THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT (2018) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT (2018) 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: R/Unrated
Duration: 151 & 153 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo & 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Director: Lars Von Trier
Cast: Bruno Ganz, Matt Dillon, Uma Thurman, Riley Keough, Siobhan Fallon Hogan

Synopsis: In five audacious episodes, failed architect and arch-sociopath Jack (Matt Dillon) recounts the elaborately orchestrated murders — each, as he views them, as a towering work of art — that define his “career” as a serial killer. Mixing pitch-black humor, transcendent surrealism, and renegade musings on everything from history to architecture to cinema itself, von Trier fashions a radical, blazingly personal inquiry into violence, art, and the twin acts of creation and destruction. 

Director Lars Von Trier is no stranger to being a button-pusher, each of his films court controversy as reliably as most people breath air. His latest knee-jerker The Jack That House Built (2018) stars Matt Dillon (Drugstore Cowboy) as an OCD-afflicted serial killer named Jack, a demented murderer who fancies himself something of an artist. As the film plays along we experience Jack recalling several formative incidents in his life that establish him as a deranged serial killer,told in retrospect to a presence known as Verge (Bruno Ganz, The Boys From Brazil), whose role becomes more clear as the film plays along. Jack's story begin in the 70's with him picking up a stranded motorist (Uma Thurman, Kill Bill) who strangely berates his masculinity. He seems to struggle with what to do with her for a bit, before smashing her face in with a carjack. Afterward he takes her body to an warehouse district where he keeps an industrial sized walk-in freezer that he keeps his victims in.

The next story involves a widow (Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Funny Games) with Jack arriving on her doorstep posing as a cop at first, when he realizes she's not buying it he turns on a dime, changing his story to that of someone who can increase the payout of her deceased husband's pension. This is where I caught on this thing is a deeply black comedy, the first kill hinted at it, but the way he goes about making up the story trying to get invited into this woman's home was so absolutely ridiculous, and even sillier that she went along with it.

This is also the segment where we see his OCD kicks in, and I loved the way they visualize it, and how his compulsion slows him down, and in fact delays him to the point that a cop in the area on an unrelated calls end up questioning him, leading to a rather funny scene of him fleeing the victim's house with her corpse tied to the back of his van, leaving a miles long trail of blood behind him as the asphalt eats away at the body's face! This segment also sets up a weird sort of divination angle by way of a rainfall that washes away the evidence in a downpour. 

I won't go into all the stories, but I will go into in one more, with Jack taking a woman and her two young boys on a picnic into a remote area of forest. There he teaches them how to shoot a scoped rife, before shooting both of her children and then forcing her to feed one of their corpses pie, before going after her with the not-unexpected results. In the aftermath Jack takes the corpse of the older boy to his industrial freezer and contorts it's faces into a macabre smile that is supremely disturbing.

The film seems offers some sort of commentary on Von Trier's own controversial career with a mixed media presentation that uses both  animation and stock footage, in addition to clips from several of his own films. Throughout the film Jack and Verge discuss his deranged philosophy and macabre art, with Jack making the case for his kills to be works of art in themselves, with continued talk about his desire to build a house, but not finding the right raw materials, which is realized in the final leg of the film in a bizarre and grotesque way.

Eventually Jack's murder-spree becomes more brazen and unplanned, and the cops end up storming his industrial freezer, which this strange movie gets even stranger, with Jack visiting Hell with Verge leading the way! Matt Dillon is absolutely phenomenal in this film, it's is a strange and grotesque film, the way he plays the delightfully demented killer is fantastic. I applaud him for being game for all of this, at times coming across as a more violent - but not that much more unhinged - variation on his nutso Pat Healy character from the comedy There's Something About Mary.

While I didn't find the film scary it rather enthralling in it's repulsiveness, at one point Jack draws perforated lines with a red sharpie around the breasts of a young woman before hacking them off, leaving a fleshy chunk of breast on the windshield of a cop car. It's nasty stuff, but there's an element of dark humor throughout that while not exactly softening the blow, renders it a bit less shocking to me, but still entertaining and disturbing. I also dig how they go back to his childhood and show the early on-set violence he commits against small animals that hint at the larger more horrific things to come - in this case the torture and mutilation of a duckling, which for many viewers might be the most reprehensible image in the entire film. 

Audio/Video: Both the R-rated and unrated version of The House That Jack Built (2018) arrive on Blu-ray from Scream Factory framed in 2.35:1 widescreen in 1080p HD. The digitally shot films looks excellent, everything crisp and well-defined with good clarity, colors looks natural and the blacks are deep throughout. The disc's English DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1 audio options are both solid, dialogue and sounds effects are crisp and clean sounding, the score and soundtrack selections sound great, and the Bruno Ganz character's voice over narration has a wonderful disembodied quality, particularly in the surround mix. 

Extras on the disc include a 27- min interview with the director by Peter Schepelerz, a 1-min film announcement, a 1-min introduction by the director, a 1-min teaser trailer, a 1-min theatrical trailer, a 7-mins of Shout! Factory trailers, plus both the R-rated and director's cut of the film presented on separate discs.  

The 2-disc release arrives in an standard 2-spindle Blu-ray keepcase with artwork featuring the original movie poster, the reverse side featuring a scene from the film displayed landscape-style across the panels, with each disc featuring separate artwork.

Special Features:
- Includes both the theatrical cut (151 in) and director's cut(153 min)
- Sonning Prize: An interview with director Lars Von Trier (27 min) 
- Lars Von Trier Greeting (1 min)
- Teaser Trailer (1 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (1 min) 

- Trailers: Radioflash, Greener Grass, The Nightingale (7 min)

I loved The House That Jack Built (2018), it's a button-pusher that pushed all the right buttons, blending the macabre and grotesque with some interesting psychological underpinnings. There's a delightfully demented vein of humor throughout, and on top of all that is a rather brilliant performance from Matt Dillon, and a hilarious final song selection that is the cherry on top of this pitch-black serial killer thriller, stoked this has finally gotten a U.S. release, and with a few more extras, audio and viewing options than the barebones Australian release.  

DVD REVIEW: Rare Cult Cinema - 12 Movie Collection DVD

RARE CULT CINEMA

12 MOVIE COLLECTION (3-Disc Set)

STUDIO: Mill Creek Entertainment
YEAR: 1962-1994
REGION: 0
RATED: Various Ratings
GENRE: Drama, Comedy, Western
RUNNING TIME: 18 Hours 42 Min. .


I love me some Mill Creek Entertainment box sets and they're back with the the 3-disc RARE CULT CINEMA set - a eclectic 12-movie collection of lost but not forgotten films from the legendary drive-in fare distributor Crown International Pictures archives. How does it fare? Well let's have a gander and this decidedly non-horror collection of films, shall we?

AFRICAN SAFARI (1968)
Documentary/G/98 Min
Director: Ronald E. Shanin
Narrator: Michael Rye
AFRICAN SAFARI (1968) is an account of a safari through the African continent by noted wildlife photographer Ronald Shanin. As a kid Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom was one of my favorite shows and this took me right back to those nostalgic days of wonder and curiosity of the natural world. Shanin takes us from the scorching deserts to the savannas of Africa  right up to the satisfying finale of Mt. Kilimanjaro erupting. Shanin is quite the independent filmmaker here  as he wrote, directed, produced, shot and edited this adventurous documentary on his own.  The film also features thoughtful and captivating  narration by voice actor Michael Rye who also provided his vocal talents to many Marvel, DC and Scooby-Doo animated television programs. The film is presented fullscreen and looks a bit worse for the wear but nonetheless a high recommend to fans of nature docs.
***1/2 (3.5 out of 5 stars)

ALMOST HOLLYWOOD (1994)
Thriller/R/96 Min.
Director: Michael Weaver
Cast: Nancy Alexander, Alicia Allain-Ryder, India Allen
ALMOST HOLLYWOOD is a pretty funny and biting indictment of low-budget erotic thriller film making in Hollywood. A sleazy Hollywood produced is at odds with pretty much everyone on the set of his latest soft core thriller including the films financiers who replace the films director in hope of classing up their movies. After the new director is murdered our sleazy producer is the lead suspect. Lots of double-dealing and back-stabbing ensue. The film features Playboy centerfold India Allen who really can’t act for shot, but she sure is attractive. It shares a kindred spirit in SWIMMING WITH SHARKS (1994) another satirical look at the film industry and its movers and shakers. The film is presented in fullscreen and looks quite good. ** (2 out of 5 stars)


DEATHROW GAMESHOW (1987)
Tagline: In the year 1991, contestants don't play for prizes...they play for their lives!
Comedy/R/94 Min.

Director: Mark Pirro
Cast: John McCafferty, Robyn Blythe, Beano
In this undeservedly obscure 80’s dark comedy Chuck Toedan (John McCafferty) is the effervescent host of a RUNNING MAN (1987) type game show called Live Or Die. It featuring death row convicts competing in life-or-death contests in hopes of cheating the executioner or perhaps winning some cash and prizes for their next of kin. McCafferty is great in the role; he’s smarmy and sleazy but oddly likable. There are a series of scenes not dissimilar of what we saw with Nicolas Cage’s character in the THE WEATHER MAN (2005) as people attack him on the street, he's rather disliked by the public despite the fact they're hooked on watching a show they deem despicable. After executing a mob boss Toedan is stalked by Luigi Pappalardo (Beano) - a hitman hired by the Mafia. Pappalardo shows up at Chuck's office. Through a series of miscommunication Pappalardo’s mother ends up on Live Or Die and 80’s hilarity ensues. I’d rank this right up there with any of Paul Bartel’s 80’s comedies. Pure 80’s Cheese. Deathrown Gameshow is presented in it's original 16x9 enhanced 1.85:1 aspect ratio and looks very good. *** (3 out of 5 stars)

INDIAN PAINT (1965)

Western/G/91 Min.

Director: Norman Foster

Cast: Johnny Crawford, Jay Silverheels, Pat Hogan

As a kid I was not into Western films and television programs, it just didn’t interest me much at all. That was until my introduction to Sergio Leone's spaghetti western classic THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966). Then even still I’ve been slow to open myself up to the films of John Ford but occasionally I’ll squeeze in a western from Sam Peckinpah or Clint Eastwood. I’m definitely a novice to the genre save for my love of Peckinpah and Leone. INDIAN PAINT is the melodramatic tale of Nishko (Johnny Crawford, TV's THE RIFLEMAN) who is the son of Chief Hevatanu (Jay Silverheels, Tonto from the LONE RANGER series) in the Great Plains of North America prior to the arrival of the Europeans. Nishko is determined to tame a wild spirited painted pony and along the way must deal with an attack from a neighboring tribe and his mother’s illness. Definitely a fun coming of age film though probably a bit condescending towards Native Americans as so many film were of the time. A good looking film and it's presented here in a 16x9 enhanced 1.85:1 aspect ratio. **1/2 (2.5 out of 5 stars)

THE KIDNAPPING OF THE OF THE PRESIDENT (1980)
Tagline: Unthinkable. Improbable. Incredible… but it could happen tomorrow!
Thriller/R/114 Min.
Director: George Mendeluk
Cast: William Shatner, Hal Holbrook, Van Johnson
A South American revolutionary terrorist named Roberto Assanti (Miguel Fernandes) manages to kidnap the U.S. President (Hal Holbrook) during a diplomatic visit to our Canadian neighbors in Toronto. With an armored truck, elaborately rigged with high explosives (and the President trapped inside) the two terrorists keep the Secret Service at bay. I am a sucker for any film featuring Hal Holbrook, I love this guy. He’s appeared in a few of my favorite films including John Carpenter’s THE FOG (1980) and George A. Romero’s CREEPSHOW (1982) and a lot of hits n’ misses in-between ranging slasher genre fare like GIRLS NITE OUT (1984) to surprisingly good survival horror fare like RITUALS (1977) and all point in-between. This time out Holbrook is the Commander-in-Chief Adam Scott and William Shatner stars as the hard-nosed Secret Service agent Jerry O’Connor who heads up the effort to rescue the pres from the bomb-laden armored truck. Good performances from Holbrook, Shatner and Fernandes, overall an intriguing political thriller that while not knocking it outta the park definitely proved entertaining. On the downside, there are a few extraneous plot points involving the Vice President (Van Johnson) and his conniving wife that I could’ve done without and there must be 15 renditions of “Hail to the Chief” in this film but I recommend it on the Shatner/Holbrook pairing alone.  The film is presented in a 16x9 enhanced widescreen transfer.  **1/2 (2.5 out of 5 stars)

LIAR’S MOON (1982)
Tagline: They were hopelessly in love...
Drama/PG/106 Min.
Director: David Fisher
Cast: Matt Dillon, Cindy Fisher, Hoyt Axton
The summer after high school graduation, Jack (Matt Dillon) falls in love with Ginny (Cindy Fisher), the daughter of the town's banker who was once Jack's mother's high school sweetheart. Over her father's strenuous objections the young couple fall deeply in love and elope to Louisiana where Jack gets a job in the oil fields. Her dad hires a private eye (the ALWAYS menacing Richard Moll) to find them. Further complicating their lives is some troubling news the town doctor delivers to Ginny following the discovery that she’s pregnant. Not your typical boy-meets-girl drama, that’s for sure. Features great performances from a very young Dillon and Fisher plus an appearance from Alex Hoyt (GREMLINS) as Jack’s father. A tragic tale of young love, maybe a bit too melodramatic for some, it has a bit of a Lifetime channel feel to it but its well directed and looks great despite it's fullframe treatment here.  *** (3 out of 5 stars)

MY MOM’S A WEREWOLF (1989)
Tagline: Jennifer's mother is having an identity crisis.
Comedy/G/90 Min.
Director: Michael Fischa
Cast: Susan Blakely, John Saxon, Tina Caspary
The frustrated housewife Leslie visits an animal shop to purchase a flea-collar. Unknowing that the owner is a werewolf, she accepts his invitation to lunch and later in his apartment. Through a bite in her toe he starts her slow transformation in a werewolf. Once home she desperately tries to hide the often disgusting process from her family. My Mom's a Werewolf is a b-movie knock-off of TEEN WOLF. You can't have a film as successful as that and not have a c-grade cash-in. The transformation effects are quite terrible, the comedy is pretty flat, but nonetheless it features genre-legend John Saxon as the lycanthropic owner of a pet shop. It's pure 80's oddball stuff that's not great but good fun. Bonus, the film is presented in 16x9 widescreen.
**1/2 (2.5 out of 5 stars)

ROAD TO NASHVILLE (1967)
Tagline: It's Pickin' and Singin' time with the Nashville Sound...Y'ALL COME!!
Music/Unrated/88 Min.
Director: Will Zens
Cast: Marty Robbins, Bill Anderson, Doodles Weaver
A Hollywood film company wants to make a movie about country music and sends Colonel Feetlebaum (Doodles Weaver) to round up talent to appear. It's a weak wrap-a-round plot line that proves unimportant though it's fun watching the cartoonish Doodles Weaver as the Co. Feetlebaum  a play on his character Prof. Fietlebaum from the Spike Jones Radio Show (1947-1949). Despite a weak set-up the film is heavy with stellar performances from country music legends. I loathe most country music post-1975 but this is jammed packed with country and western goodness from the like of the Carter Family, Johnny Cash, The Stoneman Family,Hank Snow and the legendary Marty Robins and much more.  ***1/2 (3.5 out of 5 stars)

SANTEE (1973)

Tagline: He's the best tracker in the west, but sometimes justice can be hard to find.
Western/PG/93 Min.
Director: Gary Nelson
Cast: Glenn Ford, Michael Burns, Dana Wynter
Jody Deakes (Michael Burns) joins up with his father after many years, only to discover that his dad is part of an outlaw gang on the run from a relentless bounty hunter named Santee (Glenn Ford). Jody is orphaned soon after Santee catches up to the gang, and follows Santee in hopes of taking vengeance for his father's death. Instead, however, Jody discovers that Santee is a good and loving man, tormented by the death of his young son at the hands of another outlaw gang. Santee and his wife Valerie (Dana Wynter) take Jody in and an unlikely father-son relationship begins to grow. A really good western here with  great performances from Glenn Ford, Wynter (Valerie) and Jay Silverheel as ranch-hand John Crow. This would be Ford's final starring role in a western. For the non-western viewers out there you will know iconic Ford as Pa Ken from SUPERMAN (1978). A bit of trivia: SANTEE was the 1st western to be shot on videotape instead of film. It looks good but has a bit of a made-for-TV look stemming from the use of videography. That said the film looks good and is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. *** (3 out of 5 stars)

SECRET FILE HOLLYWOOD (1962)
Tagline: Daringly takes you behind the studio gates!!!
Drama/Unrated/85 Min.
Director: Rudolph Cusumano
Cast: Robert Clarke, Maralou Gray, Francine York
An ex-detective gets a job as an investigator digging up dirt on celebrities for a tabloid scandal sheet. This is one of those films I've heard about for years, it's infamous for it's visible boom mics throughout the film and after watching it I'll verify it's all true. A bit o' trashy fun in a low-rent kinda way but more of a slog to watch than I'd care to sit through again.
*1/2 (1.5 out of 5 stars)

THE SPECIALIST (1975)
Tagline: Every BODY has its price!
Comedy/R/93 Min.
Director: Howard Avedis
Cast: Adam West, John Anderson, Ahna Capri
None other than BATMAN’s Adam West stars as a courtroom lawyer Jerry Bounds who finds himself involved with sex-pot juror Londa Wyeth (Ahna Capri) in this 70’s courtroom comedy. He discovers that Londa is actually a high-class hooker planted on the jury by Jerry’s courtroom rival in an effort to discredit him. The sexy shenanigans of Ahna Capri are indeed fun, she’s a gorgeous woman, but they aren’t enough to carry this one through. Surprisingly the film is presented in 16x9 widescreen and looks pretty great for its age. Good cinematography and a bumping’ 70’s soundtrack add to this otherwise flavorless courtroom drama that plays like an episode of MATLOCK with tits.
 ** (2 our of 5 stars)

THE YOUNG GRADUATES (1971)
Tagline: The Hot Pants Generation is Loose!
Color/Drama/PG/100 Min.
Director: Robert Anderson
Cast: Patricia Wymer, Tom Stewart, Gary Rist
Attractive and naughty high school senior Mindy Evans (Patricia Wymer) spurns her boyfriend Bill and has a fling with a married teacher which leads to a possible pregnancy. While waiting for the results of her pregnancy test Mindy decides to steal Bill's buggy and take a road trip to Big Sur, California with best friend Sandy. Along the way the two run amuck of a biker gang, skinny dip with hippies and generally cause a ruckus. The acting is pretty terrible throughout and the film meanders a bit too much and never fully commits to it's true trashy nature. My favorite parts of the film would have to be the crazy hep cat slang throughout and the performance by the band The Spare Change at the school dance, groovy man! You can see tons more of the vivacious Wymer in THE BABYSITTER (1969) which is available on the CULT TERROR CINEMA 12 movie collection from Mill Creek Entertainment. The film is presented in a 16x9 enhanced widescreen transfer. 
 ** (2 out of 5 stars)

DVD: The RARE CULT CINEMA set contain 12 films spanning 32 years culled from the archives of drive-in fare provider CROWN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES. The films are presented on 3 double-sided flipper discs containing four titles per disc in black paper sleeves housed in a double-sized DVD case. Surprisingly 7 or the 12 features are presented in anamorphic widescreen and look pretty great. I hope this is a continuing trend with forthcoming Mill Creek Entertainment sets.

VERDICT: Mill Creek Entertainment budget collections are like your favorite pair of worn-out jeans. Sure they’re worn to shit, faded to hell and have seen better days but goddamn if there not comfortable. This set skews a bit too much on the melodramatic side of things for my tastes personally but there are some gems here including DEATHROW GAMESHOW, MY MOM’S A WEREWOLF and THE KIDNAPPING OF THE PRESIDENT. Something that sets this collection apart from other Mill Creek collections is the films don’t seem to have been recycled on countless other Mill Creek collections. Of the dozen films here I think only MY MOM’S A WERE WOLF is a repeat offender and THE YOUNG GRADUATES only appeared on the DRIVE-IN CULT CLASSICS VOL. 4 - which is a deleted title. I would dare say that Mill Creek Entertainment output has generally been improved and refined upon  since acquiring the Crown International Pictures catalog of films. Looking forward to what they’re still sitting on, there’s bound to be some goodies yet to see the light of day. Let’s hope we see more restored and anamorphic transfers and a special feature or couldn't hurt either.
OVERALL RATING: **1/2 (2.5 out of 5 stars)

- McBASTARD