BOUND (1996) (Olive Signature Blu-ray Review)

BOUND (1996)

Label: Olive Films
Region Code: A
Rating: R/Unrated
Duration: 109 Minutes
Audio: English 2.0 DTS_HD MA Stereo with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: The Wachowskis
Cast: Christopher Meloni, Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly, Joe Pantoliano, John P. Ryan

Before they hit the mega-big-time with sci-fi game-changer The Matrix (1999) writer/directors The Wachowskis made this little gem of a film, a neo-noir thriller with a lesbian tinge that dazzled me when it arrived in the cinema in the mid-90s and still manages to thrill me today. The woman-on-woman crime caper stars Gina Gershon (Showgirls) as Corky, an ex-con who takes a job doing some paint and plumbing in an apartment, which is where she meets the curvaceous sex-pot Violet (Jennifer Tilly, Bride of Chucky) who lives right next door with her mob-connected boyfriend Caesar (Joe Pantoliano, The Sopranos).

The women strike up a torrid affair that set my early-20s libido on fire when I caught in the cinema, before you know it the pair are lustfully entangled right under the nose of the unhinged - but painfully dimwitted - Caesar, plotting to lift two-million dollars in blood-stained cash that the mob money launderer has hidden away at his place. Should the plan go perfectly it will pit the money launderer against his nemesis, an even more unhinged mob bosses son (played with demented delight by Christopher Meloni from Law and Order: SVU), but like most of the best laid plans it doesn't go off without it's share of danger and violence, as the par seem to have under estimated just how unhinged Violet's man can be. 

The coupling of Tilly and Gershon is sexual perfection, with Tilly's sultry voice and Gershon's seductive lip-curl they are sexual dynamite, their sex scenes are way steamy, even more so on the unrated cut which is included on the disc, in addition to the R-rated version. The story is a deep-dive into Noir visuals with high-contrast cinematography (from Bill Pop of The Matrix trilogy) and striking shadow play, plus we have a cool cast of crime character including John P. Ryan (It's Alive) as one of the mobsters associated with Caesar. It all adds up to a whiz-bang of a debut film from The Wachowskis that has all the style and visual artistry they displayed in their next film, this one holds-up, if you haven't checked it out do yourself a favor, I think you'll be pleased you did.  

Audio/Video: Bound (1996) arrives on Blu-ray for as second time from distributor Olive Films, this time as part of the too-long dormant  Olive Signature collection, touted as a new "HD digital restoration", I am assuming from the same previous master with some restorative tweaking. Things here look good, grain is nicely managed, it's less soft that the previous 2012 release, colors look more saturated and dense with improved contrast. 

Audio comes by way of a robust 2.0 DTS-HD MA stereo track with optional English subtitles. Dialogue  crisp and clean with some nice oomph to it when called upon, the Don Davis (The Matrix Trilogy) sound great in the mix, as do the songs from Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, The Hail Marys and crooner Tom Jones. 

Looking at extras it looks like Olive licensed the audio commentary with writers/directors The Wachowskis; actors Joe Pantoliano, Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon; film editor Zach Staenberg; and technical consultant Susie Brightand from Arrow Video, the track is filled to the brim with technical and anecdotal info. 

Olive also carried-over some of the Arrow extras, beginning with the 10-min “Here’s Johnny!” interview with Christopher Meloni, the 27-min “Femme Fatales” with stars Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly and the 29-min “Modern Noir: The Sights & Sounds of Bound” with cinematographer Bill Pope, editor Zach Staenberg, and composer Don Davis, all of it great stuff. Olive also bring new extras to the table by way of the 7-min “Part and Parcel” with titles designer Patti Podesta, plus a 18-min discussion with academics Ruby Rich and Jen Moorman who speak about noir and the neo-noir movement in relation to Bound. The only extra not carried over from the UK release from Arrow is an interview with Joe Pantoliano, but it is erroneously listed on the slipcover and wrap sent our way for review. 

The single-disc release comes housed in a clear BLu-ray keepcase with 2-sided war, the reverse side featuring images from the film, it also includes a matte finish slipcover plus an 8=page booklet with writing on the film from Guinevere Turner, which is also available as a text-only extra on the disc.

Special Features: 
- New High-Definition Digital Restoration
- Audio commentary with writers/directors The Wachowskis; actors Joe Pantoliano, Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon; film editor Zach Staenberg; and technical consultant Susie Bright
- NEW! “Part and Parcel” – with titles designer Patti Podesta (7 min) HD
- NEW “The Difference Between You and Me” – with B. Ruby Rich and Jen Moorman (18 min) HD 
- “Here’s Johnny!” – with Christopher Meloni (10 min) HD 
- “Femme Fatales” – with Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly (27 min) HD 
- “Modern Noir: The Sights & Sounds of Bound” – with cinematographer Bill Pope, editor Zach Staenberg, and composer Don Davis (29 min) HHD 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD 
- 8-Page Booklet with Essay by Guinevere Turner

Bound (1996) is a seductive and compelling slice on 90's neo-noir, a stylish film loaded with crime, violence and lesbian-tinged thrills. The new Olive Signature Blu-ray is the best the film has looked on home video and loaded with archival and new extras that pack in the value, plus it has some nice shelf appeal.

VAMPIRE'S KISS (1989) / HIGH SPIRITS (1988) DOUBLE FEATURE

VAMPIRE'S KISS (1989) / HIGH SPIRITS (1988) 

Label: Scream Factory

Release Date: February 10th 2015 
Region Code: A

Rating: R/PG13

Duration: 103 Minutes / 99 Minutes 

Audio: DTS-HD MA Stereo

Video: 1080P Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: Robert Bierman, Neil Jordan 

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jennifer Beal, Maria Conchita Alonso, Daryl Hannah, Peter O’Toole, Steve Guttenberg, Beverly D’Angelo, Jennifer Tilly, Peter Gallagher, Liam Neeson

VAMPIRE'S KISS (1989)
Synopsis: Teetering on the edge of sanity, volatile literary agent Peter Loew (Nicolas Cage) tries to find purpose in his life through a cutthroat work ethic and a hedonistic night life. But when an encounter with a mysterious beauty leaves Loew convinced that he is turning into a vampire, his behavior turns positively outrageous. - SCREAM FACTORY 

Peter Loew (Nicolas Cage) is a literary agent in the big city struggling to maintain his sanity after his girlfriend has left him, now depressed he regularly seeks the counsel of a shrink (Elizabeth Ashley), who notes Pete's increasingly erratic behavior. The struggle to keep his sanity about him becomes more difficult when he meets a mysterious woman named Rachel (Jennifer Beals) at a nightclub. Back at his apartment she reveals herself to be a vampire and sinks her fangs into his neck, the next day believing himself to be a vampire he is overcome by delusion and madness.

Even at this early stage in his career Nicolas Cage was no stranger to quirky performances, but this might be the first time we saw him go full-on crazy with a stunner of an oddball performance, one that still stands out as one of his most bizarre taking on an accent that sounds like Ted "Theodore" Logan channeled through a Brit, very weird stuff and a choice that calls attention to itself. Cage seems to be aiming for more of Dwight Fry's Renfield more so than any incarnation of a vampire, hunched over and bug-eyed, heightened by the fact that the rest of the cast are playing this very straight. Are they playing it too straight or is her just too weird, regardless the outcome is a off kilter black comedy with Cage completely unhinged.  

A subplot of the film has Peter tasking his secretary Alva (María Conchita Alonso) with finding a missing document in the office archives, when she is unable to produce the document Peter torments the woman with verbal condemnation. So upsetting is the experience that she calls-in sick the next day, but Peter pays her a visit with an apology and fake sympathy, encouraging her to return to work only to flip the switch once she's back at the office.  When the secretary confides in her brother of the torments she suffers at work he sets off to avenge his sister's mistreatment by the increasingly dangerous would-be vampire. 

As the film comes to conclusion we find a deranged Peter running through the streets of the city raving like a lunatic, covered in blood and wearing plastic vampire fangs while carrying on a conversation with multiple figments of his imagination, possibly having murdered several people. 

VAMPIRE'S KISS struggles to find a consistent tone meandering back and forth from dark comedy to a more serious character study of a man suffering from the effects of insanity. Cage gives a completely unrestrained performance which can be both engaging and sort of off putting from once scene to the next. Honestly this is a bit of train wreck of a film but once I bought into it I actually enjoyed myself but I can only imagine I am in the minority, this is a hard sell of film, so uneven and muddled. 

HIGH SPIRITS (1989) 

Synopsis: Daryl Hannah, Peter O’Toole, Steve Guttenberg, Beverly D’Angelo, Jennifer Tilly, Peter Gallagher and Liam Neeson star in this hilariously haunting comedy! When a castle-turned-hotel owned by Peter Plunkett (O’Toole) falls on hard financial times, he comes up with an idea to turn the place into a tourist attraction by billing it as Europe's most haunted castle. But just when it seems he'll have to give up the ghost, some real phantoms show up — and they're none too thrilled about being exploited. - SCREAM FACTORY 

Peter Plunkett (Peter O'Toole) the owner of a dilapidated Irish castle transforms the shabby stone-walled home into a haunted bed and breakfast in a last-ditch effort to cash in on the tourism trade before his American creditors can foreclose on the property. With the help of his colorful staff they set about creating a series of hokey haunting gimmicks and invite the first round of American tourists to stay at "the most haunted castle in Europe". Right from the start the haunted hotel opens with disastrous consequence to the dismay of the tourist, but when all seems lost it turns out this castle is actually haunted by spooks and spectres. 

Directed by the imaginative Irish director Neil Jordan (IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES) the film had a wonderful sense of the fantastic with an amazing castle set-piece and a fun eighties cast of characters. Peter O'Toole (ZULU DAWN) is quite fun as the often drunk, somewhat suicidal showman who leads a rag tag crew of Irish housemaids and gardeners into a poorly conceived money-making scheme, the man is a legend for a reason and has charisma to spare.  

The American tourists are represented by eighties funnyman Steve Guttenberg (COCOON) and his frigid wife Beverly D'Angelo (CHRISTMAS VACATION), Martin Ferrero (THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK) as a paranormal skeptic, Peter Gallagher (AMERICAN BEAUTY) as a Priest and Jennifer Tilly (BOUND) as a raspy-voiced vixen who seriously wants to defrock that priest, pretty much the same sultry character she plays in everything. 

Add to this comedic mixture the ethereal beauty of Daryl Hannah (BLADE RUNNER) as the spirit of Mary Plunkett and her murderous husband played by the Liam Neeson (DARKMAN) who both haunt the castle, caught in a spectral loop of honeymoon murder until Guttenberg breaks the cycle, igniting a supernatural love affair. 

Quite a fun and farcical romp from the eighties with loads of sight gags and supernatural hi jinx that should appeal to fans of ensemble comedies CLUE and HAUNTED HONEYMOON, the entire cast play this one pitch perfect, a fun combination of haunted hokum and pratfall humor that is sure to make you laugh out loud. . 

HIGH SPIRITS is the far and away winner on this double feature with it's spirited mix of the supernatural and farce, worth the price of admission alone, but VAMPIRE'S KISS is not without it's own odd appeal. A weird double feature from Scream Factory who have a pretty solid reputation of cult, b-movies and horror releases, but most horror fans have a pretty well-rounded appreciation for cinema in general, and I am sure this will find an audience, HIGH SPIRITS particularly would be a great introduction to horror for your kids.