Hello!

We’ve got a raft of interesting disc announcements — some are for January, which not long ago was a calm month for new product.

↑  First up is a pack of winners from KL Studio Classics, a list that begins with several classic noirs: Robert Wise’s Odds Against Tomorrow, Alfred Werker’s He Walked by Night and a 4K of Fritz Lang’s Scarlet Street. We’ll be looking close to judge improvements on earlier releases, although the announced extras — commentaries with Imogen Sara Smith, David Kalat, Alan K. Rode might be motive enough to jump in. Kino also has a 16th iteration of its ‘Dark Side’ noir series, with The Mystery of Marie Roget, Chicago Deadline and Iron Man.

Kino continues with Douglas Sirk’s Has Anybody Seen My Gal?, Robert Wise’s Run Silent, Run Deep, the ‘Dirty Dozen’ clone The Devil’s Brigade, and Hal Ashby’s Coming Home. The dependably entertaining Michael Schlesinger adds commentaries to reissues of The Road to Hong Kong (with Stan Taffel) and The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (with Mark Evanier).  →  Some of the discs appear to be Kino re-issues, adding commentaries, etc., to titles previously released without extras. Plus slip covers!

Jacques Deray’s unusual neo-noir The Outside Man  ←  arrives in two separate language versions. Joseph Sargent’s The Hell with Heroes (Rod Taylor!) is billed as a new remaster. Ditto for a disc set of TV’s Monk, The Complete Third Season.

And two more Kino 4K releases — the unfamiliar 1981 horror The Boogens, and the Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy Kindergarten Cop.

Meanwhile, Severin Films continues to release quality remasters of some of the weirdest fantastique of the film sanglant et érotique. We’re about to review their new box of Peter Cushing Curiosities — like, I’ve only seen one of its titles. Severin is also bouncing more releases up to the 4K format. Not a month goes by that something strange isn’t uncovered in a vault — almost always uncut and from original printing elements.

I’m interested in the recent releases of Michele Soavi’s Dellamorte, Dellamore (4K) and Barry Mahon’s The Dead One.  Just out the door are two shockers we didn’t expect to see in the top-end format, Jess Franco’s Count Dracula with Christopher Lee, and the extreme gore entry Zombie Holocaust, aka Dr. Butcher, M.D..  ↑  These are high-end releases, loaded with extras — gore fans can chow down.

Much stranger, and showing Severin’s embrace of a different cinematic extreme, is their Blu-ray double bill of avant-garde Pere Portabella features. Cuadecec, vampir (1971) is a strange experimental documentary, which is a way of saying we don’t know what it is. Filmed on the set of Franco’s Count Dracula, it’s a free-form montage printed on hi-con stock that makes everything look like a 4th generation copy of a silent picture. Christopher Lee is present near the end, reading from Bram Stoker. Some of the BTS filming is quite fun, even when filtered through the endistancing images. We enjoy Jonathan Rosenbaum’s critique of Caudecec, but we can’t say we come away understanding more about the picture or its supposed comment on classic screen horror.

On the same disc is Pere Portabella’s Umbracle (1972), an even more absurd avant-garde piece combining a protest against Spanish Fascism with a scattershot treatise on cinema, with episodes as variable as an entire clown act, and Christoper Lee walking through Barcelona.

And last but not least, tipped off by Gary Teetzel four days ago, Vinegar Syndrome floors us with an announcement of a 4K of Riccardo Freda’s The Horrible Dr. Hichcock. Ever since the early DVD days, we’ve been waiting for decent discs of the show. The nowhere-to-be-found title remained out of reach until just a few weeks ago, when the good people at Radiance came up with a sensational disc — only available in Region B.

Last Tuesday we reported that a Region A disc of The Whip and The Body had just been announced, not long after a Region B release had frustrated U.S. collectors. Just for fun I joked that I wished Hichcock was on the way in Region A. Not two hours later came the Vinegar Syndrome announcement of the 4K.

Gary T. marveled at my seeming ability to make dreams come true with just a frivolous CineSavant announcement. He immediately suggested that I continue with wish-fulfillment jokes — ‘Gee, I sure hope we get a Region A for London After Midnight, the uncut  The Magnificent Ambersons, an uncensored  Blood and Roses,’ etc’

Heck, we’re optimists.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

Hello! — Best Picture of the Year?

A major surprise is that the new release Godzilla Minus One is getting rave reviews across the board, attracting nothing but positive notices from audiences and the most demanding of genre critics.

I’m convinced that it has to be something special. CineSavant’s trusted advisor Gary Teetzel says,

“Delivers the most ferocious and aggressive iteration of Godzilla yet, and importantly, an engaging and emotional human story about guilt, loss and persevering”. . . “The devoted veteran fans cheered when the Toho logo appeared, when Godzilla first used his atomic ray, when the familiar Ifukube theme was first heard, etc.” . . . “Definitely make an effort to see it on the biggest, loudest screen you can.”

Trailers From Hell’s Joe Dante was equally impressed:

“Arguably the best Godzilla movie since the 1954 original” . . . “Dramatic, spectacular, with memorably rounded characters and pitched on a more emotional adult level than almost any kaiju movie.” . . . “When the classic Godzilla theme music kicked in during the exciting climax I was nearly moved to tears” . . . “If you’re a Monster Kid you won’t see a more satisfying movie this season.”

And advisor Gary Teetzel reminds us of two recent announcements from Kino Lorber: in the new year they’ll be releasing two very desirable horror items in Region A. Mario Bava’s Technicolor gothic The Whip and the Body stars Daliah Lavi, Christopher Lee, and Bava’s delirious cinematography. Edgar G. Ulmer’s overachieving B-picture Bluebeard with John Carradine and Jean Parker is a collector’s favorite, even if few of us have ever seen a decent presentation.

Bluebeard is said to be a new restoration, which is excellent news. Kino says the work was done by Paramount, which seems odd, as Bluebeard is from the Poverty Row studio Producer’s Releasing Corporation (PRC), and few of their titles are part of the holdings that include the post-’48 Paramount library. We haven’t yet heard about a street date, for what some say is John Carradine’s classiest horror picture.

The Whip and the Body was reviewed here just last July, in a Region B disc from UK’s 88 films; Kino has said that their release will use the same video master. We’re interested to know if the extras are the same or different. It’s announced for February 27.

All that U.S. collectors need now, is a Region A release of The Horrible Dr. Hichcock.

December 5, just after posting: Wait — Hold the presses . . . Vinegar Syndrome has just announced for January ’24 a 4K disc relese of The Horrible Dr. Hichcock, with their own exclusive restoration, and different extras, including interviews with assistant director Marcello Avallone and star Barbara Steele.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

Hello!

Charlie Largent’s review today for Horrors of the Black Museum strikes a personal chord. I saw the show as a little kid — probably just 7 or 8 years old — and it was one of the few pictures that freaked me out. Like, I had no idea such things even existed, and watching old Michael Gough foaming at the mouth in sadistic delight was even more gross. Well, that’s what happens to sheltered 1950s kids.

I wrote up my experience in 2017 for a special CineSavant Halloween articles: Hypnotic Chill! Monster Thrill!  Charlie Largent and should do that again, just describe our experiences at horror films — or any old films — that were too much for us as tots, or a little older.  I thought I had a hard shell, but as an adult realize that just about everything affected me too much. Did adult fans appreciate Horrors of the Black Museum more, as a shock show that finally delivered the gory goods?

Straight cinema sadism never appealed — I wanted more reason to be frightened, than just seeing people tortured. I’m not sure if I’m consistent in my reactions — of the ‘Anglo-Amalgamated Trilogy,’ both Peeping Tom and Circus of Horrors remain big personal favorites, and the artless Horrors of the Black Museum much less so.

We also want to link to John McElwee’s very good 2019 Greenbriar Picture Shows article, which describes the distribution / exhibition of Black Museum back in the day, in the context of American-International in general. It’s in the second part, Round Two For Jim-Sam but you might want to first read John’s Part One, American-International This Week.  Thanks John.

Like millions of others caught by the Pandemic, our home viewing habits have shifted a bit to TV streaming, so far on Netflix and Amazon Prime. We’ve watched a number of subtitled series because foreign language is a big topic in our house. Plenty of Spanish- & French-language entertainment on those platforms far exceed what’s available on American networks.

We realize that statement is almost a given; it’s just important to set a base line. We have a recommendation to offer, a show already three years old.

After suffering through umpteen god-awful Fast and Furious pictures, and the ‘stylish’ stuff that passes for action filmmaking here (you don’t need my sour words about modern ‘action’ cutting), I was knocked out by a pair of terrific Netflix movies going by the title Lost Bullet, aka Balle perdue.

It’s a crime tale about a guy who supercharges cars, goes to jail but is furloughed to help a special police pursuit unit with its interceptor vehicles. The spare storyline makes me feel like I’m watching something halfway between today’s televised highway pursuits, and the outrageous comic strip violence of Mad Max Fury Road. No dystopian society is on view, just crazy fights and incredibly intense highway pursuits and attendant mayhem. The ostensible hero Lino (Alban Lenoir) is the most determined cuss we’ve ever seen. His dogged progress is exhiliaratingly exciting.

We can get very picky about action direction and cutting, but this stuff appealed 100%. Dialogue / psychological content are minimized but not ignored, with the concentration of both films instead being breakneck action. The action choreography is so good, Lino’s ability to fight six cops at once — and prevail — convinces even when we know it’s far, far into overkill territory. We assume that some CGI manipulation must be happening but the illusion of absolute realism and breakneck danger is never broken. The action on the road has more vehicular splatter than George Miller, with more cars wrecked than John Landis. Again, it’s all made exceptional by the direction and cutting, which is beyond compare.

Guns are present but not a primary focus, which is a BIG plus. The shows are lean and mean, and really fun. Look em up: Lost Bullet and Lost Bullet 2.

All this will surely be old news to some readers — I’m probably three years behind the wave, but it feels good to recommend this. So far I’ve seen NOTHING in this year’s theatrical output that raised my spirits or my blood pressure.   Now I’ll get back to reviewing old movies.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

Ah, we’re experiencing ‘technical difficulties’ — all seven years of reviews posted at Trailers from Hell showed up this morning swamped in ads. Take a look at any review and you’ll see the problem; my response was  ‘nope, nope, nope,’  this won’t do at all.

I’m following Charlie Largent’s advice to wait a couple of hours before posting today’s new reviews — so our week’s work won’t be rejected as barely readable. It’s annoying, having no control over this advertising vandalism. Hopefully we’ll be up and running shortly.

Thanks for your patience — Glenn Erickson

Hello!

We’re back at full strength today! Correspondent Michael McQuarrie leads off with something interesting, an audio link from The Internet Archive.

It’s 1961, and the rush to build backyard bomb shelters is about to get a big boost from the Cuban Missile Crisis. But public information about the threat of nuclear war is still stuck in the Atomic Cafe era of misleading government propaganda, pundit-based hysteria, and a booming consumer culture looking to make a buck from almost anything.

From ’61 comes the Tops Records release  If the Bomb Falls — a Recorded Guide to survival.  It looks serious, it looks official — and according to researchers Mike Callahan, David Edwards, and Patrice Eyries (at this link) it was “a shameless attempt to cash in on that fear.”

Dave Pell, a busy producer at Tops, came up with the concept, which amounts to little more than two speeches about general nuclear preparedness. The Internet Archive’s encodings were uploaded earlier this month by Tony Angel.

Helpful correspondent Rutcherd Bong follows up with an entertaining graphics-oriented link to a  Pinterest Page of Movie Ad Mats.  This resource is common knowledge, but this link brought up a lot of interesting movie advertising material.

Rutcherd pointed out the top ad from the King Bros – Lawrence Tierney Dillinger, which shows that even in the late 1940s various municipalities were ignoring the Production Code and banning individual movies found offensive.

Scrolling down, the page carries at least a hundred ad mats just as they appeared in newspapers, naming the theaters, etc.. The selection includes obvious titles and real rarities, even an ad for an all-colored Oscar Micheaux booking. Big city bookings include live performances by radio stars, and other promotions.

The mat to the right proves that Philip Kaufman’s Goldstein got its share of arthouse screenings — I like the way they try to sell it as an ‘adult’ movie. And of course it caught my eye to see an ad mat for today’s review, Dance, Fools, Dance.

Saturday’s reviews are shaping up as a belated Halloween offering — with new horror reviews.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

Hello!

With the holidays afoot CineSavant is still going a bit lean on reviews, but I hope to regain the pace and once again project the illusion of a constant flow of new content. There is certainly no lack of good discs to review.

The subtle clue in the image above reveals where we were this week instead of behind the computer where we belong.  ↑  This shot is from Friday the 24th, in chill but clear weather. We saw something I didn’t know could be seen, even though it has to be a common sight for locals: the actual Farallon Islands, 30 miles outside San Francisco Bay. The silhouette we saw is in the photo, on the ocean horizon just to the left of the right tower of the Golden Gate Bridge . . . the image enlarges.

Screenwriters take note — one reason the island, or islands, are off limits is that they’re a nuclear waste dump. What a story opportunity — what would happen if some escapees from Alcatraz, swept out of the bay, came in contact with the dump’s 47,500 steel drums of radioactive material, and . . . ?

Or what a good destination this could be for a ‘3 hour cruise’ in an alternate-universe retelling of Gilligan’s Island?

Enough nonsense, this posting is late enough already, and who knows what we will or won’t have up on Tuesday.  Don’t worry about my mental state, as it couldn’t be better — we’ve had visions of holiday carrot cake dancing in our heads. ←

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson