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ONE VOICE
(not Ellsworth Monkton Toohey):
Since we have three bona-fide
Gialli this week,
let's start with them. Kudos to Nucleus Films for their
complete Blu-ray package
of
Death Laid an Egg
with two versions of the film (director's cut and 'giallo
cut), original audio and DUB, commentary and extensive
extras. Bravo. Arrow's
The Pyjama Girl Case
Blu-ray should also get
beaucoup Kudos. The film is inspired by the real-life case
which baffled the Australian police and stars Ray Milland as
the pursuing Inspector.
Giallo in Venice is
on Blu-ray from Scorpion
Films. An infamous mixture of sleazy eroticism and over the
top gore it sneaks into the genre with its title. A
noteworthy Blu-ray
release this week is Billy Wilder's
Witness for the Prosecution
- probably the best film this week and the Masters of Cinema
package has the best transfer, a commentary and more. An
easy decision. Also the UK company's
Blu-ray rendering of Oliver Stone's
Salvador gets top
marks - an unforgettable film deserved of the meticulously
stacked Blu-ray. Our
highest recommendation. A pair of impressive remasters with
Umbrella giving a 4K restoration to
Blu-ray of the
Ozploitation
creature-feature
Razorback, and
Scorpion Releasing for their own, much desired,
Blu-ray transfer upgrade
of the 1980 Cult-favorite
Death Ship. Sweet
cinema from the other side of the tracks. Two vintage-era
films that I got a kick out were covered this week;
Merrily We Live
with Constance Bennett on Blu-ray
from ClassicFlix and
The Farmer's Daughter
with Loretta Young on Blu-ray,
with commentary, from Kino. I can't get enough of this
wholesome, good-natured cinema. Colin reviewed
Heathers,
transferred to Blu-ray
by Arrow via a 4K restoration, and it has a loyal following
as an American classic.
Horrors of Malformed Men
is part of a unique genre of Japanese horror-fantasy films
that always sparks keen interest. It is now on Region FREE
Blu-ray by Arrow Films
who include two commentaries to help interpret the wonderful
Teruo Ishii bizarreness.
Lady Frankenstein
may be flawed but it's still thoroughly enjoyable in its
titillating Hammer-esque vision. Nucleus Films go the extras
mile again with a complete Blu-ray
package including commentary and a multitude of extras
including a second cut of the, occasionally 'adult', film.
George Cukor's
Let's Make Love, on
Twilight Time, Blu-ray,
deserved to be mentioned before now - if only for the
hypnotic glow of Marilyn.
Wonder Women is a
quintessential slice of early 70s drive-in Grindhouse-level
fun. Vinegar Syndrome's Blu-ray
towers over the old DVD. Colin reviewed
Greaser's Palace -
a modern-day parable based on the life of Christ - that has
reached Blu-ray status.
lastly, this week, is
Frightmare (NOT the
Pete Walker film), on Region FREE
Blu-ray from 88 Films, and the 3+ commentaries
notch-up the appreciation for this uneven 80's horror..
"Happiness
is good health and a bad memory." -
Ingrid Bergman
Have a
buy-through-DVDBeaver's-Amazon-links
week!
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Frightmare
BD - Also known as THE
HORROR STAR, the 1983 cult creeper FRIGHTMARE offered
audiences postmodern shocks long before Wes Craven gave us his
game-changing SCREAM in 1996! An underrated and underseen
gem, FRIGHTMARE tells of a celebration for a late, great
horror star... only the actor in question might not be entirely
dead and soon the participants at his supposed party are being
picked off one by one! Highlighting a notable supporting
performance Jeffrey Combs... Blu-ray
Release Date: September 10th, 2018
Horrors of Malformed Men
BD - Medical student
Hirosuke Hitomi slips out of the asylum in which he has been
wrongfully confined and stealthily assumes the identity of a
recently deceased nobleman with whom he bears an uncanny
resemblance. Hirosuke eases his way into the nobleman s
household and his dead double s marital bed. But as
long-repressed memories begin to bubble to the surface, he soon
finds himself drawn to a remote isle where he is confronted by a
mad scientist and his malformed men, and discovers the key that
will unlock some long-suppressed mysteries of his own.
Blu-ray Release Date: September
17th-18th, 2018
Salvador
BD - Salvador
recounts the conflict between the peasant revolution and the
US-backed death squads in El Salvador in the early 1980s as seen
through the eyes of American journalist Richard Boyle. Telling
unpalatable truths condensed into intense fiction, Oliver
Stone's film is typically confrontational, the real Boyle
writing the source material for Stone's savage screenplay. The
journalist is brought to life by James Woods in a brilliant
hyper-kinetic performance: his powerful commitment to the truth
balances his self-destructive, drink, drugs and danger-fuelled
personality. Providing excellent support is James Belushi as
partner in debauchery Dr Rock, while Stone delivers the most
spectacular $4 million movie imaginable by conning the El
Salvadorian military into lending tanks, planes and helicopters
for a film which brands many of their leaders as war criminals.
The Masters of Cinema Blu-ray
Release date: September 17th, 2018
The Farmer's Daughter
BD - Loretta Young is The
Farmer’s Daughter – blonde, brash and so hilariously
heartwarming that she won the 1948 Academy Award for Best
Actress in a Leading Role. As Katrin, she romps through one
uproarious romantic adventure after another, an independent farm
girl who becomes a politician and captures the heart of a
Congressman along the way. The outrageous antics begin when
Katrin, fresh from the farm, arrives in Capitol City ready to
take on the metropolis. She takes the very first job she can
find: housemaid in the wealthy home of urbane Congressman Glenn
Morley, charmingly played by Joseph Cotten (Portrait of Jennie).
But she’s no sooner tied the apron strings around her waist than
she’s running for Congress. To complicate matters further,
Morley is developing a case of infatuation for Katrin – and it’s
looking like love that knows no political bounds.
Blu-ray Release Date: September
25th, 2018
Razorback
BD - Somewhere deep in the
Australian outback there's a marauding, indestructible creature
that can rip a man in half and destroy a homestead in seconds.
This giant freak of nature is nine hundred pounds of tusk and
muscle - and it is hell bent on terrorizing the small isolated
community of "Gamulla" - a town as violent and primitive as the
beast that threatens it. The astonishing feature film debut of
music video maestro Russell Mulcahy, RAZORBACK is a
ferociously entertaining, adrenalin pumping thriller that
proudly counts Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino among its
self-confessed fans! Presented in a new high definition
transfer, boasting stunning cinematography from Oscar winner
Dean Semler, a taut script by horror veteran Everett DeRoche
(Patrick), atmospheric music by Iva Davies and a fearsome
creature from effects master Bob McCarron, RAZORBACK is
an Ozploitation classic, bloodcurdling to the last squeal...
Umbrella (Remastered) Blu-ray
Release Date: August, 2018
Heathers
BD - At Westerburg High
School, an elite clique of snobby girls known as 'Heathers'
reign supreme. Smart and popular, Veronica (Winona Ryder) is a
reluctant member of the gang and disapproves of the other girls'
cruel behaviour. When Veronica and her mysterious new boyfriend,
J.D. (Christian Slater), play a trick on the clique leader,
Heather Chandler (Kim Walker), and accidentally poison her, they
make it appear a suicide. But it soon becomes clear to Veronica
that J.D. is sociopath intent on vengefully killing the school s
popular students. She races to stop J.D., clashing with the
clique's new leader, Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty), and leading
to an explosive final confrontation with her troubled former
lover. Blu-ray Release Date:
September 10th, 2018
Lady Frankenstein
BD - It's monster a-go-go up
at the castle when Baron Frankenstein and his laboratory
assistant, Dr. Charles Marshall, stitch together a creature
using body parts supplied by shifty local grave robbers. When
they rashly insert a killer's damaged brain into the
monstrosity's skull and bring it to life, it crushes the Baron
to death and goes on the rampage. Tania, Frankenstein's
glamorous daughter, teams up with Charles to continue her
father's crackpot experiments. The two fall in love and
transplant the aging lab assistant's cerebrum into the body of a
hunky servant. Meanwhile, the first monster stalks the
countryside, seeking bloody revenge on the bodysnatchers who
exhumed the raw materials for its miscreation.
Blu-ray Release Date: September
3rd, 2018
The Pyjama Girl Case
BD - Based On 'The
Infamous Real-Life Murder Case That Shocked The World!' When
the mutilated corpse of a young woman is found on an Australian
beach, retired detective Thompson (Ray Milland) involves himself
in the investigation. But before they can find the killer, the
police must first identify the victim. Who was this
once-beautiful girl found clad only in yellow pyjamas? Why would
the authorities put her nude body on public display? What sexual
depravity did she endure before her murder? And even if Thompson
can crack the baffling case, will he survive to see her killer
brought to justice? Blu-ray
Release Date: September 17th-18th, 2018
Death Laid an Egg
BD - We open with eerie
microscope images of a biological nature, with a soundtrack
eerily evoking the effect of a computer, a piano and a suit of
armor having sex while falling down a flight of metal stairs.
Then the film launches into its first murder: seemingly our
hero, Jean-Louis Trintignant, is addicted to knifing hookers in
a motorway hotel. Trintignant is married to Gina Lollobrigida,
and they live with Ewa Aulin in what seems one plot development
away from a full-fledged ménage à trois. And they're also in the
chicken business. Nucleus Films Blu-ray
Release Date: September 2nd, 2018
Witness for the Prosecution
BD - Having just recovered
from a heart attack, fabled British barrister Sir Wilfred
Robards (Charles Laughton) has been ordered by his doctor to
give up everything he holds dear-brandy, cigars and especially
courtroom cases. Robards' already shaky resolve to follow
doctor's orders flies out the window when he takes up the
defense of Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power), a personable young man
accused of murdering a rich old widow. The case becomes
something of a sticky wicket when Vole's "loving" German wife
Christine (Marlene Dietrich) announces that she's not legally
married to Robards' client-and she fully intends to appear as a
witness for the prosecution! Masters of Cinema
Blu-ray Release date: September
10th, 2018
Greaser's Palace
BD - One of the most
original, bizarre, hilarious, and unforgettable films that
you'll ever see, Greaser's Palace takes the story of
Christ's suffering and places it in the Old West. A zoot-suited
drifter performs miracles and attracts a large following, but
all he really wants is to sing and dance. After finally getting
to play The Palace, a saloon run by the ruthless Seaweedhead
Greaser, he soon learns that he's got more miracles do.
Blu-ray Release Date: June 5th,
2018
Let's Make Love
BD - The superlative George
Cukor directs a pair of genuine stars, Marilyn Monroe and Yves
Montand, in a whimsical musical comedy, Let’s Make Love
(1960). She plays an aspiring actress/intellectual who runs into
trouble when her off-Broadway revue spoofs a stuffy French
billionaire (Montand); he touchily plans to shut down the show –
until, that is, he meets Monroe. Nice support is provided by
Tony Randall and Frankie Vaughan, with amusing cameos from Gene
Kelly, Bing Crosby, and Milton Berle; classic songs from Cole
Porter are joined by newer delights from Sammy Cahn and James
Van Heusen. Blu-ray Release
Date: August, 2018
Merrily We Live
BD - The wealthy Kilbourne
family is tired of Mrs. Kilbourne (Billie Burke) hiring
ex-convicts as servants. After a servant steals the family's
silver, Mrs. Kilbourne agrees to never hire another drifter for
help. But when a rough-looking man named Rawlins (Brian Aherne)
arrives at her doorstep, she cannot help but hire him as the new
chauffeur. As Rawlins catches the eye of their oldest daughter,
Jerry (Constance Bennett), the Kilbournes realize that he may
not be the vagrant he claims to be.
Blu-ray Release Date: August 28th, 2018
Wonder Women
BD - While traveling to
Australia, American detective Mike Harber (Ross Hagen) finds
himself stranded in The Philippines and obliged to assist in
solving the mysterious disappearance of a famous Jai alai
athlete. After hearing from a witness that the man might have
been kidnapped by a group of beautiful, hearse driving women,
Mike quickly finds himself a new target of the Wonder Women,
a group of martial arts fighting assassins who work for the
mysterious Dr. Tsu (Nancy Kwan); an evil genius scientist who’s
been collecting able-bodied men for use in her bizarre body part
transplant experiments! Blu-ray
Release Date: August, 2018
Death Ship
BD - Academy Award winner
George Kennedy stars with Richard Crenna, Nick Mancuso and Saul
Rubinek in this terrifying tale of a possessed ship searching
for new victims on the high seas! An ocean liner carrying
vacationing passengers collides with a mysterious freighter. The
handful of survivors seek refuge aboard the sinister freighter,
which turns out to be possessed by the evil that once commanded
it! The Deathship has a life of its own....pray you are
never rescued by the Deathship! Scorpion Releasing
(Remastered) Blu-ray Release Date:
August, 2018
Giallo in Venice
BD - The beautiful canals of
Venice are stained with blood when the bodies of young couples
are found savagely murdered. Inspector De Paul sets out to
unravel what happened to the young victims. The deeper he digs,
the more sordid secrets he uncovers, but more people will die
before the mystery is finally resolved. This infamous mixture of
sleazy eroticism and over the top gore is one of the wildest
films from the golden age of Italian exploitation cinema.
Blu-ray Release Date: August, 2018
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