Code
Red (2013/E1 DVD)/Dead
Ringers
(1988/Cronenberg)/King
Kong (1976/Umbrella
Import Blu-rays)/Reel
Zombies (2008/Synapse
DVD)/They Live
(1988/Universal/Umbrella Region B Import Blu-ray)
Picture:
C+/B-/B/C/B Sound: C/B-/B/C/B Extras: C/D/C/C/C Films:
C/C/B-/C+/B+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Dead
Ringers,
King
Kong
and They
Live
Region B Import Blu-rays are only available from our friends at
Umbrella Entertainment, will only play on machines that can handle
that version of the format (Dead
is 1080/50i, so only most non-U.S. HDTVs can handle that one) and can
be ordered from the link below.
Now
for a new cycle of Horror titles including two zombies titles that
actually were watchable and interesting for a change and three
enduring genre entries on import Blu-rays, two of which are still not
yet available in the U.S.!
Valeri
Milev's Code Red
(2013) offers the supposition that Joseph Stalin was working on
creating a biological superman, but instead failed, yet a result long
after the USSR has fallen are... zombies! Yes, post-communist
zombies. The script had some potential and a few things look
promising early, but that starts to disintegrate (no pun intended)
and this becomes another gorefest. The plot also starts trivializing
WWII and genocide, intentionally or not, as it rolls on and its
credibility fades away.
This
takes place in Bulgaria with a cast of unknowns which could have
worked to its advantage. At least it started well and they came up
with some nice camera shots at times. Too bad they could not
capitalize on things. Extras include WWII Uncut piece,
Behind-The-Scenes & Outtakes section and a Making Of featurette.
David
Cronenberg's Dead Ringers
(1988) has Jeremy Irons as twin brothers and gynecologists who become
involved in a bizarre relationship with sexy Genevieve Bujold, who is
having trouble getting pregnant. For her, things go from problematic
to weird in what I always found to be one of the director's weaker
works. I did not like it much at the time, found it unmemorable at
the time and revisiting it, am still not impressed and found no major
surprises. It has its following, but it never worked for me and I
can still see problems with it, but that would give away spoilers to
deal with them here, so I'll pass explaining.
However,
you should see the film once just to see if you like it or not and to
see a Cronenberg film people still talk about enough. There are no
extras.
John
Guillerman's King Kong
(1976) dared to remake the massively successful 1933 RKO classic and
I remember some critics having their knives out for it and even a
then-unknown Jessica Lange before becoming very respected in the film
that introduced
her. The new script added critique of the oil business, boasted of
new special effects (months before Star
Wars would open) and had
Kong climb the World Trade Center Towers!
Now
a curio, it managed to be a big hit (especially because it beat Star
Wars to theaters or it
might not have done as well) and Producer Dino De Laurentiis tried to
pass off Rick Baker's Kong outfit as Carlo Rambaldi's animatronic
Kong. Oh, the hype. Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin were the stars,
John Randolph, Julius Harris, John Agar, an uncredited Joe Piscopo
and Rene Auberjonois. Issued by Paramount in the U.S., Umbrella has
beat them in issuing the film on Blu-ray. Thanks to promotion by
Paramount and others worldwide, the film was a big hit and looking at
it again, John Barry's music score helped. Timing helped and more of
it holds up than you might think, even when it is funny,
intentionally and unintentionally.
Extras
include 14 Minutes of Deleted Scenes, the Original Theatrical Trailer
and a featurette Making
Kong (22 Minutes).
Warner
has issued the 1933 original Kong on Blu-ray, but rumors are they
might do a further upgrade (for 4K?). For more on this 1976 film
version and John Barry's score, try this link for the CD soundtrack
using the same poster art as this Blu-ray:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2421/King+Kong+(1976+CD+Soundtrack
For
more on Peter Jackson's underrated 2005 remake of the film, try this
link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8110/King+Kong+(2005/Universal+Blu-ray
Michael
Masters & David J. Francis' Reel
Zombies (2008) is about a
group of people who are trying to make a zombie movie when things get
serious and they are attacked by the real thing; something we have
seen often before, but what separates this one is that the actors
really seem like a serious group of mature young adults trying to
seriously make a feature film, which you never see in any genre at
any time in hardly any dramatic capacity anymore. That alone made
this far more interesting than similar releases, including Romero's
Diary Of The Dead
(2007) meaning they were onto something good and also came up short.
Extras
include 40 Minutes of Deleted Scenes & Outtakes, the
Original Theatrical Trailer and a feature-length audio commentary
track with the co-directors and Producer Stephen Papadimitriou.
Finally
we get to John Carpenter's They
Live (1988), his last
great movie to date, one of his best and most under appreciated.
Roddy Piper plays a homeless laborer who sees an increasing gap
between those with money and power and those without. He is puzzled
by the worsening of it all when one day, he puts on a pair of what
seem to be innocent sunglasses, but they allow him to see subliminal
messages brainwashing people to be mindless consumers and that even
wilder, some people are really strange creatures in disguise. These
semi-skulled beings turn out to be alines form outer space who have
struck a deal with the power elite to suppress the vulnerable and
consume endlessly.
The
screenplay and directing manage to combine satire, action, suspense,
science fiction, terror and social commentary in a film that is
constantly effective, wild and impressive. Meg Foster and Keith
David are among the fine supporting cast as the film just becomes
creepier and creepier, a film that is more relevant today than when
it was first released. An unrecognized genre classic and then some,
its release on Blu-ray in various regions worldwide is a very welcome
development.
Extras
are not as extensive as the U.S. Scream Factory Blu-ray or DVD sets,
but include the Original Theatrical Trailer and exclusive 2013
interview with Carpenter only on this version of the release.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on Kong
and Live are the best-looking releases on the list, and though
the transfers can show the age of the materials used and we get some
minor transfer issues, but they look far superior to all transfers of
all previous releases of the film and have consistent color
reproduction. In addition, they are both shot in real anamorphic
35mm Panavision and meant to be seen on a big screen still holding up
well in both cases after all these years. The 1080/50i 1.77 X 1
digital High Definition image transfer on Dead is a little
softer being interlaced and though the film is from the same year as
Live and has a decent print to work with, the results are
simply not up to what they should be and this just misses looking as
good as it did when I saw it on 35mm film. Both DVDs are here in
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1
image transfers that tend to be softer, but the location video
(sometimes made to look raw on purpose) on Zombies
is the poorest performer on the list.
All
three Blu-rays offer DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes,
save Dead
with a DTS-MA 2.0 Stereo mix that decodes decently enough in Pro
Logic mode and sounds a little better than the film did in its
Criterion U.S. DVD edition and was issued in old Dolby A-type analog
stereo like Live
was, but Live
somehow sounds better, cleaner, clearer and in fairness to Cronenberg
is a generally louder film. That lent it much more easily to a 5.1
upgrade. The Kong
remake was actually issued in a 6-track magnetic stereo 70mm blow-up
with some .1-like bass effects, but they are only used to a limited
extent and make the other audio sound a bit weak. Fortunately, the
John Barry score fills in some of the difference and recreates the
audio that used more of the sound on screen than in surrounds.
As
for the DVDs, Code
offers a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 while Zombies
offers a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix, but their sound is very
low and average, though Code
seems to have some mixing issues, so be careful with volume levels
and switching when playing either one.
You
can order
any or all of the
Umbrella Region B import Blu-rays at this link:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
