Label: Scream Factory Region Code: A Rating: R Duration: 96 Minutes Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo with Optional English Subtitles Director: Rodman Flender Cast: Brooke Adams, James Karen, Lisa Kudrow, Kathy Griffin
The Unborn (1991) is a creepy sci-fi thriller about an infertile couple, children's author Virginia (Brooke Adams, Invasion of the Body Snatcher) and her lawyer husband Brad Marshall (Jeff Hayenga) have tried for several years to bring a baby into the world. After years failure, miscarriages and a nervous breakdown for Virginia they join in on an experimental in-vitro fertilization program developed by Dr. Richard Meyerling (James Karen, The Return of the Living Dead). The process is an immediate success much to the surprise of the couple, but several months into her pregnancy Virginia begins to experience some strange happenings associated the pregnancy which cause her to look deeper into the career of Dr. Myerling, and soon after she begins to suspect that the doc may have impregnated her with some seriously strange semen - but to what end?.
Brooke Adams is pretty darn good in the role of the expectant mother, she plays vulnerable and strong without resorting to cliched hysterics, plus she plays the paranoia of the situation really well, egged on by the experiences of the other expectant moms in the same experimental baby-making program who, with what turn out to be - SPOILER ALERT - an evil breed of super-human buns-in-the-oven.
This flick has a decently creepy vibe and some occasional lite body-horror elements, and a fun cast including James Karen who plays the overly-nice but still creepy doc, I love this guy and he always brings a smile to my face. Also be on the lookout for comedienne Kathy Griffin (she of the decapitated Trump effigy infamy) as one-half of an over-the-top lesbian couple/birthing coach, and we even an get a rare horror appearance from Lisa Kudrow (Clockwatchers) who went onto star in the TV mega-hit Friends a few years later.
There's a lot of pregnancy-horror tropes on display in the flick, the story is not exactly original but I liked it enough, thanks in large part to charms of James Karen and Brooke Adams, who keep things interesting even when the threadbare story might not. As I tend to enjoy schlock more than the cream of the crop I liked that this is more It's Alive than Rosemary's Baby, and this one falls somewhere in between with a 90's veneer that has aged better than expected. I've always thought a lot of 90's cinema looked bland the first time around, but re-visiting them lately I find that they have a new found patina I agree with. One of the strangest moments in the film, aside from the threat of a super-intelligent offspring, is a bizarre rocking chair sex scene that while not played for laughs is certainly a strange, the movie has a few choice scenes of weirdness like this that kept it interesting for me.
Just as the talent onscreen is notable so too are the names behind-the-scenes, the film was also the start for director Rodman Flender (Idle Hands), and early entries in the careers of cinematographer Wally Fister (Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy) and screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris who went onto write the Bruce Campbell-starring apocalypse thriller Mindwarp (1995) before penning the more prestigious The Game (1997) for David Fincher. Notably, the score was also co-composed by 70s/80s new-waver Gary Numan, for those not in-the-know might be most familiar with his new wave classic "Cars", adding some atmosphere to the proceedings.
The Unborn covers a lot of familiar territory as far as evil-fetus stuff goes, but it does so with a steady hand, delivering creepy paranoia and sci-fi thrills along with some body-horror elements that make for a solid watch, feeling a bot like an extended version of an X-Files episode, this is definitely a slice of 90's terror worth re-discovering.
Audio/Video: The Unborn (1991) arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory with a new 2K scan from original elements, the 1080p HD image is framed in 1.85:1 widescreen, it has a nicely filmic look with a consistent layer of fine grain, color reproduction is solid and the black levels are deep with good shadow detail. Some of the latex appliances show up more than I would have noticed on TV airings of the film, but overall this is a very pleasing image with good clarity and modest amount of depth.
Audio on the disc comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA stereo track, dialogue and effects sound good, the score from new-waver Gary Numan sounds terrific in the mix, optional English subtitles are provided.
Extras are slim but appreciated, we get a brand new audio commentary from Producer/Director Rodman Flender and filmmaker Adam Simon who give us a nice candid account of working for Roger Corman, plus we get an HD trailer for the film. The single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a 2-sided wrap featuring the original one-sheet artwork on the cover and the reverse image is a scene from the film, the disc also features the same key art as the cover. Special Feature: - NEW 2K scan of the original film elements - NEW Audio Commentary with Producer/Director Rodman Flender and filmmaker Adam Simon - Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD
The Unborn (1991) is a decently creepy prego-horror, feeling like a 90's update of Rosemary's Baby by way of It's Alive, and enhanced by a solid cast and some creepy body-horror stuff, not a classic but definitely something ripe for re-discover now that we have a great looking Blu-ray from Scream Factory.
DAVID CRONENBERG COLLECTION SHIVERS (1975) - RABID (1977) - DEAD ZONE (1983)
Label: Via Vision Entertainment Region Code: A/B Rating: R Duration: 88 Minutes I 91 Minutes I 104 Minutes Audio: English Dolby Digital 1.0 I English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) Director: David Cronenberg Cast: Paul Hampton, Joe Silver, Lynn Lowry, Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore, Joe Silver, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Tom Skerritt, Brooke Adams
SHIVERS(1975) Region Code: A/B
Rating: R Duration: 88 Minutes Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono 1.0 with Optional English Subtitles Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) Cast: Paul Hampton, Joe Silver, Lynn Lowry
In director David Cronenberg's debut film we are brought into the Starliner Towers high-rise on Starline Island. An idyllic community set apart from the stress of city living. However, the wealthy residents affluent lives are about to be turned upside down by the experimentation of mad professor Emil Hobbes (Fred Doederlein) who feels that humanity has lost touch with their sensual selves. To that end he has developed a parasite that spreads like a venereal disease from host to host. He incubates his parasites inside a young woman named Annabelle Brown (Cathy Graham) whom he murders just before he slices open his own throat when he discovers that his teen petri dish has been sleeping her way through the high-rise. The teen-slut has infected numerous men who are now exhibiting an abnormal growth in their abdomen. The building's doctor Roger St. Luc (Paul Hampton) diagnoses a few of these guys and comes to realize what is happening, attempting to thwart the parasitic plague before it can spread to the other inhabitants of the building and beyond. Among the tenant we have Janine (Susan Petrie) and her husband Nicholas (Allan Kolman, SE7EN), the older but gorgeous Barbara Steel (Nightmare Castle) as a sultry lesbian and Roger's sexy nurse played by Lynn Lowry (George A. Romero's The Crazies). As the parasite spreads the infected are overcome with the urge to fornicate which further spreads the parasite. We have a great scene of Barbara Steele in a bathtub as a parasite crawls into her body in a very naughty way, and another gruesome sight of a parasite leaping into a doctor's face, burning him with an acidic secretion as he pulls them off with a pair of pliers, and a host who stuffs the parasites back into his mouth, there's some truly grotesque stuff happening, loads of uncomfortable body-horror on-screen for the gore-hounds. The design of the parasites is pretty simple, just a few inches long and super-gross. They were created by effects wizard Joe Blasco and were achieved with old school in-camera special effects and they look awesome, with loads of blood mixed in with a perverse sexuality throughout - this is total David Cronenberg. Love the scene of someone vomiting a parasite from a balcony which falls right onto an elderly couple below, and another of the parasites crawling up the walker of another older couple as the man flicks it off the walking aid and smashes it. Then there is a lesbian kiss wherein we see the throats bulge as the parasite is transferred from one to the other. On top of that we have some strange moments of sexual incest, which is always a subversive sight, the twisted movie has not completely mellowed with age, it holds up. Paul Hampton and Joe Silver as the docs trying to curtail the spread of the parasites are strong for the most part, though Hampton comes across cold which might be attributed to his character who at one point rejects Lynn Lowry's advances which is just not human. Barbara Steele and Lynn Lowry provide some gorgeous eye candy throughout, Steele was still a total fox and a feast for the eyes.
For a film debut I was a bit surprised to see that it contained all the body-horror elements we would come to associate with Cronenberg in the years to come. Shivers remains a seminal work of body-horror and it's vision of parasite driven sex crimes is disturbing stuff. If I would have been a resident at the Starliner I don't think I could have resisted the sexual charms of either Barbara Steel or Lynn Lowry. Speaking of Lowry, she had previously appeared in I Drink Your Blood (1970) and George Romero's The Crazies (1973) as well as softcore flicks like Sugar Cookies (1971) and Radley Metzger's erotic opus Score (1974), such a gorgeous woman, that final scene with her emerging from the pool is just so super seductive, I'd have given up without a fight right there and then. A note about the Shivers transfer, this appears to be the same restoration supervised and approved by David Cronenberg which was produced by Tiff Cinematheque Quebec at Technicolor in 2013. The same cut was previously issued by Arrow video, and missing about twenty-five seconds of footage trimmed from several scenes, which doesn't amount to much in the way of gore or content to be honest, but it is missing just the same and for some cinephiles who need the complete uncut version of the movie this will be a huge issue, but I am here to tell you that it doesn't amount to much and I can live without it. Shivers Special Features: - Introduction by David Cronenberg (2 Mins) - On Screen: The Making of Shivers - Vintage television program interviewing David Cronenberg, co-producer Don Carmody, as well as the cast and crew (48 Mins) - Original Theatrical Trailer (1 Mins) HD
Our review of the Arrow Video release of Shivers can be found HERE.
RABID (1977)
Region Code: A/B Rating: R Duration: 91 Minutes Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono 1.0 with Optional English Subtitles Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) Cast: Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore, Joe Silver
In Cronenberg's follow-up to Shivers he treads familiar waters, we have the attractive young woman Rose (adult film star Marilyn Chambers, Behind the Green Door) who is horribly injured in a motorcycle crash along with her boyfriend Hart (Frank Moore) With no proper hospital nearby she is brought to a plastic surgery clinic where she is operated on by Dr. Keloid (Howard Ryshpan) who has just developed an experimental new type of skin-graft, and given the opportunity he seizes the chance to test his unproven methods. The surgery appears to work and Rose recovers while in a coma at the clinic. When she awakens from the coma it becomes clear that something is not right about the young woman, she has been transformed into a contagious blood-sucker. Not of the Gothic fanged variety, what we have is something more along the lines of the body-horror we would come to know Cronenberg for. In place of a pair of fangs Rose has a needle-like tentacle protrusion which comes out of her armpit, draining blood from her victims. The new blood-sucking appendage seems to act on its own without her control, in fact she seems unaware of the new appendage and the harm that it inflicts on others. Her first victim is a patient at the clinic, a place she runs away from, continuing to drain victims as she travels across the countryside on her way back to Montreal, each time she drains someone they're transformed into a crazed cannibal, leaving behind a trail of rabid infected who continue to spread the plague. Eventually the city of Montreal is overrun with the violent infected and the city is declared to be under Martial Law. Cronenberg is working with a familiar premise for those who have watched Rabid, the spread of venereal type disease which transforms its victims - only this time on a larger scale, affecting the entire city of Montreal. Our patient-zero is played by sex-film star Marilyn Chambers, who does very good work here in her first and only venture into the world of legit movies. Given her solid performance here I am a tiny but surprised she never had a legit movie career afterward, or at least did not appear in a few more non-adult movies. Chambers has a vulnerability about her, a girl-next-door sweetness that makes it easy to sympathize with her even though she is the one spreading the plague around. She has a scene right at the end where she chooses to make a sacrifice, while it is not academy award worthy stuff she does what needs to be done for this low-budget action-horror movie, her performance is decently affecting. The movie feels like a next step movie fro Cronenberg, the gore is minimal but there are plenty of gruesome sights to take in for fans of troubling imagery, including the police gunning down a Santa at the local mall, plus Dr. Keloid becomes infected and goes rabid during a delicate surgical procedure, slicing off the finger of his nurse before gnawing on his surgical patient. The film manages to be gruesome and thought provoking is several ways, and the ideas and themes introduced throughout sort of haunted me for a while after watching it. An early Cronenberg entry that had a lot going on beyond the usual zombie-epidemic of the premise, but there's also plenty of that too. Rabid Special Features: - Introduction By Director David Cronenberg (11 Mins) - Audio Commentary with Director David Cronenberg - Interviews with David Cronenberg (21 Mins) - Documentary: The Directors with David Cronenberg (59 Mins)
THE DEAD ZONE (1983)
Region Code: A/B Rating: R Duration: 104 Minutes Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) Cast: Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Tom Skerritt, Brooke Adams
David Cronenberg's adaptation of Stephen King's novel The Dead Zone takes place in (where else?) Castle Rock, Maine, where a middle school teacher Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) is dating fellow teacher Sarah (Brooke Adams). After a night at the carnival he drops Sarah off at home, sweetly rebuffing her invitation to spend the night, saying "some things are worth waiting for". Driving home through a heavy downpour he is involved in an accident and lays in coma for five years, awaking to the news that Sarah has moved on and married since the accident.
He recovers at the hospital under the care of Dr. Sam Weizak (Herbert Lom), discovering that he now has the "gift" of second sight, foreseeing that a nurse's house is on fire and her daughter is in danger. The panicked nurse runs home and it turns out that Johnny's vision was accurate. Afterward, he becomes a sort of local celebrity weirdo, becoming a recluse to avoid the stares and inquiries of the curious in the small town who begin to fear him.
Sheriff George Bannerman (Tom Skerritt) approaches Johnny hoping to use his gift to solve a series of grisly killings which have plagued the area for years. Initially he refuses but when the Castle Rock Killer strikes again he comes around, using his gift for good, though it feels more like a curse to Johnny. When he is taken to one of the crime scenes he senses that the killer is actually Deputy Frank Dodd (Nicholas Campbell, The Shape of Things to Come), while attempting to apprehend the murderous deputy Johnny is shot by the suspects mother and the deputy kills himself in a memorable death-by-scissors scene. After the incident Johnny moves to a neighboring city where he is hired by the wealthy Roger Stuart (Anthony Zerbe) to tutor his young son Chris (Simon Craig), who is abnormally shy but takes a liking to Johnny right away. While working for Stuart Johnny meets a charismatic but crooked political candidate named Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen). After shaking hands with the Stillson his second-sight kicks in and Johnny is overcome with an apocalyptic vision of the future, of the politician's rise in power, an ascent that will culminate in a nuclear apocalypse. Now Johnny must decide is he should take matters into his own hands and change the course of the future through whatever means necessary. This is a story that holds up very well, both as a Stephen King story and as an entrancing Cronenberg entry.
The movie can be seen as making the argument that political assassination is a necessary course of action, which I found very intriguing. I've always found Cronenberg's movies to be a bit on the cold side in regard to warmth and emotion but this one is full of warmth, the chemistry between Walken and Brooke Adams is quite nice, as the former couple rekindle their relationship, fulfilling the promise of things worth waiting for. Christopher Walken is wonderful as usual, a quirky recluse with awkward hair who lives with his dad, wants to be left alone, but whose visions of the future force him to take action, it's great stuff. Martin Sheen (The Believers) is charismatic but ultimately evil senatorial candidate, and Herbert Lom (Mark of the Devil) is quite good as Dr. Sam Weizak. There is a wonderful scene of he and Johnny speaking about the morality of going back in time and killing Adolf Hitler, a conversation which sends Johnny on his assassination quest, that is so well handled by both actors. Lom is a powerhouse who many will remember as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus from the Pink Panther Movies, others will recognize him from a string of low-budget horror and exploitation movies from the 70s, he's a welcome addition to the cast here. Brooke Adams (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) always exudes a small town charm with a sweet smile and a soft spot for Walken, whose path seems destined to cross with that of Johnny, she makes for a wonderful love interest.
The movie is an odd one in the Cronenberg canon, a movie I do not feel is truly recognized as either a top-notch Cronenberg entry nor for being one of the best of the Stephen King adaptations. The Dead Zone is an enthralling watch, accentuated by a wonderful Michael Kamen score and a bittersweet final note. I do hope this Blu-ray earns the underrated flick some much deserved love from those who might have overlooked this David Cronenberg/Stephen King gem.
The Dead Zone Special Features: - Audio Commentary from screenplay writer Stephen Jones and Film Critic Kim Newman - Memories from The Dead Zone (12 Mins) with - The Look of The Dead Zone (9 Mins) - Visions and Horror from The Dead Zone (10 Mins) - The Politics of The Dead Zone (12 Mins) - Original Trailer (2 Mins) HD Audio/Video: The three-disc set arrives from Via Vision housed in a three-disc Blu-ray case, each movie appearing on its own separate disc. The films are presented in 1080p widescreen looking solid though a bit uneven, particularly Rabid which was made on the cheap and has certain limitations that show through, though of no fault to the transfer. It should be noted that the Shivers cut appears to be the same restoration supervised and approved by Director David Cronenberg which was produced by Tiff Cinematheque Quebec at Technicolor in 2013 and also appeared on the initial Arrow Video pressing in the UK, which was cut and met with the expected outcry. Arrow initiated a disc replacement program to replace that version with a fully uncut version of the movie, but the version here is that same cut which is missing about twenty-five seconds of footage. For the sake of comparison check out the video below from Arrow Video showing the differences between the R-rated cut, which is what Via Vision are offering, and the uncut version.
The audio on these disc might prove problematic for the HD purists, The Dead Zone offers an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track with optional English subtitles, sounding crisp and clean with some good depth, the Michael Kamen score sounds outstanding. However, both Rabid and Shivers both receive lossy Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono audio tracks, both tracks sound good within the confines of the lossy format, optional English subtitles are also provided.
The disc which is labeled as Region B is also playable on Region A Blu-ray players, which is great. Extras on Shivers include an introduction by David Cronenberg, a 48-minute vintage television interviewing David Cronenberg, co-producer Don Carmody, as well as the cast and crew, plus the original theatrical trailer for the movie. Onto the Rabid disc we get hour-long doc The Directors: David Cronenberg, a 1999 documentary on the filmmaker with interviews from Cronenberg, Marilyn Chambers, Deborah Harry, Michael Ironside, Peter Weller and others, a Croneberg commentary, and 21-minutes of archival interviews with the director. The Dead Zone disc carries over all the extras from the region 1 Paramount Special Collector's Edition DVD which includes four making of featurettes adding up to about 43-minutes, plus the original theatrical trailer. Via Vision's disc also includes an audio commentary from writer Stephen Jones and Film Critic Kim Newman which is quite a good listen and is carried over from the UK release from Sanctuary Video Entertainment.
The Via Vision Cronenberg Collection is a quality set, perhaps a bit on the anemic side when compared to Arrow Video's region B locked releases of Rabid and Shives, but as a budget-minded collection this is a decent package for North American buyers with a healthy dose of extras. It does lose some points for not having the complete version of Shivers and for the lossy audio on both Rabid and Shivers, but overall this is a nice Cronenberg package from Via Vision, which can be found for a great price online.
Label: Scream Factory Region Code: A Rating: R Duration: 115 Minutes Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) Director: Philip Kaufman Cast: Veronica Cartwright, Jeff Goldblum, Donald Sutherland, Leonard Nimoy, Art Hindle, Brooke Adams
Synopsis: One by one, the residents of San Francisco are becoming drone-like shadows of their former selves. As the phenomenon spreads, two Department of Health workers, Matthew (Sutherland) and Elizabeth (Adams), uncover the horrifying truth: Mysterious pods are cloning humans — and destroying the originals! The unworldly invasion grows stronger with each passing minute, hurling Matthew and Elizabeth into a desperate race to save not only their own lives, but the future of the entire human race. I first watched the sci-fi horror classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) on late night cable TV in the early eighties during a sleepover at a friend's house. As was typical of these nights he had fallen asleep on the couch and I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning watching scary stuff till I couldn't keep my eyes ope. This is how I first watched Phillip Kaufman's phenomenal and eerie remake, which was the second movie adaptation of a novel by author Jack Finney, the first adaptation came out in 1958 and starred Kevin McCarthy, who makes a great cameo in this film. Kaufman's movie opens on a barren planet somewhere in the cosmos, a planet soley inhabited by gelatinous creatures which leave the surface of the planet and make their way through space to our lovely planet Earth, where they rain down upon the city San Francisco. There they take root in the local flora and sprout pretty pink flower blossoms which are attractive to the indigenous people. San Francisco Health Department employee Elizabeth (Brooke Adams) picks one of these blossoms and takes it home where she places it in a glass of water on her nightstand hoping it will take root, which it does but not in the way she intended. Overnight the flower sprouts a pod while she sleeps, which clones and replaces her husband Geoffrey (Art Hindle, Black Christmas) with an emotionless clone. Unaware of the sinister happening she awakens in the morning and is startled by the transformation of her formerly loving partner, who suddenly treats her coldly and acts rather strangely. She confides her worry in her friend and co-worker Matthew (Donald Sutherland, Don't Look Now) who advises her to seek the advice of his celebrity psychiatrist friend Dr. David Kibner (Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek). Kibner is a psychiatrist of the "tell me how you REALLY feel" variety, and while at the party Elizabeth overhears a hysterical woman who tells Kibner that her husband is not really her husband, which perfectly captures how she feels about Geoffrey. Kibner calms the woman and advises Elizabeth that her feelings of detachment are merely her inner yearning to leave Geoffrey.
The movie does a phenomenal job of creating a sort of big city paranoia from the very beginning, everyone seems to be staring and observing, it creates a palpable sense of dread and deep-rooted paranoia. Our first good look at a pod cloning a human takes place at a bath house run by Matthew's friend, a struggling writer named Jack Bellicec (Jeff Goldblum, The Fly) and his wife Nancy (Veronica Cartwright, Alien). While Jack takes a nap a pod begins to clone him, however, he wakes up before it can finish and his wife discovers the not completely formed body, horrified and at a loss to explain what they've discovered they call Mathew who arrives to investigate. He brings with him Kibner and the group surmise that San Francisco is amidst an alien-invasion of some sort. The dread and paranoia of this one is dripping right off the screen, it gets under your skin and stays there right on through to the shocker of an ending, which as a kid watching it for the first time was a serious gut-punch, this was maybe my first downer of an ending and it made me feel small and helpless and haunted me for days. Kaufman crafted an intensely dread-filled movie with the help of screenwriter W.D. Richter who did great work re positioning the story from rural California to the metropolis of San Francisco, plus the cinematography from Michael Chapman (Hardcore) is awesome, capturing the sprawling city and bathing the paranoia in swathes of shadow and light, this is a gorgeous movie, one enhanced by some fantastic special effects, some of which are quite horrific, a scene of pods attempting to clone Mathew in his backyard is grotesque stuff. The cast is uniformly excellent beginning with Brooke Adams and Donald Sutherland who are the heart of the movie, while romance is not a high priority the two convey an affection for each other that drives their characters. Additionally Goldblum and Cartwight are fantastic in their limited roles, Cartwright is always fun in these small tasty roles, her wide-eyed wonder and terror are conveyed nicely, and Goldblum does good work at the struggling writer with a serious distaste for Nimoy's psychiatrist character. Nimoy's character is about as cold-blooded as his Star Trek character Spock, espousing 70's era psycho-babble with a cold detachment that is tone-perfect. Art Hindle plays an alien clone with a cold detachment that somehow manages to come across as more sinister than flat, which isn't easy. Everyone does good work, conveying the sense of unease, helplessness and paranoia that drives the movie.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) arrives on Collector's Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory with a brand new 2K scan of the interpositive, color reproduction and shadow detail are rich and deep, skin tones look warm and natural and there is some nice depth and clarity to the image along with some impressive fine detail. The new 2K scan looks awesome, the new color timing is impressive and does appear a bit different from the MGM Blu-ray from a few years back, looking a bit warmer in tone to my eyes.. Audio options on the disc come by way of English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 or DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, both are rich and nicely balanced, and the eerie and unusual score from Denny Zeitlin comes through with some real vibrancy. Extras on the disc include all the bonus material from the MGM Blu-ray which were pretty substantial to begin with, highlighted by the Re-Visitors from Outer Space: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pod documentary which features interviews with Director Philip Kaufman, Screenwriter W.D. Richter, Director Of Photography Michael Chapman And Actors Donald Sutherland And Veronica Cartwright. This also includes a great audio commentary from director Phillip Kaufman, plus featurettes about the sound design, special effects and cinematography of the movie. Onto the new stuff exclusive to Scream Factory's Collector's Edition we have a new audio commentary track from Author/Film Historian Steve Haberman, who has done some commentaries for Scream Factory before, notably on Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971) and The Dunwich Horror (1970). The track is loaded with facts and trivia about the original '58 film and the production and behind-the-scenes of this version of the story, it can sound a bit too scripted at times but there's no denying that this one is loaded with some great info.
Scream Factory also have new interviews with stars Art Hindle and Brooke Adams, screenwriter W.D. Richter and composer Denny Zeitlin, which are all fantastic watches. The nine-minute interview with Adams covers the audition, her non-familiarity with the original, working with the cast and crew, and she even demonstrates her wobbly-eyes from the movie. Art Hindle gets a 25 minute interview covering a lot of his career, this was more in-depth than I would have anticipated, also covering is work with Bob Clark and David Cronenberg. Composer Denny Zeitlin speaks about how he scored the movie, his approach combining the organic and electronic elements and confirming the participation of Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead on one notable scene. Screenwriter W.D. Richter speaks about adapting the story, moving it from a rural area to San Francisco. Scream Factory have not only upgraded the image of the movie with a new 2K scan but they've also upgraded the extras, this is a fantastic release from Scream Factory, which comes with a sleeve of reversible artwork and a slipcover. Special Features: - NEW 2K Scan Of The Interpositive - NEW Star-Crossed In The Invasion – An Interview With Actress Brooke Adams (9 Mins) HD - NEW Leading The Invasion – An Interview With Actor Art Hindle (25 Mins) HD - NEW Re-Creating The Invasion – An Interview With Writer W.D. Richter (16 Mins) HD - NEW Scoring The Invasion – An Interview With Composer Denny Zeitlin (16 Mins) HD - NEW Audio Commentary With Author/Film Historian Steve Haberman - Audio Commentary By Director Philip Kaufman - Re-Visitors From Outer Space, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Pod – Including - Interviews With Director Philip Kaufman, Screenwriter W.D. Richter, Director Of Photography Michael Chapman And Actors Donald Sutherland And Veronica Cartwright (16 Mins) HD - Practical Magic: The Special Effects Pod (5 Mins) HD - The Man Behind The Scream: The Sound Effects Pod – An Interview With Ben Burtt And Sound Editor Bonnie Koehler (13 Mins) HD - The Invasion Will Be Televised: The Cinematography Pod (5 Mins) HD - An episode of SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE, "Time Is Just A Place," Based On Jack Finney's Short Story, Directed By Jack Arnold (26 Mins) HD - Theatrical Trailer (2 Mins) HD - TV Spots (1 Min) - Radio Spots (5 Mins) HD - Photo Gallery (76 Images) HD Invasion of the Body Snatchers is superb slice of science fiction with some seriously horrific moments, the new Scream Factory release is top notch, loaded with bonus content, and worth the upgrade, highly recommended.
Label: Scream Factory Region Code: A Rating: R Duration: 115 Minutes Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) Director: Philip Kaufman Cast: Veronica Cartwright, Jeff Goldblum, Donald Sutherland, Leonard Nimoy, Art Hindle, Brooke Adams
Synopsis: One by one, the residents of San Francisco are becoming drone-like shadows of their former selves. As the phenomenon spreads, two Department of Health workers, Matthew (Sutherland) and Elizabeth (Adams), uncover the horrifying truth: Mysterious pods are cloning humans — and destroying the originals! The unworldly invasion grows stronger with each passing minute, hurling Matthew and Elizabeth into a desperate race to save not only their own lives, but the future of the entire human race. I first watched the sci-fi horror classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) on late night cable TV in the early eighties during a sleepover at a friend's house. As was typical of these nights he had fallen asleep on the couch and I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning watching scary stuff till I couldn't keep my eyes ope. This is how I first watched Phillip Kaufman's phenomenal and eerie remake, which was the second movie adaptation of a novel by author Jack Finney, the first adaptation came out in 1958 and starred Kevin McCarthy, who makes a great cameo in this film. Kaufman's movie opens on a barren planet somewhere in the cosmos, a planet soley inhabited by gelatinous creatures which leave the surface of the planet and make their way through space to our lovely planet Earth, where they rain down upon the city San Francisco. There they take root in the local flora and sprout pretty pink flower blossoms which are attractive to the indigenous people. San Francisco Health Department employee Elizabeth (Brooke Adams) picks one of these blossoms and takes it home where she places it in a glass of water on her nightstand hoping it will take root, which it does but not in the way she intended. Overnight the flower sprouts a pod while she sleeps, which clones and replaces her husband Geoffrey (Art Hindle, Black Christmas) with an emotionless clone. Unaware of the sinister happening she awakens in the morning and is startled by the transformation of her formerly loving partner, who suddenly treats her coldly and acts rather strangely. She confides her worry in her friend and co-worker Matthew (Donald Sutherland, Don't Look Now) who advises her to seek the advice of his celebrity psychiatrist friend Dr. David Kibner (Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek). Kibner is a psychiatrist of the "tell me how you REALLY feel" variety, and while at the party Elizabeth overhears a hysterical woman who tells Kibner that her husband is not really her husband, which perfectly captures how she feels about Geoffrey. Kibner calms the woman and advises Elizabeth that her feelings of detachment are merely her inner yearning to leave Geoffrey.
The movie does a phenomenal job of creating a sort of big city paranoia from the very beginning, everyone seems to be staring and observing, it creates a palpable sense of dread and deep-rooted paranoia. Our first good look at a pod cloning a human takes place at a bath house run by Matthew's friend, a struggling writer named Jack Bellicec (Jeff Goldblum, The Fly) and his wife Nancy (Veronica Cartwright, Alien). While Jack takes a nap a pod begins to clone him, however, he wakes up before it can finish and his wife discovers the not completely formed body, horrified and at a loss to explain what they've discovered they call Mathew who arrives to investigate. He brings with him Kibner and the group surmise that San Francisco is amidst an alien-invasion of some sort. The dread and paranoia of this one is dripping right off the screen, it gets under your skin and stays there right on through to the shocker of an ending, which as a kid watching it for the first time was a serious gut-punch, this was maybe my first downer of an ending and it made me feel small and helpless and haunted me for days. Kaufman crafted an intensely dread-filled movie with the help of screenwriter W.D. Richter who did great work re positioning the story from rural California to the metropolis of San Francisco, plus the cinematography from Michael Chapman (Hardcore) is awesome, capturing the sprawling city and bathing the paranoia in swathes of shadow and light, this is a gorgeous movie, one enhanced by some fantastic special effects, some of which are quite horrific, a scene of pods attempting to clone Mathew in his backyard is grotesque stuff. The cast is uniformly excellent beginning with Brooke Adams and Donald Sutherland who are the heart of the movie, while romance is not a high priority the two convey an affection for each other that drives their characters. Additionally Goldblum and Cartwight are fantastic in their limited roles, Cartwright is always fun in these small tasty roles, her wide-eyed wonder and terror are conveyed nicely, and Goldblum does good work at the struggling writer with a serious distaste for Nimoy's psychiatrist character. Nimoy's character is about as cold-blooded as his Star Trek character Spock, espousing 70's era psycho-babble with a cold detachment that is tone-perfect. Art Hindle plays an alien clone with a cold detachment that somehow manages to come across as more sinister than flat, which isn't easy. Everyone does good work, conveying the sense of unease, helplessness and paranoia that drives the movie.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) arrives on Collector's Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory with a brand new 2K scan of the interpositive, color reproduction and shadow detail are rich and deep, skin tones look warm and natural and there is some nice depth and clarity to the image along with some impressive fine detail. The new 2K scan looks awesome, the new color timing is impressive and does appear a bit different from the MGM Blu-ray from a few years back, looking a bit warmer in tone to my eyes.. Audio options on the disc come by way of English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 or DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, both are rich and nicely balanced, and the eerie and unusual score from Denny Zeitlin comes through with some real vibrancy. Extras on the disc include all the bonus material from the MGM Blu-ray which were pretty substantial to begin with, highlighted by the Re-Visitors from Outer Space: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pod documentary which features interviews with Director Philip Kaufman, Screenwriter W.D. Richter, Director Of Photography Michael Chapman And Actors Donald Sutherland And Veronica Cartwright. This also includes a great audio commentary from director Phillip Kaufman, plus featurettes about the sound design, special effects and cinematography of the movie. Onto the new stuff exclusive to Scream Factory's Collector's Edition we have a new audio commentary track from Author/Film Historian Steve Haberman, who has done some commentaries for Scream Factory before, notably on Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971) and The Dunwich Horror (1970). The track is loaded with facts and trivia about the original '58 film and the production and behind-the-scenes of this version of the story, it can sound a bit too scripted at times but there's no denying that this one is loaded with some great info.
Scream Factory also have new interviews with stars Art Hindle and Brooke Adams, screenwriter W.D. Richter and composer Denny Zeitlin, which are all fantastic watches. The nine-minute interview with Adams covers the audition, her non-familiarity with the original, working with the cast and crew, and she even demonstrates her wobbly-eyes from the movie. Art Hindle gets a 25 minute interview covering a lot of his career, this was more in-depth than I would have anticipated, also covering is work with Bob Clark and David Cronenberg. Composer Denny Zeitlin speaks about how he scored the movie, his approach combining the organic and electronic elements and confirming the participation of Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead on one notable scene. Screenwriter W.D. Richter speaks about adapting the story, moving it from a rural area to San Francisco. Scream Factory have not only upgraded the image of the movie with a new 2K scan but they've also upgraded the extras, this is a fantastic release from Scream Factory, which comes with a sleeve of reversible artwork and a slipcover. Special Features: - NEW 2K Scan Of The Interpositive - NEW Star-Crossed In The Invasion – An Interview With Actress Brooke Adams (9 Mins) HD - NEW Leading The Invasion – An Interview With Actor Art Hindle (25 Mins) HD - NEW Re-Creating The Invasion – An Interview With Writer W.D. Richter (16 Mins) HD - NEW Scoring The Invasion – An Interview With Composer Denny Zeitlin (16 Mins) HD - NEW Audio Commentary With Author/Film Historian Steve Haberman - Audio Commentary By Director Philip Kaufman - Re-Visitors From Outer Space, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Pod – Including - Interviews With Director Philip Kaufman, Screenwriter W.D. Richter, Director Of Photography Michael Chapman And Actors Donald Sutherland And Veronica Cartwright (16 Mins) HD - Practical Magic: The Special Effects Pod (5 Mins) HD - The Man Behind The Scream: The Sound Effects Pod – An Interview With Ben Burtt And Sound Editor Bonnie Koehler (13 Mins) HD - The Invasion Will Be Televised: The Cinematography Pod (5 Mins) HD - An episode of SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE, "Time Is Just A Place," Based On Jack Finney's Short Story, Directed By Jack Arnold (26 Mins) HD - Theatrical Trailer (2 Mins) HD - TV Spots (1 Min) - Radio Spots (5 Mins) HD - Photo Gallery (76 Images) HD Invasion of the Body Snatchers is superb slice of science fiction with some seriously horrific moments, the new Scream Factory release is top notch and worth the upgrade. Definitely a movie that holds up to repeat viewings and worth owning on Blu-ray, highly recommended.
