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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

 

directed by Bill Osco, Carl Crew
USA 1998

 

Late night talk show host Rusty DeFage (Dino Lee) takes his audience through a series of re-enactments of urban legends happening in the L.A. area. There's the necking couple in the graveyard who hear about the escaped, hook-handed maniac (the only one I recognized), an eye-sucking vampire optometrist, a dentist named Dr. Pain, a phone sex recipient having an electrical mishap with a vacuum cleaner, a doctor breaking a needle off in a patient's arm, and brain-sucking crack whores (I think). Writer/actor/co-director Carl Crew originally wrote a script about a girl who experiences several urban legends in a single night, but producer Bill Osco (ALICE IN WONDERLAND, the adult version) ruled it too expensive and gave Crew a week to do a cheaper rewrite. Osco further augmented the finish cut with interstitial footage that turned out to be composed of every single non-stand-up moment of his special THE UNKNOWN COMIC (LA comic Murray Langston's alter-ego), stock footage from a Doris Wishman nudie pic, stock footage from his own ALIEN rip-off THE BEING, and some incredibly incongruous and near-pornographic bits from his then-unsold "adult MTV" cable project PINK TV. None of the filmstocks match and further clash hideously with the various generations and grades of video stock footage. Some of the 16mm material is still marked with editor's grease pen and some other footage has been filmed off a video monitor with the monitor's screen edges visible on the edges of the frame (more or less depending on your TV's overscan). There is nothing remotely scary about the stories other than perhaps what these people find funny, although some of the recycled UNKNOWN COMIC footage is occasionally humorous. This footage appears in its proper context in the disc's extra, the full 50 minute UNKNOWN COMIC special in which Langston is joined by other comedians (including Osco collaborator Johnny Dark, who did a commentary for the Osco-starring Jackie Kong film THE BEING). The package is rounded out by THE ART OF NUDE BOWLING short, which is a faux-silent film attributed to Alfred Hitchcock (with unfunny "critical" commentary from DeFage and another comedian).

Eric Cotenas

Poster

Theatrical Release:

Reviews

DVD Review: Code Red - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

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Distribution

Code Red

Region 0 - NTSC

Runtime 1:10:21
Video

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 4.7 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate

Audio English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Subtitles none
Features Release Information:
Studio: Code Red

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Audio Commentary on URBAN LEGENDS by Carl Crew, moderated by Marc Edward Heuck
• The Unknown Comic (4:3; 49:20)
• The Art of Nude Bowling (4:3; 11:52)

DVD Release Date: 5 April 2011
Amaray

Chapters 10

 

Comments

The image quality of URBAN LEGENDS is what it is. The 16mm footage is marked by workprint grease pen, some other footage is filmed off a video monitor, the stock footage from THE UNKNOWN COMIC is from videotape (as is some of the new footage), the cleanest (in terms of video quality) footage is the stuff Osco shot for his cable sale hopeful PINK TV. The audio is uneven, the added applause from the offscreen audience often muffles dialogue. Viewing the film with the audio commentary on is a far less painful and more informative experience. The visual quality of the two extras films is far more consistent. The main menu is preceded by a screen that allows you the option of accessing the main menu (a more scatological variation on the usual "Septic Cinema" main menu screen) or skipping to the feature, I'd suggest the latter option.

  - Eric Cotenas

 


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DVD Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

 

Distribution

Code Red

Region 0 - NTSC

 

 




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