Demented Double Feature From TCM

Both of these have been eagerly awaited and heavily bootlegged throughout the decades...

http://shop.tcm.com/detail.php?p=929664&ecid=ecid=EMC-TCM-001238&pa=EMC_TCM_20151027_HorrorDBLFeature&tp=i-H43-94-eO-1h2Hy-1c-11qEN-1c-1gVMn-FV7xn&esprid=25033242&espmid=2504

Rest In Peace Sir Christopher Lee (1922-2015)

Photo taken backstage at the 1990 Fangoria Convention in NYC where Mr. Lee was promoting GREMLINS 2.

Some of my personal memories and a fuller tribute will follow soon.

First Look At IT!

Head on over to the beaver for a gander at the new IT! THE TERROR FROM OUTER SPACE blu ray from Olive Films.  It streets next week and I'll provide a full review when I get my hands on a copy...

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-ray_reviews_67/it_the_terror_from_beyond_space_blu-ray.htm

It's interesting that the reviewer points out the shadowy, obscured way that the alien monster is photographed as one of the film's weaknesses.  That's exactly the opposite of how I feel.  I think director Cahn shot a cool but ultimately absurd looking rubber suit in the best way possible.  The stark, backlit, smokey images are forever burned and branded into my brain since my original multiple viewings on early 60s TV!

THUNDER ROAD (U.S.- 1958)

D: Arthur Ripley.  Robert Mitchum is Doolin, a cool cat war veteran who returns home to his rural homestead to become a moonshine runner for his father and the other local distillers.  Events get revved up and increasingly deadly when a city gangster, Kogan (Jacques Aubuchon of Disney's THE SHAGGY DOG), tries to sabotage and dominate the moonshiners while the Feds are coming down on all of them.  Hard-headed Doolin, partly due to his marine training, stands up and goes into full-on combat mode to defy Kogan and the Revenue agents led by Barrett (Gene Barry of WAR OF THE WORLDS, TVs BAT MASTERSON) in a series of  high-speed cat and mouse close encounters.  Meanwhile, Kogan's dad, mom and two worshipping femmes (Louie Prima's main squeeze Keely Smith and Sandra Knight of BLOOD OF DRACULA and THE TERROR) beg him to give up the losing battle.  To add to all the mounting chaos, Doolin has to deal with his younger brother (played by his older son Jim!) who gets suckered into illegal hooch trafficking by one of Kogan's goons (Peter Breck of SHOCK CORRIDOR).  Ignoring all the sane advice and pleading, Doolin goes on his final kamikaze run in his hopped up tanker car with the gangsters and T-men hot on his tail.  Ultimately, Doolin goes out in a blaze of glory with predictably explosive results. The climactic stunning stunt car somersault was so spectuacular that it was recycled as stock footage many times over in movies and TV shows such as INVISIBLE INVADERS (1959), THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN (1964) and even a TWILIGHT ZONE episode.

The script contains a few opportunities for Bob to slip in some personal jabs reflecting his own heartfelt anti-government philosophy.  Although produced with the cooperation of the IRS, the story treats the revenue men somewhat ambiguouly and lamely attempts to make them heroic at the film's last few moments.  In fact, the Moonshine Wars were an ill-thought government overreach program not unlike prohibition era and the current drug war where there is a vague, blurred line between the so-called good guys and bad guys.  The actual Moonshine Wars was most intense in post-Civil War Georgia among Irish/Scottish immigrants up until about 1965.  Violence and death resulted from the armed IRS spooks snooping around the rustic backwood cabins to search and destroy the evi, rickety, make-shift distilleries!  The ultra-potent booze itself was legal but it was the blatant tax evasion that really set the Feds off and seemed to justify the fatalities on both sides.  The real life back road car chases supposedly led to the creation of the NASCAR competition!

The film packs a visceral punch despite the strangely pedestrian direction and photography.  There are many static mundane dialog scenes where participants sit at tables and a few long telephone monologues.  But if you are enraptured by Mitchum (like I am!), even these plodding scenes attain a warped, surreal kind of greatness that makes some of the awkward dialog memorable.   In short, Mitchum is his usual killer screen persona- half asleep, smirking and super low-key with his hair practically dripping and glistening.  It seems like the film's motor oil budget went to lube the four-wheel vehicles as well as the oil-slicked coifs of the male cast members.  The car chases are exciting but blunted by the unconvincing rear screen work. The muscle cars are rad and Doolin's jalopy sports twin oil slick sprayers well before 007 did in GOLDFINGER.  There is a consistent mismatch of polished studio production values and rear projection and the obvious grittier location shot scenes.  The HD format really exposes the film's tech uneveness with the optical zooms and constant post image cropping resulting in wildy inconsistent grain structure and focus issues.  When the shots are sharp, they are razor sharp and when they are cropped in, they are soft and super grainy.  This gives the film the look of a cruder regional indie shoot.  Sadly the disc's only extra is a blurry standard def trailer. This iconic Robert Mitchum film is available as a blu-ray/DVD package courtesy of Shout Factory's Timeless imprint as an overpriced sublicensed title from the massive MGM library.  Originally a United Artists release, THUNDER ROAD comes off as a decidely B picture for Mitchum but one that he had a pronounced personal stake in.  His own DRM production company co-produced the film based on his orignal story.  He also wrote two songs featured in the film.  Oddly, the title song, Ballad of Thunder Road, is not sung by Mitch during the main title sequence but he did later release his own rendition as a single.  You get a fragment of Mitchum's superior version looped over the disc's main menu.  It's also heard on the jukebox in Tarantino's DEATH PROOF (2007).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ukOA994JzA

Click the link above to hear Mitchum croon!

Amazingly, the film struck a deep chord with southern audiences and continued to be a staple of deep south drive-ins through the 80's.  From the director of THE CHASE (1946).  Ripley was a silent comedy gag writer for Mack Sennett and Harry Langdon and helmed THUNDER ROAD toward the end of his career, a few years before his death in 1961.

THUNDER ROAD barrels onto the blu ray highway!

THUNDER ROAD (1958) is an iconic film for Robert Mitchum and a more than welcome addition to the HD format.  Mitchum is a moonshine runner outrunning and gunning the Feds in a film that gained almost mythic status in the South where it was still playing drive-ins into the late '80s.  I know because I was booking theaters and couldn't believe that the film was regularly playing on double and triple bills!  Mitchum also wrote the badass theme song but doesn't sing it over the main titles.  He did later release his own recorded single version.  This quirky film has memorable, cool dialog and contains a still inspiring socio-political message.  The Mitch even gives a stirring speech on liberty that was probably very close to his heart.  Oddly, his son Jim plays his brother and there's a weird reference to hanging mobiles for no good reason.  A must for Mitchum fans (aren't we all?) and the proto-type for SMOKEY & THE BANDIT style good ol' boys/car chase movies that came back into vogue in the 70's and 80s and still enjoying popularity with the FAST & FURIOUS franchise.

Nail your copy fairly priced at Amazon!  

http://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Road-Blu-ray-DVD-Combo/dp/B00S4YGW56/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428698698&sr=8-1&keywords=thunder+road

IT! The Terror Attacks Blu-Ray!

Finally, this 1958 low budget sci-fi gem from director Eddie Cahn makes its way to blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.  As per usual with Olive, this will be priced high with little or no extras and restoration.  Hopefully, the MGM HD master will do justice to this beautifully starkly shot, atmospheric black-and-white sci-fi noir.  It always looked decent on DVD.  According to the specs, the film will presented in academy ratio 1.33 whereas the MGM HD channel version was zoomed into 16x9.  I assume that the original theatrical exhibition was probably at 1.85?  Whatever...  Here's how to pre-order:

http://smile.amazon.com/Terror-Beyond-Space-Blu-ray/dp/B00UOYIW6G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1427314707&sr=8-3&keywords=it+the+terror+from+beyond+space

Grisly Grabs From Bava Restoration!

Arrow Films has unveiled some frame grabs from their new BLOOD & BLACK LACE 4K restoration.  I wasn't able to attend the recent Alamo Drafthouse screening in New York due to blizzard like weather conditions but I'm losing sleep over the arrival of the blu-ray release!  Click here and feast your eyes!

http://arrowvideodeck.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/blood-and-black-lace-sneak-peek-at.html#more

Restored Bava On The Big Screen At The Alamo, Yonkers NY March 5th!

This exclusive theatrical screening of Mario Bava's BLOOD & BLACK LACE (1964), the prototype giallo, promises to be a colorful and powerful experience.  The source master is Arrow Video's new 2K HD scan of the original camera negative to be projected digitally (I assume) in its original Italian language version (apologies to the Paul Frees fans who love the English dub!).  I did see a pretty ratty 16mm print years ago at the Film Forum, NYC but that's much better  to be forgotten.  The Arrow blu-ray is available for pre-orders already!

http://drafthouse.com/movies/blood-and-black-lace/nyc_area

Pre-order the limited edition steelbook blu-ray now!

http://www.diabolikdvd.com/category/Horror-[sl]-Thriller/Blood-and-Black-Lace-Steelbook-(Arrow-US)-(Blu~Ray-Steelbook).html

More Blu Rays from the U.K.!

These two upcoming blu-ray releases will be of special interest to VC readers.  FLYING DEUCES (1940) has long languished in public domain limbo and the definitive restored edition remains Kino's DVD from several years back.  It will be interesting to see Network's HD restoration.  DEADLIER THAN THE MALE was previously issued on DVD by Network and should look nice in HD!

Blu Ray Gems Coming Soon From Mill Creek!

There is good news for budget minded classic cinema collectors!  Two exceptional Columbia Studio clasics will hit the blu-ray budget bins- Orson Welles' masterful and nightmarish noir THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI co-starring Rita Hayworth and Marlon Brando as THE WILD ONE, the classic big daddy-o of biker brawls!  Each will sell for $14.93 SRP but should be had much cheaper at online and mortar shops.  While both appear to be bare bones releases there is a special edition SHANGHAI available from TCM for bigger bucks while THE WILD ONE is a first-timer on blu-ray.  Mill Creek boasts that they will utilize the same 4K restoration of SHANGHAI as TCM!

http://www.millcreekent.com/the-lady-from-shanghai-blu-ray.html

http://www.millcreekent.com/the-wild-one-blu-ray.html

Hopefully Mill Creek will continue to mine the Columbia vaults and give us more titles like Fritz Lang's THE BIG HEAT (already an OOP limited release from Twilight) and perhaps Lugosi's RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE and Hammer's REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN and much, much more!  Here's to wishful thinking!

TAXI DRIVER Limited Edition Steel Case Coming Soon!

This will be a Best Buy Exclusive and hard to resist for TAXI DRIVER completists!

CRY DANGER (1951 - U.S.) Olive Films DVD

D: Robert Parrish.  After five years, ex-marine Rocky Malloy (Dick Powell), is sprung early from jail for a robbery when an alcoholic, amputee, fellow ex-marine (Richard Erdman) clears him with a fake alibi.  In hopes of getting a cut of the stolen loot, the marine tags along while Rocky remains adamant about his innocence.  Rocky looks up his cellmate’s deceptively wholesome wife (Rhonda Fleming) and moves into the same trailer park.  He tracks down the bloated Castro (William Conrad of TV’s CANNON) to demand compensation for driving the getaway car and taking the fall for the gang.  As a consolation, Castro gives him a tip on a horse that pays off big but with marked bills that only add  to the ex-con ‘s anxieties.  This sends Rocky goes on a wild goose chase to discover the origin of the cash and clear  himself while an unrelenting detective tails him.

The film’s highlights include multiple double crosses, triple-crosses, shoot-ups, a tense game of Russian roulette, eccentric dames and some competent rear projection.  Powell is ultra-smooth as the chain-smoking, black coffee guzzling Rocky, a role that fits him like a glove after playing Philip Marlowe and enough hard-boiled types.  This is an excellent but lesser known RKO noir laced with dark humor and precision rapid-fire dialog that keeps the plot moving at a swift pace.  The Olive blu-ray features a solid HD transfer from a well kept fine grain print.

Director Parrish was an ex-child actor, an editor and one of a few who helmed CASINO ROYALE (1967).  Other directorial credits include the JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN (1969) and 1971’s  A TOWN CALLED HELL (aka A TOWN CALLED BASTARD) and some TWLIGHT ZONE episodes.  The assistant to the producer is credited to Maurice Binder who went on to design the iconic main title sequences for many a  classic 007 film.  I’m baffled by Olive Films annoying logo that features  a cyclopean buzzing bee with crackling, distorting audio.  What‘s that all about?   Why not an olive in a martini?  Olives are nice in salads too.   Previously on Republic VHS.

BRUCE’S DEADLY FINGERS (Hong Kong- 1976) VCI DVD

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

HOUDINI (2014- U.S.)

Our special guest reviewer Stephen M. Jones provides an emotional rant (slightly edited) and original illustration for the new HOUDINI movie.  A more sober review will follow shortly after the blu-ray release in October.  Enjoy.

D: Uli Edel.  History Channel's two-part HOUDINI mini-series is a mixed bag that is entertaining enough but will severely date within 10-15 years.The narrative and structure of both episodes is very over-the-top and slightly annoying- a typical production of the 21st century with a sprinkling of cheap SYFY channel-style CGI throughout. The editing and pacing, especially during the tense or suspenseful moments, is appropriate and more stylish than what you might expect of a cable production of this sort.

The flow and structure of Nicholas Meyer's (SEVEN-PERCENT SOLUTION, INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS) script is superior to the complete work of fiction that was the 50's biopic starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Each scene is centered around a specific magic illusion (or a close representation of that trick) that triggers a flurry of flashbacks to an inspirational or emotional event.  While much of the plot is fact-based but melded with myth, only on a few occassions does Meyer completely make stuff up; like Harry' wife Bess (Kristen Connolly) puffing a joint, Houdini's seduction by Margery the medium (Megan Dodds), Houdini’s career falter after 1914 (a plot device to pump up the drama?) or the depiction of Harry and Bess’s relationship as increasingly rocky as his career soars. Their marital struggles are evident throughout both episodes but was supposedly quite the opposite according to real life accounts.

I’m disappointed that they didn’t spend more time on Houdini’s successful film career.  Instead it's conveyed that he hated movies and held a grudge against Charlie Chaplin.  His movie work is only briefly referenced via a newspaper headline. What really angers me is the program's “hidden” meaning behind Houdini’s death. His demise is depicted as the tragic result of a curse put on him by disgruntled mediums for his disbelief in the afterlife. A sort of revenge for his not believing in ghosts. To me that kind of pisses on his serious work to expose mediums as rightful frauds and basically concludes he was wrong. The first episode also got carried away with a recent conspiracy theory promoting the idea that Houdini was a WW1 spy who aided the U.S. in bringing down political regimes. This gives the entire first episode the feeling that you're watching a bizarre 007 spin off. The real tragedy is that most viewers will come away believing this spy scenario as fact. 

Adrien Brody wasn’t exactly a smart casting choice for Houdini. Brody seems to play the same character in all of his roles and is a very middle of the road kind of actor. His portrayal of Houdini is okay - he’s likable. But he looks physically nothing like Houdini who was short and stocky with a wide face. Brody is too tall with a boney narrow face and a long lanky body and more suitable for The Shadow than the famous escape artist. From all accounts,  people who met Houdini said he was a very intense personality and everything about him said he was an entertainer.  Brody doesn’t project this strongly enough with his monotone voice, plain emotions and gestures.

John Debney's (SIN CITY, IRON MAN 2) music is absolute garbage as it follows the “300 trend” of using contemporary styles to set the mood and tone of a story that takes place in the early 20th century. The horribly composed and arranged bombastic, sterile synthesizer-ladened techno score comes off real pretentious. Some cues are literally just electronic noises mixed too loud and often competing with the dialogue.  I don’t understand this new trend that utilizes trendy music for a period piece movie! It’s not cool, clever, or creative at all. Just because it’s “totally not what you’d expect” doesn't mean it works. If you’re going to go for this stupid “artistic license” at least use good music. Even the upcoming John Adams special, promoted during commercial breaks, has a Rolling Stones soundtrack.  That I can live with because the ‘Stones’ aren’t some 30 year-old messing around on a laptop trying to make “cool” and “edgy” computer music.  Although in this case it isn't the proverbial "young dude", it's a composer who has cranked out some great scores in his day.  HOUDINI would have been better served with a traditional orchestral score instead of this awful new direction that'll be the main cause for this production's soon to be out-dated style.

All in all, HOUDINI was handled oddly as far as cast, music and plot choices.  Although it could've been A LOT WORSE it nevertheless remains entertaining, suspenseful and worthy of a few repeat viewings.

It's okay to come out Adrien, Stephen's done venting.

THE LONG HAUL (1957- U.K.) Columbia Classics DVD-R

D: Ken Hughes.  Harry Miller (Victor Mature) is an American serviceman stationed in Europe who is eager to get back to his home turf.   When his transfer is granted, he joyously informs his spouse and son only to be dismayed at his Brit wife‘s wildy negative reaction.  The couple reach a compromise that requires a month's delay so she can visit the her parents in Liverpool.  In true noir fashion, this proves to be a bad move that triggers a series of spiraling tragic events.  Harry’s misfortune begins when he takes a temporary trucking (hauling) gig that gets him entangled with local gangsters guided by the corrupt cigar chomping contractor, Mr. Easy (Patrick Allen).  His first day on the job spells doom when Harry witnesses an act of theft, gets nicely bruised up and bumps into Mr. Easy’s bosomy platinum coiffed mistress, Lynn (Diana Dors). Things only get worse for Harry when Lynne is publicly humiliated by the boss and seeks solace in Harry’s truck. Events snowball from there as Harry gets more and more entangled in Mr. Easy’s sticky web.

THE LONG HAUL unloads a truck-full of  adultery, marriage on the rocks, juvenile brain hemorrhage, copious cleavage, stray puppy adoption, dark rain-slicked highways, seedy truck stops, bleak blue-collar dockyards, theft and murder. The film peaks with a treacherous mountain trek, a harrowing river crossing and a fatal fist fight that creates palpable tension that conjures comparison to other two-fisted, four-wheeled fare such as THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940), HELL DRIVERS (1957) and Clouzot's WAGES OF FEAR (1953).  Who needs nitroglycerin when you have the equally volatile DD on board?  Thankfully, there is a downbeat but hopeful denouement for the emotionally invested
.

This well-paced British noir presents Mature at his stoic best, facing an endless, devestating array of physical and psychological hurdles.  Dors (her curvaceous wax figure graced the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s album cover- NOT Marilyn Monroe‘s as is sometimes mistaken) shows a startling dramatic range that was out of reach by most of the era's over-hyped studio sex bombs.  Dors does justice to the part of Lynn, playing the abused, misunderstood and sympathetic gangster’s moll to perfection.  In later years, Dors put on extra pounds and was pretty much relegated to character parts where she still managed to proved memorable. Up until her tragic early death, she racked up a slew of credits in the horror and softcore genres and occasionally appeared alongside horror icons Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Vincent Price.  Patrick Allen is familiar to Brit horror hounds for his parts in Hammer’s NIGHT CREATURES (aka CAPTAIN CLEGG) and Terence Fisher’s NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT (aka ISLAND OF THE BURNING DOOMED)- both recently released on U.K. blu-ray.  The sturdy supporting cast includes Gene Anderson (DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE), Peter Reynolds (DALEKS INVASION EARTH 2150 A.D.), Liam Redmond (CURSE OF THE DEMON), John Welsh (REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN, RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK) and a quickie cameo by Norman Rossington (A HARD DAY’S NIGHT).  Hammer horror fans will recognize a certain forest location.

Trevor Duncan’s powerful, emotion-wrought music is accented with tingly harp glissandi, utilized to similar effect by Bernard Herrmann for his classic TAXI DRIVER score.  One of Duncan's pulse-pounding cues will be instantly familiar to fans of Ed Wood’s PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE.  Director Hughes helmed two Ian Fleming screen adaptations- CASINO ROYALE (1967) and CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (1968).  The anamorphic DVD is matted at 1.85 and boasts a robust fine grain transfer that showcases Basil Emott’s (CURSE OF THE FLY) crisp monochrome photography.  Some of the dynamic, razor sharp close ups are breath-taking when up converted on a blu-ray player.  This Columbia Classics made-to-order DVD-R includes the original, lurid trailer as the sole extra.

MYSTIC CIRCLE MURDER (1938- U.S.) Alpha DVD

D: Frank O’Connor.  A fraudulent medium (is there any other kind?) and master of disguise known as The Great LaGagge (Robert Fiske) is milking rich women by conducting sham séances to contact their dead loved ones.  A young woman distraught over her mother’s death is awed by the swami’s occult skills and almost hustled out of some precious loot but for the heroic efforts of an ace reporter.  A romance  ensues and LaGagge’s sarcastic sidekick provides the comic relief and a dose of clever skepticism.

This is a much maligned but surprisingly tight,  moody, atmospheric bargain basement mystery with a few effective set pieces.  This poverty row potboiler is notable for the only screen appearance by Mrs. Harry, Houdini, credited here as Madame Houdini, and clearly playing herself.  Ms. Houdini, returns from another failed séance attempt to reach her dead escape artist spouse and concludes once and for all that spiritualism is bunk.  There’s also some disturbing stock footage of India’s faithful, fanatical masses washing their sins away in the river Ganges.  After LaGagge’s debunking, the print ends abruptly during the predictable happy ending with a final cameo by Bess Houdini.

This film was probably controversial for its time and possibly offensive to some today, for its strong criticism of the naive faithful and mysticism in general.  The film is still relevant and provides timeless commentary on con men and religious scams.  In that sense, the film continues in the tradition of Houdini’s life work.

Overall, this is a painless crime thriller that runs little over an hour (imdb lists 90 minutes but poverty row quickies rarely ever clocked in at those lengths!) .  The budget-priced Alpha disc is very murky from a dupey VHS source but watchable nonetheless.  It’s sure to please die hard b-movie and Houdini fanatics.  The film‘s suitably alternate title was RELIGIOUS RACKETEERS and can be viewed here with that title card at:  https://archive.org/details/Religious_Racketeers_1938

LAS MUJER MURCIELAGO (A.K.A. BATWOMAN 1968 - Mexico) VCI DVD

D: Rene Cardona.  Maura Monti is a busty, big-haired Italian beauty who became popular in the spicy wild world of Mexican genre films.  Monti stars as the curvy crime fighter/wrestler known as the Batwoman who is called in to solve the mystery of dead wrestlers washing up on the usually pristine Acapulco beaches.  In no time at all, Batwoman traces the beached hombres to a mad scientist with the less than sinister name of Dr. Williams, and his goofy lackey Igor, in the grisly quest for glands to create a super race of radio-controlled, red bug-eyed gill men.  Nothing, it seems, is too big and bad for Batwoman to handle except her single phobia- mice!

Among the film’s many exploitable elements, you’ll notice more than a nod to the CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, gratuitous acid disfigurement, karate, judo, lucha libre, wet lingerie, bikinis, big hairdos, a laboratory and a snappy twist jazz score.  The underwater photography is surprising effective and the colorful locations are a visual plus.  A stand out sequence is the underwater fight scene where  Batwoman wards off the attack of an amorous gill man that culminates in a gasoline-fueled water fire!  It's well-done and predates the memorable deep sea zombie attack in Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBI (1979).

Monti added some wholesome sex appeal to muchas peliculas in the wrestling, spy, sci-fi and horror genres during the 60s and 70s where she shared the screen with such legends as El Santo, Mil Mascaras, Blue Demon and even Boris Karloff!  It’s odd that this fast-paced actioner was never snatched up for U.S. distribution.  An enterprising distributor like K. Gordon Murray could have made a box office killing with some cheap dubbing and lurid advertising.  The VCI DVD is 4x3, in the Spanish language un-subbed with a soft but colorful image.  You can watch BAT WOMAN in its entirety on YouTube with decent fan subs.  Cardona’s son, Rene Jr., went on to become a prolific director in his own right.

MEN IN WAR (1957- U.S.) Olive Films Blu-Ray

D: Anthony Mann.  A bleak, hard-boiled Korean war drama starring the always interesting Robert Ryan (ON DANGEROUS GROUND) as Lt. Benson leading a rag-tag battle-fatigued team of platoon survivors through enemy territory. All the men are paranoid and irritable as hell while traveling sniper infested terrain when they encounter a shell shocked, speechless colonel (Robert Keith) and his trigger-happy aid, Montana (Aldo Ray).  As the men continue on, the enemy  is rarely seen  and each man must wage battle with both the snipers and their own personal demons.  Post WWII  Hollywood films, starting with the Korean conflict and continuing with Viet Nam, became increasingly disillusioned, morally vague and apocalyptic.  Filmmakers like Mann and Fuller would further explore the darker psychological aspects as opposed to the triumphant, heroic and strategic victories of previous war movies. The film ends on a suitably strong but ambiguous note.

Originally released through United Artists, MEN IN WAR showcases a solid ensemble cast of rugged, weary faces including Vic Morrow (THE LAST SHARK), Aldo Ray (THE NAKED AND THE DEAD), James Edward (Kubrick’s THE KILLING), L.Q. Jones (THE WILD BUNCH) and Victor Sen Yung among others.  Ray is a stand out as a brute survivor who knows how the enemy thinks (“you shoot or you die“) much to Ryan’s horror.  Morrow was just a few years away from starring in TV’s COMBAT.  The Chinese actor Yung plays a Korean sniper and is best remembered as Charlie Chan’s son in the Sydney Toler run of the detective series.  Stark and psychologically grim, Mann creates a quiet, dusty and desolate vision of hell expertly aided by the dynamic monochrome compositions of veteran cinematographer Ernest Haller (GONE WITH THE WIND) and a sparse but powerful score by Elmer Bernstein (MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, ROBOT MONSTER).

MAN HUNT (1941 - U.S) Twilight Time blu-ray

D: Fritz Lang.  A big game hunter named Thorndike (Walter Pidgeon of VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, the movie) has the leader of the Third Reich in his rifle scope's cross-hairs and is about to pull the trigger!  This is the startling opening sequence to one of Lang's lesser known pre-WWII noir thrillers.  Soon the hunter becomes the hunted in a riveting thrill ride obstacle course through war torn London that echoes elements of Richard Connell's THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME.  The story was probably innovative for its time and the plot twists and turns are still captivating due to the dynamic visuals.  Joan Bennett (SUSPIRIA), soon to become a noir femme fatale, co-stars as Jerry, a street-wise young woman, who romantically falls for the safari hunter and takes great risks to aid and hide him from his ruthless pursuers.

Producer Daryl Zanuck and the Fox studio brass tried to reign in the German refugee director's strong anti-Nazi sentiments since the U.S. was not yet at war with the Fuehrer.  Bennett's character was also toned down to be more vague and appear less blatantly streetwalker. Although this would change by the time Bennett returned to the same on-screen occupation in Lang's WOMAN IN THE WINDOW (1944) and SCARLET STREET (1945).  Bennett would work with Lang again in 1947's SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR.  The top-notch supporting cast includes George Sanders (PSYCHOMANIA), Roddy McDowall (PLANET OF THE APES), John Carradine (BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA), Lester Matthews (WEREWOLF OF LONDON) and Ludwig Stossel (HOUSE OF DRACULA).  Pidgeon and the young Roddy would co-star together the same year in Zanuck's HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY.  The archtypal Germanic character actor Stossel would appear in at least two other Hitler related movies- HITLER'S MADMEN and THE STRANGE DEATH OF ADOLF HITLER, both in 1943.

The Twilight Time BD is a limited pressing (3,000 copies) and is a monochrome wonder to behold.  The film's grain is very fine with deep black levels, a rich gray scale and razor sharp focus.  The package, including scholarly extras and a booklet, make this a good value for serious noir connoisseurs and Lang completists.





Available here: http://www1.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/27569/MAN-HUNT-1941/

DEEP END (1970- U.K./Germany) BFI blu-ray

D: Jerzy Skolimowski.  An under-appreciated, little known art house oddity from Polanski 's script collaborator on KNIFE IN THE WATER.  John Moulder-Brown (VAMPIRE CIRCUS) is gangling, hormone-wracked Michael, a freakish puberty-impaired boy who gets a job at the local bath house where he is relentlessly teased by his slightly-older mod, mini-skirted, flame-haired co-worker, Susan (Jane Asher of MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH).  Abused by the middle-aged female clientele and driven to delirious desire and jealously over Susan's two unworthy boyfriends, Michael tries to get a grip on his raging sexual urges.  One of the film's many highlights includes Michael funny, trippy and infernal trip through the sleazy Soho subculture of strip clubs, hookers and hustlers. A series of erotically bizarre, humorous and disturbing events leads to a sexually dark climax that will challenge your emotions in a revealing way, although many initial viewers were not so pleased.  If you give yourself up to Skolimowski's vision, you will have a great time wallowing in the DEEP END.

All the performances are stellar.  Also features Christopher Sanford (DIE SCREAMING MARIANNE), Dieter Eppler (SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES) and a stand out, mostly improvised ,cameo by bloated ex-sex bomb, Diana Dors.  Keep an eye out for Burt Kwouk (Cato of the original Pink Panther series) as a hot dog salesman.  The score consists of a Cat Stevens main theme and contributions by kraut-rock band CAN and Richard Wagner.

The quality of this U.K. 1.85, all-zone/region BFI restored blu-ray/DVD combo is excellent as well as the generous extras and profusely illustrated booklet.  An odd bit of trivia is revealed in the featurette is that art director Anthony Pratt is the nephew of Boris Karloff and proves it by proudly displaying an autographed photo!  The Paramount print has been shown uncut a few times on Turner Classics but has never had an official U.S. video release.  Asher was probably more famous for her long-time romance with Paul McCartney than her rather extensive film, TV and modeling career.  Moulder-Brown dialed up the freak factor in Skolimowski's more overtly comical follow-up, KING, QUEEN, KNAVE (1972) with David Niven and Gina Lollobrigida and currently not on DVD.

Available here:  http://www.amazon.com/Deep-End-Blu-ray-John-Moulder-Brown/dp/B0051FBKWG/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1408934272&sr=1-1&keywords=deep+end  (it's actually much cheaper to order directly from amazon uk.)