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Category:    Home > Reviews > Thriller > Murder > Erotic > Exploitation > Medical > Drama > Cable TV > Spy > Espionage > Action > Soap Opera > Flesh and Bullets (1985 aka Wife Contract/Vinegar Syndrome DVD)/The Knick: The Complete First Season (2013/Cinemax/HBO Blu-ray Set)/Person Of Interest: The Complete Fourth Season (2014 - 2015/Warner D

Flesh and Bullets (1985 aka Wife Contract/Vinegar Syndrome DVD)/The Knick: The Complete First Season (2013/Cinemax/HBO Blu-ray Set)/Person Of Interest: The Complete Fourth Season (2014 - 2015/Warner DVD Set)/The Royals: The Complete First Season (2015/Lionsgate DVD)/Sometimes Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things (1971/Vinegar Syndrome DVD)


Picture: C+/B/C+/C+/C Sound: C/B/C+/C+/C Extras: C/C+/C+/C/B- Main Programs: C/C+/C+/C+/C+



These somewhat diverse thrillers and dark dramas from two different mediums have more in common than you might think...



Carlos Tobalina's Flesh and Bullets (1985) is a sexed-up version of a watered-down version of Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train, which at this time was about to be ripped off with more commercial success as Throw Mama From The Train, but this version adds casual nudity, lame sex and gay baiting to the end when it has more than worn itself out. The unknowns are backed by too-short cameos by Cesar Romero, Yvonne DeCarlo, Cornel Wilde, Aldo Ray and Robert Z'Dar, so it cannot have these names and not know what they are ripping off.


The result is surprisingly dull and forgettable, in part because it does not have the guts or courage of its convictions


An Original Theatrical Trailer and alternate VHS version with a different edit called Wife Contract are the extras.



The Knick: The Complete First Season (2013) sounds like it could be another jail drama, but instead, Clive Owen stars as a doctor/surgeon in the early years of medicine circa 1900 at New York's Knickerbocker Hospital. After a surgery that fails, a lead doctor takes his life, leaving one other well-known (Owen) to continue to push for innovation and take risks to get to the next breakthroughs. Stephen Soderbergh created the show that has some good moments, but it also has its predictability more often that it ought to. Fortunately, Cinemax gave it a good budget and the show could pick up its pace next season, so we'll see. If interested, you should really see it, plus Owen is always good. Michael Angarano is among the supporting cast.


Extras include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes capable devices, while the Blu-ray adds audio commentary tracks and Episode Pop Ups to give you more on the show.



Person Of Interest: The Complete Fourth Season (2014 - 2015) was created by Jonathan Nolan and has had some good ideas going for it, but I never felt like it brought them together and by this season, it is a hit but not a very exciting one. They keep trying, have Jim Caviezel (one of the only reasons I can see why this could be a lasting hit) leading the cast and are dealing with new technology in odd ways to see where they'll go to make or break their missions. You really have to start at the beginning on this show and it reminded me of The Mentalist in pace and attitude in good ways, yet has some of its issues. Fans should just about still like it though, but how much longer this can go on is a big question.


Extras include three Behind The Scenes/Making Of featurettes, a Gag Reel and 2014 Comic Con panel with the cast and makers of the show.



The Royals: The Complete First Season (2015) is a new cable soap opera set in British Royal circles that imagines (problematically) that the Punk Rock ethos has entered the world of the elite when the opposite is ever true. Elizabeth Hurley leads a cast that 'reimagines' (that actually applies for once) the whole world it represents by mixing as many highly unlikely scenarios as possible for best effect. However, that makes it more and more unrealistic to the point it might as well not be British at all.


Joan Collins makes a nice surprise appearance, but that just reminds us how much better Dynasty was; the best nighttime soap ever (yes, even over Empire!) so this show might have some appeal, but I found it too lite and was not impressed.


Extras include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes capable devices, while the DVD adds three Behind The Scenes/Making Of featurettes.



Thomas Casey's Sometimes Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things (1971) is a wacky, sometimes amusing B-movie about the title character, a man who kills, then goes back and dresses like the title character. Two men are running from the law and guess who one happens to have as his auntie? They visit 'her' but only more murder and madness ensue. When a gal starts taking a liking to the visiting 'nephew', guess who violently objects.


Add gay images, murder and any other exploitation they could throw in, the film wants to outdo Hitchcock's Psycho, et al, but its just too all over the place and unintentionally funny for that. For what it is, it is so wacky, you have to see it just once, especially if you are a genre film fan. Of course, it also wants to get the Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? audience and though it is not starring two well-known older actresses, it could be counted as part of that cycle too in its own wacky way.


The only extras is a feature length audio commentary track by David DeCoteau and Nathaniel Thompson on the film's history, plus its Gay & Camp sides and how it was part of a cycle of film production in the 1970s the state has not seen since.



Of course, the 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Knick is going to look the best here being the only Blu-ray listed, but even if the older films were restored and new TV was all on Blu-ray, the show is well shot, edited, not sloppy or silly and has fine period production design, set decoration and costumes. The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the Person and Royals DVDs still look good, but lean on slicker editing that can get a little played out. Still, they are not bad. The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image have been painstakingly restored and though both can show the age of the materials used, color looks really good. However, Martha just has a few more faded shots than I would have liked, but for an orphan film like it and its subject matter, that is too be expected despite an otherwise solid 2K transfer.


Knick has the best sound too with its DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix well recorded and mixed throughout, though the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the Person and Royals DVDs still have their share of active moments, even when a few are slicker than they need to be. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Flesh and Martha are the poorest performers, but still manage to sound good at times for their age. Location recording for the low-budget productions is a factor as well that no lossless sound could fix.



- Nicholas Sheffo


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