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Entries tagged with 'DVD'
Posted May. 6, 2008,
Killer Kids In Devil Times Five!
By Dennis Dermody
Picked up the DVD of an offbeat horror movie from 1974, Devil Times Five. A van overturns on the highway and the survivors are five psychotic children who trudge through the snow and make it to a remote lodge where they are taken in and proceed to bump off everyone in clever gory ways. Sorrell Booke -- who was Boss Hogg in TV's Dukes Of Hazzard -- is one of the unlucky adults, and little Leif Garrett (who went on to be a teen idol and adult mess) plays one of the murderous moppets. These deranged delinquents make for a fun creepy film....
Posted May. 5, 2008,
Serial Mom!
By Dennis Dermody
Out this week in a new special edition DVD is Serial Mom, John Waters' sardonically funny tale of a suburban mom (the brilliant Kathleen Turner) who kills people that get on her nerves. Here's the fabulous scene wherein Turner harasses Mink Stole on the phone -- "Is this the cocksucker residence?" -- which makes me crazy. The new disc has documentaries: Serial Mom: Surreal Moments and The King Of Gore about Herschell Gordon Lewis and I'm on both of them, which was fun to do.
Posted Apr. 29, 2008,
The Living End: Remixed & Remastered!
By Dennis Dermody
Coming this week to DVD is The Living End Gregg Araki’s great 1992 film about a film critic (Craig Gilmore) who finds out he’s HIV positive who takes to the road with a unstable hunky gun-toting drifter (Mike Dytri). This self-proclaimed “irresponsible film” bristles with sexy vitality and rage. It's still effective, still sexy and Araki has remastered the soundtrack to rocking effect.
Posted Apr. 21, 2008,
Mae West's She Done Him Wrong Is "Fast and Furious."
By Dennis Dermody
The hilarious racy 1933 Mae West comedy She Done Him Wrong is finally on DVD, courtesy of Universal Home Entertainment, and it's about time. Based on West's stage hit Diamond Lil, according to TCM's Robert Osborne (in a great introduction to the movie), this had to be toned down to get past the censors, but it's still a howler. Mae plays a diamond-loving saloon singer, who, without her knowledge, is in with a pack of criminals. Cary Grant is the missionary that Mae salaciously asks to come up to her room "some time." But it's fast and furious. While Mae West practically saved Paramount Studios with this hit, the loose morals and double-entendres helped usher in a more stringent Production Code. "You bad girl!" Cary Grant says to Mae West who replies: "You'll find out!"
Posted Apr. 17, 2008,
Karaoke Terror: "So Insane I Can't Even Begin to Describe It."
By Dennis Dermody
It's the kids vs. pissed off middle-aged women in
Posted Apr. 15, 2008,
Perry Mason's 50th Anniversary!
By Dennis Dermody
Out now is a great DVD set: Perry Mason 50th Anniversary Edition. It's a marvelous tribute to the great TV attorney Perry Mason, based on the novels by Erle Stanley Gardner, and played with brilliant authority by Raymond Burr. This four-disc set includes episodes culled from the show's nine successful seasons on CBS and are introduced by the still beautiful Barbara Hale, who played Mason’s devoted secretary Della Street. The ageless, lovely, Hale is just charming introducing episodes with such guest stars as Robert Redford, Bette Davis, James Coburn, etc.
The bonus disc features fabulous interviews with Raymond Burr by Charlie Rose and Person To Person’s Edward R. Murrow. And Barbara Hale is interviewed at length and her fond recollections of Raymond Burr (playing tricks on her during filming) are genuinely touching. They also include a rare TV spot for the American Cancer Society by William Tallman (who played the always losing prosecutor Hamilton Burger). Tallman was dying of lung cancer at the time he did the spot and his family gave permission to use this clip for the 50th anniversary. There’s also rare footage of the entire cast playing charades on the TV show Stump The Stars which is just hilarious. But the best is original screen tests (which haven’t been seen since 1956) made for the roles with Burr auditioning for both Mason and the Hamilton Burger parts.
Posted Apr. 14, 2008,
Who Are You Polly Maggoo? Out on DVD!
By Dennis Dermody
I can't believe I'm holding in my hands the gorgeous DVD of The Delirious Fictions of William Klein. It's not out until May 20th but it's a must own! William Klein was a famed photographer who worked as a photographer for Vogue before he decided to become a filmmaker. Qui etes-vous Polly Maggoo? (Who Are You Polly Maggoo?) was his brilliant 1966 satire on the fashion industry starring his favorite model Dorothy McGowan as Polly Maggoo, followed around by a French TV crew. Future Dark Shadows star Grayson Hall plays the frosty fashion magazine publisher.
This opening scene of the movie where the models are screwed into these bizarre aluminum sheet dresses is hilarious. This three disc set includes Klein's Mr. Freedom (1969), a blistering satire on America about a Communist-hating super-hero, and The Model Couple (1977) about a couple involved in a controlled government experiment. The eye-popping black and white pop 1960s visuals of Who Are You Polly Maggoo? will make you crazy....
Posted Apr. 11, 2008,
Mad Over Midsomer Murders!
By Dennis Dermody
You have to check out this fabulous box set on DVD: Midsomer Murders (The Early Cases). It's a marvelous British mystery series based on the books by Caroline Graham with a charismatic John Nettles as Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby with his intolerant but trusty sidekick DS Gavin Troy (Daniel Casey). The two of them solve bizarre crimes in the seemingly charming English countryside. There’s nice macabre, kinky, twists and sparkling wit and charm as well. This is a great introduction to this terrific series and some terrific people show up as well -- Emily Mortimer, Imelda Staunton, even Orlando Bloom, who ends up stuck with a pitchfork! Trust me, stick this in and you’ll be so hooked.
Posted Apr. 10, 2008,
Bette Davis Is The Nanny!
By Dennis Dermody
Finally picked up the new DVD of The Nanny from Fox Home Entertainment. The terrific 1965 British thriller features a fabulous performance by Bette Davis as the nanny from hell. Directed by Seth Holt, Bette is dowdy and prim, and takes care of a disturbed little boy accused of drowning his sister. But there's more than meets the eye in this chiller. Think The Nanny Diaries, only with a killer twist....
Posted Apr. 7, 2008,
American Gangstas!
By Dennis Dermody
Check out Warner Bros. Gangsters Collection Volume 3, featuring more great (lesser known) tough guy Warner Brothers gangsta flicks. The set includes Brother Orchid (1940), Mayor of Hell (1933) Black Legion (1937), Smart Money (1931) and Picture Snatcher (1933). A highlight of the batch is the fabulous Lady Killer (1933) starring Jimmy Cagney who goes from the hood to Hollywood movie star. Mae Clark (whom Cagney faced with a grapefruit in Public Enemy) gets kicked on her ass into a hallway by the irascible Cagney in this corker.
Posted Apr. 2, 2008,
Shrooms!
By Dennis Dermody
Finally caught Shrooms the other night which is out on DVD on Magnet. It's about a bunch of Americans who go to Ireland and meet up with a friend who takes them out to the wilderness to do some serious tripping on shrooms. Directed by Paddy Breathnach and starring cute kids like Lindsey Haun (Village Of The Damned) and Jack Huston, it's a lot of fun, especially when the lead girl stupidly takes a bite out of the Death's Head Mushroom -- which looks like a mushroom with a black nipple and seriously freaks out. The bloody mayhem that follows is very entertaining, especially one scene with a dude in his underpants conversing with a talking cow in the moonlight who says to him: "You know, you are dead fucked!" The ending is stupid but the rest of it is immensely enjoyable in a junk food way.
Posted Mar. 28, 2008,
House of Psychotic Women: "A perfect, gory little treat"
By Dennis Dermody
"What do they do to a man in the House of Psychotic Women?" screamed the trailer for this exploitation favorite now given a handsome DVD release under it's original title: Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll from Navarre. Spanish B movie favorite Paul Naschy plays an ex-con who shows up looking for work and gets a job for three crazy sisters at a gloomy villa. Meanwhile, a killer stalks blonds in the town, brutally murdering them and taking their eyeballs. The print is beautifully restored from the negative with audio tracks in the original Castilian with subtitles, and is complete and uncut. It's a perfect, gory little treat for the whole dysfunctional family.
Posted Mar. 27, 2008,
David Lynch's Lost Highway Finally on DVD!
By Dennis Dermody
Finally! David Lynch's bizarre, disturbing, 1997 nightmare film Lost Highway is available on DVD. Universeal has released a bare-bones (no extras, commentary or trailer) edition, but who cares... It looks fabulous and is even creepier now every time Robert Blake shows up then when it first premiered. The plot is a Borges-like twisty nightmare about a jazz musician (Bill Pullman) who receives an ominous video tape at his door, which shows the outside of his house (this precedes Michael Haneke's Cache by many years). Patricia Arquette is particularly alluring in two roles and Balthazar Getty shows up later in place of Pullman. (Don't ask). The look of this post-modern film noir -- the cool blacks and and deep shadows -- still manages to elicit shudders. Call this film the deranged brother of Muholland Drive.
Posted Mar. 12, 2008,
The Sister of Ursula: "A Wonderful Slice of Italian Euro-Sleaze!"
By Dennis Dermody
Coming out soon on DVD is The Sister of Ursula, a wonderful slice of Italian Euro-Sleaze from 1978 about two sisters -- pretty Dagmar (Stefania D’Amario) and psychic Ursula (Barbara Magnolfi, memorably from Suspiria) -- vacation at a beautiful scenic hotel on the Amalfi Coast after the sudden death of their father. Suddenly a series of sex murders start whittling away the guests. There's plenty of nudity, drugs and murders with a wooden phallus to satisfy the cultists. A wonderful featurette interview with director Enzo Milioni offers a better story than the main film -- about troubled lead actor Marc Porel’s (The Psychic) drug problems; the beautiful leading lady Barbara Magnolfi, whom the director remembers with: “affection and sadness”; and the hotel where they shot the film which was being constructed at the time but mysteriously never opened.
Posted Mar. 5, 2008,
Hammer DVDs: The Nanny and The Strangler of Bombay!
By Dennis Dermody
Got the word that come summer Sony is releasing a box of action adventures from the British studio most known for the Christopher Lee Dracula films, Hammer. The box is supposedly going to include the bloodthirsty Stranglers of Bombay, Terror of the Tongs, Pirates of Blood River and Devil Ship Pirates. Also on April 8, Fox is releasing the excellent 1965 Hammer thriller starring Bette Davis -- The Nanny. In that film Bette is definitely Auntie Maim!
Posted Jan. 9, 2008,
See Pecker's Pecker!
By Dennis Dermody
There's a new DVD on ( Starz Home Entertainment) starring Edward Furlong and Rachael Bella, which I watched over the weekend called Jimmy and Judy, and it's about two crazy kids on the run from the law. Think The Blair Witch Project meets Natural Born Killers because Jimmy (Furlong) is forever videotaping everything as it happens. Actually Eddie Furlong (Pecker, Terminator 2) isn't half bad as the disaffected youth (although he looks pretty rough for his age and in some scenes, doughy and out of shape).
But there's a scene in the car when he's driving and videotaping Judy (Rachael Bella) encouraging her to show her tits for the camera and then pulls up his shirt to show the head of his penis poking up through his pants. I thought, "Wow, Pecker shows his pecker!" But on the director's commentary it's revealed to be a prosthetic penis... As for the movie, written and directed by Jon Schroder and Randall K. Rubin, it feels naggingly familiar but with a couple of neat moments of nastiness.
Posted Nov. 29, 2007,
Two Spanish Chillers!
By Dennis Dermody
Tired of thinking about Christmas or holiday films? Well here are two fun chillers from Spain from the 1970s that have all the gore and nudity you need to help erase the smell of pine trees. Thanks to BCI Eclipse, these films have been remastered from the original negative and look spectacular.
Horror Rises from the Tomb stars Spain's leading horror actor Paul Naschy as a warlock who was beheaded in the 15th Century but not before he placed a curse on the family responsible. Years later a group of friends unwisely dig up his head and the terror begins.
The Loreley's Grasp is directed by the late, great Amando De Ossorio who made those great Blind Dead films. De Ossorio was big on basing his films on myths and legends and this one is about a fetching siren who rises from the sea and turns into a scaly monster terrorizing a town by ripping the hearts out of her victims. As a blind musician warns: "According to the legend of the seven moons, Loreley will come out of the river in the form of a filthy beast to devour human hearts that will return her to her sleep of centuries." And it's up to a hunter (with incredibly tight pants) hired to protect the lovely girls at a remote academy to wage war against this bewitching vixen. I had such a great time watching both of these beastly blasts from the past.
Posted Nov. 28, 2007,
Lana Turner's Madame X on DVD!
By Dennis Dermody
No one suffers better in mink than Lana Turner did. And in March 2008 on Universal Studios comes a great Lana double bill, both produced by Ross Hunter. Madame X (1966) the oft-filmed tale of a woman on trial for murder (Lana) who is being defended by her own lawyer son (Keir Dullea) who is unaware that this woman is his mother.
John Forsythe plays the ex-husband with a political future she marries into, but an accidental murder of a boyfriend gets her banished by the evil rich matriarch (Constance Bennett) and she ends up traveling around Europe becoming a hopeless absinthe addict. When a blackmailer (Burgess Meredith) threatens to expose her to her family for money she kills him and ends up on trial. It's the ultimate soap opera weeper, with Lana giving a terrific performance despite the melodramatic material. The second offering is Portrait in Black (1960), wherein Turner and her lover (Anthony Quinn) conspire to murder her husband (Lloyd Nolan). This one takes the cake, and co-stars Sandra Dee as the icing.
Posted Nov. 21, 2007,
Robert Conrad's Underpants in The Wild Wild West!
By Dennis Dermody
I’m just wild about the third season of The Wild Wild West, recently out from Paramount. This great series from the late 60s was part western, part James Bond-spy-drama starring mega-hunk Robert Conrad as the 1870s American Secret Service agent James T. West, who alongside master-of-disguise sidekick Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin), fights mad scientists, crazed despots and assorted evil geniuses. Lots of gadgetry and full-on fighting action.
Posted Nov. 20, 2007,
The Gay Deceivers!
By Dennis Dermody
This cringe-inducing 1969 comedy The Gay Deceivers, about two dudes (Kevin Coughlin and Lawrence Casey) who avoid the draft by pretending to be queer, is now out on DVD again thanks to darkskyfilms.com. And I have to admit, it was fun watching it again.
The guys move into a very gay complex in L.A., where the very flamboyant Michael Greer (Fortune In Men's Eyes) as their landlord steals every scene. The movie is a spoof and not meant to offend, but that's a little like saying a blackface routine isn't meant to piss off black people. But the gay bar scenes of the 60s (depicted in the movie) and parties where everyone is camping it up in drag are so preposterous and cartoonish and comedic that for some reason it tickled me to no end.
Posted Nov. 15, 2007,
Perry Mason Season Two!
By Dennis Dermody
Perry Mason Season Two (Part Two) is out from Paramount and when I hear that intro music I get an instant boner. The memorable theme was composed by Fred Steiner who did the Star Trek theme not to mention The Bullwinkle Show. I love these mysteries. Based on the character created by Erle Stanley Gardner, Perry Mason (played wonderfully by Raymond Burr) was an unbeatable attorney with his trusted gorgeous secretary Della Street (Barbara Hale) and crafty private detective Paul Drake (William Hopper -- who usually greets Della with a "Hi beautiful!" when he enters the office). But the shows are wonderfully plotted and constructed mysteries filled with '50s B-actors that repeatedly show up playing sleazy dames or oily bad guys. It's also amazing about the output -- this is the second half of the second season and there are 15 episodes! Some of the titles are wonderful: The Case of The Stuttering Bishop, The Case of ohe Dangerous Dowager, The Case of the Lame Canary. They're so much fun and look great on DVD.
Posted Nov. 14, 2007,
The Lady Vanishes Out on Criterion!
By Dennis Dermody
A stunning new transfer of Alfred Hitchcock's sublimely thrilling 1938 film The Lady Vanishes is out on Criterion. Margaret Lockwood plays the lovely lady traveling by train who befriends an elderly woman Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty) and then when the old lady vanishes everyone on the train denies ever seeing her. Lockwood enlists a cocky young man (Michael Redgrave), who is writing a book about European folk music, and they frantically search for the missing Miss Froy. The train is filled with all sorts of suspicious characters and some comical ones -- like the hilarious British cricket fanatics Caldicott and Charters (played by Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford).
But the movie is a streamlined suspenseful treat from beginning to end. Criterion has really upgraded from the last time this was on DVD and the image is sharp and clear. They also added a second disc with another mystery starring Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne (a 1941 film called Crook's Tour), and a video essay by Hitchcock scholar Leonard Leff.
Posted Nov. 12, 2007,
Black Emanuelle's Box, Vol. 2!
By Dennis Dermody
In this one, the intrepid reporter Emanuelle tracks down stories about prostitution and white slavery which leads her to Africa and throughout America, while stopping for three-ways, lesbian trysts and an unexpected gangbang in a bowling alley. That scene includes a kung-fu drag queen fighting off several ruffians, which is a riot. The whole experience transported me back to the wonderful days on 42nd St. where I saw a ton of these grungy flicks -- and hazy marijuana smoke and laughter wafted across the aisles.
Posted Nov. 8, 2007,
Two Rare Lucio Fulci DVDs!
By Dennis Dermody
The late great Italian director Lucio Fulci was responsible for the most memorably macabre and grizzly horror movies ever made: The Beyond, Gates of Hell, The House by the Cemetery, Zombie, A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, and now, thanks to Severin Films, two rare fascinating early Fulci films are now available on DVD.
The Psychic (aka Seven Notes in Black) (1972) stars beautiful Jennifer O'Neill who has psychic visions of a woman buried alive. More of a thriller, it's elegant and creepy and just wonderful. The Eroticist (1972) is a ribald political satire of a senator (Lando Buzzanca) who can't resist grabbing women's butts in public. So he tries for a cure at a remote monastery filled with luscious nuns which turns out to be a big mistake. Both films look gorgeous on DVD.
Posted Nov. 6, 2007,
Oceans 13!
By Dennis Dermody
I’ll admit I was wary about Ocean’s 13, the new installment in the highly profitable set of sting movies directed by Steven Soderbergh with a high-powered cast (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, etc.) but this entry is just a blast. The boys are back in Vegas to settle a score when a sleazy kingpin Willy Bank (Al Pacino) cheats their friend (Elliot Gould) out of his share in a fabulous new hotel. So they decide to rig the opening night at the “Bank” to fail spectacularly, even bringing in their old nemesis (Andy Garcia) into the complicated scheme. Like a well-oiled machine the movie crackles along with good humor and charm to spare. The wonderful Ellen Barkin is on hand as Pacino’s sexy but imposing strong-arm, and there’s a funny scene in which Damon (in a hilarious, big-nosed disguise) seduces her. Also, Oprah makes a riotous cameo that plays out wonderfully. The extras on the DVD (out Nov. 13 on Warner Brothers ) are a handful of deleted scenes, a feature on Vegas and one on producer Jerry Weintraub, but the movie is aces.
Posted Nov. 2, 2007,
Sexy-Crazy Filipino Movie: Silip!
By Dennis Dermody
One of the looniest films to come from the wonderful DVD company Mondo Macabro is this crackpot 1986 film, Silip: Daughters of Eve. When Imelda Marcos was ruling in the Philippines, her dream of creating a film festival center caused her to ease up on censorship in the movies. Filmmakers could create "bold" movies -- which meant a combination of sex and melodramas with a little bit of hardcore thrown in. These films could be taxed by the government and the money went towards Imedla's dream project.
Silip was one of these films. It's set in a seaside, salt-mining village where former Miss Philippines Maria Isabel Lopez stars as a horny but violently religious woman who lusts for the town stud but suddenly, when her cosmopolitan and sexually liberated sister shows up and goes after him, the fireworks begin. Lots of nudity and Catholic guilt, not to mention beheadings and mob hysteria, and you've got yourself one bizarre, insane, cinematic experience. There's a second disc with interviews with the director and a marvelous interview with Maria Isabel Lopez, who defends her sexy movie roles with disarming frankness.
Posted Oct. 30, 2007,
Great Hong Kong Crime Film: Election
By Dennis Dermody
Arriving in stores Nov. 6th with a blast of gun metal and testosterone is the stunning Johnny To crime drama Election (from Tartan Video). Johnny To, the great Hong Kong director and producer, who established Milkyway Image films in 1996 and has made some fantastic films -- check out The Mission, Fulltime Killer, Running out of Time or PTU to see his fabulous work.
Posted Oct. 22, 2007,
Mario Bava Collection: Vol. 2!!!!
By Dennis Dermody
It's here: The long-awaited Mario Bava Collection Volume 2, and in stores this weeks from Anchor Bay Entertainment/ and it's astonishing. Eight films from the Italian maestro of the macabre Mario Bava (Black Sunday, Black Sabbath) and included are several masterpieces: Lisa and the Devil, a film close to Bava's heart; a surreal, Alice in Wonderland nightmare starring Elke Sommer as a woman vacationing in Europe who stumbles down a lonely street and encounters the devil (a lollipop-sucking Telly Savalas) and later is stranded at a gloomy mansion with a blind matriarch (Alida Valli) and her loony son. Atmospheric and dream-like in its intensity, it was recut and mangled into House of Exorcism to cash in on The Exorcist (that version is included here) which has a possessed Elke puking green frogs in front of a priest (Robert Alda) while flashbacks reveal the story of Lisa and the Devil).
Posted Oct. 17, 2007,
Best DVD Cover Art: Cannibal Man
By Dennis Dermody
The best DVD cover art of 2007 belongs to Blue Underground for their new release of Eloy De La Iglesia's Cannibal Man (1972). The movie is a terrific Repulsion-like thriller about a slaughterhouse worker who accidentally kills a man and it starts a domino effect of bodies piling up in his house. While the body count increases he is being spied on by a gay man living in a nearby high-rise.
Eloy De La Iglesia is best know for his 1978 film El Diputado (The Deputy), which also had a gay theme. Cannibal Man is really a terrific film, and was out on DVD years ago on Anchor Bay, but this go-around is a much better transfer. The cover also reminds me of my favorite VHS video box that I love showing guests: The Spectre Of Edgar Allan Poe, a silly horror movie starring Cesar Romero and Robert Walker Jr., but the box cover art was just fabulous.
Posted Oct. 15, 2007,
Joan Crawford's Torch Song On DVD!
By Dennis Dermody
Just got a great scoop -- Warner Brothers is releasing the Joan Crawford Collection Vol. 2 on DVD on Feb. 15th and it's a great selection: A Woman's Face, the sensational melodrama Flamingo Road, Sadie McKee, the truly bizarre Strange Cargo and my all time favorite Torch Song, a 1953 howler about a temperamental Broadway star played by Crawford to the hilt. She's even mean to blind people (Michael Wilding plays a sightless pianist who incurs her wrath). And you get to see Joan in blackface singing Two-Faced Woman! Trust me, I have showed this movie to hundreds of friends and they have left slack-jawed.
Posted Oct. 8, 2007,
Mirthful Muscle Marys: The Giant of Marathon
By Dennis Dermody
The loony comic talents behind Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett) are back cracking wise behind another crappy movie in a new series called "The Film Crew" from Shout Factory. Their new outing is The Giant of Marathon, a 1959 swords and sandal epic from Italy starring Steve Reeves which was actually directed by the great Jacques Tourneur (I Walked With a Zombie, Cat People), with cinematography by Mario Bava (Black Sunday).
It's this big bloated bore about a Greek soldier leading an army against the Persians, but it's great fodder for jokes. "Chariots of Diapers" they nickname it, and when a female is hurtling along in a chariot they cry out, "Ben Her!" They joke about the Greek army: "How in God's name did we invent math?" and when Andromeda is reading stories to her female servants: "Read Andromeda, if it isn't a strain!" During a big battle scene they keep showing countless shots of horses being tripped and they groan: "No horses weren't harmed during the making of this film." And at all the shots of Muscle Marys wrestling and oiled up they wonder, "is this film too gay or what?" It's really a riot.
Posted Oct. 4, 2007,
Made-for-TV '70s Gems Crawlspace & The Devil's Daughter out on DVD!
By Dennis Dermody
During the 1970s there were a series of really terrific made-for-TV films like Trilogy of Terror starring Karen Black with the attacking Zuni fetish doll, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark starring Kim Darby as a woman in a house terrorized by little creepy creatures living in the walls, Bad Ronald starring Scott Jacoby as a psychotic teen hidden away behind the walls of his house by his mother. Thanks to Wild Eyed DVD two new favorites have been unearthed for DVD release on October 15th.
The Devil's Daughter (1973) is about a young woman stalked by a satanic cult who claim she's the daughter of the devil. And what a cult -- with Shelley Winters as Lillith, smoking black cigarettes and acting up a storm and Jonathan Frid (Dark Shadows) as her mute chauffeur/companion. Abe Vigoda is even in the cult! It's one of those Rosemary's Baby rip-offs that were popular at the time but it's a gas to here Winters chanting "Hail Diane -- princess of darkness!"
Posted Sep. 18, 2007,
The 3 Penny Opera!
By Dennis Dermody
Just watched the fabulous two-disc DVD of The 3 Penny Opera from Criterion and it made we weep with joy it was so fabulous! Dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill collaborated on a version of The Beggar's Opera in 1928 and the resulting The 3 Penny Opera was a resounding success with critics and audiences. Film director G. W. Pabst (Pandora's Box) was in the audience and bought the rights for the film version. But Brecht turned in a script that reflected his growing Communist idealism that had little to do with the stage play and ended up suing Pabst. Ironically, the resulting film which is an approximation of the play (and includes half of the songs) ended up reflecting a definite Marxist leaning towards the end.
Posted Sep. 13, 2007,
Universal Sci-Fi Collection!
By Dennis Dermody
Universal made an exclusive deal with Best Buy for two great collections. The first is The Classic Sci-Fi box Ultimate Collection (Volume 2), which was the first to be released on Sept. 11th. It's a fabulous set, that includes The Leech Woman, Cult of the Cobra, The Land Unknown, The Deadly Mantis, Dr. Cyclops... all, save The Deadly Mantis. are beautifully remastered and proper ratio. But Christ, their marketing leaves much to be desired. You can't even find the box set on their web sites, and some Best Buys didn't carry them so fans had to scramble on Tuesday to snap these babies up. By 9 p.m. many stores were completely sold out of them. The Universal Horrors is out in October so I'm already hysterically mapping my game plan to find that one.
Posted Sep. 12, 2007,
The Burning out on DVD at Last!
By Dennis Dermody
It's finally here: the uncut version of the beloved 1981 slasher movie The Burning is finally available on DVD. ( www.mgm.com/dvd ) Set at a summer camp where years before a hideous prank on the caretaker Cropsy caused him to be burned an hideously disfigured, he now stalks new campers with sharpened hedge shears -- and the blood flows. One of the first Miramax films, with plenty of newcomers like Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, Holly Hunter, and outrageous bloody special effects by Tom Savini, most of the film's best parts were discarded in order to get an R rating (but have popped up on bad bootlegs for years). Finally, in all its gruesome glory, we get to see the notorious scene wherein Cropsy goes to town on an entire raft of kids with his trusty shears. It really is unbelievably gory and great.
Posted Sep. 8, 2007,
This Filthy World
By Dennis Dermody
Here's the hilarious cover art for the upcoming DVD of This Filthy World, the filmed one-man show of John Waters' riotous comedy act, directed by Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm). It will be released on DVD on Oct. 30th from Dokement Film and it's a scream. But this cover art really makes me laugh -- he looks just like William Castle's: Mr. Sardonicus!
Posted Sep. 6, 2007,
Horrors of Malformed Men!
By Dennis Dermody
It's finally here! A movie that has been banned for years that I've only ready about -- Teruo Ishii's Horrors of Malformed Men is finally out on DVD (http://www.synapse-films.com/). Based on stories by legendary Japanese horror fiction author Edogawa Rampo, it's about an imprisoned medical student, whose has repeated weird dreams about a strange island enclave. He escapes and pretends to be a dead man so he can be taken to his father (a mysterious doctor)'s island, where the doc has been doing unspeakable experiments on people and transforming them into misshapen monsters.
Posted Aug. 29, 2007,
The Blood Rose: "The First Sex-Horror Film"
By Dennis Dermody
Billed as the "First Sex-Horror Film," The Blood Rose is a 1969 French variation of Fanju's Eyes Without a Face by Claude Mulot. It's got plenty of nudity and violence but it's artful and wonderful too and thanks to Mondo Macabro, this uncut gorgeous transfer of this creepy carnal classic can be yours for a song.
The DVD features fun extras, such as fascinating stories from good-looking director Mulot, who was in his 20s when he embarked on this film. Mulot drowned in a tragic swimming accident in 1986. Mulot was a fan of the horror genre and he infused this movie with poetry along with breasts and blood. It's about a painter, Frederic Lansac, (Philippe Lemaire) who has a remote castle where he lives with his beautiful bride-to-be, Anne (Anny Duperey), who was hideously disfigured by a fire. A dubious doctor (Howard Vernon) is dragged in, and gorgeous women are captured and sacrificed in hopes of restoring Anne's beauty. It all goes very wrong. Mulot went on to make hard core sex films in France ironically under the name "Frederic Lansac" (the same name of the painter in this film). He made one of the best XXX films I ever saw: Pussy Talk (1975) about a woman with a possessed vagina. I saw this movie in New Orleans with a group of friends and it was fabulously sexy and funny.
Posted Aug. 28, 2007,
Blind Woman's Curse
By Dennis Dermody
Watched one of the most bizarre, wildest, Japanese 1970s exploitation cult classic last night: Blind Woman's Curse (www.discotekmedia.com). It stars Quentin Tarantino favorite Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood, Female Convict Scorpion) as a crime boss who has to defend her clan from a vengeful blind swordswoman. But there are all these crackpot horror elements thrown in -- a freakshow carnival, a creepy hunchback, girls skinned alive, a blood-drinking cat, an opium den filled with naked prostitutes and lots of blood-spraying sword battles. Directed by the notorious Teruo Ishi (Female Yakuza Tale, Horror of Malformed Men), it's macabre and madly entertaining.
Posted Aug. 27, 2007,
Hangover Square
By Dennis Dermody
Three truly great noir-ish rarities are finally being released on the Fox Classics Collection on Oct. 9. All directed by John Brahm, a terrific director of mood and style who went on to direct plenty of TV episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff, among many others.
The Undying Monster(1942) is about the cursed family of Hammond Hall being killed off by a werewolf. The Lodger (1944) is a sensational story about Jack the Ripper, starring the brilliant Laird Cregar as a mysterious new lodger who is suspected of being a killer. Co-starring opposite Cregar are Merle Oberon, George Sanders and Cedric Hardwicke. But the very best is Hangover Square (1945), in which Laird Cregar plays a London composer who goes psycho when he hears discordant sounds and loud noises. With an amazing score by Bernard Herrmann (who did the stunning soundtracks for countless Hitchcock films like Psycho, Vertigo and North by Northwest). Cregar was always a particular favorite of mine -- he was a menacing character actor (or heavy) in films, but these were his shots at starring roles and purportedly the crash diet he went on to get in shape for Hangover Square was responsible for his untimely death shortly after. He is just astonishing in the film.
Posted Aug. 27, 2007,
Antibodies out on DVD
By Dennis Dermody
New on DVD this week is a curious serial killer movie called Antibodies, directed by Christian Alvart and filmed in Germany. The movie is given a deluxe two-disc special edition from Dark Sky and it's not half bad. The film's opening features policemen have a shoot out at the apartment of this creepy nude killer (Andre Hennicke) who targets young boys.
Norman Reedus even shows up as a doomed cop on the scene. Then the movie shifts to a country village where the local cop Michael Martens (Wotan Wilke Mohring) hears the news and is hopeful the killer is tied to the brutal murder of of young girl some time back which has turned the town suspiciously against each other. Martens, a deeply Catholic soul, has trouble at home -- his marriage is on the rocks and his young son shows signs of being a budding serial killer himself. Traveling to the city, he meets the murderer behind bars and before you can say Silence of the Lambs, a cat-and-mouse game between the psychopath and cop begin.
Taut and well shot, the film is full of creepy passages where the killer describes how he trapped and tortured his prey. There are nice clever shifts in the plot and on the second disc, there's a nice featurette with director Christian Alvart, who gives such a smart, impassioned, explanation for the way he shot the film; you find yourself looking back on the movie and liking it more in hindsight.
Posted Aug. 24, 2007,
Dexter out on DVD!
By Dennis Dermody
The first season of the fabulous Showtime series Dexter is out on DVD (Parmount) and it's just one of my favorite shows on TV. The series, based on the books by Jeff Lindsay, stars Michael C. Hall (from Six Feet Under) as a forensic scientist who works for a Florida crime unit, but is secretly a serial killer himself (but offing only really bad people who skirt the law). His late father (James Remar) was a homicide detective who recognized Dexter's killer impulses and helped him channel them and taught him the ropes on how not to get caught. His sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) is a cop and his girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) thinks he's a nice guy. Only Sgt. Doakes (Erik King) seems on to the fact that's there's something off about Dexter and is openly hostile to him.
Michael C. Hall really nails this character -- he's odd and kind of sexy and disturbing at the same time. The first season had a plot line about the wily "Ice Truck Killer" which eluded authorities but was on to Dexter -- and left little gifts in his freezer to let him know that. That whole story line played out beautifully. It's just a creepy, great show. Wonderful ensemble work in the cast featuring Lauren Velez as Lt. LaGuerta and the sensational Christian Camargo as Debra's boyfriend. I cannot wait until September when the new season starts! Check out their website: http://www.sho.com/site/dexter/home.do