THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 (1986) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 (1986) 

Label: Scream Factory
Release Date: April 19th 2016 
Region Code: A
Duration: 101 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, Stereo 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Tobe Hooper
Cast: Bill Johnson, Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams, Dennis Hopper, Jim Siedow, Ken Evert, Lou Perryman, Chris Douridas

A decade after the original terror-classic hit the cinema director Tobe Hooper resurrected the Sawyer cannibal-clan with an offbeat sequel infused with pitch black humor and outrageous gore gags, and it didn't land well with audiences at the time. Catching up with the Sawyer clan some thirteen years after the events of the first movie we find the Texans have traded in the nightmare farmhouse for a spacious labyrinthine underground maze located beneath an abandoned amusement park. They've also gone from hacking up hippies to eviscerating '80s yuppies. Madman patriarch Drayton Sawyer is now touring Texas in a lunch truck winning chili competitions along the way. Drayton's secret to winning is simple, "don't skimp on the meat. I've got a real good eye for prime meat.".

The movie begins with a pair of douche-nozzle yuppies driving to Dallas for a wild weekend of debauchery when a pickup truck pulls out in front of them on a stretch of bridge, they're stunned when Leatherface wielding a chainsaw appears in the bed of the truck and attacks the car with his trusty chainsaw while also puppeteering a desiccated corpse, presumably that of the Hitchhiker from the first movie. We're only a few minutes in and the movie is off to a phenomenal start, setting the tone and pace with black humor and terrific gore gags with the driver losing half his head to the blade of the chainsaw. 

As it turns out the yuppies were live on-air with a local radio DJ named Stretch (Caroline Williams) during the entire scream filled encounter with the Sawyers and the horrifying incident was caught on audio tape. A former Texas Ranger named Lefty (Dennis Hopper, Mad Dog Morgan) arrives on scene to investigate the bizarre accident/deaths. You see, Lefty is the uncle of Sally and Franklin from the original movie and he won't stop until he has avenged their deaths, he's been on the trail of the Sawyers for a decade. When the audio recording comes to his attention he doesn't so much team-up with Stretch as use her as live bait to attract the attention of the sadistic cannibals, which he does by having her replay the broadcast live on air on a loop. Fearing the tape will lead to their discovery Leatherface and his 'Nam obsessed brother Chop Top (Bill Moseley, The Devil's Rejects) arrive at the radio station and terrorize the DJ who's clearly in over her head with this mess. 

Leatherface's dead-skin mask this time around is my favorite incarnation of the chainsaw wielding maniac, it looks great with the actors mouth salivating wildly beneath it, flicking his tongue along his crooked toothed mouth. Mosely as Chop Top is one of my favorite characters of any horror movie, a bizarre and skittish nut job who picks away at his mangled scalp with bent wire coat hanger, eating the tasty bits of flesh he can scratch away. He's one of the most quotable characters in any horror film, even his iconic portrayal of Otis from The Devil's Rejects is only a close second, this is definitely his signature performance in my book. Also, you cannot watch this movie and not appreciate the demented performance of Jim Siedow as Drayton Sawyer, the cantankerous and eccentric patriarch of the Sawyer family, his dialogue and delivery are creepily side-splitting, he perfectly embodies the tone and spirit of the demented production, he's the dark heart of the movie.

At the radio station Leatherface and Chop Top terrorize Stretch, this is the stuff of nightmares, the way the scene is eerily lit with deep shadows takes it to the next level. When her producer L.G. (Lou Perryman) returns to the station from a coffee-run he gets a hammer to the skull after he finds Chop Top raiding the vinyl archives of the station. Somehow Stretch is able to use her charm to coerce the seemingly love-struck Leatherface into letting her live, Chop Top believes she's dead and the gruesome duo leave with L.G.'s corpse in their pickup. Lefty arrives a short time later and he and Stretch follow them to their underground lair beneath a condemned amusement park, where they find a nightmare carnival of macabre weirdness buried in the tunnels below. 

Dennis Hopper was fresh off David Lynch's Blue Velvet when he came onto this one and his character is nearly as as unhinged as Frank, though it is possible that during this period of drugs and excess in the '80s that the coked-up Hopper was just a nut. He would next go on to appear in River's Edge, and these three movie are probably my favorite of his. Obsessed with revenging the death of his nephew Lefty enters the underground lair with an armament of chainsaws , so you had best prepare yourself for the glory of dueling chainsaws! Hats off to the production designers for the surreal atmosphere and lighting of the underground sets, it definitely creates a surreal and nightmarish tone which is appropriate for this demented sequel, a movie that only Tobe Hopper and Cannon Films could have made together. 

The film has received criticism for straying a bit  far from the original in terms of tone and pitch, but I have always loved this damned movie to death. It's straight-up demented from start to finish, my favorite sequence being the assault on the radio station, with Chop Top and Leatherface tormenting poor Stretch. You wanna see strange, how about Leatherface mock-fucking her with his chainsaw spraying a slurry of shaved ice and Big Red soda over her face, a surreal nightmare of sexual innuendo. Caroline Williams (Contracted) screams her head off throughout, in my opinion this is one of the most memorable scream queen performances of them all, hear piercing screams always shred my nerves. Another nice touch is the reenactment the infamous dinner scene from the first movie, a nightmare scenario that comes off even creepier than the original, that grotesque makeup f/x work on Grandpa Sawyer is a thing of disgusting beauty. 

While the original is a notoriously bloodless shocker the sequel is throws the gore right in your face, dripping with grue thanks to the talents of gore f/x genius Tom Savini (The Burning) and his crew, which included Bart Mixon (Killer Klowns from Outer Space), John Carl Buechler (From Beyond), Gabe Bartalos (The Thing), Gino Crognale (The Hidden) and John Vulich (TerrorVision). When L.G. is brought back to the Sawyer kitchen they flay the skin from his legs and chest with an electric carving knife before peeling off his face and placing the dead-skin mask onto the face of an increasingly hysterical Stretch. It's an over-the-top sequel that just layers on the excess and over-acting and I love it for it.

Audio/Video: Scream Factory have gone above and beyond for this gore-drizzled sequel with not one, but two HD presentations of the movie. We have the original HD master found on the MGM Blu-ray which was supervised by cinematographer Richard Kooris, plus a brand new 2K scan of the interpositive film elements. The new transfer is nothing short of superb, the candy colored colors are vibrant with excellent contrast and deep blacks with very nice shadow detail, which is improved over the original HD master. There's also a fine layer of film grain with some very nice clarity and depth to the image, this is a wonderful new HD transfer. 

Audio chores are handled by a very capable English DTS-HD MA 5.1 option, there's also a more authentic stereo track for the audio purists. The surround mix sounds great with some nice atmospheric use of the surrounds to great affect. Both audio tracks sports excellent fidelity with a clean, crisp presentation that has some nice depth to it, plus the sweet '80s soundtrack featuring The Cramps, Timbuk 3 and The Lords of the New Church, among others, comes through clean and strong. Optional English subtitles are provided. 

Onto the extras on disc one we have a great blend of new and old stuff, this release is packed to the hilt with goodies. Those familiar with the 'Gruesome Edition' from MGM will recognize the selection of deleted scenes, image galleries, trailers and TV spots ported over for the new edition, plus both of the audio commentaries from the MGM Blu-ray with actors Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams and special effects makeup creator Tom Savini moderated by Michael Felsher, and a second with director Tobe Hooper moderated by David Gregory of Severin Films. 

Now onto the tasty new stuff on disc one, we have a new audio commentary to go along with the new trasnfer from director of photography Richard Kooris, production designer Cary White, script supervisor Laura Kooris and property master Michael Sullivan. The track is a good listen, a bit technical and not on par with the original commentaries in my opinion, but these commentaries do provide a wealth of information about the making of the movie. There's also thirty-minutes of Extended Outtakes from the 'It Runs in the Family' doc featuring never before seen interview footage with the late screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson and actor Lou Perryman. The actual 'It Runs in the Family' disc can be found on disc two. There is also a 44-minute Behind-the-Scenes Footage Compilation from Tom Savini’s personal video archives, we get to see some candid footage of the special effects being performed for film.  

Onto disc two of the set we have more new stuff and an old favorite, the old comes by way of the aforementioned 'It Runs in the Family' doc produced by Michael felsher and red shirt Pictures, the six part feature-length documentary featuring interviews with screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson, actors Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams, Bill Johnson, Lou Perryman, and special makeup effects artist Tom Savini, which is still a great watch, this is the definitive making-of doc for the movie. The new stuff begins with the House of Pain doc, a 43-minute collection of interviews with make-up effects artists Bart Mixon, John Carl Buechler, Gabe Bartalos, Gino Crognale and John Vulich, and for horror fans these behind-the-scenes peeks at the making of gore classics are always a blast, tales of creating the iconic gore gags, who worked on what, behind-the-scenes tom foolery and problems bringing these effects to film, with clips from the movie, behind-the-scenes images and video footage. 

Yuppie Meat is an 18-minute interview with actors Chris Douridas and Barry Kinyon who played the yuppies from the bridge massacre scene at the start of the film, they speak about how they came to appear in the movie and life post TCM2. I didn't realize that Douridas who played Gunner, the yuppie with the novelty glasses, was the host of KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, a L.A. radio show I first heard back in '93 when Geffen records sent out a promotional cassette of Beck's performance on the show to promote the album 'Mellow Gold', which has nothing to do with the movie, but I thought that was neat. If you're a Beck fan you can stream that early performance which features a few choice rarities right here: http://www.kcrw.com/music/shows/morning-becomes-eclectic/beck-5

Up next is Cutting Moments, a 17-minute interview with editor Alain Jakubowicz who tells of how he sort of saved Tobe Hooper's Invaders from Mars in the editing room. The director worked on quite a few Canon Films during their '80s heyday, including work on Hooper's TCM2. 

Behind the Mask is an 14-minute interview with stunt man and Leatherface performer Bob Elmore who doubled for Leatherface actor Bill Johnson, appearing in many of the memorable scenes. He speaks about how Johnson couldn't lift the heavy chainsaw used in the movie and how he had to take on a larger role in the movie, admitting he is not an actor, and that Hooper yelled at him a lot to get the performances out of him.  

The last of the new extras is a new episode of Horror's Hallowed Ground with host Sean Clark, revisiting many of the locations used in the movie, most of which have been torn down and renovated beyond recognition. Honestly this was somewhat of a let down, but Clark is a witty guy and I love these location pilgrimages he does. Obviously Austin has gone through a lot of changes in the past thirty years, and it doesn't make for the best location visits but Clark and the crew do their do diligence, even heading out to Bastrop, Texas to the scene of the bridge scene and the long-gone site of the Texas Battle Land amusement park.

Separate from the disc extras we have a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring the very cool illustration fro Joel Robinson and the original one-sheet movie poster which was a send up of The Breakfast Club. Robinson's new artwork is also featured on cardboard slipcover for the standard blu keep case. 

Disc 1: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part Two (Brand New HD Transfer)
- NEW 2016 2K HD scan of the inter-positive film element
- NEW Audio Commentary with director of photography Richard Kooris, production designer Cary White, script supervisor Laura Kooris and property master Michael Sullivan
- Audio Commentary with director Tobe Hooper moderated by David Gregory of Severin Films 
- Audio Commentary with actors Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams and special effects makeup creator Tom Savini moderated by Michael Felsher 
- NEW Extended Outtakes from It Runs in the Family featuring L.M. Kit Carson and Lou Perryman (30 Mins)
- NEW Behind-the-Scenes Footage Compilation from Tom Savini’s archives (44 Mins)
- Alternate Opening Credit Sequence (2 Mins) 
- Deleted Scenes (11 Mins) 
- Still Galleries – posters and lobby cards, behind-the-scenes photos, stills and collector’s gallery (60 Images) HD 
- Theatrical Trailers (2 Mins) HD 
- TV Spots (3 Mins) HD 

Disc 2: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part Two (Original HD Transfer)
- MGM’s original HD Master with color correction supervision by director of photography Richard Kooris
- NEW House of Pain – a interview with make-up effects artists Bart Mixon, John Carl Buechler, Gabe Bartalos, Gino Crognale and John Vulich (43 Mins) HD 
- NEW Yuppie Meat – a interview with actors Chris Douridas and Barry Kinyon (19 Mins) HD
- NEW Cutting Moments – a interview with editor Alain Jakubowicz (17 Mins) HD 
- NEW Behind the Mask – a interview with stunt man and Leatherface performer Bob Elmore (14 Mins) HD
- NEW HORROR’S HALLOWED GROUNDS – revisiting the locations of the film – hosted by Sean Clark plus a special guest (25 Mins) HD 
- It Runs in the Family – a six part feature-length documentary featuring interviews with screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson, actors Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams, Bill Johnson, Lou Perryman, special makeup effects artist Tom Savini and more (84 Mins) HD 

I love TCM2, it is a gruesome and black veined terror-comedy, a full-on demented slice of weirdness and my favorite entry in the entire TCM series. It's hard to deny the horror-genius of this movie which was once panned across the board, I am pleased to see that the public opinion on this one has turned towards the positive these past few years, this is a straight-up classic. The new Blu-ray from Scream Factory is one of my favorite releases of the year so far, this is a must-own edition with a sweet new 2K HD scan and loads of awesome extras, well worth the upgrade. 

EATEN ALIVE (1977) (Arrow Video Blu-ray Review)

EATEN ALIVE (1977) 

Label: Arrow Video 

Release Date: September 21st 2015

Certificate: 18

Duration: 91 Minutes

Region Code: A/B/ 1/2

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio: English Uncompressed PCM Mono 1.0 with Optional English SDH Subtitles

Director: Tobe Hooper

Cast: William Finley, Mel Ferrer, Marilyn Burns, Janus Blythe, Carolyn Jones, Neville Brand, Stuart Whitman, Roberta Collins, Kyle Richards, Robert Englund

Eaten Alive (1977) is a very strange movie all the way around, it was Tobe Hooper's follow-up to the seminal shocker The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and it centers around the run down Starlight Hotel located somewhere in the rural Louisiana bayou. An unattractive roadside hotel run by a Southern-fried weirdo named Judd (Neville Brand, Without Warning), a grizzled, middle-aged man with a wooden leg who deliriously alternates between a somewhat charming Southern nut and a a completely unhinged scythe-wielding, mumbling murdering menace. 

We have several disparate groups of patrons convening at the Starlight Hotel, beginning with a kind-hearted whore named Clara Wood (Roberta Collins, Caged Heat) who has just been fired from a brothel run by Miss Hattie (Carolyn Jones, from The Munsters!) when she won't give-up the backdoor to a local redneck named Buck. The horny backdoor man is played by future Freddy Kruger star Robert Englund. In the opening scene he's trying for some sweet backdoor action with the classic line, "My name's Buck, I'm raring to fuck", a line Tarantino famously paraphrased in Kill Bill Vol.1.  When she refuses to take in the behind Clara is thrown from the brothel by the madame and finds herself at the Starlight, but when the moralistic Judd realizes she one of the local whores he makes quick work of her with his pitchfork before feeding her to the hungry crocodile which he keeps in a swamp right next the hotel. 

Sometime later the Faye (Marilyn Burns) and her wildly disturbed husband Roy (William Finley, The Funhouse) arrive at the starlight with their young daughter Angie (Kyle Richards) and set-up for the night in a room, but not before the croc eats their pet dog in a frenzied scene. Around the same time Harvey Wood (Mel Ferrer, Nightmare City) and his daughter Libby (Crystin Sinclaire, Ruby) arrive on scene, looking for Harvey's runaway daughter Clara, who was the whore Judd just fed to his croc.  Then after a night of drinking and playing pool Buck (Englund) arrives back at the Starlight to Judd's dismay with his girlfriend Lynette (Janus Blythe, The Hills Have Eyes) and the bloody slaughter begins as the demented Judd sets about murdering damn near everyone and feeding them to his croc.

The set-up is simple and sleazy, and the tone of the movie is very surreal, having been shot completely on  a sound stage the movie is washed in an brain-searing red glow, as if a blood red neon-moon was ominously shining down from the sky, plus there's an impenetrable thick fog which enshrouds the area in an otherworldly blanket of fear. It establishes a claustrophobic vibe that seems inescapable, with a nerve shredding electronic score that gives the impression of a bad southern acid-trip. 

Neville Brand is in top-form here as the demented hotel proprietor, a nut who mumbles to himself in between murdering folks with his trusty scythe. He's not the only weirdo at the hotel this night either, William Finley's appearance as either a drugged-out, or clearly insane, Roy is right off the deep end of weirdness, the scene of him looking for his lost eyeball on the shag carpet of the hotel room is straight out of a David Lynch film. Marylin Burns stars as his suffering wife, she matches the ferocity of her final girl from Chainsaw here with ear-shredding screams of terror, as does her movie daughter Kyle Richards (The Car, Halloween), who spends most of the movie hiding beneath the crawlspace of the hotel trying to escape the grasp of the murderous Judd and his hungry croc.

The movie is oozing atmosphere from the first frame, a strange and surreal psychotronic terror film that at times feel almost post-apocalyptic with the neon-red lighting and relentless fog-drenched setting, unhinged and disturbing and maybe not an easy watch for some, a Southern-fried nightmare you cannot get away from. 

Speaking of nightmares, you just cannot get around how awful the ten foot animatronic croc looks on camera. The thing is straight-up dreadful but Hooper wisely keeps it in hidden-away for the most part, you definitely get the impression that his is the croc-version of Bruce the Shark from Spielberg's Jaws, on the numerous extras you can hear multiple testimonies from the cast and crew as to what a nightmare the water-logged croc prop was during the making of the movie. 

So we have a croc that's a croc-o-shit and some mild pacing issues in the mid-section of this Southern slice of surrealistic terror but I can look past the flaws, I love this strange movie and I believable it's an undervalued entry in the Hooper canon, one worth rediscovering on Blu-ray from Arrow Video. 

Audio/Video: Arrow Video have gone back to the original 35mm camera negative for a brand new 2K restoration of Hooper's  Eaten Alive in the original widescreen aspect ratio (1.85:1), and the results are stupendous. The movie has never looked better and far surpasses by Dark Sky Films DVD (2000) in all respects. The colors are rich and nicely saturated, looking more natural and reds not running so hot. There's a nice layer of natural looking film grain with a new depth, clarity and fine detail to the image we've not seen before on home video, it simply looks fantastic. 

Arrow keep the audio pure with an uncompressed PCM 1.0 Mono track with a psychotronic-electronic score from Wayne Bell and Tobe Hooper, it is a harsh listen and it perfectly compliments the images of surreal terror. Dialogue and sounds effects are nicely balanced and optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing are included. 

Reversible Artwork 

Onto the wealth of extras we have all the bonus content from the Dark Sky DVD including the audio commentary with co-writer and producer Mardi Rustam, make-up artist Craig Reardon and stars Roberta Collins, William Finley and Kyle Richards. The commentary is a pastiche of separate commentaries stitched together and placed appropriately throughout the movie and works quite nicely. Also carried over are the featurettes 'My Name is Buck' with star Robert Englund discussing his early career and time on the film with the cast and Hooper. 

'The Butcher of Elmendorf: The Legend of Joe Ball' tells the story of the WWI vet turned bootlegger who is the inspiration for the character of Judd, who may or may not have fed his wife and lovers to the crocs he kept in a pit behind his bar. 

There's also the '5ive Minutes with Marilyn Burns' interview the original scream-queen, and star of Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, plus we get an alternate opening credit sequence. That's pretty much everything from the dark Sky edition, so feel safe to upgrade and enjoy the superior HD presentation. 

Onto the new stuff produced by Arrow Video we have three brand new interview coming in at about thirty-seven minutes in length with director Tobe Hooper, Special Effects Artists Craig Reardon and starlet Janus Blythe, and she seems like quite a character with loads of colorful stories as she recounts cruising the Hollywood studio lots in search of roles, her early career and she briefly mentioning turning down a role in what turned out to be Rob Zombie's Lords of Salem. Craig Reardon gives a somewhat scholarly recounting of history of the lot where the film was shot and his own insights into actor Neville Brand, who by all accounts was quite a weird guy and a decorated WWII soldier. Hooper recalls being pitched the film and how this was his first studio picture, re working the script, the true-life basis for Brand's character, and working on a sound stage and what he was trying to create.

Also included are thirteen-minutes of trailer for the movie under the myriad of alternate titles including Eaten Alive, Death Trap, Starlight Slaughter and Horror Hotel. There's also fifteen-minutes of TV and radio spots, and three galleries of behind-the-scenes and promotional images, including some hilarious comment cards from the test-screenings of the film. 

Away from the disc extras we have a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin and the original poster art, plus a 24-page collector's booklet with new writing on the film from author Brad Stevens, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Special Features

- Audio commentary with co-writer and producer Mardi Rustam, make-up artist Craig Reardon and stars Roberta Collins, William Finley and Kyle Richards

- New introduction to the film by director Tobe Hooper (1 Mins) HD

- Brand new interview with Hooper (14 Mins) HD 

- Brand New Interview with star Janus Blythe (12 Mins) HD 

- Brand New Interview with Special Effects Artist Craig Reardon (11 Mins) HD 

- My Name is Buck: Star Robert Englund discusses his acting career (15 Mins) SD 

- The Butcher of Elmendorf: The Legend of Joe Ball - The story of the South Texas bar owner on whom Eaten Alive is loosely based (23 Mins) SD

- 5ive Minutes with Marilyn Burns - The star of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre talks about working on Eaten Alive (5 Mins) SD

- The Gator Creator: archival interview with Hooper (14 Mins) SD 

- Original theatrical trailers for the film under its various titles Eaten Alive, Death Trap, Starlight Slaughter and Horror Hotel (13 Mins) HD 

- US TV and Radio Spots (15 Mins) HD 

- Alternate Credits Sequence (1 Mins) HD 

- Galleries: Behind The scene (8 Mins), Still and Promotional Material (64 Images), Comment Cards (34 Images) HD 

- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin

- 24 Pg. Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Arrow Video have put together a pretty damn definitive HD version of Tobe Hooper's psychotronic terror-classic for fans of the movie, the HD presentation is fantastic and the wealth of extras are superb, very highly recommend. 

Screenshots from www.DVDBeaver.Com

INVADERS FROM MARS (1986)

INVADERS FROM MARS (1986) 

Label: Scream Factory
Release Date: April 7th 2015
Region Code: A
Duration: 99 Minutes
Rating: PG
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0, 5.1
Video: HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Tobe Hooper

Cast: Laraine Newman, Louise Fletcher, James Karen, Bud Cort, Timothy Bottoms, Hunter Carson, Karen Black

I remember watching the original Invaders from Mars (1953) during one of those Saturday afternoon chiller matinees that aired back in the '80s and it scared the crap right out of me before, for weeks afterward I had recurring nightmares of my family and neighbors becoming alien drones, I'd wake up in a cold sweat scared to death, those were some frightening nightmares. I tell you that between watching this and the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) I was convinced that some insidious alien menace would conquer my small town before spreading out into the surrounding areas before conquering the world.

Tobe Hooper's remake of Invaders from Mars (1986) begins with young David Gardner (Hunter Carson) watching a meteor shower with his father out in the yard, afterward he lays down to sleep when a bright light in the sky catches his attention,. Peering through the bedroom window he sees an alien spacecraft landing in the sand quarry just beyond the hill behind his house. David freaks out at the eerie sight, but of course when his parents have a look out the window the UFO is nowhere to be found and they assume it must have been a bad dream. The next morning his father (Timothy Bottoms) doesn't seem quite himself... hmm, could he maybe be and emotionless drone controlled by an invaders from Mars?

As happens with most of these kids films from the '80s no one believes young David when he tells them that the aliens have landed and have begun to take over the town, no one except the school nurse, played by horror great Karen Black (Burn Offerings). David's science teacher Mrs. McKeltch (Louise Fletcher, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) seems to have been assimilated along with his father and has her eye on David and the rest of the children, she's even organizing a science trip out the sand quarry. The scene of David discovering that Mrs. McKeltch is under the control of the alien force is pretty creepy and somewhat humorous watching it as an adult, she scarfs down a frog specimen from the science lab head first with the legs protruding from her mouth, scary stuff. 

Most of the adults in town seem to have fallen under the control of the alien invaders, David and the nurse are not sure who they can trust anymore and are left to seek the only help left in the area, the damn Marines.In a way that can only work in a film designed for children General Wilson (James Karen, Return of the Living Dead) believes the wild story and launches an all out assault on the aliens out at the sand quarry without much proof or questioning, and this is when the film loses a bit of steam. It does creepy and paranoid quite nicely from the start, the pure terror of knowing your parents are not your parents and no one believes you, that you are a shrinking minority of free-thinkers is scary stuff, especially for a kids film from the '80s, but once the action is amped up during the finale it just feels a bit bloated. 

Onto the look of the alien menace we are given choice of two distinct creatures, the four--legged worker drones and the veiny supreme martian intelligence, both designs are pretty cool and were designed by artist William Stout and realized by John Dykstra and Stan Winston to great effect. A lot of the effects didn't have the same sway on me that they did when I was younger but on a purely nostalgic level this was a lot of fun. The alien spacecraft is a massive ship buried under the sand which can suck people down into the sand where they are implanted with device thereby losing their free will and becoming one of the worker drones for the martians. The interiors set design for the spacecraft has a cool organic feel about it and are drenched in colored lighting and fog machines, very '80s and a lot of fun. 

Not surprisingly the movie had more of an impact on me in my youth, but I can say that about most of the stuff I watched at that magical age. Watching it now as an adult with my own kids it made for a fun watch laced with a fair amount of nostalgia and some '80s camp, it definitely feels more goofy science-fiction than kiddie horror to me  watching now but that didn't make it any less fun of a watch, I still love this movie. 

Blu-ray: Invaders from Mars arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory presented in the original widescreen aspect ratio (2.35:1) and the results are very pleasing. There's some print damage evident by way of vertical lines and speckling throughout but overall this is a solid hi-def presentation. Color saturation is strong with nicely managed film grain and some decent depth and clarity, a definite upgrade from the MGM Midnite Movies presentation. 

The English language DTS-HD MA 2.0 or DTS-HD MA 5.1 both sound great, crisp and clean without any distortions. The surround mix is pleasing with eerie sound effects and Christopher Young's at times over-the-top score bleeding into the surrounds - though most of the action is front and center. 

Onto the extras we have quite a some really great stuff beginning with a brand new audio commentary from director Tobe Hooper moderated by Michael Felsher of Red shirt Pictures. Hooper is not the most active commentator so having Felsher there to prod him along is a good thing. They touch on Hooper's three-picture deal with Cannon Films which spawned this film plus TCM2 (1986) and Lifeforce (1985), it tends not to be scene specific but has some great anecdotes about the making of the film.  

Speaking of Red Shirt Pictures they created a new 37- minute making of doc with new interviews from Director Tobe Hooper, Actor Hunter Carson, Special Creature Effects Artists Alec Gillis and Gino Crognale, and Composer Christopher Young, some great insights and a look into creating the creatures for the film. Bonus content on the disc is buttoned-up with a production illustration gallery with commentary from artist William Stout, a still gallery, the theatrical trailer and a TV spot for the film. A nice touch is a reversible art option which 

Special Features
- Audio Commentary with Director Tobe Hooper
- The Martians Are Coming! (37 Minutes) - The Making of "Invaders From Mars", an all-new retrospective featuring interviews with Director Tobe Hooper, Actor Hunter Carson, Special Creature Effects Artists Alec Gillis and Gino Crognale, and Composer Christopher Young 
- Theatrical Trailer (1 Mins) HD
- TV Spot (1 Mins) SD
- Original Storyboards (4 Mins) HD
- Original Production Illustration Gallery from Artist William Stout with Commentary by Stout (14 Mins)
- Still Gallery (27 Images) 

Verdict: Hooper seemed to be going for a straight-up homage to the original film and other schlocky b-movie science fiction films from the '50s with a addition of a thin veneer of '80s cheesiness and is largely successful. The movie has a great cast and enough kiddie creepiness and sci-fi goofiness to make this an easy recommend, particularly if you're looking for something not-too-scary to watch with your own kiddies. They just don't make 'em like this anymore, there was something special about these dark kiddie fantasy and science fiction films from the  '80s that cannot be duplicated, more '80's awesomeness on Blu-ray is a good thing. 

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) 40TH ANNIVERSARY RESTORATION (Second Sight Blu-ray Review)

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) 
2-Disc 40th Anniversary Restoration 

Label: Second Sight Films

Region Code: B

Rating: 18 Certificate

Duration: 8d Minutes

Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.77:1)
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 and 5.1 / PCM Stereo 2.0, PCM Mono 1.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Tobe Hooper

Cast: Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, Allen Danziger, William Vail, Jim Siedow, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal 

When I was just barely in the double digits my parents rented a laser disc player (what's that, right kids) and a few scary movies movies and one of them was THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) and the other was the erotic-demon shocker MAUSOLEUM (1988) starring the demon-boobied Bobbie Bresee. 

From the very first frame it was unsettling and filled me with an unease, the image of the sun baked armadillo dead on the roadside right away gave me the heads-up that I was about to endure something awful. Layer on top of that the macabre images of the disinterred corpses staged at a cemetery and the unsettling flash photography and I was already a bit nauseated.

Enter a group of twenty-somethings travelling cross country in a Volkswagen van, we have Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) and her paraplegic brother, Franklin (Paul A. Partain) travelling across Texas with friends Jerry (Allen Danziger), Kirk (William Vail), and Pam (Teri McMinn), to visit the grave of the Hardestys' grandfather which may have been desecrated following the the macabre acts of vandalism mentioned previously.  

Along the way they have the unfortunate urge to pick-up a very strange Hitchhiker (Edwin Neal) who has an unsightly birth mark on his face. Once inside things go weird when he goes on about the joy of killing cows at the slaughterhouse and how tasty his brother's homemade head cheese is before he takes a pocket knife and slices open his own palm...  watching this for the first time I quickly realized I was seriously in over my head. Now everyone in the van is on edge and panicked when suddenly the but grabs Franklin and slices open his arm before being thrown out the van. Running alongside the van as it speeds off he smears his blood on the van and the group continue on. 


arriving at the cemetery they conform that their grandparents graves have not been disturbed and head off to check out the now abandoned Hardesty house, Before arriving and they realize they are running on fumes and top off at a gas station only to be told they are out of gas and the fuel truck won't arrive until the next day. With the Hardesty farm house just a few miles away and they decide to make the short trip of it and return to the gas station later that night to refuel. 

At the house Kirk and Pam wander off to a swimming hole rumored to be nearby while Sally and Jerry explore the dilapidated house leaving poor wheelchair bound Franklin on his own, unable to navigate the crumbling home. Early on we discover what an annoying whiner Franklin is but he takes it to the next level at the house. Unable to follow his sister he's left on his own to complain while giving disapproving raspberries in his sister's direction. The poor bastard is a cripple and you would think you might have some sympathies for him but he is such an unlikable character who wallows in hos own self pity. 

Pam and Kirk never do find the swimming hole but they do come across a neighboring home after they hear a gas-powered generator humming away in the distance. The curious Kirk enters the home and meets one of the inhabitants with deadly consequences. A hulking figure wearing a dead-skin mask named Leatherface (Gunnar Hanson) smashes his skull with a mallet, the encounter is quick and before you know what's happening Kirk is dead on the floor with his legs creepily twitching away. 

Pam hears the commotion and come inside looking for Kirk whom she assumes is playing a joke on her. Inside she enters a room blanketed in chicken feather and eerie sculptures made from the bone of animals and what appear to be human. Realizing something is very wrong she attempts to leave but Leatherface snatches her up and impales her on a meat hook! While she hangs there helpless and squirming Leatherface starts to carve-up Kirk with a chainsaw. 

As night sets in the group back at the Hardesty homestead begin to worry about Pam and Kirk, Jerry mounts a one-an search party and sets off into the night finding his way to the home not expecting to discover the horrors that await him inside. He hears a noise coming from a freezer and opens it to find Pam still alive just as Leatherface kill hims.

Now completely dark outside Sally and Franklin begin to worry and set off through a brush thicket to find their friends when Leatherface emerges from the darkness chainsawing poor Franklin to death as the hysterical Sally lets loose the first of many marathon screams - it is a supremely effective kill scene to this day, every death onscreen in this move carries a weight to it and that makes it so damn effective - nearly bloodless but brutal. . 

Sally escapes Leatherface and makes her way to the gas station seeking the help of the the proprietor (Jim Siedow) who turns out to be the father of Leatherface and the Hitchhiker, of course. He beats her with a broom before tying her up and placing her in sack. Siedow is truly demented in the role and brings a lot to the character, it's a nightmarish encounter. He throws her in his truck and makes his way back to the farm house where the strange clan sit down for a family dinner with Sally as the main course. They wheel out the desiccated corpse of their Grandpa (John Dugan) who looks mummified until he gets a taste of Sally's blood and then he becomes a bit more animated. Apparently he was quite the killer back at the slaughterhouse and the family want him to do the dirty deed. They kneel the hysterical Sally over a large wash bin at Grandpa's feet as he limply attempts to smash her brains in with a hammer. It's such a nightmare scenario and infused with the crazy energy of the cannibal clan and Marilyn Burn's marathon of screams, her duress is nerve-shattering.

While Grandpa swings away to the cheers of the family Sally somehow manages to get away by leaping through a window pane of glass, sprinting for the main road with both Leatherface and the Hitchiker just behind her. The film ends with a semi truck happening upon the bizarre scene with the Hitchhiker splattered on the road and Sally jumping into the bed of a passing pick-up truck laughing and screaming hysterically as Leatherface spins the chainsaw in the air in anger. 

I remember watching it for the first-time like it was yesterday, my nerves were a wreck. I was shaking and scared out of my mind and for some reason I loved it - it was at that moment I knew I loved to be scared. Subsequent viewing bare witness to the continuing power of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, a tightly crafted film with not an excess ounce of filler to it. Everything onscreen carries with it a weight that cannot be denied - a terror classic without equal.

BLU-RAY:

When I first heard there was a brand new 4K remaster of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE on the way I scoffed at the notion that you could improve this 40 year-old classic shot on 16mm. This had always been a sweaty film with copious amounts of grit and grain galore. Could a new 4K restoration even be worth it, or worse take something away from it? 

Now that I've watched it I must say that the film certainly has never looked better - which is not to say pristine. There's only so much you can do with a 40 year old film shot on the inherently grainy 16mm film stock, let's be real about that. Knowing that the grain structure is intact and appears natural without any wholesale DNR having been applied leaving as much fine detail as the possible onscreen. The colors are solid but this film has always been a bit soft but the fine detail and textures do come through with a deeper clarity and vibrancy - though I would stop short of saying there's a lot of sharpness to the image., it's a sweaty film but this new restoration is worth the double-dip in my opinion. 

We have four audio options including the original PCM Mono 1.0 for the purist and a newly created DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1. Thankful for the inclusion of the original mono but I gotta give it to the new 7.1 surround mix, some great use of the surrounds creating a terrifyingly immersive experience with chainsaw, screams and creepy sound design filtering in from the surrounds with surprising effectiveness. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Onto the extras we have almost everything ported over from the Dark sky Films Ultimate Edition Blu-ray with the notable exception of one - that would be the 'Dr. W.E. Barnes Presents"Making Grandpa" (1 Minute) detailing the transformation of the actor from baby-faced youth into the hideous visage of the blood-sucking grandpa character. 

Onto the new extras on disc one we have two brand new commentaries. The first being a commentary with Writer-Producer-Director Tobe Hooper and the second with Editor J. Larry Carroll and Sound Recordist Ted Nicolaou. Between the four commentaries you will know everything you could ever hope to know about this terrifying film.

Onto the jam-packed second disc we have the carried over features plus nearly an hour of new content exclusive to the 40th Anniversary Restoration. A new interview with production manager Ron Bozman, John Dugan the actor who portrayed the blood-sucking grandpa, editor J. Larry Carroll plus new deleted scene and outtakes presented silent in the absence of an audio track. 

Additionally there are 22 minutes of interviews with Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel which I do not believe are on my Dark Sky Ultimate Edition Blu-ray or the 40th Anniversary version from MPI in the US. 

The MPI release here in the US has courted some controversy regarding a cut to black that was originally a fade to black and Sally's scream/laugh appears to be oddly looped during the finale . Second Sight were aware of the issue and took corrective steps to return the fade to black during the flash photography sequence and the audio glitch, which is appreciated. 

DISC 1
- NEW 40th Anniversary Restoration supervised by Tobe Hooper
- NEW 4k transfer from the original 16mm A/B rolls
- NEW 7.1, 5.1 and stereo mixes as well as the original mono
- NEW audio commentary with Writer-Producer-Director Tobe Hooper
- NEW audio commentary with Cinematographer Daniel Pearl,
- Audio Commentary with Editor J. Larry Carroll, Sound Recordist Ted Nicolaou
- Audio commentary with Writer-Producer-Director Tobe Hooper, Cinematographer Daniel Pearl, Actor Gunnar HansenAudio commentary with Actors Marilyn and Burns, Allen Danziger and Paul A. Partain, and Art Director Robert A. Burns

DISC 2
- ‘Cutting Chain Saw’ with Editor J. Larry Carroll (11 Minutes)
- ‘Granpaw’s Tales’ with Actor John Dugan (16 Minutes)
- Horror’s Hallowed Grounds: TCSM (20 Minutes)
- New Deleted Scenes and Outtakes (15 Minutes)
- ‘The Shocking Truth’ Documentary (73 Minutes)
- 'The Shocking Truth' Outtakes (8 Minutes)
- ‘Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of The Saw’ (72 Minutes)
- ‘Off The Hook’ with Actor Teri McMinn (17 Minutes)
- ‘The Business of Chain Saw’ – with Production Manager Ron Bozman (16 Minutes)
- ‘House Tour with Actor Gunnar Hansen’ (8 Minutes)
- Tobe Hooper interview (14 Minutes)
- Kim Henkel interview (8 Minutes)
- Deleted Scenes and Outtakes (25 Minutes)
- Bloopers (2 Minutes)
- Trailers and TV Spots (7 Minutes) 
- Radio Spots (1 Minute)
- Stills Gallery (2 Minutes) 
- Trailers (2 Minutes) 

VERDICT:
THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE will always be a terrifying slice of horror and this 2-disc edition from Second Sight in the UK is just fantastic with a brand-new 4K restoration and a sweet new surround mix with a wealth of bonus material clocking-in just shy of the eleven-hour mark, making this about as damn near definitive as we are ever going to see. Not just a high recommend but a must-own release for any red-blooded horror fan. 

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) 40th Anniversary Restoration UK Steelbook Blu-ray released on 11/17

The brutal classic THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) 40th Anniversary Restoration comes to Blu-ray in the UK on November 17th from SECOND SIGHT FILM as a standard two-disc Blu-ray and a Limited Edition Blu-ray SteelBook with new extras and a 4K HD Restoration!!

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE

40TH ANNIVERSARY RESTORATION

Label: Second Sight Films

Release Date: November 17th 2014 

Region Code: B

Duration: 84 Minutes

Video: 1:77:1, 1080p

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Aduio 7.1, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, PCM Stereo 2.0, PCM Mono 1.0 

Director: Tobe Hooper 

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre not!only changed the face of!horror in 1974 but still remains one of the most shocking, powerful and terrifying films ever made.Now to celebrate its 40th Anniversary, brand new!restored version comes to Blu-ray!courtesy of Second Sight.

Widely banned on release! its notoriety has not! diminished and this harrowing tale of a depraved Texan clan and its chainsaw wielding icon of horror Leatherface! continues to stun and disturb audiences like no other film.

Supervised by director Tobe!Hooper, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has received a stunning 4K restoration and 7.1 audio!mix, looking and sounding like never before.

The film will be released as a two-disc limited edition Steelbook blu-ray with!brand new artwork created by Doaly and stacked with brand-new!bonus features, a standard two-disc Blu-ray with reversible sleeve featuring the new artwork and the original!U.S. poster!artwork will!also!be!available on November 17th 2014.

BRAND NEW BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:
- NEW 4k transfer from the original 16mm A/B rolls.
-NEW 7.1 surround audio mix supervised by Tobe Hooper, 5.1 surround, 2.0 stereo, 1.0 original mono.
- NEW Audio commentary with Tobe Hooper.
- NEW Deleted scenes and outtakes.
- NEW audio commentary with cinematographer Daniel Pearl, sound recordist Ted Nicolaou, and editor J. Larry Carroll.
- NEW Deleted Scenes and Outtakes
- NEW 'Grandpa's Tales' with actor John Dugan.

OTHER BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:
- Audio commentary with Tobe Hooper, actor Gunnar Hansen, cinematographer Daniel Pearl.
- Audio commentary with actors Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, and Paul A. Partain, and production designer Robert Burns.
- 'Cutting Chain Saw' with Editor J. Larry Carroll.
- Horror's Hallowed Grounds: TCSM.
- 'The Shocking Truth' documentary plus outtakes.
- 'Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of The Saw'.
- A Tour of the TCSM House with Gunnar Hansen.
- 'Off The Hook' with Teri McMinn.
- 'The Business of Chain Saw' – with Production Manager Ron Bozman.
- Tobe Hooper interview.
- Kim Henkel interview.
- Deleted Scenes and Outtakes, Trailers, TV and Radio spots.