Saturday, May 18, 2024

SEEING RED: 3 FRENCH VIGILANTE THRILLERS (1982-1984) (Fun City Editions Blu-ray Review)

SEEING RED: 
3 FRENCH VIGILANTE THRILLERS (1982-1984) 
3-Disc Blu-ray Set 

SHOT PATTERN (1982) 
STREET OF THE DAMNED (1984)
BLACK LIST (1984) 

Label: Fun City Editions
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated 
Audio: French DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD WIdescreen (1.66.1) & (1.85:1) 
Directors: Jean-Claude Missiaen, Alain Bonnot, Gilles Béhat

The films in Seeing Red: 3 French Vigilante Thrillers are action-filled tales of ordinary citizens enacting bloody revenge against violent criminals, released on this 3-disc set, marking the worldwide Blu-ray debuts for all three films.

SHOT PATTERN (1982) 
aka Tir groupé 

Label: Fun City Editions
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 86 Minutes 25 Seconds
Audio: French DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Jean-Claude Missiaen
Cast: Gérard Lanvin, Véronique Jannot, Michel Constantin, Mario David, Steve Kalfa, Dominique Pinon, Janine Magnan, Pierre Londiche, Roland Blanche, Jean-Roger Milo

First up on this French vigilante triple-feature is Shot Pattern (1982) aka Tir groupé, directed by Jean-Claude Missiaen. In it as Paris flea market vendor Antoine's (Gérard Lanvin) life is turned upside down when his fiance 
Carine (Véronique Jannot, Thieves After Dark) is senselessly killed by three murderous hoodlums on a train. Intelligent and well-acted this vigilante thriller is a bit light on the an actual vigilantism, but Lanvin gives a deeply affecting performance as the boyfriend consumed by his grief and determined to have his revenge on the killers, especially since detective Gagnon (Michel Constantin) and his men are taking quite a long time to solve the case. Antoine's gift of a cameo brooch that disappeared during Carine's murder proves a useful way to track down the murderous trio whom end up fencing it at a pawn shop, and eventually the cops and Antoine converge on the trio of cutthroats and there's shootout, with the armed Antoine taking matters into his own hands. I am not very knowledgeable about French cinema of this or any era to be honest, the only face that stuck out to me is one of the thugs played by Dominique Pinon (Delicatessen, City of the Lost Children), but I thought the cast was pretty terrific. I also liked the fragmentary style of the story, after the doomed-lover opening we experience Antoine and Carine's meetcute at the flea market and budding romance in flashbacks, all of which adds depth to the vigilante character and his motivations. It might not be action-packed but I thought it was quite an effective revenge thriller. 

Special Features: 
- Audio commentary by Travis Woods 
- Archival Featurette with Writer/Director Jean-Claude Missiaen (3:56)
- Archival Featurette with Actor Gérard Lanvin (0:53) 
- Original Ending with Director Commentary (3:14)
- Image Gallery (2:56) 
- Theatrical Trailer (2:10) 

STREET OF THE DAMNED (1984) 
aka Rue Barbare 

Label: Fun City Editions
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 107 Minutes 27 Seconds 
Audio: French DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD WIdescreen (1.85:1) 
Directors: Gilles Béhat
Cast:  Bernard Giraudeau, Christine Boisson, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Corinne Dacla, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michel Auclair, Jean-Pierre Sentier, Pierre Frag, Nathalie Courval, Hakim Gharem, Myriam Salvoldi, Harry Cleven, Thierry Carpentier

Street of the Damned (1984) aka Rue Barbare is directed by Gilles Béhat (Haro) and is based on the novel Street of the Lost by American crime-writer David Goodis, which had previously been adapted into films' such as Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player, Delmer Daves' Dark Passage and Jacques Tourneur's Nightfall. For his adaptation Béhat transports the events to a particularly dour neighborhood in France, which has an almost post-apocalyptic vibe about it. The place is downtrodden and the people live in fear of a local crime boss crime boss Hagen (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, The Vanishing), who rules his turf with an iron grip, paying off crooked cops who turn a blind eye to his multitude of illegal activities. AMidst this we have Chet (Bernard Giraudeau, The Party), one of Hagen's former gang leaders who turned a new leaf, and for the past decade has lead a straight life as a welder, married to Eddie (Corinne Dacla), a former victim of Hagen's cruelties. These days Chet prefers to mind his own business and not involve himself with Hagen's criminal enterprises, however, when he encounters a young Chinese girl who Hagen has set his predatory eyes on he starts to change his tune, leading up to a bloody one on one fisticuffs challenge against the pony-tailed psycho Hagen. The flick is full of oddball characters, we have Chet's demented father (Michel Auclair, The Day of the Jackal), his drug-addled rockabilly rocker brother Paul aka Ricky Malone (Jean-Pierre Kalfon, The Cry of the Owl), and Paul's prostitute-wife Carla (Nathalie Courval) who is constantly eyes by Paul and Chet's lustful father. There's also Manu (Christine Boisson, Born For Hell), a bartender at Hagen's club who is Chet's girlfriend sort of - his relationship with both Manu and Eddie are complicated. I quite liked the pulpy, comic book style narrative and arthouse visuals of this one, it makes for an interesting vigilante flick that isn't your standard Death Wish knock-off, with moody, atmospheric cinematography from Jean-François Robin (Betty Blue) and a choice synth score from Bernard Lavilliers. Giraudeau as former gang leader Chet is absolutely magnetic in the role, and while it might not deliver the most visceral, carnage filled vigilante action it's hypnotic and has oodles of atmosphere, slowly building to bloody finale that delivers the goods, I particularly enjoyed the dystopian vibes that brought to mind stuff like Escape from New York, Streets of Fire and The Warriors. 

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary by Travis Woods 
- Archival Interview with Writer/Director Gilles Béhat (12:37)
- Archival Interview with Actor Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu (16:21)
- Image Gallery (4:48)
- Teaser Trailer (1:04) 
- Theatrical Trailer (2.20)
- Short Trailer (0:44) 

BLACK LIST (1984) 
aka Liste Noire 

Label: Fun City Editions
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 90 Minutes 32 Seconds 
Audio: French DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD WIdescreen (1.66:1)
Directors: Alain Bonnot
Cast: Annie Girardot, François Marthouret, Paul Crauchet, Bernard Gabay, Christian François, Gérard Sergue

In director Alain Bonnot's vigilante-revengers three Paris teenager hoodlums are duped by a crime syndicate into committing a bank robbery, unaware that the bank job is a set designed to cause a distraction while the syndicate pull a heist on an armored truck on the other side of town. When the bank robbery goes tits-up, as planned by the syndicate, two of the hoods, including Nathalie (Sandrine Dumas, The Double Life of Véronique) and her boyfriend end up shot dead. This triggers bereaved middle-aged mother Jeanne Dufour (Annie Girardot, Shock Treatment), a widowed auto repair shop owner, to take matters into her own hang, going full-on Death Wish vigilante-mom as she tracks down the crime syndicate who set her daughter up, eliminating them one by one, dragging the lone survivor of the bank robbery David (Bernard Brieux) along with her on her revenge adventure. I thought Girardot was phenomenal as the female vigilante, dishing out hot lead, crushing one inside a vehicle with a bulldozer at a junkyard, an some twisted metal canage after tearing through the countryside on a high-speed chase. It's all good stuff. I also enjoyed the element of the lead investigating detective who was quite happy to turn a blind eye to the vigilante activities of the female vigilante, to let her handle it her way and get the scum of the streets. 

I loved all three of these vigilante flicks, if I had to pick a favorite it would easily be Street of the Damned, I just loved the dystopian, pulpy vibe of it, that elevated it it a bit over the other flicks on the set. That said, these are all quite interesting revengers, each with its own unique and interesting characters and approaches to the material, which made marathoning all three back to back all the more pleasing. 

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary by Walter Chaw 
- Seeing Red Trailers (1:40) 
- Image Gallery (2:37) 
- Reversible Sleeve of Artwork 
- Embossed Slipcover 
- 12-Page Illustrated Booklet with new essay by Barry Forshaw

Audio/Video: All three films are making their worldwide Blu-ray premiers, and are being released in the U.S. for the first time ever on home video, licensed by Fun City Editions from Studio Canal. The film are presented in 1080p HD widescreen, with Shot Pattern and Black list presented in 1.66:1 and Street of the Damned in 1.85:1. The scans looks excellent, the sources look quite nice, colors are well-saturated, black levels are solid, contrast looking good. Audio on all three films come by way of French DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles, the tracks are clean and well-balanced, no issues to report. 

Onto the extras we get Audio Commentaries by critic Travis Woods on Shot Pattern and Street of the Damned, and Critic Walter Chaw on Black List. Additional extras for Shot Pattern include a 4-min Archival Featurette with Writer/Director Jean-Claude Missiaen; a 1-min Archival Featurette with Actor Gérard Lanvin; the 3-min Original Ending with Director Commentary; 3-min Image Gallery; and a 2-min Theatrical Trailer. Other extras for Street of the Damned include a 13-min Archival Interview with Writer/Director Gilles Béhat; 16-min Archival Interview with Actor Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu; 5-min Image Gallery; 1-min Teaser Trailer; 2-min Theatrical Trailer; and a 44-sec Short Trailer. Black List gets 2-min Image Gallery plus a 2-min Seeing Red Trailer.


The 3-disc set arrives in a standard sized clear keepcase with a flipper tray housing the three discs, the Reversible Wrap features three artwork options for the films with the French titles, plus we get a Limited Edition Slipcover with front and back artwork by Luke Insect with embossed and spot-gloss features on it that looks cool. Tucked away inside is a Collectible Illustrated Booklet with new writing on all three film by way of Barry Forshaw 'Streets of the Damned: The French Crime Film, which is a terrific read, plus cast and crew information for each film. Both the Booklet and Slipcover are exclusive to the first-pressing, so get on it if you want 'em. 

Seeing Red: Three French Vigilantes Thrillers (1982-1984) is a terrific 3-disc set, with all three obscure French revengers making their worldwide Blu-ray debuts with pleasing transfers and a solid set of archival extras and packaging ephemera, this is another top-notch set from Fun City Editions, highly recommended. 

Buy it!

Screenshots from the Fun City Editions Blu-rays: 
Shot Pattern (1982): 














































Street of the Damned (1984):





























































Black List (1984): 













































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