PIT STOP (1969) (Arrow Video Blu-ray Review)

PIT STOP (1969) 

Label: Arrow Video 

Region Code: Region-FREE

Rating: 12 Certificate 

Duration: 91 Minutes

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)

Audio: English MONO 1.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Jack Hill
Cast: Brian Donlevy, Richard Davalos, Ellen Burstyn, George Washburn, Ted Duncan, Beverly Washburn

Street racer Rick Bowman (Dick Davalos) is recruited by fat cat racing promoter Gavin Willard (Brian Donleavy) into the dangerous world of figure-eight stock car racing, which until this movie I had never even heard of before. Drivers race around a figure-eight race track at the risk of smashing into one another at the intersection - as if stock car racing wasn't already dangerous enough! Fresh on the circuit Rick makes a fast enemy by way of the reigning figure-eight champ Hawk Sidney (Sid Haig), a certified nut who struts around the track with his sprightly gal Jolene (Beverly Washburn), super-cute with a sassy short hair style. After a few early lossless Rick hones his skills on the figure-eight, making a name for himself as the hot tempered new guy, and before long he starts racking up a few successive wins, embarrassing the increasingly angry Hawk who lashes out at the newcomer. The victory earns him a chance to race second-fiddle alongside champion racer Ed McLeod (George Washburn) in the nationals. Along the way Rick swipes Hawks girl and seduces McLeod's lonely wife, played by an impossibly young Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist), earning the trust and respect of Hawk's while betraying McLeod at every turn, however, his star-turn is laced with tragic consequences.

On the surface this is a pretty straight-laced stock car racer movie, there were a ton of 'em in the sixties, but with Hill in command he does manages to infuse the gritty racer with some unexpected depth and a few unexpected turns, what we end up with is the compelling story of a street smart racer on his way to the top, at the expense of his soul, and it's pretty good stuff.

Shot on a shoe-string budget the thrills captured with a gritty realism, those crashes are real and you can feel it. The racing scenes are loud and in-your-face, the roar of the engines and the sound of high-speed Detroit steel smashing into one another is just fun stuff to watch, what I wasn't expecting was the snappy dialogue and the subtle depth of the story, but then again this is a Jack Hill movie so maybe I should have expected more than just cheap crash n' burn exploitation, the man made some damn fine films, and you should be watching them. 

Haig and Davalos are a fine pair as racer rivals turned comrades, there are some great dialogue exchanges tossed back and forth between 'em and absolutely nobody does lunacy quite like Haig does, those crazy eyes and menacing Cheshire grin are a potent combo. It was great to see Ellen Burstyn looking so young and fresh, even back them she has a presence about her, but it was the somewhat boyish charm of Beverly Washburn that won my heart, there's just something about her I find so appealing. 

Audio/Video: Pit Stop arrives on Blu-ray from Arrow Video with a brand new HD transfer supervised and approved by director Jack Hill sourced from his very own 35mm answer print. The monochrome image is slightly soft from time to time but overall this it top notch with a wonderful amount of natural film grain and contrast, offering some minor fine detail in the close-ups. The English PCM 1.0 Mono audio option does the job with a certain amount of authentic flatness about it, the roaring engines and clang of steel sound great, as does the pretty great Davie Allen-esque fuzzed-out guitar score.

Arrow have put together a fine selection of extras beginning with a new audio commentary from Jack Hill moderated by his biographer Calum Waddell and it's quite good listen, as are most of the director's commentaries, They go into the history of the film, the production and the many facets of the director's career prior to and after Pit Stop. 

Additionally there are 45-minutes of new interviews with Jack Hill, producer Roger Corman and actor Sid Haig that go further into the making of the film, with Haig offering high praise to the underrated director who seems not to be the great self promoter Hollywood has ever know. Hill himself speaks about making the film, with Corman wanting a standard stock car cash-in, while the director wanted to make more of an art film with little interest racing, but in the end the two met in the middle and I think it turned out pretty great. 

There's also a brief but informative restoration demonstration by Technical Supervisor James White who explains the process of restoring the film for the gorgeous Blu-ray. we also have a theatrical trailer for the movie. 

Separate from the disc extras we have a sleeve of reversible artwork and a collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Glenn Kenny and musicologist and writer Gray Newell on the film’s soundtrack, illustrated with original stills and artwork. 

Special Features:

- New High Definition digital transfer supervised and approved by director Jack Hill
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD (PAL format) presentation
- Original mono 1.0 audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
- New audio commentary with Jack Hill moderated by his biographer Calum Waddell
- Crash and Burn! – Jack Hill on the making of Pit Stop (16 Mins)
- Drive Hard – actor Sid Haig speaks about his experience of acting in Pit Stop (17 Mins)
- Life in the Fast Lane – producer Roger Corman on the genesis of Pit Stop (12 Mins)
- Restoring Pit Stop – restoration demonstration by Technical Supervisor James White (4 Mins) 

- Original trailer (2 Mins)
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Glenn Kenny and musicologist and writer Gray Newell on the film’s soundtrack, illustrated with original stills and artwork.

The new Blu-ray from Arrow Video does Pit Stop proud with a fantastic A/V presentation and a wealth of quality extras, and a damn fun stock car racer with some surprising nuances peppered throughout. I sincerely hope you younger folks out there will not put off by the black and white cinematography, if you enjoy the other films of Jack Hill and skip this solely because it's black and white you are doing yourself a serious disservice. 3/5  

COFFY (1973)

COFFY (1973) 

Label: Olive Films
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 90 Minutes
Audio: Englsih DTS-HD 2.0 Mono
Video: HD Widescreen (1:85:1)
Director: Jack Hill

Cast: Pam Grier, Booker Bradshaw, Robert DoQui, William Elliott, Allan Arbus, Sid Haig, Barry Cahill, Lee de Broux

Jack Hill's Coffy (1973) features Pam Grier in what I think is her fiercest role EVER as the vigilante Nurse "Coffy" Coffin. Coffy is a woman out for revenge against the low life dope pushers who hooked her younger sister on heroin. At the start of the film we witness Coffy posing as a drug addict looking to score a fix from a drug pusher in exchange for some strange. Once he lets his guard down in the bedroom she whips out a sawed-off shotgun and blows a hole through his face at point black range, before forcing his dealer friend to overdose on heroin. Coffy pulls no punches right from the start and it just doesn't let up, this one is a wild and seedy revenger.

Soon after we meet Coffy's boyfriend Howard Brunswick (Booker Bradshaw), a supporter of the black community with political aspirations, but he keeps company with the drug kingpin Vitroni (Allan Arbus) and a pimp named King George (Robert DoQui), so he;s not exactly what he seems at first. Og course, when this comes to light it does not wash well with Coffy's one-woman vendetta against the drug pushing scum who she holds responsible for her sister's addiction.

We're introduced to an upstanding cop whom at one time dated a younger Coffy, unwilling to accept bribes from the mob he is beaten into a coma. Afterward Coffy once again resumes her vigilante brand of justice, this time posing as a Jamaican hooker to get close to the operations of King George, which leads to a violent confrontation with the green-eyed whores who become jealous of the attention the pimp pays her. At a party hosted by Vitroni Coffy is attacked by five of the whores and the ensuing cat fight is a bunch of fun, with Coffy coming out on top after tearing off their blouses and bating their breasts - which you just gotta love. During the altercation we discover that Coffy stashes razorblades inside her Afro, and when one of the women grab a clutch of her hair she ends up with deep lacerations on her hands, how can you not love this stuff?

Mob boss Vitroni is played by the tiny Allan Arbus who I am most familiar with as Dr. Sidney Freedman from the television series M*A*S*H, it was a blast to see him here as the white drug lord with a taste for Coffy, but as one of the many deliciously awful taglines for the film read, "They call her 'Coffy' and she'll cream you!". Despite being caught by Vitroni she manages to cast doubt on the loyalty of King George and Vitroni sends his goons, one played by the impossibly young looking Sid Haig, to kill the double-crossing pimp. The men put a noose around his neck and drag him behind a car at high speed, the racist connotations and the manner of death are unsettling.  

The film ends with Coffy confronting the corrupt Brunswick who just a few scenes earlier gave his blessing to have her killed, at the wrong end of Coffy's sawed-off shotgun he tries to sweet talk his way out it only to be foiled when a nude white-woman emerges from his bedroom, and Coffy just ain't gonna put up with that sort of shit, nope. 

Director Jack Hill (Spider-Baby, The Big Bird Cage) is a fantastic exploitation director and his multiple team-ups with Grier are among his best movies. Grier has never appeared more bad ass and gorgeous on screen than she does in Coffy. This is my favorite blaxploitation movie bar none, bolstered by copious amounts of naked women, this gritty revenger still packs quite a punch!

Coffy arrives on Blu-ray in North America from Olive Films in the original widescreen aspect ratio (1.85:1) with a very nice HD transfer. There's a nice layer of film grain that has not been scrubbed to death, looking very natural.  The 70's fashions and decor have some nice fine detail about them, plus improved clarity and depth. Colors are vibrant and black levels are pretty damn decent. The English DTS-HD Mono audio sounds good, well-balanced and free of distortion. The score by Roy Ayers features some great theme song and lyrics, several dedicated to Coffy herself with  my favorite being King George's theme. No subtitles are provided. 

Like Olive's Foxy Brown Blu-ray this is a bare bones disc, which is unfortunate, but they do come through with a very nice A/V presentation that will not disappoint fans of the movie. Coffy is one bad ass and violent movie loaded with more nudity and sex than the average blaxpoitation film of the era, which is a huge bonus, in my opinion. Coffy and Foxy Brown make for a fun soul-cinema double-feature with this one being the more violent and grittier entry, which is  probably why I prefer it to the follow-up, but only by a thin margin. 4/5

FOXY BROWN (1974) (Olive Films Blu-ray Review)

FOXY BROWN (1974)

Label: Olive Films
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 92 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English SDH Subtitles
Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1)
Cast: Pam Grier, Antonio Fargas, Sid Haig, Antonio Fargas, Peter Brown, Kathryn Loder
Director: Jack Hill

I must confess that pre-Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997) I knew very little about the 70's Blaxploitation era of cinema, having only the most vague knowledge of Richard Roundtree's Shaft (1971) film and very little else. I had not even heard of the director Jack Hill at that point. However, after taking in Pam Grier's return to prominence starring role in Jackie Brown and the many Tarantino interviews that accompanied the film I went straight to Foxy Brown (1974) to see what this '70's exploitation classic was all about, and it was a pretty fantastic watch from the get-go, definitely a slice of some bad ass soul cinema.

In reality director Jack Hill initially set out to film a sequel to the successful Pam Grier vehicle Coffy (1973), also on Blu-ray from Olive Films on June 9th, but when distributor American International Pictures opted not to go the sequel route he re-purposed the ebony revenger and gave us Grier as the smoking-hot, street-smart Foxy Brown who kicks major amounts of corrupt white ass when her DEA boyfriend is gunned down by an heroin dealing escort service run by the villainous Steve Elias (Peter Brown) and the deliciously evil Miss Katherine (Kathryn Loder, The Big Doll House).

Foxy's fuck-up brother Link (TVs Antonio 'Huggy Bear' Fargas) is a coke dealing delinquent and when his debt with Miss Katherine comes due he wins her favor by revealing the whereabouts of Foxy's DEA boyfriend resulting in his murder. Double-crossed Link ends up dead at the business end of a shotgun while his coked-up girlfriend gets her throat slit. The murder of both her lover and fuck-up brother sends Foxy off the deep end and into full-on revenge mode. Foxy sets out to infiltrate the whorehouse as would-be whore decked out in a few sweet seventies styles that are tight in all the right places, Grier is a stunning woman and those skintight outfits are very complimentary to her ass arsenal of kicking curves. Link at one point says Foxy is a "whole lotta woman" and he ain't lying, she's definitely an eyeful!

Foxy enlists the help of a vigilante group to reap her revenge but when they shake things up for the whore mongering heroin dealers get wise to Foxy's true identity and she winds up tied to a bed with heroin needle jabbed in her arm. Miss Katherine's diabolical scheme is to get Foxy hooked on smack and then pimp her out before sending her off to a slave-farm in Haiti - but you just know Foxy Brown ain't going out like that.

Jack Hill regular Sid Haig (The Big Bird Cage) arrives on scene as a pervy pilot in the service of the drug cartel, it's great to see him with Grier onscreen, there's an undeniable chemistry and they're quite a duo, even if the couplings short lived. Foxy Brown has a fun cast of seedy characters, including Antonio Fargas as Foxy's wise-cracking brother who cannot stay out of trouble, every one of his scenes is a winner, he cracked me up. Kathryn Loder's is fantastic as the villainous baddie plays well and Brown's portrayal of Elias is perfect, love it when he gets his comeuppance, a dong-slicing shocker that is long overdue.

Foxy Brown is an entertaining actioner chock full of 70's kitsch, black on white revenge, memorable bad ass dialogue and a sweet villainous duo, definitely one of my favorite of the 70's Blaxploitation movies, though admittedly there's a lot I have yet to see. If you dig the seventies exploitation films and you're not familiar with director Jack Hill's Coffy (1973) or his string of Filipino exploitation women-in-prison films you need to check 'em out right away.

Audio/Video: Foxy Brown (1974) makes it's American HD debut on Blu-ray from Olive Films, the 1080p widescreen (1.85;1) transfer is quite nice, sourced from a print in fantastic condition, the colors are vivid, contrast is sharp and there's a nice layer of film grain. The English surround sound audio is good, the dialogue, effects and the sweet 70's score are crisp, clean and free of any distortion. Willie Hutch's funk-soul score benefits the most from the HD audio upgrade, though I do which they offered the original mono audio as an option for the purists.

Unfortunately there are zero extras on the disc, if you crave commentaries and interviews you should check out the Region B Blu-ray from Arrow Video in the UK which is stuffed with goodies including a commentary from director Jack Hill and interviews with Sid Haid, Fred Williamson, Austin Stoker and Rosanne Katon. If you just want the film straight-up with no frills this Olive Films disc has a solid AV presentation that should suit your needs.

Foxy Brown (1974) is an essential slice of 70's soul cinema starring Pam Grier as the stunning and lethal Foxy Brown. It make for an entertaining Afro-centric actioner that's loaded with vintage fashions and gritty urban action, fun stuff and a definite recommend. 

AT DEATH'S DOOR - 13 FRIGHT-FILLED FILMS (3-DISC COLLECTION)

AT DEATH'S DOOR - 13 FRIGHT-FILLED FILMS (3-Disc Set) 

Label: Mill Creek Entertainment
Duration: 1105 Minutes

Rating: R

Region Code: 1

Directors:  Andy Milligan, Eddy Matalon, Eddy Matalon, William Fruett, Roberta Findlay,  S.F. Brownrigg, Riccardo Freda, Carl Monson, Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola, Monte Hellman, Jack Hill, Jack Nicholson, Massimo Pupillo, Alex Nicol, William Castle, Bert I. Gordon
Cast: Vincent Price, John Carradine, Barbara Steele, Jack Nicholson, Boris Karloff, Rosie Holotik, Christine Moore, Richard Carlson, Lesleh Donaldson

A brand new year means new budget-minded cult-classic movie sets from Mill Creek and the first one is the 3-disc set AT DEATH'S DOOR - 13 FRIGHT-FILLED FILMS. This one features a pretty great assortment of fright films based around creepy old house and their eerie inhabitants. Mostly recycled from previous collection  with the exception of the haunted schlocker CARNAGE (1983) from director Andy Milligan, a man who made quite a few awful movies during his tenure as a filmmaker before his AIDS related death in 1991. 

The 3-disc set is padded out with a few standard public domain classics like the classic William Castle spine tingler HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL with Vincent Price and the Roger Corman produced THE TERROR but they do cram some quality b-movie slices of cinema in here. I highly recommend the whodunit mystery MURDER MANSION and the fun PSYCHO homage FUNERAL HOME starring Lesleh Donaldson who would go on to star in the Canadian slashers HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME and CURTAINS plus the ravenous rat shocker DEADLY EYES! The inclusion of these two make it an easy buy for just six bucks - that's a no-brainer. 

While I do love it when distributors like Scream Factory, Vinegar Syndrome and Severin who rescue films like these trashy cult-classic a new 2K restoration I do give Mill Creek quite a bit of credit for turning me onto many of these films with their cheap DVD collections long before they received the deluxe treatment. While I still cannot afford the Code Red DVD of the killer kids classic DEVIL TIMES FIVE I still have the CHILLING CLASSIC 50 MOVIE PACK on my shelf that I can enjoy anytime. 

Most of the films are are presented in sub par fullscreen digitized VHS transfers but you get a some serious bang for your buck with this one. If you already own a ton of the Mill Creek cult and horror collections you may not need this one, but just maybe you like myself just need to watch Andy Milligan's CARNAGE because you can never get enough bad cinema. 

Here's what's on the three-disc set...

DISC 1

CARNAGE (1983)
Director: Andy Milligan 

Cast: Leslie Den Dooven, Michael Chiodo, Deeann Veeder
Color 92 Minutes Rated R

Synopsis: A newlywed couple moves into their new home and are ready to settle into their new life together. After settling in, the couple begins experiencing some strange occurrences in the home and discovers, to their horror, the truth behind them. It seems the former owners of the home were a newlywed couple that committed suicide years before and are now haunting the place.

CATHY'S CURSE (1977)
Director: Eddy Matalon

Cast: Alan Scarfe, Beverly Murray, Randi Allen
Color 82 Minutes Rated R

Synopsis: After a terrible car accident twenty years ago killed his father and sister, a man returns to his family home with his wife and daughter. The daughter takes up residence in her deceased aunt’s room and, after finding some of her possessions, becomes possessed by her spirit. Soon strange happenings and mysterious deaths begin to occur in the household as the possessed girl lashes out at those around her. 

Review: Cathy is a young woman whom endured a truly nightmarish childhood and is haunted by visions of the dead, including her murderous mother. She sees "lurkers", damned souls warning her of danger, telling her not to go back to her childhood home. The film has a bit of a low-rent THE BEYOND or THE SENTINEL feel to it, but it's a bit too meandering and overly long to keep my attention.

FUNERAL HOME (1980)
Director: William Fruett

Cast: Kay Hawtrey, Lesleh Donaldson, Barry Morse
Color 93 Minutes Rated R

Synopsis: A young woman arrives at her grandmother’s place to help convert it over to a bed and breakfast inn from the funeral home which was operated by her recently departed grandfather. After completing the change and guests begin to arrive, the granddaughter hears strange noises from the basement and finds some of the guests have disappeared. Getting nowhere with the police, the granddaughter decides to get to the bottom of the mystery by going down to the locked cellar to see what’s inside.

LURKERS (1988)
Director: Roberta Findlay

Cast: Christine Moore, Gary Warner, Marina Taylor
Color 94 Minutes Rated R

Synopsis: A woman who had a nightmarish childhood due to her abusive mother has become engaged to a caring photographer. As her wedding date grows near, some mysterious occurrences cause the woman to fear her families’ legacy. The story her mother told her about ‘lurkers’ coming to get her may be more than an old wife’s tale. 

Review: Director Roberta Findlay, and husband Michael Findlay were pretty famous for a series of grindhouse-style sexploitation films, after her husbands death in ’77 she went on to direct hardcore pornos and again returned to the horror genre in the mid-80’s. Interestingly, Michael Findlay was killed in a helicopter accident on the roof of the Pan Am Building in NYC, slashed to death by the helicopters spinning rotor-blades during a botched landing.

DISC 2

DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT (1973)
Director: S.F. Brownrigg

Cast: Rosie Holotik, Camilla Carr, Bill McGhee
Color 90 Minutes Rated R

Synopsis: A new nurse arrives to begin work at a mental hospital only to discover that the head doctor has been murdered by one of the patients and a new doctor is in charge. Faced with ever increasing harassment from the patients, the nurse fears she may have made a mistake in taking the job. The nurse soon discovers that the new head doctor is not whom they appear to be and that she is in terrible danger.

Review: A decent low budget drive-in asylum shocker from cult director S.F. Browning (DON'T OPEN THE DOOR) with some fun grisly gore, it's one of those inmates are running the asylum pics and starts off strong with a bloody ax murder and then a pretty young nurse named Charlotte Beale (Rosie Holotik) shows up for her first day at the asylum and of course things pretty strange and only get weirder from their, we get a nice dose of 70's sleaze with this one, fun stuff.

THE GHOST (1963)
Director: Riccardo Freda

Cast: Barbara Steele, Peter Baldwin, Elio Jotta
Color 96 Minutes Not Rated

Synopsis: A woman and her lover murder her invalid physician husband in order to take his fortune and live their lives together. Watched by the physician’s faithful housekeeper, the two lovers begin searching for the money they believe is hidden upon the grounds of the estate. When mysterious occurrences begin to happen to the couple, they suspect that the physician’s ghost has appeared to seek revenge for their crime.

LEGACY OF BLOOD (1971)
Director: Carl Monson 

Cast: John Carradine, Rodolfo Acosta, Merry Anders
Color 83 Minutes Rated R

Synopsis: An aged millionaire passes on and leaves his four children his large fortune. According to his will, the four heirs must spend one week at his estate in order to split up the fortune. If any of the heirs leave or die before the week is out, the remaining children will receive the money and if all the heirs are gone, the servants will gain the inheritance. Once everyone has arrived at the estate and settled in, strange things begin to happen and the heirs begin to turn up dead. Who is killing them and can the remaining heirs find out before it’s too late?

THE MURDER MANSION (1972)
Director: Francisco Lara Polop

Cast: Evelyn Stewart, Analia Gade, Anna Lisa Nardi
Color 84 Minutes Not Rated

Synopsis: A young couple joins a group of travelers stranded at a fog-bound mansion to wait out the bad weather. While everyone tries to deal with each other, they must also contend with the creepy surroundings of the ancient manor and its adjoining cemetery. When the guests are beset upon by the unliving residents from the graveyard, they must try to band together in order to survive the nightmare.
DISC 3

TORMENTED (1960)
Director: Bert I. Gordon

Cast: Richard Carlson, Susan Gordon, Lugene Sanders
BW 75 Minutes Not Rated

Synopsis: A pianist dumps his singer girlfriend and becomes engaged to a young socialite from an affluent island community, which infuriates the singer. A confrontation, between the pianist and the singer at the top of a lighthouse, results in her falling to her death to the rocks below. The pianist tries to keep the death quiet while proceeding with the wedding plans but finds it impossible when the deceased singer begins to haunt him.

THE SCREAMING SKULL (1959)
Director: Alex Nicol

Cast: John Hudson, Peggy Webber, Russ Conway
BW 68 Minutes Not Rated

Synopsis: A newlywed couple returns from their honeymoon to the estate of the man’s late wife. The bride, a wealthy but extremely neurotic woman, uneasily settles into the home, walking the gardens of the estate that are meticulously kept by a strange gardener following the wishes of the deceased woman. The new lady of the house is tormented by the sudden appearance of skulls throughout the house and grounds. Is it the deceased woman coming back to drive her away or are there more sinister motives behind the skulls?
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959)
Director: William Castle

Cast: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long
BW 75 Minutes Not Rated

Synopsis: Eccentric Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) and his wife have invited 5 guests to a “house” party at the mysterious mansion on Haunted Hill, which is reported to be inhabited by evil spirits. Each guest is given a small coffin holding a gun and is informed that those who remain in the house until sunrise will receive $10,000. Frights and thrills fill the night as nerves are put on edge and the guest’s secrets start coming to light.

THE TERROR (1963)
Director: Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola, Monte Hellman, Jack Hill, Jack Nicholson

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Boris Karloff, Sandra Knight
Color 80 Minutes Not Rated

Synopsis: In an early career appearance, Jack Nicholson stars as Lieutenant Duvalier, a nineteenth century military officer whose dreams are haunted by a mysterious beauty (Sandra Knight). Those same dreams draw him to the sinister castle of Baron Von Leppe (Boris Karloff), but is it really the Baron or an imposter? Before he knows it, he finds himself a prisoner and frantically tries to solve the mysteries that surround him. Director Roger Corman collaborated with other directors, including Francis Ford Coppola, in the filming of this horror classic.

Review:Roger Corman's The Terror is set in France in 1806. Lt. Andre Duvalier (Jack Nicholson) is a soldier in Napoleon's army who's become separated from his regiment, he awakens on a beach where he encounters a hauntingly beautiful woman named Helena (Sandra Knight) whom walks into the surf and disappears. Thinking she must have been overcome by the waves Duvalier follows her in and nearly drowns himself all the while being dive bombed from above by a vicious hawk. Losing consciousness he awakens (again) inside the villa of Katrina (Dorothy Neumann), an old witchy woman. He inquires if she knows of the young woman and she replies that he must have imagined her during his near fatal drowning.

Undeterred Andre further searches for the woman through the forest until he comes to the castle of Baron Von Leppe (Boris Karloff, Frankenstein) who reluctantly allows Andre to enter after he flashes his Napoleonic credentials. As if Nicholson and Karloff weren't enough for a ticket to this film legendary b-movie character actor Dick Miller (Bucket of Blood, Gremlins) also appears as the Baron's major domo. Inside the castle Andre happen upon a portrait of a woman whom bares an uncanny resemblance to the mysterious woman he seeks. The Baron informs him that he is mistaken as the woman in the portrait, his wife, died twenty years prior. Andre is obsessed with the young woman and continues to search for the woman's identity despite everyone's insistence that she is merely a figment of his distressed mind. He continues to encounter her but starts to wonder if he has gone mad, is she an apparition, a restless spirit, who is she really? And how does the witch Katrina figure into the story?

The acting is suitably melodramatic with pre-New Hollywood Nicholson giving a decent performance, he's definitely charming but not nearly French, fun stuff. Karloff seems a bit lost at times, he gives it a good go though but it's obvious this is just another paying gig. While the film is uneven, it's a wonder that the film is as watchable as it is given it's strange production, the sets are fantastic stuff. The towering Gothic castle, a macabre cemetery steeped in fog, creepy crypts and eerie red, green and blue lighting really go a long way towards creating an entertaining and atmosphere spookfest. It's a bit slow at times but the film's final 15 minutes are wonderfully twisted and memorable.

The legend of this film holds that once wrapping on The Raven, which starred Boris Karloff as Dr. Scarabus, Corman immediately went into production on The Terror utilizing sets from The Raven and A Haunted Place. He tossed Karloff a few extra bucks to remain on for four additional days of shooting. While Corman shot the bulk of the film with Karloff in four days the film's production went on for nine more months, making it one of the longest Corman shoots ever I would imagine. In those nine months Corman left it to a handful of aspiring directors on staff to shoot second unit, and they're notable names, too. They included star Jack Nicholson who would go onto direct the Going South among others, Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather)who that same year would direct Dementia 13 and reportedly shot for 11 days only get 10 minutes of footage in this film, Jack Hill (Spider Baby, Coffy) and Monte Hellman (Two Lane Blacktop). Not too shabby. 

TERROR CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE (1965)
Director: Massimo Pupillo
Cast: Walter Brandi, Marilyn Mitchell, Barbara Steele
BW 82 Minutes Not Rated

Synopsis: An attorney travels to his client’s castle to conduct some business when he learns upon arriving for the meeting the client died almost a year ago. The client’s widow and daughter then tell the attorney an incredible tale of how the owner was able to revive the spirits of long-deceased plague victims and how his spirit roams the halls of the castle. Doubting their story, the attorney begins to reconsider when a rash of mysterious deaths occur at the castle. 

Review: An attorney arrives at a castle to settle the estate of its recently deceased owner. The owner's wife and daughter reveal that the man had dabblings in the occult and was able to summon the spirits of ancient plague spreaders and that his spirit is also roaming the castle and is out for revenge on those who killed him. Italian beauty Barbara Steele features in this revenge from the grave thriller. The film has a promising starts as a man is stomped to death by a horse and it does features some okay deaths by plague, burnings with acid and a bit of gore as well. The major failings of the film are that it never shows the zombie plague spreaders other than there hands. The scares come from the victims shock and reactions and it's just not very effective. 

ARROW VIDEO 2014 PREVIEW

As 2013 winds down we look forward to what's coming in the new year from our favorite genre film distributors here at the Mausoleum. UK-based distributor Arrow Video have for years assembled quality titles with sweet transfers, new artwork and interesting special features. They've celebrated the careers of Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, George A. Romero, Mario Bava and Brian DePalma just to name a notable few, plus rescued many an obscure and scuzzy b-movie from the dirty vaults of horror cinema, they've always been a class act.

I must admit that since the inception of Shout! Factory's horror imprint Scream Factory here in the US I've been hard-pressed for cash to purchase import titles from Arrow and others (Second Sight, Shameless) and my import collection has suffered for it. Unfortunately the sad truth is I only have so much in the budget for movies, somehow I have to feed the mouths and keep the lights on and something had to give. However, I do love Arrow Video, in fact they are the only reason I went region-free a few years back and they continue to be one of my favorite distributors, and 2014 looks to be a great year once again. 

It's great to see Arrow continue their brilliant series of Mario Bava and Brian DePalma Blu-rays in 2014. Arrow have been on a DePalma jag this past year the way that Scream Factory have championed John Carpenter , it's just fantastic stuff. 2014 will also see the release of some euro-eroticism from Tinto Brass, Jack Hill's Pit Stop (1969), Larry Cohen's The Stuff (1985) and the Southwest thriller White of the Eye (1987) which are among my most anticipated titles going into the new year, check out the sweet steelbook editions of Phantom of the Paradise (1974) and White of the Eyes (1987) - wow.

Read on and check out the releases through March 2014 with street dates, artwork and special features plus Amazon pre-order links... 

HELLGATE (1989) 

Release Date: January 27th 2014
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD

Cast: Ron Palillo, Abigail Wolcott, Carel Trichardt
Director: William A. Levey

BEYOND THE DARKNESS TERROR LIVES FOREVER

SYNOPSIS: Legends abound of ‘The Hellgate Hitchhiker’. So the story goes, a beautiful young woman was once brutally defiled and murdered by a biker gang. Now, returned from the dead, she wanders the roadside luring unsuspecting motorists to their doom…

Refusing to heed the warnings of locals, a group of college friends set out on a cross-country road trip looking for fun and frolics. But they get much more than they bargained for when they wind up in the abandoned mining town of Hellgate and hemmed in by hordes of the undead!

Providing gore and gags in equal measure, Hellgate recalls the good old days of early 90s fright flicks and challenges other gleefully twisted flicks such as Re-animator and Return of the Living Dead for sheer grisly delirium!
SPECIAL FEATURES:
-Limited edition Blu-ray [1000 Copies]
-High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the main feature
-Road to Perdition, B-Movie Style: An extensive interview with Hellgate director William A. Levey
-Alien Invasion, Blaxploitation and Ghost-Busting Mayhem: Scholar, Filmmaker and fan Howard S. Berger reflects on the intriguing film career of William A. Levey
-Video Nasty: Kenneth Hall, writer of the Puppet Master series, speaks about the direct-to-video horror boom that allowed Hellgate to become a classic of the cassette rental era
-Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
-Collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Lee Gambin, illustrated with original artwork and stills

DETAILS:
Region: B/2
Rating: 18
Cat No: FCD850
Duration: 91 mins
Language: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: Mono
Colour: Colour

HELL COMES TO FROGTOWN (1988)

Release Date January 27th 2014

Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Cast: Julius LeFlore, RCB, Roddy Piper
Director: Donald G. Jackson, R.J. Kizer

SYNOPSIS: With the 20th Century drawing to a close, nuclear war has wiped out civilization as we know it. The embattled human race’s last remaining hope lies with one man and his loaded weapon.

Sam Hell may be an ex-con, but he also happens to be one of the last surviving fertile men on the planet. Now, under the custody of a group of feisty female fighters, Sam finds himself enlisted on a mission to impregnate a harem of beauties. Sounds cushy enough, but the ladies in question are prisoners of Frogtown – home to a gang of mutant (and ill-mannered) amphibians!

Starring wrestler-turned-actor Rowdy Roddy Piper, known to John Carpenter enthusiasts for his body-slamming and bubblegum-chewing antics in They Live, Hell Comes to Frogtown is unashamedly a B-movie through and through with more guns and girls than you can shake a frog’s leg at.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
-Limited Edition Blu-ray [1000 copies]
-High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation
-Original uncompressed stereo 2.0 PCM audio
-Grappling with Green Gargantuans: Wrestling icon "Rowdy" Roddy Piper speaks about his leading man turn in Hell Comes to Frogtown
-Amphibian Armageddon: Actor Brian Frank remembers his role as Commander Toty
-Creature Feature Creator: Effects wizard Steve Wang reveals the secrets behind Hell Comes to Frogtown's mutant manifestations
-Extended Scene
-Original Trailer
-Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jeff Zornow
-Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and critic Calum Waddell

Region: B/2
Rating: 15
Cat No: FCD849
Duration: 87 mins
Language: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: 2.0 PCM
Colour: Colour

FRIVOLOUS LOLA (1998) 

Release Date: February 10th 2014
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Cast: Anna Ammirati, Patrick Mower, Max Parodi
Director: Tinto Brass

SYNOPSIS: One of the sunniest of Tinto Brass’s erotic comedies, this sets its breezy tone from the opening scene in which Lola (Anna Ammirati) cycles around a small Po Valley town in a flapping skirt that leaves nothing to the imagination.

But it’s the 1950s, and her baker fiancée Masetto (Max Parodi) is determined that Lola remains a virgin until their wedding night. However, she is equally set on establishing whether or not he’s a good lover before they tie the knot. His dough-kneading technique seems promising, but how can she be sure without an expert to compare him with? In short, can Masetto live up to the erotic ideals professed by Lola’s mother’s lover (Patrick Mower)?

Fortunately, the outwardly innocent town turns out to be a hotbed of licentiousness, with opportunities for voyeurism and maybe more around every corner – all in the interests of self-improving research, of course.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New High Definition digital transfer
- Newly commissioned artwork
- Collector’s booklet
More to be announced!

DETAILS:
Region: B/2
Rating: 18
Duration: TBC
Language: English
Subtitles: TBC
Aspect Ratio: TBC
Audio: TBC
Colour: Color

CHEEKY (2003) 

Release Date: February 10th 2014
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Cast: Yuliya Mayarchuk, Jarno Berardi, Francesca Nunzi
Director: Tinto Brass

SYNOPSIS: When free-spirited beauty Carla (Yuliya Mayarchuk) moves to London, her search for a flat leads to a lesbian seduction by estate agent Moira (Francesca Nunzi), much to the horror of Carla’s boyfriend Matteo (Jarno Berardi) still stuck in their native Venice. And then he discovers a cache of letters from an ex-boyfriend, accompanied by a highly revealing and very public photograph of her…

Ravishingly shot in two of the world’s great cities, bouncily scored by Pino Donaggio, and crammed with wall-to-wall nudity and casual sexual flings, Cheeky is as lighthearted as its title suggests, but it’s subtler and more philosophical than the average sex romp.

In particular, it’s a genuinely moving look at problems arising when a desire to remain scrupulously faithful collides with the lure of baser instincts. Carla genuinely loves Matteo, but how can she reassure him when he spots temptation around every corner?
SPECIAL FEATURES:
-High Definition Blu-ray and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the film uncut and in widescreen for the first time!
-Optional English and Italian audio
-Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian audio
-Featurette on the film with director Tinto Brass
-Original Trailer
-Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly designed artwork by -The Red Dress
-Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic and author Maitland McDonagh, illustrated with original
archive stills.

Region: B/2
Rating: 18
Cat No: FCD761
Duration: 91 mins
Language: English/Italian
Subtitles: English/English SDH
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 (16x9)
Audio: 2.0 mono
Colour: Colour

PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (1974) 

Release Date: February 7th 2014
Format: Blu-ray
Cast: Paul Williams, William Finley, Jessica Harper
Director: Brian De Palma

SYNOPSIS: Brian De Palma’s inspired rock’n’roll fusion of Faust, The Phantom of the Opera and The Picture of Dorian Gray boasts an Oscar-nominated score by Paul Williams, who also stars as an evil record producer who not only steals the work of composer/performer Winslow Leach (William Finley) but gets him locked up in Sing Sing – and that’s not the worst that happens to him along the way.

Few revenge scenarios have ever been so amply justified, but the film is also constantly aware of the satirical possibilities offered by the 1970s music industry, exemplified by Gerrit Graham’s hilariously camp glam-rock star. Jessica Harper (Suspiria) appears in her first major role as the naïve but ambitious singer, on whom Winslow secretly dotes.

STEELBOOK EDITION 

Prodigiously inventive both musically and visually, this is one of De Palma’s most entertaining romps, not least because it was so clearly a labour of love.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
The edition feature a bumper crop of extras but it will also include a very special newly filmed 70 minute interview where renowned director Guillermo del Toro interviews Paul Williams! See the full specs below and pre-order your copy on SteelBook: http://bit.ly/1h9LhtM or Blu-ray: http://bit.ly/1h9Lb5k now!

SPECIAL FEATURES:
-High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, available in the UK for the first time!
-Uncompressed Stereo PCM / 4.0 DTS-HD Master Audio options
-Isolated Music and Effects soundtrack
-Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
-Paradise Regained: A 50-minute documentary on the making of the film featuring director Brian De Palma, producer Edward R. Pressman, the late star William Finley, star and composer Paul Williams, co-stars Jessica Harper and Gerrit Graham and more!
-All new 72-minute interview with Paul Williams by Guillermo del Toro
-The Swan Song Fiasco: A new video piece exploring the changes made to the film in post production
-Archive interview with costume designer Rosanna Norton
William Finley on the Phantom doll!
-Paradise Lost and Found: Alternate takes and bloopers from the cutting room floor
-Original Trailers
-Radio Spots
-Gallery of rare stills including behind-the-scenes images by photographer Randy Black
-Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by The Red Dress [Amaray release only]
-Limited Edition SteelBook™ packaging featuring original artwork [ SteelBook only]
-Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by festival programmer Michael Blyth and an exploration of the film’s troubled marketing history by Ari Kahan, curator of SwanArchives.org, illustrated with original stills and promotional material.

Region: B
Rating: 15
Duration: 92 mins
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: 2.0 PCM Stereo, 4.0 DTS HD Master Audio
Colour: Colour

RABID DOGS / KIDNAPPED (1974) 

Release Date: February 24th 2014
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Cast: Lea Lander, George Eastman, Riccardo Cucciolla
Director: Mario Bava

SYNOPSIS: Following difficulties in his career Mario Bava happened across an idea that would enable him to compete with the younger directors lighting up the Italian box office such as Dario Argento and Sergio Martino.

Rabid Dogs begins as $70,000 of wages are being transferred when the Ajaccio gang hit. With a hail of bullets in a quick raid they speed off in their waiting getaway car. Tough, violent and realistic, Bava’s film ramps up the tension and doesn’t stop as hostages are added and the film builds to its dizzying finale.

Unfolding in real time, a rare device seen only in earlier films such as High Noon and 12 Angry Men yet totally unheard of in Italian cinema at the time, Rabid Dogs is a singular film in Bava’s filmography and one of the greatest crime films of the period.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of two versions of the film; ‘Rabid Dogs’ – Bava’s original version posthumously completed from his notes & ‘Kidnapped’ – the re-edited, re-dubbed and re-scored version, supervised by Bava’s son and assistant Lamberto Bava and producer Alfredo Leone
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on both versions
- Audio Commentary with Bava biographer and expert Tim Lucas
- End of the Road: The Making of Rabid Dogs – A documentary featurette including interviews with Lamberto Bava, Alfredo Leone and star Lea Lander
- Original Trailer
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Stephen Thrower, a history of the multiple versions of the film from Semaforo Rosso to Rabid Dogs to Kidnapped by Peter Blumenstock, illustrated with original stills and posters
Much more to be announced!

DETAILS:
Rating: 18
Duration: TBC
Language: TBC
Subtitles: TBC
Aspect Ratio: TBC
Audio: TBC
Colour: Color

THE STUFF (1985) 

Release Date: March 10th 2014
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Cast: Michael Moriarty, Andrea Marcovicci, Garrett Morris
Director: Larry Cohen

Are you eating it …or is it eating you?

SYNOPSIS: The Stuff is the new dessert taking supermarket shelves by storm. It’s delicious, low in calories and – better still – doesn’t stain the family carpet… What’s not to like?! Well, for a start it has a life of its own, and we’re not talking friendly live bacteria…

Young Jason seems to be the only one who doesn’t love The Stuff – in fact he won’t go anywhere near it, after having seen the pudding crawling around the fridge one night. What’s more, everyone who eats The Stuff has started acting really weird… Now, teaming up with wise-cracking industrial saboteur “Mo”, Jason must put a stop to The Stuff and the organisation behind it or face a gooey, gloopy demise.

Coming courtesy of horror auteur Larry Cohen (director of the It’s Alive series and scribe behind the Maniac Cop trilogy), The Stuff is a titillating treat for the taste-buds which blends elements of films such as Street Trash with the straight-up B-movie flavour of The Blob. So grab a spoon and dig on into The Stuff – the taste that delivers… much more than you bargained for!

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New High Definition digital transfer
- Newly commissioned artwork
- Collector’s booklet
More to be announced!

DETAILS:
Rating: 15
Duration: TBC
Language: English
Subtitles: TBC
Aspect Ratio: TBC
Audio: TBC
Colour: Color

BLIND WOMAN'S CURSE 

Release Date: March 17th 2014
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Cast: Meiko Kaji, Hoki Tokuda, Makoto Satô
Director: Teruo Ishii

Synopsis: From Teruo Ishii “The King of Cult”, Blind Woman’s Curse (also known as Black Cat’s Revenge) is a thrilling Yakuza film featuring eye-popping visuals, sensational fight sequences and the gorgeous Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood, Stray Cat Rock), in her first major role.

Akemi (Kaji) is a dragon tattooed leader of the Tachibana Yakuza clan. In a duel with a rival gang Akemi slashes the eyes of an opponent and a black cat appears, to lap the blood from the gushing wound. The cat along with the eye-victim go on to pursue Akemi’s gang in revenge, leaving a trail of dead Yakuza girls, their dragon tattoos skinned from their bodies.

A bizarre blend of the female Yakuza film and traditional Japanese ghost story, with a strong dash of grotesque-erotica (the same movement was a sensibility of Edogawa Rampo whose works were adapted by Ishii in Horrors of Malformed Men), Blind Woman’s Curse is a delirious mash-up of classic genre tropes, of which Ishii was no stranger, having directed everything from Super Giant films to Biker movies!

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New High Definition digital transfer
- Newly commissioned artwork
- Collector’s booklet
More to be announced!

DETAILS:
Region: B/2
Rating: TBC
Duration: TBC
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: TBC
Audio: TBC
Colour: Colour

PIT STOP (1969) 

Release Date: March 31st 2014
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Cast: Brian Donlevy, Richard Davalos, Ellen Burstyn
Director: Jack Hill

RAW GUTS FOR GLORY! FLESH AGAINST STEEL!

SYNOPSIS: The most dangerous game ever devised, to pit man against man, flesh against steel – the figure-8 race! Jack Hill (Coffy, Foxy Brown) follows up Spider Baby, once again teaming up with Sid Haig (House of 1000 Corpses) in one of his greatest roles for this action-spectacular crash-o-rama!

Richard Davalos (East of Eden) stars as Rick Bowman, a street punk who winds up in jail after a street race goes wrong. Bailed out by race promoter Grant Willard, Davalos is put in the deadly track where he comes up against Haig’s maniacal winner Hawk Sidney. Featuring an outstanding supporting cast including Brian Donlevy (The Quatermass Xperiment) in his last film appearance, Ellen Burstyn, billed as Ellen McRae (The Exorcist) and Beverly Washburn (Spider Baby) Pit Stop is one of Hill’s lesser known films but arguably his greatest.

Filmed on a real figure-8 track, Hill and his crew were able to capture gripping real-life car wreck scenes lending the film a brilliant sense of realism. You’ve never seen a motion picture like this before – can you take it?

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New High Definition digital transfer
- Newly commissioned artwork
- Collector’s booklet
More to be announced!

DETAILS:
Region: B/2
Rating: TBC
Duration: TBC
Language: English
Subtitles: TBC
Aspect Ratio: TBC
Audio: TBC
Colour: Color

SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941)  

Release Date: March 17th 2014
Format: Blu-ray 
Cast: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick
Director: Preston Sturges

VERONICA LAKE’S ON THE TAKE

SYNOPSIS: Director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) is one of Hollywood’s hottest talents, with an uncanny gift for getting audiences rolling in the aisles. But he’s dissatisfied: he wants to abandon comedy for Serious Statements, and buys the rights to celebrated social-realist novel ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’

To make his masterpiece as realistic as possible, Sullivan naturally has to understand how the book’s downtrodden characters must have felt, so he takes to the road as a hobo, is taken under the wing of a failed actress (Veronica Lake), and learns several valuable home truths about the importance of not patronising his audience.

Writer-director Preston Sturges had an inspired run in the 1940s, turning out some of the funniest American comedies ever made (The Lady Eve, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek). Sullivan’s Travels is one of his best: not just hilarious but also truly wise.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- -New high definition digital transfer
- Newly commissioned artwork
- Collector’s booklet
More to be announced!

DETAILS:
Region: B
Duration: TBC
Language: English
Subtitles: TBC
Aspect Ratio: TBC
Audio: 2.0/5.1
Colour: B+W

WHITE OF THE EYE (1987) 

Release Date: March 24th 2014
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Cast: David Keith, Cathy Moriarty, Alan Rosenberg
Director: Donald Cammell

THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HUNTER AND A KILLER …IS HIS PREY

SYNOPSIS: A serial killer is on the loose in and around the small community of Globe, Arizona, and housewife Joan White (Cathy Moriarty) gradually comes to suspect that her opera-loving hi-fi engineer husband Paul (David Keith) might know more than he’s letting on…

So far so familiar, but in the hands of British visionary Donald Cammell (who wrote and co-directed Performance with Nicolas Roeg), the film becomes a dazzling kaleidoscope of images and ideas, spanning everything from Apache folklore, desert landscapes and stylish murder set-pieces that recall Dario Argento to a painfully vivid dissection of the emotional fissures undermining a modern marriage. It’s all set to an equally eclectic score co-written by Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason.

Described by the distinguished critic David Thomson as “one of the great secret works in cinema”, White of the Eye is one of the most bizarre and unforgettable thrillers ever made.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New High Definition digital transfer
- Newly commissioned artwork
- Collector’s booklet
More to be announced!

DETAILS:
Region: B/2

THE KILLERS (1964)

Release Date: February 24th 2014
Format: Blu-ray
Cast: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, John Cassavetes
Director: Don Siegel
THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO KILL A MAN…

“I gotta find out what makes a man decide not to run. Why all of a sudden he’d rather die.”

SYNOPSIS: So muses hitman Charlie (Lee Marvin) after his high-priced victim Johnny North (John Cassavetes) gives in without a fight. Obsessed with the answer, Charlie and his hot-headed associate Lee (Clu Gulager) track down Johnny’s associates, and uncover a complex web of crime and deceit involving his femme fatale girlfriend Sheila (Angie Dickinson) and ruthless mob boss Jack Browning (Ronald Reagan in his last screen role).

Loosely inspired by the Ernest Hemingway story, and directed by Don Siegel (whose many other taut, efficient thrillers include Dirty Harry and the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers), The Killers was commissioned as the very first ‘TV movie’, but was given a cinema release because of its violence – although a cast like that really belonged on the big screen in the first place.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New High Definition digital transfer
- Newly commissioned artwork
- Collector’s booklet
More to be announced!

DETAILS:
Region: B