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Empire of the Ants / Jaws of Satan (aka "King Cobra") [Blu-ray]
(Bert I. Gordon, 1977 / Bob Claver, 1981)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: American International Pictures (AIP) / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Video: Shout! Factory (Scream! Factory)
Disc: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Empire of the Ants Runtime: 1:29:38.414 Jaws of Satan Runtime: 1:32:20.576 Disc Size: 45,973,905,123 bytes Empire of the Ants Feature Size: 23,652,820,992 bytes Jaws of Satan Feature Size: 19,855,337,472 bytes Video Bitrate: 28.83 Mbps / 25.55 Mbps Chapters: 12 / 12 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: May 26th, 2015
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 / 1.78:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Commentary on Empire of the Ants: LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles: English (SDH), None
Extras:
EMPIRE OF THE ANTS
JAWS OF SATAN
Other Shout! Factory Trailers (Food of the Gods and Frogs)
Bitrate: Empire of the Ants
Jaws of Satan
Description:
Empire Of The Ants
Empire of the Ants: In the '50s, Bert I. Gordon made a career out of sci-fi movies about gigantic mutated insects (Beginning of the End, Earth vs. the Spider), lizards (King Dinosaur, Serpent Island), and even people (The Amazing Colossal Man), and in 1977, he was still up to his old tricks with this picture, loosely adapted from a story by H.G. Wells. Marilyn Fryser (Joan Collins) is a less than scrupulous businesswoman who is trying to sell shares in a worthless Florida housing development to a group of naive souls. However, both Marilyn and her potential customers have bigger things to worry about than low property values, when they discover that a large stock of nuclear waste was dumped near the development site, and the result is a pack of gigantic mutated ants with a nasty disposition and a taste for human blood. The supporting cast features Robert Lansing, John David Carson, and Albert Salmi. Excerpt from MRQE located HEREJaws of Satan The slight amount of credibility required for a successful horror movie is lost in the opening scenes of this derivative story of a cobra who is really Satan in disguise, taking revenge against a Catholic priest for some crimes committed by the priest's ancestors. When the cobra invades a train full of people, the glass partition that keeps the snake safely away from the actors is quite visible and is even emphasized as the poor snake hits its head against it. After that inauspicious beginning, the film cannot really go downhill, but it continues the same standard in the acting and script. Father Farrow (Fritz Weaver) belongs to a family cursed long ago because they persecuted Druids. Now snakes are taking the lead from the "king cobra" and attacking people in the town where the demoniacally harassed Father lives, while the mayor and local town leaders try to cover up the reptilian menace so as not to scare off patrons for the soon-to-be opened dog racetrack. Even if the snakes had raced the dogs, this horror film is too trite and predictable to be salvaged. Excerpt from MRQE located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Shout! Factory (under the sub 'Scream Factory' identifier) offers up a double-feature of creature-feature-leaning films on a lone, dual-layered, Blu-ray. These are both 1080P and their respective image qualities have parity - looking, more or less, the same. The visuals are decent enough - especially considering the modest-budget productions. Effects are exposed by the higher resolution - but I'll wager they never looked totally convincing originally either. Colors are similar in both - bright and tight and there is some notable depth. Detail is acceptable - with the weakest elements remaining the special effects of the giant ants. Both film's look superior to an SD transfer, with a hint of noise in Jaws of Satan. Both are very clean with no speckles or damage. The Blu-ray supplies an acceptable presentation most probably replicating the theatrical appearance quite adeptly.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Empire of the Ants
Jaws of Satan (aka "King Cobra")
Audio :Both films have a linear PCM 2.0 channel track at a reasonable 2304 kbps. Effects showcase some depth but the quality is only marginally better than the video's less-impressive realism via the effects. Empire of the Ants has a score by veteran Dana Kaproff (The Big Red One, Between the Darkness and the Dawn). Jaws of Satan use Roger Kellaway (Legacy, Silent Scream,The Mafu Cage) for the score and it adds a quirky touch. Both music soundtracks export competently via the lossless. There are optional English subtitles (SDH) on the region 'A' Blu-ray disc.
Extras : Empire of the Ants gets a new audio commentary with director Bert I. Gordon sharing details of the production - again, notable on his effects. There is also a photo gallery, 2 radio spots and a theatrical trailer. For Jaws of Satan we only get a trailer with the film named "King Cobra".
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze May 19th, 2015
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
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