Cemetery
Without Crosses (1969 aka
The Rope & The
Colt)/Stray
Cat Rock: The Collection
(1970 - 71/MVD Visual/Arrow Blu-rays w/DVDs)/Valerie
& Her Week Of Wonders
(1970/Criterion Blu-ray)
Picture:
B-/B/B Sound: C+/B-/B- Extras: C+/C+/B- Films: C+
Here's
a selection of genre films with difference and variance that may not
always work, but have their moments...
Robert
Hossein's Cemetery
Without Crosses
(1969 aka The
Rope & The Colt)
is an entry into that cycle of the Western before the humor started
to kick in, about a woman (Michele Mercier) who wants revenge on the
gang who killed her husband for no good reason. Though this could
have (and should have) turned into a 'black widow revenge' thriller,
it is more of a drama with a bit of character study as she reaches
out to an old lover/gunslinger (played by the director) to make them
pay.
Though
I thought it was uneven, it has its moments and at least attempted to
do something most of the films in the cycle had not. Unfortunately,
there are a few missed opportunities, but all fans need to put it on
there must-see list and it is worth a look for the good things that
work and work well.
Extras
include an illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by
Ginette Vincendeau & Rob Young and a reversible sleeve featuring
original and newly commissioned artwork by James Flames, while the
Blu-ray adds Remembering Sergio
-
an all-new interview with star and director Robert Hossein, taped
exclusively for this release, French television news report on the
film's making, containing interviews with Hossein, and actors Michèle
Mercier and Serge Marquand, an archive interview with Hossein and
original theatrical trailers.
Stray
Cat Rock: The Collection
(1970 - 71) offers
five films about Japanese teens who want to drink, party, drive, run
around naked, have sex, steal, fight, use drugs, get down to Rock
music and get crazy in a series from the Nikkastu Studios that still
resonates to this day as their AIP counterparts of counterculture
craziness does in the U.S. and has Lady Snowblood and Blind Woman's
Curse star Meiko Kaji heading the cast every time.
The
films
include a girl gang taking on an established Yakuza gang over fixed
boxing matches entitled Delinquent
Girl Boss,
robbery and even kidnapping against a religious group makes things a
bit crazier in Wild
Jumbo,
then we have the original (much imitated) and legendary Sex
Hunter
with gangs, violence and racism in the mix. Machine
Animal
has rival gangs getting crazy over LSD and Beat
'71
concludes the madness has our heroine is falsely sent to prison by
her boyfriend's vindictive father, but her counterculture friends
will fix everything and reunited, they got a score to settle.
These
are amusing, energetic time capsules too few have seen in recent
decades, so it is great they are finally hitting Blu-ray, et al, but
they are also formulaic. Because they have good directing, a good
cast, nice locales and are as well made as they are, they don't
remain mere B-movies and they are all worth a look.
Extras
for this Limited
Edition Blu-ray (only 3,000 copies are being made) include an
illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by
the great Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp and regular DVD
versions of the films, while the discs add 2 Original Trailers for
five of the films, an interview with Yasuharu Hasebe director of
Delinquent
Girl Boss,
Sex
Hunter
and Machine
Animal,
an Interview with actor Tatsuya Fuji, star of all five films and an
interview with actor Yoshio Harada, co-star of Beat
'71.
Jaromil
Jires' Valerie
& Her Week Of Wonders
(1970) is
a mix of fantasy, abstract storytelling, the fantasy genre, horror
genre and touches of erotica in a pretty avant garde film with
Jaroslava
Schallerova in the title role; innocent but able bodied enough to
almost handle the madness (subtle and explicit) about to visit upon
her and all around her. This will remind some also of Holy Mountain
and El Topo by Jodorowsky, if with less nudity, but I felt this was a
mixed experience like those films despite the good directing, cast
and how well the film was shot. It looks good here and those
interested should see it in this format to really appreciate what he
is doing here. I also liked the short films (especially Hall
Of Lost Footsteps)
in the extras, so this is a great introduction to the director's
talents.
Extras
include a thick, folded paper pullout on the film including
informative text and an essay by Jana Prikryl, while the Blu-ray adds
a 2007 alternative ambient Rock music soundtrack, a featurette with
the makers of that music, Czech film scholar Peter Hames on the film,
separate 2006 on-camera interviews with actors Jaroslava Schallerova
& Jan Klusak and three earlier short film by Director Jires:
Uncle
(1959), Footprints
and The
Hall Of Lost Footsteps
(both 1960).
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on Crosses
has some expected grain, roughness and slight damage on the element
copies used to save it, but there's little room for improvement
otherwise in this 2K scan with mostly consistent color. The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition images on the five Cat
films may have slight variances between them in their scope aspect
ratio presentations, but the Fujicolor (some of the best examples
ever on video) in Nikkatsuscope on all the films have some great demo
shots throughout, so fans of filmmaking and this series in particular
are in for a very pleasant surprise. The 1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High
Definition image transfer on Valerie
can sometimes show the age of the materials used, but this is an
amazing 4K transfer off of the original 35mm camera negative. There
is a slightly diffused look in many shots, but one can clearly see it
is the way the film was lensed, plus color is often impressive.
The
lossless PCM 1.0 Mono across all the Blu-rays offer sound for the
films that sound as good as they are ever going to, all restored,
though Crosses
is a little more brittle and varied beyond Arrow's control. The
Italian track has detail and clarity on certain sound elements the
English track does not have and vice versa. Too bad a third combined
track was not here for fun. The DVD versions of the Arrow releases
offer lossy Dolby Digital Mono.
-
Nicholas Sheffo