Glenn Erickson's Reviews: Month: August 2021

Dune 4K 08/31/21

Ignored, maligned and hammered out into an ‘Alan Smithee’ extended cut for TV, David Lynch’s outstanding Sci-fi epic arrives on 4K Ultra HD, finally achieving the visual opulence on home video that it had in 70mm prints at the end of 1984. The fractured, de-Lynched storyline can be argued over, but the amazing design and arresting characterizations never fail to impress — Lynch attracted a world-class cast of movie stars and used them well. Even if it’s described as a hundred fragmented scenes from a larger narrative, they’re superlative fragments. Lynch should have been authorized to make an alternate cut, his own completely personal ‘impressionist’ version of the Frank Herbert story. On Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
08/31/21

Peter Ibbetson 08/31/21

Surreal delirium in cinema!  Gary Cooper and Ann Harding are a tragic romantic pair, but even when separated by space, time and the law they manage to live a full life together as virtual dream lovers. The odd art film out in Henry Hathaway’s career, this unabashed spiritualist fantasy was adopted by French surrealists as emblematic of their values. It’s beautifully filmed by cameraman Charles Lang, avoiding overdone expressionist effects… reality is a dream, folks, and this star-crossed pair makes dreams real by a simple force of will. Spiritual Nirvana or pretension?   It’s crazy, but it connects with real life as we experience it — with our romantic memories and regrets. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
08/31/21

Hammer Horror Four Gothic Horror Films 08/28/21

The glossy selection of celebrated horror fun from the Boys at Bray covers a quartet of titles directed by the second generation of Hammer helmers. Peter Sasdy takes the credit for Countess Dracula, with Ingrid Pitt and Nigel Green, and also Hands of the Ripper with Eric Porter and Angharad Rees. John Hough called ‘action’ on Twins of Evil with Peter Cushing and Madeleine & Mary Collinson; and Robert Young was ringmaster for Hammer’s Vampire Circus with Adrienne Corri and Lynne Frederick. Each feature comes with two commentaries, the reviewer is Charlie Largent. On Region-Free Blu-ray from Viavision [Imprint].
08/28/21

Corruption 08/28/21

Foreseeing a relaxation of censorship on the horizon, England’s Titan Films filmed this mad surgery opus with far more gore and cruelty than was the norm in 1967-68, and their gambit paid off. Horror favorite Peter Cushing stars with Sue Lloyd, a pair nobody expected to show up in a shocker with such a high sleaze quotient. PI’s special edition gives us three versions of the show including the continental cut with Cushing’s most lurid scene ever, and heaps of comment and analysis. With David Lodge, Noel Trevarthen, Anthony Booth and Kate O’Mara. On Region B Blu-ray from Powerhouse Indicator.
08/28/21

Union Pacific 08/24/21

Cecil B. DeMille delivers a satisfying western epic starring Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy & Akim Tamiroff; the story of the building of a railroad is historically bogus but highly entertaining and action-filled. Joel McCrea is our favorite ethical frontier lawman; here he’s a troubleshooter keeping crooks, Indians and proto-Bolsheviks from delaying construction. The huge cast includes Fuzzy Knight, Lon Chaney Jr., Don Beddoe, Monte Blue, Ward Bond, Iron Eyes Cody, Richard Denning, Will Geer, Noble Johnson, Elmo Lincoln, Nestor Paiva, Jack Pennick and Joe Sawyer — although the screen is so busy some of them will be hard to spot. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
08/24/21

Rancho Deluxe 08/21/21

Another unexpected comic treasure from the mid ’70s!  Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston make an irresistible pair of would-be outlaws in a tale set in modern high-country Montana, where a gentleman rancher from New Jersey owns all the land and making an honest living is just too boring. Thomas McGuane’s hilariously laid-back dialogue pits our slacker cattle rustlers against society, but only in the pursuit of having a good time. Frank Perry’s beautifully directed show gives choice roles to a fistful of actors: Clifton James, Elizabeth Ashley, Harry Dean Stanton, Slim Pickens, Charlene Dallas, Richard Bright, Joe Spinell, Patti D’Arbanville. Call it ‘literate’ country comedy, with musical accompaniment by Jimmy Buffett. The extras include a great new interview with star Jeff Bridges. On Blu-ray from Fun City Editions.
08/21/21

The Blind Beast (Moju) 08/21/21

Yasuzo Masumura takes horror into kinky territory in an Edogawa Rampo shocker about obsession, namely, mixing sex and death. Michio is the tactile-fixated blind sculptor who imprisons model Aki to serve as an ultimate objectified ‘body’ — but she eventually joins him, taking the lead on a delirious suicidal journey of discovery. Probably once considered pornographic, the 1969 show is fairly tame by today’s NC-17 standards, and not as radically violent or abhorrent as one might expect — but it’s still loaded with weird, Dangerous Ideas. The sets are not to be believed — the unhinged artist lives in a surreal workspace surrounded by hundreds of oversized sculptures of body parts. Arrow’s revival Blu-ray optimizes the nightmarish visuals and provides expert comment. On Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
08/21/21

Silver Screams Cinema 08/17/21

Fans of Republic horror take note of ths boxed collection of 6 — count ’em Six — horror and sci-fi curiosities from the ’40s and ’50s, aimed straight at covetous fantasy film addicts. Wacky scripts, strange characterizations and poverty row production values are on view, but the fine transfers reveal professional cinematography and occasional impressive direction. The films are definitely of their time — the censor-inhibited 1940s pictures rely on spooky situations because they can’t show blood or too much violence. And a pair of low-end B&W ‘scope thrillers from the ‘fifties drive-in era do more with less, cutting corners in interesting ways. Viavision anoints the shows with expert commentaries and a couple of real surprises: an entire extra feature and a rare 1950s TV show. The horror Beat goes On: Return of the Ape Man, The Phantom Speaks, The Vampire’s Ghost, Valley of the Zombies, She Devil and The Unknown Terror… and a special SD encoding of Erich von Stroheim in The Lady and the Monster On Blu-ray from Viavision [Imprint].
08/17/21

Encounter of the Spooky Kind 08/17/21

Guest reviewer Lee Broughton returns with an assessment of Sammo Hung’s groundbreaking Hong Kong hit: comedy, horror and martial arts elements are brought together in a wholly successful way. This show has it all: kung fu action, duelling mystics, hopping vampires, hungry zombies, haunted mirrors and a sympathetic everyman whose danger-fraught narrative trajectory is littered with moments that are genuinely funny. Sammo Hung is a sensational Hong Kong action personality; excellent production values grace what shapes up as a near- perfect picture. On Region B Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment.
08/17/21

The Daimajin Trilogy 08/14/21

This new 3-disc Limited Edition is a real labor of love for Daiei’s trio of 1966 costume thrillers with a unique star: a ‘Shogun-Golem’ 25 feet tall, with an attitude meaner than a mythological demon. Revenge, righting wrongs, and mostly striking back against evil are Daimajin’s prime directives; Daiei’s production surrounds this bruiser with terrific art direction and special effects: “You will believe a giant statue can impale a man on a ten-foot pike.” The two sequels are so similar — they basically tell the exact same story with a few changes — that they’re almost variations on a theme. Reviewer Charlie Largent sics his gaijin praises on this lavishly appointed release. On Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
08/14/21

Ashes and Diamonds 08/14/21

Andrzej Wajda’s most celebrated film in the West is a serious thriller about postwar doubt and corruption in a Poland ‘liberated’ by the Soviet Union. It has a cerebral script and a hero with a hipster attitude befitting a window of relative freedom briefly given to Polish filmmakers. Touted as the James Dean of the Eastern Bloc, the dashing Zbigniew Cybulski cuts an image as clean as J.F.K.. But his character, an assassin working for the reactionaries, undergoes a crisis of conscience. The miracle is that the Party censors allowed any doubt as to what our hero’s path should be. Given a stylized, almost expressionist B&W look, Wajda’s masterpiece is an intelligent thinkpiece that lays off the direct propagandizing. The new disc has significant new extras. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
08/14/21

The Last Man on Earth 08/10/21

Charlie Largent  honors Vincent Price’s chilling A.I.P.-Italo production, the best version so far of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend. The world has succumbed to a vampire plague, and only Price remains, barricaded in his house and going out by day to stake the undead and burn their bodies. Great cinematography by Franco Delli Colli almost obscures the Rome locations standing in for Middle America, and the atmosphere is quite good. The special edition features a Richard Harland Smith commentary (he knows the undead by their first names) and an interesting alternate ending.  “MORGAN… COME OUT!”  On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.

F.P. 1 Doesn’t Answer 08/07/21

“Es ist eine schwimmende Plattform!”  Here’s something for committed Sci-fi followers, a lavish German production with big drama, big emotions, and impressive, ambitious special effects. Hans Albers makes sure his pal Paul Hartmann’s artificial mid-Atlantic airport becomes reality, only to lose his new girlfriend Sybille Schmitz to him. The Murnau Foundation’s superb restoration makes the giant Flugplatform seem real. UfA produced the show in three languages with three different casts; Kino’s handsome disc gives us excellent renderings of two of them. Plus glorious German songs about the joy of flying!  On Blu-ray from Kino Classics.
08/07/21

The Raven + The Comedy of Terrors 08/03/21

Separate Releases.  Kino continues its round-up of Vincent Price / American-International hits with two outright comedies in the Poe series. Karloff, Price, Lorre and Jack Nicholson (?) team up for a spoof about dueling wizards in a decidedly liberal interpretation of Poe’s poem The Raven. Then Jacques Tourneur tries his hand at graveyard laughs in the broad farce The Comedy of Terrors. Price, Lorre, and Rathbone rattle the coffin handles while Karloff and Joe E. Brown clown about in the margins; Hazel Court and Joyce Jameson simmer on the sidelines. Reviewer Charlie Largent looks for the laughs — but will his essay be a autopsy for comedy?  On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
08/03/21

Counterblast 08/03/21

A review for a movie not on video disc. CineSavant bears down hard on a now-obscure UK thriller that proves a crossroads for several key themes of modern terror: Nazis, bacteriological warfare and paranoid conspiracies. ‘007’– associated writer Jack Whittingham scripted a tale that connects old-school espionage to visionary super-crimes against humanity, the thriller genre of ‘The Unthinkable.’  Who’s the threat?  An innocuous little doctor with a horrendous secret background and a somewhat preposterous ability to go undetected as he kills to assume and protect a new identity. The techno-chiller was released in 1948 yet seems screamingly relevant now. The cast includes stars from Dead of Night, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Things to Come and Pygmalion.
08/03/21