DVD COMPARISON: MARK OF THE DEVIL (1970)

DVD BATTLE:

MARK OF THE DEVIL (1970) 

It's been awhile since we had a DVD comparison up on the site but here we go, this time out it's MARK OF THE DEVIL (1970) with editions from Blue Underground and Cheezy Flicks. .

This is my attempt to guide genre film fans towards the most complete and proper presentations of our favorite films through comparison of special features and audio visual qaulities. I'll make my decision known and why but take a look at what each release offers and make your own decision based on what's important to you as a buyer. Some go for the commentaries and 5.1, others may take a shine to interviews and artwork or just price point. Let's just be thankful that we have choices and that there are niche labels the world around competing for our hard earned dollars because choice is a very good thing indeed.

MARK OF THE DEVIL (1970) 

Label: Blue Underground
Region Code: NTSC 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 96 Mins
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: English Dolbu Digital 2.0 Mono
Cast: Udo Kier, Herbert Lom, Reggie Nalder, Herbert Fux 
Director: Michael Armstrong 

Synopsis: Uncensored!This is the one that historians and gorehounds alike still speak of with shock and awe, the movie so extreme that audiences were given free barf bags! Herbert Lom (THE DEAD ZONE), Udo Keir (BLADE), Herbert Fux (EUGENIE) and the ultra-creepy Reggie Nalder (SALEMS LOT) star in this infamous epic of fanatical 18th Century witchfinders who rape, torture, dismember and burn thousands of nubile young women falsely accused of fornicating with Satan. Can you stomach the agonizing torment of the damned? Behold the gut-wrenching horror of MARK OF THE DEVIL! 

BLUE UNDERGROUND MENUS

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary with Director Michael Armstrong

- Fear and Loathing in Austria - Interview with Star Udo Kier (6:42)
- The Devil's Torturer - Interview with Star Herbert Fux (13:14)
- Burn, Gaby, Burn! - Interview with Star Gaby Fuchs (7:05)
- The Devil's Assaulted - Interview with Star Ingeborg Shoner (7:04)
- Theatrical Trailer (3:26)
- 3 Radio Spots (1:40)
- Poster and Still Galleries

VS.

MARK OF THE DEVIL (1970) 

Yach Pack Edition

Label: Cheezy Flicks 
Region Code: NTSC 1
Rating: R
Duration: 96 Mins
Aspect Ratio: Letterboxed  (1.78:1)
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Cast: Udo Kier, Herbert Lom, Reggie Nalder, Herbert Fux 
Director: Michael Armstrong 

Synopsis: Banned in many countries!  - Udo Kier is a witch hunter apprentice to Herbert Lom. Udo believes strongly in his mentor and in the ways of the church but loses faith when he catches Lom strangle a man to death for calling him impotent. Kier begins to see for himself that the witch trials are nothing but a scam of the church to seduce women, rob people of their land, money, and other personal belongings. in the end, the towns people revolt, Herbert Llom escapes and poor Udo is tortured to death by the towns people with the his own devices from the dungeon. 

CHEEZY FLICKS MENU

THE VOMIT BAG!

Cheezy Flicks Special Features: 

- Vomit Bag

- Trailers: I DRINK YOUR BLOOD (1:38), HORRORS AT THE BLACK MUSEUM (3:8) 

- About Cheezy Flicks

- Intermission (1:05)

DVD SCREENSHOT COMPARISONS

Blue Underground: Top

Cheezy Flicks: Bottom

Verdict: Michael Armstrong's sadistic tale of a witchfinder (Herbert Lom) and his apprentice (Udo Kier) is still a fantastically exploitative period piece delving into the dark underbelly of just how truly evil and corrupt the witch hunts were, sure it's dated but it still packs quite a punch and is riddled with perversity and bloody torture. 

Cheezy Flicks novel vomit bag is a strong impulse buy based on kitschy appeal alone but in the face of Blue Undergrounds film-specific special features which include not just a great commentary with director Michael Armstrong but also four featurettes with video interviews with the principle cast including Udo Kier. 

That's just the extras, now when you take into consideration the quite poor video and audio quality of Cheezy Flicks edition which is a dark, washed-out muddy mess that seems to be sourced from a VHS the scales are even further unbalanced in favor of Blue Underground whose edition has been completely restored and it shows every level, the saturated color is gorgeous, fine details are abundant and black levels are generally strong, there's just no comparison to be made. Blue Underground bests Cheezy Flicks in all regards, if you can find it cheap enough I would suggest snagging the Cheezy Flicks edition if only to snag the cool vomit bag and stick inside the Blue Underground DVD as pictured below then toss the inferior edition on the sell pile.

THE WINNER: BLUE UNDERGROUND!

http://www.blue-underground.com/

http://cheezyflicks.com/

STAR KNIGHT and THE TEACHER on the way from CHEEZY FLICKS!

This month CHEEZY FLICKS are bringing their out of print title THE TEACHER (1974) starring the hotness that is Angel Tompkins back into circulation with new cover art as well as the sci-fi fantasty film STAR KNIGHT (1985) starring Harvey Keitel and the madman that is Klaus Kinski on DVDR with updated cover art as well. Here's the details....

STAR KNIGHT (1985)

Duration: 90 mins
Format: DVDR
Video: Fullscreen 1.33:1
Rating: PG
Director: Fernando Colomo
Cast: Fernando Rey, Klaus Kinski, Harvey Keitel

In a time of wizards and dragons, a mystic quest brings a distant traveler to a place called Earth!


It is the dark ages. Knights patrol the countryside, Kings make the rules, and princesses go silently about their royal duties. Princesses, that is, who aren't Princess Alba (Maria Lamor). When Princess Alba is apparently abducted by a dragon, it's up to Klever (Harvey Keitel) to save her. What Klever finds, however, is not a dragon at all - but a strange beast-like craft from the stars - a craft with an occupant, a humanoid alien from another planet. Things heat up when, during Princess Alba's rescue, Klever gets closer to the alien than he ever expected - and learns that Alba isn't being held against her will after all - she is in love with the strange, futuristic traveler.

Cheezy Flicks Entertainment Presents Star Knight Starring: KLAUS KINSKI, HARVEY KEITEL, FERNANDO REY and MARIA LAMOR. Original Music by JOSE NIETO. Production Manager CARLOS ORENGO. Cinematography by JOSE LUIS ALCAINE. Edited by MIGUEL ¡NGEL SANTAMARIA. Production Manager CARLOS ORENGO. Screenplay by FERNANDO COLOMO & ANDREU MARTIN. Produced and Directed by FERNANDO COLOMO

THE TEACHER (1974)

Format: DVD
Duration: 97 min
Rating: R
Video: 4:3 Fullscreen
Region Code: 1 NTSC
Cast: Angel Tompkins, Jay North, Anthony James, Marlene Schmidt
Director: Hikmet Avedis

After school... her lessons began with sex and ended in violence.
 
A beautiful and seductive small-town high school teacher (Angel Tompkins) seduces her star pupil (Jay North). Deranged desire leads to murder and mayhem when their careless, uncontrolled passion provokes the raging jealousy of a town misfit who has just been released from the mental hospital.

In a review for the film quite awhile back I said "The entire films kinda feels like a fleshed out softcore porn, I ain't complaining, just saying. Who hasn't fantasized about a teacher, and rarely are they as hot as Angel Tompkins, yowza. A crazy, fun exploitation flick that hits a few dark notes along the way." - it's a bunch of fun for sure so check it out.

DVD REVIEW: The Walking Dead Girls (2010)

THE WALKING DEAD GIRLS (2010)

LABEL: Cheezy Flicks
RELEASE DATE: March 22nd 2011
REGION: Region 1 NTSC
ASPECT RATIO: 16x9
AUDIO:  Dolby Digital
DURATION: 70 mins
DIRECTOR: Tyler Benjamin
CAST: George Romero, Bruce Campbell, Linnea Quigley, Boyd Banks, Lloyd Kaufman

PLOT: The Walking Dead Girls is a behind-the-scenes look into zombie culture in the United States and the obsession into ""Sexy Female Zombies"". What is it about Zombie Bimbos or ""Zimbies"" that are starting to gain the worlds interest? Why are zombies now in mainstream culture and seen in advertising from JCPenny and Sears? With interviews with zombie master maker George Romero and cult movie star Bruce Campbell from ZomBcon 2010 and so much more. Also with a rare look into the making of a Zombie Pinup Calendar, behind the scenes of ""Stripperland"" and ""Clublife"" Daniel Baldwin's hip hop Zombie music video debut. ""The Walking Dead Girls"" is a sexy look into the zombie phenomenon created by George Romero that is 40 years in the making.

FILM: What we have here is a breezy made-by-fans documentary that sets out to give watchers a glimpse into zombie culture through behind-the-scenes footage of the Zombie Pin-Up Calendar photo shoot and interviews with actors and directors of zombie genre film. It's a pretty casual affair hosted by the lovely and pink-haired Luna Moon.  The films starts off with a George A. Romero interview and rightly so, despite what some may think of his latest films the man undeniably redefined the zombie genre. It's a decent interview and while it covers stuff we've heard many times before on commentaries, interview, etc.  we do find out that George's favorite food is Middle Eastern cuisine. Sure, it's a fluff piece but it's always nice to hear Romero discuss his films, his legacy, and the social commentary found in all his films.  This interview pretty much sets the pace for the remainder of the film as most of the interviews are pretty shallow, not too in-depth and often off topic. Off topic like John Amplas the star of George A. Romero's MARTIN (1977) who seems an odd choice as that films is a vampire flick and has nothing to do with zombie culture other than Romero directed it. Don't get me wrong I think it's a fantastic film but it seems out of place here in this context. One of the more interesting interviews is scream scream Linnea Quigley who I recall so fondly from her iconic roles in RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985) and NIGHT OF THE DEMONS (1988) as she discusses her career as a scream queen and her role in the forthcoming film STRIPPERLAND (2010) and she even demonstrated several different scream techniques, fun stuff.  The Ladies of The Evil Dead make a brief appearance and let me just say that these gals seem like a ton o' fun and even provided a group scream for the fans, and if I may say so Ellen Sandweiss is still an attractive lady. Speaking of the EVIL DEAD (1981) Luna Moon interviews Bruce Campbell who really comes across as an arrogant bastard who cared little to talk about zombies and instead plugs his TV series BURN NOTICE, maybe it was an off night but he seemed dismissive and disinterested. After the Linnea Quigley segment the interview with Troma impresario Lloyd Kaufman is a definite highlight. This is a guy whom is 10x more interesting than the best Troma film in my opinion. He's charismatic and well-spoken while discussing his introduction to film while attending Yale where he counted future Commander in Chief George W. Bush and director Oliver Stone as classmates. Kaufman who recently has been outspoken in regards to net neutrality recounts allegedly being asked to join the nefarious Skull and Bones society and the downfall of independent cinema distribution and television programming under various presidential administrations. A very interesting personality and it may be a bit surprising if all you know him by are the goofy Troma DVD introductions. And let's not forget the real draw of the film, the behind-the-scenes photo shoots with busty pin-up girls from the Zombie Pin-Up Calender. These were fun if redundant buts as the models are asked a series of similar question like would you rather be a zombie or a vampire and why. While I prefer a bit more substance in my docs this was a lot of fun and at only 70 minutes it flew by.

DVD: The film is presented in 16x9 enhanced widescreen and looks pretty good. It appears to have been shot on consumer grade digital video equipment, it's a real made by fans for fans production and there ain't nothin' wrong with that. There are no subtitles included or supplemental materials.

VERDICT: THE WALKING DEAD GIRLS (2010) is a fun spirited zombie culture documentary made by fans for fans and it definitely wears it's zombie heart on its sleeve. While I don't think it's particularly illuminating and it may have a ton of rewatch value it is certainly entertaining and includes zombie cheesecake photo-shoots with busty ladies made-up as zombies, so how bad could it be, right? Definitely not essential viewing but probably a fun rental for you zombie nuts out there. 2.5 outta 5