Dario
Argento's Deep Cuts
(1973, 87, 88/Severin Blu-ray Set)/The
Hitcher 4K
(1986/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Speak
No Evil
(2024/Universal Blu-ray)/Yokohama
BJ Blues
(1981/MVD/Radiance Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B- to C+/X/B-/B- Sound:
B-/B/B/C+ Extras: B/C+/C/B- Main Programs: B-/C+/C/B-
Now
for some psychological horror thriller releases...
Dario
Argento's Deep Cuts
(1973, 87, 88) is a collection of the famous filmmaker's work at the
RAI Television Network in Italy, which only helped his career and
reputation, instead of killing it as some thought might happen when
TV and feature films were so separate with film getting more respect.
This set has the three programs he did with them as follow:
Door
Into Darkness
(1973, four episodes at one hour each) may have been limited, but he
hosted in the Alfred Hitchcock/Rod Serling/Boris Karloff tradition
and the segments are well done, with one from a scene unused for Bird
With The Crystal Plumage
and another (The
Doll)
which plays a little loose with schizophrenia and has a odd ending
that does not necessarily help it. Otherwise, I liked these very
much.
Giallo
(1987 aka Night
Shift,
fifteen episodes at 15 minutes each) has complete, more comical at
times and more direct mysteries, but they were made for a game show
(not shown here, if they survived at all) where the contestants had
to figure out the mystery ala Clue.
They all are connected to a cab company and some of the shorts
connect to each other. Not as good as the preceding show, but still
decent and worth seeing.
Nightmares
(1988, nine episodes at three to five minutes each as connectors to
other segments)
So
the result is a new look at Argento and some of his familiar
collaborators (who also writer and direct on some of the films) and
some other surprises make this another pleasant TV release joining TV
gems from Severin that include the Peter Cushing Sherlock
Holmes
set (reviewed elsewhere on this site,) Comic
Strip Presents,
Tales
To Keep You Awake
(both unreviewed, but highly recommended) and Threads.
Mystery and horror fans will want to see everything in this set.
Extras
are many and include solid Audio Commentary tracks for Il
Tram
and Testimone
Oculare
(aka Eyewitness)
with Nathaniel Thompson And Troy Howarth
DARIO
ARGENTO: MY CINEMA, Parts 1 & 2
DARIO
ARGENTO: MASTER OF HORROR (87 minutes)
A
Streetcar Named Fear:
Interview With Writer/Director/Producer Dario Argento
On
The Other Side Of The Door:
Interview With Writer/Director Luigi Cozzi
TV
Nightmares:
Interview With Producer Dario Argento
Giallo
On The TV:
Interview With Director Luigi Cozzi
Taxi
Drivers:
Interview With Director Lamberto Bava
Big
Giallo Taxi:
Interview With Screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti
Calypso
9:
Interview With Actress Antonella Vitale
and
Giallo Argento (100 minutes).
Robert
Harmon's The
Hitcher 4K
(1986) is the original version with Rutger Hauer as the title
character who asks for a ride from Jim (C. Thomas Howell, going all
out here in a way he never seems to get credit for) who makes the big
mistake of being a good samaritan. Immediately, the older stranger
starts saying odd things, some of which come close to threatening and
a few more than are problematic. Leaving him behind after the
initial encounter, Jim thinks it is all over. Unfortunately, he is
about to be stalked in unimaginable ways.
A
controversial film in its time, with some moments that still shock,
the actors (including Jennifer Jason Leigh in a memorable turn)
sometimes overcome the down points of the material, but there are
also a few missed opportunities here that always bothered me about
this film, made worse by how well it is shot, edited and cast. Also,
Hauer is shameless all the way as required by the role in his anger,
hate, madness and gay-baiting in the worst ways of Howell's Jim. The
remake tried to eliminate the latter in a sort of homophobic move
which ruined an unnecessary package deal, forgetting to replace it
with something as intriguing. But ultimately, even with its flaws,
this is at least a minor classic and has built a cult following in
the decades since its original release. That is why it deserved this
4K treatment and that is now the best way outside of a mint 35mm or
16mm print to see it.
Extras
include
am Original Theatrical Trailer, feature length archival audio
commentary with Robert Harmon and Writer Eric Red and Bullseye:
a brand new interview with Robert Harmon (41 Minutes). The import
Second Sight version with its controversial transfer has much more in
the way of extras, but you had better be a huge fan of the film to
want that one.
James
Watkins' Speak
No Evil
(2024) is yet another 'very-inappropriate-person-is-psychotic' tale
with James McAvoy as the protagonist, the head of a family on
vacation who slowly starts to insert himself into the lives of
another visiting family, then slowly starts to press buttons and then
become more and more intrusive until he is more than just a pest. As
predictable and unoriginal as just about all such films, it requires
the 'victims' to not be too smart, common sense to go out the window
(Blink
Twice
had some of those issues) and that allows McAvoy to outact the cast
of mostly unknowns and newcomers. Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy
were two of the only others I recognized.
Too
bad someone did not try to do more, much more, with the screenplay.
Maybe they could have pulled off something more, but it dopes not
work out and 'speak no original ideas' might be a better title.
Extras
include
Digital Code, while the disc adds NUCLEAR FAMILIES: Learn what drew
James McAvoy and the rest of the cast to this film, discover what
methods they used to embody their roles, and listen as they provide
insight into the subtle intricacies surrounding the film's two
families.
A
HORRIFYING CRESCENDO: Director James Watkins and cast members take
you down a dark corridor of psychology as they discuss the
navigation of social spaces, dwelling in discomfort, and the
grounded horror elements which escalated the story to its formidable
final act.
Elichi
Kudo's Yokohama
BJ Blues
(1981) is a surprisingly good mystery thriller about a blues musician
(Yasaku Matsuda as B.J.) whose police detective best friend is
murdered, then he is the prime suspect! He immediately starts to
investigate who really is behind the killing and local drug dealers
and other criminals are being more assisted by corrupt cops than even
he suspected. He also lands up in the biker and gay scene (including
where they intersect) and that's just the beginning.
Borrowing
from Altman's The
Long Goodbye,
some of Visconti's Death
In Venice
and maybe a bit of Friedkin's Cruising,
the film is not directly copying as many might have done if they even
knew about or understood those classics (both reviewed elsewhere on
this site) and we get other sides that allow the film to stand out on
its own. It can also be as graphic as any of them. Though a few
parts were mixed, I was surprised this was not more well known a
film, but it also apparently has been out of circulation more than it
should have been and may be a minor classic of the genre or Japanese
cinema, the end of a cycle or two from the glorious 1970s. All
serious film fans should go out of their way to catch it.
Extras
include an interview with star Mari Hemmi
Interview
with screenwriter Shoichi Maruyama
Interview
with writer and Yokohama
expert Toru Sano on the film and a look at the locations
Trailer
Newly
translated English subtitles
Reversible
sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
Limited
edition booklet featuring new writing by Dimitri Ianni on Toei
Central Film, a subsidiary of Toei studios famed for releasing Pink
Films and independent productions such as Yokohama
BJ Blues
and an archival review of the film
and
Limited
Edition
of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with
removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and
markings.
Now
for playback performance....
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra
High Definition image on Hitcher
4K
has had some controversy about the quality and accuracy of the
transfer. Versus what I have seen of it over the decades, this looks
pretty good and accurate enough to me, though it is not Dolby Vision
and the color was never off to me. Director of Photography John
Seale, A.C.S., A.S.C., shot the film with real anamorphic Panavision
lenses and was a big step forward in an already impressive career
that started in Australia with the likes of BMX
Bandits,
The
Survivor,
Deathcheaters
and Careful,
He Might Hear You.
Other triumphs include Mad
Max: Fury Road,
Rain
Man,
The
English Patient,
The
Perfect Storm
and Children
Of A Lesser God.
His compositions and lighting bring this film up another level and
is one of the reasons people still talk about it.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless mix has Dolby Pro Logic
surrounds, is also good for its age, though the Second Sight import
(whether it worked or not) was upgraded to Dolby Atmos, but that
track is not included here. The combination here is as good as the
film has ever been in the U.S. on home video.
All
three TV series in the Argento
set are presented in 1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition
transfers, with the first two shot on 16mm color film and the last on
on analog PAL videotape, with three of the four episodes of Door
Into Darkness
(1973) said to be off of the original camera negatives, Giallo
(1987) includes some finished on analog tape but all shot on 16mm and
Nightmares
(1988) more of a talk show with interviews and featurettes starting
on tape with some sections on 16mm and 35mm film. Darkness has some
print damage, but looks good for its age, shot on Kodak color 16mm
negative. At the time, Kodak made three versions of Ektachrome, one
version of their ECO stock (Woodstock
and the original Texas
Chain Saw Massacre
were shot on that film) and the one color negative they made at the
time: 100T 7254.
Argento
liked to shoot on film that took more light to develop than most and
that approach works well here, even through the flaws, the style and
look are consistent and look good. Giallo
may have used Fuji or Agfa along with Kodak, but like the previous
series, Telecolor labs did all the lab work, but some copies have the
credits finished on analog video and any shaking in any of the
episodes of either show reveals a video source. Otherwise, they look
about as good as they ever will.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 lossless mixes (monophonic on the first
series, stereo on the later ones) definitely sound as good as they
ever will, with some good music and sound editing, recorded well
enough as well.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Evil
is an HD-shot production and it shows with some softness here that
might not be in a 4K version that apparently is also available. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 7.1 lossless mix should have been the best
release socially, but it lacks soundstage and warmth, so Hitcher
4K
can compete with it in some ways. This was apparently Dolby Atmos
theatrically.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Yokohama
can sometimes show the age of the materials used, but this looks
really good color-wise and we get some depth, yet it has more
softness that expected or than I would have liked. The
PCM 1.0 Mono sounds good, but is held back by not being 2.0 Mono and
the sound is in good shape, so that can be a bit annoying at times.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
