FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (1973) (Warner Archive Blu-ray Review)

FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (1973)

Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: A
Rating: PG
Duration: 98 Minutes
Audio: English DTS HD-MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Kevin Connor
Cast: Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Ian Bannen, Diana Dors, David Warner, Angela Pleasence, Ian Carmichael, Margaret Leighton, Lesley-Anne Down

From Beyond the Grave (1974) was the last of the Amicus British horror anthologies, and also the last of them to finally find it's way to Blu-ray - thank you Warner Archive! - and it was worth the wait! The anthology offers four frightfully fun tales of the macabre with a wrap-around story starring horror legend Peter Cushing (Corruption) as the seemingly kingly, pipe-smoking proprietor of an dilapidated antiquities shoppe called Temptation Ltd., selling what turns out be cursed objects to the unsuspecting, but oftentimes quite deserving clientele.

The first story “The Gate Crasher,” follows Edward Charlton (David Warner, Time After Time) when he buys an antique mirror from Temptation Ltd, thinking that he's gotten quite a bargain after haggling with Cushing's devilish character. Bringing it home he hosts a party and he a roomful of friends hold a seance, unleashing a malevolent phantom living inside the mirror. The spirit (Marcel Steiner) begins to take a strange hold of Edward, demanding he make blood sacrifices to it, which will free him from the mirror, but also trap Edward inside it in his place. Edward is helpless to resist the phantom's influence, turning his apartment into a bloodbath in the process, with the ending showing a montage of the aftermath, and it's a good bit of frightful fun.

Next up is "An Act of Kindness" wherein middle-management trapped Christopher (Ian Bannen, Doomwatch) struggles at home with a nagging wife (Diana Dors, Theater of Blood) and child who don't think too much of him. To escape his troubles he begins hanging out with a military vet named Jim (DonaldPleasance, Raw Meat), a street-peddler who sells shoelaces and polish on the sidewalk. To impress his new found friend Christopher attempts to buy a Distinguished Service Order medal from the curio shop, but when he is unable to produce the proper paperwork that would allow him to buy it he resorts to stealing it. While having dinner with Jim he is introduced to his daughter Emily (Angela Pleasence, Symptoms), and is eventually seduced by her creepy charms, which leads to some spooky murderous black magic and a strange finale that's always left me scratching my head, but I still dig this one, I love seeing Donald Pleasance and his daughter, who looks very much like her father, acting alongside each other.

In 'The Elemental' stuffy Brit businessman Reggie Warren (Ian Carmichael) visits the curio shop and switches price tags on a vintage snuff box, hoping to get a god deal, but he gets more than he bargained for when he becomes the host of a supernatural parasite-entity, something called an "elemental", which seems a bit like a poltergeist to me. On the train home he is approached by eccentric psychic Madame Orloff (Margaret Leighton, The Sound and the Fury) who tells him she can see the invisible
malevolent imp on his shoulder, but he blows it off as craziness. However, once at home things begin to get strange when the elemental begins abusing his poor wife (Nyree Dawn Porter, The House That Dripped Blood), who thinks her husband is the culprit. At his wits end Reggie calls upon Madame Orloff who performs a cleansing ritual, seemingly ridding him of the elemental, but it's a horror anthology, so of course something goes sideways! This one is fun stuff, and is really the only one the tales here to even be slightly humorous.

The fourth and final of the tales proper is "The Door" starring Ian Ogilvy (Witchfinder General) as writer William who haggles down the price of an ancient and intricately ornate wood-carved door from Temptation Ltd., and of course we know know that no matter how good the bargain might seem you always get some sort of supernatural novelty free with every purchase! William has the ornate door installing at his flat, not to a room but for a stationary supply closet. We come to discover that the door becomes a secret passageway to a hidden blue-tinged room where lives a 17th century vampiric sorcerer who attempts to collect the souls of William and his wife (Lesley-Anne Down, Nomads), and in a nice touch since William paid for the door and there were no shenanigans involved, the outcome is actually not-too-bad for him.

The film finishes up with a tasty bit of gruesomeness with a thief who we've seen hanging around the curio shop in all the vignettes finally makes his way inside and attempts to rob the Proprietor, ending with the would-be thief falling into an iron maiden with Cushing's cursed curio-slinger saying "Nasty" before inviting viewers to make a purchase.

Directed by first-timer Kevin Connor (Motel Hell) with attractive lensing by Alan Hume (Hammer's Kiss of the Vampire, The Return of the Jedi), the film has the proper polish and style of earlier Amicus anthologies, plus we get a wonderful wrap-around starring a pipe-smoking Peter Cushing, and a handful of macabre tales that hold up nicely, if you're a fan of horror anthologies this is a top-notch watch, highly recommended.

Audio/Video: From Beyond the Grave (1973) arrives on Blu-ray from Warner Archive with a brand new 2019 HD scan framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. There's a nice velvety grain structure throughout, clarity and depth are excellent and the colors are reproduced accurately with wonderful saturation, some eerie greens and blue hues seen throughout are particularly striking. Black levels hold-up consistently and there's a pleasing amount of fine detail throughout the presentation. a close-up of David Warner revealing all sorts of crags in his visage. The English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono audio is solid, dialogue is cleanly reproduced without any distortion, and the Douglas Gamley (And Now The Screaming Starts) score and special effect cues are nicely balanced, optional English subtitles are provided.  

The only extra on the disc is a theatrical trailer for the film. The single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original movie poster illustration, with the disc featuring an excerpt of the same artwork.

Special Features:

- Theatrical Trailer (3 min) 

As a fan of horror anthologies I am tickled blue-in-the-face that all of the Amicus produced anthology films are now available on Blu-ray. If you don't own them already I am here to tell you that you definitely need them in your life, so grab yourself Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) from Olive Films, Torture Garden (1967) on a triple-feature Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment (or on stand alone Blu-ray from Indicator in the UK), The House That Dripped Blood (1970) from Scream Factory, Asylum (1972) from Severin Films, and Tales from the Crypt (1972) and The Vault of Horror (1973) on a double-feature Blu-ray from Scream Factory. All these films are fantastic and spooky fun, and now we have the final Amicus anthology From Beyond the Grave (1973) wonderfully restored and looking better than ever from Warner Archive! 

CANNON CLASSICS DOUBLE FEATURE: DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN (1987) & DEATH WISH 5: THE FACE OF DEATH (1994) (Umbrella Blu-ray Review)

CANNON CLASSICS DOUBLE FEATURE:

 DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN (1987)/ 
DEATH WISH 5: THE FACE OF DEATH (1994)  

Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 100 Minutes/95 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono, English DTS-HD MA Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Director: J. Lee Thompson / Allan A. Goldstein
Cast: Charles Bronson, Dana Barton, Kay Lenz, John P. Ryan, Lesley-Anne Down, Michael Parks, Chuck Shamata, Saul Rubinek 

DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN (1987)(100 min) 
Now living in Los Angeles after the New York set third film, the infamous vigilante Paul Kersey (Bronson, Hard Times) is once again working as an architect, having settled down with a newfound love interest, TV report Kay Sheldon (Kay Lenz, House), but when her teenage daughter Erica (Dana Barron, the original Audrey from National Lampoon's Vacation!) suddenly dies of a crack overdose Paul returns to his perennial vigilante lifestyle, seeking out the dealer who dealt her the toxic drugs, and then aligning himself with mysterious newspaper magnate Nathan White (John P. Ryan, It's Alive) in an effort to turn rival drug pushers against each other to rid the city of crack cocaine.

Now in his late-sixties Bronson was pretty tired looking at this point, but he returned for this J. Lee Thompson (Happy Birthday To Me) directed sequel, cashing a probably large-sized payout for the role and offering his usual tough-guy persona. The action in this one is a bit on the anemic side when compared to previous entries but it still manages to turn a smile with Bronson's character  dispatches bad guys in a series of fun and somewhat corny ways. The film opens with a strange parking garage sequence wherein a woman is being stalked by three stocking-masked thugs who look to be about to rape her when they're interrupted by Bronson, who dispatches of them in the usual point a gun in their direction and pull the trigger sort of way. Without Michael Winner directing this sequel gone is the formerly prerequisite misogynist rape scene the series is known for, making this a bit less seedier than previous entries, but what it lacks in sex-crimes it makes up for in ridiculous action set-pieces. One of my favorite scenes has Bronson going undercover as a wine rep, infiltrating a mobbed-up diner and offering a table of gangsters (including an early appearance from Danny Trejo, Machete) a bottle of explosive wine, the superimposed fiery explosion is so damn cheap looking, but the split-second we see of a mannequin used in the explosion alone is worth the price of admission for me, this is the sort of bad movie stuff that makes bad movies fun.  

The film is a definite drop down in quality for the series, though it is a better looking production than the third entry thanks to the capable direction of J. Lee Thompson (Cape Fear), and I love John P. Ryan here in a sinister dual-role, he goes right off the rails towards the end, chewing up scenery in a roller rink with an explosive finale, also featuring another cheap-ass mannequin that goes up in flames. Death Wish 4 is pretty cheesy stuff but this is still tasty cheese, the mold hasn't fully engulfed the 80's action flick and Bronson still caries himself well-enough to make this an entertaining Death Wish film.  

DEATH WISH 5: THE FACE OF DEATH (1994)(95 min)
Having had his revenge against the drug dealers who killed his girlfriend's daughter in L.A. in the last film we catch up to Paul Kersey (Bronson) a few years later, returning to where it all began, New York City. Now in his seventies the vigilante is inexplicably living in the witness protection program and is a professor of architecture at a local university. Again we have a doomed love interest by way of the much younger fashion designer Olivia (Lesley-Anne Down, From Beyond the Grave), and her young daughter Chelsea (Erica Lancaster). Unfortunately for everyone Olivia's ex is vicious gangster Tommy O’Shea (Michael Parks, Tusk) who is using her fashion house to launder dirty money, when she tries to break free of his tyrannical influence the Irish thug sends cross-dressing hit-man Freddie "Flakes" Garrity (Robert Joy, Land of the Dead) to disfigure her as a warning, later going so far as to kill her, continuing a streak of doomed women that Kersey has left in his wake going all the way back to the original film.  

When the mobster gains custody of his estranged daughter following the death of his ex Kersey begins to hunt down O'Shea and his henchmen, with the violence in this one getting even sillier and more cartoonish than the last with Kersey taking out the mobster and his henchmen via a cornucopia of oddball ways, including a cyanide-laced cannoli, an R/C controlled soccer-ball bomb and an ill-advisedly placed vat of acid!

Death Wish 5: The Face of Death (1994) is more of the same for the franchise, but even cheaper than the last. Bronson is considerably older than even the last film, so don't expect a lot from him, thankfully we again have a notable villain by way of Michael Parks (From Dusk Till Dawn), he's venomous fun as the over-the-top Irish mobster, and while he doesn't completely redeem this mostly flat action-less film I think if you made it through the first four films I don't expect you'll walk away from this one too disappointed. 

Audio/Video: Death Wish 4 and 5 arrives on single-disc Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment in 1080p HD, framed in 1.85:1 widescreen and sourced from a good looking element, whatever that may be. Grain is decently managed, with darker scenes showing more visible grain. There doesn't look to be any egregious DNR applied to it, looking very filmic and natural. Colors are also good, skin tones look natural and the black levels are adequate, I wouldn't say inky through and through, but looking alright overall. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA Mono on the first film and stereo for the second with optional English subtitles, no issues with hiss or distortion, well-balanced with score and dialogue coming through without issue. 

Extras are not quite as plentiful as the Umbrella release for Death wish II (1982)/Death Wish III (1985) but are decent, we get two audio commentaries from Film Historian and Bronson expert Paul Talbot - this guy knows his stuff and goes in-depth with a wealth of trivia, anecdotes, and behind the scenes info about each film, getting into the nitty gritty, even minutia like how Bronson played cards with the women in the film but no men were allowed to join in, he even details the various weapons used in the film, including which other film they were used in during that time period. The rest of the extras are relegated to trailers, tv spots, promos and an image gallery with posters, lobby cards, press releases, and various home video releases. 

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentaries  for both film by Film Historian Paul Talbot, Author of Bronson's Loose!
- Death Wish 4 Theatrical Trailer (2 min) 
- Death Wish 5 Theatrical Trailer (2 min) 
- Death wish 4 TV Spot (30 sec) 
- Death wish 4 Broadcast Promo Spot (30 sec) 
- Death Wish 4 VHS Preview (20 sec) 
- Death Wish 5 VHS Preview (1 min) 
- Image Gallery (63 Images) 

Death Wish 4 and 5 are both cheesy fun if you're in the right frame of mind, Bronson is not in top-form here but if you're a fan of the series (or of Bronson) it's a fun re-visit on Blu-ray. Notably this double-feature marks the HD debut of the fifth film, and Umbrella's Blu-ray looks and sounds very good with two great audio commentaries from a serious Bronson fanatic, both of which I would argue are nearly as entertaining as the films themselves.  

NOMADS (1986)

NOMADS (1986) 

Label: Scream Factory
Release Date: August 18th 2015
Region Code: A
Duration: 93 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono with Optional english Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: John McTiernan 
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Josie Cotton, Adam Ant, Anna Maria Monticelli, Lesley-Anne Down, Mary Woronov
Tagline: There are angels who patrol Los Angeles. And then there are the Nomads.

Synopsis: They creep. They kill... and no one knows who they are or where they came from. But when these rootless, demonic spirits descend on a determined doctor, all hell breaks loose. Bitten by a dying madman named Jean Pommier (Brosnan), Dr. Eileen Flax (Down) becomes the vessel for his turbulent and insane thoughts. Thrust into his last days, she is shocked to discover the existence of mysterious and murderous demons on a quest for destruction... and begins her own quest to somehow stop them before she joins Pommier in his horrifying fate!

This is director John McTiernan's first film, starring future-Bond persona Pierce Brosnan as French sociologist Jean-Charles Pommier who at the start of the film dies shortly after being  admitted to an L.A. hospital,  but not before whispering something into the ear of Dr. Eileen Flax (Lesley-Anne Down), whatever it is he whispered in her ear left her not only bleeding but sends her spiraling down a fevered path of nightmarish visions as she relives the Frenchman's last week leading up to his death. 

The structure of this one is a bit odd, we have the doc trying to live her life as she is haunted by the French sociologists tormented final days,  as he begins to research a group of nomadic street punks who prowl Los Angeles. Unfortunately Brosnan is playing a Frenchie and his accent is a bit of a laugh, but once you get beyond that this is a pretty compelling watch, though that accent is a hurdle to overcome.

Among the nomadic street punks we find new wave rocker Adam Ant and b-movie legend Mary Woronov, and Woronov is very creepy, clad in tight-fitting leather and rocking that maniacal Cheshire grin she's known for she makes for a seductive but nightmarish figure, I was both turned on and turned off at the same time. 

As the movie plays out we follow the path of the Frenchie whom has become obsessed with the street punks, he begins to follow them around and photographically document their destructive ways. It is explained to a degree that the punkers are demonic spirits whom are attracted to death, and while its not exactly laid out in black and white, we discover that the Frenchie and his wife have recently moved into a home where a violent murder had taken place, and the demonic nomads are drawn to it and once the Frenchie begins to take notice of them his fate is sealed. 

McTiernan does a pretty superb job weaving the two story lines together in a way that sort of makes sense without actually going to the trouble of explaining what's happening and it totally worked for me. 

The visuals are haunting and creepy, with the doc threatening to lose her own sanity as she is haunted by the visions of the Frenchies final days, it may not be a classic of supernatural cinema but it's an and eerie and atmospheric relic from the 80s  

Auio/Video: The Blu-ray from Scream Factory looks good, but not great, the print used shows some dirt and debris so there doesn't appear to have been an restoration or clean-up applied  to it. The image is a bit on the softer side and fine detail and clarity are not up to par with contemporary 1080p presentations. With that said this is certainly watchable with a nice layer of film grain and the skin tones look natural. The English language DTS-HD MA Mono audio is solid and nicely balanced, not a stunner but the dialogue and effects are nicely balanced, and the Bill Conti collaboration with 80s guitar rocker ted Nugent is fun, if somewhat dated. 

Special features include brand new interviews with Actress Lesley-Ann Down and Composer Bill Conti totalling about 33 minutes with Down going into what it was like to make the movie and composer Conti speaking about McTiernan as a director and collaborating on the score with the pistol-packing Ted Nugent. There's also a radio spot, trailer and a still gallery featuring stills, posters and promotional materials. Not too shabby a collection of bonus content for a somewhat obscure movie, glad to see this one come to Blu-ray. 

Special  Features: 
- New Interviews With Actress Lesley-Ann Down (16 Mins) HD 
- New Interviews With Composer Bill Conti (17 Mins) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 Mins) HD 
- Radio Spot (1 Mins) HD
- Still Gallery (3 Mins) HD

Nomads (1986) is a strange and atmospheric trip of a movie, a bit of a head-scratcher at times but expertly crafted by McTiernan who would go onto helm Predator and Die Hard directly afterward, but nothing as strange and eerie as this one right here. 3/5 

 

Blu-ray Review: COUNTESS DRACULA (1971)

COUNTESS DRACULA (1971) 

Blu-ray+DVD Combo Pack

Label: Synapse Films

Region Code: A/1

Rating: PG

Duration: 93 Minutes
Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles 

Director: Peter Sasdy
Cast: Ingrid Pitt, Nigel Green, Sandor Eles, Maurice Denhem, Lesley-Anne Down, Patience Collier

COUNTESS DRACULA (1971) stars the voluptuous Ingrid Pitt (THE VAMPIRE LOVERS) as 17th century Hungarian Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy, based on the true story of Elizabeth Báthory. The Countess is a cruel and withered old woman who has just recently been widowed. While punishing her chambermaid for drawing too hot of a bath she discovers that the blood of the virgin girl temporarily rejuvenates her to her former gorgeous self - and Ingrid Pitt is most definitely a gorgeous woman - when she's not layered in warty old age make-up that is.

To continue to enjoy the age-defying benefits of virgin's blood the Countess conspires with her former lover Captain Dobi (Nigel Green, ZULU) and her nanny (Patience Collier) to procure young virgins. To conceal the truth of her youthful appearance she assumes the identity of her own daughter to carry on a love affair with the younger Lt. Imre Toth (Sandor Elès).

Only Grand Master Fabio (Maurice Denham) the resident scholar seems to take notice of the fact that the Countess and her daughter of never in the same place at the same time, it's only when the demand for more virgin blood gets a bit out of control that it draws the attention the local authorities and things start to crumble for the Countess and her conspirators with jealousy and torn loyalties.

We have many of the Hammer Horror tropes are on display here with the Gothic Pinewood Studios back lot locations and the plunging necklines and heaving bosoms you'd come to expect. The story itself is a bit on the slow side and the deliberate pace doesn't necessarily build up to the most exciting of finales but it does have a certain charm... Ingrid Pitt in all her voluptuous beauty in 1080p. Based on the legend of the blood thirsty Elizabeth Bathory we don't see any fang-baring here but we do get a fair amount of bosom-baring so sit back and enjoy this vintage slice of Hammer Horror on Blu-ray.

Blu-ray: This is the last of the announced Hammer horrors from Synapse Films and it's a winner - way to cap of the series. The remastered image looks quite nice with a fair amount of crispness and fine detail. Colors are robust and skin tones are natural in appearance. It's a bit on the grainy side but I do love a pure grain-present presentation over a smeared plasticine scrubbed image. Audio wise we get a very pure DTS-HD Master Audio comes through strong and the score from composer Harry Robertson (TWINS OF EVIL) sounds quite nice even if it's not the most memorable score.

Special features are a bit on the light side compared to the other Hammer entries from Synapse. We begin with an audio commentary with actress Ingrid Pitt, director Peter Sasdy, screenwriter Jeremy Paul and author Jonathan Sothcott. It's a bit dry and appears to have been recorded separately and stitched together so it feels somewhat disjointed. Director Peter Sasdy gets the bulk of the spotlight here with the others chiming in from time to time, there's not a lot of Ingrid Pitt throughout but her moments peppered throughout are quite nice. 

There's also a 11-minute featurette Immortal Countess: The Cinematic Life of Ingrid Pitt with a brief overview of her early life and film career and legacy. We also get a vintage audio interview with Pitt, a theatrical trailer and a more risque reversible sleeve of artwork. It's a bit saddening that this is the last of the Hammer titles from Synapse, let's hope they announce a few more in the near future because they've done a fantastic job.

Special Features:
- Audio commentary with actress Ingrid Pitt, director Peter Sasdy, screenwriter Jeremy Paul and author Jonathan Sothcott
- Immortal Countess: The Cinematic Life of Ingrid Pitt – Featurette (10:47)
- Archival Audio Interview with Ingrid Pitt (8:30)
- Still Gallery (7:10)
- Theatrical Trailer (3:06)
- Reversible Sleeve of Artwork

Verdict: This recent spate of Hammer Horror on Blu-ray has me excited and while COUNTESS DRACULA (1971) may be my least favored of the Synapse Hammer Blu-rays it is a top-notch transfer with some very decent extras and is a pleasing watch thanks in no small part to the unearthly charm of the voluptuous Ingrid Pitt. Not as visceral as Peter Sasdy's other film from the same year HANDS OF THE RIPPER (1971) or as delightfully weird as VAMPIRE CIRCUS (1972) but this one deserves a space on your Hammer Horror shelf.  (3 Outta 5) 

DVD Review: IN THE DEVIL'S GARDEN (1971)

IN THE DEVIL'S GARDEN (1971)

aka: Assault; The Creepers; Satan's Playthings; or Tower of Terror  

Label: VCI Entertainment 

Region Code: 1 NTSC

Dration: 91 Minutes

Rating: R

Video: 16x9 Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 and Enhanced 5.1 Surround 

Cast: Suzy Kendall, Frank Finlay, Freddie Jones, James Laurenson, Lesley-Anne Down, James Cosmo

Director: Sidney Hayers

Tagline: Don't Go Down in the Woods today...

Synopsis: In this slickly made thriller, a 16-year-old girl is brutally assaulted and raped in the woods near her London school. Struck dumb by her experience, she remains so until a second girl is murdered. The school art teacher (Suzy Kendall) claims to have seen the killer -- who looks like Satan himself -- and she decides to set him a trap with herself as bait. A British flavored giallo, and a ripping good whodunit!

The Film: In the Devil's Playground (1971) begins at the end of a school day as the kids are dismissed for the day, a young teen in a white blouse and pink skirt with knee high stockings cuts through the forest nearby. Listening to her transistor radio she walks carefree along earthen path. What she does not realize is that she's being observed from off the path by someone stalking her every move.When the attacker makes himself known she flees in terror and we get a pretty decent chase scene. Near an electrical tower she is caught, partially stripped and raped - she's left in a semi-catatonic state unable to identify the perp who's face is never revealed. The attack is violent but the film does not hang over it, the film instead chooses a close-up of the young woman's muffled suffering. This is perhaps the first clue that what we're in for here is more aligned with a police procedural whodunit than a stylish and violent Giallo along the lines of Dario Argento's Deep Red (1975) or Lucio Fulci's Don't Torture a Duckling (1972), the sexualized violence is tame and the cinematography is very workmanlike, not dissimilar to a made-for-TV production. Likewise the score is obnoxiously 70's television oriented and took me right out of the moment, really ghastly stuff.

After the attack the young ladies of the academy are warned not to walk alone for fear of another attack but a girl named Susan unwisely cuts through the forest and pays for her ignorance when she is attacked and raped. When the school's art teacher Julia West (Suzi Kendall, Torso) realizes that young Susan is not among the group of girls she's driving home she is told that she went through the wood. Alarmed by the thought of harm coming to the girl she drives hurriedly down the forest path hoping to catch up with her but loses control of the car on a muddy stretch and spins out of control stopping askew in the road. Steadying herself and about to drive off she catches a glimpse of someone in the brake lights through the rear window illuminated by the red glow of her tail lights, someone whom looks strikingly like Old Scratch himself, Satan, it's a great effect and nicely framed. The figure quickly disappears from sight and she realizes that he was huddled over the body of young Susan who's been strangled to death.

As the typically incompetent authorities investigate they find it hard to swallow that Satan is the culprit and instead focus on more Earthbound suspects including an obnoxious crime scene reporter (Freddie Jones, Dune), Greg Lomax (James Laurenson, The Monster Club) a psychologist and the pervy husband of the school's strict head mistress - yup, there's a full arsenal of red herrings but it's not hard to figure out who the culprit is.

The Giallo elements are pretty weak, we get a unseen killer stalking young women adorned in the traditional black-leather gloves but none of the sexy style we get from an Argento, Fulci or Martino. When the killer's identity is revealed it's not a surprise, his identity having long been broadcast several times over thus the mystery of the whodunit is altogether lost. Slightly redeeming this entry is a snappy finale that starts with the use of an experimental drug called "Pentothal" meant to bring the first catatonic victim out of her dumb struck state, it's very solid and goes a long way toward redeeming the film with a "shocking" reveal followed by a close quarter struggle culminating at the scene of the original attack and ending with someone set afire in a crackle of high voltage electricity - it's fun stuff but not enough to fully redeem a film that starts in really fine fashion but labors to keep one's attention and in the end, despite a punchy finale, is an exercise in whodunit mediocrity.

The acting is pretty solid throughout, particularly Suzy Kendal who herself is no stranger to the Giallo having appeared in both Sergio Martino's Torso (1973) and Dario Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) among many others. There's not a rotter in the bunch, but it's just dull in a dry, very stuffy British sorta way which might have had a lot to do with my lack of interest in the film. What I loved was pretty much anything shot in the forest which was well-shot, great atmosphere and creepy - particularly the numerous woodland chase scene with plenty of creepy POV shots.

DVD: VCI Entertainment presents In the Devil's Garden on DVD for the first time in the US with an anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) transfer. It's sourced from a clean print but I wanna say this is a PAL to NTSC conversion with some of the tell-tale video jitters, the image is soft, murky and colors are muted. We get two audio options, a English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix and enhanced 5.1 Surround Sound. The audio is a bit boxy with no depth to it and that awful score isn't helped by the poor fidelity either. The menu is a simple static menu and there are no bonus features on the disc.

Verdict: In the Devils Garden has some of the elements of a black-gloved Giallo but at it's heart is more of a straight whodunit and lacks the sleaze and style of an Argento, Martino or Fulci. As a thriller it's mildly successful but as a Giallo this is disappointing, maybe I am just a perv but I wanted a bit more sleaze with my blacked-gloved shenanigans, it almost went there but pulled back against it's darker nature much to my dismay. 2.5 Outta 5