Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) Blu-Ray

Stars: Pat Boone, James Mason, Arlene Dahl, Diane Baker, Thayer David and Gertrude
Director: Henry Levin
Composer: Bernard Herrmann

Released by Twilight Time
Limited Edition of 3,000 units
Available exclusively through www.screenarchives.com

Reviewed by Steven Ruskin

In an age where technology moves as fast as the wind it’s refreshing to spend a few hours with scientists who set out on an expedition driven by such an innocent and wholesome sense of adventure. We’re taken to a prestigious University in Victorian times in an age of enlightenment and invention. The thirst for discovery is palpable and the competitive drive to get there first is powerful. Journey to the Center of the Earth is one of those early tales of science fiction written near the turn of the century. Long before Tolkien thought of Hobbits and Middle Earth, Jules Verne spun an amazing tale of a journey deep within the bowels of our world. His other books include Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Mysterious Island. Arthur Conan Doyle known for his Sherlock Holmes stories published The Lost World. H.G. Wells contributed First Men in the Moon and The Time Machine. All of these tales have inspired many motion pictures from the silents to the recent 3-D craze. They all stimulate a youthful sense of wonder and adventure. They all have a journey, an odyssey and a triumphant return. There was a time, not too long ago, when students would rush to a series of upscale comic books to get them through book reports. Classics Illustrated was the Criterion of the comic books then. All of these can be found in those glorious collections of abbreviated text and tantalizingly drawn panels. What is it about these stories that have brought them back again and again? They contain the classic search for what is out there? What is deep under the sea, beyond the stars, in the future, buried in the past or at the center of the earth .

One of the neatest things a movie can do is take you somewhere you have never been before. Journey to the Center of the Earth first takes us back in time to get us properly in that mood. We begin at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland as geology professor Oliver Lindenbrook has just been knighted. James Mason plays him with an impassioned combination of grumbling impatience and eccentric wanderlust. He couldn’t care less about knighthood and is off on an expedition at the drop of a hat. The choosing of the crew for the expedition and the assembling of the proper equipment has become a ritual in these kinds of films. The professor’s top student is Pat Boone who sings, too. Arlene Dahl is the love interest and the woman’s perspective. The heavy lifting is done by Peter Ronson as Hans who insists on bringing along Gertrude the Duck. There is a scene where James Mason shows off the state of the art in special lamps designed for miners. You wind them up and they can conceivably put out light forever. Once equipped, we see them spread out along the horizon line all in silhouette. They gaze down into a crater looking for a sign. As the journey starts Pat Boone breaks out the concertina and they engage in a four-part harmony as they trek ever downward. That someone had been there before and left signs to follow was an intriguing plot device. However having a cunning descendant of that person skulking in the shadows to be glimpsed almost as a ghost on the way down was inspired. Thayer David as Count Saknussem is pure evil. He’s got these long sideburns, deep-set eyes and is frequently seen half covered in shadows. It’s worth noting that he went on to appear in both House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows

This imaginative film is blessed with the tremendous cinematography of Leo Tover (Day The Earth Stood Still). This Blu-Ray is in love with his work here. Colors pop with a vengeance. The mushroom garden they encounter is right out of Alice in Wonderland. The purple of Arlene Dahl’s skirt is bold as can be. The textures of the walls and stalagmites are reach out and touch them detailed. The set design is wildly creative and yet mixes well with the Carlsbad Caverns where many of the scenes were shot. This has got to be the best use of fins glued onto the back of a lizard in any movie. The “dimetrodons” here easily best Irwin Allen’s sailboat lizards in The Lost World the year after in 1960 and the ones that Victor Mature dodged in One Million BC (1940). The film was nominated for three Academy Awards including art direction and special effects.

Video –
1080 P, 2.35:1 This Cinemascope presentation is a simply stunning experience. If one was pressed to nit pick there was one emulsional scratch spotted when Count Saknussem gets his first close up in the caverns. There is grain apparent but it is friendly grain. There is a great measure of detail to be appreciated. The deep wools that Pat Boone wears in the beginning practically make you itch just to look at them. The color palate in the costumes is perfectly rendered as are the panoply of colors that sparkle in the underground caves. The art direction here will often stop you in your tracks.  The publicity shots here do not reflect the quality of the Blu-Ray disc.
Audio –
English 4.0 DTS-HD. No Subtitles are offered
So much of Bernard Hermann’s wonderful score lives in the lower regions of the mid range speakers and nestles comfortably in the bowels of your subwoofer. Hermann uses a two chord descending riff that just reverberates through you. It sounds like deep reeds, bass clarinets, saxophones, a church organ and a horn section that come from well below the knees. He then sprinkles glissandos from a harp over this. It’s got a magically captivating sound. Watching this on TV or VHS there was no hope of recreating the theatrical experience. Twilight has produced a track that a good home system will gulp down with a smile. The new 4.0 track on this disc is powerful and lustrous. Hermann, well known for his work on Alfred Hitchock and Ray Harryhausen pictures, has chosen a blend of wind driven instruments to carry the soundtrack. The organs, reeds, and horns seem perfectly matched to the currents of air that cascade down the otherworldly crevices and crannies the cast crawl through. When we finally reach the ocean at the middle of the earth he’ll stand your hair on end. Play this one loud.

Extras –

Isolated Score Track. American and Spanish trailers. Booklet with
artwork and an essay. The isolated track is a very nice addition.

On a scale of Poor, fair, Good, Excellent, Classic:

Blu-Ray – Excellent

Movie – Excellent

Haywire DVD
Stars: Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Bill Paxton, Channing Tatum, Antonio Bandreas
Director: Steven Soderbergh

Released by Lionsgate

Reviewed by Steven Ruskin

This is a disappointment. The elements just don’t mix together very well to make a good movie. Soderbergh won an Academy Award for directing Traffic and has made a lot of George Clooney movies. The only film in his background that would seem to suggest he would be suited to make a balls to the walls action film with MMA sensation Gina Carano might be Out of Sight. However that was another George Clooney film based on a terrifically plotted Elmore Leonard book. The script for Haywire written by Lem Dobbs is frankly terrible. It is a jumble of spy film clichés that are very out of date. None of the narrative’s revelations serve to pull you in at all. The dialogue is hopelessly banal. Only Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas seem to make their lines work, almost by virtue of their wonderful voices and pacing. Poor Gina Carano gets thrust into this mess and has no chance of carrying it.

On the plus side the film looks tremendous. Soderbergh working under the pseudonym
Peter Andrews shoots a very classy looking film. During one of the first chase scenes he flips from color to black and white, from sweeping movements to still frames and creates a giddy contemporary looking montage that is a joy to behold. Probably the best realized sequences in the film are the lovely scenes of Gina Carano running across the European rooftops. She runs with a passion and leaps from point to point with a grace and determination. This is no double so Soderbergh lets us stay right with her, only moving back to cut to overhead shots so we can appreciate the panorama of her trek. Watching those scenes is a heady joy.

The main reason people will grab this disc is to see the action and fight scenes. The action, referring to the gunplay and car chases was average. Only one bit with Gina driving a car backwards through the snow covered back roads is saved by the gorgeous cinematography. The main draw here and the only reason this film got made is the attraction of seeing Gina Carano bring her MMA muscle to the fore in some thrilling hand to hand fights. There are at least four main encounters. The first one in a restaurant shoe horns too many wrestling moves in to completely work. Ms. Carano definitely has a go-for-it quality and she brings a genuine intensity to all of her fight scenes. There is a very pretty battle set on a beach under a glistening sunset. Very pretty. The moves though just don’t connect all that well. The one scene though that truly delivers is the fight between Michael Fassbender and Gina. They are dressed to the nines. As they walk down the hotel hallway Gina takes her high heels off and as soon as they enter the huge hotel suite he sucker punches her and the fight is on. This is the one sequence where fight choreographer J.J. Perry and his team truly shine. They smash each other into mirrors, glass cases, and flat screen TV’s. Every available piece of bric-a-brac is cracked across their bodies and heads. This fight moves! They work through the hallway, crash over a sofa, spill into walls and finally Gina grabs his neck in her powerful legs and applies a familiar MMA move that chokes him into semi consciousness. The final coupe de grace is delivered by the traditional pistol shot through a pillow held over his face. It’s a few minutes of probably everything one hoped this movie would be. That the fight is done in spiffy evening clothes adds a nice touch. Gina comes across as such a tomboy that it’s a kick to she her so dolled up yet still dishing it out. Kudos, J.J.! This is the best scene in the whole film.

Too much of the rest is made up of spies and agents whispering Barcelona like it was a secret code. We see an endless array of people racking back the slide on pistols and automatic weapons. We see Gina Carano run a lot. There is a plethora of scenes of her blasting down streets. This was truly a job for a B movie director who really knows how to put together action sequences and make stars look cool. Those first four Steven Segal films had just the right combination of cool fights, witty lines and cold hard stares. Chuck Norris, Cynthia Rothrock, Jean Claude van Damme, and many others have made a truckload of fun films. These cheap B movies are much harder to make than it looks. Here an Academy Award winning director takes a beautiful and photogenic MMA star and gives us one great scene out of 93 minutes.

Video – 2.40:1. This is a stunning looking film. Soderbergh as a DP has an incredible talent. Black levels are deep and lustrous. Colors are strong when they need to be and washed out to whatever degree has been decided. The whole film looks as though everything was done on purpose to give each scene exactly what was called for. It is impressive to see how good this DVD looks. As is so often the case, it is down to the source material. Soderbergh has controlled the lighting so well it’s exquisite looking.

Audio – Dolby Digital 5.1 English. Subtitles available in English and Spanish. Closed captioning. This is a nicely done soundscape. Whenever Antonio Banderous speaks his voice teases the subwoofer into appreciative support. The action scenes are strong but do not rock the house.

Extras – Gina Carano In Training lets us see how her fight scenes were choreographed in advance and trained. We also see her shoot guns and play war with the boys. She comes off so much more natural here than in the actual film. The Men Of Haywire lets us see the talent that surrounds her in the film.

DVD – Excellent

Movie – Fair

Mother’s Day (2010) Blu-Ray, DVD
Stars: Rebecca De Mornay, Jaime King, Briana Evigan, Shawn Ashmore
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Released by Anchor Bay Films

Reviewed by Steven Ruskin

Not only are we celebrating Mother’s Day with this release but the day that someone actually went ahead and remade a Troma film. Director Darren Lynn Bousman is most well know for continuing the Saw franchise with Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV. Not exactly cutting edge films.
The film starts out like a nice mix of Desperate Hours and Reservoir Dogs. A group of scruffy criminals has just committed a bank robbery. However one of them is shot badly and they have lost the loot from the job. What to do? Go home to mother’s house where they were all raised. The catch is mother’s house has been foreclosed. A young twenty something couple bought the place taking advantage of a great deal before it went on the market. That’s a nice acknowledgement of the current housing crisis. They are having a party with three other couples when mother’s boys come home. Not quite what either expected. The film plays a
pretty good game of hostages and deranged criminals for awhile. A couple of them are unhinged with one able to keep his cool. The rules of cinema state that if you invade a home you must take along at least one loose cannon that will threaten the hostages. An opportunity arises to keep a lid on the terror when one of the party guests turns out to be a doctor. Shawn Ashmore (X-Men) as George the doctor turns in one of the better performances. He patches the GSW by melting a plastic lid and a spatula into the wound. Wow, that’s a pretty savage med school he must have gone to. During all of this you can catch Troma head honcho Lloyd Kaufman’s smiling face on a TV left on in the living room. Hi Lloyd.

Things move along entertainingly if not terribly originally. The party guests try to formulate a plan to get out and the bad guys start to slowly crack as panic sets in. Into this mix come mother and her daughter. This is when the film rides off the rails and detours into Mommie Dearest territory. Rebecca De Mornay (Risky Business, Runaway Train, Wedding Crashers) plays a very tightly wound and controlled mother to these ruffians. She loves her boys but is obviously twisted. De Mornay, who could always act well, delivers a taught performance. Like a snake she waits, coiling choosing her moments carefully to lash out suddenly with venomous precision. Apparently the boys had been mailing cash from their spree of bank robberies home. Mother is sure the new owners have intercepted these envelopes after she was forced to leave her home. There is a lame explanation offered as to why the boys never knew this and continued to send the money there anyway.

At this point director Darren Bousmen can’t resist going torture porn on us. Up to this juncture the film worked pretty well. Now it just descends into scene after scene of bloody humiliation with Darren betraying his sawed-off roots. Hostages are pitted against each other. Two men are picked to have a knife fight to decide which of their girlfriends gets raped by the dying son before he bleeds out. Mother is so certain the money is stashed there she starts in on the new owners. We get to see boiling water poured into an ear. A girl gets half her hair ironed off. Nail guns shoot without being hooked up to a compressor. During the inevitable run to the ATM machine two girls spot the bad guy and his hostage. He simply places a knife between them and says the one that stabs the other can go free.  And where did they get the miles of saran wrap that everyone gets tied up with?  The inconsistencies and contrivances pile up but one doesn’t care anymore.

Video – 2.40:1, Everything looks fine. Nothing of note stands out.

Audio – Dobly TrueHD 5.1 on the Blu-Ray , Dobly Digital 5.1 on the DVD. Subtitles are offered in English and Spanish on both. A very serviceable track.

Extras – Commentary with the director and Shawn Ashmore, one of the actors.

DVD – Good

Movie – Fair/Good

by Troy Howarth

D: Giulio Berruti; S: Giulio Berruti and Alberto Rarallo; MP: Anita Ekberg, Paola Morra, Joe Dallessandro, Lou Castel, Massimo Serato, Alida Valli

Sister Gertrude (Anita Ekberg) tries to hide her deteriorating mental state before eventually spiralling into madness and murder…

The ‘nunsploitation’ subgenre found much favor in heavily Catholic countries, notably Italy and Spain, during the 1970s.  Inspired, no doubt, by the world wide success (and infamy) of Ken Russell’s masterpiece The Devils (1971), these films sought to explore fetishistic fantasies of what must ‘really’ be going on behind those convent walls.  None of the films came close to replicating the impact or quality of Russell’s altogether different picture (which can only be lumped in with these films by default), but a few managed to generate a legitimate frisson or two.  This cannot be said of The Killer Nun, which somehow found itslef on the UK’s much trumpeted ‘video nasty’ list, despite a general paucity of sleaze and gore.

Anita Ekberg tops an eclectic cast, and she’s most certainly a long ways from her early career pinacle, dancing in the Trevi Fountain with Marcello Mastroianni in Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1959).  By this stage in the game, Ekberg had graduated to full ‘cougar’ status, specializing in older sex pot roles which merely sough to capitolize on her image as a sex kitten.  Ekberg still proves capable of commanding an audience, but the role requires far more of her than she is capable of giving.  An actress with some real dramatic chops might have made Sister Gertrude into a fully realized psychological case study; in Ekberg’s hands, however, it comes off as shrill and melodramatic at best.  The actress teases the audience with some near nude views, but for the most part, hysteria is the name of the game – and she approaches this with gusto, if not much in the way of conviction.  Paola Morra (Behind Convent Walls) provides the film’s quota of naked flesh, and she certainly is impressive to behold.  Like Ekberg, however, the role requires more of the actress than she is able to deliver.  Morra goes for broke when required to ratchet up the sex appeal, but her portrayal of the (not so) closet lesbian protege of Ekberg is one note in the extreme.  Joe Dallessandro (Blood for Dracula), never the most accomplished of thespians, is required to emote and keep his clothes on – and if his films for Paul Morrissey proved one thing, it’s that he had ample screen presence, but was best when used as something of a hunky prop.  This is especially abundant here, with the actor badly miscast as a compassionate doctor who comes across as neither compassionate nor especially knowledgable.  Accomplished veterans like Massimo Serato (Don’t Look Now) and Alida Valli (Lisa and the Devil) are on hand to lend some class, but they are given precious little to do.

Director Giulio Berruti had earlier had a hand in writing such cult items as Baba Yaga (1972) and They Have Changed Their Faces (1971), but The Killer Nun would remain the second of only two titles he would direct.  His handling of the material is by no means disastrous, but he fails to really energize the proceedings.  The pacing is slow, there’s some pseudo-pretentious attempts at bargain basement artisness to distinguish it from the ‘typical’ exploitation film, and apart from one memorably meanspirited sequence (the killer sadistically killing off a victim after torturing her with pins) there’s no real shock value.  The ‘twist’ ending is especially feeble, being fairly easy to predict early on.

On the upside, Alessandro Alessandroni contributes a decent soundtrack and the production values are above average.  The cinematography by Antonio Maccoppi is professionally realized, and if the film lacks much in the way of atmosphere, at least it comes off as polished.  The Killer Nun is by no means the worst of its subgenre, but it doesn’t offer up the juicy sensationalism that makes some of its less distinguished progeny so much fun to watch; and at the end of the day, a sense of fun is precisely what this picture is lacking.

Video:

Blue Underground continues to unleash some of their less exciting catalogue titles to blu ray, but at least the upgrade in video quality is noticable.  The Killer Nun looks far more detailed and vivid than it did on DVD, though it does suffer from some of the strange ‘grain’ issues typical of some of their other Italian BD releases, including The Stendhal Syndrome and Django.  The print is in very good shape overall, though a handful of shots flutter noticably, and colors appear to be accurately rendered.  The film is fully uncut and the image is sharp and nicely detailed.  The grain issue is most noticable during the darker scenes; since much of the film unfolds in brighter lighting, however, this isn’t too much of a distraction.

Audio:

Audio options include the English and Italian dubs, both in dts-HD mono.  The English track is wooden as hell, and none of the actors provide their own voices – not even Dallessandro.  The Italian dub is a bit better, and it does appear to at least retain Valli’s distinctive voice, but in the end it’s basically a matter of personal preference.  Both tracks are in good shape, with obvious source-and-age-related limitations.  English subs are included for the Italian track, as are English captions for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Extras:
Extras include a trailer, a poster and still gallery and a featurette interview with writer/director Berruti.  Berruti looks back on the film with fondness, though he seems to be rather bitter on the way the film was received and how his subsequent career panned out.

Overall:

A mediocre nunsploitation item gets a decent upgrade from BU.

Film: ** out of *****

Video: *** out of *****

Audio: *** out of *****

Extras: *** out of *****

The Little Death (2010) DVD
Stars: Christie Vozniak, Clifton Guterman, Courtney Patterson, Daniel May
Director: Bret Wood
Released by Kino Lorber

Reviewed by Steven Ruskin

It takes a certain combination of elements to drive a low budget independent film. On the one hand the production has to be easily manageable and cheap. In this case the whole film takes place in one location within just a few rooms. There is a minimum of actors and while the film is a period piece many of the costumes look like they have been lifted from a production of A Christmas Carol. There are no special effects and just two scenes of action. Much of the film is presented in stage bound sequences of two people talking together. On the other hand this has some very classy source material with a script based on Anton Chekhov’s short story “Nervous Breakdown” and a stage play, “Death and Devil” written by Frank Wedekind (Spring Awakening). Add to this a director with a decidedly unique appetite for tales of sexual adventure and deviance and you’ve got something that if given the chance will hold your attention and challenge your morality.

Set at the turn of the century, three well-dressed Victorian looking young men enter a brothel in search of an evening of fun and debauchery. Only one of them, played by Clifton Guterman is very timid about the whole thing, even afraid. While he deflects the efforts of two of the house’s charming ladies an upper class woman makes her way in. Courtney Patterson as Eleanor Malchus is all prime and proper, brimming with pumped up confidence. She is a temperance styled rescuer of young women who have been stolen and pressed into the evil world of White Slavery. She knows all about it and has even written a book detailing the ways in which the deviant and devious men who run these brothels operate to lure these young girls. She is there to rescue the daughter of a woman who works for her well to do family. Daniel May as the owner and manager listens patiently to her concerns. He points out that she has no first hand knowledge of what goes on there. What at first seems like a sly put down of her ignorance and presumptions is later revealed to be a slow and expert seduction. Meanwhile our timid young man is now in the hands of another woman who is indeed the very target of Miss Patterson’s search.

Director Brett Wood cuts back and forth between the twosomes. They each experience a sense of discovery that awakens deep feelings within them. It’s marvelously written. The spell that is cast is intoxicating. While the acting is not top drawer one can’t help but feeling drawn in deeper and deeper to the spider’s web. The whole thing is steeped in that Edwardian politeness and courtesy that hides a deep repression of feelings. This is very much a tale of sexual restraint and release. While this movie is nowhere near the caliber of Karel Reisz’s The Gambler with James Caan, there is something similar going on. At the end of Reisz’s film James Caan undergoes a bizarre rite of passage that brings a very unusual satisfaction. He is driven by a strange compulsion that Dostoyesky’s novel revels in. The Little Death also appears to have its intentions rooted in that odd mix of forbidden taboos and pleasures.

Granted the film behaves like a stage play and is abetted by some low rent technical support.The acting on the whole is not that good but Courtney Patterson does a nice job of conveying her change from uncomfortable hesitation to that slow surrender very nicely. There are moments when Daniel May gets it just right, too. Given the right mood it’s easy to get very captivated by this turn of the century tale. It felt like a satisfying night at the local theater, though we’ll make a note to keep an eye on just what kind of projects this director comes up with next.

Video –
1.78:1 16×9. The technical credits are just not very strong here. The brightly lit conversations are shot in a static frame with not much else going on. When shadows or anything too dark are present they appear too much of a challenge for the equipment used and render all kinds of aberrations. However this is all clear and totally watch-able. Today’s inexpensive cameras that do not require costly film stock and lab work make this kind of production possible. However this story is just the kind of tale that would have been enhanced immeasurably by good camerawork and that nice grainy look that even 16mm would have given.

Audio –
Stereo mix in English.

Extras –
Deleted scenes, Behind-the-scenes documentary, trailer and a short film “The Other Half” by the same director. Make sure you check out the short. Just like the feature the technical stuff is low rent but it delivers an arrestingly strange plot.
On a scale of Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, Classic:

DVD – Fair/Good

Movie – Good

by Troy Howarth

D: Andrea Bianchi; S: Andrea Bianchi and Massimo Felisatti; MP: Edwige Fenech, Nino Castelnuovo, Femi Benussi, Solvi Stubing, Amanda, Franco Diogene

Models at a chic fashion salon find themselves targeted by a mysterious murderer in black…

The above synopsis could just as well apply to Mario Bava’s seminal Blood and Black Lace (1964), but director/co-writer Andrea Bianchi’s tackier intentions are evident from the opening, blue tinted (how appropriate!) prologue.  While directors like Bava and Dario Argento used the genre’s conventions to explore aesthetic and thematic obsessions, Bianchi’s eye is firmly on box office receipts as he ups the ante with a deliriously over the top melange of sex, sleaze and violence.  The end result isn’t quite the most excessive of gialli – the notorious Giallo a Venezia (1979) may well take the prize in that category, though Lucio Fulci’s underrated The New York Ripper (1982) may well trump it – but it is among the most absurd.

Giallo scream queen Edwige Fenech (Five Dolls for an August Moon, All the Colors of the Dark) toplines the cast, but she isn’t utilized very well – at least from an acting standpoint.  Bianchi makes ample use of Fenech’s physical attributes, lingering on leering shots of her in various stages of undress, but the script doesn’t give her a chance to show what a good actress she can really be.  Nino Castelnuovo (Massacre Time) is on hand to play the smug hero, but the character remains just that – smug.  Castelnuovo is a capable actor in his own right, but he seems to have understood the trashy nature of the material and coasts by on his natural charisma.  The supporting cast includes doe-eyed Femi Benussi (Hatchet for the Honeymoon), who also gets to display copious amounts of skin.  The biggest impression, however, is left by corpulent Franco Diogene – and not necessarily for the best of reasons.  Diogene does a credible job playing a pathetic sex starved victim, but genre enthusiasts are more likely to shudder in rememberance of his demise – wearing a none-too-flattering pair of tighty-whities.

Bianchi’s direction is hamfisted as ever, relying heavily on zooms to punctuate important plot points.  The film drags along at a sluggish pace, and for all the sleaze and gore on display, it’s surprisingly boring, too.  The police procedural scenes dog many a giallo, but they’re positively lethal here.  Given that Bianchi never displays the eye for macabre poetry typical in the films of Bava, Argento and Fulci, the various murder scenes are merely ugly.  Even so, the blood flows pretty liberally, and the sexualized nature of the violence makes the picture something of a dry run for the aforementioned New York Ripper. 

On the upside, at least there’s ample nudity from the gorgeous startlets, and Berto Pisano contributes a catchy theme or two to the soundtrack.  These elements alone are enough to elevate the film above the very worst the subgenre has to offer.  Not surprisingly, many fans have warmed to the film, embracing it as a bit of a kitsch classic; most viewers, however, will likely be far less forgiving.  In any event, giallo enthusists will still want to give the film a spin.

Video:

Blue Underground’s new Blu Ray release of Strip Nude For Your Killer is a winner.  The 1.85/16×9 transfer looks very nice on the whole.  The image is a little soft, leading one to assume that there’s been a little over zealous DNR applied, but this is not a major distraction.  Colors are vivid, the print is in very good shape, and the film is fully uncut, retaining all the full frontal nude scenes.

Audio:

Audio options are presented in English and Italian, both in dts-HD mono.  The Italian dub is the more satisfying, though arguably the ropey English dubbing suits the film’s wonky tone even better.  English subs are included for the Italian track, as are English captions for the deaf and hard of hearing.  Both tracks are in pretty good shape, showing off Pisano’s groovy score to its advantage.

Extras:

The main extra is a 12 minute featurette featuring interviews with actress Solvi Stubing and co-writer Massimo Felisatti.  Felisatti is dismissive of the film and refers to director Bianchi as a ‘masochist’ who derived unhealthy pleasure from the film’s unsavory aspects, while Stubing seems somewhat more proud of the end result.  An international trailer, Italian trailer and poster and still gallery round out the package.

Overall:

A lower tier giallo gets a fine release from Blue Underground.

Film: ** out of *****

Blu Ray: ***1/2 out of *****

Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol Blu-Ray, DVD

Stars: Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg
Director: Brad Bird
Released by Paramount

Reviewed by Steven Ruskin

This is one film that delivers on the promise of a great action film with no reservations at all. Cruise is first seen in a prison cell and he looks like a man. Still handsome but he has aged and it suits him very well indeed. His character Ethan Hunt has been away so when he accepts his mission he is met with a new team that features an IT geek who has been promoted into the field. Simon Peg is masterful in the comic relief support role. You know his mettle will be tested when the chips are down. He brings just the right level of humor and humanness to the part. He does not play it too broadly at all. He’s really perfected this kind of thing since his days on The Enterprise in the re-booting of the Star Trek franchise. Jeremy Renner plays the member with emotional baggage that has to come clean in order to be effective. The only one that falls just a bit shy of the mark is Paula Patton.

There were times when the pace, gadgetry and international settings brought to mind the globe trotting headiness of a good old  James Bond film. There is a sequence that feels right out of the old television series. A meeting between two couriers has to be stopped. Rather then just intercept each player and hijack the goods, Ethan Hunt’s team goes delightfully old school with rubber masks, re-designing hotel rooms on the fly and impersonating not only the hotel waiter but the couriers themselves to each other. There is a trade of diamonds for information and said jewels need to be swiped and smuggled out of one room and delivered literally into the hands of another agent at just the precise moment without a nanosecond to spare. The bit is giddy fun for fans of the original series.

J.J. Abrams has a producer’s hand here and it is evident as he brings in Anil Kapoor who is recognizable form the last season of 24 to play yet another target for the team, a rich sheik who must be charmed by Paula Patton. Producer Abrams’ (24) influence can be felt in the breakneck pace of the film, which really does cruise along even at 135 minutes (forgive the pun). Director Brad Bird is know for his work with animated features like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouile. From the looks of the film, he’s ready for some more real live actors. He makes what could be yet another overstuffed dull big budgeted over the top action picture an enjoyable blast. The whole film has a nice sense of fun and that childlike thrill of rushing from one ride to the next at a Sunny Summer’s day at the Amusement park.

The fights scenes are well done and you can follow every move clearly. No hyper kinetic slice n’ dice cutting here. All of the action scenes rely on their execution, stunt work and construction. There is digital work done here to be sure but nothing that gets in the way of the action. With the over-reliance on fast, close cutting in most of today’s action films that choice, and the old school framing, is very much appreciated and frankly works so much better.

All formidable action movies have a set piece that stands out. This one has an amazing sequence with Tom Cruise climbing outside of a hotel window and scaling up and over several floors of sheer glass wall using these Spiderman like gloves that allow him to stick to the surface. It’s shot and edited extremely well producing several gasp for air moments as you are certain Cruise is taking the long way down. There are two other films with stunts that take place outside the slippery slope of a modern glass-sided building. In Sharky’s Machine (1978) a record was set at 220 feet for the highest free fall taken as legendary stuntman Dar Robinson plunged out from a window in Atlanta’s Hyatt Regency Hotel. In Who Am I (1998) Jackie Chan slid down the accented glass face of a hotel in Rotterdam, Holland all the way to the ground. Ghost Protocol can proudly join the ranks of these exhilarating and exciting films that see a glass sided building and think…you know what would be really cool? And then they do it.

The plot points can be as easily forgotten as one of Hitchcock’s McGuffins. Bad guys are up to no good and the team has to stop them from getting X and Y  so they can blow stuff up. However the characters that make up the team work well together bustling the narrative forward with urgency and some comic relief courtesy of Simon Pegg. There is a bit of back-story given to Jeremy Renner’s character that introduces just a dash of gravitas and guilt. That shading works well and serves to keep you guessing as to the motivations of the members of the team. It’s not a terribly Machiavellian twist and you’ll see it coming, but again it’s a nice texture.

Video
2.35:1, 1080p. The Blu-Ray offers a slick and rewarding viewing experience. Excellent detail is readily apparent. The rich colors compliment the various exotic locations, especially in the wide establishing shots, some of which are done from high up in the sky. This is just what you’d expect from a topflight modern Hollywood production. It doesn’t disappoint at all. Though the Blu-Brother is the clear winner here, the DVD presentation more than holds is own. The screen caps are from the DVD.

Audio
The film sounds fine. Dialogue is supported with a generous amount of bass to give it that movie theater quality. Effects are good, though nothing jumps out as extraordinary. The 7.1 DTS mix (BR only) is presented in English, 5.1 in French and Spanish and Portuguese. Subtitles choices are English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Extras
There is an entire disc full of extras that comes with the Blu-ray. Mission Accepted, Impossible Mission, Deleted Scenes, and Trailers. Too many? Generally one needs a little more critical distance from a film to justify such depth, although this is very enjoyable chest thumping. The regular DVD edition does not come with the second disc of extras.

On a scale of Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, Classic:

Blu-Ray – Excellent

Movie – Excellent

Virgin Witch (1972) UK Blu-Ray
Stars: Ann Michelle, James Chase, Keith Buckley, Patricia
Haines, Vicki Michelle
Director: Ray Austin
Released by Redemption Films

Reviewed by Steven Ruskin

In the sub-sub genre of British witchcraft films made with real life twins there are two films to be found. It’s very fitting that there is a pair here. The earlier Hammer picture Twins of Evil (1971) certainly delivers its share of horror being the third in the Karnstein trilogy following Vampire Lovers and Lust for a Vampire. Peter Cushing is on hand as well as real life twins Mary and Madeleine Collinson who went on to grace the pages of Playboy magazine. It was an effort by Hammer to expand the boundaries of eroticism and horror they had mined so well in the fifties and sixties. Those early films had a mischievous air of brinkmanship about them with the ever-plunging necklines and period bustiers that functioned like an Elizabethan version of the push up bra. The bold crimson blood letting also announced that these were defiantly not the Universal classics. Toward the end of the cycle the folks at Hammer studios elected to push things further to compete with the new permissiveness that was growing rampant in contemporary cinema. Despite that maneuvering Twins of Evil remains a very enjoyable film.

The following year saw the release of The Virgin Witch. Right from the get go this one more than delivers on the erotic count and completely exceeds anything one would ever encounter in a Hammer film. There is copious nudity and much more daring than the clever brinkmanship of the old Hammer days could get away with. Just one year later and the boundaries have been thrown to the winds. This is also set in present times. Swinging England is presented in that Devil may care pop fashion that was so prevalent then. The costuming that was so hip and trendy then is very amusing now. However there is really very little on display here one could call actual horror. When these witches get together rather than cast spells and make blood sacrifices, they dance around naked.

The real life twins in this one are played by Ann and Vicki Michelle. Vicki went on to a substantial role in the BBC-TV hit, Allo ’Allo! In terms of pulchritude they certainly fit the bill with the featured lead sister never missing an opportunity to strike a revealing pose or engage in a lengthy bawdy sequence. The simple set up has them being young “birds” who want to be models. A leering agent who happens to be a lesbian and a recruiter for a witch’s coven packs them off on a photo shoot that just happens to be where that coven gathers. They need to obtain virgins for a midnight ritual. The surprise is that the older sister is hip to all of this and one-ups the coven at their own game by scheming to take over. There is a racy photo shoot and two lengthy clandestine gatherings where everyone gets their witchy-dance on. At no point is any of this treated in a creepy or haunting way. The proceedings are rather tame unless you get unnerved by the sight of some folks disrobing who you’d just as soon not see in that state. Taken as a saucy early seventies romp Virgin Witch will cast a lightweight spell over those willing to go under very easily, just don’t expect much from the witch end of things.

Video
1.66:1 There is nothing that stands out either way with this transfer. Colors are fine and occasionally have that slightly muted look common to some Eastman prints of that era. Things get a bit dark in some of the night scenes but that’s down to the way it was shot. Flesh tones look normal. On the whole it’s a decided improvement over previous editions.

Audio
A mono Track is offered. There are no subtitle options.

Extras
Trailer and a photo gallery.

On a scale of Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, Classic:

Blu-Ray – Good

Movie – Fair

Chinatown (1974) Blu-Ray

Stars: Faye Dunaway, Jack Nicholson, John Hillerman, John Huston, Burt Young

Director: Roman Polanski

Screenplay : Robert Towne
Released by – Paramount

Reviewed by Steven Ruskin

The very first thing we see, after the credits, is in black and white, just like the old Film Noirs. A man and a woman are getting it on in the park. We catch the edge of a thumb as the camera pulls back to reveal a short, stocky and very upset Burt Young (Rocky) going through a stack of pictures, in color. In short order we see Jack Nicholson sympathize with him, offer him a mid-day belt of booze and tell him not to worry about the bill for a while. We see a nice office, two assistants and a secretary. That’s quite a bit of information. Jake Gittes catches a case to investigate the philandering of the head of the Los Angels Water Department. He again photographs the culprit, this time taking his sweetie for a ride in a rowboat. The scandal makes the front page. Jake treats himself to a relaxing haircut and a shave. Only waiting for him back in his office is the real wife of the culprit. Evelyn Mulwray is stunning. Played by Faye Dunaway she is a marvel to look at, so composed, so sure of herself.

This really is the kind of plot line you have to pay attention to. Robert Towne’s famous script is densely complex and very well written. The narrative takes us on a series of investigations. One trail uncovers the secret diverting and dumping of water. There are powerful machinations at play, but we’re not quite sure of the game. The Cross family has layer upon layer of deceit that peel back to show the horrible things that people are capable of. Gittes is very smart. He is quick on the uptake and has all the qualities you’d expect of a successful private eye. Each time he unravels a new thread of the narrative we are right there with him. Then he’s in over his head with his back to the wall. We learn as much about the characters here as we do about the devious plan that involves sewers and diverted water. Writer Towne challenges you to keep up with him but always rewards you with wonderful dialogue and scene after scene of delicious discovery. When Chinatown first came out the word was you had to see it again, not only because it was so good, but so you could understand what had happened.

John Alonzo’s camera moves are nothing fancy. It gently rises up peering over cars or glides slightly to the left or right so we can follow Gittes more closely. Each time the framing settles
on a very well composed shot. Polanski makes the most out of the wide cinemascope image, even in the interiors. The only bits that ring false are a couple of process shots that insert a prefect reflection into a camera lens and a pair of binoculars. Chinatown is a gorgeous looking film that is supported by period design and costumes done with an eye for tedious detail. It also sports one of the most infamous cameos by a director in his own film. Roman Polanski has two memorable scenes as Man With Knife. Dressed in a natty pinstripe with broad shoulders he menaces Nicholson with a switchblade addressing him as Kitty Cat. When he cuts his nose with the knife Nicholson plays the rest of the picture with a bandage over his nose. When’s the last time any leading man paraded around like that in a major motion picture.

The first kiss between Nicholson and Miss Dunaway is a beautifully blocked bit of staging. They are cramped in her bathroom as she is cleaning up his nose that has come open. As she gently dabs at it he keeps looking at her face. She notices. He tells her there is something in her eye. She tells him it is a flaw in the iris. He comes in for a closer look and then he kisses her. It’s a marvelously played scene. Very romantic. Very sexy.

Chinatown was nominated for 11 Academy Awards. It won for best original screenplay. It is a script well worth watching several times. There are layers upon layers all cloaked in a very entertaining story. There were reportedly three different endings written. Polanski and Towne each had their own vision. From their conflict comes a harrowing finale and a classic line of seventies cinema. “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”

Video
1080p, 2.35:1 scope. Roman Polanski has worked a lot in Cinemascope. DP John Alonzo constructs nice compositions even in tight spaces. With very minor reservation this new Blu-Ray is impressive and wholly satisfying. Detail is very strong throughout. The frequent use of depth of field is rendered pleasing and natural to the eye. There is one scene early on when Gittes goes to look at the water run off in the sewers and finds the body of Mr. Mulwray. The flesh tones of Nicholson and the detectives there are more on the orange side than one would like. Other than that the color palette and look of the film was very satisfying. From the sun drenched vistas of Los Angeles to the dusty dirt fields on the outskirts of town, Chinatown is entrancing and a pleasure to watch. The publicity shots do not reflect the quality of the Blu-Ray image.

Audio
Originally done in mono the TrudeHD mono track definitely has more punch to it but the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 has better presence. When that mesmerizing trumpet solos plays it seems to fit better with the 5.1 washing over you. However the dialogue has that coming right at you quality that makes you glad the mono track is included. The 5.1 is only served in English but you can also hear the mono in French, Spanish, and Portuguese. A good variety of subtitles are offered in English, English SDH, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Either way it’s a gorgeous track with enough bass to give the dialogue a rich tone. Just listen to John Huston’s resonant voice. This has to be one of Jerry Goldsmith’s best scores. Producer Robert Evans brought him in late to the project and Goldsmith apparently knocked it out in ten days flat. Major kudos go to Uan Rasey whose trumpet work here is a thing of beauty.

Extras
There is nothing new here or original to this release, however the raft of material carried over from the previous special edition is a good dose of information and insight.
Commentary with Robert Towne and David Fincher, Water and Power featurette, Chinatown An Appreciation, Chinatown: The Beginning and the End, Filming and The Legacy. Theatrical Trailer and a Collectible Booklet.

On a scale of Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, Classic

Blu-Ray – Excellent

Movie – Classic

Lady for a Day (1933) Blu-Ray
Stars: Warren William, May Robson, Guy Kibbee, Glenda Farrell,
Nat Pendleton, Ned Sparks, Walter Connolly
Director: Frank Capra
Released by –Inception Media Group

Reviewed by Steven Ruskin

Frank Capra is known as the director who made It’s A Wonderful Night, Meet John Doe, Mister Deeds Goes To Town and all those other films that get tossed together and labeled as Capra Corn. Sure he’s got a sentimental streak a mile wide and maybe his films are a bit on the schmaltzy side. But it’s good schmaltz and they are very well made. Prior to this film Capra made a very funny film Platinum blonde (1931) with Jean Harlow and Robert Williams. Williams had tremendous appeal and a wonderful comic ability but never went on to big recognition. Four days after the premiere of Platinum Blonde, Williams died of a ruptured appendix at the age of 37. That film showed Capra had a sure hand for comedy but Lady For A Day is the film that shows him discovering his style. You can see his love of people combining with that great comic sense. He’s learning how to mix the laughs and the pathos.

This film is based on a story by Daymon Runyon who made a career telling stories about colorful street types and gangsters who really have a heart under all that swagger. Popular screenwriter Robert Riskin adapted and put his stamp on it with lots of memorable dialogue. The story was good enough that Capra remade it as Pocketful of Miracles in 1961. That’s likely how his estate wound up the with an original 35mm print that was the source for a new negative claimed for this presentation. May Robson plays Apple Annie. She sells apples on the streets of New York. Her friends are a collection of panhandlers and street hustlers. She’s been writing her daughter in Europe from stationary stolen from a swank hotel pretending she lives in high society. When the daughter gets engaged she plans a trip to the city with her finance and his father, The Count. Uh-oh! Dave The Dude, the big time gambler who buys apples from Annie for luck comes up with the idea to dress her up and surround her with all their friends pretending to be the toast of the town. It’s a very elaborate ruse with lots of close calls and funny bits. Reporters are even kidnapped when they start to catch on.

May Robson plays Apple Annie totally straight, very dramatic. The supporting cast really carries this film wonderfully with a rogues gallery of character actors the likes of which we don’t see anymore. These actors specialized in smaller roles and honed their skills to such a fine point working in a surprisingly large number of films. So many are recognizable not only by their faces, but by the quality of their voices and their mannerisms. They brought a very recognizable signature to every role. Back then good character actors would be under a lengthy studio contract and turn out maybe dozens of roles. You simply don’t see that anymore. Just look at the characters these guys played in this film – Harry The Horse, Shakespeare, Louie The Lug, Missouri, The Judge, Happy McGuire, Cheesecake, The Weasel, Butch, and The Greek. To see a whole collection like this was not uncommon in thirties films. They all crackled with an energy bringing an enthusiasm and spark to any scenes they were in. The humor and humanness in their roles is what allows Mary Robson’s straight dramatic portrayal of Annie to work so well. It’s a magnificent counterpoint.

We learn in the introduction that Capra really wanted one of those new Oscars they were handing out. It’d mean prestige and give his career a very helpful boost. Lady For A day pulled in four Academy Award nominations and no wins. The next year his film, It Happened One Night swept the field. The two stars in the film were constantly backed by another amazing ensemble many of whom worked with Capra time and time again. These films play on hope and they tug at your heart. Frank Capra had created his own sub-genre of feel-good films. Lady For A Day is a chance to see that mix of story, rogue characters, humor and humanity come together for the first time. It is a very charming film that’ll draw you right in. To believe that a bunch of hustlers, gangsters and mugs would take all that time and effort to help an old lady out when the chips are down is a tall tale. As the country was struggling its way out of the great depression stories like these were very popular and Capra captured that zeitgeist brilliantly. See this one if you haven’t, it’ll do your heart good. And if you know it, this is a real treat to behold.

Video – 1080p, 1.33:1,
Easily one of the best restorations to come along. Gone are the faded washed out scenes replaced by bright and detailed frames. Black levels are rich and distinct. This work really shows off the production design in the film. There is a garden scene with a large carved glass waterfall. You can make out the flowers that were etched into the glass. At the beginning we look through the glass to see the two lovebirds kissing as the water cascades down the glass. The scene ends shot from the other side with Apple Annie holding her daughter with the waterfall behind them. Mom reassures her daughter that everything will be fine cradling her head against her chest. It’s a gorgeous sequence. This new transfer does that sequence justice and many others, too. Everything is easy to watch and much of it has that deco style, and those swank outfits that make this story sparkle. The publicity stills do not reflect the quality of the Blu-Ray.

Audio – LPCM 2.0 mono offered in English. No subtitles are included.
Credit should be given to the lower range in the track. Whenever Happy talks we can easily hear his voice in all its bass glory. That extended range gives the dialogue a bit fuller, more natural sound. It’s still an early thirties track and has that era’s characteristics but there is a discernable improvement.

Extras –
The introduction by Frank Capra, Jr and his commentary are ported over from the 2001 Image DVD. Restoration Before and After – We see the original on the left and the restoration on the right with a line between them. The difference is truly amazing. The team at Advanced Digital Service deserves some major kudos here for the great work they have done. Dirt, scratches and that faded washed out look have been practically abolished from the film. It would have been nice to hear from some of them talking about the techniques used in the process.
Still Gallery – publicity stills including a great shot of the cast sitting atop of wall and toasting the camera. There’s some fun ones of Capra in there, too.  Inserted into the case is a booklet with an essay written by Scott Eyman that features some glossy stills and an ad from the film’s opening.

On a scale of Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, Classic

Blu-Ray – Excellent

Movie – Classic

Camel Spiders (2012) Blu-Ray
Director: Jim Wynorski
Executive Producer: Roger Corman
Stars: Brian Krause, C. Thomas Howell, Melissa Brasselle, Diana Terranova
Released by Anchor Bay Entertainment

Reviewed by Steven Ruskin

This starts out as a pretty enjoyable outing for the at home monster movie fan. There’s a brief scene in the Mid East where US troops get a helping hand in a firefight from a horde of camel spiders that take out the enemy. Assigned to escort a fallen soldier’s casket back home to Arizona the captain and his sergeant are unaware that one of the little buggers has crept inside the body. Once stateside, their truck crashes on the road setting the deadly cargo free and the invasion is on. The bulk of the cast is holed up in a roadside diner. It’s a typical horror movie cross section of people but it works fine. We get the instant stereotypes: divorcing couple with the cute kid, sarcastic snotty college boys and all the regulars They make a run to the industrial facility that’s owned by the two scheming businessmen who were trying to swindle the diner out from under the husband and wife short order cooks. There’s a group of horny teens stranded in a desolate house that arm themselves with knives and a toilet lid. Brian Krause (Charmed) plays the military captain in charge with a bit of that laid back Michael Parks style. The few quips he’s given in the script get a good delivery. Grown up C. Thomas Howell of ET and The Outsiders fame turns in a very nice performance as the grizzled Sheriff in town. He plays it very relaxed and blends well with Brian Krause in their scenes together.

Now we’re ready for some low budget critters on the rampage. Go get ‘em camel spiders! What takes the film down a bunch of notches is the handling of the camel spiders themselves. That’s tough to get around, as they are the real stars of the movie. We see enough of them and the attacks are well staged with good regularity. The CGI rendering of the creature is bad. They never seem to be actually in the same film as the actors at all. Their design is pretty good. We get little ones and the more adult sized ones. Unfortunately whenever they move they appear to hover above the ground rather than on it. There’s a nice skitteling sound and some spider screeches to accompany them but it doesn’t help. During the attacks the rifles’ muzzle flashes look like they are pasted on the end of the weapons but they don’t match at all. The blood that spurts up whenever the spiders pounce gushes up like some cute new smiley you can add to your emails.

Part of the charm and what most of us love about these grade B movies is the way they get around the low budgets. Good old American ingenuity and enthusiasm is what drove so many of the great Corman films at new World. What’s really missing here is the guy with the fake Piranha head taped to the end of a stick going “boogie, boogie” underwater. We don’t need more realistic effects. We need more fun. That sense of giddy gaffer tape inspired creativity is what is sorely missing here.

Video:
1080p,1.78 : 1. The digital camera gives everything a nice sheen. Some of the compositions have a flat look to them and depth of field is not exploited very often, but overall this looks as good as anything you’d see on the SyFy Channel.

Audio:
Dolby true HD5.1 with subtitles offered in Spanish and SDH. All dialogue is clear and understandable. The soundscape sounds just like regular television with the rare
directional effect.

Extras: None.

One a scale of Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, Classic.

Blu-Ray – Excellent

Movie – Fair

The Hills Have Eyes Part 2  (1985) Blu-Ray
Stars: Michael Berryman, Penny Johnson, Tamara Stafford, Kevin Spirtas, John Bloom III
Director: Wes Craven.
Released by – Horizon Movies from Kino, March 2012

Reviewed by Steven Ruskin

Just so you don’t loose your place there was The Hills Have Eyes made in 1977, then the sequel The Hill Have Eyes Part 2, in 1985. The original was remade in 2006 as the The Hills Have Eyes followed by the other sequel The Hill have Eyes Two in 2007. Wes Craven has been involved in all of them directing the first two and producing the later ones. What we’ve got here is the original sequel, if one can actually say that.

Wes Craven started out very strong with two controversial and shocking films, The Last House on the Left (1972) and The Hill Have Eyes (1977). Deadly Blessing (1981) and Swamp Thing (1982) caught some attention but it was Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) that really made people sit up and pay attention. Why did this marginal film follow that clever and creative one? Some films are well crafted, some approach the very well made and some pay the rent. This one presumably helped get him through the lean years until 1996 when his mojo apparently returned fully intact and he made an even greater impact with Scream.

This sequel begins with a group of rough and ready motorcycle competitors and their friends
heading off into the very desert that was the scene of the attack on the vacationing family in the original. We see Bobby, one of the survivors wisely telling his doctor that he will not join his buddies on this particular outing. The rest of the crew piles into a school bus looking and behaving like the cast of an eighties sitcom. Among them is a very bright and peppy Penny Johnson who would go on to play President Palmer’s wife in the popular TV series, 24. The young feral girl who saved the baby in the first one is back only now they call her Rachel instead of Ruby. And Beast the German Shepard dog is back, too.

After about a half hour set up and some motocross talk, the remaining savages from the first film attack these folks in the desert. One of the biggest problems with this film is that the threat of those lurking killer radiation-damaged cannibals is completely deflated in their first appearance. Michael Berryman returning as Pluto the bald-headed icon of the series suddenly crashes into the barn where Rachel is. She basically kicks his ass and tosses him down to the lower level. That’s little sister beating up her big brother who is armed with a huge Rambo style knife. The next time we see these savages is when the two-man army rides motorcycles with the kids in broad daylight. All the lurking in the night and creepy crawling suspense is gone. Some killings follow with the requisite bloodshed but it’s all kind of a let down.

The film is also padded out with lots of flashbacks from the first movie. If you’ve read anything about this film they always mention that even the poor dog has a flashback sequence. It’s true Poor Beast with that nice Rin-Tin-Tin kerchief ambles into the school bus, looks out the window and sure enough the camera begins to zoom in. Things go all woozy and they we get the classic dog flashback sequence. Even the dog was looking back to the first film for anything to help this one along. He remembers pushing Mercury off a small mountain cliff to his death. Ah the good old days… Then back to the rest of the film.

Video – 1080P, 1.66:1 There are slight vertical lines on either side of the film in effect pillar-boxing it into what feels very much like the correct aspect ratio. Much of this is on the murky side with a lot of interior and nighttime activity. Even the daylight exteriors do not yield much detail and remain on the soft side. Colors are not very distinct. There is plenty of grain. The HD format does not do the original film any favors.

Audio – 2.0 stereo English. You can hear all the dialogue fine. The menu only offers play, chapters and extras.

Extras – There is a gallery of stills and trailers for Jean Rollin films that look very enticing.

On a scale of Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, Classic

Blu-Ray – Fair

Movie – Poor