Glenn Erickson's Reviews: Month: May 2024

Peeping Tom – 4K 05/28/24

Michael Powell and Leo Marks encode their tale of a sick serial killer with 1001 wicked observations, insights and unflattering jokes about everything cinematic, emphasizing voyeuristic excess and obsession. Carl Boehm’s protagonist is a ‘very British Psycho’ who conducts his murderous crusade like an explorer in taboo territory, and fetishizes his cameras as sexual objects. Enraged Brit film critics demolished the film’s release, ending Powell’s stellar career; 20 years later, Martin Scorsese led the charge to rescue the director’s reputation. The extras extend the film’s meaning and context in several fascinating directions. An outstanding disc, in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
05/28/24

Philo Vance Collection 05/28/24

S.S. Van Dine’s artistocratic detective was featured in 12 murder mystery novels that inspired at least 15 films. The first actor to play him was the urbane William Powell, in three Paramount productions: The Canary Murder Case, The Greene Murder Case and The Benson Murder Case. Powell sorts out the suspects and the victims, playing opposite Jean Arthur, Louise Brooks, Florence Eldredge, Paul Lukas, William Boyd and Natalie Moorhead. Raymond Chandler once wrote that the Philo Vance was ‘the most asinine character in detective fiction’ but reviewer Charlie Largent reports that he’s very entertaining on film, as embodied by Powell, pre- The Thin Man. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
05/28/24

Friendly Persuasion 05/25/24

Jessamyn West’s bright vision of America’s agrarian dream has plenty to say about anxious times: a family of Quakers try to maintain their values against secular temptation, and the threat of Civil War. Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire star, with Anthony Perkins, Phyllis Love and Richard Eyer. Sentimental, insightful and very funny, it earns its ‘family values’ honors, blowing away similar efforts by Disney and Spielberg. The colorful HD remaster reverses a previous credits revision. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
05/25/24

Dellamorte Dellamore – Cemetery Man 05/25/24

The jobs some people take!  Intense graveyard watchman Francesco Dellamorte is serious about his duties, which include slaying interred corpses that insist on coming back to life. Will True Love interfere with his quirky necrophiliac lifestyle?  Charlie Largent dives into the most original horror pic of the 1990s. Rupert Everett & Anna Falchi star in director Michele Soavi’s ghoulishly erotic tale, an oozing comic orgy with a metaphysical/existential finale. On Blu-ray from Severin Films.
05/25/24

The Rain People 05/21/24

Francis Ford Coppola’s first personal film through his Zoetrope experiment is an acting tour-de-force for Shirley Knight, a purposely marginal road movie in search of cinema truth. It comes out as an honorable attempt to meld Americana and European ‘film honesty;’ what we really admire is Coppola’s expert direction of Knight and her co-stars, James Caan and Robert Duvall. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
05/21/24

Back from the Dead 05/21/24

When is a horror movie not a horror movie?  Does the absence of most horror content make a difference?  This Regal Films ‘Regalscope’ production is handsomely filmed and shot on location, but it feels like a stack of disconnected ideas. Lovely Peggie Castle is possessed, and Arthur Franz and Marsha Hunt don’t know what to do about it. A Satanic Cult is involved, but it’s the most disorganized horror fantasy we’ve seen. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
05/21/24

Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors 4K 05/18/24

Charlie Largent takes on a new 4K encoding of Freddie Francis’s well-remembered omnibus picture. Amicus gives us five tales of the uncanny, each with a clever twist or sting in its tail. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing costar, and for once even share some meaningful scenes. Creepy mountebank Cushing deals the Tarot cards that spell out the grim fates in store; Chris Lee is a pompous art critic with a handy problem. Also with Michael Gough, and introducing a young Donald Sutherland, who steals the show 100%. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.
05/18/24

Dune ’84 – Dual Version Edition 05/18/24

Shot for shot, David Lynch’s galactic epic is as brilliant as any of his films, with vivid characterizations, strong performances and a parade of weird, strikingly Lynchian visuals. The bizarre Lynch sensibility is a good match for Frank Herbert’s complicated saga; Viavision’s Limited Edition is the first Region A Blu-ray to offer both the Theatrical Cut and the Extended Version, with its numerous new scenes. It’s a lot of story to cover in too little time, but no show as entertaining as this needs to make apologies. On Blu-rayfrom Viavision.
05/18/24

Planet of the Vampires 05/14/24

Radiance comes through again, giving us Mario Bava’s haunted space opera in multiple versions. The encoding of the original Italian version improves greatly on everything we’ve seen so far — it’s dazzling. Barry Sullivan and Norma Bengell struggle to overcome the curse of a ‘demon planet’ — which rushes to possess every life form it encounters. The alien landscape is all rocks, smoke and colored light, and the ‘vampires’ are Sullivan’s own crewmates, transformed into murderous zombies. On Blu-ray from Radiance.
05/14/24

Submarine Command 05/14/24

This little-seen Paramount war picture finishes William Holden’s run with lovely Nancy Olson as his co-star; John Farrow’s direction brings out the script’s ‘between the wars’ troubles of servicemen, and then settles for the expected recruiting stance for the then-hot Korean War. It’s filmed partly at sea, which adds to the realism, and it tries to keep the heroics under control. Don Taylor is in the best-buddy role, as the Navy flier Holden rescues from the drink; William Bendix is a CPO with a grudge against Holden — for an incident that happened on the last day of WW2. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
05/14/24

The Mask of Fu Manchu 05/11/24

MGM’s delirious pre-Code Yellow Peril adventure was once severely censored for its exotic tortures and suggestions that Myrna Loy’s sadistic femme fatale was also a sexual pervert. Karloff’s Fu Manchu is a scary example of pulp xenophobia, a racist manifestation of every Anglo fear about the ‘mysterious East.’ An example of a restored dialogue line: “We must KILL the white man and TAKE his women!”  Who says classic horror has to be PC friendly?  With Karen Morley and Lewis Stone — and a Gregory Mank commentary. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
05/11/24

Once Upon a Time in the West – 4K 05/11/24

“Only at the point of dying.”   Hailed in Europe but ignored here, Sergio Leone’s most prestigious western transcends classic status. Its operatic gunfighter rituals become drama-sculptures of ‘genre destiny.’ Henry Fonda overturns his ethical, decent screen image with a supremely sadistic villain; Charles Bronson catapulted into European superstardom as this film’s ‘man with no name.’ Leone’s curious, dreamlike storytelling method hypnotizes, that’s for sure, as does Ennio Morricone’s superb music score. Paramount’s 4K looks sensational, although purists wish it were encoded with a higher bitrate. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from Paramount Presents.
05/11/24

Devil’s Doorway 05/07/24

Guy Trosper, Anthony Mann and John Alton’s western is shocking stuff for 1950 — Hollywood did address the historical  raw deal handed Native Americans, way before the activist ’70s. Robert Taylor is a Shoshone rancher in Wyoming, who comes back from the Civil War with medals and finds that opportunists are passing laws that dispossess him of his citizenship and property rights. Rather than give up, he fights back and is labeled a terrorist threat to decency. 30 years before Heaven’s Gate, the cavalry comes to the rescue — for the villains. It’s rough stuff, the kind of ‘subversive’ movie that got other directors blacklisted. The remastered presentation is a beauty.

 

Two from Jean Rollin 05/04/24

Charlie Largent takes on two colorful, uncut, un-draped Jean Rollin Gallic horror romps. Les démoniaques is a cruel story of pirate murder and sex crimes. The Nude Vampire is listed as one of Rollin’s better works, its three-word title pretty much expresses the full Rollin cinema philosophy. The popuar pictures — separate releases — are given lavish special edition attention. Also available are 4K Ultra HD editions. On Blu-ray from Powerhouse Indicator.
05/04/24

Gravity 05/04/24

This one played like gangbusters in the theater. The only negative flak I heard came from a) people that didn’t like Sandra Bullock no matter what she was in, and b) people that violently denied the premise that space garbage posed a potential threat. The thrills in this presumed 99 & 44/100% CGI space thriller just don’t stop happening: ace filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón adds elements that up the storytelling quotient to a really memorable level. This reissue is a two disc set, retaining the hours of original extras — all subtitled in over a dozen languages. On Blu-rayfrom Warner Bros. Entertainment.
05/04/24