TRAPPED ASHES (2006)
Label: Deaf Crocodile
Region Code: A (Blu-ray), Region-Free (4K Ultra HD)
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 104 Minutes 32 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: HDR Dolby Vision 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Joe Dante, John Gaeta, Ken Russell, Monte Hellman, Sean Cunningham
Cast: Henry Gibson, Jayce Bartok, John Saxon, Lara Harris, Rachel Veltri, Scott Lowell, Tahmoh Penikett, Tygh Runyan, Dick Miller
Trapped Ashes (2006) is a horror anthology in the vein of Amicus productiosn The House That Dripped Blood (1971) and From Beyond the Grace (1973), featuring segments directed by Sean S. Cunningham (Friday the 13th), Monte Hellman (Two Lane Blacktop), Ken Russell (Whore), and John Gaeta, a visual effects artists making his directorial debut here, as well as a wraparound story directed by Joe Dante (The 'Burbs), which introduces the seven main characters; we have married couple Henry (Scott Lowell, Queer As Folk) and Julia (Lara Harris, The Fisher King), aspiring starlet Phoebe (Rachel Veltri, American Pie presents Band Camp) and her boyfriend Andy (Jayce Bartok, Suburbia), gothy theater employee Nathalie (Michèle-Barbara Pelletier, Brainscan), and an aging screenwriter named Leo (John Saxon, Black Christmas), who are touring the backlot of Ultra Studios with tour guide Desmond (Henry Gibson, The 'Burbs) who takes them to the ‘House of Horrors’ set, once used for the horror film 'Hysteria', which was directed by the William Castle-esque schlock director Desmond Hacker, who disappeared after his infamous lifestyle was exposed years earlier. Entering the house for quick peek they find themselves trapped in the house, and Desmond suggests that perhaps whoever has trapped them would like to see them reenact the Hysteria, wherein a group gathered in the house recount their scariest personal stories, thus setting motion the four main tales of the anthology. I must admit I was a bit disappointed that we do not get a proper Joe Dante directed segment, but this wraparound is pretty cool, and aside from featuring The 'Burbs alum Henry Gibson also features a small cameo from Dante's good luck charm 'That Guy' Dick Miller (Gremlins), which is never a bad thing.
First up is Ken Russell's "The Girl with Golden Breasts," in which the struggling actress (Rachel Veltri) decides to get breast implants to enhance her career prospects, by Dr Larry (Winston Rekert, Eternal Evil) and it works, of course. However, it turns out that the breasts are made from reprocessed human cadavers, and there are some blood-sucking side effects, uh-oh. This one really brought to mind John Carpenter's "Hair" segment form the Body Bags anthology film in tone and execution. I love the idea of the vampiric blood-drinking titties, which reminded be a bit of the demon-tittied Mausoleum. It's also cool to see director Ken Russell cameo himself there at the end.
Next up is Sean Cunningham's "Jibaku," with an unhappily married American couple (Lara Harris, Scott Lowell) vacationing in Japan when the attention starved wife encounters a Buddhist monk named Seishin (Yoshinori Hiruma), who attempts to seduce her, and later kills himself. That night she has weird necrophiliac dreams of the dead monk, real gruesome stuff briefly bringing to mind Cemetery Man, the mix of the erotic and the dead , and finds that she is being drawn in some sort of Buddhist Hell, Her husband having to consult with another monk to find out how to save his wife. This one cuts into some animated segments of the Buddhist Hell with a demonic figures and tentacles galore, to flesh out the story and perhaps cover for the anemic budget. I did not think it was 100% successful, the animated sequences are abrupt and cheap-looking, but the story itself was at least intriguing.
In my opinion the best segment of this whole anthology is Monte Hellman's "Stanley's Girlfriend" about a pair of ambitious young filmmakers who become unlikely friends in 1950s Hollywood. In it the younger version of aged screenwriter Leo is played by Leo Tahmoh Penikett (Trick 'r Treat), writer of B-movie cheapies who meets an up and coming director named Stanley Kubrick (Tygh Runyan, Disturbing Behavior), yup - that Stanley Kubrick), who introduces him to his enigmatic and very sexy girlfriend Nina (Amelia Cooke, Species III), with whom he falls for. They have an affair which destroys their friendship, with Stanley staying in Europe for the rest of his life, never to return to the U.S. Years later after Stanley's death, and long after Nina has moved on, Leo gets a video tape in the mail, with Stanley confessing why he really left al these years ago, revealing the immortal truth about Nina. I just loved this idea of Kubrick and the young screenwriter, perhaps a stand-in for Hellman himself, were involved with a vampiric succubus-witch of some sort.
Last up, and least in my estimation, is John Gaeta's "My Twin, The Worm," wherein a young Goth woman (Michele-Barbara Pelletier) reveals the horrific tale about her parasitic "twin" that grew alongside her in her mother's womb. It's an interesting idea, an expectant mother is unable to take medication to rid herself of a tapeworm because it could terminate the pregnancy, so it grows inside of her alongside the child, with far reaching implications for the child. This one is visually interesting by felt severely underbaked, but it does have a nice visual aesthetic at least but did not connect with me. Well, they can't all be winners, unless it's Creepshow, which is a perfect anthology flick in my mind. This is more an Amicus style anthology by way of something more contemporary like Body Bags, an interesting anthology with some great talents in the directing chairs, and while it; perhaps not a classic anthology, it's certainly a fun homage to classic anthologies, and well worth seeking out if your a horror-anthologies in general.
Audio/Video: Trapped Ashes (2006) makes it's Blu-ray + 4K Ultra HD debut from Deaf Crocodile with a brand new 4K restoration from 35mm OCN/IP by Craig Rogers of Deaf Crocodile with HDR Dolby Vision color-grading. This is Deaf Crocodile's debut 4K Ultra HD release and it's a handsome looking affair, rising above the DVD I have had for years considerably with sharper image detail, improved depth and clarity, and colors and black levels are appreciable superior, nicely authored on disc with compression artifacts that I could detect, looking filmic throughout with a subtle layer of film grain. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and well-balanced throughout, dialogue is crisp, with sound effects and the Kenji Kawai (Ring, Ring 2) score coming through with some nice vibrancy.
This release from Deaf Crocodile is fully loaded with extras, starting off with a brand New Audio Commentary by comics artist (Swamp Thing), film historian, and author Stephen R. Bissette who gets into the history of the anthology format, attributes of this film, and information about the cast and crew of each of the segments. There are also nearly four hours of new video interviews conducted over video conferencing moderated by producer/writer Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile, reuniting him with Director John Gaeta, cast members Tahmoh Penikett, Tygh Runyan Jayce Bartok, Scott Lowell and Lisi Tribble, producers Yuko Yoshikawa, Yoshifumi Hosoya, and Mike Frisley, cinematographer Zoran Popovic, and production designer Robb Wilson King. These are massive, in-depth, fun and chock full tasty behind-the-scenes anecdotes.
Also new is the 15-min “Hollywood Parasite: Hysteria in Trapped Ashes” - a new visual essay by journalist and physical media expert Ryan Verrill (The Disc Connected) and film professor Dr. Will Dodson that examines the themes evidences throughout the anthology. We also get the 2-min Director’s Cut of Monte Hellman’s “Stanley’s Girlfriend” in SD; the 26-min Original full-length cut of Ken Russell’s “The Girl with Golden Breasts”' in SD, plus the Original 5-part Making Of featurettes: The Making of Trapped Ashes (5:54), The Girl with the Golden Breasts (7:14), Jibaku (5:54), Stanley's Girlfriend (6:42), My Twin, The Worm (6:10). The 2-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray arrives in a full-height, clear Scanavo keepcase with a 2-sided, non-reversible sleeve of artwork, the reverse side featuring an image from the film.
Special Features:
- New 4K restoration from 35mm OCN/IP by Craig Rogers of Deaf Crocodile
- New HDR Dolby Vision color grading by Tyler Fagerstrom
- Director’s Cut of Monte Hellman’s “Stanley’s Girlfriend” episode (28:20) SD
- Original full-length cut of Ken Russell’s “The Girl with Golden Breasts” episode (26:03) SD
- Original 5-part Making Of video with cast and crew interviews: The Making of Trapped Ashes (5:54), The Girl with the Golden Breasts (7:14), Jibaku (5:54), Stanley's Girlfriend (6:42), My Twin, The Worm (6:10)
- New Audio Commentary by comics artist (Swamp Thing), film historian, and author Stephen R. Bissette
- “Hollywood Parasite: Hysteria in Trapped Ashes” - New visual essay by journalist and physical media expert Ryan Verrill (The Disc Connected) and film professor Dr. Will Dodson (15:01)
- New video interviews with: Director John Gaeta, cast members Jayce Bartok, Scott Lowell and Lisi Tribble, producers Yuko Yoshikawa & Yoshifumi Hosoya, and cinematographer Zoran Popovic, moderated by producer/writer Dennis Bartok for Deaf Crocodile (78:12)
- New video interviews with Cast members Tahmoh Penikett & Tygh Runyan and production designer Robb Wilson King moderated by producer/writer Dennis Bartok for Deaf Crocodile (88:12)
- New video interviews with: Producer Mike Frislev of Nomadic Picture moderated by producer/writer Dennis Bartok for Deaf Crocodile (40:06)
Screenshots from the Deaf Crocodile Blu-ray:
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