HOLLYWOOD 90028 (1971)
3-Disc Blu-ray (x2) + CD Soundtrack
Label: Grindhouse Releasing
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 87 Minute's 29 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Christina Hornisher
Cast: Christopher Augustine, Jeannette Dilger, Dick Glass, Gayle Davis
Hollywood 90028 (1971), directed by Christina Hornisher, is a seedy, downbeat serial-killer flick that shows the dark side of the movie industry, wherein an aspiring steely blue-eyed movie cameraman Mark (Christopher Augustine, The Doll Squad) dreams of working on Hollywood films, but has been relegated to shooting peepshow porno-loops for sleazy smut-producer Jobal (Dick Glass). Mark carries with guilt over the accidental death of his baby brothers as a child, and is by memories of his overbearing mother, which has translated into sexual frustration as an adult, and in turn violence towards women.
Hollywood 90028 (1971), directed by Christina Hornisher, is a seedy, downbeat serial-killer flick that shows the dark side of the movie industry, wherein an aspiring steely blue-eyed movie cameraman Mark (Christopher Augustine, The Doll Squad) dreams of working on Hollywood films, but has been relegated to shooting peepshow porno-loops for sleazy smut-producer Jobal (Dick Glass). Mark carries with guilt over the accidental death of his baby brothers as a child, and is by memories of his overbearing mother, which has translated into sexual frustration as an adult, and in turn violence towards women.
When he's not shooting porno-loops Mark prowls the peep shows and adult book shops of Los Angeles, picking up young hippie girl (Dianna Huntress) whom he strangles to death, the film opens with on such harrowing scene of him meeting a young woman, accompanying her back to her place, they make out and just when it looks like sexy good times he wraps his hands around her neck and chokes the life out of her startled eye. However, when Mark meets porno actress Michelle (Jeannette Dilger, Young, Hot 'n Nasty Teenage Cruisers) on the set of one of Jobal's sleazy movies the pair hit it off and end up spending time together walking around L.A. and visiting the Hollywood sign, discussing their issues and how they ended-up where they are in life. She's in a committed relationship and but he seems legit happy to have a platonic friend, but that does not keep him off the streets prowling for victims, later picking up a hitchhiker named Gretchen (Gayle Davis, Sharkey's Machine) , they hit the beach together and they rent a sailboat, while sailing her talkative nature annoys him, and he strangles her to death, explaining her absence on returning to the boat shop by saying he "dropped her off" down the coast.
Not long after Michelle leaves him a voicemail breaking things off with him, saying she realizes they would never work out, that he; in a dark place, leading to mark going to her place, and of course things don't go a is planned, ending with a you-won't-believe-it-when-you-see-it finale atop the Hollywood sign.
Written and directed by Christina Hornisher, her sole theatrical film, who was unknown to me prior to the re-release of this film by Grindhouse Releasing. the film is seedy but also quite well lensed by Jean-Pierre Geuens (Lemora: A Child's Tale of The Supernatural), capturing the grimy '70s L.A. streets, seedy adult bookshops and flea-pit cinemas of the era, making for quite time-capsule of this early 70's era in L.A., which is like catnip for me, I love seeing this era onscreen.
While the film was alternatively marketed as The Hollywood Hillside Strangler and Twisted Throats to cash-in on the slasher craze and to true-crime headlines it's really more of a thoughtful character study, one that dissects the darker side of Hollywood aspirations, tracking both Christopher and Michelle's mid-west origins and their journeys to Los Angeles following their Hollywood dreams only to end up in the margins of the porno industry. There's a scene of them walking through L.A. as she discusses how she went from working at the telephone company to being lured into "modeling" and eventually the skin trade that I found quite compelling. Meanwhile Christopher applies for various legit cameraman jobs on commercial and film productions, only to be told they need to see a sample of his work before taking a chance on him, knowing all-to-well that the only reels he has are porno-loops and that he will be shunned.
This is a film that lingers long after the closing credits, the flick has kinship with other flicks like Peeping Tom, Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer, Taxi Driver, Don’t Answer the Phone and Maniac, but is not gruesome, the kills are suspenseful and shocking, but they don't revel in the brutality and gore of the kills,. The film is much more interested in exploring Mark's despair and derangement, and a feminist examination of the porno industry as a place where broken dreams go to die a misogynist death, that I found completely fascinating.
Audio/Video: Hollywood 90028 makes it U.S. home video debut on region-free Blu-ray from Grindhouse Releasing with a new 4K restoration created from the original 35mm camera negative. This looks pretty solid, there are some small blemished and softness along the way but it retains it's filmic grain without any aggressive digital-scrubbing, colors are generally strong, and fine detail and seedy 70's textures look terrific. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and well-balanced, there are no issues with age related hiss or distortion, and the soundtrack by Basil Poledouris (Conan the Barbarian) has some nice depth to it.
As usual this Grindhouse Releasing set is dripping with extras, starting on disc one we get a Audio Commentary by Marc E. Heuck & Heidi Honeycutt that dives deep into the cast and crew, locations, distribution story and quite a bit more. We also get a Locations Audio Commentary by Shawn Langrick that gets into the locations seen in the film.
We also get 9-min of VHS sourced Shocking Alternate Scenes from the Original X-rated Version: The Simple Story (2:53), Darkroom 2 (1:55), Love Montage (3:45), plus 3-min of The Cameraman Outtakes, which appear to be unused or alternate location footage. A nice add is the85-min Bonus Film: Twisted Throats, a shorter alternate version of the film in standard definition, with plenty of scratches and a nice authentic grindhouse patina.
Also included are some Still Galleries of Publicity (21 Images), Drive-In Asylum Newspaper Ad Gallery (4:35), Christina Hornisher (21 Images), Cast Photos (25 Images), Covert Art by Jerry Martinez (67 Images), and Adult Bookshop (25 Image), with disc 1 extras buttoned up with Trailers including the alternate Hollywood Hillside Strangler trailer and Radio Spots, plus a huge reel of Grindhouse Releasing Prevues of Coming Attractions, which I almost always sit through no matter how many times I've seen it, it's pretty terrific. An Easter Egg hidden away on the menu includes a brief 1-min piece relating to the discovery of the Hollywood 90028 negatives.
Onto disc 2 we start of with the 96-min Hollywood Dreams: The Making of Hollywood 90028 featuring interviews with stars Christopher Augustine, Jeannette Dilger, Gayle Davis, editor Leon Ortiz-Gil that tells the story of Hornisher and the making of the film through their recollections, touching on her personal life and upbringing, and her death in 2003.
There's also a 38-min Christopher Augustine at the New Beverly, recorded September 23, 2022 after a screening fo the film with a Q&A; plus the 25-min Tom & Tina - The Early Years; Interview with Tom DeSimone (Reform School Girls), who was a friend who met Hornisher in film school and collaborated on a few projects with her.
Also on Disc 2 are a 4-min Los Angeles: Here & Gone, a locations then and now comparison, plus four Experimental 16mm short films by director Christina Hornisher: 4x8=16 (2:52), The Sun is Long (6:00), And on the Sixth Day (5:11), Sister of the Bride (21:17).
Easter eggs tucked away on disc 2 include the 30-min The Erotic Director short porn with Dick Glass, an ddditional 6-min Interview with Gayle Davis who talks about her dancing career and meeting Elvis, plus an Every Mother's Son TV Appearance on Disc-O-Teen Dance Show hosted by horror-host Zacherly.
The 3-disc Blu-ray/CD Soundtrack set release arrives in an clear, oversized Scanavo keepsake with a Reversible Sleeve of Artwork with the original illustrated poster artwork on one-side and a quite striking new piece by artist Jerry Martinez. The keepcase is housed inside a very cool side-loading Embossed Slipcover also featuring the Jerry Martinez artwork. The 3rd disc is the 17-Track CD Soundtrack of the Basil Poledouris score, newly remastered in stunning 24 bit/192khz sound from the original master tapes. The CD comes housed inside its own cardboard slip also decorated with the Jerry Martinez artwork. Inside the keepcase there's a 28-page Full-Color Illustrated Booklet with writing on the film by cinema historians Marc E. Heuck who takes a deep-dive into Hornisher career, while David Szulkin tackles actor/musician/scientology Dick glass, plus an appreciation by director Jim VanBebber (Deadbeat at Dawn), and a film chapter list.
Special Features:
Disc 1 (Blu-ray - Feature + Extras)
- Audio Commentary by Marc E. Heuck & Heidi Honeycutt
- Audio Commentary by Marc E. Heuck & Heidi Honeycutt
- Locations Audio Commentary by Shawn Langrick
- Shocking Alternate Scenes from the Original X-rated Version: The Simple Story (2:53), Darkroom 2 (1:55), Love Montage (3:45)
- The Cameraman Outtakes (3:22)
- Shocking Alternate Scenes from the Original X-rated Version: The Simple Story (2:53), Darkroom 2 (1:55), Love Montage (3:45)
- The Cameraman Outtakes (3:22)
- Still Galleries: Publicity (21 Images), Drive-In Asylum Newspaper Ad Gallery (4:35), Christina Hornisher (21 Images), Cast Photos (25 Images), Covert Art by Jerry Martinez (67 Images), Adult Bookshop (25 Image
- Hollywood 90028 Trailer (1:40)
- Hollywood Hillside Strangler Trailer (0:35)
- Hollywood Hillside Strangler Radio Spots. (0:58)
- Grindhouse Releasing Prevues of Coming Attractions: Impulse (1:16), Death Game (2:40), Scum of the Earth (2:11), Bogard (2:42), Love Is Deep Inside (1:34), Ice House (2:39), Family Enforcer (1:47), Cannibal Holocaust (1:25), Cannibal Ferox (2:45), Massacre Mafia Style (2:18), Gone with the Pope (2:00), Pieces (0:32), The Beyond (3:26), Cat In the Brain (1:57), An American Hippie In Israel (3:01), Corruption (1:40), The Swimmer (2:42), The Big Gundown (2:13), I Drink Your Blood (2:49), The Tough Ones (3:29), The Passion Pit (2:32)
- Bonus Film: Twisted Throats (84:46)
- Easter Egg: The Discovery of the Hollywood 90028 Negative 1:07
Disc 2 (Blu-ray - Extras):
- Hollywood Dreams: The Making of Hollywood 90028 featuring interviews with stars Christopher Augustine, Jeannette Dilger, Gayle Davis, editor Leon Ortiz-Gil and Tom DeSimone
- Christopher Augustine at the New Beverly (September 23, 2022)(38:29)
- Tom & Tina - The Early Years; Interview with Tom DeSimone (24:47)
- Los Angeles: Here & Gone (4:14)
- Experimental 16mm short films by director Christina Hornisher: 4x8=16 (2:52), The Sun is Long (6:00), And on the Sixth Day (5:11), Sister of the Bride (21:17)
- Liner notes by cinema historians Marc E. Heuck, David Szulkin,
Richard Kraft and Jim VanBebber
- Easter Egg: The Erotic Director
(30:17)
Easter Egg: Additional Intervirew with Gayle Davis (6:00)
- Easter Egg: Every Mother's Son TV Appearance on Disc-O-Teen Dance Show hosted by Zacherly (7:21)
Disc 3 (CD Soundtrack)
- BONUS CD - Original Soundtrack album by Basil Poledouris - newly remastered in stunning 24 bit/192khz sound from the original master tapes
Packaging Extras:
- Reversible Wrap
- Embossed slipcover with new art by Jerry Martinez
- Embossed slipcover with new art by Jerry Martinez
- 28- Page Full-Color Illustrated Book
Grindhouse Releasing 3-disc set for Hollywood 90028 (1971) is sure to be the definitive release of the film barring some future 4K Ultra HD release. The A/V merits are rock solid, and the extras are exhaustive, obsessively so.The Hollywood Dreams: The Making of Hollywood 90028 doc and the Tom & Tina - The Early Years; Interview with Tom DeSimone, the inclusion of her early short films, it's all a deep dive into the obscure director's life and art, and comes across as a true passion project from all involved. On top of that the CD soundtrack and 28-page Booklet add more depth and context to the release. While director Christina Hornisher might have only one feature film to her name it's quite an interesting and meditative exploitation flick, and Grindhouse Releasing are making sure the word gets out about it with this definitive home video version.
Extras:
