Blu-ray Review: THOU SHALT NOT KILL... EXCEPT (1985)

THOU SHALT NOT KILL... EXCEPT (1985)

Blu-ray/DVD Combo

Label: Synapse Films
Region: All Regions
Duration: 83 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD 2.0 Mono, Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Director: Josh Becker
Cast: Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi, Scott Spiegel, Brian Schulz
Tagline: When Violence Demands Revenge

Synopsis: Vietnam, 1969. War is Hell. For Marine Sergeant Jack Stryker (Brian Schulz), however, Hell is just the beginning. Trapped outside a Viet Cong village, Stryker takes two bullets to the leg. Sent home from the war, he discovers his ex-girlfriend (Cheryl Hausen) has been kidnapped by a religious cult with a vicious Manson-like leader (played by The Evil Dead and Spider-Man trilogy director, Sam Raimi). Stryker teams up with some marine friends to form an assassination squad and annihilate the gang of crazed killers.

Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except (1985) is a pretty obscure mid-80' low-budget grinder that kicks off in right in the thick of 'Nam '69 where we meet the cigar chompin' Sgt. Jack Stryker (Brian Schulz) and his small band of Marines. With the assistance of some well-placed stock-footage 'Nam inserts the backwoods of Michigan are transformed into a 'Nam jungle, sorta. The visual trickery is not 100% successful but the effort on the part of the filmmakers is appreciated and quite a bit more successful than the plastic rat we catch a glimpse of. The small band of soldiers find themselves miserably outnumbered and are mowed down in a hail of bullets and explosions. It's full-on high energy excitement with lots of fiery explosions and gruesome violence which includes splattery gunshot wounds and a brutal punji trap through the chest. During the assault Sgt. Stryker takes two crippling gunshots to the leg ending his military career. In the ensuing weeks Stryker partially recovers from his injuries and is discharged from the military returning to his small town life in the States and to his rustic cabin in the woods where he eeks out a living with his dog "Whiskey". Picking up the pieces of his civilian life he starts to rekindle a romance with his high school sweetheart Sally (Cheryl Hansen), things are starting to look up for the Vet until Cheryl's kidnapped by a religious cult of bloodthirsty hippies lead by a maniacal nut played with delicious fervor by none other than director Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spider-Man).

For me the highlight and star of this exploitation nugget would have to be Raimi as the truly bug-nuts insane cult leader who believes himself to be the rebirth of Jesus Christ. A delirious and obvious riff on Charles Manson - it's just amazing to watch and a ton of fun. He's chewing on the scenery in a way that just suits this lo-fi grinder to perfection, worth the price of admission on it's own.

Stryker is joined in his war on the blood cult by his military buddies; "Love Machine" (Timothy Patrick Quill, the blacksmith from Army of Darkness), Sgt. Jackson (Robert Rickman, a former Mr. T impersonator), Lt. Miller (John Manfredi, Real Steel) who just happen to arrive on scene to visit their  former Lt. and they're a fun bunch of guys. Before they arrive at the cabin they find themselves in the company of a trio of jail bait they pick-up outside a liquor store followed by some sleazy backseat shenanigans and then right into a biker bar where a full-on brawl  spills out to the back alleyway, it's fun stuff and is the perfect b-movie filler to pad out the film until they face off against the bloodthirsty hippies, surely it superfluous but it's entertaining.

The final showdown with the cult in the woods is pretty fantastic, an orgy of bloodletting and shotguns blasts with fun kills that are well-staged and executed with much spilled blood. Highlights include Stryker's beloved dog Whiskey skinned on a spit, some brutal shotgun blasts, impalement's and my personal favorite - death by lawn darts which is amazing!

Blu-ray: Synapse Films offers up Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except with an all-new 2K high-definition transfer from the original negative, painstaking restored and cleaned-up in the best possible way. This 16mm cult classic has never looked better and the restoration leaves the film's grain structure wonderfully intact, this is a grain-lovers paradise and a very fine example of how you restore a film without running it through the Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) wringer. Synapse are transfer pros and cinema devotees who fully appreciate the grain inherent in celluloid. The DTS-HD MA English and Dolby Digital English 2.0 Mono audio options are limited in their fidelity but sound pretty great with special mention to Joe LoDuca's great war-themed score, it's above and beyond what one might expect from a budget-strapped grinder.

Special features for this obscure cult classic are abundant beginning with my personal favorite feature, the original Super 8mm film Stryker's War, an early version of the film featuring none other than Mr. Big Chin himself Bruce Campbell (Army of Darkness) in the role of Jack Stryker, a role created for him but when the opportunity arose for director Josh Becker to film Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except he was unavailable to partake in the project. Definitely a loss for Campbell fans but fear not for we have this fine 8mm document. It's interesting to note that the filmmaker didn't stray to far from the 8mm original when scripting Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except.

Up next is Made In Michigan: The Making of Though Shalt Not Kill... Except (35:16) a mini-doc featuring interviews with director Josh Becker, producer (and director in his own right) Scott Spiegel, actors John Menfredi (Lt. Miller), Tim Quill (LCpl. Ttyler) , Robert Rickman (Sgt. Jackson), production assistant Brian Rae and Production manager David Goodman. Tons of tasty nuggets are discussed including the early super 8mm films, why Bruce Campbell did not return to reprise his role as Sgt. Stryker, the budget and the Joe LoDuca's fantastic score, which is pretty great. Whether your a newcomer to the film or a fan there's a ton to enjoy here.

We also have not one but two Audio Commentaries from director Josh Becker, actor Bruce Campbell and star Brian Schulz, Deleted Scenes, Alternate Title Sequence (1:19), a Theatrical Trailer and an on-camera Interview with Bruce Campbell (8:47) in his backyard discussing the filmmakers early 8mm films and the making of Stryker's War. As special features go this is perhaps above and beyond what this obscure title would demand but that's why I love Synapse; they love cult and exploitation cinema and if it's worth doing it's worth doing right and they do it right every time.

[Reversible Cover Art]

Special Features
•All-New High-Definition 2K Digital Restoration from the Original Negative
•The Original Super 8mm Short film, STRYKER’S WAR Short Film, starring Bruce Campbell! (48:16) 4:3
•Made in Michigan: The Making of THOU SHALT NOT KILL… EXCEPT - Featurette (31:56) 16:9
•Two Audio Commentaries Featuring Director Josh Becker, Bruce Campbell and Star Brian Schulz
•All-New Video Interview with Bruce Campbell (8:47) 16:9
•Deleted Scene with Optional Director’s Commentary (0:45) 16:9
•Alternate Title Sequence (1:19) 16:9
•Original Theatrical Trailer 16:9
•Reversible Cover Artwork

Verdict: Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except is a tasty nugget of amped-up mid-80's exploitation cinema that's a suitably gruesome and gritty affair well-stocked with moments of off-kilter humor pitting 'Nam vets against a bloodthirsty religious cult in the woods, it's just entertaining stuff. Obviously shot on a shoe-string budget but made with the same heart and lo-fi ingenuity we've seen from director Josh Becker's cohorts Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) and Scott Spiegel (Intruder), if you're a fan of either of those cult classics there's gonna be a ton to love with Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except. Great job from Synapse on the great special features and fantastic transfer which shouldn't be a surprise at all. 2.5 outta 5

DVD Review: MCBAIN (1991)

MCBAIN (1991)

Label: ArrowDrome
Release Date: September 19th 2011
Region Code: 0 PAL
Rating: 15 Certificate
Duration: 99 mins
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo
Director: James Glickenhaus
Cast: Christopher Walken, Michael Ironside, Maria Conchita Alonso, Victor Argo
Tagline: War is Addictive!

I've said it a few times on the blog that action films were never really my thing. I've always been more of a horror, comedy, thriller and arthouse kinda guy at heart but occasionally a sweaty testosterone fueled action flick would find it's way to my TV screen. More often that not in the guise of an cop-action-comedy or a sci-fi-actioner along the lines of DIE HARD, STARSHIP TROOPERS or THE MATRIX. This may sound slightly pretentious coming from someone who thoroughly enjoys a silly slasher but the action genre always seemed kind of big and dumb to me which is kind of exactly why I dig this early 90's action flick from James Glickenhaus, the director of the revenge-actioner THE EXTERMINATOR. It's an absurdly action-packed flick that's low on brains but chock full o' testosterone and explosions galore.

Much like THE EXTERMINATOR the film opens with a sweet 'Nam sequence. The war in Vietnam has quite literally just ceased and a helicopter of soldiers are being withdrawn from the jungle when they spot a bamboo dome structure they believe to be holding American POW's. Landing nearby they assault the camp in a flurry of knifings, gunfire and explosions and sure enough the dome is a MAD BEYOND BEYOND THUNDERDOME style death arena pitting American POW's against their Viet Cong captors in a fight to the death. As the soldiers move in POW Robert McBain (Christopher Walken, DEAD ZONE) faces off against a brick wall sized VC soldier when his life is saved by US soldier Robertro Santo (Chick Vennera, NIGHT EYES). Santo tears a $100 dollar bill in half and a vow is made that should the two halves of the torn currency ever be reunited that McBain will repay his debt to Santo.

Eighteen years later McBain is a steelworker living in NYC and while throwing back a beer in the neighborhood bar witnesses the now Colombian rebel Santo executed on live television after a failed attempt to overthrow 'El Presidente', a despot Colombian general played by venerable character actor Victor Argo (BAD LIEUTENANT). A few days later Santo's sister Christina (Maria Conchita Alonso, THE RUNNING MAN) makes the pilrimage from Colombia to NYC tracking McBain to the very top of the Brooklyn Bridge where he's welding. Offering him the torn $100 bill she enlists him to help liberate Central America from it's corrupt drug trade fueled dictatorship.

McBain brings his 'Nam aging buds back together to assist with the coup. We have an embittered Detective Gil (T.G. Waites, THE THING), Eastland (Steve James, THE EXTERMINATOR), Dr. Carl Dalton (Jay Patterson, DEATH OF A PRESIDENT) and a reluctant Frank Bruce (Michael Ironside, VISITING HOURS) who has apparently struck it rich post-'Nam offering "What, you miss the smell of napalm in the morning?" to which McBain counters "When I come to see you.. you're sitting in a chair like an old man, staring at the ocean, you having fun yet?".

Bruce refuses to join the coup (though he later joins the fun, of course) but offers the use of a plane which comes with a hefty pricetag. In an attempt to raise the cash the mercs decimate the crew of a low-level narcotics peddler named Papo (Luis Guzman, BOOGIE NIGHTS) who indignantly tells them after they wipe the floor with his gang in a shit-storm of gunfire that "if you guys want money why don't you go after whats his face, John Gambotti, he's got the money, all I got is table drippings" and so they do. They ambush Gambotti (Dick Boccecelli, THE EXTERMINATOR) outside the the Old Homestead restaurant which will be familiar to those who've seen Glickdenhaus's THE EXTERMINATOR as Dick Boccelli again appears as a mafioso suspended from chains, this time from a skyscraper instead of a meat grinder and squeezed for millions to be wired into the mercs account who pose as Israeli agents.

With the cash wired to their account they charter Bruce's turbo-prop private plane and head to Columbia to free the poor and repressed people of that country. At this point all logic and sanity are abandoned as the twin-prop tries to evades two Colombian jet fighters with the help of Bruce's SAT-link briefcase computer. When one of the jet pilots orders the plane to land McBain fires a single shot from a handgun through the cockpit window killing the pilot and crashing the jet. Mind you there's no decompression, the window doesn't shatter and no one is stricken deaf from the close proximity shot. It's outrageously implausible but highly entertaining and so it goes for the remainder of the film as we see one of the most casual rebel coups ever slapped on the silver screen. The Hawaiian shirted mercenaries land unscathed in Bogata during a raging ground war, pose for vacational photos and walk through a hornets nests of gunfire only to walk away unscathed and victorious, 'natch.

It's a nutty, non-sensical action film featuring Christopher Walken is at his most badass Walken-ish delivering deliciously awful dialogue with nuanced pregnant pauses as only he (and William Shatner) can, it's whacky stuff. As where THE EXTERMINATOR took a few narrative shortcuts leaving your mind to fill in the gaps this Glickenhaus action-fest numbs the brain to such a degree that it would prove detrimental should your brain enter into the fray. That said the final third of the film definitely loses some steam despite it's explosive arsenal of badassery.

Sweat 80's Action lady

Glickenhaus and crew filmed the Colombian scenes in the Philippines which I guess would qualify this as a late-era Filipino exploitation film. It was fun to see Walken strut his stuff. Sadly, the usually badass Michael Ironside is atypically subdued, definitely a missed opportunity. The film's worst performance must be from the consummate 80's action-lady Maria Conchita Alonso who really hams it up in an overly dramatic performance as Santo's rebel sister Christina, pure 80's awfulness. MCBAIN is an early 90's film but the cheese is vintage 80's no doubt about it.

DVD: This is one of the first titles from Arrow Video's fledgling ArrowDrome imprint, a budget line of cult horror and exploitation films for the cinema fromage connoisseur. It's presented in anamoprhic 1.85:1 widescreen and the transfer is very good with few instances of print damage, there's good color saturation and decent black levels. The stereo audio track is clear and balanced with the dialogue, score and effects coming through nice and clean, it's not the most dynamic track but handles the film without distortion.   

The ArrowDrome titles are  budget-minded so don't expect a ton of bonus content, the lone extra feature here is Blast 'Em Up: The Making of McBain (13:56) a video interview with director James Glickenhaus who discusses the film's origins, the futility of the war on drugs, working with Walken and how he considers all his films to be comedies of the absurd despite a few moments during the interview when he seems to take the film a bit more seriously that one might expect. The High Rising Productions produced featurette is short but appreciated with clips of the film intercut with the video interview. The ArrowDrome screener I received was a check disc and did not include final the artwork with reversible sleeve or the booklet with writings from Calum Waddell. Nice presentation and a short but sweet feature, not too shabby.  

Special Features:
- Introduction by Director James Glickenhaus
- Reagan Flexes Some Muscle: McBain and the Golden Age of the American Action Film Collector's Booklet by Calum Waddell
- Blast 'Em Up - The Making of McBain (13:56) 16:9


Verdict: I won't lie to you McBAIN is just not a good film, in fact it's pretty bad cinema, a guilty pleasure of an absurd actioner overflowing with nonsensical machismo mayhem. My advice to you is to turn off your brain and board this testosterone fueled twin-prop plane to a napalm fueled fever dream of non-stop action and unintentional hilarity. **1/2 (2.5 outta 5)  

Say CHEESE!