Dog
Eat Dog (2015/RLJ
Blu-ray)/Gran Bollito
(1977/P.A.C.)/Pretty
Poison (1968/Fox/Twilight
Time Limited Edition Blu-rays)
Picture:
B Sound: B/C+/B- Extras: C+/B-/B Films: C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Gran
Bollito
and Pretty
Poison
Blu-rays are now only available from our friends at Twilight Time,
are limited to only 3,000 copies each and can be ordered while
supplies last from the links below.
Up
next are three thrillers that veer into the Horror genre and can be
very ugly, graphic, bloody, gross and shocking, especially impressive
considering how old the two older entries are....
Paul
Schrader's Dog Eat Dog
(2015) is sure to be divisive just on a visual level (see below in
the tech picture section) alone, with the famous writer/director
doing more of a thriller than his usual dark drama and dark slice of
life look at the world. He is admittedly out of his element here,
but that results in some very odd moments, only heightened by the
co-casting of Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe as old criminal buddies
about to go on the loose again when they should know better, bringing
along a huge oaf of a friend (Christopher Matthew Cook) all at a dead
end... but not for long.
It
opens with very drug-addicted Dafoe trippin', living as it turns out
with a single mother who is a religious woman who loves too much and
has a daughter that is almost a clone of her. The film announces off
the bat it intends to be very darkly humorous. Cage is just getting
out of prison and they'll meet their potential henchman friend at a
strip club. Yep. They're real functional, law-abiding citizens
alright!
From
there, an already bloody and ugly film just gets more so as they're
hired to kidnap a head gangster's baby for ransom, but with easy
piles of money and drugs available, things do not go according to
plan and they're wanted by everyone who hates them.... which is a lot
of people.
Needless
to say in this unrated (read NC-17) film, nothing is held back and
this one is already dividing critics and fans of the participants.
Some love it, others despise it, but I think it is a little better
than you might think, even if there is no character to sympathize
with. Think, if these characters are the people they'd be in real
life, this is what you'd see. It may be dark and ugly, but funny or
explicit, it is at least honest and realistic enough that I think it
is better than it might get credit for. So only see it if you think
you can handle 83 intense minutes of being with these guys.
Mauro
Bolognini's Gran Bollito
(1977) can more than compete in the blood and gore department as this
Italian production has no less than Shelley Winters as a serial
killer who was a demented, sick mother stuck on her son and was also
a cannibal who made soap and food out of her victims. That she did
not get caught for so long is disturbing, but the script rightly
shows how the innocent and unsuspecting women of the town (purposely
played by male actors, including no less than Max Von Sydow, but all
the 'murdered women' return as men, reflecting the killer's mental
state) as some of her mistakes need to be covered up by more murder.
As
well, we get ironic, dark humor here too, but this all builds up
early in the film until the blood starts running. She also uses the
excuse that the people who are gone happened to be taking long
distance trips, which amazingly work for a while. However, despite
how good the cast is, the film has a few ups and downs that cut (no
pun intended) into its effectiveness and consistency. However, it is
nearly a Giallo and Winters gets to show another side of her
now-underrated talents. Again, this might not be for everyone, but
those interested should catch up with it as soon as possible and
while supplies of this limited edition release last.
Noel
Black's Pretty Poison
(1968) has Anthony Perkins doing his first U.S. film since
Hitchcock's Psycho
(1960) as he loves listening to radio broadcasts in Russian from the
Soviet Union and may be a C.I.A. spy, but he is suddenly distracted
and attracted to a just-underaged, sexy young woman (Tuesday Weld)
who goes for him. He has a regular factory job, but also a past
where he is on probation as he got into some legal trouble for bad
actions he had taken not too long ago. They make a slightly odd
pair, one her mother (Beverly Garland in a surprisingly dark turn)
does not like at all. Of course, something bad's got to give.
Again,
there are some great sequences here and the acting is solid, but the
script (from Stephen Geller's book adapted by the great Lorenzo
Semple Jr.) knew this kind of film had not been made much to that
point, so this 'bad kids on the run' tale takes its leisurely time,
which some will find appealing. I think it has its benefits, but
some aspects of this approach are just going to be dated no matter
what. Supporting performances by John Randolph, Dick O'Neill and a
young Ken Kercheval keep this interesting, as does the fact that it
apparently influenced David Lynch. You can see that in some scenes
with some characters, the kind Lynch would later draw out in his own
dark films about the suburbs and other unusual locales more sinister
than they first appear.
Fox
is licensing this to Twilight Time, so it is also a Limited Edition
Blu-ray, but fans of the participants, Lynch and this kind of
filmmaking might want to get this extras-loaded edition quickly
before they run out.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Dog is an
all-HD shoot and the results are Natural Born Killers and Fear
& Loathing In Las Vegas formless, but that is the visual
choice and approach of the makers, so this is the intent and
accurately so. You may not like the results, but that is how they
stand and I cannot flaw any faults here.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on Gran
and Poison (originally processed by Deluxe) can show the age
of the 35mm materials used, but these far superior transfers to all
previous releases of each respective film and even they have their
odd shots. Of course, color in both cases (Kodak 35mm negative color
film) look good and have been nicely restored and upgraded. Glad
both survived so well and sometimes color is particularly impressive
in some scenes.
As
for sound, the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Dog
is going to be the sonic winner here with its often wild, even wacky
mixing and presentation choices, but it is the best-sounding release
here. Of course, Gran
and Poison
were both originally theatrical optical monophonic releases, so you
can only expect so much and neither has been upgraded beyond that.
Thus, the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 1.0 Mono lossless mixes on both make us
wonder how good can the films sound all these decades later. Poison
is the second best, well recorded enough for how it was originally
intended and has some depth but Gran
is problematic as the film is dubbed and awkwardly, sometimes
painfully, plus Winters is dubbed by another actress (who gets a
special mention in the end credits) so expect the kind of flaws you'd
get from post-WWII Italian film sound and a little more.
Extras
on Gran
and Poison
include
illustrated booklets on each respective film including informative
text and yet another set of excellent, underrated essays by the great
film scholar Julie Kirgo, while all three Blu-rays offer feature
length audio commentary tracks. Schrader is solo again on Dog,
David Del Valle is joined by fellow film scholar Derek Botelho on
Gran
and Poison
sports two tracks: a new one by film scholars Nick Redman and Lem
Dobbs with the great Producer Lawrence Turman, the other an older
track by scholar Robert Fischer with Director Black. We recommend
the newer track first so you're up to date when listening to the
older one.
Dog
adds a Photo Gallery, BeyondFest Q&A with Schrader & Cage,
plus Cage has a brief video introduction. Gran
and Poison
both have Original
Theatrical Trailers, while Poison
also adds Deleted Scene Script & Commentary and an Isolated Music
Score with select Sound Effects that Gran
(in a rarity for twilight Time) is missing. Ironically, Mr. Redman
thought they would not have the music for Poison
either, but they managed to find it for the Blu-ray after he recorded
his commentary!
To
order Gran
Bollito
and Pretty
Poison
limited edition Blu-rays, buy them and other great exclusives while
supplies last at these links:
www.screenarchives.com
and
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo