Dogra
Magra
(1988/Radiance Blu-ray*)/Hellraiser:
Quartet Of Torment 4K
(1987 - 1996/Arrow 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Set w/II:
Hellbound,
III:
Hell On Earth
and Bloodlines
(#4/*both MVD)/The
Mad Bomber
(1972/Severin Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B Picture: B/X/B- Sound: B- Extras:
B/C+/B- Films: B-/C-/C-/D/C-/B-
Now
for a mix of creepy, sometimes surreal, tales of terror... when they
work...
Toshio
Matsumoto's Dogra
Magra
(1988) has a mystery of identity with a young man walking up in an
insane asylum no remembering who he is, but has he killed the
newlywed bride? Why? Where? How? Two doctors get involved form
the institute, but they land up 'taking him' to other places and
dimensions of sports as all search for answers, though something else
is going on, but what?
In
a 'half the fun is getting there' way, the film explores all kinds of
things and tries to get to its answers and we have seen many films
try to do this kind of thing, but most fail and especially lately.
Though it has a few points that may not work and a few others I do
not think did, it is far more successful than not and not just
because of some remarkable images, good casting and decent acting,
but because it makes the mark more often than expected and pleasantly
surprised me at those moments. I will stop there as not to ruin
anything, but it is definitely worth a look for those interested in
something as smart as it is challenging and is not an all-talk, no
action high concept package deal.
Extras
include a
new High-Definition digital transfer supervised by director of
photography Tatsuo Suzuki and producer Shuji Shibata
Audio
commentary by director Toshio Matsumoto (2003)
Interview
with Toshio Matsumoto (2003, 21 mins)
A
visual essay by programmer and curator Julian Ross (2024)
Instructions
on Ahodara Sutra (a popular Japanese chant delivered by Dr. Masaki
in the film) by legendary street performer Hiroshi Sakano (16 mins)
Original
Theatrical Trailer
New
and improved English subtitles
Reversible
sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time
Tomorrow
Limited
Edition
booklet featuring new writing by Hirofumi Sakamoto, president of the
Postwar Japan Moving Image Archive and author Jasper Sharp on
screenwriter Atsushi Yamatoya plus an interview with producer Shuji
Shibata and Matsumoto's director's statement
and
Limited
Edition
of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with
removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and
markings.
Hellraiser:
Quartet Of Torment 4K
(1987 - 1996) finally makes it to the 4K format, featuring the first
four of the eight films from the original series, a series that
really stretched things out, so say the least. We have reviewed half
the series in the past so far, with this set allowing us to cover a
fifth. Our previous coverage (and this one will be included, et al)
includes various critics covering the films...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/new/viewer.cgi?search=hellraiser
They
include Arrow in the U.S. offering the first two films on regular
Blu-ray, Arrow U.K. Offering the first three films on Blu-ray,
Umbrella in Australia issuing the first three films on Blu-ray (in
two separate reviews) and older copies of the original film from the
now defunct Anchor Bay on Blu-ray and DVD, offering plenty of
coverage on the early series. Of all the writers, I am the big
non-fan, thinking that without Doug Bradley as the body and voice of
Pinhead, there would have been maybe one or two films if they were
lucky. The body politik stuff only goes so far.
The
new one to us is Bloodlines,
an odd title for a film in space, but it is no Event
Horizon
and despite maybe a slightly higher budget, it is a novelty and shows
when a franchise or stars get silly (Abbott & Costello, The Three
Stooges, Jason
X)
they just send them to space and who cares if they get any results.
The James Bond film Moonraker
is not even totally immune to this almost-curse, though The Three
Stooges, Abbott and Costello did better than Pinhead or Jason by
default and with lower budgets.
Though
you know visual effects were not going to be Alien,
Star
Wars
or Blade
Runner,
but these were not so good when they first came out and they have
aged very badly in all kinds of ways, even weird ones. That makes
this installment bizarre and a one-off in unexpected ways and 4K only
shows it as worse, so this is FOR FANS ONLY to say the least. A
regular Blu-ray set is also being issued.
Extras
(which can repeat much of the original three Arrow releases, et al)
include:
DISC
1: HELLRAISER
Newly
uncovered extended EPK interviews with Clive Barker and stars Andrew
Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, and effects artist Bob
Keen, shot during the making of Hellraiser,
with a new introduction by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman
DISC
2: HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II
Lost
in the Labyrinth:
archival featurette featuring interviews with Barker, Randel, Keen,
Atkins and others
DISC
3 - HELLRAISER III: HELL ON EARTH
DISC
4: HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE
Hellraiser
Evolutions:
archival documentary on the evolution of the 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)
and others
Last
but not least is Bert I. Gordon's thriller The
Mad Bomber
(1972) with Chuck Connors as the quietly vengeful title character, an
angry father whose daughter has died from a drug overdose that has
ruined his life and psyche, blaming the rude side of society for her
loss and intending to take revenge out a series of pre-calculated
bombings. Vince Edwards is the angry cop who is sometimes out of
control trying to find him and Neville Brand is the serial rapist who
happens to have seen the domestic terrorist in one of his nighttime
assaults.
Despite
a low budget, Gordon once again proves he knows how to make a movie
and this one is more effective, albeit down and dirty, with a few
frames that are almost NC-17 in nature. Save a few off moments, the
film has aged well, is effective, offers a mystery that the audience
is more let on to than the cops at first, with suspense all around.
Mad
Bomber
does what so many bad Hollywood thrillers since the 1980s have tried
to do and failed miserably at, despite more money and other
resources. A must see for all serious movie and especially thriller
fans.
Extras
include a
Feature Length...
Audio
Commentary By House
Of Psychotic Women
Author Kier-La Janisse With Retired Bomb Squad Detective Mike Digby
Isolated
Score
Audio
Interview With Director Bert I. Gordon Conducted By David Del Valle
Patricia
Gordon Remembers Her Father
To
Be In The Moment: Interview With Actress Cynthia MacAdams
On
The Trail Of THE MAD BOMBER: Locations Featurette
THE
MAD BOMBER TV Cut
TV
Spots
and
Booklet: THE MAD BOMBER Story with an essay By Andy Turner With
Exclusive Images From Still Photographer Carol Gordon.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on the four Hellraiser
films are odd in that they look better than any of the former
releases on Blu-ray from any of the companies noted above and in the
line of previous coverage on the trilogy. The problem is that it
also shows how bad and weak the images can be, as if they were not
stored properly, developed and processed with secondary labwork
and/or the negatives were just badly stored. Either way, the
upgrades are not great and only very serious fans will want this set
for the slight improvements, all the extras notwithstanding. The
first two films were issued in Dolby's old Dolby System stereo,
analog A-type noise reduction with monophonic surrounds, the third
film in cheaper Ultra Stereo that was worse than old Dolby and
Bloodlines
went back to Dolby, now in Dolby Digital 5.1 and the first with split
surrounds.
All
four are here in PCM 2.0 Stereo and DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes, but the latter is really
pushing it and Bloodlines
is far from the best example of a early digital sound movie to the
point that it might not have started out as such. Even the poor 2022
remake has to sound better than these, but the only real reason for
fans who have this set is for the extras if they already have the
films on regular Blu-ray. They already have the soundtracks, which
sound as good as they ever will, which is only so good.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on Dogra
is just a sliver better than any of the 4K Hellraiser
films and a few unusual demo shots, so it is my favorite in playback,
but followed by the flawed Mad
Bomber.
You might think of The
Cell
with Jennifer Lopez when watching at times in a good way. The
PCM 2.0 Stereo is well recorded and though not official with any kind
of Dolby Stereo or Ultra Stereo encoding (too good-sounding for the
latter) has the best fidelity of any film here and melds well with
the image.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Mad
Bomber
can show the age of the materials used, but this is far superior a
transfer to all previous releases of the film and though sometimes
rough and limited, part of it is the style of the film (like so many
urban thrillers of the 1970s) and is from a 4K scan of an (the?)
internegative. Whether the original camera negative survived or just
got (too?) faded, we do not know as we post, but color and the look
are very consistent, so expect some limits and it plays just fine.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and 2.0 Mono lossless mixes from the
original theatrical monophonic release sound are not bad, but the 2.0
Mono is just a bit fuller.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
