Eric Cotenas

Brentwood

Region 0 - NTSC

1.33:1 Open Matte format
Average Bitrate: 5.97 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.33:1 Open Matte format
Average Bitrate: 5.78 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1.70:1 Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 5.76 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

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

Brentwood

88 Films (Fullscreen Version)

88 Films (Widescreen Version)

English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono

English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Comedy Commentary by 'The Detractors'
• Vintage TV interview with Donald Gronquist (4:3; 5:43)

DVD Release Date: 22 March 2005
Amaray

Chapters 8

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• 4:3 Fullscreen and 16:9 (1.66:1) widescreen versions
• Audio Commentary by director Donald Gronquist (both transfers)
• Theatrical Trailer (16:9; 1:54)
• 88 Films Trailer Park

 

Chapters 12

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.70:1

Edition Details:
• see left
 

Chapters 12

The negatives and print material for UNHINGED no longer seems to be available from official sources, so 88 Films has had to contend with an existing PAL tape master (Code Red in the United States also had to use a tape master for their double bill release with Gronquist's MURDER RUN which is only available direct from their Big Cartel site). The UK disc offers both 1.70:1 anamorphic and 1.33:1 fullscreen transfers, although the widescreen version is an upscale of the same tape master. The widescreen compositions are occasionally ruinous to the compositions, suggesting that either the original master is slightly cropped or the filmmakers did not take theatrical matting into account (the film did not garner a US theatrical release, but surely that was the goal in 1982). The fullscreen version is preferable on this disc. The Brentwood disc - which is a direct port of the earlier Indie DVD release - has near identical framing to the fullscreen UK transfer but is generally darker with a reddish bias and a cruddier encode. All three encodes evince interlacing artifacts so viewers would best let their TV's settings deal with it.

While the Brentwood disc provides a truly awful "comedy commentary", the UK disc features a director's commentary (I'm not sure if it's the same as the one Gronquist contributed to the aforementioned Code Red release). Gronquist discusses how the Paramount deal to distribute his first film MURDER RUN fell through when Warner released BADLANDS and how UNHINGED came about as a bar bet with his Oregon filmmaking contemporaries (including Gus Van Sant) to make an fully-ensured and scored 35mm feature film for $100,000. He discusses having to get insurance through Lloyds of London to shoot in the Pittock Mansion for a fee of thirty-five dollars per day (De Laurentis would have to pay $30,000 to use the location for 1993's BODY OF EVIDENCE), the production value of the existing decor and props, and shooting from five in the evening until seven in the morning since the mansion had tours during the day. He reveals that some of the credits are joke names to make the production seem bigger than the actual ten-person crew, but he also cites the subsequent careers of some of them: assistant camera Eric Alan Edward would shoot Gus Van Sant's MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, EVEN COW GIRLS GET THE BLUES, and TO DIE FOR, as well as Larry Clark's KIDS and more recent mainstream tripe like LOVE HAPPENS and KNOCKED UP, caterer Melissa Stewart would become production designer Missy Stewart (who would also work on Van Sant's earlier films and more recently titles like LEGALLY BLONDE and PARANOIA), while the gore effects were created by Jennifer Scoutten (who had just worked on SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE for Roger Corman). There are plenty of dead spots and play-by-lay, and it might have worked better as a selected scenes commentary.

The British release also drops the vintage TV interview with the director, but that's not a bad thing since he's particularly camera shy and unprepared. The only other extras are a theatrical trailer - that makes the film seem more exciting than it really is - and trailers for ten other recent and forthcoming 88 Films titles: THE CORPSE GRINDERS, TWO MOON JUNCTION, THE TOXIC AVENGER, HIDEOUS! , BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE DEVILS, ROBOT WARS, DOLLMAN, THE DOLL SQUAD, CASTLE FREAK, and SLICE AND DICE.

 - Eric Cotenas