HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (1981) (Retro-VHS Blu-ray Review)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (1981)

Retro-VHS Blu-ray Edition 

Label: Mill Creek Entertainment
Rating: R
Duration: 111 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Cast: Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker, Frances Hyland, Lenore Zann, Lisa Langlois, Michel Rene Labelle, Lesleh Donaldson

In this early 80's slasher directed by J. Lee Thompson (Cape Fear) we have a setting at the elite Crawford Academy's high school, where a group of popular teens form a click known as the Top Ten, they seem to have it all, but someone is killing them off. This is a movie I caught on cable TV back in the 80's, it's always stuck with me, starring a pair of my  childhood crushes, and blending American slasher-isms with a Euro-thriller notes, namely an endless parade of red-herrings and a black-gloved killer.

Our focus here is top ten member Virginia (Melissa Sue Anderson, Little House on the Prairie) who had some weird experimental brain surgery some years back, which figures into the story. The identity of the killer is kept from us for a long while, it has a sort of giallo flavor you don't usually see in an 80s slasher. The first kill involves a black gloved killer with a sagtright-razor, but sadly the film is no 80s slasher blood fest, with the kills themselves a bit bloody but very tame. Director J.Lee Thompson was a solid director, but in his later years he found himself working for Canon Films, relegated to some sub-par action and adventure films, stuff like Death Wish 4 and King Solomon's Mines, but with this slasher he showed some great direction, and the movie is lensed quite nicely.

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The kill are a lot of fun, featuring teens offed by the gassed-up rear tire of a motorbike, skewered by a shishkabob, and a guy having a hefty weight dropped on his balls while pumping some iron! It's all great stuff, nut the bloody payoff of each kill has been heavily edited, but the climax of this movie is so deliciously overwrought and WTF it erases anything that I had an issue with by that point. The reveal of the culprit's identity and reasoning in this one always leaves me reeling, and while I do think the movie is a bit too convoluted and over-plotted, I still count this is one of my favorite slashers of all time, it's just so dang fun. 

The film has a surprisingly great supporting cast, including the legendary Glen Ford (Pa Kdent from Donner's Superman!), and some lesser known, but no less solid actors, Lawrence Dane (Scanners), Lisa Langlois (Deadly Eyes) and Tracey E. Bregman who I had such a crush on as a kid, she having appeared on one of my mom's soap operas she use to watch in the 80's. 

Audio/Video: The film was previously available from Mill Creek Entertainment on a double-feature Blu-ray with with babysitter classic When a Stranger Calls (1979), now available in the U.S. as a proper stand alone Blu-ray, presented in 1080p HD and framed 1.85:1 widescreen. The slasher looks quite good, blacks are solid, the grain is well-managed. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Stereo, with the original score from composers Bo Harwood and Lance Rubin, no subtitles are offered, and there are no extras for the film.

The single disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with one sided sleeve of artwork, strangely they've gone with what looks to be a variation of the original DVD release, of a young woman (who's not in the film!) holding a birthday cake, it's ugly as sin. However, this release is part of the Retro-VHS Look collection from Mill Creek and features a slipcover with the original movie one-sheet, the one with the shiskabob skewering, that looks like a vintage VHS release with rental store stickers that label it horror, be kind rewind, and penalty stickers for not rewinding, not dissimilar to what MVD are doing with their MVD Rewind Collection. The disc also features an excerpt of the same key art as the slip, with one side of the spine looking like a VHS release, the other looks like the label from the VHS cassette, though I do wish they had used the skewering artwork for the wrap as well. 

Happy Birthday To Me (1981) is a pretty great slasher, it loses some points for being less bloody than others of the era but it's stylish, ludicrous and fun with a giallo bent and one hell of a shocker finale, just the way I like 'em. 

OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN (1983) (Scream Factory Blu-ray)

OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN (1983)

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Duration: 89 Minutes
Rating: R
Audio: English DTS-HD MA
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: George P. Cosmatos
Cast: Peter Weller, Jennifer Dale, Lawrence Dane, Kenneth Welsh, Louis Del Grande, Shannon Tweed

Manhattan Wall Street exec Bart Hughes (Peter Weller, Robocop) is on the verge of a big promotion at his firm, which means he has to put off the family vacation he had planned with his wife Meg (former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed, Hot Dog…The Movie) and their young son. While they head to her parent's place for a week he stays behind in their Manhattan brownstone working on a big project, occasionally going into he office where he is pushed-on by his boss Elliot (Lawrence Dane, Happy Birthday To Me), while also being undermined by his office-rivals, and supported by his overly-attentive assistant Lorrie (Jennifer Dale, Stone Cold Dead). 

Already part of a corporate rat-race he becomes obsessed with a real rat which has taken up residence in the walls of his home. At first the rat just seems to be a bit of a nuisance, but soon the already stressed Hughes starts to slowly unravel as the rodent increasingly becomes an annoyance, chewing through electrical wires and causing a flood in his home. Hughes calls in an exterminator but the rat foils that plan in a highly implausible way, Hughes then goes for rat-poison, bringing in a stray cat, and setting-up a series of scary looking industrial rat traps which were comically brutal looking.

The rat vs. man story is rather engrossing if not particularly deep, with Hughes' amateur rat-exterminator home life starting to affect his professional life, his sanity slipping more and more as he battles the furry rodent. Eventually he goes all in on the rat, crafting a war-bat made from a Louisville slugger with spikes and medieval looking armaments, suited-up in a homemade body armor and tearing the walls and ceiling apart in an all-out declaration of war against the rat, basically fighting to hold into his sanity, becoming all-consumed by the rodent, willing to destroy the entirety of his home if necessary

The story is very straight forward, convincingly sold by Weller, with some stylish use of POV lensing, a sort of rat-vision as the rodent crawls through the walls, chews through wires, and seemingly spies on it's human host. There's some nice frights using puppets and a possum draped in a rat-costume, the rat popping out of a birthday cake in a dream and emerging from the toilet in reality, it's fun stuff and well-shot. Cosmatos and cinematographer Rene Verzier keep things visually interesting, even if some of the shots undermine the supposed size of unusually large rat. 

The film has a few detours that don't seem to go anywhere, there's a hint of marital issues which might be informing his mental breakdown, there's an office fling that doesn't really go anywhere, and even the huge project at work seems to dissipate with no real consequences to his career, but the basic story and Weller's performance, along with the visual style, kept this one interesting to me. If you come into this one expecting a straight out rat-horror film you will be disappointed, this is more of a psychological thriller with some rat menace, a few bloody moments, but nothing to gory, come into this with tempered expectations and I think you'll enjoy it more. 

Audio/Video: Of Unknown Origin (1983) arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, licensed from Warner Bros (!!!), in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. This is a new 2018 2K restoration done my Warner Bros. and sourced from an archival interpostive, and it looks very good, the grain is finely managed, details are strong, shadow detail is good, and the colors are natural looking. Audio comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA stereo 2.0, it's a solid track that's well-balanced and clean sounding, optional English subtitles are provided. 

We get some new extras, which is great. I have a feeling before Scream Factory inked a deal with them that WB would have released this at some point themselves through their Warner Archives distribution arm, but that would have been bare-bones aside from the already existing extras, as is their way. But through this new licensing deal with Scream Factory we get a Warner produced 2K scan and some new Scream Factory produced extras with Red Shirt Picture, so this is a win-win for us fans! 

Onto the new extras we het three interviews, the first with Producer Pierre David who speaks about picking up the novel "The Visitor', which the film is an adaptation of, while at the airport and wanting to produce it, bringing in Visiting Hours screenwriter Brian Taggert to adapt it, and filming it in a studio. Talking about the combination of effects used to realize the intrusive rat in the film, from real rats to puppets and a possum in a rat-suit.

Screenwriter Brian Taggert shows up for an interview speaking about adapting the novel, and how he became know as "the rat movie" guy after it, mentioning that the film is Stephen King'as favorite rat-film. He goes into Peter Welling suggesting some good script changes, basing Weller's character on his own fastidious father, and admiring Weller's performance in the film. 

Nut job/actor Louis Del Grande who plays a handyman in the movie, and who was the exploding head guy in Cronenberg's Scanners opens his interview with a #metoo joke about the rat in the film, he's strange charcter.  He speaks About his early career, appearing in Scanners and not getting paid properly for being used in the promos for the movie, and the time a drug dealer recognized him from the Cronenberg's film. There's not a lot of talk about Of Unknown Origin, but he's a weird guy and has some good stories to tell.  

We also get the vintage audio commentary with the late director George P. Cosmatos and actor Peter Weller, this is one of those commentaries with two guys who clearly aren't in the same room, recorded separately but the tracks are stitched together - it's a decent track, with Weller going into the motivation of his character while the director gives us a lot of insight into the production. The disc is buttoned up with also get a few theatrical trailers and a still gallery. 

The single-disc Blu-ray comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a 2-sided sleeve, the a-side is the familiar looking key art of the family photo that's been clawed, the b-side features an image from the film with some text in the lower left hand corner detailing the transfer information from Warner Bros., the disc itself has an excerpt from the same key art as the cover.

Special Features:
- NEW 2K scan from the interpositive
- NEW The Origins of Unknown Origin – an interview with executive producer Pierre David (14 min) HD
- NEW That Rat Movie - an interview with writer Brian Taggert (18 min) HD
- NEW Hey, Weren’t You in Scanners? – an interview with actor Louis Del Grande (14 min) HD
- Audio Commentary with director George P. Cosmatos and actor Peter Weller
- Theatrical Trailers (3 min) HD
- Still Gallery (3 min) HD 

Of Unknown Origin (1983) is a fun little rat-thriller, Weller does good work as a man driven over the edge by a rodent who has invaded his personal space and refuses to leave. At times it feels a bit stretched, and I could see this making an even better short film, but I still dig it quite a bit. Glad to see Scream Factory releasing another WB title following Larry Cohen's It's Alive Trilogy, I hope they're able to get in there and release more coveted genre titles, but for now this slice of Canadian rat-ploitation is a welcome addition to the collection.     

Intense Thriller "Of Unknown Origin" (1983) Makes Blu-ray Debut May 22nd From Scream Factory

OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN (1983)

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Duration: 89 Minutes
Rating: R
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: George P. Cosmatos
Cast: Peter Weller, Jennifer Dale, Lawrence Dane, Kenneth Welsh, Louis Del Grande, Shannon Tweed

Synopsis: When not mired in the corporate rat race, Wall Street executive Bart Hughes is king of his sleek Manhattan brownstone … until he finds his castle under siege by the most determined of home intruders. Forced to enter a rat race of an entirely different sort, Bart takes a stand, with his survival and sanity at stake. Making its Blu-ray debut May 22nd, 2018 from Scream Factory, Of Unknown Origin also includes a number of bonus features, including a new interview with executive producer Pierre David, a new interview with writer Brian Taggert, a new interview with actor Louis Del Grande and audio commentaries with director George P. Cosmatos and actor Peter Weller. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com

Peter Weller (Robocop, Sons of Anarchy) stars in Of Unknown Origin, an eerie and nerve-tingling suspense thriller directed by George P. Cosmatos (Tombstone, Cobra) and the winner of Paris International Film Festival Awards for Best Picture and Actor. Cleverly and compellingly, the film draws you into a battle of wits, namely one with an intruder that's formidable, persistent and clever enough to lure Bart (Weller) along on an unwitting path to self-destruction. In the battle of man versus beast, push has come to scream.

Special Features:
- NEW 2K scan from the interpositive
- NEW The Origins of Unknown Origin – an interview with executive producer Pierre David
- NEW That Rat Movie - an interview with writer Brian Taggert
- NEW Hey, Weren’t You in Scanners? – an interview with actor Louis Del Grande
- Audio Commentary with director George P. Cosmatos and actor Peter Weller
- Theatrical Trailers
- Still Gallery

DVD Review: SCANNERS (1980)

SCANNERS (1980) 

Label: Second Sight Films

Region Code: 2 PAL

Rating: 18 Certificate

Duration: 99 Minutes
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.85:1) 1080p
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0, 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Director: David Cronenberg

Cast: Lawrence Dane, Stephen Lack, Michael Ironsides, Patrick MaGoohan

Tagline: Their thoughts can kill!


Synopsis: Drifter Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack, Dead Ringers) is plagued by incessant voices in his head unaware that he is a Scanner, a group of people with extraordinary powers who can not only read minds but literally tear them apart. He is discovered by a scientist aiming to help his kind adapt to society. However an underground movement of Scanners led by the psychotic Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside, Visiting Hours)have other intentions and the ultimate confrontation of minds awaits.

Pretty sure Scanners (1980) was my introduction to the twisted world of Canada's finest purveyor of the perverse and grotesque, even before taking in David Cronenberg's drippy remake of The Fly (1986), it was this blood-splattered telekinetic nightmare that made my skin crawl, it was disturbing to me then and it gets under my skin even today. 

"Scanners" are a small percentage of the population that possess both telekinetic and telepathic powers. Not just the ability to read a persons mind but the ability to control them, some are so powerful they can stop a person's heart or much worse. A side effect of this ability is that most are unstable individuals and are not productive members of society, as one might imagine the novelty of hearing a person's most intimate secrets might lose it's luster when in public you are subjected to hundreds of thoughts at a time, unable to control the input. One such person is drifter Cameron Vale whom sends a woman who speaks poorly of him into violent convulsions, nearly killing her. His outburst is observed by members of a corporation called ConSec, run by Dr. Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan, The Prisoner), whom rounds up out of control telepaths in an effort create an army of weaponized scanners. He's pursued and darted with a tranquilizer and recruited into ConSec's scanner program where he is assigned to infiltrate the scanner underground and to destroy the telekinetic-terrorist Darryl Revok, played by cult-icon Michael Ironside, that's the film in a nutshell. 

An early iconic scene has ConSec performing a public demonstration of "scanning" when their lead scanner asks for a volunteer from the audience, unbeknownst to him the renegade Revok is in attendance and volunteers to be read. On stage in front of the crowd Revok exerts his considerable telekinetic ability upon the scanner causing his head to explode in what is still one of the greatest head explosions ever, it's superbly executed effect and quite grotesque. 

Brian De Palma's film The Fury (1978) mines similar ground but Cronenberg's film rises above De Palma's puzzling entry with some tense scanner battles, car chases and bloody gun play, there's no shortage of action and intrigue and layered on top of that are superb special effects work from the legendary Dick Smith (Star Wars, Exorcist) and make-up effects artists Stephen Dupuis (Robocop, JasonX), grotesque bulging veins spewing blood, exploding eyes, incineration and the aforementioned exploding head, if you love 'em bloody and practical the special effects here are above par and do not disappoint.

I have a few small qualms with the film, for one the story gets convoluted at times, a flaw which rears it's ugly head from time to time but not as much as one might expect given that the film began production without a finished script. Stephen Lack is just alright as the lead character, he's a bit aloof and not the most charismatic guy, it's not ruinous just a bit unfortunate. Michael Ironside is superb as the villainous Revok, on par with some of his best stuff, love that guy.  Lawrence Dane is appropriately menacing as the ConSec chief of security, though his death scene was less than extraordinary in a film laced with memorable deaths. At the start of the film we get a fantastic brain-bust and it climaxes with something equally grotesque, it's a finale that does not disappoint.   

DVD: Second Sight Films brings David Cronenberg's Scanners (1980) to the UK with a Region 2 locked edition that presents the film in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) with strong color saturation and decent black levels. I didn't have by Region 1 MGM edition handy for comparison's sake but was pleased with the image, sourced from a very fine print with minimal print damage, it's appropriately crisp given the age of the film, not much of anything to complain about here. Audio options include English language Dolby Digital 2.0 and a 5.1 Surround mix with optional English subtitles. Dialogue is crisp and effects and score are well balanced throughout. Due to this being an NTSC to PAL convert there is the 4.2% PAL speed-up which renders the pitch a bit higher and running time a bit shorter which converts a 104 minute film into a 99 minute film but it's honestly was not noticeable to me. That said, this makes for a good argument to adopt a region-free Blu-ray player as the 1080p format does not suffer the same speed-up issues and must look amazing. 

The audio and video presentation is quite nice but the reason I would recommend an upgrade to Second Sight's edition are the inclusion of new Severn Films produced extras, five interview with cast and crew from the film intercut with behind-the-scenes pics and clips from the film. First up is My Art Keeps Me Sane - Interview with Star Stephen Lack (22:48) an interview with star Stephen Lack speaking about his experiences on the film and his life as an artist both past and present. The Eye Of Scanners - Interview with Cinematographer Mark Irwin (14:34) features the cinematographer, whom also lensed Funeral Home (1981) and Wes Craven's Scream (1996), he covers a lot of ground beginning with starting the film without a script, Cronenberg really having to sculpt a performance out of the inexperienced Stephen Lack, and a fun anecdote about actress Jennifer O'Neill and her then husband and a trained attack dog, that was a fun one. The Chaos of Scanners - Interview with Executive Producer Pierre David (13:09 features the storied producer of the film covering some of the same ground, if perhaps from a different perspective, remembering O'Neil a bit more fondly than Irwin. He goes on to compare the disjointed making of Scanners and it's ensuing success in contrast to Videodrome's failure at the box office following it's smooth production. Pierre also goes onto discuss the sequels to some degree including a young and naive Cronenberg selling off the rights to the franchise,  Pierre would go on to direct one of the later entries to Cronenberg's dismay. Exploding Brains and Popping Veins - Interview with Makeup Effects Artist Stephan Dupuis (9:34) has the regular Cronenberg collaborator Dupuis talking about the film's fantastic effects work, working with Chris Walas and special effects legend Dick Smith. The last extra is Bad Guy Dane - Interview with Actor Lawrence Dane (5:18) as the aging star offers an appreciation of Cronenberg and co-stars Lack and MaGoohan among others. 

Notably missing are contributions from the director himself, an audio commentary, and any trailers for the film which is unfortunate, I recall seeing a TV spot for the film as a kid and it was startling stuff. It'd be a few years before I actually saw the film but that trailer stuck with me. So, there's a few things I would have have liked to been included but what we get is great stuff, a great edition from Second Sight Films! 

Special  Features:
· My Art Keeps Me Sane - Interview with Star Stephen Lack (22:48)
· The Eye Of Scanners - Interview with Cinematographer Mark Irwin (14:34)
· The Chaos of Scanners - Interview with Executive Producer Pierre David (13:09)
· Exploding Brains and Popping Veins - Interview with Makeup Effects Artist Stephan Dupuis (9:34)
· Bad Guy Dane - Interview with Actor Lawrence Dane (5:18) 

Verdict: A true Cronenberg cult-classic with great dark atmosphere and classic 80's splatter moments, an iconic slice of drive-in awesomeness that moved Cronenberg away from his more exploitative 70's output like Rabid (1977) and more in the direction of experimental arthouse horror. Scanners (1980) stands as a dark, moody telekinetic nightmare with some great effects work, the practical effects are amazing and worth the price of admission alone. Second Sight's edition sports some interesting extras and a great transfer, definitely worth the upgrade. 3.5 Outta 5 

http://www.secondsightfilms.co.uk/