Eric Cotenas

Audio, likewise, is a massive improvement with a DTS-HD Master, original, mono track (24-bit). Effects are minimal with very little aggression in the film's soundstage. Along with an uncredited score by Don Hulette and Don Vincent, we get Peter Carpenter's lounge and studio performances with This Is . . . , Lifebeats and Drifter of the Heart. The sound is, predictably, flat but carries some resonance via the lossless. There are optional English subtitles on the region FREE Blu-ray disc.

Most of the extras are for Blood Mania including a commentary plus an 8-minute video interview and introduction to that film with director Robert Vincent O’Neill, plus a 14-minute interview with actress Leslie Simms - she played Nurse Turner in Blood Mania - her first role. There is a theatrical trailer for Point of Terror and TV or Radio spots for both films as well as promotional galleries. The package has reversible cover artwork and the it has a second and third disc DVDs of the two features.

NOTE: Eric tells us: "Disc three (DVD) of BLOOD MANIA/POINT OF TERROR features the TV versions of both. BLOOD MANIA's TV version loses nudity and gore and features several reshoot scenes in which the nurse character is revealed to be in cahoots with the blackmailer. In place of the more graphic footage, she skulks around the house and phones her boyfriend to tell him what is going on. Both characters also have a long flatly-shot introductory sequence inserted before they are actually introduced in the theatrical version. There is also a new scene of Carpenter driving a body to the beach and burying it. POINT OF TERROR loses nudity and some gore but the only differences are a ten minute flashback to Carpenter's youth as a shoeshine boy (also shot some time after the theatrical release) and a nightmare recap inserted at the end."

Point of Terror is a poor film by most standards. It's, almost humorous, transparency, and sub-par performances aren't an asset but they both add a nostalgic kitsch appeal that has desirability with many. I watched the whole thing and shrugged but saw a spark of some eccentric worthiness that is almost addictive. Let's see what Blood Mania brings...

Gary Tooze

***

ON THE DVD: The opening credits sequence seems to have been sourced from video elements as the credits and Carpenter's red outfit are rife with dot crawl. While the presentation improves after, the noise is still evident in the saturated reds of the wardrobe and lighting. There is also some chroma noise in the fine patterns of the fashions and decor (see the sofa in cap 6). There is a brief half-second instance of pixilation late in the film which may go unnoticed by most viewers.

Co-star Simms reminisces about star Carpenter (who was also her acting pupil and had previously co-starred with Carpenter in BLOOD MANIA) in a fifteen minute interview. She recalls the film vividly (and BLOOD MANIA) and that Carpenter was a Las Vegas jazz dancer. She mentions that even back then they all laughed at the red suede outfit Carpenter had to wear for the opening credits number. The interview is interrupted by screeching tires of a passing car ("Don't you love L.A.?" she quips). Dyanne Thorne provides a telephone interview. She fondly remembers her co-stars, her nude scene, and her standout violent rage scene. The film's trailer rounds out the extras (curiously there are no trailers for other upcoming Scorpion Releases as on their other discs).

The film was previously released on DVD by Rhino Video (when they had the Crown Pictures library) in an open-matte transfer in the first volume of their HORRIBLE HORRORS collection (which paired two movies on each side of two double-sided discs). The original early eighties United Home Video VHS release featured a transfer of the TV version with a lengthy unrelated flashback to the protagonist's youth (in place of snipped nudity and violence) which has not been retained here as an extra (subsequent releases of the film were of the full R-rated theatrical version).

  - Eric Cotenas