Hellraiser
(1987) + Hellbound:
Hellraiser II
(1988) + Hellraiser
III: Hell On Earth
(1996)/Videodrome
(1983/4-disc Limited Edition with DVDs/Arrow U.K. Region B
Blu-rays)/Vampyros
Lesbos
(1971/Umbrella Region Free Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B-/B-/B-/B/B- Extras: B/B/B (box set: B+)/B+/C
Films: C-/C-/D/B-/C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Hellraiser
and Videodrome
Import Blu-rays are now only available from our friends at Arrow
U.K., can only play on Blu-ray players that can handle the Region B
format and the Videodrome
4-disc version is limited
to only 3,000 copies & can be ordered while supplies last (is
also Region B only), while the Vampyros
Lesbos
import Blu-ray is region free, can play on all Blu-ray players and is
available in this version only from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment in Australia. All can be ordered from the links below.
Here
is new set of horror and thriller films of note in upgraded (and
additionally) upgraded Blu-ray editions you should definitely know
about...
We
have reviewed 4 of the five feature films here, but our readers need
to know about upgrades and variances, especially with the Hellraiser
films being constantly issued in unfortunately substandard editions.
We include clips with the previously reviewed and add new information
on, then conclude with our usual technical round-up.
Hellraiser
(1987) + Hellbound:
Hellraiser II
(1988)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11251/Dark+Age+(1987/Umbrella+PAL+Regi
Hellraiser
III: Hell On Earth
(1996)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12218/Hellraiser+III:+Hell+On+Earth+(1996
Arrow
U.K. (and only in the U.K in this case, unfortunately) are using new
transfers that finally do justice to how the films are supposed to
look, i.e. a fresh film print versus the disasters we have
encountered over the years. This also means the sound is better, but
there are also extras where Arrow is known for excelling.
While
the import of the first film above had no extras, the Anchor Bay
Blu-ray and DVD editions had the same extras, including stills
(including posters & advertising) sections, storyboard gallery,
TV spots, trailers, five featurettes and an audio commentary by
Barker & lead actress Ashley Laurence moderated by Peter Atkins.
Arrow pretty much has all that, then adds a BD-ROM of the script,
original EPK (electronic press kit; something new at thew time) for
the film and a second, a vintage solo-only Barker audio commentary.
The
second film's Blu-ray offered a Behind The Scenes montage, four
featurettes, Theatrical Trailers, TV Spots and feature length audio
commentary track by Director Tony Randel, Writer Peter Atkins and
Co-Star Ashley Laurence. New extras on top of those include
Leviathan:
The Story of Hellbound: Hellraiser II,
a brand new version of the definitive documentary on the making of
Hellbound, featuring interviews with key cast and crew members,
Surgeon
Scene
offers the home video world premiere of this legendary, never
before-seen
excised sequence from Hellbound, sourced from a VHS workprint, rare
and unseen storyboards and Draft Screenplay in the BD-ROM format.
Extras
for the third film's Blu-ray included a 14-minutes long Bradley
interview featurette Under
The Skin,
14 more minutes interview with Hickox called Raising
Hell On Earth,
a Making Of featurette with Barker & Bradley and the Original
Theatrical Trailer. Arrow retains all that and then adds an
Alternate
Unrated Version (at 97 minutes), a brand new audio commentary with
writer Peter Atkins, vintage audio commentary with director Anthony
Hickox and Doug Bradley, a brand new Time
with Terri interview with actress Paula Marshall, never-before-seen
Hellraiser
III SFX
dailies, an Image Gallery and Hellraiser
III
comic book adaptation in the 'disc gallery'.
Arrow
U.K. will sell these separately during 2016, but the trilogy has been
issued first as The
Scarlet Box
and it is quickly becoming a fan favorite, even over its U.S.
counterpart that seems to not be quite as good. Because it has a
Limited Edition bonus disc and and exclusive 200-page hardback book
with new writing from Clive Barker archivists Phil and Sarah Stokes
for starters, you might want to consider it, so here are the
specifics...
You
also get a 20-page booklet featuring never-before-seen original
Hellraiser concept art, Limited Edition packaging with new artwork
from Gilles Vranckx, a set of 5 exclusive art cards and fold-out
reversible poster. Then the limited edition Clive Barker Legacy disc
offers the Clive
Barker short films Salome
and The
Forbidden
(both reviewed elsewhere on this site in a U.S. DVD release), Blood
& Beyond: The Literary Works of Clive Barker
as horror author David Gatward provides a tour through Barker's
written work, from the first Books
of Blood
to the recent The
Scarlet Gospels,
Hellraiser:
Evolutions
- a brand new documentary looking at the evolution of the hit horror
franchise and its enduring legacy, featuring interviews with Scott
Derrickson (director, Hellraiser:
Inferno),
Rick Bota (director, Hellraiser:
Hellseeker,
Deader
and Hellworld),
Stuart Gordon (director, Re-Animator,
From
Beyond)
& others and The
Hellraiser Chronicles: A Question of Faith
short film.
Of
course, if that does not sell you on the box set, there is the
Damnation
Games
Limited Edition, 200-page hardback book with new writing on
Hellraiser
and the Barker universe from Barker archivists Phil and Sarah Stokes
including chapters looking at Barker's early work, the genesis and
production of the first 3 films in the Hellraiser
series and much more, all illustrated with stills and rare material
from the Barker archive. That may seem like a for-fans-only fest,
but a collectible one of library calibre worth considering versus
just getting the 3 films on their own. Now, you can decide.
David
Cronenberg's Videodrome
(1983) is a film we have somehow missed over the years, the
cautionary tale that was too weird to be believed but came true to a
great extent may never have totally worked for me, but I thought
Cronenberg was onto something in he creepy tale of a secret TV
station (mind you this is before cable, satellite, Internet, wireless
TV access; all during the early years of home video) about a secret
TV channel people tune into to enjoy what we would now refer to as
torture porn. The station turns out to be secretly hidden in
Pittsburgh (understandable even then if you've seen some of their bad
programming, some of which is sadly still being produced today
despite some quality productions), likely picked for its historical
significance to broadcasting history (the first public television
station, the first commercial radio station, home of Mr.
Rogers' Neighborhood
and a place (the town of Wilkinsburg) where the first analog radio
transmitter that made TV and radio possible for decades was invented
there) adds up.
Also
however, by the time the film arrived, the Steel City and similar
industrial town across the U.S. (including historic Braddock, PA)
were having their industrial infrastructures dismantled for economic
and political reasons, casting a new darkness on things that fit the
film perfectly. James Woods shows up in an interesting performance
and Debbie Harry (the lead singer of Blondie, the positive, New Wave
Rock band whose great string of hits were sadly coming to an end at
the time) is also cast in an interesting way, so the film is very
well thought out. As well, the natural and unnatural (organic items
and people) meld with various technologies (videotapes, S&M
devices, TV, other tech gear) in the as-usual unexpected, wacky and
bizarre ways Cronenberg has shown us since his earliest films rightly
fighting against the stereotype of man & machine always
connecting in some perfect, almost 'holy' way that was a fraud and
fantasy form the start.
Videotapes
play a significant role here and though pretty obsolete, it would not
matter if it was VHS, U-Matic, Beta, old 12-inch LaserDiscs, DVDs or
Blu-rays... the idea is that it is a palpable (read pre-streaming,
downloading, cyber, etc.) widget that signifies the disastrous
connection between humans and dehumanizing technology at its worst.
The film was ahead of its time, even if it did not always work, too
abstract the way Disney's Tron
(1982) was at the time since cyber and post-modern concepts were too
abstract or unreal to be believed, yet it is a film, people still
talk about and that is why it deserves the discussion and extended
special editions it has. It is a key Cronenberg film and daring,
ambitious work for all, no matter what.
Thus
you can get the regular Blu-ray, or go for the four disc set, which
includes a Blu-ray and DVD of the film in a restored high-definition
digital transfer of the unrated version, approved by director David
Cronenberg and cinematographer Mark Irwin, feature-length audio
commentary by Tim Lucas, the on-set correspondent for Cinefantastique
Magazine
and author of Videodrome:
Studies in the Horror Film,
David
Cronenberg and the Cinema of the Extreme
documentary programme featuring interviews with Cronenberg, George A.
Romero and Alex Cox on Cronenberg's cinema, censorship and the horror
genre, documentary Forging the New Flesh by filmmaker Michael Lennick
on Videodrome's
video and prosthetic make up effects, brand new interview
Videoblivion with cinematographer Mark Irwin, brand new interview
with producer Pierre David, AKA
Jack Martin
with Dennis Etchison, author of novelizations of Videodrome,
Carpenter's Halloween,
Halloween
II
and III
and The
Fog,
discusses Videodrome
and his observations of Cronenberg's script, the complete uncensored
Samurai
Dreams
footage with additional Videodrome
broadcasts with optional commentary by Michael Lennick, featurettes
Helmet
Test
and Betamax
by Michael Lennick on effects featured in the film, Camera
(2000) Cronenberg's short film starring Videodrome's
Les Carlson, Fear
on Film:
a round table discussion from 1982 with Cronenberg, John Carpenter,
John Landis and Mick Garris, Promotional featurette with
behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Cronenberg, James
Woods, Deborah Harry and Rick Baker and an original theatrical
trailer.
If
that's not enough for you, the third Blu-ray disc and fourth DVD disc
cover Cronenberg's early work including Transfer
(1966) & From
The Drain
(1967), Cronenberg's previously unavailable short films newly
restored by the Toronto International Film Festival [7 & 12
minutes respectively], Stereo
(1969) & Crimes
Of The Future
(1970): Cronenberg's early amateur feature films, shot in and around
his university campus newly restored from original lab elements [65 &
70 minutes respectively] and featurette Transfer
the Future
as author and critic Kim Newman discusses Cronenberg's early works.
To
top it all off, you get a Limited Edition illustrated 100-page
hardback Collector's Book featuring new writing including Justin
Humphreys on Videodrome
in a modern context, Brad Stevens on the alternate versions, Caelum
Vatnsdal on Cronenberg's early works, extracts from Cronenberg
on Cronenberg
featuring Cronenberg's reminiscences of getting started in filmmaking
and shooting all the films in this collection, plus more, illustrated
with original archive stills.
That's
enough to drive any Cronenberg fan to get a multi-region Blu-ray
player and is easily one of the best Blu-ray releases by any company
of any film in the last few years on the international Blu-ray
market. Bravo Arrow U.K.!!!
Vampyros
Lesbos
(1971) is one we just covered in a 2-disc set from Severin at this
link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13517/Vampyros+Lesbos+(1971/Severin+Blu
That
means we lose the DVD
that contains Las
Vampiras,
the alternate Spanish Language VHS Version With Optional English
Subtitles as well as the Alternate
German Opening Title Sequence,
Dracula's
Heiress - German Trailer
and The
Delirious Cinema Of Jess Franco featurette the Severin edition had,
but we still get Vampyros
Jesus: Interview featurette with Director Jess Franco,
Sublime
Soledad: Interview with Soledad Miranda Historian Amy Brown,
Stephen
Thrower on Vampyros Lesbos: Interview with Author of 'Murderous
Passions'
and Jess
Is Yoda Clip.
As
for the film, the gals look good and the title amusingly provocative,
but I thought the film lacked erotic effect and had many missed
opportunities. Now you can see for yourself, but don't go watching
it with high hopes.
Turns
out all the releases here are from upgraded new 2K remasters
supervised by the director and director of photography of each film
for the most part and look really good, though the 1080p 1.85 X 1
digital High Definition image transfer on all three Hellraiser films
can show the age of the materials used, the upgrading here was highly
necessary and this is much more exactly what they should have looked
like to begin with in the mode with how they looked in their original
releases. Videodrome
has a slight edge over them if not perfect, but also is a big
improvement over the too often muddy versions (including edited
atrocities) we have seen over the decades. Criterion likely used the
same master for their Blu-ray version.
The
1080p 1.66 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Vampyros
can show the age of the materials used, but is the same solid,
colorful and pretty consistent transfer my fellow writer liked even
more than I did from the Severin U.S. Blu-ray edition. I doubt this
could look much better and I give it points for some of its style, so
some scenes that look soft are supposed to.
As
for sound, Videodrome
and the first 2 Hellraisers
have been nicely upgraded to DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless
mixes, but the Hellraisers
show more harmonic distortion due to its budget limits. Arrow did
not push their luck on Hellraiser
III,
only offering a lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo track,
which is still better than its previous sonic versions. The other
films have 2.0 alternate tracks for grandfathered systems and the
Vampyros
Blu-ray has the same lossless monophonic track as the Severin U.S.
Blu-ray. I hear no difference.
You
can order the upgraded Hellraiser
trilogy in several editions or expanded Videodrome
(while supplies last) all having have only Region B Blu-ray capacity
by going to this link for more information to order...
http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/
...and
to order the
Umbrella import Blu-ray of Vampyros
Lesbos,
go to this link for it and many other goodies at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo