Black
Belt Jones
(1974/Warner Archive Blu-ray)/Champions,
The
(1983/Eureka*)/Frankenstein
'80
(1972/Cauldron/*both MVD Blu-ray)/The
Mummy And The Curse Of The Jackal
(1969/Severin Blu-ray)/Repo
Man 4K
(1984/Universal/Criterion 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/DVD/Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/B/B/B-/B Sound: B-/B-/B/C+/B-
Extras: C-/C+/B/C+/B Films: C+/C+/C-/C+/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Black
Belt Jones
Blu-ray is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can
be ordered from the link below.
Next
up are a group of wacky, odd films, a couple of which are so bad,
they're good... or almost so...
Robert
Clouse's Black
Belt Jones
(1974) reunited the Enter
The Dragon
director (see the 4K review of the film elsewhere on this site) with
co-star Jim Kelly as a specialist asked by the police to bust a mob
operation, but the same organization wants the land his favorite
martial arts club sits on and when they go too far, he's ready for
action. When its owner is killed over it, his daughter (the great
Gloria Hendry of Live
And Let Die,
The
Landlord,
Across
110th Street,
Black
Caesar,
The
Savage Sisters
and much more) gets involved and they'll all be sorry!
This
film has made it on so many worst films of all time lists, it is sad
and it is not great, but I think it is more entertaining than
expected, even with its obvious humor, including blaxploitation
formula. The leads have fine chemistry, the fight scenes are a hoot,
so cheers to the stuntmen and the additional cast also has Scatman
Crothers, Earl Jolly Brown and Eric (Omega
Man)
Laneuville, which makes this more watchable than it should be.
Kelly's
first of many lead roles in the genre, he can move and is goes for it
like the rest of the cast and choppy screenplay be damned. Though
some moments are violent and others a bit stereotypical, it can be
fun and all look like they are having fun. I also like the scene
Hendry and Laneuville share, a quiet highlight of the film.
Definitely worth a look to see for yourself and look for Ted Lange
and Marla Gibbs in uncredited turns.
An
Original Theatrical Trailer is sadly the only extra.
Brandy
Yuen's The
Champions
(1983) is
an amusing, if sometimes obvious comedy about a young man (Biao Yuen)
who accidentally hurts some rich person and flees from town to hide,
but gets picked up for a soccer (aka football) team after someone
connected to it sees how good he is. Then they start having
success, but he gets treated like garbage, so he joins a rival
team... and does not stay hidden for long.
Though
predictable more than one would have liked, that was excepted,
especially after decades of seeing similar Hollywood product, but it
is still nicely done and everyone is good here with the right comic
timing and some chemistry. The change of scenery and country is a
plus, so those interested might want to give it a look, but do not
expect much otherwise.
Extras
include a brand new feature length audio commentary by East Asian
film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
Brand
new audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne
Venema
Brand
new featurette by CFK looking at the 1987 Hong Kong celebrity
football / soccer team that featured a number of Hong Kong legends
including Jackie Chan and Andy Lau
Andrew
Heskins on The Champions:
brand new interview with film critic Andrew Heskins (Eastern Kicks)
Reversible
sleeve featuring original poster artwork
an
Original Theatrical Trailer
PLUS:
A
limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing on the
film by James Oliver
and
a Limited Edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren
Wheeling.
Mario
Mancini's
Frankenstein
'80
(1972) is
an Italian slasher film that uses the story of Frankenstein as its
basic outline, but isn't close at all to the original story.
In
this version, a mad doctor creates a monster by accident whilst
creating a serum that helps the human body accept new organs more
easily. His monstrous creation of a man, however, stalks and murders
prostitutes and random women in a no holds barred killing spree. In
Jack the Ripper-type fashion, a detective is put on the case and
tries to stop him before he murders again, but fails repeatedly as he
isn't powerful enough to stop the goon or his evil creator, but he
must before it is too late!
Story-wise
there isn't much there, and not much of an ending either that's
notable or says anything. The film looks to show as many naked women
as possible and a little bit of gore here and there where needed.
The film's director, Mario Mancini, was previously a camera operator
on Mario Bava's Blood
and Black Lace
and Black
Sunday,
and so he got plenty of practice before calling the shots here. I'm
sure the film would work better in a marathon of other films from
that time, but it's not necessarily an interesting or well made film
in any degree.
The
film stars John Richardson, Gordon Mitchell, and Renato Romano.
Special
Features
include:
Dalila
Forever:
The Recorded Memories of Dalila Di Lazzaro (28 minutes)
Little
Frankensteins:
History of Italian Frankenstein films with Domenico Monetti (38
minutes)
Audio
commentary by film historian Heather Drain
Reversible
Blu-ray wrap with alternate artwork
Booklet:
limited
edition only
Reversible
Blu-ray wrap with alternate artwork
and
a high-quality slipcase with artwork by Justin Coffee: limited
edition only!
As
mentioned, the film doesn't have many elements that most viewers
would look for in a Frankenstein film. There is no gothic
laboratory, no callbacks to Hammer or Universal, or even a core theme
of the abusive power of humanity that was highlighted so well in Mary
Shelley's book. Here that theme is played with, but not fully
explored. The monster here is non sympathetic, which didn't really
help pull me into the story personally.
Unintentionally
funny on more than one occasion, Frankenstein
'80
(even though it came out in 1972), is a product of its time and fits
in well with other sleazy exploitation flicks of yesteryear. This
new edition is a huge improvement over the older ones, including the
poor DVD we covered years ago, even if the fellow writer (also a
horror fan) thought the film was lacking. It will always be a curio
because of its make-up effects by Carlo Rambaldi:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9926/Frankenstein+%E2%80%9880+(1972/Cheezy+Flick
Oliver
Drake's The
Mummy And The Curse Of The Jackal
(1969) is even lower-budget and worse-looking than Frankenstein
'80
with worse make-up and acting that is bad in its own way. An
unintentional howler, a Egyptologist (Anthony Eisley of the even
worse all time disaster Dracula
Vs. Frankenstein
from 1971) has found a well-preserved ancient Egyptian woman (Marliza
Pons, who will of course, come to life eventually... look out!) and
also suddenly becomes unknowingly a victim of the tittle curse.
To
say his transformation moments are bad is as huge an understatement
as saying this film is a great example of pre Rick Baker/pre-Tom
Savini make-up effects! Thew costumes look like rejects from the
last season of the Adam West Batman
and the flashbacks showing 'ancient Egyptians' are so bad, they might
as well have been portrayed by The Flintstones and The Jetsons. Even
to go to six years later to see the make up and visual effects in the
1975 Legacy
Of Terror
episode of Kolchak:
The Night Stalker
in comparison that involves an Aztec Mummy, the work in that episode
as compared to this feature film looks like the money spent on all
three Brendan Frazer Mummy
films combined!
The
its version of a Mummy shows up and he looks like he is in adult
diapers or his outfit is partly made of them, which all results in a
crazy mess of a film that wants to be a good film, but is beyond
inept and I have not had this many unintentional laughs at a bad
horror movie in years!
Nevertheless,
I was glad to see it, even though I was surprised to see they somehow
got to shoot in old Las Vegas which still manages to look OK
considering the condition of the film and its very low budget. Yup,
you'll have to see this one to believe it, but you have been warned!
Extras
include The
Vega International Story:
Interview With Stephen Thrower, Author Of Nightmare
USA
Cowboys,
Mummies And Oliver Drake:
Interview With Film Historian C. Courtney Joyner
Investing
In The Jackal:
Interview With Garry Gassel, Son Of Investors Milton R. Gassel And
Judi Gassel
ANGELICA,
THE YOUNG VIXEN (61 minutes): Vega International Adult Film (that is
very unintentionally funny and is about as bad as the main film on
this disc)
and
a Feature Length Audio Commentary With Exploitation Film Researcher
Shawn Langrick Moderated By Genre Film Historian Joe Rubin.
Alex
Cox's Repo
Man 4K
(1984) not only arrived on Ultra HD disc, but from Criterion! I
reviewed it on an import Blu-ray a few years ago at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11887/Abraham+Lincoln:+Vampire+Hunter
That
includes a link to the DVD special edition by one of its biggest
fans.
Well
the film has aged better than expected and looks better here than
expected, despite its Punk rock look and intended rough aesthetic,
color looking better than ever, the image even more naturalists than
ever in all the roughness. I could enjoy and appreciate the film
more than ever, the humor working better, the color quality as good
as it will ever get (and that's a good thing) and its impact as good
as it will ever get.
More
of an unexpected time capsule than ever in some ways, the 4K edition
is now the definitive way to see and enjoy it, though Criterion
included a decent regular 1080p Blu-ray here. It makes me miss Harry
Dean Stanton and reminds me that Emilio Estevez was a better actor
than he gets remembered for being. Cheers also to the late, great
Mike Nesmith (Elephant
Parts,
The
Monkees)
for getting something different and distinct made like George
Harrison was at the time with his Handmade Films production company.
Even if you are not the biggest fan of the film, it has much to
admire about it.
Extras
include a well-illustrated, 68-page booklet on the film with an essay
by critic Sam McPheeters, an illustrated production history by Cox,
and a 1987 interview with real-life repo
man Mark Lewis, while the discs add:
• A
feature length audio commentary featuring Cox, executive producer
Michael Nesmith, casting director Victoria Thomas, and actors Sy
Richardson, Zander Schloss, and Del Zamora
• Interviews
with musicians Iggy Pop and Keith Morris and actors Dick Rude, Olivia
Barash, and Miguel Sandoval
• Deleted
Scenes
• Roundtable
discussion about the making of the film, featuring Cox, Richardson,
Rude, Zamora, and producers Peter McCarthy and Jonathan Wacks
• Conversation
between McCarthy and actor Harry Dean Stanton
• Cox's
'cleaned-up' television version of the film
• and
Original Theatrical Trailers.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.78 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on Repo
Man 4K
looks very good for its age and considering how purposely rough it
was made to look. The
PCM 1.0 Mono lossless mix off of the original magnetic soundmaster,
sounding about as good as it ever will, though I wished it were 2.0
Mono on any lossless format, this is as good as I have ever heard it.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Black
Belt Jones
is very well restored and looks as good as I have ever seen the film,
which has had its rough versions out there. The DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is as good as the film will ever sound,
so the combination is really good.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Champions
is very nice, clean, clear and has solid color throughout, shot with
unidentified anamorphic lenses (apparently not Super 35 or some other
cheat) and has few visual issues. Original and alternate Cantonese
PCM 2.0 Mono mixes are here, along with a lesser English dub in the
same format, but I prefer the originals and they are as good as this
film will ever sound. The combination on either Cantonese with the
restored picture holds up well.
Frankenstein
'80
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4
AVC codec (34.45 Mbps), a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and
audio mixes in lossless, English dubbed DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0
Mono (48kHz, 24-bit) and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz,
24-bit) with optional English subtitles. The film is mastered on a
BD-50 disc and has been restored in 2K from the original uncensored
negative, and looks mostly good with the exception of some terrible
looking day for night shots with a hideous shade of blue that really
sticks out. There is the occasional film artifact from the negative
that pops up in the corner of a frame every now and then, but the
transfer is clean enough to get a pass for the type of film it is.
Cauldron has done a nice job of restoring the film in this new
remaster overall.
The
1080p 1.66 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Mummy
can definitely show the age of the materials used, but color is
actually pretty good throughout despite it age, it is consistent if
not as great as it could have been. The source comes from the newly
discovered original camera negative, but it looks more like this was
a 16mm production than 35mm, but it is apparently 35mm that was lucky
it survived. No information on the type of film used. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix can be rough, but has
been restored as well as possible, the limited budget and technology
used impossible to fix any further than the baked-in flaws. Doubt
this will ever sound better either.
To
order the Black
Belt Jones
Warner Archive Blu-ray, go to this link for it and many more great
web-exclusive
releases at:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20
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Nicholas Sheffo and James Lockhart (Frankenstein)
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/