Hey folks, Harry here… back with my DVD PEEKS AND PICKS column for this Tuesday. As always – this is by no means a complete look at what is coming out this coming week, but rather, what I’m interested in picking up. This week is also a major week where I wish I had a BluRay player cuz they have ROBOCOP and EDWARD SCISSORHANDS coming out – which I’d love to have in HD. But for now – I’ll have to wait. Here’s the list…
Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 – DVD day!
28 WEEKS LATER
I wasn’t expecting much from this sequel – it felt forced – like a film meant more for product than story-telling, but personally – this is one of those rare sequels that kicks the ass of its predecessor. Now – in this case – that wasn’t too hard. I loved a lot of 28 DAYS LATER – but as soon as they wound up in the military compound… I lost interest. Here, the film is vastly more satisfying and complete. Very unexpected. That said – this DVD isn’t nearly as awesome as I was hoping. Not nearly the extras I’d hope for… but we are getting a bit spoiled, - perhaps the Blu-Ray has better features, I don’t know. Certainly it will have the superior image.
Fox Horror Classics Collection ( THE LODGER / HANGOVER SQUARE / THE UNDYING MONSTER )
Fox – in this era wasn’t particularly known for Horror. They were more focused on Dramas and Musicals – but they did manage to make three very nicely done films. The best of these three, to me is THE LODGER – a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1927 version of this serial killer tale. But the reason this set is grouped like this has to do with the director, John Brahm. He was a German assistant director that left Germany as Hitler came to power, like many artists that left at that time. He made his first foray into the macabre with THE UNDYING MONSTER in 1942 – it’s an interesting take on the Werewolf genre – in particular – it’s a werewolf with a grudge against a particular family. It’s ok, but the humor misses its mark and the film would have been better served to stick to the moody atmospherics. However, 2 years later he scored with his remake of Hitchcock’s THE LODGER, by making a really solid Jack The Ripper story out of it. Why does this LODGER rule over Hitch’s? In my opinion it comes down to Laird Cregar. Laird had a 5 year career, but damn if he didn’t make an impression. He was wonderful as Sir Henry Morgan in Tyrone Power’s THE BLACK SWAN – making great impressions in THIS GUN FOR HIRE and HEAVEN CAN WAIT. In THE LODGER, he was front and central though. As he was in the next film HANGOVER SQUARE as well, which he died shortly after. You really do owe it to yourself to check out his work in these two films. This is a great deal – 3 movies, 3 DVDs loaded with extras! Fox’s Home Video did a great job. The Vincent Price radio play version of THE LODGER is wonderful btw. It’s on here too.
TWILIGHT ZONE – THE MOVIE (HD DVD)
I love TWILIGHT ZONE THE MOVIE – I hate the art they’ve used for the cover. Seems they’ve decided to abandon the tagline, which I love, WANNA SEE SOMETHING REALLY SCARY? Oh well. Directed by Steven Spielberg, George Miller, John Landis and Joe Dante. My favorite segment is Spielberg’s “Kick The Can” which was, in its own way, a precursor to Ron Howard’s COCOON – but George Miller’s take on “NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET” with John Lithgow is positively fantastic. I love the original with Shatner – but there’s something infectious about Lithgow’s mania. The Joe Dante helmed sequence is wild and bizarre and strange in a Rat Fink on acid (which is saying something) kind of way. Then there’s the infamous John Landis sequence with Vic Morrow’s death on set. The sequence is extremely well done, but the reality of the shoot and the art are impossible to separate in my mind. In HD – you’ve never had a clearer look at the actual moment, which is on film. It is horrifying. I love this disc – wish there were 7 hours of extras – alas this was a noble experiment which the audience never really reacted to, sadly. That said – the film has never looked better.
POLTERGEIST ( 25th Anniversary Edition )
This is the best this film has been treated, that said – if I were you – I’d wait for the HD release which hopefully will be coming shortly?!?!? Why an HD and BLU-RAY day and date weren’t offered here – I’ll never know. It demands to be released that way. That said – this is much better than the previous DVD, but if I were you, I’d wait for the HD release.
BLACK SHEEP
If the idea of a killer zombie sheep movie with killer zombie sheep designed by Weta makes you giggle and lick your lips in anticipation – you’re your day has come. I love BLACK SHEEP. If you’ve ever worked herds of animals before – I worked on a ranch for 6 years, cattle not sheep – and the idea of a revolt was never not on my mind. Seriously – if they wanted to kill you, you’d be dead. Jonathan King has a similar fear – and with BLACK SHEEP he giggles and scares with his fear of New Zealand’s biggest industry. Where’s BABE when you most need him?
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME ( Ultimate Edition )
Lon Chaney’s HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME is fantastic – I actually own the original ticket for this film that Forrest J Ackerman used to see the film in 1923 – along with many props from the film. It is a stunning film. The tortured face of Chaney, the ferocity of the whipping… the movement he captured climbing and swinging upon Notre Dame is fantastic. The depth of emotion and the storytelling without dialogue is fantastic. The film has never been presented better. The score is great the extras go on forever – and the inclusion of the 3D Stills shot at the time – fill me with delight looking at on the big screen at home. The movie is mastered in HD, but available on DVD. TCM and the folks at Warners are wizards!
MALA NOCHE – Criterion Collection
Again Criterion provides a delight. I hadn’t seen Gus Van Sant’s debut film – I was unfamiliar with the place this film had in Gay Cinema – but in thinking about what happened in the decade that followed, I was shocked I hadn’t seen it before. The black and white photography is so vibrant and exciting. Criterion has done a service by highlighting this little seen film – and it’s the most haunting of his films.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 3D
I need to be clear here… this is not a good film. I’m not a fan of this film. It is a pimple on the ass of the original remake of the original brilliant towering work. That said – I love 3D – and at Home 3D doesn’t come often enough – and sure – it’s crappy anaglyph 3D, but we’re not really near having polarized at home 3D anytime real soon – so I have to take what I can. For now – that means watching crappy movies to relieve my fetishry for things coming at me – and Sid Haig and Zombies… well that’ll do. It’s a fun experience with a less than satisfying film.
SAVAGE STREETS
Party film. Whether your high or drowning in inebriation – this is a blast to watch. Linda Blair’s voice and bosom thrusting cleavage is a fun flick. If you haven’t seen this utterly ridiculous, exploitation fun flick… check it out. This isn’t at the level of REFORM SCHOOL GIRLS or CAGED HEAT – but it is very fun, nonetheless.
SHANGHAI KISS
Are you in love with Hayden Panettiere? Or at least have had at least 3 lust filled nighttime hallucinations about Hayden? This movie was made for you. This is a very sweet film about Hayden pursuing an older Asian man, while she’s 16. She’s in love with him, he’s in love with who she is – but he will not force it to become physical – and because he’s weak – he does have sex with other women, that are of his age. That said – Hayden is soooooooo cute and such a perfect “sweetheart” – but Ken Leung – who is the hapless guy being pursued by Hayden… he’s a struggling actor that is often expected to perform Kung Fu tricks in auditions, though he’s from Brooklyn. When he’s inherited a house in Shanghai – he travels to cash in on it, and begins to fall in love with “his roots.” Will he bed Hayden? You’ll have to see, but this is a very sweet romantic and cultural film. It really is Ken’s film, he shines in the lead.
EMMANUELLE
Emmanuelle – the very name suggests sexual experimentation, lesbianism, group sex and erotic exploration. It’s amongst the most famous of erotic film history. And the film is very much a turn on. This is a nicely done version – but if you already have it – it isn’t any better than anything you’ve bought before. If you haven’t seen EMMANUELLE – it’s a tastefully done work that is Seventies eroticism at its best.
THE ITALIAN STALLLION (Grindhouse Sexploitation Collection)
Here it is folks – the x-rated Sylvester Stallone film aka THE PARTY AT KITTY AND STUD’S has come for your edification. Sly makes jokes about this film. It isn’t a great film or even a good film. It’s a curiosity. It’s more about seeing a star we’ve come to love and respect with his pants off and fucking 1970’s era porn ladies. This isn’t pretty porn – but I tell you what I genuinely dig about the film. The scenes of “Stud” when he’s running about outside, the joy on his face, it foreshadows Balboa. Stallone is impossibly young here – the chunky version of himself before he started working out and sculpting his body. But the sex isn’t particularly hot, but if you’re the sort of guy that checks out other men at the gym shower’s schlong… you’ll have an eyeful here.
THE VIRGIN AND THE GYPSY
D.H. Lawrence’s THE VIRGIN AND THE GYPSY is another film of eroticism, just a whole helluvalot more literate than the two above. The film features Franco Nero and Honor “Pussy Galore” Blackman and the lovely Joanna Shimkus. In 1971 it was nominated for best foreign language film in the Golden Globes. That said, it’s a bit quaint by today’s standards and is an interesting film, if only as a look back on Golden Globe history. The sexuality is a bit chaste, though Joanna – as the Virgin is a tasty lady. Franco’s gypsy is kinda bizarre – at least as I’ve known Nero’s performances in the past.
American Silent Horror Collection ( THE MAN WHO LAUGHS / THE PENALTY / THE CAT AND THE CANARY / DR. JEKYLL & MR HYDE / KINGDOM OF SHADOWS )
Here you have 4 incredibly famous works. THE MAN WHO LAUGHS was the direct influence for the creation of THE JOKER from the world of BATMAN. John Barrymore’s DR JEKYLL & MR HYDE reveals the power of an actor to transform, sans make-up into a completely depraved, slightly inhuman mess of a man. The performance is staggering and should be studied by everyone that would play that particular role. THE PENALTY with Lon Chaney is a criminal bent on revenge upon the surgeon that removed his legs. Pre-CG by about 69 years – and long before Lt. Dan. Chaney does it physically and brilliantly. Then there’s the silent THE CAT AND THE CANARY – it is… nightmarish. Lastly – is the 1998 documentary narrated by the great Rod Steiger on the birth of horror cinema in the silent era. This set is fantastic – and is required owning by any serious lover of the genre. These aren’t quaint films – they’re genuinely great films that still creep, not creak.
WILD AND WOOLLY
Here’s a film that’s 90 years old this year. Today we think of Douglas Fairbanks Sr as the original adventurer. The Pre-Flynn. But before he swash buckled, he tickled funny bones as one of the great physical comedians. His timing astutely used for comic punch, not brutal punch. Very much like Jackie Chan. In WILD AND WOOLLY you’ll learn a completely different side of this brilliant performer and co-founder of UNITED ARTISTS. He plays an East-coast man that sets off for the wild west, the wild west that he read about in the western stories he read as a child. Unknown to him, the West isn’t that West anymore – and his rich father, wanting to placate his son – has arranged for a ton to play along with his son’s delusions and blanks. The film is awesome, hilarious and wonderful. I highly recommend it.
CROSSED SWORDS
Do you love the Richard Lester THREE MUSKETEERS and FOUR MUSKETEERS? I do. And this telling of THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER by Richard Fleischer has always been a part of those films in my eyes. This film has Oliver Reed as Miles Hendon and a young Mark Lester (OLIVER! And the brilliant EYEWITNESS) are doing their duty in the roles. The idea of Miles Hendon being played by Oliver Reed is fully realized. Think of it like this. Would you want Oliver Reed looking after your kid? How do you think Oliver Reed would treat a delusional kid that thought he was a prince? He does. The film is far from perfect, but goddammit – Oliver Reed owns. As does the weird cast of Raquel Welch, Ernest Borgnine, George C Scott, Rex Harrison, David Hemmings… and SYBIL DANNING?!?!?! How can you not love that!
TEENAGE TWINS
The first pornographic film to star actual sisters, that actually get nasty. Made in 1976. I can not wait to see this. Apparently there are SATANIC SEX ORGIES and the fucking NECRONOMICON being read by a step dad! This could very well be… the height of cinema – let’s face it, would you rather watch this or THE RULES OF THE GAME? Ok – I fucking love THE RULES OF THE GAME, but dude… sisters!
That’s it for this week. Next week we have TRANSFORMERS, PLANET TERROR, Al Jolson’s THE JAZZ SINGER, ICONS OF HORROR COLLECTION, THE HOAX, TREASURES III: SOCIAL ISSUES IN AMERICAN FILM and much more!!! See you then!
