Hey folks, Harry here on the road in Kit Carson country, and I bet you thought I forgot about all you people that like my DVD columns. Well I hadn’t, it’s just I really want to get back to Austin and dive into all the discs waiting on me there so I can be more thorough with the later in the month releases. Thursday Night / Friday Morning I’ll try to have the rest of the month done for ya. As I’m typing this up, I’m leaving Colorado – going through Northern New Mexico and headed to Amarillo, Tx to hook up with the Rolling Roadshow crew for a little celebration. Great first week to start the month off with. Here ya go…
BEAUTIES & BEASTS BOX (NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES / FEAST OF FLESH / MIGHTY GORGA / ONE MILLION AC/DC / THE BEAST THAT KILLED WOMEN / THE MONSTER OF CAMP SUNSHINE)
I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge fan of Something Weird Video and their line of DVDs. With Dave Friedman behind the scenes of the majority of the films produced that appear on this label, well Dave kinda put the “grind” in Grindhouse in the 60’s and 70’s. Now this box set is loaded with extras. In addition to the mondo bizarre films above. My fave is MIGHTY GORGA and NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES – you get a ton of girl & gorilla shorts – plus around 30 exploitation trailers, lots of poster art, photo galleries, sexploitation fun and radio ads. So – if you like the sub-genre of “Monster Got The Girl” and sexploitive nirvana.
BELA LUGOSI COLLECTION (MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE / THE BLACK CAT / THE RAVEN / THE INVISIBLE RAY / BLACK FRIDAY)
One of the problems with this Rolling Roadshow trip has been not getting as many of my advance copies of DVDs in time to preview them for you, so – I don’t know how many extras, if any, this set has… but frankly, that’s beside the point. This is amongst the best sets you could buy this year if you’re a classic horror fan. Personally – had I been putting this set together – I would have left off MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE – and just called this – “KARLOFF / LUGOSI – The Terrifying Team!” Because BLACK CAT, THE RAVEN, THE INVISIBLE RAY and BLACK FRIDAY are hands down some of the absolute best films they ever did together. SON OF FRANKENSTEIN is their most famous – but in many ways – these four films are far superior in showing off the acting talents and the wonderful charisma that these two greats of horror had together on screen. They usually feature an overtly sadistic Lugosi tormenting, exploiting and outright torturing Karloff – who then in turn wreaks havoc on Lugosi later on. The make-up on Karloff in these films are outstanding. In particular – I’ve always loved his look in THE INVISIBLE RAY – something about that frizzy hair and deep-set eyes – and the way he holds his necro-touch hands as though they really were cursed… I love it. Also – the makeup in THE RAVEN is fucking awesome. One of the best “grotesques” that Karloff became. However, Lugosi was so gleeful on screen in his parts. Having said that, nobody has ever held a hypodermic needle quite as wonderfully as Karloff in BLACK FRIDAY! Ok – so this isn’t a set all about the Lugosi / Karloff team – we got MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE – which is just outstanding. One of the best man-in-suit gorillas of the black & white era – and Lugosi’s outfit in this film just freakin’ rule. I hope they’ve treated this set with all the glory that it should be treated with. If it isn’t sitting on my doorstep when I get home, it’s one of my very first purchases.
THE BLACK CAT / THE FAT BLACK PUSSYCAT
This is another SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO release for the month – but one I haven’t seen either film for, though I have seen the trailers for both these titles and they were just creepy exploitive fun. The trailer for THE BLACK CAT is actually full on horrific. And how could I possibly resist getting a film called THE FAT BLACK PUSSYCAT? C’mon. There’s over 30 minutes of deleted scenes and a Kitty Kat short called “STRIPPER MARGIE LA MON – THE CAT GIRL” – how can any red-blooded American male resist that? It’s a cheap pick up – why not?
CRASH
Hands down one of the best movies of 2005 thus far. In some ways it reminds me of MAGNOLIA. I wasn’t a big fan of Haggis’ work on THE MILLION DOLLAR BABY – it just felt like I’d seen better versions of it before. However, Haggis’ work here is absolutely sterling. Don Cheadle, as usual is quite good. But for me – it’s Terrence Howard and Matt Dillon that steal the film for me. The interlocking of the separate storylines are absolutely riveting – and when they open up the back of that van… I was just, stunned. Ludacris – who knew? The casting, direction, writing and editing are all just outstanding here. Anytime you have Cheadle on a commentary, it’s a must listen… wish the behind the scenes had been a little more extensive. Great film, if you missed it, this is your chance to not miss it, I have a feeling we’ll see it come awards time.
DEAD AND BREAKFAST
If you like fun in your indie horror – then maybe DEAD & BREAKFAST is for you. It’s a very odd film, but one that I felt was very fun. I haven’t seen the unrated edition, I don’t think… but personally I just think it is absolutely important to keep an eye on these young indie horror guys, you never know which one will emerge as a major genre influence.
GARBO – The Signature Collection (ANNA CHRISTIE / MATA HARI / GRAND HOTEL / QUEEN CHRISTINA / ANNA KARENINA / CAMILLE / NINOTCHKA / Garbo Silents)
I’ve known GARBO my entire life. When my family had just 5 features on 16mm – CAMILLE was one of them, and my mother’s favorite. As a young boy, it put me to sleep – but later in life, I’ve just be entranced with Garbo. She was completely unlike any female star we have today. There was a genuine mystique to her and a grace and elegance that seemed nearly ethereal. Everytime she smiled and laughed, you wished that she’d keep doing it, only to have tragedy strike. This DVD set is an immense collection and a cinephile’s wet dream. First – if you’ve never seen GRAND HOTEL – beat yourself repeatedly then seek it out. The film that defined “All-Star” filmmaking and absolutely fun as hell. MATA HARI is absolutely delicious. CAMILLE is utterly heart-breaking… perhaps the all-time greatest heart-breaking film. However, with ANNA CHRISTIE, QUEEN CHRISTINA, ANNA KARENINA and NINOTCHKA – you might very well forever change your opinion to the question, “Who was the most beautiful woman that ever lived?” Now – as exciting as the above films are… I’m most looking forward to checking out the Garbo silents disc. Now most of this month you’ll be able to see these films and more on TCM – but ya know… I like to watch GARBO to myself… curled up, box of Kleenex to wipe away the tears. She may have vanted to be alone, but we never vanted her to be alone. Great set!
Hammer Horror Series (BRIDES OF DRACULA / CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF / PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1962) / PARANOIAC / KISS OF THE VAMPIRE / NIGHTMARE / NIGHT CREATURES / EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN)
Ok – wanna know the bargain of the month? Here it is. You get 8 of the best HAMMER films for $27. Holy Shit! Right? Now – I know I’ll be raked over hot coals for saying this, but my favorite Hammer Vampire flick doesn’t have Christopher Lee in it. BRIDES OF DRACULA – I’ve got an anamorphic 16mm print of this that I love, but nothing quite beats the sheer convenience of the dvd. It definitely features the greatest outing of a Van Helsing ever – and the greatest creation of a cross in film history… and the greatest Brides of the vampire ever. Never mind the fact that DRACULA isn’t in the film. Heh. It’s still fucking genius. Then there’s Oliver Reed as a werewolf in CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF. The make-up alone is sheer genius. I love it. The Herbert Lom – PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is under-appreciated in my book – and is second only to Chaney’s… though the Technicolor splendor of the Claude Rains one is awfully impressive. Now – EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN isn’t my fave of the Hammer Franks… but I loved that they did the flat-top Frankenstein monster here – Hammer style. PARANOIAC is another great Oliver Reed turn. Then there’s the other films. Ones that I haven’t seen yet, but can’t wait to. The only worry I have about this set is that they’ve crammed an awful lot of films on 2 dvds front and back… I’m getting it – simply because as a Hammer freak, I have no will power to resist. And I’m hoping for the best in terms of quality.
THE INNOCENTS
I watched this right before leaving for this trip. And I watched it alone. And it scared the shit out of me. THE INNOCENTS is just a nightmare of a film in all the best ways. It’s an adaptation of Henry James’ THE TURN OF THE SCREW, but my god – this film is hands down one of the most haunted atmospheric works of genius that I’ve ever seen. The children are creepy, the descent into madness is horrifying, the house, the garden, the singing… all just bone-chilling. I absolutely love this film. Disc doesn’t really have any extras, but the widescreen transfer and the film quality itself are so outstanding that any lover of Ghost Stories must add this to their “campfire collection”. Just a great great great film.
LOST – THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
I haven’t seen a single episode. I’ve been waiting for the DVD so that I wouldn’t have the drama interrupted every 3 minutes with tampons or some quicker picker upper. The way everyone I know has been raving about this series, I can’t wait to just dive in. And enjoy. I’m very curious to see this Hurley character at last. Now there’s TONS of extras on this box. Commentaries, making ofs, ComiCon, On location reports, 13 deleted scenes, the lost flashbacks, bloopers and the Salute from the Paley Fest that Herc always creams over. And at $39, it isn’t a gouge for 7 discs.
THE STING
While not as great as BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID… THE STING is another great team-up of this set of blue eyes. Redford and Newman should have made 30 films together. They have claimed to be looking for another project to do together. When? When? When? But THE STING is just plain fun. George Roy Hill was an excellent director and craftsman – and the use of Scott Joplin is perfect accompaniment for a sting. The dvd has a great retrospective documentary on the making of the film, that any STING lover will enjoy. One of the great caper films of all time. Nice to have a great DVD of it.
