WILD BEASTS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 2/3/17

 

Okay, first of all, WILD BEASTS (1984), now on Blu-ray from Severin Films, is one very warped, one very grotesque flick. 

And second of all, if you're a soft-hearted PETA type--or just anyone who can't stand seeing animals being hurt in any way--then you will not like this movie.  In fact, you should avoid it at all costs. I'll explain why in a bit, although you might as well stop reading now because you won't want to see it. Ever. (But don't stop reading. I just said that for effect.)

The premise is simplicity itself--someone puts PCP into the water supply, and when some zoo animals get a snootful of it they escape into the heart of the city and go on a rip-roaring rampage of revenge.  Against what, you ask?  Why, against humans for "raping nature" as the trailer informs us.

 

Head zoo-guy Dr. Rupert "Rip" Berner (real-life animal tamer John Aldrich) and his scientist girlfriend Laura Schwarz (Lorraine De Selle) are knee-deep in it all from the git-go, with Rip (in her Italian accent Laura calls him "Reep") working with veteran police inspector Nat Braun (Ugo Bologna) to track down the marauding animals while Laura rushes across town to protect her young daughter Suzy (Louisa Lloyd), who's in a dance class that will soon be invaded by a hungry polar bear.

Well, the manure hits the ventilator early on in this anything-goes Italian free-for-all when the wild animals hit the streets and start chowing down on city dwellers like they were meaty treats.  The result is an abundance of graphic gore effects as we see screaming victims being devoured before our eyes.

While this, fortunately, is merely simulated, not so fortunate are several live rats that are roasted alive with flamethrowers (after molesting a kitty cat) and some livestock that get attacked by very toothsome lions.  We've all seen movies that made us ask, "Wow, how'd they do that?"  In this case, they just freakin' DID it. 

 

Of course, most fainthearted viewers will have already checked out during the main titles at the sight of a zookeeper chopping up actual horse heads for lion food, which we see the ravenous cats gleefully devouring.  I found this scene particularly disturbing since I happened to be eating hot dogs at the time.

More gleeful devouring takes place throughout the film, but what really shifts much of WILD BEASTS into mindboggle-mode are scenes such as elephants invading an airport and causing a plane to crash during landing.  The SPFX include some surprisingly elaborate model work which is not all that convincing but is great fun to watch. 

Elsewhere, we're treated to the sight of a cheetah chasing a Volkswagen convertible at full speed down a city street, a tiger loose in a subway car, and, wilder still, a herd of cattle stampeding through the heart of a modern city. 

This is stuff you just don't see every day, and, as I mentioned, it's all the more amazing because it's real.  Nowadays they'd just CGI it all up and expect us to "ooh" and "ahh" over a cartoon.

 

Such spectacle makes up for the fact that this is a low-budget production done on the fly with barely any retakes by MONDO CANE director Franco E. Prosperi, who knew how to stretch a lira thanks to his extensive documentary experience. 

The hasty schedule means not much attention is given to cinematic style, but the hit-and-run atmosphere is exciting and the editing is great. Daniele Patucchi's score is a combination of Goblin-style suspense music and really cool jazz.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films is in widescreen HD with English and Italian 2.0 soundtracks (English subtitles are available).  Once again Severin comes through with a solid bonus menu including terrific recent interviews with director Prosperi, star Tony Di Leo (aka "John Aldrich"), editor Mario Morra, and circus veteran/animal wrangler Carlo Tiberi.  There's also a scenic tour of Prosperi's museum-like home and a trailer. 

I didn't like WILD BEASTS much at first--in fact, its more crude and distasteful elements and contemptible animal abuse continued to turn me off throughout-- but I eventually warmed up to and started enjoying this absolutely off-the-wall exploitation flick.  The ending is especially good, because instead of petering out or leaving us unsatisfied, the film saves its wickedest plot twist, and its wildest beasts, for the very end. 


Release date: Feb. 7, 2017

WILD BEASTS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

MONDO FREUDO/ MONDO BIZARRO -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 1/29/19
 

MONDO BIZARRO (1966)

In 1962, exploitation filmmakers had a massive surprise hit with the shock-u-mentary MONDO CANE (Italian for "Dog's World"), a showcase for the twisted,  bizarre, and exotic things that go on in the world.  Audiences didn't know or care that the actual footage was heavily augmented with obviously staged material, and it was such a success that it even scored an Oscar for Best Song ("More").

As you might guess, this was followed by scores of imitations including 1966's MONDO BIZARRO (Severin Films). Producers Bob Cresse and Lee Frost spared every expense to put together a mixed bag of shocking sex and violence vignettes from around the world, or rather from in and around the Hollywood area with lots of stock footage of foreign countries to give things a faux international flavor.

The result is an interesting look at what audiences found shocking in 1966 and what exploitation filmmakers were allowed to get away with in terms of sex, violence, and forbidden content.

We the audience are invited to view it all as vicarious voyeurs, sometimes by means of a supposed super-powered telescopic lens (with infra-red capabilities for night shooting) that brings us up close to such forbidden nocturnal activities as a voodoo ritual in the Bahamas and half-naked lovers cavorting on a dark beach somewhere in California.

The most authentic footage is found in a sequence about spring break on the California coast, in which we see real-life mid-sixties teens blowing into town by the hundreds to engage in bacchanalian revelries.

There's also a lengthy bit which simply invites us to gaze at bikini-clad babes sunbathing on a public beach, and a profile of a man who lies on a bed of nails and pushes long needles through his cheeks (this part is disturbingly real). This is followed by a man who eats glass, although I'm betting this guy's not the real deal.

MONDO BIZARRO gets going when it starts focusing on sex, beginning with the relatively innocuous with a day in the bustling Frederick's of Hollywood mail order room (complete with models showing off their latest fashions for us) and night footage of various prostitutes, male and female, plying their wares on Hollywood Boulevard. There's also a few scenes of nude body painting, art classes with a nude model, and a beatnik photog snapping a topless dancing girl.

More endearing fakery comes with a naive guy's first visit to a massage parlor (supposedly in the Far East), which we witness through a one-way mirror. Already this technique has been used in the film's opening as supposedly unsuspecting women are filmed, again through one-way glass, stripping off in a dressing room with their eyes crudely obscured for anonymity.

The really dark side of sex comes into play with a trip to "Berlin" where leering audience members relive the glories of the Third Reich by gleefully watching a play about a Jewish girl who is kidnapped, stripped naked, and whipped as Hitler's recorded voice blares out. 

The film ends with a lengthy slave auction in which California's Bronson Canyon doubles as the Middle East and our high-tech telescopic lens captures wealthy sheiks bidding on hapless, naked slave girls who are brought out one at a time from their cages on the back of a truck (their lower regions crudely obscured to avoid obscenity charges). 

Cresse's sober voiceover observations ("To a maggot, the cadaver is infinity") add extra camp-humor icing to the cake.  While much of this sounds horrifically unsuitable for decent folk to watch (though it must've been irresistibly titillating to audiences at the time), the fact that it's all so wonderfully fake is what now gives MONDO BIZARRO its substantial entertainment value.


MONDO FREUDO (1966)

The second shock-doc on Severin's double-feature Blu-ray disc is the follow-up, MONDO FREUDO (also from 1966), which is more of the same but with even greater emphasis on the dark side of sex.

As with MONDO BIZARRO, the most true-to-life stuff involves real-life teenagers out for a good time.  Here, they're shown riding around up and down Hollywood Boulevard at night (for no apparent reason other than it's a fun thing to do) and hanging out in Watusi clubs.

The film then wastes little time steering us into a strip club where we get to watch a dancer named "Baby Bubbles" do her thing. While the club looks suspiciously like the same soundstage where almost every other such scene in these two "Mondo" films takes place, the dancer herself is a knockout (we'll see her again).

The same can't be said for all of the supposed prostitutes on display at other clubs (this time in both Tijuana and jolly old England, we're told), who pose as dancers while actually advertising themselves to potential clients. 

We learn that as long as they're wearing outfits that can be purchased in a store, they qualify as "models" and can therefore legally display their naughty bits for an audience. Makes sense, I guess!

More slave auctions take place, this time in Mexico, with more nudity and more of that odd film-scratching effect to obscure the more forbidden zones.  Then, a lengthy visit to a black mass ritual takes up much of the film's latter half, with a woman who appears to be "Baby Bubbles" herself writhing vigorously in black undies (once again, she's a total knockout) before helping to initiate another woman into the cult during a blood ceremony. 

My enjoyment of both documentaries was greatly increased upon second viewing thanks to the commentary tracks by Johnny Legend and Eric Caidin, whose humorous remarks on the onscreen action and first-hand stories about the times and places involved are as entertaining as the films themselves.  Also of much interest is an informative featurette, "The Cadaver Is Infinity: Bob Cresse, Lee Frost, and the Birth of American Mondo", featuring Chris Poggiali. 

Much of the lurid material in MONDO FREUDO/MONDO BIZARRO seems relatively tame these days, but it's interesting to see what was once considered so shockingly taboo to movie audiences.  (Admittedly, some of it still is, and viewer discretion is advised.)  But whether you're shocked, titillated, or simply moved to laughter, chances are you'll have a mondo good time watching.


Buy it from Severin Films

Special Features:
4K Scans From Original "Something Weird" Vault Negatives
Audio Commentary with Johnny Legend and Eric Caidin
The Cadaver Is Infinity: Bob Cresse, Lee Frost and the Birth of American Mondo – Interview With Chris Poggiali
Mondo Bizarro Trailer
Mondo Freudo Trailer
English Subtitles

MONDO FREUDO/ MONDO BIZARRO -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

NIGHT KILLER -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 6/29/19

 

Italian director Claudio Fragasso, who gave us such films as TROLL 2 and ZOMBIE 4, decided that his final genre film before moving on to more respectable "auteur" projects would be a Bergman-like psychological thriller called NIGHT KILLER (Severin Films, 1988), about a traumatized woman kidnapped by a mystery man who's obsessed with her and who may or may not be the crazed serial killer who caused her to lose her mind.

The producers took one look at Fragasso's heated tale of twisted love and obsession and handed it over to Fragasso's fellow Italian horror filmmaker Bruno Mattei (VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON, ZOMBIE 3, ROBOWAR, SHOCKING DARK), who shot new scenes of graphic gore--such as the fright-masked killer plunging his razor-sharp claw-glove all the way through his screaming victims' bodies--and renamed it TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 3.

 

The two styles would seem to be at cross purposes, yet Mattei's stalker-slasher scenes occur mainly in the early part of the film and, in my opinion, actually make Fragasso's thriller much more interesting while raising the stakes for poor Melanie Beck (Tara Buckman, THE CANNONBALL RUN, SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT) when she gets terrorized by the killer in her house during one of the film's most suspenseful scenes.

She survives, but her memory is gone and she no longer recognizes her daughter Clarissa (Tova Sardot) or her friends Sherman (Richard Foster) and his wife who are caring for Clarissa while Melanie's in the hospital. 

As soon as she's released, however, a crazed stalker named Axel (Peter Hooten, ORCA, THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS) hunts down and abducts her, tying her to a bed and playing life-or-death mind games with her as we wonder if (a) he's the masked killer, and (b) he'll make good on his promise to eventually have the already suicidal woman begging him to kill her.

During these scenes, Fragasso gets to indulge his more artistic side with long takes featuring Axel and Melanie in dramatic close-up interactions of intense  psychological and emotional conflict. 

While the script may seem a bit overheated at times, it's actually quite dramatically engaging and the stars give riveting performances despite the fact (as we learn in one of the disc's bonus interviews) that they actually didn't like each other at all.  This is where Fragasso's desire to create something more than a slasher film really manifests itself and the film takes on perversely romantic overtones.

Meanwhile, on the other side of NIGHT KILLER'S stylistic divide, Bruno Mattei's industrious contributions keep gorehounds happy with at least three bloody murder setpieces, all climaxing with the old claw-glove through the torso bit.

Mattei's lurid, less refined visuals are a real contrast, as is a lengthy sequence of pure 80s flash-dancing in leg warmers and leotards as some really awful dancers practice a routine onstage which is mercifully interrupted by the film's first kill.

To be honest, I doubt I'd have detected the presence of two directors if I hadn't already known of it, since NIGHT KILLER comes off sort of like a suspenseful Giallo whodunnit infused with extra helpings of gratuitous nudity and graphic violence (not to mention a couple of nifty plot twists) to make the whole confection just that much tastier.


Buy it at Severin Films

Scanned in 4k from the original negative

Special Features:

    The Virginia Claw Massacre: Interview With Director Claudio Fragasso
    Mindfuck: Interview With Screenwriter Rossella Drudi
    Trailer

NIGHT KILLER -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 6/13/20

 

I'm not as well-versed about giallo as the popular Italian genre's more fervent fans, so it's fun to run across a choice selection such as THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH (Severin Films, 1971) and enjoy it to its fullest while discovering even more reasons why the best of these films are so much fun in the first place.

Lovely cult favorite Edwige Fenech (ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK) stars as Julie, a sadly-neglected wife returning to Austria from America because her wealthy Wall Street tycoon husband Neil (Alberto de Mendoza, HORROR EXPRESS) has business there.

Julie, it turns out, has some business of her own, which is mainly to hesitantly fall sideways into a romantic tryst with persistent suitor George (George Hilton, ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK) while avoiding former lover Jean (Ivan Rassimov, EATEN ALIVE), a first-class creep who had a sick relationship with Julie years ago and who may or may not be the razor-wielding, throat-slashing psycho killer currently terrorizing the city.

 
Julie's sassy best friend Carol (Cristina Airoldi) just happens to be George's cousin and is about to share with George a windfall inheritance from a recently-deceased uncle.

Not only is Carol a fun character who gets to speak her mind about everything, but she also throws a fun party (where Julie first runs into Jean again) which embodies the late 60s-early 70s ambience of the film right down to two party girls in paper dresses having a catfight in which they claw each other's clothes off. (Carol will also play a key role in one of the film's finest sequences, an eerie rendezvous with someone who may be the killer.)

What really gets the giallo juices flowing is when the mysterious killer suddenly and for no apparent reason takes a distressingly keen interest in Julie, right down to peering through the window during one of her naked romps with George and sending her flowers along with creepy, cryptic messages. Julie and husband Neil are convinced that the culprit is the already scary Jean. But is he too obvious a suspect?

 
Director Sergio Martino (ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK) and co-writer Ernesto Gastaldi keep us guessing for the film's entire running time as we ponder the guilt or innocence of just about every main character besides Julie as evidence shifts back and forth and red herrings abound.

Meanwhile, we're treated to some murder setpieces that are both genuinely creepy and unsettling but also manage to generate Hitchcock-level suspense for sustained periods of time.

One in particular takes great pictorial advantage of a terrific outdoor location to present a stalking scene that is deeply nerve-wracking. And in each case, that gleaming straight razor is always poised for bloody carnage.

With Julie's guilt over cheating on her husband compounded by fear of her elusive stalker, even the story's romance elements have a queasy decadence that keeps us on edge.  This includes a flashback of Julie's sick affair with Jean, a beautifully shot, dreamlike passage with him slapping her repeatedly by the side of the road in slow-motion during a driving rainstorm.

Director Martino  is the equal to fellow Italian giallo maestro Dario Argento in such matters, perhaps not with as fine a degree of photographic artistry but driven by the same surehanded directorial finesse that creates memorably effective scenes. 

 
The Blu-ray from Severin Films is "newly scanned in 4k from the internegative" and boasts their usual well-stocked bonus menu including interviews with director Martino, co-writer Gastaldi, actor George Hilton, and, in archival footage, Edwige Fenech. There's also an audio commentary with Kat Ellinger, author of ‘All The Colors Of Sergio Martino’, a trailer, and last but not least a bonus CD of the film's lush, lively soundtrack music.

After putting us through the mill for the entire length of the film, THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH ends on a shocking note, then pulls a fast one on us that's even more shocking and, ultimately, delightfully satisfying. It left me happy and content that once again a really good giallo had worked its magic on me.



Buy it from Severin Films

Special Features:

    Of Vice and Virtue: Interview with Director Sergio Martino
    Cold As Ice: Interview with Screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
    Vienna Vice: Interview with Actor George Hilton and Italian Genre Historian Antonio Bruschini
    Archive Interview with Actress Edwige Fenech
    Introduction by Actor George Hilton
    Audio Commentary with Kat Ellinger, Author of ‘All The Colors Of Sergio Martino’
    Trailer
    CD Soundtrack [Limited to 3000 Units]
    The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh Comic Book [WEBSTORE EXCLUSIVE]

 

THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

CASTLE OF THE CREEPING FLESH -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

(Originally posted on 2/4/21)

 

Fans of creepy old castles filled with evil curses--not to mention creeping flesh--will no doubt find the title CASTLE OF THE CREEPING FLESH (Severin Films, 1968) an irresistible invitation to explore the darkest nooks and crannies of this murky German horror-fest.

We're introduced to decadent urban party animals Baron Brack (Michel Lemoine, KISS ME MONSTER) and the lovely but somewhat sleazy Elena (Elvira Berndorff) as they ditch one wild party in favor of a more private one at Brack's secluded villa.

They're joined there by a gaggle of other funseekers, but not before Brack appears to rape Elena in a frenzy of wild-eyed lust. But we wonder about the obviously conflicted Elena since she begins to urge "Harder!" during the act and then spends its aftermath with a dreamily ecstatic look on her face before fleeing into the dark forest.

 

At last they all end up in the even more secluded title castle where the dreaded Earl of Saxon (Howard Vernon, SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY) and his mad, hulking servant Alecos (Vladimir Medar) are quite clearly up to no good behind the Earl's eerily placid fascade, and it all has something to do with the cursed history of his family--including rape, murder, and other unpleasant goings-on.

There's also a dungeon-like surgical cellar with two strangely-garbed doctors wielding some scary-looking scalpels and other instruments as they perform horrific acts on sheet-shrouded patients for no telling what sordid and sinister reasons which, shockingly, will eventually involve the one somewhat likable member of the party, Marion (Claudia Butenuth).

It's all rather solidly set in the "old, dark house" vein but with heaping helpings of sexual perversion (most of the film's alternate titles and publicity seem to feature the word "lust"), including a generous amount of nudity for 1968, and some good old fashioned violence, not the least of which involves a rampaging bear.

 

None of which, to be honest, is all that interesting or exciting save for those who are really into this sort of lurid late-60s Eurosleaze and don't mind settling in for a slowburn sort of plot that takes its sweet time leading us through its various twists and turns.

As such, it's not a bad way to spend an hour and change, although the frequent insert shots of an actual living creature being sliced open and having its still-pulsating internal organs poked and prodded for real are jarringly out of place and seem designed to appeal to the basest blood lusts of a limited segment of the viewing audience. This queasy footage is severely inappropriate and woefully unnecessary to what is already an adequately horrific film on its own.

Still, the creepy-old-castle fans out there with a sweet tooth for 60s Euro-cinema of the gloomily Gothic variety should have little trouble enjoying CASTLE OF THE CREEPING FLESH, at least to a sufficient extent to warrant giving it a visit. Others, however, are advised to attend a more conventional party like the one depicted during the main titles and limit their castle excursions to Disneyland.



Buy it from Severin Films



Special Features:

    Adrian in the Castle of Bloody Lust – Archival Interview with Joyce Hoven and Percy Hoven
    MARK OF THE DEVIL Q&A with The Hoven Family at Austrian Pulp Film Fest
    Locations Featurette
    Trailers – English / German / Alt Title APPOINTMENT WITH LUST
    Textless Opening Credit Sequence
    German Opening Credit Sequence

Disc Specs:

    Scanned uncut & uncensored from the German negative for the first time ever in America
    Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
    Audio: English Mono and German Mono
    Subtitles: English
    Closed Captions: English SDH
    Region 0/Free

CASTLE OF THE CREEPING FLESH -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

CRUEL JAWS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

 Originally posted on 9/22/20

 

Bruno Mattei's work as a director ran hot and cold, but oddly enough, he was at his hottest when his work was at its worst and most derivative (as in SHOCKING DARK and VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON) because that's when it was the most perversely entertaining.

Whether CRUEL JAWS (Severin Films, 1995) reaches that degree of cinematic heat is up to the viewer whose interests lie in movies that are so bad they're good.  This blatant rip-off of JAWS (and elements of its various sequels and other rip-offs) is loaded with badness to spare, yet even this doesn't always get us through several of the just-plain-boring stretches.

The story concerns an oceanographer named David (David Luther) who arrives at the oceanfront marine park of his friend Dag (Sky Palma) just in time to find out that (1) there's a killer shark on the loose and (2) Dag's about to lose his lease to evil landlord Samuel Lewis (George Barnes), who wants to build a new hotel on the property, unless he can come up with a chunk of cash in 30 days.

 

This leads to one of the film's major setpieces, a windsurfing race with a fat prize that will pit Dag's son Bob against Lewis' son Ronnie, who, incidentally, is the overprotective brother of Bob's girlfriend Glenda.

As you might guess, the race becomes a shark smorgasboard with plenty of screaming and panicking as the shark enjoys the equivalent of a human sushi platter. Not only does the famished fish eat everyone in sight, but he manages to chomp his way through most of the boats in the vicinity as well.

Later, of course, the brave good-guy shark hunters set off aboard their hardy vessel but this time with competition from the bad guys who, as per Peter Benchley's crummy original shark novel, have mob connections interested in the town's real estate. 

Another boatload of youths in pursuit of the shark (with pump shotguns, no less!) muck the whole thing up so badly that they provide the film with one of its most wonderfully explosive moments in which a sizable number of supporting characters blow themselves into fried chum chunks.

While all this is going on, Mattei (under the pseudonym "William Snyder") is having a field day cooking up bad reenactments of scenes from the JAWS franchise with the greedy businessman wanting to keep the beaches open, the frantic sheriff trying to close them, and young people serving themselves up as shark chow while cavorting around in bikinis, having romantic complications, and spouting some of the worst dialogue to ever bend your unsuspecting eardrums.

As for the shark effects, Mattei (who also gave us such films as ROBOWARS and ISLAND OF THE LIVING DEAD) uses a heap of stock footage of live sharks, some of which is pretty well integrated, along with a surprisingly good giant shark head that pops out of the water and often has one of the less fortunate characters hanging out of its mouth. 

The Blu-ray from Severin Films contains an unreleased Japanese extended cut (known as "The Snyder Cut") in its entirety. Extras also include "The Great White Way: A Study In Sharksploitation With Rebekah McKendry", "These Things Got Made!: Interview With Actor Jay Colligan", and the film's trailer.

It all builds to a rather bland finish, with Spielberg's reputation as the number one purveyor of shark-movie suspense and excitement remaining comfortably secure.  But while film fans who strictly limit themselves to "good" movies will find this one easy to avoid, those who love to settle in for a session of mind-warping badness will endure the slower scenes in CRUEL JAWS just to savor its tastier tidbits.



Buy it at Severin Films


Special Features:

    The Snyder Cut – Unreleased Japanese Extended Cut
    The Great White Way – A Study in Sharksploitation with Rebekah McKendry
    These Things Got Made! – Interview with Actor Jay Colligan
    Trailer

CRUEL JAWS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

WHEN THE WIND BLOWS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 4/24/20

 

Did you ever wonder what it would look like if THREADS had a cartoon-animated subplot? Or if the creators of "Wallace & Gromit" had placed their beloved characters in the middle of a nuclear holocaust?

Children's author Raymond Briggs conceived such an idea in a graphic novel which a group of filmmakers including director Jimmy T. Murakami (HEAVY METAL, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS) brought to the screen, thus giving us the entrancingly compelling cinematic oddity entitled WHEN THE WIND BLOWS (Severin Kids, 1986).

Unlike the frantically alarmist apocalypse thrillers to which we're accustomed, this tale of an elderly couple whose peaceful retirement is shattered by nuclear war is quietly, disarmingly genteel.

We first see them enjoying a typical day in their secluded cottage, chatting absently about tea and gardening and such, while news of impending war sparks Jim's interest and motivates him into a mildly industrious fervor of preparation that brings back nostalgic feelings of the Blitz.

Meanwhile, Hilda (whom Jim endearingly calls "Ducks") refuses to entertain the notion that anything could disturb their blissful daily routines, their ability to pop down to a shop for fresh food or other supplies, or their access to telly or radio plays. 

These are the sort of likable, roundly-drawn cartoon characters (they look a bit like cuddly plush dolls) we know from a thousand children's books and movies, characters whose only concerns should be gentle, placid ones such as, say, a naughty bunny rabbit helping himself to their carrot garden.

Here, however, their idyllic lives are disrupted when the harsh, cruel reality of the really-real world ruptures the curtain of their cartoon dimension and leaves it all a charred, smoking ruin with a dark cloud of radioactive fallout drifting through it.

Jim and Hilda are similar to the older couple in THREADS with their lean-to shelter in the livingroom providing sparse protection against the blast and their halfhearted efforts to stock food, water, and other necessities quickly proving inadequate. 

What makes them different is that they continue to behave just like endearing cartoon figures out of a children's story, with Jim remaining a font of quiet optimism--after all, they lived through something similar back when they fought the Jerries--and Hilda blessedly oblivious to the fact that she can't just tidy things up and wait for the milkman to come.

The restraint shown by the filmmakers in not giving in to the usual dramatic overkill makes the encroaching horrors Jim and Hilda inevitably face seem even more wrenching, with their continued devotion to each other through it all especially heartrending as their ordinary storybook lives crumble to dust.

Artwork and animation are expertly done, using a combination of various methods such as cel animation, a bit of CGI, what appears to be some miniature work on the interiors, and the occasional well-integrated live action footage. 

The musical score includes songs by David Bowie, Roger Waters, and others. Jim and Hilda are wonderfully voiced by venerable actors Sir John Mills and Dame Peggy Ashcroft.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films' "Severin Kids" label contains their usual ample menu, including a documentary about the director ("Jimmy Murakami: Non Alien"), a making-of featurette ("The Wind and the Bomb"), an audio commentary with first assistant editor Joe Fordham and film historian Nick Redman, an interview with children's author Raymond Briggs, an original public information film ("Protect and Serve"), isolated music and effects audio track, and trailers.

In its own remarkable way, WHEN THE WIND BLOWS is one of the darkest and most disheartening of the post-nuclear nightmare tales. It's like watching Wallace and Gromit slowly withering away from radiation poisoning, and, worst of all, Wallace finally realizing at the point of dying that there may never, ever be any more cheese.


Buy it from Severin Films

Special Features:

    Jimmy Murakami: Non Alien – Feature Length Documentary About the Film’s Director
    The Wind and The Bomb: The Making of WHEN THE WIND BLOWS
    Audio Commentary with First Assistant Editor Joe Fordham and Film Historian Nick Redman
    An Interview with Raymond Briggs
    Protect and Survive: Public Information Film Designed to be Broadcast When a Nuclear Attack Was Imminent
    Isolated Music and Effects Audio Track
    Trailers

WHEN THE WIND BLOWS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 4/22/2020

 

Filmmaker Al Adamson made a lasting name for himself by creating lurid low-budget exploitation movies with that indefinable "so bad it's good" greatness that many strive for but few achieve.  A well-made documentary about his lively career would be interesting enough, but even more so if his personal life ended on a note that was way more fascinating, mystifying, and downright creepy than any of his actual films ever came close to being.

BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON (Severin Films) is that documentary, and it's well-made indeed. It's tricky to construct a documentary with just the right balance of talking heads and informative narration, along with movie clips and other audio-visual elements, while maintaing our interest to the same degree as a fictional narrative, and this one does so in a way that's utterly involving.

Any collection of clips from Adamson's films would be fun to watch, and here we get plenty of footage from such trash classics as "Satan's Sadists", "Horror of the Blood Monsters", "Brain of Blood", "The Female Bunch", "Blazing Stewardesses", and of course what some might consider his magnum opus, the immortal "Dracula vs. Frankenstein."

These are augmented by interview clips with the most important players in the Al Adamson saga, including (besides Al himself) such familiar names as Vilmos Zsigmond, Russ Tamblyn, Fred Olen Ray, Gary Graver, and many others who offer a wealth of personal stories about working with a man whom most remember very fondly, some with gratitude for helping them begin successful careers in the film business.  (Celebrated cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs also started out with Adamson.)

Best are the stories of Adamson's endearing eccentricities and his devotion to making films not to win awards but simply to entertain the masses, using his imagination and ingenuity to overcome meager budgets and resources that would severely daunt other struggling filmmakers.

His exploits in the field serve as a primer for others wishing to follow in his footsteps and are scintillating stuff for those of us who simply love hearing about such adventures.

Adamson's efforts to knock together these films, usually offering his cast and crew valuable experience rather than money, also include the fascinating field of promotion and distribution in which such commodities were sold to the public in whatever form and by whatever means would be most exploitable.

Thus, a film about outlaw bikers might, if trends suddenly changed, be transformed through editing, reshoots, and a new title into a horror or crime thriller.

Conversations with Oscar-winner Russ Tamblyn are fun since he takes an amusedly lighthearted view of his association with the B-movie maven. Like many stars persuaded to participate in these films, Tamblyn was a big name on his way down who was happy for the work since Hollywood was no longer calling. Others included the likes of John Carradine, Kent Taylor, Broderick Crawford, Yvonne DeCarlo, J. Carroll Naish, and Lon Chaney, Jr.

The latter two joined Tamblyn for what may be Adamson's most celebrated classic, "Dracula vs. Frankenstein", which underwent drastic thematic changes during its creation (the original script didn't even include the title monsters).

Dealing with an alcoholic Chaney and a wheelchair-bound Naish, with his noisy dentures and inability to remember his lines, are just two of the interesting elements of this film's production.I had the pleasure of seeing it on a double bill with "Horror of the Blood Monsters" back in the 70s, a movie-going experience that I still treasure.

Long-time producer and partner Sam Sherwood adds invaluable personal knowledge of everything including Adamson's devotion to his wife Regina Carrol, a blonde bombshell who starred in many of his later films until her untimely death from cancer, and a strange project he undertook concerning UFOs and aliens which Sherwood believes was discontinued under shady circumstances involving the government.

But most mysterious of all are the circumstances surrounding Adamson's death, the details of which are fully explored in the film's final third and have all the morbid fascination of an Ann Rule true-crime book.

Even the director's previous association with Charles Manson and his flaky followers at Spahn Movie Ranch pales in comparison to the story of his disappearance from his desert home and the following investigation which uncovered a grisly fate that's right out of a horror movie.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films consists of not only this film but a bonus feature, Adamson's 1971 sleazefest "The Female Bunch" which co-stars a hard-drinking Lon Chaney, Jr. as well as Russ Tamblyn and Regina Carrol.  Pieced together from the best available elements, the print has a delightful grindhouse feel.

The disc also offers some irresistible--one might even say essential--outtakes from the documentary including an in-depth look at Adamson's western movie star father Denver Dixon, Russ Tamblyn's mysterious melted TV, some more creepy stuff about Charles Manson, and a promo reel for that eerie, unfinished project about aliens and UFOs.

Regardless of the man's gruesome demise, however, what lingers most for me after watching BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON is his joyous devotion to making exploitation movies and, we discover, his delight that after many years they were still being enjoyed and even revered by fans old and new.  That many of his most fervent fans include the very people who knew him best is a testament that this documentary so richly conveys.



Buy it from Severin Films

Special Features:

    Outtakes – The Cowboy Life Of Denver Dixon, Russ Tamblyn’s Melted TV, Manson & Screaming Angels, and The Prophetic Screenplay Makes Gary Kent Testify
    Beyond This Earth Promo Reel
    Trailer
    BONUS FILM: The Female Bunch
    The Bunch Speaks Out
    THE FEMALE BUNCH Trailers
 

BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE ASTROLOGER -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

(This is a repost of the original review.)

 

Although writer-director James Glickenhaus may be known for lively cult action flicks like THE EXTERMINATOR, he cut his filmmaking teeth on a talky but intriguing low-budget thriller called THE ASTROLOGER, aka "Suicide Cult" (1975), which he now refers to as his "student film."

Based on a novel by his father-in-law John Cameron, it's the story of a brilliant government agent named Alexei (Bob Byrd in his only film) who applies modern scientific techniques to the ancient art of astrology and, with the help of advanced (for the time) computers, can predict the course of an influential person's life in order to alter their future and create new outcomes.

This comes in handy when Alexei and his "zodiacal" associates somehow--don't ask me how, but somehow--figure out that we're due for another virgin birth like the one 2,000 years ago, only this time the result may be a messiah of evil. (Sort of a "Rosemary's Baby" type of deal.)

Glickenhaus cuts back and forth between Alexei and a sinister cult leader named Kajerste (producer Mark Buntzman) who lords it over a gypsy blood cult that may be directly involved in the rise of such a horrible creature.

To this end, Kajerste has taken an interest in Alexei's own wife Kate (Monica Tidwell), a virgin who shares the exact same astrological template as the Virgin Mary herself.

As the director now freely admits, all of this is presented via long dialogue passages, during which Byrd's ability to reel off whole paragraphs of intricate exposition in a semi-naturalistic manner is impressive.

Even former Playboy playmate Tidwell, whose acting abilities are limited to say the least, manages some pretty unwieldy dialogue (in her distinctive Louisiana accent) when Kate finally divulges the secret of her past to an astonished Alexei.

Breaking up the film's many talk-fest scenes are snippets of Kajerste's followers engaged in their infernal ceremonies, intercut rather tastelessly with newsreel footage of what appear to be actual mutilated bodies. (This footage is jarring, to say the least.) 

Somewhat resembling one of Bruno Mattei's jungle flicks, these scenes allow Glickenhaus to stretch his creative skills visually while amping up the suspense level when, at about the halfway mark, one of Alexei's female agents is caught trying to sneak into Kajerste's camp on what she thought was a secret mission.

What happens next shocks the film out of its lethargy and sets us up for a much more involving second half seasoned with the requisite amounts of nudity and violence.  Yet just as the story still seems to be building, the film ends abruptly on a unresolved note that may leave some viewers hanging.

Despite its shortcomings, THE ASTROLOGER is a fascinating look at a novice director's determined effort to create a sophisticated sci-fi/horror tale laced with both intriguing ideas and visceral shocks. For many fans of genre filmmaking on a shoestring budget, the attempt itself should provide engaging entertainment.


Buy it at Severin Films

Featuring a 4k Scan From the Director’s Personal Answer Print
Music by Brad Fiedel (Terminator series)

All-New Special Features:

    Sign of the Times – James Glickenhaus on The Astrologer
    Monica Tidwell Remembers The Astrologer – Interview With Actress Monica Tidwell
    Tales From the Set – Interviews with Filmmakers Brendan Faulkner and Frank M. Farel
    Zodiacal Locations – The Filming Sites of THE ASTROLOGER
    Suicide Cult Reversible Cover

THE ASTROLOGER -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THINGS -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 7/8/11

 

While one review hails THINGS (1989) as "a movie that defines what 'cult' really is", you'd be quite accurate in saying that this low-budget, straight-to-VHS Canadian gorefest also defines what "100% brain-rotting crap" really is. 

There's no denying that this is one of the worst excuses for a movie ever made.  It's one of those films whose status as either "so bad it's good" or "totally unwatchable dreck" depends entirely upon the charity of the viewer.  That said, though, if you catch it in the right mood--as the film's many fans apparently did--you can have an awful lot of fun watching it.

Shot on Super-8mm by high-school pals Andrew Jordan (co-writer, director) and Barry J. Gillis (co-producer, co-writer, star), THINGS is the story of a man named Doug Drake (Doug Bunston) who seeks medical help when he and his wife Susan are unable to conceive a child.  Unfortunately, Dr. Lucas (Jan W. Pachul) turns out to be a giggling, sadistic psycho who takes time out from torturing people in his dungeon of horror (the torture scenes are amateurish-looking but extreme) to impregnate Susan with a monster fetus.



Later, Doug's brother Don (Gillis) and his friend Fred (Bruce Roach) drop by Doug's secluded cabin in the backwoods of Toronto for an exciting evening of drinking beer and watching TV.  Suddenly, Susan gives birth to a creature that looks like a cross between a chest-burster from ALIEN and a giant cootie.  The thing begins to multiply at an alarming rate until the house is crawling with them, plunging Don, Fred, and Doug into a nightmare of insect insanity and gratuitous gore. 

While all of this sounds exciting, it isn't, and the most interesting thing about the film is the bizarre and illogical behavior of its main characters.  After Susan's horrific death (during which actress Patricia Sadler is unable to suppress a smile whenever she's on camera), Doug's initial grief quickly gives way to lighthearted prankishness and an overall "who cares" attitude, in addition to a concern that his nice shirt has been ruined by Susan's gushing blood.  Don interrupts the somber mood with a gruesome campfire story at the kitchen table, while Fred wonders what kind of cool TV shows are on. 

Characters appear and disappear seemingly at random--we don't even know Doug is in the house with Don and Fred until there's a sudden closeup of his butt, after which he disappears again.  The total lack of basic storytelling skills forces us to decipher what's going on in almost every scene, even down to figuring out whether we're supposed to find certain drawn-out sequences funny, suspenseful, or scary.
 


There seem to be several deliberate attempts at comedy throughout the story, but the serious and funny elements are so equally stupid that it's hard to tell.  I laughed out loud when the dog got killed, and I don't even know why.  Other scenes are equally amusing for unknown reasons, such as the part where Doug and Don are searching the bathroom for bug-monsters and find one perched on the toilet, and then each of them insists on using the bathroom anyway. 

Much of the running time is padded with shots of them wandering around the house with their flashlights, trading goofy dialogue and doing things that don't make sense.  When they finally go down into the basement to change out some fuses, a sudden bug attack results in Don bludgeoning Doug with a club.  More excitement ensues when Fred finds an electric chainsaw and goes commando against the critters while Don wields a power drill as though he were building the world's most insane birdhouse.  The film's most hilarious moment ("I'm still alive!") is followed by a surprise visit from none other than the gleefully insane Dr. Lucas, after which things just go totally whacko until the film abruptly ends. 

THINGS supposedly cost around $40,000 to make, but I can't imagine it costing any more than forty dollars.  A sizable chunk of the budget ($2,500) went to 80s porn goddess Amber Lynn, who consented to appear as a TV news reporter making intermittent appearances throughout the film.  Reading her lines cold from a cue card held way off to the side, Amber doesn't come off too good here.  This is irrelevant, though, since her presence is mainly an excuse to use sexy pictures of her in the advertising.  The film's only nudity comes in the first scene, in which a woman (a real-life hooker who appeared under the condition that her face not be shown) strips naked while wearing a devil mask that makes her resemble a deranged Ed Wood.



The DVD from InterVision is in full-screen with 2.0 sound.  Extras include two commentaries, trailers, Barry J. Gillis TV appearances promoting the film, a cast and crew 20th anniversary reunion, a ten-minute behind-the-scenes look at Amber Lynn filming her scenes, and testimonials for the film including comments by Tobe Hooper (TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE) and Jason Eisener (HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN).  After the closing credits crawl there's more candid footage of Amber Lynn and some outtakes.

The first commentary, an audio viewing party with the Cinefamily, is fun, but the cast and crew commentary is a wonderfully raucous affair during which Gillis' daughter, Victoria Elizabeth Turnbull (who also appears in the anniversary segment), mercilessly mocks the film while a growing air of inebriation seems to prevail.

With camerawork and editing that seem to have been performed by blind people and dubbing that might've been done from across the street--not to mention some of the most delightfully atrocious acting of all time--you might think that THINGS was made by people who have never seen a movie before.  As things grow more bizarre and nonsensical, however, the film begins to look more like something made by aliens who have never seen human beings before.

THINGS -- DVD Review by Porfle