Hello!

We’ve got nothing but gratitude for associates like Kevin Pyrtle, who helped steer us to PD copies of Abel Gance’s La fin du monde back when any peek at that picture was a rare thing. He may yet reassemble that crazy show, adding montages kept for the goofball American release.

But today I steer readers, especially those interested in arcane Kaiju, to Kevin’s new page “Thrilling Tales of Weltraum★besty,” where he’s beginning to compile some recent thoughts on the subject.

His latest page details a certain hobby ‘restoration’ on which he’s embarked — ‘scanning’ an entire trailer for a Daiei Gamera feature — you know, the franchise about a titanic flying terrapin with rockets in his b___.  The progress made so far shows us Kevin’s raw ‘scan’ with his homemade copying apparatus. Doing something about the faded color comes next. We’re eager to see what he can do, considering how faded is the source trailer print.

The exact article is Film Scanning, Fool’s errands and Flying Turtles.

Japanese monster news keeps coming in — a theatrical reissue of the new Godzilla Minus One is coming up — in Black and White. We’re more keen on knowing when some fab 4K disc release will be announced.

Meanwhile, CineSavant informer-confederate Chuck Shillingford tells us that a 4K Ultra HD disc of the original Gojira ’54 went on sale in Japan back on October ’23.

Don’t jump to buy, as the disc description gives no indication of having English subs.

I’ve never heard a good answer as to why the superb remaster we saw of Gojira ’54 was never released here. We saw samples of it about 15 years ago at Steve Ryfle’s place. The image was far better than anything I’ve seen before or since, including Criterion’s disc releases; Toho has superior transfers of most of its Kaiju and Sci-fi classics that don’t get licensed abroad, including to Criterion. Being a Japanese disc, it also had no English language subtitles.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

Hello!

We’re certainly willing to help promote exceptional disc product. I’m writing this one day before street date for a rather incredible boxed set called Inside the Mind of Coffin Joe.   Arrow Video’s main sales page tells us that it has already it’s sold out. If you want to see a listiing of its full contents, you’ll need to creep stealthily over to the still-up Amazon sales page.

Can I theorize that copies can be had a bit further down the retail food chain?  On the dark web?  Or by selling one’s soul?

Good old Coffin Joe, or “Zé do Caixão” is the horror character of Brazilian filmmaking madman José Mojica Marins. He was one of the international horror stars brought to our attention back in the late ’80s by Phil Hardy’s first Overlook Encyclopedia of the Horror Film, the same tome that clued us into things like Moju and Jigoku, with text that sometimes overstated their shock value — even if we used discretion when deciding who to show them too.

A curious peek at old VHS tapes confirmed Marins’ as a standard bearer for outrageous, anti-social and anti-clerical horror. Visually speaking, his films have the look of something thrown together in the back of a TV station — it’s the numbingly consistent vein of ugly sadism and cruelty that sticks with us. The recurring Coffin Joe character, with his long nails, top hat and nasty sneer is as recognizable as any North American bogeyman. Hardy et horror contributores celebrated Marins’ abandonment of all values to manic delirious insanity; after 10 minutes listening to the average Coffin Joe audio track, we agreed with them. Want to get yourself declared legally insane?  Watching these pictures is a good start.

Wikipedia lists scores of Zé do Caixão titles — including 12 films and 3 TV series — not to mention comic books etc. Arrow’s boxed set has six discs with titles ‘remastered in 4K from the best available elements’. We see 11 titles listed on the gift box, including the carefree lark At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul, the spirited snap-your-fingers-and-sing Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind, and the side-splitting, fun-loving Hey Hey in the Hayloft The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures.

So start your search for Arrow’s forbidden boxed set — never mind those silly rumors that it’s a cosmic trap, an involuntary short-cut to the Realm of the Damned. Maybe it’s good that it has sold out — Arrow needs the extra $$ to fund the 24-hour psychiatric care required by the team that remastered the release. Here’s a mind-numbing official Trailer for Arrow’s set, not safe for human beings.

24 years ago Senhor Marins came to Los Angeles, to an ordinary fan convention. Tucked in between Something Weird’s Mike Vraney and someone hawking DVD boots, he looked a little alone and tired, a 60ish guy who at the time I though looked old (ha ha, that joke’s on me). I’m not sure he spoke a lot of English, and I certainly couldn’t try Portuguese. I honestly forget if he wore long fingernails . . . but he looked like nobody’s idea of ‘the embodiment of Evil.’ Adeus, estranho!

Responding to the wealth of classic horror currently arrived or anticipated in 4K, CineSavant correspondent Chuck Shillingford informs us about an Italian disc for which we need more information:

“Mario Bava’s La Maschera Del Demonio is making its way to 4K in Italy next month with the original Italian soundtrack and with Italian subtitles. I had pretty much given up on getting a copy of this one on Blu-ray OR 4K with the original Italian track with English subtitles. I’m attaching a photo of the 4K La Maschera from Amazon.it.”

Thanks Chuck — we found the Amazon.it entry for the ‘4Kult Eagle Pictures’ 4K, which appears to come with a second Blu-ray disc. The release date is February 21, ’24. Can anybody confirm the legitimacy of this release?  We used to encounter problems with bootlegs from Spain. There aren’t many details offered — is this really a full 4K remaster?

This discussion board page adds doubt that 4K-Eagle Pictures discs carry English subtitles, so it might pay to remain wary:

La Maschera del Demonio, ‘4Kult’ on Amazon.it

This could very well be a desirable item, but our general rule is never to assume that everything sold on Amazon is legit.

And Joe Dante is helpfully circulating this link to a blog entry in the Public Domain Review tabulating a tall stack of notable books, and artworks that entered The Public Domain on January 1.

The unattributed text begins with a few informative paragraphs about PD. It’s a UK blog: do all PD rules apply internationally?  The article is called

Happy Public Domain Day 2024!

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

Hello!

Correspondent Michael McQuarrie comes through with yet another ‘drive through Los Angeles’ link from a site called Vivid History. The best of these look like 35mm background plates, used for rear-projection in movie scenes of people in taxicabs, etc. Part of this one has three passes on the same street, to make separate side-angle cuts to the driver and passenger.

It’s called Los Angeles 1960s, Hollywood and Downtown … and was possibly filmed in the Spring or Summer of 1961. I confess that I wanted to show it because it features some movie marquees and a stretch of Santa Monica Blvd. just north of CineSavant Central — but a full ten years before I came to ‘the big city.’

Following editorial habit, I made screening notes that may / may not be of interest. Just looking at the cars, the people and the incredible variety of businesses is interest enough for me:

00:00  Hollywood. Heading East on Santa Monica Blvd between Wilton and Van Ness.
00:45  Hollywood Forever Cemetery — before strip malls were added facing Santa Monica Blvd., the cemetery had a grass lawn extending all the way to Gower Street.
01:14  Gower Street — CineSavant Central is about ten blocks to the South.
02:05  Downtown Los Angeles. Heading North on Hill Street at 9th.
02:54  8th Street – William Castle’s Homicidal and Allan Dwan’s Most Dangerous Man Alive are playing at the Hill Street theater. It was demolished in 1965.
03:24  7th Street – Marlon Brando’s One-Eyed Jacks playing on the right at the Warner Downtown, at this time called the Warrens Theater.
03:46  6th street on the left, the Paramount theater is closed and boarded up pending demolition. Pershing Square is on the right.
04:10  Elizabeth Taylor’s Butterfield 8 is playing at the Town, with a second feature we can’t make out. In 1966 it became Dan Sonney and Dave Friedman’s first Pussycat Theater.
04:59  New angle Hill Street going North again raking Right, starting at 7th.
05:10  One-Eyed Jacks playing, again; 2nd feature is Young Jesse James.
05:33  Pershing Square begins at 6th.
06:36  New angle Hill Street going North again raking Left, starting at 7th.
07:38  Butterfield 8 playing at the Town.
07:50  Unidentified beach-side boulevard. It looks like Venice, but the roads may all have been redone — could be another beach town, too.

The best literature on Film Noir is readily available in the Film Noir Foundation’s magazine, Noir City.

The latest issue is out, Number 39, and once again the level of writing, research and style is unsurpassed. Editor in Chief Imogen Sara Smith oversees a sharp 60 pages of concentrated film history, for publisher Eddie Muller; we particularly like the layouts designed by Michael Kronenberg, that evoke the heyday of great film magazines of the past, almost all of them extinct.

Featured articles this month focus on Hit Men in movies, (Danilo Castro), a look at the career of Jean Hagen (Steve Kronenberg), the Crime Pictures of director Bob Rafelson (Peter Tonguette) and Nick Gomez (Rachel Walther) and Christmas-themed Noir (Jeremy Arnold). The reliable Sean Axmaker reviews some new Blu-ray releases.

The Noir City news page has the info to subscribe, and to see the new issue’s full contents page.

And Michael McQuarrie sends us yet another link we can’t pass up:

A tourist page touts a terrific stopover destination at the Schilthorn, in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland. A company advertises cablecar rides (four separate lifts?) to the summit of the Schilthorn, at 2,970 meters up.

The James Bond Connection is very much a part of the come-on, with a ‘James Bond Brunch’ and a ‘Piz Gloria afternoon platter.’ Yes, this mountaintop eyrie is the spectacular location for much of the 1969 Danjaq thriller On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, starring George Lazenby. It doesn’t look like the easiest place to film a one-man documentary, let alone a lavish epic with a big cast and crew.

The showoff web page is called Swiss Skyline.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

Hello!

Correspondent Dan Mottola gives us a link to a video I enjoyed about a UK miniature maker, who gives a nice talk about the history of model-making. He’s a professional now taking it easy as a hobbyist.

Lots of commercial plastic models figure into The Miniature World of Mat Irvine, who starts with a kit of the moon space ship from Lang’s Frau im Mond. He goes a bit into the history of each model.

For a time Mat is only talking about movies. He goes off topic to explain stop motion animation (?) but then digs into some lesser-known English filmmakers as well. Then he shows some of the work he did for movies — he has years of effects credits. The most fun is seeing his shop stacked with vintage model kits, and to watch him tinker about.

We identify with Mat … like a garden-variety fan, he pulls out a box with his prized collection of James Bond cars.

. . . Note, 01 09 24, from correspondent Martin Hennessee:

“Mat Irvine is a hallowed name in the annals of Doctor Who fandom. He created some excellent models and effects for the original show, from 1972 until it ended in 1989, and wrote a great book on techniques of the era. He came back to help create the new Daleks for the 2005 revival, and his sturdy new build has served the series well ever since. He has also supervised some excellent practical effects for the new series. Truly an unsung hero of FX!”

— Good to know, Martin, thanks!

This is the first disc revelation of the year — I don’t want to scoop my upcoming review, but Severin Films’ new boxed set Danza Macabra Volume Two: The Italian Gothic Collection contains a fantastic 4K Ultra HD disc of Antonio Margheriti’s Castle of Blood — a film we’ve previously seen in at least 3 indifferent or so-so disc releases.

The new disc is everything a collector of classic Eurohorror would want, and more . . . I’ll be reviewing it right away. I previously thought the show a little overrated, but not now — it’s up there with the very best of Barbara Steele.

If I avoid being hung on an iron gate, a review will be up on Saturday. A full review of Severin’s boxed set will follow.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

Hello!

I couldn’t believe it — with rain and high winds both before and after, the Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade still had its picture-perfect weather for the morning of the first. I have yet to see that parade rained out or blown away. Is that some kind of secret, perverted wish in my subconscious?  No, it’s right up front.

On to new business:  Here’s something altogether strange and very special, from a link just circulated by Joe Dante. Fast Film is a cinema-intense short subject art film that’s difficult to describe. A team of talented animators had an unlimited supply of photocopies of frame grabs, paper, and scissors — the work we see is a Super-Collage in motion, a bizarre 3-D Origami free-for-all.

The plastic play with film scenes and stars has been likened to a ‘History of Film,’ but it’s more like a tour through our movie unconsciousness. Since when have we seen Cary Grant, exiting a train compartment, being observed by aliens from a Japanese Godzilla movie?

The filmmaker is Virgil Widrich — he made this back in 2003. You’ll be riveted for the full 14 minutes. Almost as astonishing is the follow-up ‘how did they do it?’ short The Making of Virgil Widrich’s ‘Fast Film’

How do we choose what to review next?  Let’s try an upcoming disc round-up for this very chilly start-up for ’24. Some of the discs ‘in hand’ have been around a couple of weeks — I can sometimes be persuaded to review something on request.

The Warner Archive — just arrived are Madame Bovary (Minnelli), Anna Christie (Garbo), The Great Ziegfeld and Tarzan The Ape Man; we’re expecting Gentleman Jim (Errol Flynn) in the door soon.

KL Studio Classics keeps tempting us with a wide swath of product. In hand are Odds Against Tomorrow, The Ballad of Little Jo, Hardcore, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot 4K and , The Man Who Wasn’t There 3D.

ClassicFlix sent a pair of new discs — the domestic noir Cause for Alarm (Loretta Young, Barry Sullivan) and The Abbott and Costello Show, Season 2.

We’re curious about The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians, Deaf Crocodile’s latest excusion into vintage Czech fantasy-comedy.

There’s also the 4-tile Savage Guns Four Classic Westerns set from Arrow Video.

Powerhouse Indicator just tapped us with screeners of The Man Who Had Power Over Women (Rod Taylor, Carol White), Impossible Object (Alan Bates, Dominique Sanda) and Jinnah (Christopher Lee).

High in the queue are Film Masters’ The Devil’s Partner / Creature from the Haunted Sea combo.

An outfit called Mawu Films sent a fancy disc of the Brazilian Black Gold, White Devil, a Cinema Novo classic that we ought to look into.

For the Future, we just learned of KL Studio Classics February lineup:

New Blu-rays of Witness for the Prosecution (Billy Wilder),  The Big Country (William Wyler),  The Thomas Crown Affair (Norman Jewison),  Burnt Offerings (Dan Curtis),  Blood on the Sun (James Cagney),  Man-Eater of Kumaon (Sabu),  Let’s Dance (Fred Astaire),  Alaska Seas (Robert Ryan),  Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema XVII with Vice Squad, Black Tuesday and  Nightmare, and  Monk The Complete Fourth Season.

and special Ultra HD discs of  Leviathan 4K,  The Last Castle 4K,  Gunfight at the OK Corral 4K (John Sturges), and  Fear and Desire 4K (Stanley Kubrick).

And, as we were reminded last week, some of the following were promised for January, and the dates of others have not yet been pinned down:

Severin’s Danza Macabra Volume 2 with Castle of Blood in 4K

Vinegar Syndrome’s promised The Horrible Dr. Hichcock 4K release

We will also be on a keen lookout for The Milestone Cinematheque’s forthcoming Household Saints, a special delight we’ve been wanting to catch up with for almost 30 years. Lili Taylor !

Criterion’s The Roaring Twenties and All That Money Can Buy plus McCabe and Mrs. Miller 4K and Lone Star 4K.

Bluebeard and a Region A of The Whip and the Body (Kino Lorber), a Region B of Devil Girl from Mars (UK Cult Classics), Red Planet Mars (MGM),

Not to mention a possible Alphaville disc, if a release is derived from the new remaster.

And of course, we’re going to welcome Godzilla Minus One the moment it is announced . . .

. . . which makes us ask, where is a disc of The Primevals, the decades-in-the-making stop-motion thriller premiered last year at various festivals?

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

Hello!  January slams in with new announcements for devotees of the fantastic:

KL Studio Classics has announced a horror rarity — Charles Marquis Warren’s 1957 possession tale Back from the Dead.

There’s at yet no exact release date. Back from the Dead has been very difficult to see, especially in ‘Regalscope,’ really CinemaScope rebranded; its companion Regalscope production The Unknown Terror came out from Viavision [Imprint] in 2021.

I believe the movie was filmed in or near the art enclave of Laguna Beach; the notable cast includes Peggie Castle, Arthur Franz, Marsha Hunt ( ! ), Don Haggerty, James Bell and Ned Glass.

The renewed interest in the title makes one hope that the rights for the Regalscope film Kronos might now be clear, putting that much-desired Sci-fi classic back in play. It would really benefit from a full restoration & remaster.

Vinegar Syndrome has posted a Promo Trailer for their upcoming 4K disc of The Horrible Dr. Hichcock.

They’ve also released more details for this release, that should please American collectors unable to play the Radiance Region B disc from back in October. The upcoming release is a combo 4K + Blu-ray item. It appears to be from the same remaster, with 3 separate cuts and some of the same extras.

Commentaries: instead of Radiance’s choice of Kat Ellinger or Tim Lucas, Vinegar Syndrome gives us Eugenio Ercolani, Troy Howarth & Nathaniel Thompson, or a select track with Barbara Steele speaking with Russ Lanier.

We’ll see if we get a chance to review the disc. Hichcock was for so long ‘not there,’ or impossible to see in a quality presentation — and now we suddenly have competing releases.

Having committed to this particular show long ago, I don’t mind the personal double-dip. We’re told not to look for this on Amazon — it’s said to be a Vinegar Syndrome exclusive, through their website only.

Wait, there’s more from Vinegar Syndrome, as reported by Gary Teetzel:

“Vinegar Syndrome posted online yesterday that they’ll be releasing Saul Bass’s Sci-fi thriller Phase IV on 4K Ultra-HD later this year — with multiple cuts!  So we’ll finally get to see it with the original trippy montage at the end.”

The movie’s home video release became an issue eight years ago, when a legendary original ending was screened once at a now-defunct L.A. venue called Cinefamily. We wrote that up in our 2015 review of Olive Films’ Phase IV Blu-ray.

Didn’t I just title drop The Unknown Terror up above?  Advisor Gary again amends the CineSavant release outlook: KL Studio Classics has announced a triple-bill Blu on the way entitled Sci-Fi Chillers Collection.

The disc set’s contents feature the Regalscope / Fox The Unknown Terror previously viewable on the Australian collection, and the Paramount / Eugene Lourie rampaging-cyborg fave The Colossus of New York. They’re both vintage favorites, and Unknown is still relatively hard-to see here.

The third picture I’ve never quite made it through, Francis D. Lyon’s Destination Inner Space. It certainly can boast a name cast: Scott Brady, Sheree North, Gary Merrill, John Howard, Biff Elliot, Roy Barcroft. It’s in color, but am I remembering correctly … was this the picture originally released in the U.S. in B&W?

Anyway, we never discourage even marginal Sci-fi . . . with the right encouragement, maybe Kino Lorber or Vinegar Syndrome is properly positioned to properly release pictures held by collectors, like the hotly-desired Kronos! touted above, or more titles held by collectors, like the ’63 The Day of the Triffids.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson