CHRISTMAS CLASSICS REDUX: GREMLINS (1984) (4K Ultra HD Review)

GREMLINS (1984) 

Label: Warner Bros.
Region Code: A
Rating: PG
Duration: 106 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 2160p Ultra HD (1.85:1) High Dynamic Rage (HDR) 
Director: Joe Dante 
Cast: Zach Galligan, Howie Mandel, Phoebe Cates, Dick Miller 

My youth was in part defined by what I call the Three-G's of mid-80's kiddie cinema, that would be Ghostbusters (1984), The Goonies (1985) and Gremlins (1984) - all of which I saw at either the drive-in or the cinema. The act of going to the cinema was a rare occurrence for me back then, the nearest theater was about an hour away, and I think my family only went to the movies maybe a total of five times that I can recall, and three of those were these 80' classics, so to say they had a big impact on me as a kid would be an understatement. Another defining footnote would be the not-so-minor Fourth-G, that would be the made-for-TV movie Gargoyles (1972), which is one of the first movies I remember ever watching on TV - along with Kiss Meets the Phantom of The Park - a film which gave me nightmares for weeks when I was still in the single-digits!

Director Joe Dante (The 'Burbs) was tapped by Hollywood golden-child Steven Spielberg (Jaws) to direct Gremlins because Spielberg thought Dante's Roger Corman produced Piranha (1978) was one of the best of the Jaws rip-offs. Spielberg paired Dante with screenwriter Christopher Columbus (The Goonies), and together the duo ended up making a bonafide kiddie creature/Christmas classic about a lovable fur-ball creature, a Mogwai given the name Gizmo, who when accidentally splashed with plain old tap water spawns an army of dastardly creatures called Gremlins who create havoc in a small town on Christmas Eve.  

The film has fantastic animatronic creature FX from Chris Walas (The Fly) and his team, they brought to life not just the lovable fur-ball Gizmo but the reptilian chaos-makers the Gremlins, with a uprising amount of cool-looking special effects that as a kid I found a bit horrifying, namely when Stripe is reduced to a pile of melting slime there at the end, it really pushes that PG-rating, and was in fact one of the films that spurred the PG-13 rating along with Poltergeist (1982) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) which funnily enough are all produced by Stephen Spielberg.  

The cast here is fun, with the father being played by actor/songwriter Hoyt Axton (Retribution), a character that rings more with me now that I am an oldster myself, his plight as a inventor of household gadgets is a bit sad, his whole family sort of quietly lamenting how his creations fall apart and don't work properly, as a dad I find this strangely heartbreaking. The mom played by Frances Lee McCain (Stand By Me) steals the show when she faces off against the Gremlin in her kitchen, she's a homemaker and a bad-ass, what they get away with here in a PG film includes a Gremlin exploding in the microwave! I find Zach Galligan (Waxwork) and Phoebe Cates (Fast Times At Ridgemont High), the film's teen protagonists, a bit on the bland side as 80's teenagers go, but they do have that kids next door quality and are easy enough to root for. Then we have "that guy" Dick Miller (A Bucket of Blood) as the xenophobic neighbor Mr. Futterman stealing the show, as does Polly Holliday (Flo from TV's Alice!) as the sinister real estate magnate Mrs. Deagle, doing great stuff channeling Ms. Gulch from the Wizard of Oz!  

In hindsight the film's tone is a bit uneven, you can feel it struggling to juggle the dueling ideas of screenwriter Columbus and director Dante,  but that's what I sort of love about, and it's still the entertaining thrill-ride for me now that it was at 11-years old, this is just a timeless classic and is a great introduction to warm-hearted kiddie horror for the young ones.

Audio/Video: To celebrate it's 35th anniversary Gremlins (1984) arrives on 4k Ultra HD from Warner Bros. in 2160p Ultra HD framed in the original 1.85:1 widescreen. The beloved 80's staple has always been a bit on the soft side with a stylized soft focus cinematography, so I didn't expect extreme clarity or sharpness with this 4K presentation, and I wasn't disappointed. The presentation looks perfectly natural with a consistent layer of 35mm fine film grain throughout. Things do look markedly superior to the previous Blu-rays with deeper blacks and some excellent shadow detail that reveals a few bits I've never noticed before. Gone too is the compression and artifacting the previous versions struggled with on home video. The high dynamic range does add some depth and nuance to the color palette, and fine detail is definitely increased, close-ups of the Gremlins further reveal the artistry that went into their creation by creator Chris Walas (The Fly). 

Audio on the disc comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles. Strangely we do not get a new Dolby Atmos remix, but the existing DTS audio is still solid, it's a bit sad that we don't get an Atmos remix of that phenomenal Jerry Goldsmith score.

Onto the extras we get absolutely nothing new for this 35th anniversary edition, bummer, and only a few of the extras from the original Blu-ray release, but none of the 30th Anniversary Diamond Luxe Edition exclusive extras released back in 2014, double-bummer! The 4K Ultra HD disc only offering the pair of archival audio commentaries, the being a technical track with Director Joe Dante, Producer Michael Finnell and Special Effects Artist Chris Walas, and the second is a cast commentary with Director Joe Dante again, plus Zack Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Dick Miller, and Howie Mandel.

The accompanying Blu-ray disc features the film and a selection of extras, including the audio commentaries, a 6-min of vintage behind-the-scenes EPK, and 10-mins deleted scenes with optional director's commentary. The disc is buttoned-up with trailers for both Gremlins films and a photo gallery.

Not carried over are the Diamond Luxe edition extras, that being a 29-min retrospective, a pair of 7-min digital comics, and a behind-the-scenes bit with actor Hoyt Axton on-set, plus an 18-min featurette exploring the design, creation and execution of the creature FX. These were cool extras and it's  a shame that Warner's didn't port these extras over, when upgrading to 4K I want all the extras from accompanied previous releases, and this coupled with the fact that we don't get a Dolby Atmos remix is a failure to maximize on the potential of the format. 

The 2-disc 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray combo arrives in a black eco-case with a one sided sleeve of artwork featuring new artwork that fails to improve upon any of the original movie posters, I do wish they would have gone with one of the original versions for this release, even if just repeating what they'd gone with on the previous Blu-ray releases I think it would be better than what we get here. Inside the keepcase there's a Movie Anywhere/Vudu redemption code for UHD/HDR digital copy of the film. This release also includes a slipcover with the same artwork, the disc themselves have no artwork other than the logo for the film on brown and silver backgrounds. 

Special Features: 
- Filmmakers’ Commentary with Director Joe Dante, Producer Michael Finnell and Special Effects Artist Chris Walas
- Cast Commentary with Director Joe Dante, Zack Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Dick Miller, and Howie Mandel
- Gremlins: Behind the Scenes Featurette (6 min) 
- Photo Gallery
- Additional Scenes (10 min) 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) 
- Theatrical Trailer #2 (1 min) 
- Gremlins 2: The New Batch Trailer (2 min) 

Gremlins (1984) still holds up, it's got a great Norman Rockwell via The Twilight Zone vibe and the FX looks great. The 4K Ultra HD from Warner's offers a pleasing Ultra HD upgrade, but it is unfortunate they don't give this warm-hearted kiddie horror classic a Dolby Atmos remix and a few new extras, let alone all the vintage extras. That said, Gremlins on 4K Ultra HD looks fantastic, sounds good, and is still a stone-cold 80's classic. 

A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1950) (Olive Signature Blu-ray review)

A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1950)  

Label: Olive Signature
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 66 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Roger Corman
Cast: Dick Miller, Bery Convey, Barboura Morris, Antony Carbone, Ed Nelson

In Roger Corman's horror-comedy A Bucket of Blood (1959) we have Walter Paisley (Dick Miller, Gremlins) a busboy at the Yellow Door Café, where hep-cat beatnik art-snobs gather to fellate themselves over their beat poetry and artistic endeavors. Walter dreams of being a great artist himself one day, but his lack of actual talent makes him a bit of a joke among the in-crowd. 

One night while trying to free a cat from inside his apartment wall Walter accidentally stabs the feline with a steak-knife, and while he's a bit slow he knows a good opportunity when he sees one. He takes the cats corpse and covers it modeling clay  - with knife still in it - presenting it to the espresso-slurping beatniks at the coffee house who immediately hail his macabre creation as a work of artistic genius! 

Craving further accolades by his new found art-world peers Walter struggles to find a new subject, resorting to murdering people and encasing them in clay, which seems to work just fine. The beatniks love his macabre sculptures, even the girl of his dreams, coffee house hostess Carla (Barboura Morris, The Trip), but things begin to fall apart for the gruesome sculptor when the truth of his morbid sculptures is eventually revealed. 

Roger Corman's film, written by Charles B, Griffith (Death Race 2000), is a fun time, a horror-comedy lampooning of the beatnik culture of the day, wittily written and played deliciously straight this is a satire that still works even today, it taps into something with legs. Character actor Dick Miller (The Howling) didn't get many starring roles, though he had tons of memorable one, and this rare lead was his meatiest lead. The late Miller is wonderful playing the sympathetic yet ultimately villainous
dimwitted hanger-on who wants so bad to be part of the in-crowd, and when he accidentally falls into it's good graces he's willing to do just about anything to stay in favor.   

Audio/Video: A Bucket of Blood *1859) arrives on Blu-ray from Olive Films Signature imprint, framed in 1.85:1 widescreen in 1080p HD. This is sourced from a new 4K scan from unspecified elements, looking absolutely solid, it's a bit darker with deeper blacks, film grain is more present, and contrast is significantly improved throughout. 

Audio comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with optional English subtitles. Everything sounds crisp and clean, there are no issues with hiss or distortion I could pick-up on, though it does sound it's vintage, there's not a lot of depth but the score from Fred Katz (The Wasp Woman) sounds terrific. 

Last year Olive Films released a bare-bones DVD version of the film, so I was a bit surprised when they announced a new extras-laden special edition of the film to be released on their Signature imprint, not unlike what they did with The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. First up we get an audio commentary from Elijah Dreener, director of the 'That Guy Dick Miller' documentary, who deep dives into the film and the career of Dick Miller, touching on the cast and crew both in front of the camera and behind. Also touching on the filming techniques and all sorts of production trivia. If you're a fan of the film this is the sort of track that is essential viewing. 

We also get a 7-min interview with legendary director Roger Corman speaking about the making of the film, plus a 12-min interview with the late Dick Miller and his Lainie Miller, with the pair recalling how they were married around the time of the film, working with Corman and the history of the Walter Paisley character in his filmography. 

We also get an archival audio interview with screenwriter Charles B. Griffin who speaks about the film and several others he worked on with Roger Corman. There's also a 7-min video essay comparing the original script to the finished film, noting scenes that didn't make the cut. 

A nifty extra is a rare German prologue for the film that runs about 10-min long, a strange bit added on by the German distributor so they could market this s a sequel to House of Wax! There's also a rough-looking silent super-8 digest version of the film that runs about 8-min. Extras on the disc are buttoned-up with a pair of 2-min theatrical trailers, and a 5-min gallery of newly-discovered on-set photography with narration by Elijah Drenner. 

The single-disc release arrives in a clear Blu-ray keepcase with a cool-looking sleeve of artwork, which looks to be a new illustration, though I could not find a credit for the artist. The inside of the wrap features a red-tinted scene from the film with the disc itself featuring a motif borrowed from the new illustration. As part of the Olive Signature series the film also get a slipbox featuring the same artwork, and an 8-page collector's booklet with a new essay on the film from Caelum Vatnsdal, 
author of 'You Don't Know Me, But You Love Me: The Lives Of Dick Miller'. He describes  the film as the sturdy, quieter older brother to Corman's Little Shop of Horrors, which is basically a retread of this film, then going into the myriad of adaptations of the film through the years. The booklet also features stills from the film. 

Special Features: 
- “Creation Is. All Else is Not” – Roger Corman on A Bucket of Blood (8 min) 
- “Call Me Paisley” – Dick and Lainie Miller on A Bucket of Blood (12 min) 
- Audio commentary by Elijah Drenner, director of That Guy Dick Miller
- Archival audio interview with screenwriter Charles B. Griffith (20 min) 
- “Bits of Bucket” – Visual essay comparing the original script to the finished film (7 min) 
- 8-Page Collector's Booklet with Essay by Caelum Vatnsdal, author of You Don't Know Me, But You Love Me: The Lives of Dick Miller
- Rare Prologue from German Release (10 min) 
- Super 8 “digest” version (8 min) 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
- German Theatrical Trailer (2 min) 
- Gallery of newly-discovered on-set photography (5 min) 

A Bucket of Blood (1959) is a fun lampooning of beatnik culture, starring the beloved character actor Dick Miller in his only starring role, which immediately makes this a must-own for me. I love that we finally have a version of the film on Blu-ray that is dripping with cool extras with some sweet packaging, this is on par with Olive Signature's excellent release of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, so get it before it gone. 

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Olive Films presents Roger Corman's A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1959) on DVD May 29th

A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1959) 

Label: Olive Films 
Release Date: May 29th 2018 
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 66 Minutes
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Director: Roger Corman 
Cast: Dick Miller, Bert Convy, Barboura Morris, Ed Nelson, Antony Carbone 

A career highlight, director Roger Corman’s A Bucket of Blood has much in common with his black-humor horror flick The Little Shop of Horrors and the post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi gem Gas-s-s-s.

In the immortal words of Hippocrates, “Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting ...” Hippocrates was onto something.

A Bucket of Blood, directed by Roger Corman (The Trip), is the best of the genre hyphenates, a black-comedy-beatnik-culture-horror film. The masterful Corman (recipient of an honorary Academy Award® in 2010 for “his rich engendering of films and filmmakers”), often referred to as the Pope of Pop Culture, delivers on every level in a film packed with notable character actors including cult-favorite Dick Miller (The Trip, The Wild Angels) in the lead role of Walter, a busboy who dreams of creating the perfect work of art. Also featured are Barboura Morris (The Trip, The Haunted Palace) as Carla, the woman of Walter’s dreams, and Bert Convy (Semi-Tough) as undercover cop Lou Raby.

Influenced by the artists that circle his orbit at The Yellow Door Café, busboy Walter ventures into the world of sculpting where he can nurture the Rodin that lives inside of him. The downside is that his subjects are dead – by his hand. His beginnings, both humble and accidental, start with a small statue called “Dead Cat.” Unfortunately, “Dead Cat” is followed by “Murdered Man.” By the time we reach Walter’s interest in the female form …. well, you get the picture.

A Bucket of Blood is written by Charles B. Griffith (Death Race 2000), photographed by Jacques R. Marquette (Burnt Offerings), edited by Anthony Carras (The Comedy of Terrors), with music by Fred Katz (The Little Shop of Horrors) and art direction by Dan Haller (Pit and the Pendulum).

THE 'BURBS (1989) (Shout Select Blu-ray Review)

THE 'BURBS (1989) 
Collector's Edition 

Label: Shout Select
Region Code: A
Rating: PG
Duration: 102 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Joe Dante
Cast: Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Rick Ducommun, Corey Feldman, Wendy Schaal, Dick Miller, Robert Picardo 

Picking my favorite film by director Joe Dante is damn difficult, he's made so many classic cult-films, his off-kilter vision of weird Americana has always fascinated me, when I was a kid it was the obvious stuff like Gremlins (1984) and Explorers (1985) that were at the top of my list, as a teen I went back and discovered his earlier horror-stuff, Piranha (1978) and The Howling (1981), but it's the suburban slice of paranoia The 'Burbs (1989) at the end of the 80's that I come back to more often than any other, a ensemble-cast comedy that's weird, a bit creepy, and wonderful. It stars Tom Hanks who was coming off a string of 80's comedies that I don't think did very well, but all of which I love, from the spy-comedy The Man with One Red Shoe (1984), the home-owner's nightmare of The Money Pit (1986) to the not-great but fun Dragnet (1987), I just love Hanks' 80's comedies, sure, he's great in all the dramas and "grown-up" movie he did after but his work in the eighties is my favorite stuff.

In The 'Burbs we have a small group of neighbors living in a suburban cul-de-sac, our main guy is Ray Peterson (Tom Hanks), an average family-man on "vacation" for a week, his wife Carol (Carrie Fisher, Star Wars)  wants him to go for a weekend getaway to a mountain lake, but instead he stays at home and along with a trio of busy-body neighbors get completely wrapped-up in paranoia and suspicion when new neighbors, the Klopeks, mysteriously move into a house on the street seemingly overnight. Their arrival coincides with the disappearance of elderly neighbor Walter (Gale Gordon), leaving behind his lawn cigar dropping ankle-biter dog "Queenie" and his treasured hair piece. The nosy neighborhood's suspicions are bolstered by a weird light show emanating from the Klopek's basement, in addition to some late night digging in the backyard, they're a kooky new addition the neighborhood and Ray and his crew are certain something awful is happening in the neighborhood, and the Klopek's are behind it.  

The 'Burbs has an awesome ensemble cast, lead by Hanks who is joined by comedian Rick Ducommun (Groudnhog Day) as his super-nosy neighbor, the guy instigates a lot of the paranoia and suspicion about the new neighbors with a local tale of a soda jerk turned homicidal maniac. Then we have Bruce Dern (Silent Running) as an eccentric 'Nam veteran named Rumsfield, and his wife Bonnie (Wendy Schaal, Innerspace), plus Cory Feldman (The Lost Boys) as the neighborhood teen delinquent who eggs on his neighbors paranoia, inviting his teen friends over to enjoy the show as it unfolds, he also enjoys watching Bonnie weed the lawn in her very short-shorts. The Klopeks are quite a weird bunch themselves, played by Courtney Gains (the evil-ginger Malachai from Children of the Corn), Brother Theodore and Henry Gibson (The Blues Brothers), Gains as primitive looking salvic-hillbilly Hans is just visually fun, while Henry Gibson as Dr. Werner Klopek is charmingly creepy as the family patriarch, meanwhile Brother Theodore is a more gruff nut with a bad temper.

The film has a Twilight Zone feel about it, particularly "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" infused with Dante's skewed view of Americana and love of horror. The cast make it fun, Hanks is your every man drawn into madness by his colorful neighbors, he seems the sensible one, but when what appears to be a human femur bone is unearthed by his dog on the property line he shares with the Klopeks common sense goes out the window and an ill-advised 'welcome to the neighborhood' visit to the neighbors goes awry, leading to further distrust and strangeness, including an all out assault on the new neighbor's property. 

The small community comedy plays well for me year after year, holding up to annual viewings with a parade of jokes and sight gags, including a fun Sergio Leone parody, and a fun devil-worshipping nightmare suffered by Hanks character, allowing Dante to go full-tilt weird for a bit, before settling back into this off-kilter take of neighborly paranoia, The 'Burbs is a top notch suburban comedy as only Joe Dante could have made, the guy is so underrated in my opinion. 

Audio/Video: The 'Burbs (1989) arrives on single-disc Collector's Edition Blu-ray from Shout! Factory imprint Shout Select with a new 2017 transfer sourced from the interpositive, framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. It looks great, grain is nicely managed though it does level-up during a few of the darker scenes. Colors look accurate and nicely saturated, and the shadow detail is ample This is a great looking release from Shout Select, kudos to them for  ]giving The "Burbs some love. The lone audio options is audio is an English DTS-HD MA  Stereo 2.0 with optional English subtitles. The track is strong and robust, I love this Jerry Goldsmith score, it's fun and goody and perfectly compliments this slice of paranoid, off-kilter Americana.

Onto the extras, Shout Select have licensed some very cool, previously existing extras that were also featured on Arrow Video's region B locked release a few years ago, we get the audio commentary with Writer Dana Olsen, Moderated By Author Calum Waddell, oplus the feature length making of doc 'There Goes the Neighborhood" from High Rising Productions, featuring interviews with Director Joe Dante, Actors Corey Feldman, Courtney Gaines, And Wendy Schaal, Director Of Photography Robert M. Stevens, And Production Designer James H. Spencer - a fun making of loaded with lots of making of stories, if you're a fan of the film this is a must-watch! Also carried over is Joe Dante's workprint version of the film, sourced from Dante's personal VHS copy of the longer version of the film containing extended, alternate and deleted scenes. The quality is sub par but I loved watching this and noticing the differences, if you're a fan this is another must-watch extra. One extra notably not carried over from the Arrow Video release is a theatrical versus workprint video comparison, too bad they didn't carry it over. We also get the alternate ending which has been featured on the previous U.S. DVD and Blu-ray releases for the film, plus a trailer, a behind-the-scenes gallery, a still and poster gallery, and then some new Shout Select exclusive extras! 

The new stuff comes by way of new interviews with Director Joe Dante, Editor Marshall Harvey and Director Of Photography (Additional Scenes) John Hora - all adding up to about forty-minutes worth of stuff. I could listen/watch to Joe Dante talk about movies (his or anyone's) for hours, this interview was apparently filmed at the same time as his interview on the Shout Select' Matinee (1993) Blu-ray release, it touched on a lot of the same stuff as his interviews on the making of doc but there's also some new stuff.

The single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork, the a-side is a new illustration from  artist Pau. Shipper, the b-side featuring the familiar one-sheet movie poster that has adorned previous releases. The first run of this release also features a slipcover (o-card) featuring the same Paul Shipper illustration. As with all of the Shout Select slipcovers it features a numbered spine on one side or the option to display it without the number on the spine.  The disc itself features a blue tinted image of Hanks from the film. 

Special Features: 
- NEW 2017 2K Scan Of The Interpositive
- NEW Interviews With Director Joe Dante (18 min) HD 
- NEW Interviews With Editor Marshall Harvey (10 min) HD 
- NEW Interviews With Director Of Photography (Additional Scenes) John Hora (11 min) HD 
- Audio Commentary With Writer Dana Olsen, Moderated By Author Calum Waddell
- There Goes The Neighborhood: The Making Of The ‘Burbs – Includes Interviews With Director Joe Dante, Actors Corey Feldman, Courtney Gaines, And Wendy Schaal, Director Of Photography Robert M. Stevens, And Production Designer James H. Spencer (67 min) HD 
- Alternate Ending (7 min) 
- Original Workprint From Joe Dante’s Archive (Includes Deleted And Extended Scenes)(106 min) 
- Behind-The-Scenes Still Gallery (6 min) HD 
- Stills And Posters Gallery (8 min) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD 

The 'Burbs is a hilarious cult-classic, the crowning achievement of both Joe Dante and Tom Hanks in my opinion, the pair are magic together and that alchemy is only enhanced more so by the great ensemble cast who feed off one another to a delightful degree. The new Blu-ray from Shout! is fantastic, it looks and sounds great and the combination of new and old extras are awesome. I love that Shout! in quick succession have Blu'd both Joe Dante's Matinee (1993) and now The 'Burbs (1989) with loads of extras, both releases are highly recommended and long overdue.

Blu-ray Review: The Terror (1963)

THE TERROR (1963)
[Blu-ray + DVD Combo]

Label: HD Cinema Classics
Region: [Blu-ray] Region FREE [DVD] 0 NTSC
Rating: R
Duration: 79 mins
Video: 1080p 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 with Spanish Subtitles
Director: Roger Corman (Jack Nicholson, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Hill, Monte Hellman, uncredited)
Cast: Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Dick Miller, Dorothy Neuman, Sandra Knight
Tagline: A New Classic of Horror Comes to the Screen!

Film: Roger Corman's The Terror is set in France in 1806. Lt. Andre Duvalier (Jack Nicholson) is a soldier in Napoleon's army who's become separated from his regiment, he awakens on a beach where he encounters a hauntingly beautiful woman named Helena (Sandra Knight) whom walks into the surf and disappears. Thinking she must have been overcome by the waves Duvalier follows her in and nearly drowns himself all the while being dive bombed from above by a vicious hawk. Losing consciousness he awakens (again) inside the villa of Katrina (Dorothy Neumann), an old witchy woman. He inquires if she knows of the young woman and she replies that he must have imagined her during his near fatal drowning.

Undeterred Andre further searches for the woman through the forest until he comes to the castle of Baron Von Leppe (Boris Karloff, Frankenstein) who reluctantly allows Andre to enter after he flashes his Napoleonic credentials. As if Nicholson and Karloff weren't enough for a ticket to this film legendary b-movie character actor Dick Miller (Bucket of Blood, Gremlins) also appears as the Baron's major domo. Inside the castle Andre happen upon a portrait of a woman whom bares an uncanny resemblance to the mysterious woman he seeks. The Baron informs him that he is mistaken as the woman in the portrait, his wife, died twenty years prior. Andre is obsessed with the young woman and continues to search for the woman's identity despite everyone's insistence that she is merely a figment of his distressed mind. He continues to encounter her but starts to wonder if he has gone mad, is she an apparition, a restless spirit, who is she really? And how does the witch Katrina figure into the story?

The acting is suitably melodramatic with pre-New Hollywood Nicholson giving a decent performance, he's definitely charming but not nearly French, fun stuff. Karloff seems a bit lost at times, he gives it a good go though but it's obvious this is just another paying gig. While the film is uneven, it's a wonder that the film is as watchable as it is given it's strange production, the sets are fantastic stuff. The towering Gothic castle, a macabre cemetery steeped in fog, creepy crypts and eerie red, green and blue lighting really go a long way towards creating an entertaining and atmosphere spookfest. It's a bit slow at times but the film's final 15 minutes are wonderfully twisted and memorable. 

The legend of this film holds that once wrapping on The Raven, which starred Boris Karloff as Dr. Scarabus, Corman immediately went into production on The Terror utilizing sets from The Raven and A Haunted Place. He tossed Karloff a few extra bucks to remain on for four additional days of shooting. While Corman shot the bulk of the film with Karloff in four days the film's production went on for nine more months, making it one of the longest Corman shoots ever I would imagine. In those nine months Corman left it to a handful of aspiring directors on staff to shoot second unit, and they're notable names, too. They included star Jack Nicholson who would go onto direct the Going South among others, Francis Ford Coppola  (The Godfather)who that same year would direct Dementia 13 and reportedly shot for 11 days only get 10 minutes of footage in this film, Jack Hill (Spider Baby, Coffy) and Monte Hellman (Two Lane Blacktop). Not too shabby.  

DVD: The film gets a AVC encoded 1.78:1 widescreen transfer in glorious 1080p HD. More so than either the Poor Pretty Eddie or Dementia 13 Blu-rays from HD Cinema Classics I thoroughly enjoyed the 1080p bump here. Perhaps because this film has for so long languished in the public domain that to see a nice HD presentation with vibrant colors, nice deep blacks and digitally restored has breathed new life into a film I've seen numerous times but never so eye popping as this. So, it looks pretty great, better than we've ever seen it on the home entertainment front, but there is that usual HD Cinema Classics application of DNR which removes the film grain which in turn smears the fine detail and textures, particularly in the facial features but I found the plasticine tendencies less bothersome here than with previous HDCC Blu's. Audio option include both Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Mono with optional Spanish subtitles. The 5.1 opens it up a bit but only minimally, the 2.0 is thin but adequate for what it is. None of the HDCC Blu's I've reviewed feature lossless audio, c'mon folks it's 2011 let's get with it. Special features are limited to a trailer and a digital restoration trailer. That's a bummer but to see the film given a 1080p spit shine is pretty great, too.

Special Features:

- Movie Trailer (1:15) 1080p
- Before and After Restoration Demo (1:06) 1080p
- DVD of the film with same special features in SD.

Verdict: In years past I've not found myself particularly enamored with this film, no doubt the lacklustre presentations we've seen haven't exactly aided the film's reputation. HD Cinema Classics have given us a very attractive 1080p presentation of the film that enhanced my viewing experience, it's like watching it again for the first time. The Terror while not great is quite an entertaining Gothic melodrama from the master of b-movie cinema with decent performances from a pre-New Hollywood Nicholson and late-era Karloff. Neither are at their peak but this Blu-ray comes recommended, it's a definte good time. 3.5 outta 5