.

The Lionsgate disc presents the movie in a gorgeous, razor-sharp 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 4.0 Surround Sound. It looks and sounds great. Aside from the “Family friendly” audio option, the disc also offers a “Cranked Out Mode,” that basically allows you to view behind-the-scenes material while the movie runs.

For action fans who don’t require a lot of reality in their flicks, CRANK is highly recommended.

Another Crown International Pictures comedy “classic” from BCI/Eclipse, HUNK (1987) is actually a fairly pleasant diversion, that makes up for an impoverished budget through good casting and decent direction by Lawrence Bassoff (WEEKEND PASS).

Steve Levitt (THE INCREDIBLE HULK RETURNS) is a skinny computer nerd with a big nose, who longs to be one of the beautiful people. Taking a leave of absence from his job, he rents a California beach house and tries to fit in with the residents of the exclusive community. Rejected, he meets a beautiful woman (Deborah Shelton, SINS OF THE NIGHT), who offers to make him the hottest guy on the beach ““ in exchange for his soul. Yep, she’s working for the devil, portrayed here by James Coco. The nerd takes her up on the deal and is transformed into “Hunk Golden” (John Allen Nelson, DEATHSTALKER 3), a handsome, muscular guy with a sports car and plenty of dough. Of course, being a standard-issue morality tale, he soon discovers that he misses his own life and needs to find a way out of his deal.

Nothing new here ““ it’s basically BEDEVILED on a budget. But, while the lack of resources threatens to scuttle the flick (a “trendy” nightclub looks like somebody’s basement), it somehow manages to work. Levitt and Nelson are both appealing and likable, Shelton is hot in that distinctly 80’s sort of way, and the movie sails along at such a brisk clip that it just rolls over you both brainlessly and painlessly.

BCI’s disc presents the movie in a sharp, but non-anamorphic, 1.66:1 widescreen transfer. There’s virtually no debris or print damage. (I gotta say this about Crown: they kept their masters in good shape.) Audio is 2-channel stereo, and the only extras are trailers for other Crown drive-in comedies of the same vintage: TOMBOY (see capsule reviews below), WEEKEND PASS, MY CHAUFFEUR, and MY TUTOR.

I wouldn’t suggest buying this, but if you miss late night 80’s Cinemax (and who doesn’t, really?), it’s worth a cheap rental.

Anchor Bay recently released the 1967 Spaghetti western, THE HELLBENDERS, with no fanfare. That’s a shame, because this gritty, dark little film by Sergio Corbucci (DJANGO, THE GREAT SILENCE) is a minor classic of the genre.

The story is basically that of the “heist gone wrong.” Joseph Cotton (THE THIRD MAN) plays the fanatical patriarch of a family of ex-Confederate soldiers who steal a million dollars or more from a military convoy, whom they massacre. They hide the cash in a coffin, and with a woman pretending to be the deceased widow, set out for their home, where they plan to use the cash to finance the reorganization of the Confederate Army and start a second Civil War.

I’m always a fan of stories where I’m forced into the position of identifying with and rooting for the bad guys. You can’t help but hope that they make it as obstacle after obstacle is thrown in their way. But as this is a Corbucci film, you know there’ll be no happy endings for anyone.

Anchor Bay’s disc is pretty bare bones, but does have a very nice 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. The mono soundtrack is dubbed into English, but it’s not too bad. The only extras are a Corbucci text bio and the American theatrical trailer.

A good example of the Spaghetti western genre, nicely presented by Anchor Bay. Recommended.

THE GHOST BUSTERS (1975) was the first live-action Saturday morning kid’s show from the famous Filmation studios. It reunited the stars of the 60’s sitcom F-TROOP ““ Forrest Tucker (THE CRAWLING EYE) and Larry Storch ““ as private eyes who hunted down ghosts and sent them back to the Great Beyond. Aiding them is a beanie-wearing, anthropomorphic gorilla (“trained” by Bob Burns), who, while unable to talk, carries a bag full of useful and useless items to help them in their efforts.

Okay, this some silly stuff. It’s probably the last gasp of old-style vaudeville humor on television, filled with juvenile puns, sight gags and exaggerated “takes.” The whole show is based on threes: you have three stars, three sets (their offfice, a graveyard, and a castle) and three plots. These are repeated over and over again for 15 episodes.

Like all of BCI/Eclipse’s Filmation sets, it’s a great package overall. You have 15 half-hour episodes on 2 discs. The full-frame transfers are pretty decent, considering that the show was shot on 1975 video tape equipment. Sound is mono, but robust, and BCI has included a handful of nice extras. There are interviews with Filmation president Lou Scheimer and Bob Burns, who played Tracy the gorilla. There are three photo galleries, the premiere episode of the 80’s animated sequel series (also available on DVD), and the usual Filmation promos. All 15 scripts are also included on DVD-ROM.

Now, I have no idea how well this would play with today’s kids. I remember liking it when I was ten, and I get a nostalgic kick out of it now, but I’d really be surprised if modern children got much out of it.

This set’s real appeal is solely for nostalgic adults who watched it in the Seventies, I think. If you’re in that group, it’s a nice package, and agreeably priced.

From Filmation’s first live-action kids show to the last”¦

I just finished watching the complete JASON OF STAR COMMAND (1978-79) ““ Filmation’s final live-action show and probably the most expensive kid’s program of its era ““ and it was a lot of fun reverting to a 13-year-old mind frame and watching the show again.

A more action-oriented spin-off of the studio’s SPACE ACADEMY, using many of the same sets and models, but eschewing the previous show’s “educational” stories in favor of STAR WARS-inspired action, JASON was serialized sci-fi in the FLASH GORDON tradition. The stories basically pitted the titular hero (Craig Littler, SUPERBEAST), a Han Solo-esque soldier of fortune attached to Space Command, against the evil, would-be ruler of the universe, Dragos (the wonderful Sid Haig, GALAXY OF TERROR, THE DEVIL’S REJECTS). Other cast members include James Doohan (STAR TREK), Tamara Dobson (CLEOPATRA JONES), and Susan O’Hanlon (ALL MY CHILDREN). The stories are slight and silly, but fun; space opera for kids with really remarkable special effects.

In fact, as impressed as I was with the miniatures and effects on SPACE ACADEMY, the FX work on JASON, by the same team, shows a marked improvement, both in conception and execution. The quantity of and variety of shots is impressive, as well as the surprising number of stop-motion alien menaces that appeared on the show. Pretty amazing, considering their limited resources. For fans of old school special effects (guilty!), these discs are something of a treasure trove of pre-computerized FX work.

The first season ran as 15-minute segments of the TARZAN & THE SUPER SEVEN show, but in season 2, it graduated to it’s own half-hour berth. This three-disc set includes all the episodes from both seasons.

The full-frame transfers are on a par with the SPACE ACADEMY discs, a little soft, but light-years better than the bootlegs floating around the comic book conventions.

The new documentary includes on-screen interviews with Craig Littler and Sid Haig. They both are obviously fond of the show and seem to have had fun making it. Littler is now the Gorton’s Fisherman in TV commercials, while Haig continues to appear in horror films and other supporting roles. Three commentary tracks are included, featuring Littler, Haig, Filmation chief Lou Scheimer and various FX artists. There’s also a special effects demo reel, image galleries, original scripts and promos for BCI’s other Filmation discs.

This should be on sale soon, and if you’re another aging sci-fi fan who came of age in the Seventies, you might want to check it out. Decent price, too.

The first release from the new “Anchor Bay Collection” of horror classics is Stuart Gordon’s (DAGON, FROM BEYOND) amazing debut film, H.P. LOVECRAFT’S RE-ANIMATOR (1985).

For the two of you who may not have seen it, the film chronicles the efforts of a slightly-demented med student named Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs, STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, THE FRIGHTENERS) who discovers a glowing green fluid that can re-animate the dead. Horror and hilarity ensues. RE-ANIMATOR is one of the best films to blend horror and humor, and it’s impact on the genre cannot be underestimated. There have been two sequels (with a third forthcoming), and star Combs has become a modern horror film icon.

This 2-disc edition is essentially a repackage of the Elite Entertainment “Millennium Edition,” of a few years ago, with the addition of a new documentary and a highlighter pen shaped like a hypodermic needle.

If you already have that edition, it’s not necessarily worth an upgrade. The new documentary is lengthy, entertaining and very well produced, but there’s not a whole lot of new information there. On the other hand, if you don’t have that edition, and you’re a true horror fan, then you’ll definitely want to buy this one.

The anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen transfer is excellent. The disc includes a Dolby Surround 5.1 track, a Dolby 2.0 track and a DTS 5.1 track. There are two audio commentaries (dating back to the original laserdisc release): one with Stuart Gordon, the other with nearly the whole cast. Both are among the best audio commentaries I’ve heard; the cast track is a lot of fun.

Disc 2 contains the aforementioned new, 70-minute documentary, plus a whole crapload of other stuff. To whit: On-screen interviews with director Gordon, producer Brian Yuzna, writer Dennis Paoli, composer Richard Band and Fangoria editor Tony Timpone; several extended scenes, the theatrical trailer, TV spots, A whole bunch of still galleries, and a text bio of director Stuart Gordon. DVD-ROM features include both the screenplay and the original story by H.P. Lovecraft.

As I said before, this is an astoundingly good DVD of an essential horror movie. If you don’t already own the Elite “Millennium Edition,” then you’ll absolutely want to buy this new Anchor Bay set.

Hell, if you’re a really big fan, you might just want both anyway.

I’d heard good things about director Patrick Dinhut’s zombie comedy, DEAD AND DEADER (2006), and was eager to check it out. As it turned out, I didn’t find it to be as good as I’d heard, but it’s not a total disaster, either.

A team of U.S. Special Ops are sent into Cambodia to investigate the loss of contact with a research team. When they find the research lab, they find a terrarium filled with green scorpions, and a bunch of zombies. The whole team is quickly overwhelmed and killed. Back in the States, Lt. Quinn (Dean Cain, Superman in LOIS & CLARK) wakes up on a morgue slab just in time to prevent his own autopsy. Now dead, but able to retain his intelligence and self-control, he sets out to destroy the other re-animated members of his team before they can spread the zombie plague ““ in this case, in the form of those scorpions.

Okay, it’s kinda funny. The parts that fall flat, though, are the pop culture, geek-service references. One: because they’re lame (Who’s the best James Bond? Again? With the obligatory Lazenby slam?), and Two: neither Dean nor his hot love interest (Susan Ward, WILD THINGS 2) are convincing as pop culture nerds. Okay, it’s amusing that they discuss the relative merits of the two DAWN OF THE DEAD films while hunting down zombies on a military base, but it’s also kinda obvious.

That said, the pacing is brisk, and there are some decent zombie kills and gore effects. STAR TREK vets Armin Shimmerman (DS9’s Quark) and Peter Billingsly (whatever the doctor’s name was on ENTERPRISE) show up for brief cameos, and 70’s-80’s starlet Colleen Camp (GAME OF DEATH) appears in a sizeable supporting role.

Anchor Bay (or is it Starz Media, now?) presents the movie in a fairly sharp 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, with Dolby 5.1 surround sound. Extra features include a pretty entertaining audio commentary with writers Steve Kriozere and Mark Altman (FREE ENTERPRISE). There’s also a decent behind-the-scenes featurette that at least indicates the cast and crew had fun making the movie. Finally, there’s a photo gallery, the script on DVD-ROM, and trailers for other Anchor Bay/Starz horror films.

Here’s the thing: SHAUN OF THE DEAD raised the bar on “zombie comedies,” and DEAD AND DEADER just doesn’t measure up. It’s amusing, but not as funny as it wants to be. For what it is ““ a direct-to-DVD and SciFi Channel B-flick ““ it works well enough, though, and is better than most comparable efforts.

There are worst ways to spend 89 minutes. Worth a rental, anyway.

I recently watched Fox’s first MICHAEL SHAYNE MYSTERIES box set containing the first batch of films from the popular Forties detective series. I’m guessing there will be a second set in six months or so with the remaining entries. This set contains four great, B-movie mysteries on two double-sided “flipper” discs: MICHAEL SHAYNE, PRIVATE DETECTIVE, THE MAN WHO WOULDN’T DIE, SLEEPERS WEST and BLUE, WHITE AND PERFECT.

MICHAEL SHAYNE, PRIVATE DETECTIVE (1940) introduces Lloyd Nolan as author Brett Halliday’s wiseass Irish-American private dick, who is hired by a racetrack bigwig to guard his pretty, compulsive gambler daughter. When her boyfriend is murdered, Shayne gets blamed. Fun, breezy and enjoyable stuff, with a decent mystery plot.

THE MAN WHO WOULDN’T DIE (1942) has Shayne impersonating a millionaire’s daughter’s fiance while investigating the strange events around the family mansion. Lot’s of shadowy figures, disappearing corpses, and even a mad scientist for spice. Not bad, but really felt more like a Charlie Chan flick.

SLEEPERS WEST (1941) is the most film noir of the bunch, as Shayne escorts a material witness ““ a hot blonde, naturally ““ across the country by train. The confined space of the train adds a lot of tension to the story, and the performances are especially good. Less wisecracking, more suspense, and by far my favorite of the batch.

BLUE, WHITE & PERFECT (1941) involves Shayne in a diamond smuggling plot. Fun stuff, with TV’s Superman, George Reeves, in a supporting role. Fun and engaging, with some great twists.

All four films are presented full-frame, with newly restored transfers and cleaned-up mono sound. They look great, considering the vintage. Each disc includes a “Restoration Comparison,” and either a short featurette or a trivia game.

The art on the box and the two slimcases appear to be brand new paintings by the astounding Robert McGinnis (who painted the covers of many of the Shayne paperbacks ““ although these new paintings feature series star Lloyd Nolan), and there’s a McGinnis featurette on Side B of the first disc.

From the fact that all four sides include the same “Restoration Comparison” feature, I have to wonder if Fox originally intended to put each movie on its own disc, as in their Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto sets, and went with this more economical package because the sales on those considerably more expensive mystery sets were less than expected. While I think I would have preferred separate discs for aesthetic reasons ““ we might have got another couple McGinnis covers and these discs would have matched my Chans and Motos (not to mention the one previous Shayne film that Fox released a year or so ago), I can’t really complain. After all, I’m all for saving 20 bucks.

For fans of vintage detective films, this set is highly recommended, and you can’t beat the price.

DVD LATE SHOW CAPSULE REVIEWS!

In another pathetic attempt to catch up with the mountain of notable discs that piled up during the last few months, I’m once again providing a handful of “Capsule Reviews” ““short, sweet and to the point! Here’s a few more DVDs that are long overdue for some Late Show attention:

CASINO ROYALE (2006): The twenty-first official James Bond film introduces Daniel Craig (LAYER CAKE) as a neophyte 007 on his first mission as a double-O agent. It’s a half-hour too long and I have a few quibbles with the script, but overall, it’s one of the best in the series. Fast, brutal, and surprisingly dark. Sony’s 2-disc DVD set provides an impeccable, gorgeous anamorphic 2.40:1 transfer with Dolby 5.1 sound.

The bonus features are a disgrace though, and absolutely scream that Sony intends to double-, triple- and re-dip this film over and over again forever. All you get two extremely light, superficial, EPK-styled featurettes, a music video (that relies heavily on film clips) and the BOND GIRLS ARE FOREVER documentary from several years ago, which has been updated slightly with a couple minutes of new footage featuring the CASINO ROYALE gals. There’s also a slew of unrelated Sony trailers ““ but no trailers, TV spots or poster/photo galleries for CASINO ROYALE itself. There’s no director’s commentary, no on-screen trivia tracks, no Daniel Craig screen tests ““ really nothing much of any note or extra value. Die-hard Bond fans (like me) will get it anyway, but you might want to wait and see what Sony comes up with in a few months.

ONCE UPON A GIRL (1976). This X-rated, lowbrow, smutty take on classic fairy tales looks remarkably like a 1970’s Hanna-Barbara cartoon, and there’s a reason for that ““ many of the animators were moonlighting H-B staffers! The film contains pornographic retellings of “Jack & the Beanstalk,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” and “Cinderella,” all narrated by Mother Goose, who is played by male actor Hal Smith (“Otis the Drunk” on THE ANDY GRIFITH SHOW) in drag. Severin Films’ DVD boasts a great, clean transfer and an interview with producer William Silberkleit, along with the original theatrical trailer. A definite oddity for adults, and worth checking out.

THE WILD WILD WEST ““ THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (1966-67). This is the season where TV’s best spy-fi, sci-fi, comedic western (and pretty much the only one), really came together. Robert Conrad is still doing his own stunts, Ross Martin is in his prime, the villains and their plots are more outrageous and inventive, and now it’s in color, too. Then there’s guest stars like Boris Karloff, Ida Lupino, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford ““ and that’s just in the first five episodes. All 28 episodes of the second season are included on 6 discs in three slimpaks. Unfortunately, unlike the first set, this one has no bonus features at all. Nonetheless, it’s one of television’s most original shows at its peak, and definitely worth picking up and enjoying.

FLETCH: THE JANE DOE EDITION (1985). Cripes. Another lame-ass special edition from Universal. The documentary is so weak that the DVD producer has the most screen time and tries to be funny. Other “Bonus” features are “Favorite Fletch Moments” (clips from the movie) and “The Disguises” (clips from the movie). Well, the theatrical trailer is there, too. At least they provide a sharp, 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer of the film and a new 5.1 surround remix. Oh yeah. The movie is pretty good, too, with Chevy Chase turning in one of his best performances as Gregory MacDonald’s classic character, with the help of director Michael Ritchie’s sure, steady hand.

POSITIVELY NO REFUNDS DOUBLE FEATURE: THE BRIDE AND THE BEAST/THE WHITE GORILLA (1958/1945). VCI unearths two low-budget gorilla flicks, and make no bones about their quality: they’re horrible. BRIDE chronicles the strange relationship between a big game hunter’s new wife and his pet gorilla. Under hypnosis, it is discovered that she was a gorilla in a previous life! Written by the infamous Ed Wood, Jr. and directed by Adrien Weiss, this bizarre “thriller” drags a bit, but is worth seeing for it’s sheer strangeness. The companion feature, WHITE GORILLA, is even worse. The producers took footage from a silent, 1927 serial called PERILS OF THE JUNGLE and added in some new footage of Ray “Crash” Corrigan (UNDERSEA EMPIRE) as a rare white ape and as the hunter that stalks it.

BRIDE is presented in a nice 1.66:1 anamorphic transfer, while WHITE GORILLA is presented full-frame. The disc is loaded with Advertising and photo galleries, trailers, and commentaries by film historian Tom Weaver and super fan/gorilla actor Bob Burns (see THE GHOST BUSTERS, above). For fans of really strange old movies, or someone looking to cure their insomnia, THE POSITIVELY NO REFUNDS DOUBLE FEATURE might be worth a look.

TOMBOY (1985). Brunette 80’s B-movie starlet Betsy Russell (AVENGING ANGEL, CHEERLEADER CAMP) is the tomboy of the title, a hot auto mechanic with a crush on a racecar driver (Gerard Christopher of the 80’s SUPERBOY show, billed here as “Jerry Dinome”). It’s fun, fluffy, and low key, with plenty of synth pop music, copious female nudity and a climactic car race. Nothing to get too excited about, but it’s a palatable enough slice of 80’s cheese ““ and Russell does flash her assets. Like the other “Crown Classics” from BCI/Eclipse, the non-anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen transfer is in good shape, the stereo soundtrack is full of bouncy 80’s pop, and there are trailers for other Crown comedy titles.

That’s it for this time. Some of the titles I intend to review in upcoming columns include: SKIN CRAWL, KING KUNG FU, HUNDRA, DÉJÀ VU, NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF, RAPTOR ISLAND, THE HITCHER remake, THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRATE MOVIES, PUMPKINHEAD: ASHES TO ASHES, ALTERED, JET LI’S FEARLESS, THE RETURN, STAN LEE PRESENTS MOSAIC, CHAINSAW SALLY, SLAYER, MELTDOWN: DAYS OF DESTRUCTION, and more!

For older Late Show columns (adding up to well over 200 reviews!), visit the newly updated-and-revamped DVD Late Show website and archive. For additional pop culture musings, occasional DVD previews and lots of shameless self-promotion, you might try checking out my blog.

Comments, DVD questions, review requests and offers of money can be sent to: dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com

March 14, 2007

So”¦ where have I been?

Regular readers of this column ““ if there are any left ““ may remember my frequent, if often cryptic, references to various health problems in previous installments. Well, those myriad illnesses and symptoms were but preamble ““ last autumn, I was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in one of my kidneys.

Needless to say, the following weeks and months were kind of crazy as I consulted with a seemingly endless parade of doctors and made long road trips from my home in rural Maine to bustling Boston, where the surgery was eventually carried out. Finally, at the end of January, I had my right kidney removed.

Now, as excuses go, that’s one of my best. Whatever spare time I had before the surgery was spent trying to keep up with paying jobs, and the last month and a half since the surgery have been pure recuperation. It’s only in the last couple of weeks that I’ve felt up to extended stints at the keyboard.

During that enforced absence, though, I found I really missed writing this column. I’ve finally learned not to make too many promises regarding this particular enterprise, but I will make a renewed effort to knock out fresh reviews as frequently as possible. I enjoy watching these flicks and writing about these discs, and a few people have even told me they like reading my reviews.

Hope you enjoy them, too.

As I’m trying to make up for lost time, for the next several columns, I’ll be mixing brand new releases with somewhat older DVD titles (although even those are mostly from within the last few months), and running extra “Capsule Reviews” at the end of every column.

Now, let’s get back to the Late Show“¦ already in progress.

One of my favorite action/horror films ever, William Lustig’s MANIAC COP (1988), has finally received the quality DVD release it deserves, thanks to the fine folks at Synapse Films.

Previously issued on laserdisc by Elite Entertainment and as a fuzzy full-frame DVD by a budget label best left unnamed, this new release is not only the finest the film has ever looked on home video, but includes all the great extras from the laserdisc as well as a few new features created by Synapse specifically for this edition.

When a psycho killer in a police uniform starts murdering innocent people on the streets of New York, the city is gripped in paranoia and afraid of their own police force. Soon, a young cop named Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell of EVIL DEAD and BUBBA HO-TEP fame) is wrongfully accused of being the “Maniac Cop” when his wife turns up dead and he’s arrested by his fellow officers. But while Jack may be an unfaithful jerk, he’s no serial killer, so it’s up to his policewoman mistress (Laurene Landon, HUNDRA, I THE JURY) and veteran NYPD detective Frank McCrae (the great Tom Atkins, NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, LETHAL WEAPON) to find the real Maniac Cop ““ a scarred, Frankenstein-esque hulk named Matt Cordell (the imposing Robert Z’Dar of SOULTAKER) ““ stop him, and clear Jack’s name.

A great B-movie cast (which also includes William Smith, Richard Roundtree, Sheree North and Sam Raimi!), slick, noir-ish photography, a nearly perfect script by exploitation vet Larry Cohen (IT’S ALIVE, Q, BLACK CAESAR, ORIGINAL GANGSTAS), an evocative score by Jay Chattaway, and gritty direction by William Lustig (VIGILANTE, MANIAC) combine to create a top-notch, fast-paced entertainment, with plenty of thrills, impressive stunts and some genuine scares.

Synapse’s DVD presents MANIAC COP in a brand-new, high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen anamorphic transfer from the original vault materials. The movie looks amazing, with a level of clarity and detail unseen in previous video incarnations. The film has also been given a new DTS 6.1 surround audio mix as well as a crystal Dolby Digital 5.1 version.

There are plenty of extras, including a highly entertaining group commentary (ported over from the LD) with director Lustig, writer Cohen, star Campbell and composer Chattaway. There are several theatrical trailers and TV spots, a still gallery, a bunch of short scenes shot to pad out the running time for Japanese television (featuring Leo Rossi of Lustig’s RELENTLESS), and a new-to-this-DVD on-camera interview with Robert Z’Dar.

As you may have gathered, I’ve been a fan of this movie (and its first sequel) for years, and I’m absolutely thrilled to have this new edition for my DVD library. As I mentioned before, despite its long history on video, it has never looked or sounded as good as it does on this new DVD. Synapse is to be commended for putting in the effort to present this cult favorite in such a high quality package. Strongly recommended.

BCI Eclipse has acquired the old Crown International exploitation film library, and has been making good use of these classic drive-in crowd pleasers. Crown was around from the Sixties through the Eighties, and their prodigious output covered the gamut from horror films to action flicks to teen comedies ““ any genre that could be produced cheaply and profitably appeal to a young audience.

JOCKS (1986) is one such Crown “classic” from BCI, a college sports and sex comedy with a decidedly unusual supporting cast for the genre.

Directed by exploitation veteran Steve Carver (LONE WOLF MCQUADE, BIG BAD MAMA), JOCKS’s performers include a very young Mariska Hargitay (LAW & ORDER SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT), Tom Shadyac (who later directed the Jim Carrey vehicles LIAR, LIAR and BRUCE ALMIGHTY) and B-movie stalwarts Richard Roundtree (SHAFT) and Christopher Lee (HORROR OF DRACULA, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT).

The story follows a small college tennis (!) team made up of misfit players (including Donald Gibb, REVENGE OF THE NERDS, BLOODSPORT) who travel to Vegas for a tournament, unaware that if they fail to win the championship, their dean (Lee) will shut down the tennis program. Of course, the boys are more interested in partying in the pre-Disneyfied Sin City than playing tennis, and their coach (Roundtree) finds it nearly impossible to ride herd on them. Will they win the tournament and save their team? More importantly, will they get laid?

What, haven’t you seen one of these flicks before?

Despite the racy cover art, the film is relatively tame sexually, with only a little bit of female nudity (not Hargitay, unfortunately) and lots of innuendo. While JOCKS is utterly predictable, the cast is appealing, the pace is good, and the movie is fairly entertaining, if not particularly memorable; the kind of movie that used to endlessly run on Cinemax in the wee hours.

BCI’s DVD is quite nice. It’s a bare-bones package, but the 20-year old movie is given a solid, sharp 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that belies its age and low budget. The film looks damned good. The disc also includes trailers for four other Crown teen comedies of the era, THE BEACH GIRLS, WEEKEND PASS and the popular cable programmers TOMBOY and MY CHAUFFEUR ““ all of which will (hopefully) soon be on DVD from BCI, if they’re not already.

If you happen to remember this movie or just have a fondness for teen comedies of the era, JOCKS is an inexpensive, nicely packaged trip back to the Eighties.

Disney/Buena Vista has really dropped the ball when it comes to their handling of the Roger Corman film library. They acquired the movies last year with some industry fanfare, assuring Corman and his fans that the company was uniquely positioned to handle the DVDs better than any other studio. Well, a year later, the releases have slowed to a trickle, they continue to offer the titles in an unmatted, full-frame format, and seem determined to give each title the ugliest, most misleading cover art imaginable.

Case in point: Ron Howard’s 1977 directorial debut, the light-hearted car crash comedy GRAND THEFT AUTO, which has been packaged as a FAST AND THE FURIOUS clone and labeled as a “Tricked Out Edition.” Sigh.

In 1976, actor Ron Howard, who was then starring in the hit sitcom HAPPY DAYS, played the lead in a low-budget, rural car chase movie for Roger Corman entitled EAT MY DUST. The movie was hugely successful on the drive-in circuit, and Corman wanted an immediate follow-up in the same vein. Howard was agreeable ““ but only if Corman allowed him to direct the movie as well. Corman agreed. Immediately, Ron and his father, veteran character actor Rance Howard, began to put together the script for a fast-paced, funny car chase flick they called GRAND THEFT AUTO.

Here’s the plot: young Sam (Howard) and Paula (Nancy Morgan) are madly in love and want to get married. Unfortunately, Paula’s wealthy parents object ““ they intend for her to marry rich, spoiled Bigby Powers (Barry Cahill) instead. Paula’s the headstrong type though, and after storming out of her parents’ house, she and Sam steal the family’s Rolls Royce and head for Las Vegas to elope. Paula’s father puts a $25,000 bounty on his daughter, and soon the two young lovers find themselves chased by a motley assortment of pursuers ““ including amateur bounty hunters, inept private eyes, various cops, an ambitious radio DJ in a helicopter, and Paula’s spurned fiancé.

Of course the plot is just there to link the car stunts together, and it works marvelously. In fact, it’s great fun, with plenty of well-staged car crashes, comedic appearances by Ron’s whole family (or, at least, father Rance and brother Clint) and HAPPY DAYS mom Marion Ross, and even a little bit of pointed media satire.

The Buena Vista DVD presents the film in an unmatted, non-anamorphic full-frame 1.33:1 transfer that makes a mockery of Gary Graver’s fine cinematography, leaving far too much image information on the top and bottom of the screen. Picture quality is good, but there’s a bit of dirt and debris that probably could have been digitally cleaned up, if anyone had cared enough to do so. The audio’s been given a decent 5.1 Dolby Digital remix, and it sounds fine.

As for the “Tricked Out” extras, there’s a documentary called “A Family Affair” which is essentially an on-camera interview with Rance Howard and son Clint. Director/star Ron, however, is mysteriously and disappointingly absent. There’s a short introduction to the film by Roger Corman, and the amusing original theatrical trailer.

The best extra, though, is the audio commentary by Corman and Ron Howard, who clearly has fond and vivid memories of his directorial debut. Corman doesn’t contribute a whole lot to the discussion, but the two clearly are enjoying hanging out and watching the movie again, and they’re obviously proud of the film.

And they should be. It’s unassuming, funny, and damned entertaining. I recommend picking it up, even with Disney’s stupid packaging and substandard transfer.

Originally announced for last November, Classic Media has finally released their first follow-ups to last year’s near-definitive DVD presentation of the original Godzilla film, GOJIRA.

GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN (GOJIRA NO GYAKUSHÛ, 1955) is not only the first Godzilla sequel from Japan’s Toho Studios, but it, much more so than its predecessor, firmly establishes the formula and feel of the long-running and popular kaiju eiga (“monster movie”) series.

Tsukioka, a spotter for a Japanese fishing fleet, is forced to land his plane on a small, uninhabited island. When his fellow pilot, Kobayashi, shows up to rescue him, they witness two giant monsters engaged in mortal combat nearby. Before long, the Japanese authorities realize that a monster closely resembling the first Godzilla (which was definitively killed in the first film) is on the rampage, along with a new creature they call Angurius. Eventually, the two monsters make landfall in Osaka where they resume fighting, and the military once again finds itself helpless before the destructive might of the prehistoric titans.

Directed by Motoyoshi Oda as a quickie follow-up to the surprisingly popular and profitable original, GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN is nonetheless a nifty little monster movie in its own right, and a decent sequel. The tone is somewhat less Apocalyptic than GOJIRA, released just one year before, although not quite as light as later entries would become. It’s also the first in the series to pit the Big G against another monster ““ in this case Angurius (a/k/a Angillas), a mutated ankylosaur. The human characters ““ mostly employees of a large fishing collective ““ are normal, working-class civilians instead of the military professionals and educated scientists of the first film (and most American giant monster flicks of the era), a trend that would continue in subsequent features.

Classic Media’s DVD is another excellent presentation, featuring both the original Japanese version of the film, and the U.S. English-dubbed and edited version (originally released as GIGANTIS THE FIRE MONSTER, although this print does not bear that title, at Toho’s insistance). The two versions look very good for their age ““ although both sport some age-related specks, scratches and other minor damage ““ and are presented in their original 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratios. The U.S. version includes a commentary track by Godzilla expert Steve Ryfle, and there’s an informative featurette on “Suit Acting,” along with a slide show of rare stills and advertising art.

For Godzilla and kaiju fans, this disc is essential. Casual viewers might find it a bit slow and technically primitive, but as far as I’m concerned, they should check it out anyway.

The same can be said of Classic Media’s presentation of MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA (MOSURA TAI GOJIRA, 1964), directed by original Big G director Ishiro Honda. MVG is probably the best Godzilla film of Sixties, a bright, colorful fantasy with powerful, striking imagery, and some of the series’ most memorable scenes and characters.

When a typhoon leaves a giant egg washed up near a small coastal village, enterprising entrepreneurs buy it from the villagers and make plans to build a theme park around it. Soon, two small, fairy-like women appear, and beg the greedy businessmen to return the egg to its parent, Mothra, the giant moth god of Infant Island. If the egg is not returned, they warn, there’s gonna be trouble. Of course, they are rebuffed and their warning ignored. Meanwhile, Godzilla reawakens from a coma and digs his way out of the ground where King Kong had left him buried in the previous film, and sets out for the the freedom of the sea ““ and coincidentally(?) making a beeline toward Mothra’s egg. Let the rumble begin!

Like the other new Classic Media Godzilla discs, MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA includes both the original Japanese version as well as the American version, originally released in the U.S by American-International Pictures under the title GODZILLA VS. THE THING.

While both transfers are very sharp and vivid, the U.S. version is presented in an incorrect aspect ratio. Instead of the “Tohoscope” 2.35:1 ratio, the best and most complete print of GODZILLA VS. THE THING that Classic Media could get their hands on had been cropped to 1.85:1 dimensions, losing a bit of picture information on both sides of the screen. Personally, I can live with it ““ I’m probably only going to be watching the Japanese version from now on anyway ““ but I can understand why some fans, especially those who grew up with the AIP version, might be unhappy.

Extras include a commentary by kaiju experts Ed Godziszewski and Steve Ryfle, an animated still gallery/slideshow, the original theatrical trailer, and a biography of musical composer Akira Ifukube.

Despite the aspect ratio problem on GODZILLA VS. THE THING, I still have to recommend this disc to fans of the Big G and the giant monster genre. It’s the best presentation of the film available domestically and the first time the Japanese version’s been released on U.S. home video.

Another favorite Saturday Morning television program from my childhood, Filmation Studio’s live-action SPACE ACADEMY ““ THE COMPLETE SERIES (1977) has made its way to DVD due to the fine folks at BCI Eclipse.

Set in the “Star Year” 3732, the short-lived series (it mutated into JASON OF STAR COMMAND a year later) chronicled the adventures of a group of young space cadets lead by handsome Chris Gentry (Ric Carrot, THE SWINGING CHEERLEADERS) and his telepathic sister Laura, (popular 60’s and 70’s child actress Pamelyn Ferdin). Other cadets include Brian Tochi, Ty Henderson, Eric Greene and the incredibly hot Maggie Cooper (AN EYE FOR AN EYE). Under the tutelage of their teacher, Commander Isaac Gampu (Jonathan Harris of LOST IN SPACE), the earnest young cadets learned important lessons about honor, duty and life while exploring the galaxy and unraveling the mysteries of the universe.

Shot on a very low budget, SPACE ACADEMY is surprisingly well crafted, with good production values, set and costumes, not to mention high-quality, pre-CGI special effects that rival those produced for other 70’s sci-fi projects, including the vastly more expensive SPACE: 1999. Nowadays, it’s common to call such handcrafted, painstaking miniature work “cheesy,” especially when compared to today’s hi-tech, computer-created effects, but that’s just insulting, ignorant and inaccurate. SPACE ACADEMY boasts damned fine effects work and it adds immeasurably to the show’s charm. In fact, effects supervisor Chuck Comisky went on to supervise the effects on Roger Corman’s BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS, and some of his crewmembers worked on STAR WARS and its sequels.

Scripts are a mixed bag ““ ranging from some thought-provoking sci-fi and effective character studies to childish kid’s space adventures, but the cast is likeable and every half-hour episode is entertaining, each delivering the obligatory moral just before the end credits.

BCI/Eclipse’s DVD set includes all 15 episodes of the single season on 4 discs. The full frame transfers look very good for their age. Not pristine, but much better than the ARK II episodes that BCI released on DVD last year. Like their previous Filmation sets, BCI has included plenty of nostalgic bonus features, including a half-hour documentary/cast reunion and two episode commentary tracks with producer Lou Scheimer, cast members Carrot, Tochi and Greene, and effects supervisor Comisky. There’s an extensive still gallery, all the episode scripts on DVD-ROM, commercial bumpers and more.

The only disappointment in this fine DVD set is that neither Pamelyn Ferdin (Laura) nor Maggie Cooper (Adrian) were involved in the reunion/documentary. It’s a shame, because Ferdin was one of the most prolific and familiar child actresses of the era and probably has some great stories, while Maggie Cooper was… well, a babe.

For anyone who bought the company’s previous ARK II release, this would make a great companion set (and not just because frugal Filmation recycled the fiberglass nose section of the Ark for the “Seeker” spaceship!). Highly recommended for fans of 70’s sci-fi television, and aging genre buffs like me.

No doubt expecting resurgence in interest about the late George Reeves after the release of the big-budget docudrama/murder mystery, HOLLYWOODLAND, VCI has recently issued two of the SUPERMAN television star’s 50’s B-movies together on a new disc. The resulting DVD, THE GEORGE REEVES DOUBLE FEATURE ““ THUNDER IN THE PINES/JUNGLE GODDESS (both 1948), is an entertaining if old-fashioned double bill, featuring the charismatic actor in a couple of decent low budget adventures.

In THUNDER IN THE PINES, George is a lumberjack, who is roped by Lyle Talbot (GLEN OR GLENDA, MESA OF LOST WOMEN) into a logging competition with his best friend (original DICK TRACY serial star Ralph Byrd) for both the love of a sultry French tart (Denise Darcel) and a lucrative lumber contract.

Presented in full-frame sepia tone, this Robert Edwards-directed, hour-long programmer is an amusing time-killer that benefits greatly from the good old boy chemistry between the male leads, plenty of logging stock footage, and a playful script full of good-natured humor.

The companion feature, JUNGLE GODDESS, once again teams Reeves and Byrd, this time as African adventurers who set out into the wilderness in search of a missing heiress. Of course, when they find the beautiful blonde (Wanda McKay), they discover that she’s become the “white goddess” of a hostile native tribe, and getting her back to civilization won’t be easy.

Clocking in at just over an hour, JUNGLE GODDESS is less fun than PINES, but fortunately too short to get really boring. Director Lewis D. Collins, who specialized in B-westerns, wrings what interest he can out of the simplistic script and cheap “jungle” sets, while Reeves and Byrd attempt to bring a little depth to their stock characters.

VCI presents both films, which are making their home video debuts, in decent full-frame transfers that show only minimal wear and age-related damage. The mono sound is clear and balanced. The disc is loaded with Reeves-centric extra features, including a multi-part documentary, a photo gallery, well-written bios, several text essays and more.

While neither film on this disc is a classic, they’re short, fun B-flicks that allow Reeves to ably demonstrate the charm and charisma that made him so memorable as TV’s Superman. For comic book fans, there’s also the added entertainment value of seeing “Superman” and “Dick Tracy” together on screen.

Recommended for Reeves fans and old movie buffs.

I’ve been a fan of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy character since his first comic book appearance a decade or so ago. It’s been gratifying to see the character’s success over the years in both print and other media. I enjoyed Guillermo Del Toro’s live-action feature film, and looked forward with great anticipation to the direct-to-DVD/cable feature, HELLBOY ANIMATED: THE SWORD OF STORMS (2006).

Fortunately, I was not disappointed.

SWORD OF STORMS sends Hellboy (voiced by Ron Perlman, reprising his movie role) and his fellow BPRD (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense) agents ““ pyrokinetic Liz (Selma Blair) and fishman Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) ““ to the Orient, where they must face off against demons of Thunder & Lightning, a dragon, and a bunch of cannibalistic floating heads. The story incorporates elements from a number of Mignola’s stories, and successfully captures the tone and feel of the original comics (and live-action film).

The animation is quite nice ““ maybe not Disney quality, but very good for a direct-to-disc production. The character designs may not be 100% faithful to Mignola’s comic book drawings, but they are attractive and well conceived. The voice work ““ by most of the first film’s cast ““ is top notch across the board. Overall, it’s a very respectable effort by director Tad Stones and his crew, and I can’t wait for the already in-production sequel.

Anchor Bay presents SWORD OF STORMS in a crystal-sharp 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, augmented by a vibrant Dolby 5.1 sound track. The disc is heavily loaded with a half-dozen slick featurettes covering all aspects of the production, and a commentary track by creator Mignola, director Stone and co-director Phil Weinstein. There are even teaser trailers for the sequel film and a forthcoming Hellboy video game.

Personally, I loved it, and can’t wait for the sequel. Highly recommended for fans of the character and animation buffs in general.

VOODOO MOON (2005) is one of several recent horror movie releases from Anchor Bay and director Kevin VanHook (THE FALLEN ONES). I really hope the others are better.

Filled with familiar genre personalities such as Eric Mabius (THE CROW: SALVATION, RESIDENT EVIL), Charisma Carpenter (TV’s BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL), Jeffrey Combs (RE-ANIMATOR, THE FRIGHTENERS), Dee Wallace (THE HOWLING, THE FRIGHTENERS) and John Amos (BEASTMASTER), the inexplicably titled VOODOO MOON has a decidedly comic book plot (fitting, as director Van Hook is a former comic book writer and artist), some slick special effects, and an unfortunately sluggish pace.

Twenty years before the film’s story begins, two siblings (Mabius and Carpenter) survived a demonic massacre in their Southern hometown. Now, the brother, Cole ““ who has apparently become something of an occult super-hero in the intervening years ““ has returned to recruit his sister (who is prone to prophetic, plot-vital visions) for a final confrontation with the demon responsible for the deaths of their family and neighbors. Joining them are several other folks, all people that Cole has helped fight evil over the years, including an outlaw biker (Amos), a traumatized cop (Combs) and a neurotic healer (Wallace).

The creakily familiar storyline might have worked in more capable hands, but damn, is VOODOO MOON talky! I fell asleep repeatedly during the running time, and when I tried watching the second half again for this review, I dozed off again. I guess this played on the Sci-Fi Channel, and maybe with lots of long commercial breaks the slow pacing wouldn’t seem quite so noticeable, but still”¦

It doesn’t help that the villain, when we finally meet him, isn’t particularly intimidating, nor that “voodoo” has almost nothing whatsoever to do with the plot of a film called VOODOO MOON.

The DVD from Anchor Bay is up to its usual high technical standards, with a virtually perfect 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and crisp Dolby 5.1 sound. There are two “making of” documentaries that are somewhat more involving than the feature, deleted scenes, a still gallery, and trailers for this and other Anchor Bay horror titles.

Ultimately, a good cast and slick computer effects can’t make up for a weak script and uninspired direction. Here’s hoping that the other VanHook titles on my desk (SLAYER and DEATH ROW) are better.

When I was in high school, the A-V department used to get these thick, phone book-sized catalogs for 16mm rental films. Along with the expected “educational” variety of cinema, there were hundreds of entertainment features included; many of the listings illustrated with the original newspaper ad slicks. Since the school usually discarded these catalogs, I snagged them whenever I could. For an embryonic film buff in the pre-video era, these catalogs were far more educational and exhaustive than most available reference books, listing movies across the broad spectrum of cinema ““ everything from foreign art house fare to Hollywood “classics” to the most obscure drive-in programmers. It was in one of these catalogs that I first saw the listing for THAT MAN BOLT, and became obsessed with seeing it.

It only took me nearly thirty years…!

THAT MAN BOLT (1973) begins with international freelance courier Jefferson Bolt (Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, HELL UP IN HARLEM, BUCKTOWN, THREE THE HARD WAY) practicing martial arts in a Macao prison cell. Soon, he’s visited by a “government” operative (the nation involved is never named, but the agent certainly appears to be British), who offers him a job carrying a cool million in American currency from Hong Kong to Mexico City, via Los Angeles.

The suave, well-dressed Bolt never makes it to Mexico, though, as he’s waylaid in L.A. by mobsters that seem intent on snagging his briefcase full of cash. Soon, neither Bolt nor the audience is sure whether the money is real or counterfeit (and you know, I’m still not quite sure how it turned out), people are dying left and right, and Bolt’s on his way back to the orient for a kung fu confrontation in Hong Kong.

I love this movie. Can’t even begin to figure out the story, but I love the movie anyway. Fred Williamson’s always been my favorite Blaxploitation lead, and Jefferson Bolt is clearly his attempt at creating a more general-audience, mass-market hero along the lines of James Bond. Bolt is a former captain of U.S. Special Forces, graduate of Cal Tech and MIT with a master’s degree in physics, and a black belt in karate. He wears expensive suits, has several cool apartments around the world, uses telescopic sunglasses, and possesses an upscale persona right out of the Ian Fleming playbook. Even the sex scenes are handled tastefully off-screen, as in the early Bond films.

The pacing is fast, the Hong Kong photography is beautiful, the funky score is great, and the unbeatable combination of Williamson’s sideburns, Alpha male machismo and cigar-chewing charisma carry the film, even as the plot continues to deteriorate with each additional minute of running time.

THAT MAN BOLT is available on a “Soul Showcase” DVD from Universal, which presents the film in a beautiful, crisp 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer with clear, Dolby Stereo sound. There are no extras included.

A great Saturday afternoon time-killer and a must-see for fans of “The Hammer.”

CAPSULE REVIEWS!

In another attempt to catch up with the mountain of notable discs that piled up during my hiatus, I’m incorporating my own new “Bonus Feature” into DVD Late Show ““ “Capsule Reviews” ““ super short and to the point! To begin, here’s a half-dozen DVDs that are long overdue for some Late Show attention:

GROOVIE GOOLIES “SATURDAY MOURNING COLLECTION” (1970-71). Another fine Filmation TV cartoon series set from BCI/Eclipse’s Ink & PAINT label, GOOLIES includes all 16 episodes of this amusingly macabre LAUGH-IN-inspired animated sketch comedy on 3 discs, and they look fantastic. If you can shut off or suppress your adult cynicism, your inner 10-year-old will love each pun laden, bubblegum pop song filled installment! Loaded with entertaining extras, including 2 episode commentaries, image galleries, liner notes, sing alongs, a strange 45-minute docu-comedy by fans of the show, and a candid interview with Filmation head honcho Lou Scheimer, GROOVIE GOOLIES is a trick and a treat any time of year for nostalgic monster movie fans!

THE ROCKFORD FILES: SEASON THREE (1976-77). The third season of television’s finest private eye series comes to DVD in a no-frills, but well-produced 5-disc set from Universal. In this season, the writing took on a slightly sharper edge, and the show found a perfect balance of dry humor, action, and characterization, with series star James Garner at the peak of his skills. I don’t think there’s a clunker in the bunch. The DVD set includes all 22 episodes in remarkably well preserved 1.33 full frame transfers, and includes a bonus episode from the fourth season. Highly recommended.

ARABIAN NIGHTS (1942). This Technicolor desert swashbuckler finally hits home video courtesy of Universal’s Cinema Classics label, and while one might hope for some more extras, one can’t argue with the quality of the film. Inspired by the classic Arabian Nights legends, this big-budget epic features Jon Hall as a heroic prince, lovely Maria Montez as the legendary Schereazade, and THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD’s acrobatic Sabu in a fast, funny and romantic tale of high adventure. The disc features a lush, 1.33:1 full-frame transfer, an introduction by Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne, and the original theatrical trailer. Recommended.

LOST CITY OF THE JUNGLE (1946). This fun thirteen-chapter serial stars Rod Stanton and Keye Luke (KUNG FU) as agents of the “United Peace Foundation,” who oppose the sinister plans of legendary screen villain Lionel Atwill (in his last role) as he searches for a deadly radioactive element in the remote Asian nation of Pendrang. Briskly directed by Universal vets Ray Taylor and Lewis D. Collins, LOST CITY OF THE JUNGLE employs more than its share of carefully-chosen stock footage and tricky editing to flesh out its four hour plus running time. VCI crams all 13 chapters onto a single disc, and although the source material is somewhat scratched and battered, considering the film’s age and rarity, it’s more than watchable, with no obvious compression artifacts or other digital blemishes. One of the more obscure 40’s cliffhangers, VCI’s disc should be a welcome addition to any serial fan’s library ““ just don’t expect a pristine presentation.

MAXIMUM ACTION: 9 DEATHS OF THE NINJA/KILLPOINT (1985/1984). Thanks to BCI/Eclipse, these two craptastic action flicks from the Crown International vaults are now available in one, handy, two-disc double feature set. In 9 DEATHS, Sho Kosugi (REVENGE OF THE NINJA) and Brent Huff (PERILS OF GWENDOLINE) battle a wheelchair-bound Nazi, his Amazon henchwoman, some midgets, and random evil ninjas in the Philippine jungle. In KILLPOINT, aging kung fu cop Leo Fong (ENFORCER FROM DEATH ROW) and FBI agent Richard Roundtree (SHAFT), are after a deranged Cameron Mitchell (SPACE MUTINY), who’s stolen a bunch of weapons from a National Guard armory and gone on a crime spree. 9 DEATHS, the more fun ““ if ludicrous ““ of the two flicks, is presented in a nice, but non-anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen transfer, while the dreary KILLPOINT is given a sharp, anamorphic 1.78:1 presentation. The discs include trailers for other Crown action “classics.” These flicks are bad ““ even by my usually undemanding standards, and are recommended only for Kosugi (or Fong?) completists.

BACKLASH (2006). Stuntwoman Danielle Burgio turns action star as secret agent Skye Gold, in this somewhat incoherent but action-packed espionage thriller. On vacation in Trinidad, the pretty CIA agent finds herself marked for death by professional assassins and spends the rest of the movie running around the tropical island trying not to get killed. Fast paced and utterly brainless, this MTI direct-to-video B movie is still fun to watch, with some great fight scenes, nice photography and an attractive lead. There’s some really atrocious CGI effects in here, too, though (apparently the production couldn’t afford to rent helicopters) so be forewarned. Presented in anamorphic widescreen, the disc includes a couple of fluffy featurettes, a music video, bios, and trailers for other MTI action releases (all of which appear to have the same cast). Undemanding fun, and maybe worth a rental.

Thanks for joining me today. Some of the titles I intend to cover in upcoming columns are: CHAINSAW SALLY, SLAYER, EMMANUELLE 2: THE JOYS OF A WOMAN, ONCE UPON A GIRL, CITY OF ROTT, HUNK, THE POM POM GIRLS, THE VAN, THE WICKER MAN, THE BRIDE AND THE BEAST, LAURA’S TOYS, RAPTOR ISLAND, THE CISCO KID COLLECTION, PUMPKINHEAD: ASHES TO ASHES, ALTERED, KILL BABY KILL, JET LI’S FEARLESS, CASINO ROYALE, Disney’s PETER PAN, more MR. MOTOs, a bunch of new super-hero flicks from the mind of Stan Lee”¦ and more!

I hope you’ll join me.

For older Late Show columns (hey, the reviews are still good!), visit the DVD Late Show archive, and for my other pop culture musings, DVD previews and shameless self-promotion, you might enjoy checking out my blog.

Comments, DVD questions, review requests and offers of money can be sent to: dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com

November 14, 2006

Here’s the first half of my ever-timely Halloween horror DVD reviews. (Okay, I know it’s mid-November, but have mercy ““ I’m pedalling as fast as I can!)

A few years ago, my pal Jim and I were hanging out one boring evening when we decided ““ as we often did ““ to rent a movie. On the way to the video store, I asked him what kind of movie he was in the mood for. “Something funny,” he said. “And scary. With naked girls. And explosions.”

I said, “Have I got the movie for you.”

Now, that film, Frank Henenlotter’s delightfully twisted horror comedy, FRANKENHOOKER (1990), has finally received a decent DVD release with a new special edition from Unearthed Films.

When the fiancée of suburban New Jersey native Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz) is dismembered and killed in a freak lawn mower accident, the aspiring mad scientist saves her head and conceives a bizarre plan to bring his beloved Elizabeth (pretty Patty Mullen) back to life. After a visit to New York City and a pre-Guliani Times Square, he decides to use the body parts of prostitutes to build a new body for Elizabeth. Securing the necessary raw materials (in a hilariously grotesque manner), he successfully resurrects his girlfriend, only to have her head straight for 42nd Street to turn some (deadly) tricks!

Cult fave director Henenlotter’s (BASKET CASE) last film to date is a deliriously funny flick that pays respectful homage to the Frankenstein movies of the past while simultaneously wallowing in crude, lowbrow humor and unabashedly exploitative sex and gore. The special effects are decidedly rubbery and cartoonish, but that doesn’t make them any less fun; in fact, the unreality of the effects adds to the overall loony tunes feel of the film. Hell, what other movie offers the visual spectacle of exploding prostitutes?

Previously released by budget label Simitar in a full-frame, slightly edited version, FRANKENHOOKER has now been given the full fledged special edition treatment by Unearthed Films, beginning with a flawless, uncut, 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. In addition, the unrated disc includes a great audio commentary track from director Henenlotter and Gabe Bartalos, and on-screen interviews with Patty Mullen (who looks even more beautiful today than she did in ’90) and actress Jennifer Delora, who played one of the hookers in the film. Delora also contributes her scrapbook photos to the package. Rounding it off, there’s also a behind-the-scenes featurette on the film’s special effects, the theatrical trailer, and a production still gallery.

FRANKENHOOKER is one of the best horror comedies, and well worth your time and money. Highly recommended.

Here’s what I liked about James Gunn’s directorial debut, SLITHER (2006):

It wasn’t a remake of a 70’s horror film. The majority of the cast members were over 21 years old. It was rated R. It was fast-paced, funny, gory, and even grossed me out a few times.

When a meteor crashes to Earth near a small, rural community, releasing a swarm of fast-moving slug-like creatures which can enter and take over human hosts, Sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion, SERENITY) and his Barney Fife-esque deputies must stop the alien parasites from taking over the world.

Borrowing heavily from such films as THE THING, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, and especially, the underrated 80’s gem, NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, writer-director James Gunn (screenwriter of the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake and the SCOOBY DOO movies), has managed to pull together a fright flick that works extremely well, despite it’s lack of originality. The cast is top-notch, with great, darkly humorous performances by Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, and especially, genre vet Michael Rooker (HENRY-PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER) in a particularly challenging role. Worth mentioning are the special effects, which are particularly well done, nicely combining on-set animatronics and prosthetic make-ups with deftly executed CGI.

Gunn manages to keep the pace brisk, wringing some genuine suspense out of the escalating alien slug invasion, and mining some choice black comedy nuggets from his characters and situations. And if the jokes are occasionally a bit too broad or lowbrow, we must remember that Mr. Gunn got his start at Troma, working with Lloyd Kaufman on such cinematic wonders as TROMEO AND JULIET. (A clip from Troma’s TOXIC AVENGER is briefly glimpsed on a TV screen in one scene. It’s a nice touch.)

Universal has done a fine job on the DVD, too. The film is given a startlingly sharp 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a booming Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix. The plentiful extras include several deleted scenes (including Lloyd Kaufman’s cut cameo), some extended scenes, a hilarious gag reel, the “Who’s Bill Pardy” featurette, a video set tour with Nathan Fillion, a “Making Of” documentary, a high-spirited audio commentary with Gunn and Fillion”¦ and a few surprises.

It may not be a great flick, but even with its faults, it’s probably the best new horror film I’ve seen this year. Check it out.

Back in 2002, director Lucky McKee’s first feature, MAY, generated some good reviews and strong word of mouth, and even got him invited into Showtime’s MASTERS OF HORROR directorial talent pool. Unfortunately, his second feature film, THE WOODS (2005), became embroiled in arcane studio politics and was shelved for over a year before finally making it’s belated debut on DVD.

And that’s a real shame, because while the movie isn’t a classic, it’s a lot better than most of the direct-to-disc horror movies out there, and probably would have been very well received if it had gotten a theatrical release.

Set in 1965 New England, a troubled girl, Heather Fasulo (Agnes Bruckner, VENOM), experiences mysterious occurrences in the forest surrounding the prestigious but isolated Falburn Academy, an exclusive girl’s school run by the somewhat sinister headmistress, Ms. Traverse (Patricia Clarkson, THE DEAD POOL). First she seems to hear voices in the trees, then her classmates begin disappearing in the night, leaving only dry, dead leaves in their beds, and Heather suspects that she may be the next to go missing. Unfortunately, it looks like escaping that terrifying fate may be impossible, even when her estranged parents (Bruce Campbell, THE EVIL DEAD, and Emma Campbell, FEARDOTCOM) come to take her home”¦

Beautifully shot by John R. Leonetti, and sensitively directed by McKee, THE WOODS is an atmospheric, low key horror film that eschews gory shocks in favor of strong performances and a steadily building sense of dread. The cast is uniformly excellent, with Bruckner’s shining performance as Heather giving the weird events a solid anchor. Bruce Campbell atypically and effectively underplays his role as her concerned father, and Clarkson projects both authority and menace in equal measure.

Sony has unceremoniously tossed the movie onto the marketplace with no support or extra effort whatsoever. The bare-bones disc features a gorgeous 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer (along with a disgraceful full-frame pan-and-scan option), and a robust Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix. That’s it.

While Sony may not recognize it, THE WOODS is a superior supernatural chiller and deserves to be seen. Recommended.

For several years now, I’ve been hearing how the makers of the no-budget indie hit, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT “ripped off” THE LAST BROADCAST (1998). Well, now Heretic Films has re-released the film as a special edition, and I’ve finally been able to check it out for myself.

According to the film, on December 15th, 1995, a four-man team from a cable access program called “Fact or Fiction” headed out into the New Jersey Pine Barrens to shoot a live broadcast about the legendary Jersey Devil. Only one returned. State police later found the bodies of two of the missing three and the lone survivor was convicted of their murders and sentenced to life in prison. But is he truly guilty?

Presented as a documentary investigation of the case, comprised of interviews with “experts and “found video footage” supposedly shot by the victims, the movie does bear a superficial resemblance to THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, which came out a year later. But the devil’s in the details, as they say, and ultimately the two movies are quite different. While THE LAST BROADCAST starts out promisingly, the premise doesn’t really pay off in any satisfactory manner. The “surprise” ending makes no sense at all, and thus, has little impact.

Heretic’s new special edition is quite nice, though, presenting the movie in its original full-frame format, with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. The supplemental features include two commentary tracks with co-directors Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler, behind-the-scenes documentaries on the production, post production and distribution of the film, and several video interviews with the makers of THE LAST BROADCAST. Heretic has also included an extensive still gallery and trailers for some of their other releases.

It’s not a bad film, and it does deliver a few chills and surprises, but overall, I didn’t think it quite matched its reputation. You might disagree. I can say, though, that if you’re a fan of the film or just curious, Heretic Films’ DVD is a superior package.

Based on a popular video game, Christopher Gans’ SILENT HILL (2006) is an atmospheric, visually striking film, that nonetheless feels a bit hollow.

In fact, it feels very much like watching someone else play a video game.

The story (secreenplay by Roger Avery), which I’m told is quite faithful to the game, goes something like this: Rose (Radha Mitchell, MAN ON FIRE) is a mother who takes her adopted daughter to the ghost town of Silent Hill, in a desperate attempt to cure the young girl’s strange emotional and mental problems. But Silent Hill is not like any other town on Earth. Seemingly abandoned and constantly shrouded in smoke and drifting ash from underground fires, the town may or may not exist in another reality altogether. When Rose and her child are separated, she must search the eerie town and attempt to unravel its secrets.

In the course of the film, Rose must solve riddles, decipher clues and avoid terrifying creatures ““ creatures which never seem to have any plot purpose but to be avoided. There’s fiery baby demons, disfigured wanderers, an armored stalking knightmare, and scary nurses (yeah, I said nurses) ““ all well rendered with state-of-the-art CGI, but rarely relevant to the story. Of course, the town’s dark secrets are eventually revealed, but the backstory is so elaborate and convoluted that while I think I understand it, I’m not entirely sure.

On the plus side, the performances are quite good, and the movie does succeed in creating an unearthly “reality” that is genuinely unsettling. On every technical level, the film shines, with astounding visuals and a decidedly effective use of sound effects and music. But it still feels empty.

Sony/TriStar’s DVD presents the movie in a perfect 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, accompanied by a haunting Dolby 5.1 sound mix. It’s not overloaded with supplements, but there’s an informative and engaging 6-part “making of” documentary and trailers for other Sony releases.

If you’re a fan of the game, you’re probably going to enjoy the film more than I did, but I can still recommend the film to horror fans for its overall creepiness and memorable visuals. Check it out.

Next time, we’ll be looking at some recent “classic horror” releases: THE INNER SANCTUM MYSTERIES starring Lon Chaney Jr., two BORIS KARLOFF collections, FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY, and THE GROOVIE GOOLIES: SATURDAY MOURNING COLLECTION. In the weeks ahead, I’ve got some great drive-in action fare on tap, as well as a whole slew of dirty movies. Stay tuned.

Comments about this column or DVD-related questions? Feel free to contact me at dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com.

November 7, 2006

Yeah, I know. I’m still running behind, so let’s get right to the reviews.

In 1986, Hearst Entertainment (parent company of King Features) and TV animation house Marvel Productions, teamed up to produce 65 episodes of a new syndicated animated adventure series featuring three of Hearst’s longest-running and best-known newspaper comic strip heroes: Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, and The Phantom. The series also promoted Mandrake’s African manservant/bodyguard, Lothar, to full-hero status, and gave each of the four leads a teenaged child (in bachelor Mandrake’s case, an adopted one). Together, they battled Gordon’s arch-nemesis, Ming the Merciless, as he attempted to conquer the Earth.

That series makes its DVD debut with BCI Eclipse’s DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH: THE COMPLETE SERIES, VOL. 1, which includes the first 33 episodes on five discs.

Unfortunately, despite a very talented crew and a great premise (and a nifty theme song penned by Stan Lee), the show suffers from uninspired or illogical scripts and extremely crude animation. In the style of other 80’s syndicated adventure cartoons, violence is limited to ray blasts against robots (Ming’s Ice Robots, in this case), and each episode must deliver a moral. Two story points in particular that annoyed me: in the first episode, Flash Gordon’s unnamed wife (presumably Dale Arden) is killed by Ming, and her brain patterns somehow imbedded in a crystal, which son Rick Gordon uses as the core personality for the team’s super computer. Aside from wondering what would make her mind suitable for such a purpose, it seemed odd to me that neither Flash nor Rick seem at all disturbed by this. Secondly, the Phantom, who is repeatedly referred to as being an African hero, has the mystical ability to call upon the “strength of ten tigers,” and does so at least once in each episode. Now, it’s been years since junior high, but as I recall, there are no tigers in Africa!

Regardless of the quality of the show itself, BCI’s DVD set, from their Ink and Paint label, is great. The first half of the series (33 episodes) is presented on 5 discs. Presented in the original full-screen TV aspect ratio, the picture quality is generally good, although the source material itself is occasionally littered with dirt and debris inherent in pre-digital era animation. As with BCI’s other recent animation releases like HE-MAN and SHE-RA, the set includes extensive bonus material, as well.

There are video interviews with several of the creators of the show, commentary tracks on two episodes, a short presentation “pilot” created to sell the series, numerous image galleries and bio/trivia text features, and 2 collectible art cards with illustrations by Mike Allred and Rafael Kayanan. There’s supposed to be the first episode of the 70’s FLASH GORDON cartoon on there, too, but I couldn’t seem to find it.

While I can’t really recommend the show to anyone, if you’re a fan of the show from the 80’s or a diehard collector of Flash Gordon, Phantom or Mandrake material, you may want to pick it up. The set is a first-class production all the way.

Another animated series based on a long-running comic strip comes to DVD courtesy of Classic Media, with THE DICK TRACY SHOW: THE COMPLETE ANIMATED SERIES (1961). The four-disc set includes all 130 5-minute episodes. Unfortunately, as bad as DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH may be, THE DICK TRACY SHOW is far worse.

Designed to be run as segments of locally produced kiddie shows, each episode begins with Dick Tracy at his desk, getting an assignment from his superiors. But, instead of rushing out to apprehend the perpetrators, he uses his two-way wrist radio to assign one of his operatives to the case, instead. That’s right ““ Dick Tracy almost never leaves his desk. And who are the operatives he sends out to do his job for him? Well, there’s Japanese agent Joe Jitsu, Mexican op Go-Go Gomez and Irish beat cop, Heap O’ Callory”¦ some of the most offensive racial stereotypes ever seen in TV animation.

The animation itself is about as static and stilted as it can be, and the five-minute stories don’t have much time to get complicated. Aside from Tracy’s cameos, the only other link to the famous comic strip is the use of some of its more colorful criminals ““ Flattop, Mumbles, Pruneface ““ reduced here to bumbling idiots. It’s not pretty.

And neither are the discs. While Classic Media has gone all out with the packaging ““ a beautiful hardback case with four single-sided discs and free comic book ““ the cartoons themselves really show their age, with severely faded colors and minor damage throughout.

For Dick Tracy completists only.

Two previously released Disney live-action sci-fi favorites from the Seventies have just been paired up in the ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN/RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN ““ 2 MOVIE COLLECTION (1975/1978).

If you never saw these perennial Disney favorites before, here’s the basics: two blond pre-teen orphans with mysterious mental abilities (including telepathy and telekinesis), Tony (Ike Eisenmann) and Tia (Kim Richards), search for the truth about their origins while trying to elude various criminals intent on exploiting the kids’ powers. In the first film, millionaire Ray Milland (X- THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES) is after the kids, while in the second, Christopher Lee (HORROR OF DRACULA) and Bette Davis (BURNT OFFERINGS) have their greedy hearts set on controlling Tony’s TK talents.

Directed by John Hough (THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE), both films feature primitive 70’s special effects and a certain flat, TV look, yet the stories and characters are still quite engaging, both for nostalgic adults and young children. My niece and nephew, despite being raised on today’s flashy FX-heavy fantasy flicks and video games, loved the movies, watching them so many times my sister begged me to take the disc back.

Disney’s double feature disc is pretty bare-bones, but does offer both films in crystal sharp widescreen (1.78:1 and 1:75:1) anamorphic transfers. The original soundtracks have been remixed in Dolby 5.1 Surround.

Good stuff.

BCI Eclipse, having had some success with Filmation’s animated offerings, is starting to dip into the studio’s live action Saturday morning fare, beginning with the only-in-the-Seventies post-Apocalyptic actioner, ARK II ““ THE COMPLETE SERIES (1976).

Set in the 25th Century, after the world has been devastated by pollution and war, three multi-cultural young scientists (Terry Lester, Jean Marie Hon, and Jose Flores) and their talking chimp, Adam, roam the post-Apocalyptic wasteland in a super-advanced RV, bringing the benefits of science and good morals to the primitive remnants of humanity. That’s right ““ it’s DAMNATION ALLEY for adolescents!

Surprisingly, the show holds up pretty well. Despite the low budget, the production values are quite good, and the Ark and its accessories are pretty impressive gadgets, even today. The earnest young cast manages to play their underwritten roles with conviction, and, thankfully, the chimpanzee is never all that annoying. Scripts range from quite good to insultingly bad, but are usually somewhere in the middle, and despite the grim setting, the stories all offer hope and a solid moral lesson. Fortunately, these “lessons” are not as heavy handed as in later Filmation shows, and are delivered without the usual sledgehammer tactics. Guest stars include Jonathan Harris, Malachi Throne, Geoffrey Lewis, Jim Backus and a teenaged Helen Hunt.

BCI has placed all 15 episodes on 4 discs. Unfortunately, the transfers are not very impressive. Presented in their original full-screen TV aspect ratio, the source material is faded and grainy, although relatively free of damage or debris. Still, considering that the show is nearly 30 years old, and was probably shot on a budget of $100 bucks an episode, we’re probably lucky the episodes look as good as they do.

As with their animated Filmation releases, ARK II ““ THE COMPLETE SERIES, comes with an bunch of bonus features, including audio commentaries on two episodes, a full-length “Making Of” documentary, several photo and art galleries, and all 15 scripts, plus the series bible, on DVD-ROM.

Ultimately, ARK II is good kid’s show and a relatively decent example of 70’s TV sci-fi, and I really enjoyed watching these episodes again. If it’s a fond memory from your childhood, you may want to pick it up, despite the less-than-reference-quality transfers.

Universal’s excellent science fiction series continues along with BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SEASON 2.5 (2006), as our rag-tag fleet of human survivors discover a second surviving Battlestar, the Pegasus, which offers the desperate Colonials hope that they can finally turn the tables on their Cylon pursuers.

Of course, in the grim GALACTICA universe, that just isn’t the way things work.

The commander of the Pegasus (Michelle Forbes) just might be a homicidal psycho, there’s continuing political unrest in the fleet, the Cylon prisoner is about to give birth, the President (Mary McDonnell) is dying of cancer, the black market is out of control, there are Cylon moles in the fleet”¦ and the Colonials may have just found a planet they can call home. Maybe.

Ronald E. Moore’s “re-imagining” of the Seventies space adventure series remains one of television’s top dramas, with a powerful cast and challenging, grown-up scripts that take the show to a dramatic level far above pretty much anything else in the genre. Loaded with political and social allegory (as the best sci-fi always is), BATTLESTAR GALACTICA should be required viewing for anyone who enjoys good television.

SEASON 2.5 presents the second half of the second season on DVD, with stunning 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers and pounding Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound. Each episode is accompanied by an audio commentary (podcast) by producer Moore, deleted scenes and more. The set also includes Moore’s video blogs, several featurettes, and an extended version of the midseason episode, “Pegasus.”

If, like me, you don’t get Sci-Fi Channel, you owe it to yourself to follow BATTLESTAR GALACTICA on DVD. Hell, it’s even better than watching it on TV ““ no commercials!

BCI Eclipse has recently unleashed upon an unsuspecting and unprepared public the science fiction spoof GALAXINA (1980) in a special “25th & 1/2 Anniversary Edition.”

I first read about this film ““ as with many others ““ in Starlog magazine when I was a teen, and ended up waiting 26 years to actually see it. The movie is known (by those who know of it at all) as being one of the very few film vehicles for actress Dorothy R. Stratten, the lovely Playboy Playmate and Bogdanovich protégé who was murdered by her husband shortly before the movie was released.

Unfortunately, GALAXINA is terrible; a remarkably unfunny comedy from William Sachs, the director of THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN (another movie I only know about from old Starlogs) and good old Crown International Pictures.

Strratten portrays the title character, the shapely android pilot of the intergalactic police cruiser Infinity. While she’s both beautiful and competent at her job, the rest of the crew are neither. Captain Cornelius Butt (Avery Schreiber, CAVEMAN) is an idiot, and his officers Thor (Stephan Macht, THE MONSTER SQUAD) and Buzz (J.D. Hinton) are almost as bad. But Galaxina and Thor nonetheless have feelings for one another, feelings they cannot act upon, because physical contact causes the android to short circuit. After a visit to an alien brothel, the crew of the Infinity is assigned to find a magical artifact, the Blue Star, and keep it out of the hands of the resident Darth Vader clone.

While there’s some potential in here, it’s almost completely squandered by director Sachs, who has no apparent sense of comedy timing whatsoever. The characters and humor are crude, the gags are cliché, and while Stratten is undeniably beautiful to look at, her role as a robot seems to stretch her limited emoting abilities. There are a couple of decent alien designs by Chris Walas (in particular, the “Rock Biter”), and a few jokes that almost work, but overall, the film remains notable only for its association with its tragic leading lady.

BCI’s classy 25th Anniversary Special Edition treats the film like a comedy masterpiece, however, with a sharp, clean 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. There’s also a boatload of bonus features. There’s a commentary track by director Sachs and actor Stephen Macht (God love “˜em, they still think this movie is funny!), another audio interview with Sachs, additional footage from the international version, the theatrical trailer, and four still galleries. DVD ROM features include the original script and shooting script, as well as reprints of the above-mentioned Starlog articles. Finally, there’s a 6-page booklet with stills and a biography of Stratten.

Once again, we’ve got a bad movie in a fantastic DVD package. Recommended only for people interested in the late Dorothy Stratten”¦ or fans of Avery Schreiber. If there are any.

New from VCI is the 50’S SCI-FI DOUBLE FEATURE: KING DINOSAUR/THE JUNGLE (1952/1955), which features two rare and offbeat flicks from the fab Fifties.

KING DINOSAUR is the simple tale of four astronauts (two male, two female) who journey to the planet Nova, which has recently wandered into our solar sytem and taken up residence. Via the magic of stock footage, our intrepid but bickering heroes arrive on Nova, which looks remarkably like L.A.’s Griffith park. There they encounter bears, lemurs, owls, snakes, and a transparent, optically enlarged insect. Soon, because the movie is called KING DINOSAUR, they travel to an island in the middle of a lake where they encounter giant gila monsters, baby crocodiles, monitor lizards, armadillos(!), and an iguana pretending to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The movie is only an hour long, but I fell asleep twice. Director Bert I. Gordon went on to direct such other classics as THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE and EMPIRE OF THE ANTS.

The companion feature on this digital double bill is William Berke’s THE JUNGLE, a 73 minute epic shot on location in the wilds of India. The American cast includes Marie Windsor (CAT WOMEN OF THE MOON), slick Ceasar Romero (TV’s Joker from the original BATMAN show) and beefy Rod Cameron. Together, they journey into the wilderness in search of prehistoric wooly mammoths (in India!). Slow and talky, with tons of travelogue-styled footage of natives and wild animals (including some gruesome shots of local fauna fighting to the death), THE JUNGLE is pretty much a snooze-fest, too.

KING DINOSAUR is presented in a sharp, B&W 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer culled from the original 35mm negative. Considering the shoestring budget, the movie looks great, with the exception of some of the older stock footage. THE JUNGLE is presented, for the first time on home video, in full-frame 1.33:1 format and color-tinted in sepia tone.

To make up for the tepid features, VCI has included a number of extras, including a text interview with THE JUNGLE star Marie Windsor, a bunch of still and poster galleries, trailers, and several text bios.

Again, another nice package of less-than-exciting films, but if you’re hooked on 50’s sci-fi, at least the disc is cheap.

I first recall hearing about SUPER INFRAMAN (JUNG-GWOK CHIU-YAN, 1975) on an episode of Siskel & Ebert’s SNEAK PREVIEWS when the flick was released to U.S. drive-ins (as INFRA-MAN) back in the mid-Seventies. I vividly remember a brief clip of the titular hero battling a bunch of bad guys in monster suits, and that Gene Siskel was sneering at this goofily giddy Hong Kong super-hero flick, while Roger Ebert sang its praises. I knew I had to see it.

Unfortunately, if it ever played theatrically in Central Maine, I missed seeing the ads in the newspaper. If I had seen such an advertisement, I know I would have begged my mom to take me to see it. Fortunately for her, I never did.

When the home video boom came along some years later, I saw the Prism VHS pre-record of INFRA-MAN in pretty much every video store I walked into. But, oddly, I never bothered to rent it. You see, I’d grown up a bit since the film’s U.S. run in 1975-76, and I thought I was above such things. (This was around the same time that I turned my back on cartoons, too.) But, by the early 90’s, I was once again happily indulging my inner child, and when I came across a used copy of the tape for sale in a South Florida video store for about $5, I bought it, took it home, and gave it a screening.

Man, what fun!

The story begins when the mysterious Princess Dragon Mom appears and threatens the world with her army of monsters and skeleton-men. (“Greetings to you, Earthlings, I am Princess Dragon Mom. I have taken over this planet. Now I own the Earth and you’ll be my slaves for all eternity.”) In response to this awesome threat, the governments of Earth cede all authority to the smartest man in the world, Professor Chang, and his Science Patrol ““ a group of athletic young Asian men dressed in Vegas-era Elvis-styled uniforms (one of whom would soon go on to gain exploitation film fame as “Bruce Le!”). Professor Chang persuades one of his blindly obedient operatives (future HK superstar Danny Lee of MIGHTY PEKING MAN and John Woo’s THE KILLER) to submit to extensive operations which turn him into the “bionic” super-hero, Infra-Man.

With his stylin’ new suit of red and silver, AM-FM equipped helmet, and newfound powers of flight, super kung fu, bionic backflips and “thunderball” fists (it is not revealed whether these include goldfingers ““ ha! Get it?), the invincible Infra-Man is unleashed upon the monstrous minions of Princess Dragon Mom, who are ““ let’s face it ““ simply overmatched.

Call it the ultimate lazy Saturday afternoon veg-out flick. Ninety minutes of kung fu fightin’, rubber monsters, mad science, cheesy special effects, and swingin’ Seventies sci-fi schtick… I mean, seriously ““ what more could anyone possibly want from a movie?

Produced by Hong Kong’s Shaw Brothers studio, home of hundreds of kung fu flicks, SUPER INFRAMAN was an attempt to duplicate the success of Japanese super-hero shows like ULTRAMAN and KAMEN RIDER, which all featured garishly-costumed heroes who battled rubber-suited monsters. Shaw Brothers even imported some Japanese talent to help whip up their creature costumes. Ultimately, though, it was the studio’s (and the country’s) only full-fledged attempt at the genre… and that’s a shame.

For, while it may have been an imitation of Japanese super-hero shows, the final film had a unique Hong Kong vibe and distinct identity of its own.

Image Entertainment (as part of their Shaw Brothers collection) has now released SUPER INFRAMAN on a really nice widescreen DVD. The print and transfer are virtually flawless, with bright colors and sharp details, and it’s even cooler looking in its proper “Shaw Scope” aspect ratio. The film is presented in its original Mandarin with subtitles… and in the wonderfully comic book-ish English dub, which, for once, is actually preferable, as the Mandarin dialogue ““ if the subtitles are accurate ““ is rather straight-forward and dry. The English track is much more fun, with over-the top dialogue and goofy voices for the monsters.

Extras include a bunch of trailers for other Shaw Brothers films (in Mandarin without subtitles), an image gallery, and informative liner notes by August Ragone and Damon Foster.

Highly recommended.

Next week, I’ll finally get to my Halloween horror suggestions, including FRANKENHOOKER, SLITHER, THE WOODS, THE LAST BROADCAST, two Boris Karloff collections, and THE GROOVIE GOOLIES. Better late than never, right?

Right?

C’mon… work with me here….

Comments about this column or DVD-related questions? Feel free to contact me at dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com.

October 03, 2006

Still working my way through the titanic stack of review discs on my desk, so let’s not waste any time, and get right to the reviews…

BCI/Eclipse, under their Ink & Paint label, have recently released BLACKSTAR ““ THE COMPLETE SERIES (1980-81), probably the last Filmation cartoon I remember actually getting up early to watch. I was into D&D then, and anything with a sword & sorcery theme caught my interest. Unfortunately, it aired in the same timeslot as Ruby-Spears’ superior THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN on another network, so unless THUNDARR was a repeat, I usually opted for the post-Apocalyptic barbarian over the sword-slinging astronaut, John Blackstar.

Loosely inspired by interplanetary romances like Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “John Carter of Mars” pulp stories, BLACKSTAR tells of an American astronaut, who, after passing through a black hole, finds himself stranded on the primitive planet Sagar. The planet is ruled by the evil, Darth Vader-esque Overlord, and opposed by a motley band of freedom fighters, including the sorceress Mara, shape-shifter Klone, and seven pink “trobbits.” John Blackstar somehow comes into possession of the Starsword, a mystic blade that can be combined with the Overlord’s Powersword to become the Powerstar ““ an ultimate weapon that the Overlord desperately covets.

Watching it today as a 40+ adult, I find that BLACKSTAR is actually somewhat better than I remembered. The animation still looks pretty slick and, oddly enough for a Filmation adventure show, uses very little, if any, rotoscoping. The character designs and background paintings are excellent, really selling the alien environment of planet Sagar. The scripts ““ mostly by animation and sci-fi veterans J. Michael Reeves (BATMAN ““ THE ANIMATED SERIES) and Marc Scott Zicree (SLIDERS) ““ are fun and fast paced. I still hate the little pink “trobbits,” though, and prefer the episodes that play down their child-friendly antics.

BCI’s DVD full-frame transfers are excellent; the source material on BLACKSTAR looks much better than the prints used on their previous FLASH GORDON set, with bright colors and virtually no visible debris or damage. Extras include an informative booklet of liner notes, writer and producer commentaries on two episodes, on-screen interviews with many of the creators of the show, two image galleries, and “The Magic of Filmation” documentary.

If you’re nostalgic and want to revisit your childhood ““ or know kids who are into fantasy adventure ““ BLACKSTAR ““ THE COMPLETE SERIES is well worth picking up.

Obviously intended to play off of Disney’s PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN sequel, comes Sony’s “Midnight Movies” double feature FORTUNES OF CAPTAIN BLOOD/CAPTAIN PIRATE (1950/1952), two low budget Columbia “epics” starring Louis Hayward (THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK).

Based on the same Rafael Sabatini source novel as the Errol Flynn classic, FORTUNES OF CAPTAIN BLOOD chronicles the adventures of Captain Peter Blood, a physician who is branded a traitor by the English Crown and sold into slavery. Escaping from his masters, he turns to piracy on the high seas with a crew of former slaves. Hayward makes a suitably dashing hero and pretty Patricia Medina is convincing as the love of his lawless life. Shot in black & white on the Columbia backlot, FORTUNES is nonetheless an exciting little swashbuckler, with enough swordplay, derring-do and tongue-in-cheek wit to make for an enjoyable Sunday afternoon viewing.

The sequel, CAPTAIN PIRATE, takes a place a few years after the first. Blood has retired from piracy and about to get married, when a pirate imposter starts committing terrible atrocities in his name. Blood quickly reforms his crew and sets sail again in an effort to clear his reputation. Made two years later in color, with Hayward and Medina reprising their roles, CAPTAIN PIRATE is not only a worthy sequel, but an entertaining, family-friendly adventure in its own right.

Packaged as part of the “Midnight Movies” line (although these are really more like Saturday Matinee flicks) Sony has presented these two films on individual single-sided discs, in clean, sharp 1.33:1 full-frame transfers, which appear to be the original screen ratios. There are no extras aside from the usual optional English, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish subtitles.

Two fun pirate films for one low price, in a high-quality (if no-frills) presentation. If it sounds like your cup of grog, how can you resist?

As a follow-up to their first erotic DVD release, GWENDOLINE, Severin Films has brought to DVD another single-named softcore classic, FELICITY (1979).

This 1979 film, written and directed by John Lamond, chronicles the sexual awakening of a young Catholic schoolgirl as she spends an exotic and erotic summer in Hong Kong, experiencing all manner of sensual pleasures, including masturbation, voyeurism, bisexuality, and, eventually, romantic love.

Starring a lovely and luscious young Canadian actress named Glory Annen, FELICITY is a tasteful and well-made film, beautifully photographed and edited. The Hong Kong location footage is extraordinary, truly giving the film an exotic feel, and the sex scenes are all sensual and scalding hot. Annen’s performance is natural and unaffected, carrying the essentially plotless film effortlessly on the strength of her natural charm (and charms).

Severin’s region-free disc provides a crystal sharp 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a Dolby Digital mono soundtrack. The film is presented uncut, with footage never before seen in the U.S. Extras include a better-than-average commentary track with writer/director Lamond and star Annen, the original theatrical trailer and a sexy still gallery.

If you’re looking for an erotic film that you can watch with your significant other, FELICITY is a good choice, with a sensitive yet sexually-charged storyline, an appealing heroine, and a minimum of sleaze. Highly recommended.

Back in the early Seventies, the king of TV horror was Dan Curtis. His reign began with his successful gothic soap opera DARK SHADOWS, and was cemented with two TV movies starring Darren McGavin as reporter Carl Kolchak, THE NIGHT STALKER and the NIGHT STRANGLER. McGavin went on to reprise the role in a short-lived series without Curtis’ participation, and in response (it seems) Curtis attempted to launch another, similar franchise.

Anchor Bay is about to release on DVD ““ in fact, for the first time ever on video, as far as I can determine ““ Curtis’ 1973 TV movie, THE NORLISS TAPES.

This obvious pilot film starred Roy Thinnes (THE INVADERS, THE X-FILES) as David Norliss, a San Francisco investigative reporter working on a book debunking the supernatural. A year after taking the publisher’s advance, he calls his editor to tell him that he cannot write the book. A few days later, Norliss mysteriously disappears. When the editor shows up at Norliss’ home looking for him, he instead finds a pile of numbered cassette tapes. Playing the first one, he hears Norliss relate a terrifying story about his investigation of strange events in Carmel County involving a wealthy widow, her apparently undead spouse, a strange sculpture, and some bloodless corpses….

The movie plays out very much like Curtis’ NIGHT STALKER telefilms, with first-person narration by an investigator who is at first a skeptic, but soon caught up in unexplainable events. William F. Nolan’s teleplay follows the same structure and beats of Richard Matheson’s STALKER scripts, the minimalist musical score is again provided by Robert Cobert, and Curtis has even cast Claude Akins in a lawman role nearly identical to the one he played in the original Kolchak movie.

The biggest difference though, is that THE NORLISS TAPES is essentially humorless. Thinnes’ David Norliss is obviously a very serious, brooding sort of guy, where Darren McGavin’s Carl Kolchak was a wise-cracking wiseass with a lot of charm. This may have hurt the pilot’s chances of becoming a series back in the early Seventies. On the plus side, though, THE NORLISS TAPES co-stars the 1973-model Angie Dickinson (BIG BAD MAMA), and that’s a very good thing.

The DVD (which goes on sale today), is a bare-bones affair with a sharp, full-frame (the original aspect ratio) transfer, mono sound and a few trailers for other Anchor Bay/20th Century Fox horror titles. The transfer is solid and clean, and looks fine; the mono soundtrack is clear and strong.

While not quite as memorable as the NIGHT STALKER films, THE NORLISS TAPES does have a good, original story and an intriguing set-up. Too bad there was never a series or sequels. And since it rarely airs on TV anymore (outside occasional showings on Fox Movie Channel) it’s great to have it on DVD.

Buena Vista recently sent me a copy of one of their latest teen horror flicks, STAY ALIVE (2006), and while it’s no classic, I found it entertaining.

The premise is that there’s this “underground” survival/horror video game, called ““ you guessed it ““ Stay Alive, and if you play it, you unleash the evil of the game story into the real world. Even worse ““ as the ad copy makes explicit ““ if you die in the game, you suffer the same fatal fate in reality, at the hands of the Blood Countess.

The nonsensical story incorporates (and takes great liberties with) the legend of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who, so obsessed with maintaining her youth and beauty, took to slaughtering female virgins and bathing in their blood. According to the film, the Countess apparently fled Europe for the American South, where she resumed her sanguinary beauty treatments at a local plantation. It is this plantation that is the setting for the video game.

The cast is made up of your usual group of attractive, young twenty-somethings. The only face that was familiar to me was Agent Cody Banks himself, Frankie Muniz, as one of the die-hard gamers who uncover the game’s sinister secret.

Sure, the dialogue is cheesy, the story logic lacking, and you don’t have to have seen as many horror movies as I have to figure out by the end of the first act which characters are going to die and which are going to survive, but it’s fairly well acted (as these kinds of flicks go) and the direction by William Brent Bell is basically competent and occasionally suspenseful.

STAY ALIVE is available in two different DVD editions ““ as a full-frame, PG-13 version which not only cuts out almost all of the (already minimal) gore and profanity, not to mention nearly half of the picture, and an unrated, 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen version. Obviously, the unrated, widescreen edition is the preferable one. Bonus features include a filmmaker commentary with the director, a Visual Effects featurette and an interactive game that you can play with the disc menus and your remote control.

Not a great horror film by any stretch, but I found it entertaining, and will probably watch it again one of these days. You might find it worth a rental, if you’re feeling undemanding.

Ida Lupino. Tom Skerrit. John Travolta. William Shatner. Eddie Albert. Ernest Bognine. Only one Seventies Satanism screamer can claim all of those worthies in its cast, and that’s the perennial drive-in and late night TV classic, THE DEVIL’S RAIN (1975) ““ the only devil-worship shocker with real-life Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey as technical advisor!

Directed by Robert Fuest (THE ABOMINABLE DR. FIBES), RAIN is an entertaining, old-fashioned horror thriller, light on logic, but full of cool imagery and PG chills. Hollywood legend Lupino is the matriarch of a family that possesses a book coveted by a Satan-worshipping coven led by Borgnine. When Lupino, her eldest son (Shatner) and the book all go missing, little brother Tom Skerrit heads for a desert ghost town in search of them. There he finds a cult of robed, eyeless devil worshippers (including a very young Travolta) hanging out in a de-consecrated church and a big jug full of stolen souls. With the aid of college professor Eddie Albert, Skerrit attempts to free the souls and rescue his family from the cult.

It’s a lot of fun, if a bit tame by today’s standards. The desert settings are appropriately eerie, the visual and make-up effects are pretty good (especially for the time), and the ending still packs a punch. The performances range from good to outrageously over-the-top, which should be no surprise, considering the actors involved.

Previously released by VCI, THE DEVIL’S RAIN is getting a new lease on life from those wizards at Dark Sky Films with a new, much-improved edition hitting shelves on Halloween day. Boasting a superior 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer from a 35mm vault print (the VCI version was non-anamorphic and a bit dark), and sharp 2.0 Dolby Mono soundtrack, Dark Sky’s new special edition includes an informative commentary track from director Fuest moderated by Marcus Hearne, the original theatrical trailer, vintage radio spots and newsreel footage of Anton Lavey conducting a Satanic wedding in the 60’s.

Once again, Dark Sky has proven that they’re one of the top cult film labels around by taking a previously-released horror title and making the earlier edition obsolete. If you’re a fan of RAIN or Seventies Satanic thrillers in general, you’ll want to pick this up. And if you own the VCI disc, you may seriously want to consider an upgrade.

Recommended.

One of the great science fiction films of the atomic Fifties, THIS ISLAND EARTH (1955), has recently been re-released on the digital format by Universal Studios.

Directed by William Alland (aided by an uncredited Jack Arnold of THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON fame), THIS ISLAND EARTH stars rugged Rex Reason and fetching Faith Domergue as nuclear scientists recruited into a secret research project by the mysterious (and mysteriously big-headed) Exeter (Jeff Morrow). Eventually the scientists discover that Exeter is an extraterrestrial (his HUGE cranium probably should have been a clue) desperate for new energy sources for his homeworld, and are swept away against their will on his flying saucer to the war-torn planet Metaluna.

Produced on a comparatively huge budget, THIS ISLAND EARTH was Universal’s answer to MGM’s lavish blockbuster FORBIDDEN PLANET, and the studio’s only Technicolor sci-fi extravaganza. Although the story moves a bit slowly by today’s standards, the special effects and scope of the film are still impressive.

The new Universal DVD is a bare-bones affair without a single extra feature and a static menu screen. The film is presented in 1.33:1 full-frame format, although, by most reports, the movie was intended to be matted for widescreen theatrical exhibition.

Previously released in the early days of the DVD format by Image Entertainment, universal’s new disc is a slight improvement, with a sharper, brighter transfer. Unfortunately the print used shows some minor age-related wear, some scratches, dust and debris. It’s not terrible, but one wishes that Universal had taken this important genre film back to the computer lab and give it a full-fledged restoration. Hell, I don’t even like the way the Art Department cropped the original poster art for the DVD cover ““ the design is off-balance and doesn’t even show the best parts of the art.

THIS ISLAND EARTH is a classic science fiction epic that still awaits a definitive release, but for now, this one will have to do. At least it’s inexpensive.

From 1953 to 1969, author Don Glut (best known for the paperback novelization of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and a bunch of Gold Key comic books from the Seventies, like Dr. Spektor and Dagar) made amateur monster movies with his family’s 16mm movie camera. Of course, lots of kids made home movies, but what made Glut’s flicks different was that his efforts were frequently written up in issues of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, and later, publications like Filmfax, Fangoria and Starlog (where I read about them years ago).

I WAS A TEENAGE MOVIE MAKER (2006) is a documentary of Glut’s amateur filmmaking “career,” covering all 41 home, student and short films that he made during that above-mentioned 16-year span. From his earliest efforts, attempting to remake and sequelize classic Universal “Frankenstein” and “Dracula” films, to his later efforts as a film student using actual costumes and props from classic science fiction films and cliffhanger serials (courtesy of his friendship with superfan Bob Burns), Glut covers each short film in detail and shares many entertaining anecdotes about their making. Interspersed throughout the documentary are comments from Randal Kleiser (director of GREASE and Glut’s college roommate), Bob Burns, Famous Monsters editor Forrest J. Ackerman, Jim Harmon and even Glut’s mom!

The 2-disc special edition also includes all 41 of the films discussed in the documentary, each one accompanied by an audio commentary by Glut. There are also several behind-the-scenes bits, outtakes, and still galleries.

Cinema Epoch’s DVD presents the material in a full-frame transfer, which is quite nice overall, though Glut’s short films understandably vary in picture quality due to their age and amateur production. The packaging is slick and the material is fascinating. As a kid, I always wanted to make movies like these and never quite managed to make it happen. It’s a lot of fun to watch these now as an adult and admire the drive, talent and sheer strength of will that teenage Glut and his friends demonstrated in the making of these ambitious little motion pictures.

I loved I WAS A TEENAGE MOVIE MAKER, and it’s highly recommended.

A lot more reviews are in the pipeline for the next several weeks, including a bunch of horror disc reviews in time for your Halloween movie marathon planning: THE BORIS KARLOFF COLLECTION, THE INNER SANCTUM MYSTERIES, VOODOO MOON, THE LAST BROADCAST and more. I’ve also got a nice selection of drive-in action flicks, with THE SISTER STREET FIGHTER COLLECTION, 9 DEATHS OF THE NINJA, GALAXINA and KILLPOINT, plus some sci-fi television with BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SEASON 2.5 and my final FARSCAPE and ANDROMEDA reviews!

Comments about this column or DVD-related questions? Feel free to contact me at dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com.

September 12, 2006

You would not believe the summer I’ve had.

Not to get into gory details, but two of the most painful conditions it is possible for a guy to have hit me in rapid succession early in August, accompanied by various other debilitating and lingering ailments. I didn’t watch many movies last month, nor, if truth were told, have the mental clarity and concentration to coherently write about them.

However, it appears that the worst is now over. I’m about neck-deep in missed deadlines, but I’m slowly clawing my way out. With luck ““ the good kind, for a change, I hope ““ I’ll be able to get back to that weekly schedule for the column that I was achieving earlier this summer.

Anyway, today, I’ve got a few short reviews to tide you over until next week, which will be a full-fledged, full-service Late Show, crammed with B-movie goodness.

Classic Media has done a great service for fans of kaiju eiga and, specifically the Big G, with their release of the original, uncut, Japanese version of GOJIRA (1954), paired in an attractive new DVD package with the American version, known as GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS (1956).

American nuclear testing creates a towering prehistoric monster with radioactive breath, which heads straight for Tokyo, leaving devastation in its wake. Japan’s only hope of defeating the creature lies in the Oxygen Destroyer a weapon as potentially deadly as the A-bomb itself. Can Dr. Serizawa, the Destroyer’s inventor, be persuaded to use the weapon before it’s too late?

Directed by Ishirô Honda, GOJIRA is a dark, occasionally moving, anti-nuclear allegory with powerful performances by a top-flight Japanese cast. The script is excellently constructed, never losing sight of the human stories that might easily have been lost in the devastating spectacle of the primeval giant’s fury. Played utterly straight and with complete sincerity, the film ““ while derivative of American efforts like THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS ““ has an emotional weight unique in the genre. Only the Japanese have suffered the consequences of a nuclear attack, and the memories of Nagasaki and Hiroshima were still very vivid in 1954. The scenes showing the wounded victims of the creature’s first Tokyo attack, lying en masse on hospital floors as they slowly die from radiation poisoning, have a verismilitude that could only have come from real-life experience.

The U.S. version, GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS, is a pretty effective creature feature in its own right, but much of the human suffering and character drama has been cut out, replaced with new footage of actor Raymond Burr, playing an American journalist on the scene. Although the structure of the movies is quite different, played out mostly in flashback, the movie is still quite grim. Burr’s scenes are really quite expertly integrated into the Japanese footage, with excellent use of body doubles and carefully matched sets and lighting. Burr, too, deserves credit for playing the role very straight, describing the devastation his character witnesses with credible conviction.

Classic Media presents GOJIRA for the first time on American home video in fine form. Although the print ““ direct from the vaults of Toho Studios ““ shows considerable wear and damage, due to the inferior stock used, the transfer is as fine as modern technology could make it. There are still scratches and specks riddled throughout, but the image is mostly sharp, with solid blacks and good contrast. The movie also uses lots of stock footage of the military, and when that film appears, it is noticeably inferior to the rest of the footage. Overall, though, the transfer is excellent for a movie of this vintage. The print of GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS, is okay, but looks about the same as it has on every previous domestic video presentation: slightly washed out and grainy.

GOJIRA includes clear English subtitles accompanying the original mono audio soundtrack, while GODZILLA keeps its familiar English mono tracks. Both films include informative, detailed audio commentaries by Godzilla scholars Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski, and there are two featurettes, one focusing on the development of the original film story, the other on the film’s elaborate special effects.

The two films come in a classy, attractively designed “hardback” clamshell, and the package includes a 16-page booklet with extensive liner notes.

For fans of kaiju films or serious students of science fiction cinema, Classic Media’s GOJIRA/GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS may be the most important DVD release of the year. And if that’s not enough to be grateful for, they’ve announced similar editions of other Godzilla and vintage Toho kaiju films in the months to come.

Highly recommended.

Hungarian actor Peter Lorre made quite a career for himself in sinister character roles, but probably his most offbeat characterization was that of Japanese detective/secret agent, Mr. Moto. In eight films for 20th Century Fox, Lorre played the devious, crime busting jiu-jitsu master and Fox Home Video has just released four of these classic B-movies in THE MR. MOTO COLLECTION VOL. 1.

The first film in the set, THINK FAST, MR. MOTO (1937), introduces the Japanese sleuth as a San Francisco importer/exporter who takes it upon himself to track down and break a diamond smuggling ring operating out of Shanghai. Atmospheric, moody, and filled with devious characters, it’s a strong start to the series.

The second disc, THANK YOU MR. MOTO (1937), finds our hero in China, searching for the tomb of the legendary Genghis Khan. Disc three, MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE (1938), finds the inscrutable secret agent deep in the jungles of Cambodia, posing as an archeologist. In the final disc in this first set, THE MYSTERIOUS MR. MOTO (1938), Lorre’s character heads for London, where he attempts to destroy an organization of professional assassins.

Each film is presented full frame with cleaned-up mono sound. Fox has done a marvelous job restoring these early thrillers (each disc has a restoration comparison), and has packaged them together in a smart box set. Each disc includes a featurette focusing on a different aspect of the series’ production ““ including profiles of Lorre and series director Norman Foster.

I love these old B&W mystery series, and Fox is to be complimented not only for releasing them on DVD, but putting the effort in to restore and present them properly. A great set, and well-worth buying if you’re a fan of classic Hollywood mysteries. I can’t wait for Volume Two.

I haven’t actually watched a new Jean-Claude Van Damme movie since KNOCK-OFF, I think. While there was a time when I made an effort to see each of the Muscles from Brussels’ movies ““ I particularly liked BLOODSPORT, DOUBLE IMPACT, HARD TARGET and MAXIMUM RISK ““ his transition in the early 90’s from theatrical action star to direct-to-vid leading man left me behind, I’m afraid.

Well, Sony Home Video just sent me the latest action effort from the man, a surprisingly involving little flick called THE HARD CORPS (2006).

Van Damme plays Phillipe Sauvage (gotta love those movie names), a Desert Storm vet suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Through a somewhat contrived series of events, he is hired as bodyguard for an ex-boxing champ-turned-philanthropist (Razaaq Adoti). Unfortunately, an ex-con rap music producer with a grudge has marked the former boxer for death, and Sauvage finds himself trying to protect an uncooperative client in the midst of a hip-hop shooting war.

There’s not really all that much action in this one ““ maybe one hand-to-hand bout and a couple of gunfights, but what there is fairly well staged. Direction (by Van Damme vet Sheldon Lettich), production values and cinematography are surprisingly slick for a direct-to-DVD flick, and the story (despite how it may read above) is actually quite interesting and well executed, with solid performances by most of the cast, especially Vivica A. Fox and Adoti.

Van Damme mumbles his lines and delivers them in his usual stilted manner, but since his character is supposed to be emotionally damaged, it sorta works.

Setting Van Damme down into the middle of a hip-hop gangsta war makes for some interesting character bits and gags; I particularly liked a scene where his character is training some young bodyguard recruits how to shoot properly, berating them for holding their guns sideways. Sure enough, in the final gunfight, only he and his team seem able to hit anybody, with the bad guy gangstas shooting their sideways sidearms wildly.

Sony Home Video’s bare bones DVD offers the feature in a crisp1.85 anamorphic widescreen transfer with Dolby 5.1 audio. The only extras are trailers for other recent and current Sony action releases, including Van Damme’s SECOND IN COMMAND.

Ultimately, I found THE HARD CORPS (the name that Van Damme’s bodyguard team is given by their employer), to be an entertaining diversion, and far better than I expected it to be. It’s not a classic ““ but it’s one of the man’s better movies.

Next week, I’ll have a big ol’ bunch of reviews for you ““ nearly a month and half’s worth, actually ““ including the softcore thrills of FELICITY, the vintage sci-fi of THIS ISLAND EARTH, the video game horrors of STAY ALIVE ““ plus: I WAS A TEENAGE MOVIE MAKER, 9 DEATHS OF THE NINJA, the VICE ACADEMY Trilogy… and did I mention pirates?

Comments about this column or DVD-related questions? Feel free to contact me at dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com.

August 2, 2006

Welcome back to the Late Show! This week, I’ve got reviews of virtually every damned TV-on-DVD box set that’s shown up in my mailbox over the last couple of months”¦and that’s a lot!

Since I don’t have cable or satellite, the only TV shows I watch these days are on DVD, and I prefer it that way. No commercials, pop-up blurbs or station I.D. “bugs,” no trimming for syndication, and most of the time, there’s extra features like bloopers, cast and crew interviews and creator commentaries to enrich the experience”¦ as far as I’m concerned, it’s the only way to watch TV. Judging from the DVD-on-TV sales figures, a lot of other people think that way, too.

So, let’s get to the reviews. We’ve got private eyes, outer space adventurers, live-action and cartoon superheroes and even a couple very different kinds of secret agents, so there should be something here for just about all of you”¦

Of all of the genre shows that I loved as a child, very few hold up well today. Fortunately, one of the rare exceptions has just hit DVD in its first full-season set: THE INCREDIBLE HULK ““ SEASON ONE (1977).

Based on the Marvel Comics character and starring TV veteran Bill Bixby (MY FAVORITE MARTIAN, THE MAGICIAN), THE INCREDIBLE HULK told the tale of a benevolent scientist named David Banner, who accidentally overdoses on gamma radiation during an experiment. Because of this, whenever he gets angry or stressed, he physically transforms into a muscular, inarticulate green giant (Lou Ferrigno, THE ADVENTURES OF HERCULES). When a fellow scientist is killed in an explosion blamed on the Hulk, Banner is also presumed dead in the blast. Rather than turn himself in to the authorities to be locked up and experimented on, Banner instead decides to take to the road, hiding his true identity and searching for a way to reverse his condition. Cue the sad piano music.

With the sincere and sympathetic Bixby as Banner, THE INCREDIBLE HULK was a surprisingly successful remake of the previous decade’s mega-hit show, THE FUGITIVE, spiced up with just a dash of fantasy. In both shows, our hero wanders the countryside, pausing briefly in his travels to involve himself in people’s lives, and managing to solve their problems just as the time comes to move on again. The beauty of the formula, though, is that it works. What you end up with is essentially an anthology show with a continuing lead: one episode can be pure soap opera, another a crime thriller, the next, a scaled-down disaster flick. The drama keeps the grownups watching, and as long as Banner “Hulks out” twice an episode, the kids are happy, too.

Universal has released various episodes of this show on DVD previously (to tie-in with the Ang Lee feature film from a few years ago), but this is the first full-season release. As such, it contains both original 2-hour TV movies, and the ten episodes that followed, when the show was picked up as a mid-season replacement series. Compared to other TV shows of this vintage ““ especially from Universal ““ HULK looks incredible! Presented in its original 1.33:1, full-frame format, most of these episodes look like they were shot today. Picture quality is remarkably sharp, with solid colors, no obvious artifacts and only occasional instances of print damage, dust or speckling. The only audio option is good old Dolby mono, but it’s crystal clear and well-balanced.

Extras are minimal: there’s a commentary track by writer/producer/director Kenneth Johnson on the first TV movie (recycled from a previous DVD release of that film), and an episode from Season Two, “Stop the Presses,” has been slapped onto the last disc. Originally, it was announced that the set would include an interview with Ferrigno (also recycled from that previous release), but it doesn’t appear to be included in this set.

For fans of the show, this set is unreservedly recommended. The picture and sound quality is stellar, the lenticular packaging is clever, and generally speaking, the writing, direction and performances hold up wonderfully, even after nearly thirty years.

Like many B-movie fans, I’m a big fan of actor Bruce Campbell (THE EVIL DEAD, ARMY OF DARKNESS, BUBBA HO-TEP). Thus, I was pleased to see both of the one-season television series he starred in ““ THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR. and JACK OF ALL TRADES (2000) making it to DVD this month. Of course, Warners doesn’t send me review copies, but Universal does”¦so it’s JACK we’re taking a look at here.

Set in 1801, Bruce plays Jack Stiles, a Revolutionary War hero and U.S. spy, who is sent by Thomas Jefferson to the tiny South Pacific island of Polau-Polau to work with British operative Emilia Rothschild (Angela Marie Dotchin) to foil the advances of the French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte (Verne Troyer) in his bid for world conquest.

Originally syndicated as half of an hour package with the dismal (despite the presence of the stunning Gina Torres) CLEOPATRA 2525, JACK OF ALL TRADES is a half-hour adventure comedy filled with broad, anachronistic humor, double-and-triple-entendres, Stooges-styled slapstick, and plenty of Campbell charm. In fact, if it had been a full-hour show and hadn’t been chained to the derivative CLEO, JACK might have had a chance.

Universal’s Complete Season set of JACK OF ALL TRADES is a bare bones affair, but while it would have been great to have Campbell involved with the release (nobody provides more entertaining commentaries than Bruce), it’s good to have this show on DVD at all. The 22 episodes of the series are presented in crystal clear, 1.33:1 full frame transfers, and look and sound perfect. They are spread across three separate discs, each in its own slimcase. There are no extra features whatsoever.

For Campbell fans, this is a must-buy. While it lacks the Chinned One’s personal participation, the episodes themselves are presented perfectly.

ADV Films originally released the Sci-Fi Channel series FARSCAPE to disc back in the early days of the DVD format. About a year ago, they started re-issuing them in new special “Starburst” editions. I’ve been reviewing ADV Films’ FARSCAPE STARBURST EDITIONS since they began, and I recently finished viewing all three volumes in their THIRD SEASON collection.

FARSCAPE tells the increasingly twisted tale of American astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder, STARGATE SG1), who is flung through a wormhole to the distant reaches of the galaxy, where he is reluctantly taken in by a rag-tag band of escaped prisoners on a living spaceship. Fugitives, they have to keep moving, avoiding Peacekeeper forces, bounty hunters and assorted other malevolent aliens. By the chaotic third season, the primary villain is a galactic Frankenstein known as Scorpius (Wayne Pygram), who desperately wants the secrets of wormhole travel, and has forcibly extracted the relevant data from Crichton’s brain, leaving the astronaut more than a mite mad. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, our hero is soon cloned ““ and then there’s two Crichtons running around the galaxy having separate adventures! It’s all insanely fun.

The production values and digital effects are among the best seen on television, and the writing is razor sharp, embracing the absurd without ever making it seem anything but completely reasonable. Humor is dark and edgy, and the already well-drawn characters continue to deepen, with relationships that get more and more convoluted with virtually every episode. The production and costume designs are amazing, and somehow, the Henson shop manages to keep coming up with cooler alien make-ups and space Muppets for each installment.

FARSCAPE Season Three is presented full-frame, and the transfers are perfect. Sound is offered in both Dolby stereo and a more robust 5.1 surround mix. Thankfully, with season three, ADV abandoned the glitch-plagued dual-sided double-layered discs of the earlier volumes, and have switched to single-sided discs. This means that each of the three sets in the season have four discs instead of three, and are a bit more expensive, but this is the first time I could watch a whole season without any episodes seizing up.

As before, ADV continues to load these editions down with bonus features, starting with on-screen liner notes and trivia for each episode. There are also cast and/or crew commentary tracks on many episodes, Sci-Fi Channel promos spots, and a slew of video featurettes and interviews with cast and crew.

The show is highly recommended, and kudos to ADV for making a great series of DVDs even better!

By the time the heroic He-Man made his debut in afternoon syndication, I was too old for cartoons (or so I thought), so I missed out on the whole phenomenon (I kinda liked the Dolph Lundgren movie though). But for those who grew up with the blond-tressed muscleman and his animated adventures, BCI/Eclipse has been steadily unleashing the action figure heroes and villains of Eternia upon the marketplace in pretty nifty, collectible box sets. In fact, I’ve got HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE SEASON TWO, VOL. 1 (1983) right here on my desk.

Set on the planet Eternia, THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE focuses on mild-mannered Prince Adam and his cowardly green tiger, Cringer. And a bigger pair of losers the galaxy has never seen. Yet, whenever the evil Skeletor and his henchmen threaten the peace of their kingdom, Adam and his pet call upon the magical power of Castle Grayskull and become the heroic, sword-wielding He-Man and armored Battle Cat.

Produced by the notorious Filmation Studios to sell a line of Mattel action figures and accessories, the syndicated weekday afternoon toon was astoundingly popular in the Eighties, spawning a spin-off series for girls (SHE-RA, THE PRINCESS OF POWER), an animated feature film (THE SECRET OF THE SWORD), and even a live-action feature from Cannon Films. Its following included not only young children and toy collectors, but college students as well. Like all Filmation shows, the animation was limited, although colorful and well designed, constantly recycling shots and sequences. As the series was really nothing but a toy commercial, FCC regulations required a certain amount of socially redeeming or educational content, so each episode also had a ham-fisted moral. Yet, there’s something appealing about the simplicity of its good vs. evil formula and the endless parade of bizarre characters. I’m not a fan, but I can see how people of a certain generation could still have a nostalgic affection for it, and my best friends’ five-year-old loved it when I showed it to him.

BCI/Eclipse has pulled out all the stops with these sets. Each volume includes 30 half-hour episodes spread across six discs, tucked into lavishly illustrated packaging. The episodes ““ presented in their original 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio ““ look very good overall, with bright colors and sharp details. There’s a fair amount of dust and debris ““ much of it inherent in the animation processes of the time ““ but I saw no digital artifacts or major print damage. There’s also two new behind-the-scenes documentaries featuring interviews with many of the staff and writers that created the series, three full-length episode commentaries, fifty detailed character profiles, two beautiful comic art cards, and on-screen trivia games.

Like I said, I’m not a HE-MAN sorta guy myself, but I know a lot of people my age or a little younger that have a strong nostalgia for the show. BCI has put together a set that should satisfy any hardcore fan.

Another Filmation endeavor making its DVD debut is the Saturday morning classic, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF FLASH GORDON, from 1979-80.

When the rogue planet Mongo enters our solar system on a collision course for Earth, scientific genius Dr. Hans Zarkov, athlete Flash Gordon, and his girlfriend Dale Arden blast off in a rocketship of the doctor’s invention, hoping to find a way to turn the alien planet from its course. Crash landing on its surface, they find Mongo inhabited by a vast array of sentient creatures, all under the rule of the tyrannical Ming the Merciless. It soon becomes clear to the Earthmen (and Earthwoman) that the only hope of saving Earth lies in uniting the distrustful, ever-warring races of Mongo against the sinister space tyrant.

I have to say, that in my book, this show (first season only) is right up there with Jonny Quest, Thundarr and Batman The Animated Series among the great animated adventure shows. By Filmation standards, the animation is rather lush, with lots of rotoscoping and elaborate backgrounds and character designs. Being a limited-budget, limited-animation product of the Seventies, there’s the usual relentless recycling of footage and repetitive music cues, but it is executed with a level of care and ingenuity that is rare in cartoon shows of this vintage.

In the first season episodes, the writing is not dumbed down for kids and follows the continuity of the original Alex Raymond comic strips quite faithfully. Characters are actually killed (disintegrated) on-screen, and the female characters are designed to be blatantly sexy. Ming’s got his harem and King Vultan’s got dancing slave girls… there’s no way they would have been able to get away with that even a few years later in the 80s.

The first season is presented as an ongoing serial with cliffhangers. The second season is made up of 16 fifteen-minute segments that are, unfortunately, aimed squarely at small children, with simpler, sillier stories and the addition to the cast of a pink baby dragon called Gremlin.

Once again, BCI (under their new Ink and Paint label) and animation expert Andy Mangels have put together a very nice DVD set. While the episodes definitely show their age, with a considerable amount of visible dirt and debris (inherent in this kind of animation) and somewhat faded colors, there are no noticeable digital artifacts or compression problems, and the audio is sharp and clear.

There are some great extras included ““ a 20 minute documentary wherein Filmation head honcho Lou Scheimer and other studio staffers reminisce about the show and the TV feature that proceeded it. There are character model sheets, some storyboards, the series bible and some scripts on DVD-ROM, and even the entire first episode of the 1980’s syndicated series DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH. This 80’s series (coming from BCI later this year) also starred Flash Gordon, along with The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, his sidekick Lothar and their teenaged children, all teaming up to battle Ming. The premise was okay, but looked and sounded like every other show that Marvel Productions made in the 80s: bland. Also inserted into the set are a fold out episode guide and two collectible art cards featuring beautiful illustrations by comic book artists Frank Cho and Gene Ha.

Overall, I think that the first season of the Filmation Flash Gordon is one of the best adaptations of the character to film (right up there with the Buster Crabbe serials of the Thirties), and one of the best animated adventure series ever. The DVD set is very nice ““ the picture quality’s not perfect, but better than I expected after nearly 30 years.

Recommended.

In the mid-Sixties, the television Westerns, which had dominated the medium virtually from its conception, were starting to lose ratings to a handful of upstart spy shows, inspired by the cinema success of a certain double-O agent. Trying to find a way to exploit the success of the spy genre without losing the still-vast Western audience, producer Michael Garrison proposed combining the two genres, and the result was the one-of-a-kind adventure series, THE WILD WILD WEST (1965-66).

This innovative show chronicled the adventures of Civil War heroes-turned-Secret Service agents James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (the late Ross Martin), as they toured the Western frontier in a private train, foiling the evil machinations of rogue Confederate generals, mad scientists and all the assorted other bad guys that threatened the peace and stability of our young nation. Chief among those menaces was the charming Dr. Miguelito Loveless, a brilliant inventor only three feet tall, whose capacity for murderous mischief reigned unparalleled. But no matter how bizarre or formidable the threat ““ be it flame-throwing cannons, deadly duplicates, earthquake machines, steam-driven cyborgs, or LSD-carrying ducks ““ Jim and Arte always managed to save the day with wit, style, some astounding stunts and an arsenal of anachronistic gadgets that even Bond’s Q might envy.

Paramount/CBS Video have just released the entire first season of this amazing show on DVD in a high-quality package. The set includes all 28 episodes from the black & white first season, restored and remastered and looking virtually brand new. Each episode includes a brief audio introduction by star Robert Conrad, and there are a number of other audio features on the set, including a commentary track on the pilot episode, and interviews with some of the writers and other crewmembers from the show. There’s also a still gallery, TV spots, the original title animation (minus one “Wild”), and one of Conrad’s famous Eveready commercials, in which he dared viewers to knock a battery off his shoulder.

The 70-year-old Conrad sounds weary and a bit feeble in his audio introductions, and that’s kind of startling, as I ““ and most fans ““ remember him as one of TV’s perpetual tough guys. But age catches up with everyone, I suppose, and I’m glad he was able to participate in this release at all. He certainly still sounds proud of the show and his work on it, 40 years later.

It’s a superior DVD set for a superior television series, and it gets my highest recommendation. Vintage TV rarely gets as creative, unique and smart as this.

Not only is Universal’s release of THE ROCKFORD FILES ““ SEASON TWO (1975-76) a marked improvement over their first season set, they’ve finally made available on DVD the original TV-movie pilot, which was notably (and annoyingly) missing from the first release.

THE ROCKFORD FILES was a huge mainstream hit in its day (running from 1974 to 1980 with eight TV movies in the 90’s) and has been a syndication mainstay ever since, and for good reason. Simply put, FILES was the best private eye show in the history of the medium. Grounded by James Garner’s incomparable charm and some of the sharpest writing on the tube (mostly by a young Stephen J. Cannell), the show chronicled the decidedly non-glamorous life of Jim Rockford, an ex-con (he was innocent) turned private investigator in Los Angeles. Rockford was one of the first TV eyes who didn’t wear expensive suits and operate out of a fancy office. He worked out of (and lived) in an old mobile home on the beach, and realistically had to deal with overdue bills, collection agents and deadbeat clients.

The Second Season improved on the first in many ways, with even tighter scripts, an expanded supporting cast, and some top-notch guest stars like Louis Gossett, Jr., Rob Reiner, Linda Evans, and John Saxon, among others. Stand-out episodes include the two-part “Gearjammers,” in which Rockford’s dad (the great Noah Berry Jr.) is unknowingly targeted for assassination, and “The Hammer of C Block,” which guest stars Isaac Hayes as an ex-con acquaintance of Rockford’s who’s out to clear his name. Series regular Gretchen Corbett gives a remarkable performance in “A Portrait of Elizabeth,” a powerful episode which focuses on (and gives some real insight into) Rockford’s attorney/sometime-girlfriend Beth Davenport.

Picture and audio quality of season Two is on a par with the first set ““ full-frame, 1.33: 1 transfers with a fair amount of age-related wear. Overall, though, the image is solid, with bright colors and only minimal print damage. For a show of its thirty-year vintage, THE ROCKFORD FILES looks pretty damned good. The soundtrack is Dolby mono, as is to be expected, and it’s more than adequate.

With the Second Season set, Universal has abandoned the trouble-plagued dual-sided/dual-layered flipper disc and have instead spread the 22 episodes across six discs. For extras, Universal has provided a video interview with head writer and co-creator Stephen J. Cannell, and the complete TV movie/pilot film, “Backlash of the Hunter,” which co-stars Lindsey Wagner.

Recommended.

I’m going to wrap up this installment of the Late Show with a review of another episode of Showtime’s hit horror series, MASTERS OF HORROR: LUCKY McKEE ““ SICK GIRL (2005).

To quote my own previous description of the series: the big event for fright film fans in 2005 was the debut of an original Showtime anthology series created by filmmaker Mick Garris (SLEEPWALKERS) called MASTERS OF HORROR. The premise was simple: take thirteen of the most acclaimed directors of modern horror films and have them each direct a one-hour mini-feature, with no restrictions or network censorship. The resulting series was ““ as is probably inevitable with anthologies ““ something of a mixed bag.

Director Lucky McKee is a relative newbie, with one released feature (MAY) and one unreleased feature (THE WOODS) to his credit when he was asked to join the MASTERS. His entry, SICK GIRL, stars Angela Bettis (MAY, THE TOOLBOX MURDERS) and Erin Brown (better known to Late Show regulars as “Misty Mundae,” star of THE SCREAMING DEAD, SPIDERBABE and SHOCK-O-RAMA) as a pair of lesbian lovers whose perfect romance takes a decidedly deadly turn when one of them is stung by an unusual South American insect.

Mixing dark humor with a bit of sapphic romance and plenty of last reel gross-outs, SICK GIRL is an amusing trifle, playing out as sort of a R-rated TWILIGHT ZONE story. It’s not particularly scary or challenging, but it is definitely fun.

As usual, Anchor Bay provides a pristine1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a robust Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix. (A 2.0 Dolby stereo track is also included). Anchor Bay (their parent company, IDT Entertainment, co-produced the series) has chosen to release each episode separately rather than the whole bunch in a season set, as the individual releases allow the company to really load down each disc with episode-specific bonus features. First of all, McKee, composer Jaye Barnes Luckett, and cast members Bettis and Jesse Hlubik team up for an entertaining audio commentary. Then there’s the usual slew of “making of” featurettes, with the usual cast and director interviews, behind-the-scenes montage and career retrospective. The bonus material is rounded out with a still gallery, MASTERS OF HORROR trailers, a Lucky McKee text bio, and a DVD-ROM screensaver.

That’s it for this mother. I’d like to remind you that every review I’ve written for this column is archived at www.dvdlateshow.com, searchable both by publication date and by title. We’re talking over 200 reviews now ““ that’s a lot of shiny plastic discs! There’s bonus reviews by my drinking buddies, and a couple of other features, too. So why not head over when you’re finished here, and browse around for a while?

Next week, we’ll be back to the B-movie grind, with a mixed bag of cult-film and exploitation goodness (and badness ““ but that’s good, too, right?) both domestic, and from the far corners of the world. See you then!

Comments about this column or DVD-related questions? Feel free to contact me at dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com.

July 25, 2006

On July 17, 2006, Mickey Spillane passed away at age 88. Now, I’m guessing that a lot of this column’s readers are too young to remember what a phenomenon Spillane was in the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies and Eighties, but let’s just say he was, for many years, the most recognized fiction author in the world (think Stephen King today).

His Mike Hammer detective novels sold in the millions, he was a frequent guest on TV talk shows, and the star of a hugely successful, 18-year beer commercial campaign. The Mike Hammer character appeared in numerous motion pictures and TV series beginning in the mid-Fifties and continuing up until the late Nineties. He even portrayed his most famous character in a feature film, something no other popular author can claim ““ and he did a good job, too.

Spillane was something of a personal idol to me. I first encountered his novels in high school, and quickly became a fan not only of his books, but of many of his imitators, too. His approach to storytelling ““ raw and vital ““ had a huge impact on me and my writing, and I was fortunate enough to collaborate with him on a comic book project a decade ago called Mickey Spillane’s Mike Danger.

Ironically, I’ve been working on this column for a couple of months now, ever since receiving the DVDs of MIKE HAMMER, PRIVATE EYE and MAX ALLAN COLLINS’ SHADES OF NOIR in the same week. Little did I know that it would end up as a posthumous tribute to one of the most unique entertainment personalities of the last fifty years.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Mickey Spillane: author, movie star and the creator of Mike Hammer, private eye”¦

Spillane’s first big-screen appearance was in the 1954, John Wayne-produced circus thriller, RING OF FEAR, directed by James Edward Grant.

In the film, Spillane plays himself, who, with the help of a Mike Hammer-ish sidekick played by Jack Stang (Spillane’s personal choice for Hammer), investigates mysterious going-ons and deadly “accidents” at the famous Clyde Beatty Circus. The somewhat routine story is enlivened by the novelty of celebrities Spillane and Beatty playing themselves, and an effective climax with Spillane facing down the murderous, psychotic saboteur. The movie also has a great, jazzy score.

Paramount has recently released RING OF FEAR in its first legitimate home video edition, on a bare-bones DVD. The disc features a very nice 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, clear, sharp stereo, and that’s it.

It’s not a great movie, but it has its moments, and it’s a unique pop culture curio. Recommended only for Spillane completists (like me).

The character of Mike Hammer had already been the subject of three feature films by 1963 (including 1955’s classic KISS ME DEADLY, directed by Robert Aldrich), but Spillane had never been satisfied with his famous shamus’ portrayal. In THE GIRL HUNTERS, directed by Roy Rowland, Spillane decided to take on the Hammer role himself and show Hollywood how it should be done.

Based on the first Mike Hammer book in seven years, THE GIRL HUNTERS begins with Mike Hammer lying drunk in an alley and his beloved secretary, Velda, presumed dead. But when Hammer discovers from a dying FBI agent that his girl Friday is not only still alive, but the target of a Communist assassin code named The Dragon, he pulls himself out of the gutter, slaps on the trenchcoat and porkpie hat, and dusts off his .45, ready to play St. George.

Plagued by a repetitive, annoying musical score and a somewhat over-talky script, THE GIRL HUNTERS is still a decent private eye movie, packed with Cold War paranoia and a powerful last act. Spillane is surprisingly good as Hammer, handling his dialogue ““ and his love scenes ““ with natural confidence. Shirley Eaton (GOLDFINGER, THE GIRL FROM RIO) is an effective femme fatale who looks great in a bikini, and veteran character actor Lloyd Nolan (who’d played P.I. Michael Shayne in a series of 40’s films) is great as Hammer’s FBI ally.

Image Entertainment’s DVD came out early in the DVD era, and is a bare-bones affair that at least presents the movie in its proper 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

I like it.

Award-winning mystery writer Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition and dozens of other novels), has always been a vocal defender of Spillane and has made no bones about Spillane’s influence on his own work. For a decade now, Collins has been supplementing his mystery writing career by directing a number of low-budget independent films, movies that have recently been collected by Troma Entertainment under their new Neo Noir label in the MAX ALLAN COLLINS’ BLACK BOX collection.

BLACK BOX contains a new, two-disc special edition of Collins’ first two suspense films, MOMMY (1995) and MOMMY 2: MOMMY’S DAY (1997), his multi-angle thriller, REAL TIME: SIEGE AT LUCAS STREET MARKET (2000), and his crime anthology film, SHADES OF NOIR (2006).

MOMMY stars Patty McCormack (Oscar winner for her performance as the bad little girl in THE BAD SEED) as a murderous mother who has only her daughter’s (Rachel Lemieux) best interests at heart, even if she has to kill to ensure them. In the sequel, MOMMY’S DAY, she receives a stay of execution for her previous crimes, and continues to look after her little girl ““ but is she still killing?

Both movies were shot on digital video and look like it, but the scripts ““ as one might expect ““ are very good and suspenseful, and Collins has top loaded the films with experienced actors. McCormack is excellent as the over-protective mama, and supporting roles are filled out with familiar faces like Majel Barret (STAR TREK), Brinke Stevens (TEENAGE EXORCIST), Jason Miller (THE EXORCIST), Gary Sandy (WKRP), and Mickey Spillane himself as Mommy’s bemused lawyer.

The new, two-disc set includes the same slightly-letterboxed transfers as the original Troma releases, and are packed with bonus features, many of which are new to this edition. There’s old and new commentary tracks by Collins, cast and crew, an on-screen interview with McCormack, bloopers, the “Making of Mommy” featurette, vintage media coverage, an audio recording of the original “Mommy” short story, and more cool stuff I’m surely forgetting.

Currently, this 2-disc special edition is only available in the BLACK BOX collection.

You know that “Angle” button on your DVD remote? Bet you haven’t used it much. But if you get your hands on Collins’ REAL TIME: SIEGE AT LUCAS STREET MARKET, you’ll probably give it a real workout.

The story of REAL TIME is simplicity itself: two armed robbers hold up a convenience store, and before long they have a rapidly-escalating hostage situation on their hands. But the genius of the film is not only that it plays out in ““ get this -““ “real time,” but that it is presented as if you’re watching the events unfold on the store’s multiple security cameras. Using that aforementioned “Angle” button, you can choose which camera angle you want to use to watch events unfold, and depending on your vantage point, you may see things you’d miss from another.

Well acted and tensely paced, Collins’ REAL TIME is a “real” achievement, and definitely deserves more notice for being one of the only direct-to-DVD films that actually takes full advantage of the format.

The movie is presented on the Troma DVD in multiple aspect ratios, depending on the scene and angle you use to view it. In all cases, the digital video is sharp and clear. The disc includes three commentary tracks with the filmmakers ands tars, audition tapes, deleted scenes, alternate takes, two trailers, a Ms Tree comic book story, an audio presentation of the short story the film is based on, and cast and crew biograpies.

Highly recommended. REAL TIME is also available separately.

The final disc in the set is SHADES OF NOIR, an anthology of short films directed (well, except for one) by the famed mystery author.

The disc starts of with the short, ELIOT NESS: AN UNTOUCHABLE LIFE, which stars Michael Cornelison as Ness, in what is essentially a monologue relating an anecdote from Ness’ life. It’s cute and well made, but too brief. Apparently, this was demonstration film used to raise financing for a feature-length version.

The second film, A MATTER OF PRINCIPAL, is an excellent adaptation of one of Collins’ “Quarry” short stories about a retired hitman getting caught up in a kidnapping scheme. It’s directed by a young filmmaker named Jeffrey Goodman, and it’s very good, with a strong performance by William Makozak as Quarry.

THREE WOMEN is based on a story by Collins’ wife, Barb, and it’s a simple, one-set, one act piece with some decent acting, but no real meat. The story, such as it is, consists of three women being questioned by police in an interrogation room about a murder that all three claim to have committed.

The real heart of the anthology, however, is Collins’ excellent biographical documentary, MIKE HAMMER’S MICKEY SPILLANE. It’s a very well written and professional looking documentary, with on-screen interviews with Spillane himself, as well as actor Stacy Keach, producer Jay Bernstein and many well-known and respected mystery writers. There are also rare clips from the various film and TV adaptations of Mickey’s work, and even a couple of Mickey’s great Lite Beer commercials. It covers Spillane’s life and career in considerable detail and examines the effect his work has had on both pop culture and the mystery genre.

The disc also includes as a Bonus Feature the “lost” MIKE HAMMER pilot from 1954, starring Brian Keith and directed by Blake Edwards. What a find! Keith is excellently cast as Hammer (and even resembles Spillane, somewhat). The direction and writing is on a par with Edwards’ own later PETER GUNN work, and is remarkably violent. This is the real gem of the disc, along with the Spillane documentary and the “Quarry” film.

Other bonus features include a trailer for the 1953 version of I, THE JURY, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of A MATTER OF PRINCIPAL, and an audio presentation of a rare Mike Hammer LP narrated by Spillane called “Tonight My Love.”

SHADES OF NOIR is only available as part of the BLACK BOX collection.

MAX ALLAN COLLINS’ BLACK BOX is a great DVD set, with hours of independently produced mystery and suspense. Highly recommended.

Sony has recently released a MICKEY SPILLANE’S MIKE HAMMER DOUBLE FEATURE of the first two Mike Hammer movies starring Stacy Keach from the Eighties ““ MURDER ME, MURDER YOU (1983) and MORE THAN MURDER (1984).

MURDER ME, MURDER YOU was Keach’s first Hammer telefilm, and it’s pretty decent, with a twisty plot revolving around a dead international courier, a briefcase of money and Hammer’s illegitimate 20-year-old daughter. The cast is quite good for a TV movie of the era, and the direction is solid. Personally, I very much enjoy Stacy Keach as an actor, and as Mike Hammer in particular. His affection for the role comes through clearly, and he’s always perfectly in character. It may not be quite the Hammer of the books, but I’ve always separated the TV version from the book version anyway (kinda like James Bond books/movies), and appreciate them both. Tanya Roberts plays Hammer’s secretary Velda in this movie, and I think she’s the actress who most resembles my vision of the character from the books. She even carries a gun and saves Mike’s ass in one scene.

The sequel, MORE THAN MURDER, is better than the first film, and it’s the one that really laid the groundwork for the three(!) Keach/Hammer TV series that followed. The plot is almost too convoluted, but boils down to someone shooting Hammer’s cop pal Pat Chambers (Don Stroud) in the back and framing him with a kilo of cocaine. Hammer sets out to clear his buddy’s name and find out who shot him.

A lot of the series’ gimmicks first appear here: the “mystery woman” that Hammer keeps catching glimpses of, the “I’ll make a note,” comeback, etc. Lindsey Bloom plays Velda here (as she did in the two 80s series) and while she’s a lovely lady, she’s just a little too “nice” for the role. Keach really defines his portrayal of the character in this one.

Sony surprised me, and presented these films on two single-sided, double-layered discs, each packaged in its own slimcase. I thought for sure they’d issue ’em as a single “flipper” disc. Glad I was wrong.

No frills, no extras, just clear, clean full-frame 1:33.1 transfers and Dolby stereo sound. I hope this set sells well and Sony ends up releasing the subsequent 80s TV shows.

But, while I’m waiting for those, the syndicated 90’s revival series, MIKE HAMMER, PRIVATE EYE (1997-98) is available on DVD. This show had Keach reprising the role, this time with a new, younger Velda (the gorgeous Shannon Whirry) and a young, pretty-boy assistant (Shane Conrad, son of veteran TV tough-guy Robert Conrad).

While the show was shot on the cheap ““ and looked it ““ I still liked the episodes I saw when it originally aired in syndication, and found I enjoyed watching the rest of them on DVD.

Like the two 80’s series and TV movies, this syndicated series mines a lot of humor out of playing Hammer as a 40’s-50’s kind of guy a bit out of step with the modern era. This series deals with Internet crimes and similar 90s plots, but, oddly, Hammer’s a bit rougher and more violent here than in the previous series. I’m guessing that’s because it was syndicated, and didn’t have to deal with network censors. The writing’s not too bad, either ““ not great, mind you, but most of the stories are tough and fairly clever.

The hardest thing to get past is the cheap-looking sets, bland photography, and the palm trees that show up in many exterior scenes, even though the show is still supposed to be set in New York City. Sure, they did a bunch of insert shots of Keach wandering around Manhattan, but unlike the 80s shows, this one never quite manages to hide the fact that it was shot in Ventura, CA.

Tango has released the entire, single season series on four double-sided discs. The full frame transfers are generally pretty solid, although the last disc has a couple extra episodes crammed on it and this leads to some obvious compression problems; a few episodes show some distracting pixelation. The set comes in an attractively designed box, and includes a single bonus feature: a short but entertaining on-screen interview with star Keach.

It’s not the best Mike Hammer series, but it’s the only one available. If you’re a fan, you’ll want to pick it up.

Thanks for joining me in this tribute to one of my favorite authors and personal heroes. Go buy or rent one of these discs. Better yet, go buy one of his books. Chances are you’ll thank me later.

Next week, I’ll have a jumbo-sized TV box set round-up for you guys, but before I wrap up this column, I’d like to remind you about the Special Contest going on over at the official DVD Late Show website. Courtesy of Buena Vista Home Video, I have five copies each of the latest instant exploitation classics from Executive Producer and drive-in demigod Roger Corman ““ ASPHALT WARS and SCORPIUS GIGANTUS, starring Jeff Fahey ““ to give away free to a handful of lucky DVD Late Show readers!

Go to the DVD Late Show site for contest details. Note: this is not a Quick-Stop sponsored contest. It’s strictly between you, Disney, and me baby! Another reminder: every review I’ve written for this column is archived at www.dvdlateshow.com, now searchable both by publication date and by title. There’s bonus reviews by pals of mine, and a couple of other features, too.

Comments about this column or DVD-related questions? Feel free to contact me at dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com.

July 18, 2006

Hey ““ I actually managed to find time to watch a couple MASTERS OF HORROR discs! I still have quite a few episodes of the series on my desk, and am looking forward to watching and reviewing them, but here’s my take on the ones I’ve seen so far”¦

Just in case you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about here ““ the big event for fright film fans in 2005 was the debut of an original Showtime anthology series created by filmmaker Mick Garris (SLEEPWALKERS) called MASTERS OF HORROR. The premise was simple: take a dozen or so of the most acclaimed directors of modern horror films and have them each direct a one-hour mini-feature, with no restrictions or network censorship. The resulting series was ““ as is probably inevitable with anthologies ““ something of a mixed bag.

Anchor Bay (their parent company, IDT Entertainment, co-produced the series) has chosen to release each episode separately rather than the whole bunch in a season set, which some consumers have expressed dissatisfaction with. But as the individual releases allow the company to really load down each disc with episode-specific bonus features, I really don’t see what those people are bitching about. Besides, this way, if there are episodes in the series you didn’t like, you don’t have to buy them.

This past week, I watched probably the most controversial episode of the series, MASTERS OF HORROR: JOE DANTE ““ HOMECOMING (2005), from the director of THE HOWLING and GREMLINS. Not so much a horror film as a heavy-handed and one-sided political diatribe in zombie movie drag, one’s appreciation of the film depends entirely on what side of the political fence you stand on.

The plot is simple: on a cable TV talk show, one of the President’s top political advisors publicly wishes that all the soldiers who have died in the current Middle East conflict could come back to life, and tell America that they feel they’ve died in a just and righteous cause. A few days later, a shipment of G.I. corpses do indeed burst from their flag-draped coffins, but they’re not quite as supportive of the administration’s military policies as the President and his advisors might like! Before long, there’s hundreds of shambling “veterans” walking the streets, impossible to hide from the public and impossible to ignore. Oh, and it’s election time”¦.

Technically, the hour-long movie is very well made. The zombie soldiers are effectively realized by KNB Effects, and cinematographer Attila Szalay shoots a slick-looking little feature on a tight schedule and budget, with some very imaginative set-ups and evocative lighting. The performances are exceptionally good, especially Dante regular Robert Picardo, who does a savage Karl Rove impression. The script by Sam Hamm (BATMAN) is sharp if one-sided, and Dante’s direction is, as usual, polished, well paced and fraught with in-jokes and homage (various gravestones in the film bear the names of other directors of “zombie” films, for example).

But it’s not much of a horror film. Sure it’s got zombies, but in the context of this particular story, they’re only a menace to the current administration. As Picardo’s character laments at one point, “Why don’t they eat a brain or tear somebody’s throat out…?”

If you happen to be of Hamm and Dante’s political persuasion, you’ll probably enjoy the satire. If you’re not, well, it’s just going to play silly or offensive. And, if you’re somewhere in the middle”¦ well, there’s nothing really there for you at all.

HOMECOMING gets an utterly flawless presentation on DVD, with a razor sharp 1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a crystal clear Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix. (A 2.0 Dolby stereo track is also included).

Anchor Bay has, as noted above, heavily loaded these discs with quality bonus material. HOMECOMING includes a very candid on-screen interview with director Dante, wherein he makes no bones about his intentions nor his political beliefs. He knows it’s not really a horror film, either, and that’s to his credit. There’s a career-retrospective featurette that includes interviews with various people who’ve worked with Dante -““ including Kevin McCarthy, Dee Stone, Cory Feldman, Ricardo ““ and that was quite enjoyable. There are on-screen interview segments with HOMECOMING stars Jon Tenney, Thea Gill and Picardo, a behind-the-scenes montage, a featurette on the writing of the script, audio commentary by screenwriter Hamm, a Joe Dante text bio, and trailers for the rest of the MASTERS OF HORROR episodes.

My favorite feature was an excerpt from an 80’s public access cable show hosted by MASTERS creator Mick Garris, in which he interviewed Dante, Barbara Steele and Kevin McCarthy about the making of Dante’s early B-movie hit, PIRANHA!

Interestingly, Anchor bay has, for no reason I can discern, deviated from the standard MASTERS OF HORROR packaging with HOMECOMING, with a different front cover treatment and omitting Dante’s name from the spine. Curious.

Obviously, I can’t make a blanket recommendation for this DVD one way or the other. Whether or not you’d be interested in picking it up ““ even for a rental ““ depends on your own political beliefs. As for the disc itself, it’s an another excellent presentation from Anchor Bay.

Fortunately, MASTERS OF HORROR: DON COSCARELLI ““ INCIDENT ON AND OFF A MOUNTAIN ROAD (2005) is nowhere near as difficult to review.

Based on a short story by Joe Lansdale, Coscarelli’s (PHANTASM, BUBBA HO-TEP) entry was the first in the series to air, and is a remarkably atmospheric, gory and suspenseful 70’s styled thriller, and possibly the scariest thing he’s ever directed.

The plot is classically simple horror fare: When Ellen (attractive Bree Turner) survives a car accident on an isolated mountain road, she encounters a hulking man-monster called Moonface (John DeSantis, BLOODSUCKERS) who is intent on capturing, torturing and crucifying her. Using skills taught her by her obsessive, survivalist husband, Ellen refuses to be a victim, and fights back.

There’s a bit more to it than that, but to say more might give away some of the episode’s many surprises.

Beautifully shot, edited and acted ““ with a particularly great performance by Coscarelli’s PHANTASM “Tall Man,” Angus Scrimm ““ INCIDENT is a taut, troubling 51 minutes, and my favorite in the series so far.

As usual, Anchor Bay provides a pristine1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a robust Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix. (A 2.0 Dolby stereo track is also included). And also like usual, the disc is loaded with 3 hours or so of bonus features. There’s the usual slew of featurettes, with the requisite cast and director interviews, behind-the-scenes montage and career retrospective. There are two audio commentary tracks ““ one with Coscarelli and screenwriter Stephan Romano, the other with Coscarelli and author Joe Lansdale. The bonus material is rounded out with a still gallery, MASTERS OF HORROR trailers, a Don Coscarelli text bio, and a DVD-ROM screensaver.

Highly recommended.

A new DVD label called Severin Films recently released on Region 1 disc one of my favorite late-night cable flicks of the Eighties ““ THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK YAK ““ in its original, uncut European form, as GWENDOLINE ““ UNRATED DIRECTOR’S CUT (1984)… and a welcome disc it is.

Based on a popular European comic strip, GWENDOLINE begins when our naïve, virginal heroine (Tawny Kitaen, WITCHBOARD) is smuggled into China in a wooden crate. Soon she meets up with her friend Beth (French cutie Zabou) and is rescued from salacious slavers by a square-jawed, rogue adventurer named Willard (Brent Huff, ARMED RESPONSE, 9 DEATHS OF THE NINJA). Gwendoline’s searching for her missing father, who was last seen hunting for a rare butterfly in the Land of the Yik Yak, and she enlists the handsome soldier of fortune to help her. In the course of their dangerous quest, the intrepid trio encounters vicious pirates, fake crocodiles, giant snakes, and ravenous cannibals (among other traditional pulp story perils), before eventually coming to a lost city of whip-wielding amazon women ““ nearly all of them topless (and most of them bald)!

Let’s just end our synopsis there, for while the story continues on, with tricky death traps and sordid situations aplenty, it’s those topless amazons that make this movie the Late Show classic that it is. Outside of an ambitious porno or a vintage “nudist” flick ““ or maybe SHOWGIRLS ““ you’re unlikely to ever see more pairs of attractive bare breasts on display in a single movie than in the last quarter or so of GWENDOLINE. Additionally, the only things those amazons do wear is sexy, skimpy leather outfits straight out of a high-priced S&M boutique.

Directed by Euro-erotic filmmaker Just Jaeckin (EMMANUELLE, THE STORY OF O), GWENDOLINE is an entertaining mix of Saturday matinee high adventure, comedy and fetishistic erotic fantasy. And if that doesn’t pique your interest, then you’re reading the wrong column!

Severin Films’ DVD presents the movie in a flawless 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, with beautifully rendered colors and a crisp, clear image. Four audio options are included: 5.1 Stereo English and French and 2.0 Mono English and French. The 5.1 English is probably the preferable mix, as Kitaen and Huff delivered their lines in English, while the rest of the cast spoke their own native languages.

Obviously produced with the full cooperation of director Just Jaeckin, Severin Films’ uncut special edition includes a video interview and a full-length audio commentary with the notorious director. The interview covers Jaeckin’s introduction to the European comic strip and how he worked to bring it to the screen, while the audio commentary is more technical, covering all aspects of the making of the film, including the stunning set design, the challenges of the exotic locations, and working with the various cast members.

Other features include a very rare vintage audio interview with cartoonist John Willie (creator of the Gwendoline comic strip) conducted for the Kinsey Institute in 1962! In addition, there’s a still gallery made up of nude photos of Tawny Kitaen from the French magazine Lui, which were shot by Jaeckin to promote the film. The disc also includes both the American and European trailers. The American trailer sells the film as a low-rent Indiana Jones-styled flick, while the European trailer is more moody and emphasizes the erotic content and kinky imagery.

By the way, Severin also offers the R-rated American theatrical version on a separate disc. Unfortunately, I’m not sure exactly what the differences are between the two versions, as it’s been years since I last watched the old American cut. Personally, I wish they’d included both in a two-disc set, just because I have fond memories of watching the U.S. version so many times on cable and VHS (I like the American poster art and title better, too).

Obviously, I love this film. After reading the description above, I’m pretty sure you’ll know whether it’s something you’d like or not, so if it sounds like your kind of escapism, pick it up. You won’t be disappointed.

From BCI/Eclipse comes a completely different kind of escapism: Eiji Tsuburaya’s ULTRAMAN ““ SERIES ONE, VOLUME ONE (1966/67), featuring the earliest episodes of the fantastic sci-fi adventure/monster mash that has been a pop culture phenomenon in Japan for four decades, complete with a multitude of sequel series, feature films, and countless merchandising tie-ins. And it all started with these twenty fun-filled episodes.

Hayata (Susumu Kurobe), an officer of the international Science Patrol, is chasing a couple of UFOs when his jet is destroyed in a collision with one of the extraterrestrial spacecraft. As it turns out, the saucer is piloted by a friendly, silver and crimson alien from M78 Nebula who is in pursuit of Bemular, an evil, criminal monster. The alien from M78 Nebula saves the injured Hayata by transferring his own life force to the human and giving him a Beta Capsule -““ a device that, when activated, will give Hayata the alien’s super powers (and appearance) and make him fifty feet tall.

Over the next 20 episodes, Hayata and the Science Patrol tirelessly battle a seemingly unending invasion of giant, alien monsters bent on the conquest or destruction of the Earth. Every episode follows the same basic formula: the Science Patrol is faced with a new monster that they simply cannot defeat with the weapons at their disposal. When all looks lost, Hayata becomes Ultraman and saves the day by wrestling the behemoth into submission.

ULTRAMAN was created by legendary Japanese special effects artist Eiji Tsuburaya at the height of the kajiu phenomenon in Japan. Tsuburaya had supervised and designed the effects shots for all of Toho’s original Godzilla films, and while ULTRAMAN had a budget vastly smaller than those widescreen kaiju epics, Tsuburaya’s crew shows the same ingenuity and attention to detail in ULTRAMAN’s countless effects scenes that they had demonstrated on the features. The episodes are all action-packed, with terrific, old school miniature effects and an endless parade of impressively insane monster suits (including, in one episode, a thinly disguised Godzilla!).

BCI presents ULTRAMAN SERIES ONE, VOLUME ONE in its original, 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio. The transfer is quite good, with bright, vivid colors and only minimal print damage. Black levels are rock solid, and details are sharp throughout. There are no noticeable problems with compression, artifacts or edge enhancement. This set comes with Japanese and English audio tracks, presented in Dolby Digital mono. The Japanese language is preferable, as it is free of any hiss or distortion and dialogue is crisp and clear. The English dubbed track has some distinct background hiss and other occasional defects. Optional English subtitles have been included.

BCI/Eclipse’s extras include the U.S. opening credits and an extensive kajiu (Monster) encyclopedia detailing all the monsters that appear in the series. There’s also an interview with American voice actors Peter Fernandez, Corrine and Earl Hammond, the U.S. credits sequence with its catchy theme song, and a booklet with liner notes on Eiji Tsuburaya and the ULTRAMAN series, and an episode synopsis for all the episodes included with this set.

For kaiju fans, kids who enjoy TV shows like POWER RANGERS, or adults looking for unsophisticated, nostalgic entertainment, ULTRAMAN, SERIES ONE is highly recommended. And, conveniently enough, it streets today!

Next time, I’ll be taking a look at the DVD legacy of the late mystery author Mickey Spillane, who passed away this week at age 88. I knew Mickey slightly, having worked with him on a comic book project back in the Nineties, and I wanted to pay tribute to a man I greatly admire. We’ll be looking at some Stacy Keach Mike Hammer TV shows, a bunch of DVDs by Spillane admirer Max Allan Collins, and the Mick himself in his few starring movie roles. I hope you’ll make a point of checking it out next Tuesday.

Before I wrap up this column, I’d like to call your attention to the Special Contest going on over at the official DVD Late Show website. Courtesy of Buena Vista Home Video, I have five copies each of the latest instant exploitation classics from Executive Producer and drive-in demigod Roger Corman ““ ASPHALT WARS and SCORPIUS GIGANTUS, starring Jeff Fahey ““ to give away free to a handful of lucky DVD Late Show readers!

Go to the DVD Late Show site for contest details. Note: this is not a Quick-Stop sponsored contest. It’s strictly between you, Disney, and me baby! Also, every review I’ve written for this column is archived at www.dvdlateshow.com, now searchable both by publication date and by title. There’s bonus reviews by pals of mine, and a couple of other features, too. So why not head over when you’re finished here, enter the contest, and browse around for a while?

Comments about this column or DVD-related questions? Feel free to contact me at dvdlateshow@atomicpulp.com.

July 11, 2006

Welcome back to the Late Show. I’ve got another handful of fiendish films for your mid-Summer viewing, including a couple of advance previews of upcoming releases. Still no MASTERS OF HORROR reviews as yet ““ I’m getting to be something of a tease with that series, aren’t I? Anyway, let’s begin”¦

Dark Sky Films is about to re-issue another fondly-remembered classic, with next month’s Special Edition of the Dan Curtis (DARK SHADOWS) television film TRILOGY OF TERROR (1974), starring Karen Black (FIVE EASY PICES, BURNT OFFERINGS).

Based on three short stories by master fantasist Richard Matheson (TWILIGHT ZONE, THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE) ““ two of which were faithfully adapted for the film by Matheson’s friend William F. Nolan (Logan’s Run) while the maestro himself adapted the third ““ the made-for-television anthology stars the talented Ms. Black in four different roles and was a ratings smash when it aired in 1975.

The first of the three tales, “Julie,” stars Black as an uptight college professor who reluctantly goes out on a date with one of her students, who then drugs her, snaps some incriminating photos, and blackmails her. In “Millicent and Therese,” Black plays two rival sisters ““ a repressed spinster and a sleazy tramp ““ with supernatural secrets.

In the final and most memorable segment, “Amelia,” Black portrays a woman who purchases a “Zuni fetish doll” for her boyfriend as a gift. According to a scroll included with the doll, it embodies the spirit of an ancient hunter, “He Who Kills,” and if the gold chain around it is removed, the doll will come to life. Of course, the chain falls off and the screeching little monster goes postal, chasing Amelia around her upscale apartment, slashing her ankles with its tiny knife. As one might expect from one of the main writers of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, each of the three stories have twist endings.

Black pretty much carries the entire film, and is impressive in all her roles. As it was a Seventies network television program, there’s no gore to speak of, and while the movie’s not particularly scary, it is occasionally creepy, and the final story is still thrilling, giddy fun, despite the simple “special effects” involved.

Dark Sky’s disc presents the movie in its original, full frame 1.33:1 format, with a surprisingly sharp and clear picture that is a noticeable improvement over the earlier release of this title by Anchor Bay. The Dolby mono track is crystal clear. The disc also includes a very good audio commentary track with star Black and screenwriter Nolan. They seem to enjoy each other’s company, and Nolan discusses the changes made from the original short stories to the televised versions. Black goes into great detail about the third story, and the challenges involved in acting alone with a homicidal wooden doll. This Special Edition also includes two on-camera interview segments: one with star Black, and the other with author Richard Matheson, who discusses not only the film at hand, but some of his other collaborations with the late producer/director Dan Curtis.

TRILOGY OF TERROR hits the shelves on August 29, and is recommended for fans of Matheson, Curtis, Black, or old school horror.

ei Independent Cinema’s latest entry in their Shock-O-Rama horror line is the cleverly-titled SHOCK-O-RAMA (2006), a CREEPSHOW-styled anthology directed by Brett Piper (BITE ME!, THE SCREAMING DEAD).

When bitter scream queen Rebecca Raven (ei starlet Misty Mundae, THE SCREAMING DEAD, SPIDERBABE, in a semi-autobiographical role) is fired by the B-movie studio that employs her, she heads for a quiet house in the country to get away from it all”¦. and battle an angry, flesh-hungry zombie.

Meanwhile, her former employers have discovered that the girl they intended as Raven’s replacement has become unavailable, and they desperately need a leading lady for their new film. They screen a couple of flicks hoping to find a new star, and these films make up two of the three stories in SHOCK-O-RAMA. In “Mechanoid,” a couple of tiny alien criminals land in a New Jersey junkyard and battle the yard’s owner (Rob Monkiewicz, BITE ME!) with a stop-motion, scrap-yard robot. In “Lonely Are the Brain,” beautiful young women in a dream research project are finding their subconscious fantasies manipulated by a sexually voracious female doctor (Julian Wells, DR. JEKYLL & MISTRESS HYDE) and a giant, evil brain from the future.

Completely tongue-in-cheek, SHOCK-O-RAMA is, nonetheless, a great ride, with excellent handcrafted special effects, beautiful girls, a witty script, and some extremely effective low budget visuals, especially during the final story’s dream sequences. Director and FX artist Piper even manages some economical but effective illusions worthy of the great Mario Bava, with ingenious combinations of sets, miniatures, lighting and accomplished camera work. The pace never drags, and the film possesses a sense of humor (especially in the Misty Mundae zombie segment) that’s reminiscent of Sam Raimi’s early work.

ei’s DVD includes a 1.78:1widescreen transfer with anamorphic enhancement, and looks great. The special features include an audio commentary track by writer/director/FX artist Piper and producer Michael Raso, a behind-the-scenes featurette, footage of the film’s NYC premiere, an on-screen Q&A with Piper from the same event, and the ever-growing Shock-O-Rama trailer vault.

Full disclosure: I handled the layout and design of the DVD cover for this ei release, and I’ve been doing package design work for them regularly for some months now. But I can honestly say that I would have recommended this movie even if I hadn’t been involved with it in any way. It’s exactly the kind of imaginative, entertaining exploitation effort that I love, and Piper and the ei crew have done a great job with this, the best Shock-O-Rama release yet.

SHOCK-O-RAMA will be released on September 5th.

Anchor Bay has recently released the 1981 stalk n’ slash thriller VISITING HOURS, directed by Jean Claude Lord and starring Lee Grant, William Shatner, Linda Purl and Michael Ironside.

In this taut suspense flick, Lee Grant (THE SWARM) is a feminist television journalist who attracts the homicidal attentions of a woman-hating sociopath, chillingly played by Michael Ironside (STARSHIP TROOPERS, SCANNERS). He attacks her in her home, but she manages to barely survive his assault and is taken to a nearby hospital. Unfortunately, the killer is still after her… and the pretty young nurse that she befriends.

Lord’s direction follows more in the tradition of Hitchcock than Carpenter, emphasizing suspense and character over gory attack scenes, and the violence is relatively restrained, especially for the slasher-ific Eighties. That’s not to say that Ironside’s character doesn’t take out a few innocent bystanders in pursuit of his prey, though. The performances of the grown-up cast are uniformly good, with the legendary William Shatner wasted in ““ and forced to underplay ““ the thankless role of Grant’s producer and boyfriend.

Anchor Bay’s presentation of this better-than-average Canadian nail biter includes a very sharp 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The print shows its age somewhat, but overall it’s more than adequate, with bright, solid colors and good detail. The only extras are a handful of effective TV spots, a radio spot, and trailers for a few other Anchor Bay releases.

VISITING HOURS makes a suspenseful 105 minutes, and is definitely worth a rental, if only for Ironside’s disturbingly convincing portrayal of the psycho.

Next week… either those MASTERS OF HORROR discs… or something else entirely. Tune in and find out!

July 04, 2006

Rapid advancements in high-definition digital filmmaking technology have made it a lot easier (or cheaper, anyway) for aspiring filmmakers to actually shoot full-length features that look like movies and not just home videos. Luckily, not only are some of these filmmakers talented, but as devoted fans of the schlocky B-movies of the past, they appear determined to keep the tradition alive with ambitious exploitation efforts that echo the cheesy movies they grew up with.

In the last couple of weeks, two such “retro” DVDs have shown up in my mailbox. And, while neither one knocks it completely out of the park, each has its charms.

It takes a lot of cajones to put your name into the title of your movie. Still, while William Winckler may have a hell of an ego, his heart’s in the right place.

WILLIAM WINCKLER’S FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE CREATURE FROM BLOOD COVE (2005) is a fun and funny attempt to craft a U-I or AIP-styled monster mash for a modern audience, and while it stumbles occasionally, it’s still pretty damned entertaining.

Three mad scientists (Larry Butler, Alison Lees-Taylor, and Rich Knight) create an amphibious monster with the intention of using it to assassinate terrorist leaders (“In the war on terror, the ultimate terror wins.”). But when it escapes from the lead scientist’s seaside home/laboratory and flees into the ocean, their leader is undeterred. If they’ve lost one monster, they’ll simply get another one. So he and his colleagues set out for “Shellvania” (somewhere East of Transylvania) to dig up the original Frankenstein Monster (former wrestler Lawrence Furbish). They find the brute pretty easily, and after a brief encounter with a wandering werewolf, they haul the carcass back to California.

Meanwhile, a photographer for a girlie mag (played by writer/producer/director Winckler ““ I guess if you do all that, it’s okay to put your name in the movie’s title) and his crew are shooting a nude model on the beach at Blood Cove when they’re attacked by the scientists’ original creature. They take shelter at the Doctor’s house, but soon find themselves prisoners of the scientists and unwilling witnesses to the ultimate battle between Monster and Creature.

Shot entirely in black & white on digital video, with a cool musical score by Mel Lewis that frequently incorporates the familiar strains of “Swan Lake” (in a melodic nod to Universal horror classics like DRACULA and THE MUMMY), FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE CREATURE is played pretty straight. There’s a lot of humor ““ some intentional, and some derived from the corny script ““ but it’s not an outright comedy spoof.

Winckler, frankly, isn’t a very visual director. As we watched the movie, my wife and I kept coming up with ways that various scenes and even specific shots could have been improved (without costing a cent more). For example, while the monster make-ups and creature suits by Rich Knight are quite nicely designed, Winckler rarely shoots them effectively. Everything is too brightly lit and the movie lacks “atmosphere.”

But ““ while the acting in the film tends to be either wooden or hammy, it’s appropriate to the genre and it works. Knight’s monsters are pretty cool. The various cult actor cameos are cute. And while Winckler’s filmmaking isn’t particularly stylish, he’s certainly ambitious. In one movie, he’s got an amphibious manfish, the Frankenstein Monster, the ghost of Victor Frankenstein, a werewolf, a trio of mad scientists, and a Ron Jeremy cameo. You gotta admire that!

For the most part, FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE CREATURE a fairly successful attempt to recreate the monster flicks of the late Forties and early Fifties. In fact, the only way this movie differs from those he’s paying homage to (exempting the modern settting, of course) is in the area of nudity. There are three T&A scenes in the film that, while fairly tasteful, go further than any of those old creature features would have gone. It didn’t bother me particularly ““ we all know how much I love naked girls ““ but it might be a problem for purists, parents or prudes.

The unrated DVD (available from Amazon and other online retailers) includes not only a full-frame presentation of the feature, but a plethora of bonus material as well. Aside from the audio commentary track by Winckler and Director of Photography Matthias Schubert, there’s a blooper reel, audition tapes, deleted scenes, a trailer, and two “Making Of” documentaries, one focusing on the movie’s composer. There’s also a brief clip of the Frankenstein Monster getting a lap dance from porn star Selena Silver at the flick’s strip club location. It’s cute, and would have made a great “Easter Egg,” if the disc’s producers had thought of it.

My only complaint about the disc (and it’s a very minor one) is that the main menu is slow to load and the type is small and difficult to read on my TV screen. Maybe if they had put the special features on their own sub-menu, it would have been easier to read and navigate.

Ultimately, for fans of the genre, it’s worth picking up. I’d like to see Winckler and other filmmakers keep doing these kinds of retro B-films, and I think his efforts are worth supporting.

And, among the “other filmmakers doing these kinds of retro B-films,” we can include director Jay Wade Edwards. His low budget fright flick STOMP! SHOUT! SCREAM! (2006) is a delightful homage to/entry in the beach party/monster subgenre of Sixties drive-in fare, packed with rock & roll, bouffant hairdos, bikinis, and cheesy monsters (well, one, anyway).

Set in 1966, STOMP! SHOUT! SCREAM! chronicles the misadventures of an all girl garage rock band, The Violas, (Claire Bronson, Mary Kraft, Cynthia Evans) whose car breaks down in a small Southern beach community. Short on cash, the girls agree to play at the young garage owner’s (Travis Young) party in exchange for the necessary repairs. Little do the girls know, however, that a murderous Florida Skunk Ape has made its way to this quiet island community and is racking up a respectable body count. Will the hirsute hominid crash the beach party? But, more importantly, will The Violas’ lovely lead woman, Theodora, find true love with the handsome University biologist (Jonathan Michael Green, in a dead-on performance) or the charming mechanic?

While maybe a bit too talky and short on actual on-camera Skunk Ape action (the creature is played by a guy in a Halloween gorilla suit), STOMP! features surprisingly strong acting, slick camera work and lighting, authentic-looking production design and costumes, a clever animated title sequence, and a kickin’ soundtrack made up of some great, original Sixties-styled rock & roll songs by Catfight, The Woggles, The Penetrators and several other garage bands.

The movie could definitely use a little more action, a few more establishing shots and a slightly brisker pace overall, but it’s a genuinely funny flick with plenty of coolness, a bit more polished than FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE CREATURE FROM BLOOD COVE, and is well worth checking out.

The unrated (though no worse than a PG) DVD includes a solid non-anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen transfer, an amusing, informative group commentary with director Edwards and various cast & crew, over an hour of behind-the-scenes vignettes, deleted scenes and raw footage, as well as a teaser trailer and still gallery. Even the DVD menus are stylishly designed. No chapter breaks, though, and that’s annoying.

If you’re interested in picking it up, the producers are selling the DVD directly from their website at www.stompshoutscream.com.

Recommended.

Short column this week as I try to get my work schedule re-organized (time management is not really one of my skills). I will probably be doing shorter columns from now on, and making a real effort to get them posted more frequently.

Next time”¦I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll finally get a chance to watch all those MASTERS OF HORROR discs I’ve been promising to review. You never know.