STRANGER'S KISS (1983) (Fun City Edition Blu-ray Review)

STRANGER'S KISS (1983) 

Label: Fun City Editions 

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: Unrated 

Duration: 94 Minutes 12 Seconds 

Audio: English 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Director: Matthew Chapman

Cast: Peter Coyote, Victoria Tennant, Blaine Novak, Dan Shor, Richard Romanus, Linda Kerridge
 
Directed by Matthew Chapman,the indie noir-ish gem Stranger's Kiss (1983) is a film about the making of a 1950s noir 'Strange and Dangerous', a sort of a fictional account of the making of Stanley Kubrick's second film, Killer's Kiss (1955). The film's first-time director Stanley (Peter Coyote, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) and producer Farris (Dan Shor, Strange Invaders) scrape together money for the production from a known gangster/Hollywood producer Frank (Richard Romanus, the voice of Harry Canyon from animated cult-classic Heavy metal!) whose girlfriend Carol (Victoria Tennant, Inseminoid) is the female lead in the role. Cast opposite her as a boxer is her romantic co-lead, Stevie (Blaine Novak, Up the Creek), who doesn't look the part of a boxer but has plenty of passion. 

The director, looking to get the best performance of his leads, who are supposed to be lovers, attempts to fan the flames of passion between them, meanwhile Stevie need little help falling for the noir blonde bombshell, but the film's financier, who again is the actresses boyfriend, and an abusive one at that, is starting to get steamed by the obvious chemistry between the leads. I love me a film-with-in-a-film and this one is quite fascinating, a wonderful recreation of 1950s Hollywood, lots of pulpy melodrama, Hollywood shenanigans and noir-leaning romance. I also quite dug how when they are shooting a scene the film goes from color to black and white, and it's got a wonderful jazzy sax-centric a score that s quite intoxicating. 

I was quite enamored with this homage to noir and the early film of Kubrick, and stands on its own as a quirky movie about the making of movies, and how fraught that process is. My favorite scenes are Peter Coyote and Shor as the first-time director/producer navigating the world of independent filmmaking, being manipulative towards the actors and demanding, but also having to appease the increasingly jealous producer, and in the end, selling the finished film to a studio, all of which was quite fascinating. 

The film has long been out of circulation on home video, so I appreciate Fun City Editions for unearthing it and giving it such a wonderful HD release, loaded with extras and attractive packaging options. If you order director from Fun City Editions you can choose between two variant slipcovers, and DiabolikDVD also carries one of the variant covers, both are limited tot he first-pressing.   

Audio/Video: Stranger's Kiss (19883) makes it;s worldwide Blu-ray debut on region-free disc from Fun City Editions presented  in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen (1.85:1) derived from a 4K from its original 35mm internegative. The image looks great, there's very minor blemish by way of speckling and whatnot but overall this is impressive, Colors and skin tones look accurate and natural, and the period costuming and set decoration reveals plenty of fine detail and texture in the close-ups, facial detail also impress. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with optional English subtitles. The track has some minor sibilance in spots but nothing that I found ruinous by any means, for the most part dialogue and atmospherics are  well-balanced, and the saxophone heavy score by Gato Barbieri (Last Tango in Paris) sounds great. 

FCE go all out with the extras for this one, which is quite storied, we get the 25-min Comradeship and Love - Video Interview with Matthew Chapman; the 24-min It Felt Like Magical - Video Interview with Victoria Tennant; the 24-min An Enemy of Cliche - Video Interview with Co-Writer/Actor Blaine Novak which is utterly fascinating, his career trajectory is really quite interesting as is the backstory to this production of this film, and his connections to the doomed Bogdanovich film They All Laughed. Additionally there's the 33-min Distributor To Producer - Video Interview with Doug Dilg. All of the interviews are terrific, lots of talk about Bogdanovich and the Dorothy Stratton murder that doomed They All Laughed, the production of this film, it;s promotion, and plenty of interesting name-dropping. Disc extras are buttoned-up with the 10-min Stanley Film - Video Essay by Chris O'Neill; a 3-min Theatrical Trailer, 2-min Image Gallery, and an Audio commentary by Walter Chaw. 

The single-disc release arrives in a clear Viva Elite keepcase with a Reversible Wap with legacy artwork, plus a Limited Edition Slipcover with retro-style front and back artwork sourced from the rare French VHS tape that is embossed and spot-glossed, which is available on the First Pressing Only. Inside there's a 16-Page Illustrated Booklet with essay by Peter Tonguette, also First Pressing Only,, featuring new writing on the film by way of 'Stranger's Kiss: A Dangerous Beauty' by Peter Tonguette, cast and crew information, and a vintage article about the film from the L.A. Time from 1984. 

Special Features: 
- Comradeship and Love - Video Interview with Matthew Chapman (24:36) 

- It Felt Like Magical - Video Interview with Victoria Tennant (23:58) 

- An Enemy of Cliche - Video Interview with Blaine Novak (24:28) 

- Distributor To Producer - Video Interview with Doug Dilg  (32:33) 

- Stanley Film - Video Essay by Chris O'Neill (9:40) 
- Theatrical Trailer (2:37)

- Image Gallery (2:23) 
- Audio commentary by Walter Chaw
- 16-Page Illustrated Booklet with essay by Peter Tonguette (First Pressing Only)
- Limited edition slipcover with retro-style front and back artwork sourced from the rare French VHS tape. First Pressing Only)
- Double-sided wrap with legacy artwork
 -New 4K Restoration from the film's original 35mm internegative

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