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Category:    Home > Reviews > Action > Martial Arts > Comedy > Sports > Hong Kong > Horror > Monster > Camp > Science Fiction > Punk Rock > 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

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



- Nicholas Sheffo and James Lockhart (Frankenstein)

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/



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