The Swinging Cheerleaders Blu-ray

(aka "Hots II" or "Locker Room Girls" or "H.O.T.S. II")

directed by Jack Hill
USA 1974

THEY GAVE THEIR ALL FOR THE TEAM!

Jack Hill spent the seventies specialising in tough female characters. He made movies about girl gangs (Switchblade Sisters) and women in prison (The Big Doll House, The Big Bird Cage), turned Pam Grier a star with Coffy and Foxy Brown, and contributed to the Cheerleaders line of drive-in favourites with The Swinging Cheerleaders.

Kate, an undergraduate at Mesa University, goes undercover as a cheerleader for her college newspaper in order to expose female exploitation in contemporary society . But instead of oppression she finds love, friendship and a bigger fish to fry: corruption in the football team, headed up by the coach and his pals.

A favourite of Quentin Tarantino, who screened it at the very first Tarantino Film Fest, The Swinging Cheerleaders features a cast of cult favourites including Colleen Camp (Wayne's World, Game of Death), Rainbeaux Smith (Caged Heat, The Incredible Melting Man) and future Playmate of the Month Rosanne Katon.

Poster

Theatrical Release: June 1974 (USA)

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Comparison:

Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray

(Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray - RIGHT)

Box Covers
Distribution	Anchor Bay Entertainment Region 0 - NTSC	Arrow Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:31:21	1:31:25.605
Video	1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.37 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 34,669,501,947 bytes Feature: 26,978,952,768 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Bitrate: Arrow Blu-ray
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono	LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	none	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.66:1 Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by director Jack Hill • TV Spot (4:3; 0:31) • TV Spot (4:3; 1:01) • About Jack Hill DVD Release Date: 15 June 1999 Amaray Chapters 25	Release Information: Studio: Arrow Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 34,669,501,947 bytes Feature: 26,978,952,768 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio commentary by writer-director Jack Hill, recorded exclusively for this release • Brand new interview with Jack Hill (8:08) • Archive interview with cinematographer Alfred Taylor (10:15) • Archive interview with Hill and Johnny Legend (10:37) • Q&A with Hill, and actors Colleen Camp and Rosanne Katon recorded at the New Beverly Cinema in 2012 (19:19) • TV spots (1:36) • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys • DVD Copy of the Film and Extras Blu-ray Release Date: July 5th, 2016 Standard Blu-ray case Chapters 12

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were obtained directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Arrow - Region FREE Blu-rays July 2016': This is the another Arrow Blu-ray release that is being simultaneously released in both region 'A' (US) and 'B' (UK). It is the exact same package on both sides of the pond but there are minor cosmetic differences on the disc labels and sleeve to do with differing copyright info and barcodes, ex. the US release doesn't have BBFC logos.'

Obviously the Arrow Blu-ray has a significant improvement over the SD as evidence by looking at the matched captures. The 1080P is significantly brighter, richer colors and consistent grain support. No contest.

The Blu-ray has a linear PCM track and the uncompressed improves upon the lossy Dolby. There is a score credited to William Allen Castleman(The Big Bird Cage) + William Loose (The Naked City TV series) but it's fairly unremarkable. The Arrow offers optional English (SDH) subtitles.

Arrow stack their Blu-ray release including an audio commentary by writer-director Jack Hill, recorded exclusively for this release, plus new interviews with Hill, cinematographer Alfred Taylor, an archival interview with Hill and Johnny Legend, a Q&A with Hill, and actors Colleen Camp and Rosanne Katon recorded at the New Beverly Cinema in 2012 and TV Spots. The package sports a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys and includes a DVD Copy of the film with the extras.

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ON THE DVD: Previously available separately from Anchor Bay and then reissued in 2003 as part of THE CHEERLEADERS COLLECTION with the unrelated THE CHEERLEADERS and REVENGE OF THE CHEERLEADERS