GONE WITH THE POPE (1976)

GONE WITH THE POPE (1976)

2-Disc Deluxe edition DVD/BD Combo 

Label: Grindhouse Releasing
Region Code: Region FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 82 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English Dolby Digital Stereo, English Dolby Digital Mono
Video: 1080p widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Duke Mitchell
Cast: Duke Mitchell, Jim Lo Bianco, Giorgio Tavolieri, Peter Milo, Lorenzo Dardado, John Murgia

I was still recovering from Duke Mitchell's gonzo crime film Massacre Mafia Style (1974) when his follow-up feature, the long lost Gone with the Pope (1976), aka Kiss the Ring, arrived on the doorstep. I must say that Grindhouse Releasing have just been knocking it out of the park this past year with a string of strange, violent and often times weird cult movies. In a lot of ways the release of these Duke Mitchell movies seems to be the perfect culmination of what that company is all about, bringing lost, forgotten and obscure grindhouse cinema to the masses, each loaded with Criterion worthy deluxe packaging and in-depth bonus content. 

Paul (Duke Mitchell) has just been released from prison when he is contracted by the Chicago mob to execute seven men in Las Vegas and Los Angeles for the sum of 100K. Afterward Paul charters a yacht and sets sail for Rome along with his three former prison pals, We have The Old Man (Lorenzo Dardado), Luke (Jim LoBianco), and Peter (Peter Milo), once in Rome he reveals his plan to kidnap the Pope and ransom him for a dollar from every Catholic in world! Love that set-up, a bit pure genius and that alone should be enough put asses in the seats for this one. 

While not a sequel to Massacre Mafia Style it does have the same tone and aesthetic, a mobbed-up crime caper starring Mitchell in the lead that follows the exploits of a foul-mouthed Italian American and his band of merry criminals, upping the ante by setting his sights on the Catholic guardian of the world, the damned Pope! 

On a technical level the film is sub-par compared Massacre Mafia style but that's just part of the b-movie experience, some shoddy audio and out of focus camerawork mar the production slightly. Mitchell is is fine form here with a few choice monologues and the usual racial insensitivity of the previous film. When he's not poignantly condemning the Catholic Church for their silence during the Holocaust he compares an African American woman's naughty parts to a Brillo pad before asking her to do some housework. Never a man to mince words you will find that most of the dialogue is laced with numerous f-bombs and politically incorrect observations, yet somehow he delivers it with a disarming charm, he's charismatic, I'll give him that. 

The film largely lacks the manic energy of his previous film but is heavy with strange vignettes, such as a surreal three-way with a rather large woman that ends with her ripping a bathroom door off the hinges, all of which is shot with a fish eye lens. The odd detour doesn't seem to fit into the loose narrative but who gives a damn, just go with. The crime story lacks the strong(er) narrative structure of MMS but proves to be quite entertaining through and through, after watching the extras on the disc it becomes pretty clear that Mitchell shot the film with only a loose script on weekends and was often improvised, and it shows. 

The crooner turned actor/director is pretty solid here, a standout among a cast of amateur actors comprised of friends and acquaintances, each sort of fits the mold but are not the most adept actors, again, all part of the b-movie charm.
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Gone with the Pope, or Kiss the Ring as it was then known, began filming in 1975 following Massacre Mafia Style and shot on weekends while Duke scraped together funding for the project. Filming was completed but the film sat in an unfinished state in Mitchell's garage until after his death, where it was discovered by Sage Stallone and Bob Murawski from Grindhouse Releasing, years after the director's death. It took a decade to restore the original film elements and reassemble the print from Mitchell's own handwritten script notes before releasing the film into select theaters beginning with the 2010 World Premiere at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

Audio/Video: The brand new 2K restoration offers a somewhat surprising amount of depth and clarity with nicely managed grain structure that does not appear to have been overly manipulated digitally. Colors are warm and strong, those garish '70s textures and intricate patterns pop off the screen and the neon glow of the Las Vegas lights look fantastic. restoration afforded the film is a thing of beauty, there are moments of minor vertical scratching and speckling but looking at some of the before/after image comparisons on the extras is proof of the love and care that went into making this screen-worthy.   

Emmy award-winning sound mixer Marti Humphrey has created brand new DTS-HD MA Mono and 5.1 Surround mixes for the audio track, plus a Dolby Digital Stereo option. Each are solid given the audio limitations of the source material with select scenes of dialogue coming through muffled from time to time, but for most of the film the dialogue is consistently clear and the music score comes through nicely. I preferred the original mono mix to the surround, the flatter sound better suited the period and aesthetic. No subtitles option is offered on either the Blu-ray or DVD discs. 

Onto the substantial extras we begin with Gone with the Pope - The Players (67 Mins) featuring interview with film editors Bob Leighton and Robert Florio, cinematographer Peter Santoro, actors Jim LoBianco and John Murgia, and, cult film producer/director Matt Cimber. This making of doc makes for a storied accounting from all the players about their experiences making the movie with recollections of the foul-mouthed Mitchell and his death from cancer.

Up next is Shooting Gone with the Pope (23 Mins) with cinematographer Peter Santoro who goes into some depth about the sub-standard cameras and lenses used during the shoot, the various film stocks used and pulling double-duty as the sound man  on set, which does explain some of the audio problems on the disc. Santoro again returns for the brief Restoring Gone with the Pope (3 Mins) discussing the art of film restoration including scanning the original negative, color correction and various amounts of digital manipulation to remove vertical scratches and tastefully managing film grain.  

The disc offers seven Deleted Scenes (17 Mins) which don't offer too much of interest, an extended take and a few additional scenes that don't seem to feed the loose narrative. Out-takes (13 Mins) features video clips and audio of Mitchell sounding agitated at blown line deliveries and obtrusive noise fro passing planes.

Once again Peter Santoro returns for an introduction to Insert Shots (6 Mins) in which he sort of red-faced explains that Duke wanted to film hardcore sex scenes to sell to production companies to help fund his movies. Apparently it didn't go so well but the footage starring Duke and a young woman has survived and is on display here. 

I very much enjoyed the comedy-musical stylings of Frankie Carr and the Nov-elites who are showcased during the film, here we have the raw footage of that performance in Las Vegas (8 Mins). I wish I knew more about this band, I was captivated by the towering ginger-haired guitar player, she was a cutey. 

Then straight into footage of the 2010 Hollywood World Premiere at the Egyptian Theatre (21 Minutes) featuring a discussion panel  with Murawski, Murgia, Lo Bianco, Santoro and Florio. You can glimpse Blue Underground's own Bill Lustig in attendance as well as actor Clu Gulager (The Initiation).

The bonus content on the disc is finished-up with the Theatrical Trailer (2 Mins), Production Material Gallery(26 Images), a Theatrical Release Gallery, (25 Images), a very  lengthy Grindhouse Releasing trailer reel, plus a Duke Mitchell Filmography featuring trailers for Massacre Mafia style and Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. Aside from the DVD-Rom content which includes the story treatment, script pages and various written materials there are several Easter Eggs buried away on the disc including additional interview material with actor Jim Lo Bianco, a silent rough-cut version of the three-way scene and video of actor John Murgia watching the completed film for the first time and looking quite bemused. 

The whole package arrives in a Criterion style clear case housing both the Blu-ray and DVD, plus a collectible fold-out poster of the artwork featuring writing on the film from John Skipp. 

Special Features:
- Spectacular 2K digital restoration from the original 35mm camera negative
- Gone with the Pope - The Players (67 Mins) 

- Shooting Gone with the Pope (23 Mins) 

- Restoring Gone with the Pope (3 Mins) 

- 7 Deleted Scenes (17 Mins) 

- Out-takes (13 Mins) 

- Insert Shots (6 Mins) 

- Frankie Carr and the Nov-elites Live in Las Vegas (8 Mins) 

- Hollywood World Premiere (21 Mins) 

- Theatrical Trailer (2 Mins) 

- Still Galleries: Production Material (26 Images), Theatrical Release (25 Mins) 

- Duke Mitchell Filmography 

- Grindhouse Releasing Trailer Reel 

- DVD-Rom Extras: Story Treatment, script Pages and Written Materials 

- DVD Easter Egg: Mugia watches the Film for the First Time (6 Mins)

- DVD Easter Egg: Roll 23  (2 Mins) 

- Blu-ray Easter Egg: Additional Jim Lo Bianco Interview (2 Mins) 

The journey of the long forgotten Gone with the Pope (1976) from dusty cans of film in Duke's garage to the silver screen and now onto a dual format DVD/BD from Grindhouse Releasing is a proper testament to the late Sage Stallone and Bob Murawski's dedication to the preservation of cult-cinema, not to mention the further story of how lounge-crooner Duke Mitchell somehow became a legend of underground filmmaking. It's a very strange and wonderful story that might make for an interesting film itself along the lines of Ed Wood (1994) or Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) .  

GRINDHOUSE TRAILER CLASSICS (2014)

GRINDHOUSE TRAILER CLASSICS (2013)

Label: Intervision Picture Corp
Duration: 129 minutes

Region Code: 1 NTSC 

Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono with Optional English Subtitles 

Directors: Various

Cast: Various 

Straight from the flea-pit cinemas of 42nd and beamed directly into the comfort of your slightly less filthy home we have right here a wonderfully tasteless collection of trashy exploitation movie trailers from 70s and 80s courtesy of  
Intervision Picture Corp. Fifty-five trailers are bursting at the seams with copious amounts of sex, gore and kitsch that the actual movies they're advertising could never hope to live up to, but damn are they fun to watch. The era of the supercharged trashy movie trailer pretty much an extinct art form - you just don't seem 'em like this anymore - and that's why I love these trailer compilations. These trailer comps are capturing a specific moment in cinema history when ticket prices and b-movie thrills were cheap and laced with vulgarity. Over-the-top narration poured over scene after scene of mind warping sex and  depravity and you're getting it in it's mos concentrated form - two minutes of cheap thrills that ninety percent of the time is a far superior experience to sitting through the duration of most of these films. 

These days trailer comps are a dime a dozen and Intervision have wisely chosen to spice it up a bit with something other than just a reel of violent and smutty trailers strung together. It's not much but we do have a poster gallery and a nineteen minute feature hosted by sultry UK cult presenter Emily Booth whom offers a scripted history of the b-movie grindhouse with some great clips and tasty dialogue The piece was scripted by author Stephen Thrower and adapted from his book Nightmare USA and directed by Jake West (Evil Aliens, Dog House) whom also directed the Video Nasties - The Definitive Guide. 

I hope to see Severin and Intervision license the second volume of Video Nasties - The Definitive Guide and the other three volumes of the Grindhouse Trailer Classics series from the UK's Nucleus Films - these are fun releases. A fun watch and something I would throw on in the background at a party or as something as mundane as vacuuming the house, there's no wrong time for time form some trashy trailer fun.  Now you can enjoy over two hours of trashy cinema trailers from the safety of your own home with a cold brew in your hand. 

The presentation is a collection of widescreen and full screen trailers of varying quality though most are quite nice, not a bunch of wear and tear and that's almost a negative in my opinion - but fear not for it's grime and grain you crave both are in abundance. Some of the audio is appropriately scratchy but again not as much as you might expect. I do love the aesthetic of the release with menus that are a bit grimy and VHS is appearance with an interlaced image which gives it a decidedly analog TV feel. 

Grindhouse Trailer Classics is a fun bit of salacious entertainment loaded with cheap sex and gratuitous violence straight, a definite recommend if you don't already own a ton of these trailer comps - a list of the trailers are listed below.  
   
Special Features:
- 'Bump and Grind: Emily Booth explores the world of Grindhouse Cinema'. (19 minutes)
- Grindhouse Poster Art Gallery (29 images)

Trailers:
I Drink Your Blood and I Eat Your Skin
Blood Splattered Bride and I Dismember Mama
Switchblade Sisters
Caged Heat
Eyeball
Deranged
Big Doll House, The
Bury Me An Angel
Last House On The Left, The
Street Fighter, The
Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS
Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde
Don't Open The Window
Human Tornado, The
Caged Virgins
Ebony, Ivory & Jade
Deadly Weapons
Torso
They Call Her One Eye
Death Ship
Master Of The Flying Guillotine
They Came from Within
Thing With Two Heads, The
I Spit On Your Grave
Sweet Sugar
Girls For Rent
Toolbox Murders, The
Executioner, The
House of Whipcord
Truck Turner
God Told Me To
Doctor Butcher M.D.
Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things
Night of the Bloody Apes
Blood Sucking Freaks
Ilsa: Harem Keeper Of The Oil Sheiks
Single Girls, The
Corpse Grinders, The
Zombie
Coffy
Perils of Gwendoline, The
Legend of The Wolf Woman, The
Satan's Sadists
Disco Godfather
Let Me Die A Woman
Doll Squad, The
Secrets of Sweet Sixteen
Cannonball
Autopsy
Fight For Your Life
Love Me Deadly
Wham! Bam! Thank you Spaceman!
Shogun Assassin
Three on a Meathook

DVD Review: SUSHI GIRL (2012)

SUSHI GIRL (2012)

Label: Magnet Releasing

Region Code: 1 NTSC

Rating: R

Duration: 99 Minutes

Video: 16:9 Widescreen (2.40:1)

Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital EX with Optional English Subtitles

Director: Kern Saxton

Cast: Tony Todd, James Duval, Noah Hathaway, Andy Mackenzie
Mark Hamill, Sonny Chiba, David Dastmalchian, Michael Beihn, Danny Trejo, Jeff Fahey, Cortney Palm

Tagline: Revenge is a Dish Best Served Raw

Synopsis: Brand new prison parolee Fish (Noah Hathaway) has spent the past six years in incarcerated following a botched diamond heist, the only one of a crew of five to get nabbed by the police afterward, being a stand-up guy he's not rolled on any of them while in prison, their secrets are safe. The very night he is released from the prison he's invited to a celebration dinner reuniting the five men who performed the heist, and what begins as a congratulatory and lavish Yakuza-style sushi dinner served off the nubile flesh of a gorgeous young woman (Courtney Palm) quickly turns quite a bit more sinister when old wounds are re-opened and the proverbial salt is applied with bitter viciousness as Fish's former friendlies attempt to find out just what exactly happened to the missing diamonds following his incarceration. 

The leader of the crew of criminals is Duke (Tony Todd), a well-mannered but menacing presence, it is Tony Todd after all, the guy just does not do sweet. Duke is joined for dinner by the perversely effeminate Crow (Mark Hamill), the bearded mad dog Max (Andy McKenzie) and the coke-sniffing Francis (James Duvall), whom is the most square of the bunch, his former life of crime seems to have left a bad taste in his mouth and he's reluctant to join in on the Duke's sadistic games, particularly a torture game involving a storied three-minute timer, interrogation and brutality. We get all manner of the ultra-violence as the crew not-so-politely inquire as to the whereabouts of the missing loot, there's a sock full of broken glass upside the face, broken ribs, chop sticks used rather inappropriately, the fingering of an open wound and the removal of teeth, it's not for the squeamish but fear not for it's not on the level of what some might all "torture porn" either. I'd put it right up there with the "ear" scene from Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992). There's some undeniable and delicious Tarantino influence throughout the film, particularly the dialogue which is razor sharp and the words spewing from Todd and Hamill's mouths are delightful to the ears. it was particularly enjoyable to see Mark Hamill seemingly channeling an effeminately perverse version of his iconic Joker character from Batman - The Animated Series, truly sublime.

The cast is superb through and through with great volatile chemistry from the main bunch of guys as they spew barbs of sarcasm, we also get fun cameos from genre legends Danny Trejo and Sonny Chiba, plus a brief Planet Terror (2010) reunion of Michael Beihn and Jeff Fahey, loved it! It took me a few minutes to place James Duvall, whom I remember so fondly from Doom Generation (1995) and Donnie Darko (2001), he's not quite so baby faced these days and I wondered what the Hell happened and then I went to the bathroom and took a look at myself in the mirror, what the fuck happened indeed. Sushi Girl is just a great watch from start to finish, it's a bit of heist film, there's a great revenge thread and it ought to thrill fans of classic grindhouse cinema as well as those who love the recent wave of exploitation throwbacks, too. 

The DVD comes jam-packed with extras including two audio commentaries from the filmmakers and cast, a reel of outtakes, an alternate reveal and ending, a producer's video diary, a hour long making-of documentary, trailers, poster and still galleries and my favorite would be some retro shot-on-video aesthetic commercials which were quite fun, Sonny Chiba selling soy sauce, gotta love it. Also, be on the lookout for a great Easter egg featuring Mark Hamill and a prop from a certain Kevin Smith film, it's a fantastic edition sure to please special feature lovers.

Special Features: 
- Filmmaker Commentary with Kern Saxton, Destin PLaff, Neal Fischer and Suren M. Seron
- Cast Commentary with Tony Todd, James Duval Noah Hathaway, Andy McKenzie, David Dastmalchian, Destin Plaff and Kern Saxton- Sushi Girl: A Documentary (59:54)
- Outtakes (16:59) 
- Producer’s Diaries (7:22) 
- Sushi Girl Music Video: "Victories and Consequences: by Send the Sages (3:52)
- Fake TV Commercials a la Sushi Girl: Falkore Plumbing (1:34), Colonax (2:06), Killaman Soy Sauce (0:36)
- Alternate Reveal (0:30)
- Alternate Ending (1:53)
- Poster and Promotional Image Gallery
- Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery 
- Storyboards
- Trailers: Green Band Grindhouse Trailer (2:07), Red Band Voices Trailer (1:55), - Magnolia Trailers: John Dies at the End (3:53), ABC's of Death (3:54) 

Verdict: A pretty fucking sweet, fast-talking, slice of revenge awesomeness, a great watch and it gets a high recommend, fun stuff. A great feature film debut from filmmaker Kern Saxton right outta the gate, can't wait to see what's next for the young director, this is exciting stuff.  4 Outta 5
  

http://www.magnetreleasing.com

DVD Review: JESSICKA RABID (2010)

JESSICKA RABID (2010)

Label: Troma Entertainment
Region Code: ALL NTSC
Duration: 82 mins
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo 
Director: Mathew Reel
Cast: Elske McCain, Trent Haaga, Ciciany Oliver, Jeff Sisson

JESSICKA RABID is the latest slice of cinema trash from Troma Entertainment directed by Mathew Reel and starring Trenta Haaga and Elske McCain filmed right here in Tucson, AZ.

The film stars Tucson local Elske McCain as the mentally challenged titular character Jessicka who is kept like an animal by her fucked-up incestuous cousins Marley (Trent Haaga), Brad (Jeff Sisson) and Abby Hoffman (Ciciany Oliver). She's a feral woman who's kept in a dog cage out in the garage, she's fed from a bowl, hosed down once in a while and shits and pisses in the backyard while being walked on a leash. That's pretty fucked-up as it is but the film also goes the incest route as she's trained to give BJ's to Brad who also loans her out to z-grade porno shoots, she's Marley's regular fuck doll and even Abby, whom at first seems one of the film's more sympathetic characters, also gets in on the incest action training her to shampoo the carpet with the liberal application of peanut butter to her lady bits, a very nice touch.

So, it's a pretty sweet deal for the cousins but not so much for the mentally challenged cum-dumpster Jessicka. It's while being kept in the filthy dog cage that Jessicka is bit by a vicious dog and wouldn't you know that the beast is rabid and infects the feral woman with a fearsome rage which she in turn directs towards her captors. The ensuing massacre features some nice blood letting and a fun decapitation scene but the movie isn't a splatterfest by any means, it's definitely disturbing but revels more in the deranged acts of fucked-up degradation perpetrated upon the mentally challenged woman by her white trash captor's more so than on-screen gore but it's fucked-up shit no doubt. So, while the subject matter is disturbing and reprehensible the death scenes aren't particularly well executed but fun in a no-budget schlocky sorta way, particularly a decapitation scene towards the end o' the film when we get a nice HIGH TENSION-esque gettin' head scene, fun stuff.

The film is super low-budget and the filmmakers have wisely chosen to embrace their limited means and go the route of an early 70's looking drive-in production approximating a fuzzy, scratched 8mm print that looks like it's been through the wringer a few too many time, very washed out. It's gives the film a authentic grimy grindhouse patina complete with choppy editing and bad sound, it's a gritty production and it quite suits the film's gritty subject matter.

The film's plot is pretty bare with some bad scripting and poor dialogue that doesn't do the film any favors. The acting is also a bit spotty at times with a few nice exceptions. Trent Haaga as the quasi leader of the incestuous family is pretty great as usual and Elske McCain as the titular Jessicka has some nice animalistic moments that convey basic emotions but I wouldn't say it's well-acted either but overall I think the film is a pretty damned entertaining watch, uneven and poorly paced but entertaining nonetheless.

By Troma standards the DVD comes with a pretty great array of extras , including a fun group audio commentary, trailer Lloyd Kaufman outtakes filmed at the awesome Loft Cinema here in Tucson, a digital Jessicka Rabid comic and two slide shows plus the usual array of Tromatic extras, a very fine set of special features.

Special Features:
- Behind the Scenes Featurette(10:53) 16:9
- The Lloyd Kaufman Outtakes (1:46) 16:9
- Digital Jessicka Rabid Comic
- Trailer (3:01) 16:9
_-Behind the Scenes Slideshow (0:50) 16:9
- Exclusive Super Hot Elske McCain Slideshow
- Audio Commentary
- Tromatic Extras

Verdict: What's not to love? Forced incest, sexual slavery, exploitation of the mentally ill, depraved violence against women (and men), rabid revenge and debauchery, a smorgasbord of low-budget offensiveness that really channels the 70's grindhouse for all it's worth. I wanted to see more gore and for it to go just a little further than it treaded but maybe I'm just weird that way, if you're gonna go for it I say go all the way. Not a film for everyone, just the fucked-up freaks who enjoy nasty no-budget exploitation films. 3/5

Michael Biehn's THE VICTIM gets distribution through Anchor Bay Films

There's news that actor Michael Biehn's directorial debut THE VICTIM (2011) has been picked up for distribution through Anchor Bat Films here in North America. The star of TERMINATOR and ALIENS also stars in this psychologival thriller, read all about it below and check out the trailer...

Anchor Bay Films Press Release:

ANCHOR BAY FILMS LOCKS IN NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS FOR THE VICTIM

Written and Directed by Award-Winning Actor Michael Biehn 

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Anchor Bay Films has locked in North American rights to the suspense thriller,  THE VICTIM, starring Michael Biehn (Terminator, Aliens), Jennifer Blanc (Badass, Dark Angel), Ryan Honey (Men of Honor, Hallowed Ground), Denny Kirkwood (Never Been Kissed), Tanya Newbould (Red Dragon, Rush Hour 2) and Danielle Harris (Halloween series).  The deal was made with Preferred Content.  The Victim was written by Michael Biehn and is his directorial debut.  Bill Clark, President of Anchor Bay Entertainment, made today’s announcement. 

“This is a great grindhouse film and audiences won’t be disappointed,” commented Kevin Kasha, Executive Vice President, Acquisitions and Co-Productions for Anchor Bay Films.  

“From the first day of shooting, I had hoped that Anchor Bay would be interested in THE VICTIM.  I’m very happy they will be working with us to distribute it,” added Michael Biehn.  “I loved making such a down and dirty film – true grindhouse.”  

Good time girls Annie (Jennifer Blanc) and Mary (Danielle Harris) find themselves in a life and death situation. Annie’s life is put in jeopardy when she is witness to a violent act at the hands of two Sheriff’s Deputies. Fleeing from attackers (Ryan Honey, Denny Kirkwood), she stumbles across Kyle (Michael Biehn), a recluse living in the middle of the woods.  The ruggedly handsome loner stays far from civilization – that is – until a single knock on his door throws his solitary life into chaos. Two worlds collide in this psychological thriller that will make you question your trust in mankind.  Who is the victim?

THE VICTIM was executive produced by Brock Morse, Morgan Johnson and Ryan Honey of The Mud Show and produced by Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Lorna Paul and Travis Romero of Blanc/Biehn Productions in association with Pegasus Productions.  Stevan Mena and Vincent Butta of Crimson Films will be handling the theatrical release.  This is the third project between Crimson Films and Anchor Bay Films.  Additionally, Hogan Entertainment and Pegasus Productions will be handling the college tour of the film.  

The deal was brokered by Kevin Kasha on behalf of Anchor Bay Films with Preferred Content working on behalf of the filmmakers. 

To discover more about THE VICTIM, visit www.grindhousethevictim.com.

Blu-ray Review: THE EXTERMINATOR (1980)

THE EXTERMINATOR (1980)

Label: Arrow Video
Region Code: Region FREE
Rating: 18 Certificate
Duration: 102 mins
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.78:1), 1080p HD
Audio: Uncompressed LPCM Mono Audio with Option Subtitles
Director: James Glickenhaus Cast: Robert Ginty, Christopher George, Steve James, Samantha Eggar, David Lipmann
Tagline: If You're Lying I'll Be Back

THE EXTERMINATOR opens during the Vietnam war with a fiery explosion, it's an enormous APOCALYPSE NOW worthy fireball that sends soldier John Eastland (Robert Ginty, COP TARGET) tumbling through the air. Eastland's on patrol with his squad when they come under fire from heavily-armed VC troops. John and the other soldiers, including Michael Jefferson (Steve James, VIGILANTE), are taken hostage by the Viet Cong who tie the men to wooden stakes. They're interrogated for information about a forthcoming strike and when the answers don't come as easily as one VC commander would like he takes a razor-sharp machete and slices the throat of one of the men as if it were warm butter, it's nearly a complete decapitation, his head flops to one side as if on a hinge, it's almost comical in it's gruesomeness, his mouth agape in silent scream. Major props to the late great special effects man Stan Winston who created an entire animated human body for that one, it's jaw-dropping stuff.

During the commotion Michael is able to slip free of his binds and get the better of a VC soldier, commandeering his firearm and mowing down the enemy captors. It's a great pre-credit 'Nam sequence complete with napalm strafing and machine gun fire, it's chaos and it makes for a briefly epic intro that really amps up the film right from the get-go. A helicopter evacs the soldiers and the film seamlessly transitions to an arial view of the New York skyline sometime later. John and Mike are now employed at a warehouse, it ain't the good life but it's a life, the pay is shit but as they say - it's a job. When John and Michael catch a trio of punks from the Ghetto Ghouls gang attempting to heist some beer from the warehouse they intercede and kick some major ass, the punks just don't stand a chance against the seasoned 'Nam vets. However, the punks have their revenge later that day when they ambush Michael on his way to have a brewski with Eastland. They brutalize him with chains and a meat-hook which they sink into his spine leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.

While Michael convalesces at the hospital Eastland cannot simply abide this injury to his best friend, the man who saved his life in 'Nam, and swears vengeance against the thugs who crippled Michael. Kidnapping one of the gang he interrogates hims with a flamethrower, after squeezing the info from the punk he tracks the remaining trio to abandoned building where they're partying with whores to the beat of The Trammps "Disco Inferno". Eastland blasts one of 'em dead and quickly incapacitates the remaining two, leaving them tied to a garbage strewn floor where the infamously large NYC rats make quick work of 'em, killing one outright and horribly disfiguring the other.

His streak of vigilante justice doesn't end with the Ghetto Ghouls and he next sets his sights on Gino Pontivini, a mafioso who collects protection money from the warehouse Eastland works for. In an elaborate scheme Eastland awaits the mobster in the bathroom trashcan of a restaurant, drugs Pontivini and takes him to a warehouse where he suspends him from the ceiling with chains directly over an industrial sized meat grinder. Pontivini desperate for his life after a quick demonstration of the machine, tells Eastland the location of the safe at his home and gives him the keys to the security alarm. Eastland tells the mobster "If you're lying I'll be back" and leaves him suspended in the warehouse. He enters the kingpin's property and is promptly attacked by a vicious Doberman barely escaping with his life by carving the canine with an electric knife. After securing the cash, which he intends to give to Michael's family, he returns to the warehouse and he wordlessly lowers the shrieking mafioso into the grinder feet first, apparently pissed that Pontivini neglected to mention the ravenous canine surprise that awaited him.

The crimes eventually catch the attention of the NYPD and detective James Dalton (Christopher George, PIECES, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) whom takes a particular interest in the string of vigilante crimes. He starts to piece together that the acts are the work of a singular man, but he's not the only one to put two and two together. A CIA spook named Shaw (Patrick Farrelly, TH NESTING) is brought in to dispose of the could-be political threat discreetly when local politician's fear Eastland's one-man crusade to burn the scum off the streets of NYC will have an adverse affect on incumbent politicians re-election campaigns. In the 80's it was either crooked politicians or toxic waste and usually both, gotta love it.

THE EXTERMINATOR is a film I recall seeing on the VHS shelf many times at my favorite mom and pop video store as a youth but somehow it's eluded my grasp until now. I guess in hindsight I was more into zombie and slasher films at that age, not so much the revenge exploitation or action stuff but if I knew then what I'd be depriving my future self of all these years later I goddamn well would have picked it up. It's not so much that this is an original film, but it is a well-crafted actioner with some real horror elements, it's a very complete exploitation package.

The film is really one of the grittiest exploitation actioners I've ever seen, it's downright disturbing, particularly when Eastland lays the pain down on a child prostitution ring featuring a pervy senator played by David Lipman (TV's LAW AND ORDER) who get his kicks by dipping a hot soldiering iron into a vat of vaseline and burning the flesh of prostitutes and young boys, it's pretty disgusting stuff and we don't even see him actually doing it, just the setting up of the pre-burn scenario made my skin crawl. It's pure revenge nirvana as Eastland takes down the ring with extreme prejudice.

Robert Ginty didn't seem an immediately obvious choice for someone on a one-man revenge streak, it seemed more likely that the badass character of Michael played by Steve James would be but it's a nice twist and Ginty turns out to be one of the silver screens most memorable one-man revengers. Also making a great appearance is the always enjoyable Christopher George as Detective Dalton. The man sweetens every film he's ever been in, and his performance here is no different. He's got a few fun foibles like a jury-rigged lamp wired to two forks that he cooks up hotdogs with, fun stuff. Dalton is given a love interest in the film by way of Dr. Megan Stewart (Samantha Eggar, THE BROOD) and while the two enjoy a Stan Getz concert in the park it is revealed that he too served in 'Nam and his character seems to serve as view of a 'Nam vet whose life has gone a bit differently in contrast to his driven-to-vengeance counterpart.

Eventually we know that the paths of Dalton, Shaw and The Exterminator must converge and you just know it's packed with squib rupturing exploitation action with 'Nam sized explosions - it does not disappoint. The film is not perfect by any means, structurally there's some rough narrative shortcuts, funky editing and the occasional bad bit of dialogue but for the most part, and where it counts, this is a visceral stunner of a revenge film.

Director James Glickenhaus has created not just a gory and violent revenge film but an authentic slice of New York City cinema that evokes a darker, meaner city that's long gone, the golden age of the 42nd street grindhouse, pimps, prostitutes and rampant drug use. See it here and in films like Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER because it just ain't there anymore, for better or worse. It's a great looking film and Arrow Video's  HD transfer does it proper justice.

Just a few years later producer Mark Buntzman would write and direct a sequel to the film starring Robert Ginty but without the assistance of director Glickenhaus who would only direct six more films before settling into the role of producer on such films as William Lustig's MANIAC COP (review HERE)  and Frank Henenlotter's FRANKENHOOKER (review HERE) and BASKET CASE 2, 3 before leaving the film industry all together. I would highly recommend you also take in a viewing of Glickenhaus's 'Nam vet actioner MCBAINE (review HERE) starring the one and only Christopher Walken, it's a thing of absurd beauty. This viewing has really whet my appetite to also check Glickenhaus's THE SOLDIER with Ken Wahl. If you dear reader have seen any of his others films and have any strong suggestions please send 'em my way.

Blu-ray: Arrow Video's Blu-ray of THE EXTERMINATOR presents the film in glorious 1080p in it's original aspect ratio of 16:9 widescreen (1.78:1). I'm quite happy to tell you that for a 31 year old film the transfer is clean and mostly free of print damage, colors are vibrant, flesh tones appear accurate and the black levels are typically very good. It doesn't look like much if any DNR has been applied either and the grain is quite noticeable during the darker scenes, particularly the pre-credit and opening credits sequence but it's not problematic. I always say give me some grain; I prefer it to the plasticine effects of a shitty DNR scrubbing.


The lone audio option is an English language Uncompressed LPCM mono track with optional English subtitles. While not overly dynamic the mono fares quite well with no distortion and is free of hiss, snap, crackle and pop, dialogue, score and effcets sound quite good.

Special features begin with a short video introduction from director James Glickenhaus. After that we get more fom Glickenhaus with the Fire and Slice: Making The Exterminator featurette, an 18 min interview with the director with clips from the film. The director discusses his inspiration for the film,the treatment of 'Nam vets returning from the war, casting the film, Christopher George and even compares his films to the songs of Bob Dylan - huh?

Next up is 42nd Street Then and Now: A tour of New York's former sleaze circuit from director Frank Henenlotter. Henenlotter, the director of BASKET CASE, FRANKENHOOKER and BAD BIOLOGY, the man is such a character as he guides us through the former sleaze circuit known as 42nd Street. He guides us through the history of the location's infamous from their golden age of grand theatre productions to burlesque houses, grindhouse cinema and hardcore pornography outlets right on through to the Disney-fication of the area in the 90's. It's fun stuff, the man's enthusiasm for sleaze is awe inspiring and were even treated to an impromptu blockhead routine, awesome stuff.

The last feature is an audio commentary with producer Mark Buntzman moderated by Calum Waddell who really keeps the conversation going, great stuff. The Synapse disc of the film features an commentary with Glcikenhaus so it was nice to hear another fine track for the film. Buntzman is also the writer/director of THE EXTERMINATOR II and his insights into both productions are pretty great and as usual High Rising Productions extras only serve to enhance the enjoyment of the film.

My early screener of the Blu-ray did not include the ephemeral wonderment that Arrow Video are known for, including the reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Tom 'The Dude Designs' Hodges, a double-sided fold-out artwork poster or collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by critic David Hayles. That said, I love the Tom Hodges artwork for the release, it's mighty magnificent and vibrantly appropriate.

Special Features:
- Introduction to the film by director James Glickenhaus (0:18) 16:9 HD
- Fire and Slice: Making The Exterminator - An interview with James Glickenhaus (18:36) 16:9 HD
- 42nd Street Then and Now: A tour of New York's former sleaze circuit from director Frank Henenlotter (15:07) 16:9 HD
- Audio commentary with Mark Buntzman, producer of The Exterminator and writer/director of The Exterminator II, moderated by Calum Waddell.

Verdict: THE EXTERMINATOR is simply one of the most enjoyable early-80's revenger I've seen in some time - it's pretty fantastic stuff. A seriously gritty exploitation-revenge actioner that deserves a place in the collection of any cult, exploitation or horror enthusiast worth their salt. This is a recommend of the must-have variety, you need to own this! Need further proof? The typically hysterical 80's era Roger Ebert once called the film as a "sick example of the almost, unbelievable descent into gruesome savagery in American movies"... shit, I couldn't have said it better myself. 4 outta 5

DVD Review: MIDNIGHT (1982)

MIDNIGHT (1982)

Label: Arrow Video
Release Date: September 5th 2011
Region: Region 0 PAL
Rating: TBC
Duration: 94 mins
Video: 1.33:1 Fullframe
Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono
Director: John Russo
Cast: John Amplas, Melanie Verlin, Lawrence Tierney
Tagline: Midnight... Time to Die!


Synopsis: Poor, poor Nancy... Alone on the road, trying to hitch a ride to California to start a new life, away from the sleaze of her own family. Nancy hooks up with a pair of good natured petty crooks on a road trip to nowhere special. Then things take a dark turn when her friends are iced by a pair of backwoods cops. Now, Nancy is in danger of being sacrificed to Satan himself by the wayward lawmen and their twisted siblings, in an insane attempt to resurrect their mother’s mummified corpse.

Writer/Director John A. Russo is probably best known as the co-writer of George A. Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) and probably for good reason, everything else just sort of pales in comparison if you ask me. He's got a few directorial credits to his name; the sex comedy THE BOOBY HATCH (1976), a weird shot-on-video cheesecake workout video SCREAM QUEENS SWIMSUIT SENSATION, some novels and this here backwoods exploitation flick.

Russo's MIDNIGHT (1982) opens with a nasty little pre-credit sequence featuring a young girl in the tall grass of field with her leg caught in a bear trap, now that's how you start a film, right there, yup. She is approached by a woman (Jackie Nicoll, THE MAJORETTES) and her four evil spawn who've come armed with various instruments of blunt force trauma. The crazed mother explains to her brood that the girl in the trap is in fact not a girl at all but a demon, further explaining that demons can take the form of anyone, even someone they know, this part brought to mind Bill Paxton's FRAILTY, a very good film if you haven't seen it. The mother cues one of the boys to beat the girl upside the head with his axe handle until she lies lifeless and limp. Her body is dragged back to a house where at midnight she is to be sacrificed to Lord Satan. As the family gathers round the alter of sacrifice an adolescent girl named Cynthia clenches a dagger in both hands held high, a pentagram marks her forehead, at the stroke of midnight she plunges the dagger into the young girl's flesh, Satan's will has been served. That's the pretty awesome introduction to John A Russo's MIDNIGHT.

It's a few years later now and we're introduced to Nancy (Melanie Verlin, MONKEY SHINES) a conflicted girl with tomboyish features whom is torn between the her faith in the Lord and her libidinous teenage hormones. She lives with her mom and a drunken cop stepfather named Burt (Lawrence Tierney, THE PROWLER). Burt's a lecherous perv and one day when Mom's at work he attempts to rape Nancy but she gets the upper hand and improbably knocks the big bastard out. She makes for the road in an attempt to hitchhike to California where her sister resides. Along the way she is picked-up by Tom (John Hall, SURF NAZIS MUST DIE) and Hank (Charles Jackson), two guys travelling in a van on their way to spring break in Florida. They seem like nice guys and even though they're going in the opposite direction she tags along with 'em anyway. Along the way they offer a ride to a priest and his daughter whom when departing the van warn them of a rash of disappearances and murders in the area and advise the trio not to stop until they reach their destination. As ever in these films the trio pay no heed to this warning and after an incident of shoplifting puts them on the run from Johnny Law they turn down a dirt road which takes them further into the forest, which is always a bad idea, always. Even after spotting a maniacal looking man whom may have been carrying a corpse wrapped in a sheet they set-up camp for the night, naturally.

The next morning Nancy awakes early and goes for a stroll leaving the guys slumbering in their sleeping bags. Not long after she's left they are rudely awakened by two police officers with guns drawn and in their faces. The officers are Abrahan (John Amplas, MARTIN) and Luke (Greg Besnack, KNIGHTRIDERS) whom aren't cops at all but the now adult children from the pre-credit sequence all grown up and still crazy as loons and collecting victims for sacrifice for Old Scratch. Nancy witnesses the altercation from a distance and flees the scene but not before catching the notice of the "officers" who give chase. She comes to a nearby house in woods only to discover too late that it's home of the Satanist, natch. Inside is a now grown Cynthia and the families mentally deficient brother Cyrus (David Marchick) who is sorta the giggling Leatherface of the family, at times he brought to mind either Buddy from SLAUGHTERHOUSE and Madman Marz of MADMAN. While their wicked mother is now a rotting corpse the family still carries on her legacy of demented demon sacrifice. Why would they sacrifice demons to the Devil, anyone? Nancy is captured and imprisoned in a small dog cage alongside another unfortunate young lady named Gwen (Ellie Wyler) and comes to realize that on Easter Sunday the quartet of Satanist hope to resurrect their deceased mother by sacrificing three women in her name to Beelzebub. Meanwhile pervy Burt seems to have developed a conscience to some degree and has set off in search of Nancy, through his connections on the police force is able to track down Nancy's whereabouts but can he intervene before it's too late?

The film is an adaptation of John A. Russo's own novel 'Midnight' which I haven't read but I hear had a more morbid ending which was filmed but changed at the producer's advice.  The film definitely cashes-in on the deranged killer family scenario of Tobe Hoopers TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and also has a grim uneasiness about it not unlike NOTLD. Overall the film has an effectively creepy and chilling vibe that exploits our fear of rural folk, satanic cults, rape and the woods. It's fun stuff but technically the film is a disaster, there's some decent shots from low angles and what not but it's a rough warts n' all production. This could stem from the minuscule 71K budget, that's pretty cheap for a 35mm production even back in 1980 when the film was made. The film feels more early 70's than 80's, too.

There;s some effects work from gore-master Tom Savini who already had George A. Romero's MARTIN and DAWN OF THE DEAD under his belt at this point but probably owing to budget constraints has little to work with here, there's a decent decapitation but don't expect any hardcore gore here folks, just some blood.

It's not all bad however, there's some promise to the film. Russo's definitely going for a gritty grindhouse vibe, aiming capitalizing on the Satanic panic of the 70'sand he succeeds to some degree with a disturbing pre-credit sequence and some low-budget scares and exploitation elements but overall the film is poorly executed; the acting is pretty limp. While Verlin makes for a decent protaginist and Tierney is pretty scary as the rhinocerous sized alcoholic stepdad John Amplas, so good in Romero's MARTIN seems adrift for most the film though he does get a few unhinged scenes, particularly during his initial appearance. 

DVD: This marks the first time that MIDNIGHT has been made available completely uncut in the UK. The film is presented in it's original fullframe  (1.33:1) aspect ratio with English Dolby Digital mono. It's been a while since I've seen the R1 Lionsgate DVD of the film from a few years back but this appears slightly better than what I recall but even that's not much of a compliment, this is still near VHS quality. The NTSC-PAL conversion leaves the film looking soft, there's print damage, dirt and it's just an overall murky image lacking detail. Something I found annoying is that the timecode is slightly visible along the top edge of the frame, I don't understand why this wasn't cropped to conceal that. Audio isn't great either, there's an assortment of hiss, crackle and pop evident throughout and the dialogue is not always clear. I would assume there are no pristine vault elements of this film available, the brand new transfer would seem to back me up there but also it points to a rather amateur production overall, technically this is a mess all around. Russo is definitely a writer first and a director maybe third or fourth.

Reversible Artwork

The DVD starts off with a brief Introduction by star John Amplas (0:33), we then get two video interviews produced by High Rising Productions. The first is Vampires, Rednecks and Zombies: The Fear Career of John Amplas (31:17) and features Amplas talking about catching the eye of Romero in a theatre production who then cast him as the title character in MARTIN, he also gives his interpretation of whether Martin is truly a vampire or just a severely disturbed kid, Savini's effects in the film and his late introduction to the world of horror conventions in 2006. He also speaks to his recollections of the filming of MIDNIGHT, they're pretty much limited to the fact that he wore a policeman's uniform. This may be partially explained by his remembering being drunk on set and more than a bit drugged at times, much to Russo's dismay. Midnight at Your Door: The Shocking Sacrifices of John Russo (20:14) features the writer/director remembering the myriad of issues he encountered during the filming the 70K low-budget film on 35mm including losing footage due to light exposures and cheap film stock and how distributor Independent International Pictures sat on the film for two years hoping to avoid the glut of slasher films at the time, no luck there. There's also mention of the MPAA requesting cuts to get an R rating and the banning of the film in South Africa and meeting Quentin Tarantino. Lastly there is a theatrical trailer for the film, plus an easter egg wherein Russo reveals the artwork for 'Undead', a collection of the out-of-print NOTLD and ROTLD novelizations.

The screener of the film I was sent did not Arrow Video's packaging of the film which includes reversible artwork, a double-sided foldout poster and a collectible booklet with writings on the film by Stephen Thrower, author of 'Nightmare USA', so I cannot elaborate only lament my loss.

Special Features:
- Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork
- Double-sided fold-out artwork poster
- Collector’s booklet ft. writing by Stephen Thrower, author of ‘Nightmare USA'
- Brand new transfer in the original Full Frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio
- Original Mono Audio
- Introduction by star John Amplas
- Midnight at Your Door: The Shocking Sacrifices of John Russo
- Easter Egg

Verdict: Not a genre classic by anyone's standards but an interesting footnote at the very least that riffs on familiar, even for it's time, horror and backwoods exploitation tropes. Despite Russo's lack of technical finesse the film still manages to be a devious slice of exploitation. If you have the R1 Lionsgate DVD I can't say this is worth an upgrade for picture quality alone but if you're fond of the film and crave features that expand on the production and enhance it's viewing Arrow Video have given the film it's due and then some. This is a definite recommend for those who wanna see it, you know who you are.