Berberian
Sound Studio
(2012/MPI/IFC Midnight DVD)/Demon
Seed (1977/MGM/Warner
Archive DVD)/Nightmare
City (1980/Raro
Blu-ray)/Sanitarium
(2013/Image DVD)/Silent
Night, Bloody Night
(1972/Film Chest DVD)/Tenebrae
(1982/Arrow UK Region B Import Blu-ray)/The
Whip & The Body
(1963/aka What/Kino
Blu-ray)
Picture:
C+/C+/B/C/C/B/B- Sound: B-/C/C+/C/C/B/C Extras:
C/C-/B-/D/D/B/B- Films: C-/B/B-/C-/C+/B-/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Demon
Seed
DVD is only available from Warner Archive at their website whose link
can be found at the end of the page, while Tenebrae
is a Region B Import Blu-ray that will only play on machines that can
handle that format and is only available from Arrow UK at their
website, which can be reached for orders at the link below for it.
Tenebrae
4K
has since been issued and you can read more about it at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16341/Hotel+Transylvania:+Transformania+(2023/Sony
2013
closes with a solid selection of horror thrillers (all but one here
are new releases) that include five older films worth revisiting and
two new ones that held much promise going in...
Peter
Strickland's Berberian
Sound Studio
(2012) s the tale of an ace movie sound designer (the always
underrated Toby Jones) to help an Italian Horror film sound more
realistic joining a foley team, sound studio, bitter producer and
self-centered director. It is not what he would like to be doing and
he has flown there at his own expense (a mistake) as no one around
seems very friendly save a few of the women providing some dubbing
and screaming for what is a very vulgar, gross and shocking (by any
measure of the genre) film.
At
the time of the later 1970s, Horror films internationally, especially
in Italy, the U.S. and U.K., were trying to outdo each other. For a
while, this looks like it will go somewhere and be another smart
technology/art thriller like Antonioni's Blow
Up,
Coppola's The
Conversation
or De Palma's Blow
Out
(all reviewed elsewhere on this site), but the screenplay wants to
try something new and different. The problem is, only it knows what
it wants to say, do and talk about, so we actually get nothing much
more than a gimmick film running just past 90 minutes and wastes our
time as well as some great ideas, a great set up, a good look and a
decent cast. It could have even become smug, but it gets too boring,
disappointing and lost to work.
Extras
include a feature length audio commentary track by Writer/Director
Strickland, Box Hill Documentary, Original Theatrical Trailer, Photo
Gallery with commentary, Alternate Poster Gallery,
Behind The Scenes and Deleted, Extended and Alternate Scenes
that do not add much to what we already did not get.
Donald
Cammell's Demon
Seed
is my favorite film here, a creepy thriller that MGM released in 1977
with high expectations that holds up pretty well as a scientific
genius (the always reliable Fritz Weaver) has developed a new
computer named Proteus IV with a mind of its own and surveillance
powers, setting up at his home to the dismay of his wife (Julie
Christie) then it can talk (voice of Robert Vaughn). It quickly
becomes self-aware and decides it wants to find a way to escape the
confines of the home it is stuck in, using her for recreation and
procreation purposes.
Still
bold in its themes and a very mature work, it was made at a time when
portable computers, iPhones, laptops and the like were unthinkable
and though that makes it a product of its time, it is not to say a
sentient artificial computer intelligence would not consider trying
to become human or semi-human by finding a bridge to connect with us
carbon-based units. Cammell (Wolfen,
Performance)
made his best film here and it is too often forgotten, but Warner
Archive has issued it on DVD and seeing it widescreen is the only way
to really appreciate what the makers achieved. An underrated gem,
catch it ASAP!
A
trailer is the only extra, but you can read more about the amazing
music score for the film by the late, great Jerry Fielding in its
must-own limited edition CD soundtrack release (with Soylent
Green,
also reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) all serious movie
music fans should get a copy of while supplies last at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/198/Soylent+Green/Demon+Seed+(Limited+CD
Umberto
Lenzi's Nightmare
City
(1980) is a fun if sometimes mixed (the make-up effects are not
always great, plus they and some of the other visual effects are
unintentional howlers) tale of a military plane flying through a
deadly radiation cloud. When the plane lands, the men (in the best
Marvel Comics tradition if you think about it) are not dead, but
mutants and blood hungry zombies for that matter. The script
attempts to cross the first two Romero Dead
films with Romero's underrated, original Crazies
(all reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) pushing the public
outbreak heath crisis angle that officials cannot do anything about.
Mel
Ferrer shows up as a General and longtime actor Hugo Stiglitz is the
doctor who will try to solve the crisis before it is too late.
Superior to most films of its type today, Raro Video has issued a
really nice Blu-ray edition of the film that really goes all out at
points to work and keeps the plot points going. I had only seen this
once a long time ago and was impressed by how well it held up and
what a good film it really could be. Any serious film fan and
especially fans of the genres it covers should consider this one a
must-see, even when its limits kick in.
Extras
include an illustrated booklet on the film, while the Blu-ray disc
adds Original English and Italian Theatrical Trailers and (unlisted
on the Blu-ray case) an interview with Lenzi on this film and his
career.
It
took three directors to make the anthology film Sanitarium
(2013) and that turns out to be the beginning of its many problems,
problems like those of Berberian
that should not have begun to happen, but kept happening and
happening. This attempt at an anthology film with three stories
wrapped around a connecting narrative, but it also wants to keep
telling the audience it cannot separate fantasy and dreams from
reality when the script itself has cliche after cliche. Malcolm
McDowell is the head of the mental institution of the title and our
tales of terror include turns by Robert Englund, Lacey Chabert and
Lou Diamond Phillips, but it is also too choppy for its own good and
none of the tales stand on their own.
Philips
gives his best in an extended performance, but he is battling against
a lack of ideas and I was hoping one of the segments would work, but
to no avail. It is like Night
Gallery
with no suspense and no point and the deadly doll thing is played out
like so much here. This will be a curio because of the cast, a
monster and that doll, but you've seen it all before.
There
are no extras.
Theodore
Gershuny's Silent
Night, Bloody Night
(1972) is a forerunner of sorts to Bob Clark's Black
Christmas
(1974) which inspired John Carpenter's original Halloween
(1978) and was influenced by Romero's original Night
of The Living Dead
(1968, all three films reviewed on Blu-ray at least once elsewhere on
this site) showing along with Clark's Children
Shouldn't Play With Dead Things
(also 1972, reviewed elsewhere on this site) the freedom Romero's
film (as well a Polanski's Rosemary's
Baby
(1968, now on Blu-ray from Criterion) a new freedom in the horror
genre that quickly followed Hitchcock (especially Psycho
(1960) and Clouzot's Diabolique
(1955, reviewed on Criterion Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) making
the DVD release of this under-seen curio a very good thing.
Originally
titled Night
Of The Dark Full Moon,
we begin with Mary Woronov as Diane, reflecting on the loss of a
place that once was with a story behind it. Since the 1980s, this
has usually been a juvenile flashback device to soften and make safe
anything that follows, but in a better film like this, it actually
works to a good extent (though this might have been a better film
without it) as the suspense the film achieves is here and we get some
interesting, creepy and disturbing moments in part from the great
cast, from a decent script and just the project's ambitions.
The
people running the town want to get rid of a certain old house now
that it is up for sale, but the owner (James Patterson) wants more
money than they want to buy it for, as explained to them by his
lawyer (Patrick O'Neal) who is staying in town with a lady friend
until all is settled, but nothing peaceful follows as the story
becomes more effectively twisted.
Not
every moment works and some things have dated better than others, but
I remember the film and am happy to see it in a better widescreen
print at 81 minutes (versus some DVDs at 64), this may still be short
of the reported 88 minutes the film might have been, but that is
unconfirmed and with a solid supporting cast that includes John
Carradine and adds appearances by Warhol alumni Candy Darling and
Ondine, it is a curio more than worth your time.
There
are sadly no extras.
By
the time Dario
Argento's Tenebrae
(1982) hit theaters, Italian Gothic and Giallo films were at an end
and the likes of Nightmare
City
influenced by non-Italian Horror films were succeeding them. This
film can be very much seen as the end of the Giallo Cycle including
its deconstructive approach with Anthony Franciosa as a writer of
murder thrillers arriving in Italy only to discover that someone is
committing a series of murders based on his works. Things get worse
and worse, forcing him to do something about it.
Accompanied
by his literary agent (John Saxon), he expects to position and sell
his new suspense novel (it shares its title with the title of the
film) to big profits and that will sell his older catalog of hits,
but the killings start brutal and become worse and worse. The film
also had a solid Italian cast, is gutsy in its brutality, but has to
be for the story to work. Franciosa reminds us once again how
effective he could be in carrying the lead in a feature length film
and is Argento's last major work where he seems to be in total
control.
This
new Arrow UK Region B Import Blu-ray is not only loaded with extras,
but is one of the only Blu-rays issued of the film (outside of German
and french versions) issued so far, which means no U.S. version yet.
Arrow has once again gone all out to make sure their copy is as
strong as possible. Fans will be pleased.
Extras
in the steelbook packaging with a DVD version added, a collector's
booklet featuring writing on the film by Alan Jones, author of
Profondo
Argento,
an interview with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli and an appreciation
of the film by director Peter Strickland, illustrated with original
posters & lobby cards, while the Blu-ray adds Feature Length
Audio Commentary with authors and critics Kim Newman and Alan Jones,
a second Feature Length Audio Commentary with Argento expert Thomas
Rostock, Introduction by star Daria Nicolodi, The
Unsane World of Tenebrae:
An interview with director Dario Argento, the Original
Theatrical Trailer, Screaming
Queen!;Daria
Nicolodi remembers Tenebrae, A
Composition for Carnage;
Composer Claudio Simonetti on Tenebrae,
the band Goblin: 'Tenebrae'
and 'Phenomena'
Live from the Glasgow Arches and a brand new interview with Maitland
McDonagh, author of the book Broken
Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams Of Dario Argento.
Mario
Bava's The
Whip & The Body
(1963) is a visually compelling early horror success for the
filmmaker who had already made films here and there, but was now
starting to form a look, feel and style in the genre that made
himself (and eventually Dario Argento) the premiere Italian directors
thereof. The script may have some logic issues, but the daring tale
of a woman (Daliah Lavi) haunted by the abusive relationship she had
with a newly dead man (Christopher Lee, whose voice is not used on
either the Italian or English soundtracks!) which literally included
beatings with a whip, taking place in the later 19th
Century countryside and at a dark castle. She starts seeing him
alive again after his death, but is he back, is she imagining him or
is it something else?
This
was very racy for its time, so sad and ugly that the film was either
cut down or outright banned upon first release and was simply
entitled What
in its odd U.S. release. 50 years later, the film is still daring
and intelligent, a mature work, with a fine supporting cast and fine
look despite what was (and still would be) a very low budget. Seeing
it on Blu-ray uncut allows us to experience the film the way intended
after so many secondary versions from bad and shortened transfers,
but it makes more of a difference than you might expect. Some
viewers should just expect some still-heady territory.
Extras
include Original theatrical Trailers for this and other Bava films,
plus a terrific feature length audio commentary by film scholar and
Bava scholar Tim Lucas that is a must-hear after seeing the film.
For more Bava, try our coverage of Blood
& Black Lace
(1963) at this link for the most recent 2-DVD edition with link to
earlier version with different cover:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10504/Blood+&+Black+Lace
...plus
Danger:
Diabolik
(1967) in its restored DVD release:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2319/Danger:+Diabolik+(Paramount+DVD
The
three Blu-rays here are all of older films, but they look pretty
impressive for the most part despite the 1080p digital High
Definition image transfers sometimes showing the age of the materials
used, they all also do not look tampered with or changed in a way to
make them look fake or counter to their original 35mm releases. Whip
has a
1.78 X 1 HD presentation and is the uncut version of the film, which
was originally issued in
dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor prints. There are a few minor
flaws that hold I back, but I would prefer it that way versus poor
corrections.
It
ranks second place behind the 2.35 X 1 HD transfer (shot in
Techniscope) on City
and the 1.85 X 1 image on Tenebrae
(lensed by Argento's Suspiria
(reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) Director of Photography
Luciano Tovoli) tie for first place for best playback on the list.
Both Italian productions, by this time, the stocks were getting
faster, but definition could be weak more often than you might like
and the color not as rich as earlier Italian films in the genre.
Still, there are more than a few shots from each that look as good as
they ever could have in 35mm and that is a big plus. It should be
added that Tenebrae
was shot to be a bit lighter (costumes and production design
included) so we will give it a bit of leeway in its flaws and soft
look.
As
for the DVDs, the anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image on Berberian
(combining Super 16mm film and HD shooting) and the anamorphically
enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Demon
Seed
(shot in real 35mm anamorphic Panavision by Bill Butler (Jaws,
Grease,
Damien:
Omen II,
Capricorn
One))
tie for the best DVD presentations and third place on the list.
Berberian
does its best to recreate the look of 1970s film when it needs to,
but also seems like a product of now, which does not hurt it. Demon
Seed
is just a consistently underrated scope film visually that was issued
in MetroColor and has a good print here. Wow, I wish this were a
Blu-ray!
That
leave the disappointments in the anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1
image on Silent
Night
that claims to come from the original camera materials, but that
print (or prints) could use some work, plus the anamorphically
enhanced 2.0 X 1 image on Sanitarium
which has been stylized down and darkened too much for its own good.
Nothing can be done about that.
As
for sound, though Tenebrae
only offers PCM 2.0 English and Italian Mono (versus the Dolby TrueHD
5.1 upgrade the Umbrella Suspiria
Blu-ray had), it is the best sound on the list by default (favoring
the Italian by a sliver if that), which happens to be the soundtrack
type and split on the other two Blu-rays for Whip
(both have issues and show their age) and City
(the Italian has some more audio detail), but City
ranks third place overall and Whip is very average joining most of
the DVD releases on this list.
Berberian
offers a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that is the second-place sonic
winner on this list for its advanced use of sound throughout, which
means a lossless version could have been the champ had we heard the
Blu-ray edition. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on Sanitarium
should
have been as wide-ranging, but it is too much in the center channel
and the mix is on the compressed side throughout. That leaves the
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Silent
Night
sounding as worn as it looks, but it was also low budget, yet some
cleaning up would have helped, while the same mix on Demon
Seed
should have ben decent, but has its own compression issues and with
the CD soundtrack sounding so exceptionally good, a Stereo or 5.1
upgrade is a must for any Blu-ray HD upgrade.
As
noted above, you can order the Tenebrae
import Blu-ray from Arrow UK at this link:
http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/
...and
to order Demon
Seed
DVD from the Warner Archive, go to this link for it and many more
great web-exclusive
releases at:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20
-
Nicholas
Sheffo
