THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS (1985)

THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS (1985) 

Label: Scream Factory

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 93 Minutes

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo 

Video: 1080p Widescreen (2.35:1) 

Director: Freddie Francis

Cast: Timothy Dalton, Jonatahan Pryce, Twiggy, Patrick Stewart, Julian Sands, Stephen Rea, Phyllis Logan, Lewis Fiander, Beryl Reid, T.P. McKenna, Sian Philips

SYNOPSIS:
Based on Dylan Thomas' original screenplay, this shocking horror-thriller stars Timothy Dalton as Thomas Rock, a brilliant young anatomy professor in 1820s Edinburgh. At first accepting only the cadavers provided him for study – those of a few hanged criminals per year – Rock eventually recruits two grave robbers (Jonathan Pryce and Stephen Rea) to secure a better supply of corpses. Coming to the gory conclusion that they will earn more the "fresher" the corpses, the two begin committing murder and delivering warm bodies to the doctor's lecture chambers. Also starring Julian Sands, Patrick Stewart and Twiggy, The Doctor and the Devils brings classic chills from start to finish!

REVIEW: 
The macabre story of grave robbers Burke and Hare came to my attention at a very young age with a viewing of the Robert wise directed chiller BODY SNATCHER (1945) starring horror icons Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi on one of the double-feature TV matinees on WPIX. The idea of disinterring  recently deceased corpses for use at a medical school was so ghoulish to me, it had never even crossed my mind at that naive age that such a thing could exist. It was by introduction to autopsy, dissection and grave robbing. 

Here we have a thinly disguised retelling of Burke and Hare from Hammer veteran director Freddie Francis (TALES FROM THE CRYPT) with a script originally penned by Dylan Thomas and doctored up by Ronald Harwood. The names have been changed for some reason, as the grave robbing duo we have Jonathan Pryce (BRAZIL) as Robert Fallon and Stephen Rea (THE CRYING GAME) as Timothy Broom our grave dogging entrepreneurs who supply Dr. Rock (Timothy Dalton, HOT FUZZ)  a fresh supply of corpses for dissection at the medical school. Dr. Rock is a man of science and deplores that he is restricted to using the corpses of hanged criminals which number very few. This is why he turns to buying corpses from the grave robbers. Dalton as the doc is a pretty pompous guy who deplores the "moralists" who would limit his access to fresh corpses thereby limiting his knowledge of human anatomy. We also have an appearance from former modelling sensation Twiggy as a whore with a heart of gold, who turns out to be a love interest for doc Rock's cohort played by Julian Sands (WARLOCK).  

It's a decent arrangement at first as he now has access to more corpses but consumed by greed the grave robbers turn to murder to procure fresher corpses  for which the doc pays handsomely. When a few of the corpses turn out to be familiar faces and not quite cold the doc turns a blind eye to the corpse-snatchers but the medical community and villagers are less willing to do so as you might imagine. 

As a period drama set in Scotland in the  early 1800s the film is successful but is woefully drab and earth tone, it definitely puts you right in the dreary city of Edinburgh and it feels authentic but what do I know? I wanted to love the film but the familiar story has been told onscreen several previously times and this is inferior to many. There's not a lot new under the sun in respect to the story, we have the science-driven doc and the morally corrupt corpse-snatchers and a parade of unfortunate victims who end up on a dissection table - that's pretty much the crux of the story.

This is more a period mellow drama than a Gothic thriller and this one just lacked the spark and gruesomeness of previous incarnations, the cast is decent but one-dimensional and this version adds nothing to the lore, it's a decent watch but not a high recommend. I say skip this and take in the aforementioned Val Lewton produced BODY SNATCHER (1945) or THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS (1960) starring Peter Cushing (TWINS OF EVIL) and Donald Pleasance (HALLOWEEN) which are far superior productions. 

BLU-RAY:
THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS (1985) debuts on Blu-ray from Scream Factory in the original widescreen scope aspect ratio with a transfer I would assume provided by 20th Century Fox. The HD upgrade is sharper with nice color saturation but the image is not a stunner unfortunately, perhaps owing to the gloomy aesthetic of the film with dim lighting. The stereo English language DTS-HD Master Audio is well balanced with optional English subtitles. 

Extras include a dry but very informative audio commentary from Author And Film Historian Steve Haberman who touches on the real life story of Burke and Hare plus the various filmed incarnations of the story. There's also a new Interview with Executive Producer Mel Brooks, Producer Jonathan Sanger And Former Brooksline Development Executive Randy Auerbach and a theatrical trailer for the film. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Commentary With Author And Film Historian Steve Haberman
- New Interview With Executive Producer Mel Brooks, Producer Jonathan Sanger And Former Brooksline Development Executive Randy Auerbach (19 minutes)
- Theatrical Trailers (2 minutes)

VERDICT:
A decent watch but not one of my favorite interpretations of the story, a bit too much of a period drama and I think I was looking for something darker and more macabre. Not without it's 19th century charm but not something I will need to revisit anytime soon. if you have a keen interest in the Burke and Hare story and don't need it to be as lurid as previous incarnations might get more enjoyment out of this one. 3 Outta 5 

LAKE PLACID (1999)

LAKE PLACID (1999) 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Duration: 82 Minutes 
Rating: R
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0,  English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Steve Miner
Cast: Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Brendan Gleeson, Oliver Platt

LAKE PLACID (1999) is a damn fun creature feature, more a comedy than straight-up horror but it's loaded with some sweet gore and genuine moments of suspense but make no mistake about it though for sarcasm and wit are the cold-blooded heart of this reptilian beast. We begin with a great scene as a deputy is chomped in half while inspecting a beaver dam - no that's not a euphemism. At first it it theorized that it could have been one of those underwater grizzly bears stalking the depths of Black Lake. The sheriff  dismisses this retarded thought and it's soon quite clear that a man-eating monster crocodile is terrorizing the calm waters but no one has any idea just how massive this beast actually is.

A small group set out to track and capture the beast, we have Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson, IN BRUGES), Fish and Game officer Jack Wells (Bill Pullman, ID4) and American Museum of Natural History paleontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda, JACKIE BROWN) who is woefully and hilariously out of her element among the mosquito and worms. Also joining in on the croc crusade is a pompous mythology professor who moonlights as a weird crocodile whisperer Hector Cyr (Oliver Platt, X-MEN:FIRST CLASS) plus various red-shirt types who end up as headless croc-chum. The secret weapon of the cast is the foul-mouthed Betty White (TV's GOLDEN GIRLS) who made a name for herself in the past few years as a nasty granny but this was the first time we saw her turn blue in a hilarious turn as a nutty blue hair who turns out to be at fault for the reptilian plague.

The humor elements works for me, much of it derived from the interactions of the characters ore so than clumsy prat falls - it makes for a fun watch. The pompous Hector constantly talks down to the small town sheriff who is no fan of the sarcasm that routinely falls out of the mouth of just about everyone who's not him. Pullman's a bit dry compared to the rest of the cast - maybe a bit miscast - but he does just fine as the straight man with a wry sense of humor. Platt and Gleeson are a fun adversarial duo regularly trading barbs and one line stingers. 

The now 15 year-old special effects hold-up surprisingly well including some early stage digital effects. Miner went with a mix of digital and practical effects with the vast majority being old school physical in-camera stuff much to the benefit of the film. None other than Stan Winston (JURASSIC PARK) created the 30 ft. animation croc used in the film and it's a stunner of a beast. Watching the extras I was surprised to learn the cow on the helicopter sling was animatronic which blew my mind - I thought that was a real heifer! The are some great moments of gore -   they start off strong with the initial kill as the deputy is torn in half and lifted from the water into a boat - his entrails hanging from his torso - this is some good stuff. 

The film failed to find audiences in theaters back in 1999 with it's odd mix of comedy and horror - the studio just didn't know how to market such a film - they seem to have a hard time with these genre benders. Not horror enough for the gore-hounds and not comedic enough for the comedy lovers but as I sat in my seat watching this fifteen years ago I was quite a happy camper and revisiting again over a decade later it holds-up just fine. 

The Blu-ray from Scream Factory looks quite nice which is not too surprising given this is one of the more recent films they've given the Collector's Edition treatment to. The source element used for the HD master looks great with only the most minimal of white specks. The grain structure is intact but the fine detail is not as strong I would have hoped for from a newer film. We do get some moderate depth and clarity to the image and the color reproduction is strong, the black levels are pleasing and the contrast is fine - overall a solid 1080p transfer in the original widescreen aspect ratio. . 

Audio options include the choice of English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo or 5.1 surround. The surround track is quite nice with a good dynamic range and some good use of the surrounds. The score seems a little high in the mix from time to time and I  found myself adjusting the volume quite a bit throughout - optional English subtitles are provided. 

Onto the extras we have a half-hour making of  featurette with new interviews from director Steve Miner, actor Bill Pullman, director of photography Daryn Okada, editor Marshall Harvey, Production Designer John Willett, Effects supervisor Nick Marra and Puppeteer Toby Lindala mixed in with clips from the film, quite a decent watch with lots of production notes and fun anecdotes. My favorite stories are of the foul-mouthed Betty White and the story of the trained bear on-set who spotted the 30 ft. animatronic croc and turned tail -- scared to death of the behemoth -- haha. 

We also have a 5-minute vintage featurette, animatronic test footage, trailer and TV spots. A very nice set of features and the disc comes with slip cover and reversible artwork with the option of the original poster art or a new illustration from R.P. "Kung Fu" O'Brien.

Special Features:

- The Making of LAKE PLACID featuring new interviews with director Steve Miner, actor Bill Pullman, director of photography Daryn Okada, editor Marshall Harvey, Production Designer John Willett, Effects supervisor Nick Marra and Puppeteer Toby Lindala (31:20) 
- Vintage Featurette featuring interviews with actors Bridget Fonda, Bill Pullman, Oliver Platt, Brendon Gleason, Bette White and director Steve Miner (5:38) 
- Behind the Scenes Still Gallery - 40 Images  (5:41) 
- Animatronic Croc Test Footage (7:21) 
- 3 TV Spots (1:34) 
- Theatrical Trailer (1:58) 

Glad to see LAKE PLACID get the Scream Factory treatment with a definitive Blu-ray. Director Steve Miner (HOUSE) crafted a fun piece of popcorn entertainment loaded with gore and some decent suspense plus a ton of sarcastic wit. This is the comfort food of creature features and it hangs quite comfortably with ARACHNOPHOBIA and DEEP BLUE SEA which tread the same water but LAKE PLACID does it way better. 

Blu-ray Review: BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986)

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986) 

Label: Arrow Video

Region Code: B

Duration: 99 Minutes 

Rating: Certificate 15
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Uncompressed LPCM 2.0 Audio with Optional English SDH Subtitles

Video: 1080p Widescreen (2.35:1)
Cast: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong, Victor Wong, Kate Burton, Donald Li, Carter Wong, Peter Kwong, James Pax
Director: John Carpenter

It must have been the summer of 1987 when I first saw John Carpenter's cult-classic comedy projected on the big screen at Hadley Hall in Willard, NY. Hadley Hall was an auditorium at the Willard Psychiatric Center which opened it's doors to the divergent masses in 1869 . Twenty-four years later a 500 seat auditorium opened and the space was used for performances and lectures. In 1920 a cinema screen and projector were added and on Monday nights movies were projected for the enjoyment of patients and staff. 

Sixty-five years later my father was employed at the psychiatric center working and one day informed me that they screened movies at the asylum on Saturday mornings and that I could attend if I wanted. Now the nearest theater as thirty miles away and a pretty rare experience for me so of course I wanted to go! Nearly every Saturday afterward from about 1986-'87 found me at the psyche center watching projected movies with the crazies.

Hadley Hall photo courtesy of Louis Q Photography
http://louisqphotography.com/

Dad would drop me off in front of Hadley and I would walk up the stairs into the main auditorium and find a seat among the patients in fold-up chairs. Typically I would chose to sit on the exercise equipment that lined the rear of the auditorium if possible or in the balcony area which was usually roped off for some reason. I reasoned it was because the patients might be tempted to jump off and injure themselves. There would be a handful of other kids my age enjoying the movies, most likely the offspring of other employees such as myself. The psych center was an open campus and it seemed that many of the patients were free to wander the grounds as long as they were back in time for bed check.  I was no stranger to the facility and would frequently visit my father while he was at work and I had a familiarity with being around the patients, knowing several by name. In retrospect it may seem odd but at the time I wasn't alarmed to be watching movies with the nutters. Sure a few were a bit peculiar and prone to tourettic outbursts but it wasn't anymore distracting than a typical Friday at the cinema today with annoying chatty teens texting away. 

The programming was pretty eclectic, a nice mix of repertory and second-run showings of comedies, fantasy-adventure and drama. A few of the movies I watched there include Armed and Dangerous, Spies Like Us, Cloak and Dagger, King Solomon's Mines, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, King Kong Lives, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, Foul play (1982), 2001: A Space Odyssey and I shit you not - a screening of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest which was all sorts of wrong and the delicious irony was not at all lost on me even at the young age of thirteen. I look back on these magical screenings with a true sense of nostalgia and my love of Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd  comedies started here. I would love to meet the programmers who brought these movies to Willard Psychiatric Center and helped shape my cinematic tastes during these  formative teen years and just say thank you for saving me from boredom for ninety-minutes at a time. .

That long winded tangent brings me to my first viewing of John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China (1986) a classic slice of cult-cinema screened at the psyche center sometime in 1987. Probably not too very long after it bombed at the box office. I don't recall having seen any advertising or promotion for the film prior to watching it and if you know the story of how the studio dropped the ball promoting the film that may not be a surprise. At that point I hadn't started identifying directors as the creators of movies. I'd watched Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980) and The Thing (1982) hadn't connected the dots and attributed them to the work of one man. When it came to directors I pretty much knew who Steven Spielberg was and that was about it. As it happened Carpenter was coming off the success of the science fiction romance Starman (1984) following the box office failure of The Thing - a movie that has since evolved into one of the most revered fright flicks of all time. Having redeemed himself the studio offered Carpenter this project and after reading the W.D. Richter (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) penned script jumped on board. A lifelong fan of kung fu cinema Carpenter was pretty stoked to bring a big budget chop socky fantasy-adventure-comedy to the screen.

At it's heart Big Trouble in Little China is a goofy fantasy-adventure romp loaded with Chinese mysticism and crazy over-the-top martial arts action. Kurt Russell is a truck driver Jack Burton who becomes entangled in the bizarre when his friend Wang's (Dennis Dun) soon-to-be wife Miao Yin (Suzee Pai) is abducted from the airport by the Chinese gang Lords of Death at the request of the dreaded sorcerer Lo Pan, played by actor James Hong (BladeRunner) who is is fantastic as the squealing and conniving sorcerer.

Jack Burton is a sort of half-ass John Wayne type who peels off some of the most quotable one-liners in all of cinema. Full of tough-talking bravado but with absolutely nothing to back it up. Barely rising to the status of anti-hero he's just a big-mouthed jackass who'd be dead twice over of not for the heroics of his diminutive ass kicking friend Wang. 

As the plot unfolds we discover that the sorcerer Lo Pan requires Wang's green-eyed girl to perform a ritual sacrifice which will free him from a centuries old curse. Lo Pan has three henchmen known as The Three Storms, a trio of supernatural warriors that would be right at home in a Mortal Kombat video game. There's Thunder (Carter Wong), Rain (Peter Kwong) and the phenomenal Lightning (James Pax) who each control an elemental power. Burton and Wang enlist the help of an eccentric Chinese mystic, the squinty-eyed sorcerer Egg Shen (Victor Wong, Prince of Darkness) to help rescue Miao Yin from Lo Pan's underground labyrinth.  Along for the ride is a nosy and obnoxious reporter Gracie Law (Kim Catrall) who tags along providing a difficult love interest for Burton . the two have a fun adversarial chemistry as Gracie defends herself against Jack's clumsy come-ons.

Big Trouble is a special effects and martial arts extravaganza with some great effects work from Richard Edlund and the Boss Film Studios crew who worked on a ton of 80's classics  including Ghostbusters (1983), Poltergeist (1982), Fright Night (1985) and the Star Wars trilogy. For this one they created some creepy mystical creatures including a Chinese Wildman, a multi-eyed floating sentinel and a weird fish-lizard monster which we see for just a moment - blink and you'll miss it. A small complain about the effects would be I wanted more of 'em onscreen for longer! Particularly the wildman since the ending hints at a continuing story , where's the sequel John Carpenter?. 

The chop socky battles sequences are fantastic, a kinetic blend of martial arts styles and some sweet gravity-defying wire work - it's a trip. We have no shortage of flying fists of fury the clanging of weaponry and various implements of impalement -  fun action packed stuff. The film has a great pace that never lets up, moving forward at a quick pace that never leaves you time to question reality, logic or reasoning - which is good because all three are in short supply. 

The set from production design from John Lloyd is simply amazing, it was hard to believe the Chinatown sequences were not shot on location. Once our heroes descend into the labyrinthine underworld of Lo Pan it's particularly fantastic as the film takes a dark fantasy feel as they progress through the sewers into the palace like interiors and the underwater torture chamber right up to a bizarre neon-lit room, a visual stunner.  

The tone of the film is a bit off-kilter right from the start. Big Trouble doesn't take itself too serious and the cast are game to make fools of themselves , this definitely doesn't come off as the usual cliched adventure romp. They set out to make a zany actioner that subverts many of the usual stereotypes and he succeeds on all fronts in my opinion. Big Trouble in Little China is a strange and wonderful watch and one of the most quotable movies of all time, a cult-classic in the truest sense of the word and unique unto itself. 

The film bombed big time at the box office recouping just over half of it's budget in part due to poor promotion and ad campaign. The studio were unhappy with the finished product having wanted a more traditional Indian Jones type movie, but with a script co-penned by the writer/director of Buckaroo Banzai what did they expect?  The post-production hassles from the studio turned Carpenter off future studio productions for quite awhile and despite the initial poor reception Big Trouble has since gone on to develop quite a rabid fan base not unlike. What can you say, John Carpenter was a man ahead of his time. 

Blu-ray: Arrow Video's transfer of the John Carpenter cult-classic looks great with a nice natural layer of film grain with some decent fine detail, depth and clarity. Colors are bright and the image is modestly crisp all things considered. I threw on my 20th Century Fox Blu-ray and was hard-pressed to notice much of a difference except to note that the Arrow release is perhaps a tiny smidgen brighter.

Audio options include English language DTS-HD Master Audio 51 and Uncompressed PCM 2.0 with optional English SDH subtitles. It's a lively presentation with some modest audio depth, perhaps not the most dynamic surround experience one could hope for but there's some effective use of the surrounds. Mirroring the 20th Century Fox release we have the option of listening to the John Carpenter and Alan Howarth original score via DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Onto the special features we have all of the extras from the 20th Century Fox Blu-ray including deleted scenes, an extended ending, a vintage featurette, music video, the isolated score, a behind-the-scenes gallery, trailers and TV spots, Richard Edlund interview plus the fantastic audio commentary with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. When these two get together for an commentary is always a blast and this is one of my favorites. 

Arrow come through with new extras with over an hour of brand new Severin Films produced interviews with Director John Carpenter, star Kurt Russell, stuntman Jeff Imada, producer Larry Franco and cinematographer Dean Cundey.

Carpenter talks about being offered Big Trouble in Little China following the success of Starman after the box office failure of The Thing, loving W.D. Richter penned script and how  the project evolved from a Western into a contemporary setting. He speaks about the studio's disappointment with the film - they wanted something more akin to Indiana Jones - and the cult-status of the movie. 

Reversible Art Option 

Kurt Russell remembers working with Carpenter beginning with TV movie Elvis (1979) then onto Escape from New York and The Thing right up to Big Trouble, describing his character as a half-assed John Wayne and the film's poor performance at the cinema and cult-status. 

Dean Cundey who worked on many of the signature Carpenter films discusses the his b-movie roots, the origins of Halloween (1978)as a babysitter killer movie and his other collaborations with Carpenter plus the tone of the Big Trouble, the production design from John Lloyd and the joys of working with Kurt Russell. 

Producer Larry Franco was Russell's brother-in-law at the time and recounts Kurt bringing him into the Carpenter fold beginning with the Elvis TV movie and his other collaborations with Carpenter ending with Big Trouble. Interestingly he talks about a few properties that Carpenter nearly directed including the comedy Armed and Dangerous and Firestarter - the latter of which seems to have affected Carpenter quite a bit and further fueled his desire to work outside the studio system. .

Stuntman Jeff Imada goes into his martial arts background and perusing his acting/stuntman career in Hollywood. He speaks about his time on the set of Big Trouble and performing multiple roles, the mixed martial arts style of the film and the tech and wire-work utilized to perform the stunts. The stuntman fondly recalls working with Russell, James Hong and Dennis and how he started his career as a second unit director in Carpenter's They Live (1988).

Limited Edition SteelBook™

The check disc sent for review from Arrow Video unfortunately did not include the cover art the booklet but the retail version of the release includes a reversible sleeve with new artwork from artists Jay Shaw and a booklet featuring new writing on the film by John Kenneth Muir, author of The Films of John Carpenter, a re-print of an article on the effects of the film from American Cinematographer, illustrated with archive stills and posters - it's a top notch release. There is also a sweet looking Limited Edition SteelBook™ available from Arrow Video with the same AV presentation and features.  

It's been a bang-up year for John Carpenter fans with a slew of definitive reissues on Blu-ray from Scream Factory and now from Arrow Video. Would love to see Arrow continue down this path with more Carpenter on Blu-ray along the lines of what they've done with the movies of Brian De Palma, Lucio Fulci, George A. Romero and Dario Argento.

Special Features:
- High Definition presentation from a digital transfer prepared by 20th Century Fox
- Optional 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and uncompressed Stereo 2.0 Audio
- Isolated 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Isolated Score
- Audio Commentary with director John Carpenter and star Kurt Russell- Return to Little China – A brand new interview with John Carpenter (12:16)
- Being Jack Burton – A brand new interview with Kurt Russell (20:59)
- Carpenter and I – A brand new interview with cinematographer Dean Cundey (15:40)
- Producing Big Trouble – A new interview with producer Larry Franco (15:23)
- Staging Little Trouble – A new interview with stuntman Jeff Imada (12:30)
- Interview with visual effects producer Richard Edlund(13:27)
- Vintage Making-of featurette featuring cast and crew (7:28)
- Extended Ending (3:17)
- 8 Deleted Scenes
- Music Video (3:28)
- Gallery of behind-the-scenes images (4:23)
- 3 Original Trailers(2::47)
- 6 TV Spots (2:57)
- Reversible Sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw
- Booklet featuring new writing on the film by John Kenneth Muir, author of The Films of John Carpenter, a re-print of an article on the effects of the film from American Cinematographer, illustrated with archive stills and posters

Verdict: Big Trouble in Little China (186) is a cult-classic and one Hell of a fun watch, this bizarre comedy-fantasy actioner may not be the best film in the Carpenter canon but it's without a doubt the one I revisit the most. When I'm having a shit day there's a short-list of 80's comedies I can pop in to cheer me up and this at the top. On a technical AV level this edition mirrors the 20th Century Fox release but Arrow Video go the extra mile and amp it up with over an hour of brand-new interviews on-top of carrying over the extras from the region A release. If you're a serious fan of the film this is an essential item. 4 Outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: THE FURY (1978)

THE FURY (1978) 

The Limited Edition Series 

Label: Twilight Time DVD

Region Code: Region FREE

Rating: R

Duration: 118 Minutes

Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio: English 4.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio with Optional English Subtitles

Cast: Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Amy Irving, Andrew Stevens, Charles Durning, Dennis Franz, 

Director: Brian DePalma

Following the success of 1973's supernatural prom-scare Carrie Brian DePalma continued his exploration of the supernatural with this spy-thriller mash-up, definitely a weird ride that begins with Robin Sandza (Andrew Stevens, The Terror Within) having a conversation about the direction of his life on a Middle Eastern resort beach with his CIA agent father Peter (Kirk Douglas, Paths of Glory) when terrorist storm the beach in a hail of gunfire, the target is Peter, Douglass even at 62 years of age was looking fit as a fiddle and rocking a pair of white shorty shorts while taking out terrorists and arming himself with an AK-47. It's a thrilling start to the film, action-packed and loaded with DePalma's signature moving camera.

During the attack Peter's son is protected from harm by Sandza's CIA friend Childress (John Cassavetes, Rosemary's Baby) who it turns out set-up the attack in order to take-out Peter and obtain Robin for a CIA-funded telekinetic murder squad, that bastard. Robin, believing his father dead, turns cold and disillusioned by the tragic event. The Agency with the help of seductive mentor, Dr. Susan Charles (Fiona Lewis), dope-up and brain-wash the psychic assassin, the process further unhinges Robin who becomes a powerful and soulless weapon. 

Meanwhile, Peter who actually survived the staged attack is now searching for his son while evading clandestine CIA agents, this plot thread leads to some weird, humorous scenarios with Peter dropping in through a window and holding a family a gunpoint while he disguises himself with shoe polish and a fresh set of clothes. When the CIA track his whereabouts he escapes the apartment in an age defying Bourne Identity-esque series of gymnastic feats. Fresh from this agile escape Peter hijacks two on-duty police officers, one of whom is played by DePalma regular Dennis Franz (Blow Out) as Peter leads them on a wild ride through a fog-laden construction site while escaping a CIA tail. 

Eventually Sandza tracks his son down to the Paragon Institute with the help of his girlfriend Hester (Carrie Snodgrass, Pale Rider) and a young psychic recruit Gillian (Amy Irving, Carrie). The psychic warfare prep-college is being run by Dr. Mckeever (Charles Durning, Dark Night of the Scarecrow) who always delivers a great villain when onscreen, good stuff. However, when Peter attempts to spring his psychotic son from the institute the results are expectantly tragic and psycho-kinetically explosive. 

The film is a bit of a clunky mash-up, the  spy-thriller and supernatural elements don't exactly mesh quite perfectly, when the two meet head-on during the finale it's fun stuff if a bit odd. The Fury is an interesting watch with some great moments, during the finale when Robin's eyes are burning irradesent blue and the psychokinetic mayhem is full-tilt it's fun stuff. Douglas is quite entertaining as the betrayed agent in pursuit of his son, and Cassavetes is an calculating and intense villain, he's one of those presences you just can't take your eyes off. As ever Amy Irving is delightful as the naive and sympathetic Gillian, a young woman recruited by the Paragon Institute, really pulls you in, which is great because Andrew Stevens doesn't exactly ever make yo feel anything for his character, turning in the most non-effectual performance of the film.  At nearly two hours the film struggles a bit to keep a decent pace despite DePalma's enjoyable visuals, the interesting bits just don't add up to form a cohesive story. 

I think the film's biggest flaw is the script, it's incoherent at times, but DePalma's tense directing style and some strong performances keeps the weirdness flowing along without much scratching, it keeps you off balance just enough to go with it, thinking about it too much would be detrimental to your viewing experience, trust me. 

There's some nice effects and gore peppered throughout, including a great Scanners-esque finale, the film shares quite a bit with Cronenberg's classic, but falls a bit short on it's promise. We get the usual array of DePalma cinema magic, a great scene of Gillian escaping from the Paragon Institute plays out in beautiful slow-motion, nearly silent, the escape is successful but not without collateral damage, a victim's life ends on the shattered windshield of an out-of-control car, it's pure DePalma awesomeness. While it's not a perfect film this is supernatural spy-thriller has some nice horror elements and is worth a watch even if it struggles to maintain coherency from time to time. 

Blu-ray: Brian DePalma's The Fury (1978) comes to Blu-ray for the first time from Twilight Time with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer presented in widescreen (1.85:1). Having just recently thrown on the Fox DVD for a view when this Blu-ray was announced I am pleased to say it's an improvement. Colors are nicely saturated plus fine detail and sharpness are improved. One thing you will definitely notice an abundance of film grain throughout, not just a fine silted layer either, this is robust stuff. The black levels suffer a bit, definitely handling them better than the DVD but they're pretty murky and infused with grain and contrast issues. The source print is not exactly pristine either, there are minor instances of print damage with scratches, white specks, there doesn't appear to have been much of any restoration afforded the film to my eyes past a clean-up. Not to say the presentation is not generally pleasing to the eyes, the 1080p upgrade shows increased fine detail and sharpness,  while it's not on par with Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) on Blu-ray if you're a fan of the film, if you love DePalma, I can safely tell you this is worth the upgrade provided you are willing to shell out $35 for the Twilight Time edition. . 

Audio options include both the English 4.0 DTS-HD Master Audio and English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio with Optional English Subtitles. The 4.0 wins the contest quite easily with a pleasing dynamic range, dialogue and effects are nicely balanced. John Williams brassy Bernard Herman-esque score sounds nice and full, a definite upgrade from the DVD even if the surrounds don't get much of a workout.

Twilight Time have been releasing some recent Blu-rays stuffed with extras, check out Our Man Flint (1965), In Like Flint (1967), Christine (1983) and Major Dundee (1965), all of which are are dripping with great extras. Unfortunately, we don't get much in the way of extras with The Fury, what we do get is the signature Isolated Score Track, John Williams score is pretty fantastic, Williams is strongly channeling Bernard Herman and it's a joy to listen to. Also included is the Original Theatrical Trailer and an 8 pg. Collector's Booklet with Julie Kirgo's extensive liner notes which frame the film in a post-Carrie (1976) world with DePalma further exploring the occult and supernatural. While features are a bit anemic they are certainly appreciated, would have loved a commentary, interviews with the cast or crew, but the original Fox DVD had none and keeping with Twilight Time's business model they have not sourced new features, but we do get the nifty Julie Kirgo liner notes and a great isolated score.  

Special Features: 

- John Williams Isolated Score Track 

- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Collector's Booklet with Extensive Julie Kirgo Liner Notes

Verdict: Not a top-tier DePalma film by any means but an interesting supernatural actioner mash-up, it's fun to see DePalma further explore the occult following Carrie (1976), it's just not as successful a film. As usual Twilight Time's Blu-ray is limited edition of only 3,000 and available exclusively from www.screenarchives.com, so get it while you can. 3 Outta 5