EARTHQUAKE (1974) (Scream Factory Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review)

EARTHQUAKE (1974) 

2-Disc Collector's Edition 

Label: Shout Select 
Region Code A
Rating: PG 
Duration: 122 Minutes (Theatrical), 160 Minutes (TV Cut) Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, DTS-HD MA 2.1 with Sensurround Audio, 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: (Theatrica)1080p HD Widescreen (2.20:1), (TV Cut) Full Frame (1.33:1) 
Director: Mark Robson 
Cast: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Geneviève Bujold, Richard Roundtree, Marjoe Gortner, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan, Victoria Principal 

Earthquake (1974) is one of my favorite of the string of 70's disaster flicks that were all the rage, big-budget movies featuring huge set pieces, all-star casts and lots of carnage. As a kid I would love to watch these films when they aired on TV, back in the days when a big-budget movie debuting on television was a very big deal, usually bolstered by exclusive TV footage and promotions on the the radio stations. 

The plot of Earthquake (1974) is basically various groups of people trying to survive in the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake that devastates Los Angeles, California. The characters we follow are a former pro-footballer (Charlton Heston, Planet of the Apes) whom is cheating on his possessive wife (Ava Gardner, The Sentinel) with a younger widow (Geneviève Bujold, Obsession). Also on the scene are the father (Lorne Green, Battlestar Galactica) of the footballer's wife, good guy L.A. cop (George Kennedy, Strait-Jacket), barfly (Walter Mathau, Charley Varrick), a creepy National Guardsman (Marjoe Gortner, Food of the Gods) and a daredevil motorcycle stuntmen played by Richard Roundtree (Shaft's Big Score). There's loads more cast seen throughout but these are the people that made an impression on me, there are so many threads and faces in this film that really don't add up to much in the end. 

The real star of the film is the city of L.A. in ruins, the epic set pieces and familiar L.A. sights is disarray makes for a fun watch, with fantastic use of matte paintings and miniatures building and cars collapsing a crashing, with the L.A. damn bursting and flooding parts of the city, it's great 70's spectacle-cinema. 

A lot of the first third of the film is getting to know all the characters, some of it is a bit of a bore but it's all in the service of what bits of character building we get here, with Heston being the main guy more or less, and he's not a great guy, but he has an arc at least. The creepiest person in the whole film is Marjoe Gortner as a store clerk with a penchant for stalking an attractive young woman, and when he soldiers up to save the city as part of the National Guard his darker impulses turn even darker. Richard Roundtree is a cool looking stunt rider in his black leathers streaked with yellow lightning, driving around the city saving kids and generally being helpful. 

Earthquake is a fun flick, the 70's were lousy with these sort of bloated disaster films, and this is still one of my favorites, delivering plenty of action, carnage and melodrama, plus we get a cast of Hollywood stars mixing it up with TV regulars and b-movie notables, what's not to love? 

Audio/Video: Earthquake arrives on 2-disc Collector's Edition from Shout Select with a new 2K scan of the theatrical cut, plus a reconstruction of the TV version with an additional 24-min of broadcast footage. The original aspect ratio for the theatrical version is 2.35:1 widescreen, but due to an issue during mastering is presented here in 2.20:1. A disc replacement program has been initiated by Shout Factory, you can go to www.discshipment.com or email info@discshipment.com for more information about that program. Incorrect framing aside I am happy to report that the image looks good, there's a heavy but natural layer of film grain, colors are solid, and the blacks levels look healthy, plus there doesn't look to be any artificial sweetening having been applied. The TV cut of the film is framed in 1.33:1 fullframe, looking much softer when put against the theatrical cut  with heavier grain, white speckling and grit, but it is still very watchable.  

Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 or DTS-HD MA 2.1 with Sensurround for the theatrical cut or of the disaster classic or English DTS-HD MA Mono 1.0 on the TV version, both with optional English subtitles. The surround track offers up a robust presentation that has some good use of the surrounds, during the earthquake we get a nice low-end rumble, though the dialogue seemed a tad low in the mix, so I actually preferred watching it with the 2.0 and 2.1 Sensurround mixes. The TV cut has a mono presentation that is solid but a bit anemic compared to the stereo and surround mixes. 

Shout Select offering both the theatrical cut of the film plus the longer running TV broadcast version spread out over a pair of Blu-ray discs, in addition to some quality extras. On disc one we have three vintage audio interviews with Charlton Heston, Lorne Greene and Richard Roundtree running about 13-min. We also get several galleries of still images from deleted scenes, poster and lobby cards, behind-the-scenes, matte paintings, and publicity photos. The first disc is buttoned up with a rough looking theatrical trailer for the film, a TV spot and 4-min of vintage radio spots. 

The second disc contains the longer running 160-min TV cut of the film plus some newly produced extras, first up is a 17-min interview with film music historian Jon Burlingame who looks back at the fantastic score from composer John Williams. There's also a 17-min appreciation of the matte paintings created for the film by Universal's Albert Whitlock by cinematographer Bill Taylor, with some cool comparisons to the painting on their own and how they looked composited into the film. There's also an 11-min look at the development of the Sensurround audio system and it's use in the film by noted sound designer Ben Burtt. The second disc is buttoned-up with the option to view the 24-min of TV scenes by themselves in addition to viewing 9-min of additional TV scenes.

The 2-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of artwork featuring the original illustrated movie poster, the reverse side features an image from the film. The slipcover that accompanies this release features the same illustrated image as the wrap, and the pair of Blu-ray discs inside feature purple-tinted images from the film.   

Special Features: 
DISC ONE: Theatrical Cut (122 min)
Special Features:
- NEW 2K scan of the interpositive of the theatrical cut (2.35:1)
- Audio Options: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.1 w/Sensurround audio and 2.0
- Original Theatrical Trailer (3 min)
- Original TV Spot (1 min)
- Original Radio Spots (4 min)
- Vintage audio Interview with Charlton Heston (4 min)
- Vintage audio Interview with Greene (5 min) - Vintage audio Interview with Richard Roundtree (4 min)
- Matte Paintings and Miniatures Gallery (3 min)
- Deleted Scenes Gallery ( 1 min) 
- Behind-the-Scenes Gallery (3 min)
- Matte Paintings and Miniatures Gallery (3 min)
- Posters & Lobby Cards Gallery (9 min)
- Production and Publicity Gallery (9 min)

DISC TWO: Television Cut (160 min) 
NEW 2K scan reconstruction of the TV version, featuring over 20 mins of made-for-broadcast footage (presented in 1.33:1)
- NEW Sounds of Disaster: Ben Burtt talks about SENSURROUND (11 min) HD
- NEW Scoring Disaster: The Music of EARTHQUAKE (17 min) HD
- NEW Painting Disaster: The Matte Art of Albert Whitlock (11 min)
- Isolated TV scenes – Play them without watching the TV version of the film (24 min)
- Additional TV scenes #1 (7 min)
- Additional TV Scene #2 (2 min)

Earthquake (1971) is one of the big-budget disaster flicks that delivers plenty of natural disaster action as well as some silly melodrama. It's all fun stuff, delivering lots of entertainment value as only these star-bloated big-budget carnage flicks could, and Shout Select's 2-disc Collector's Edition likewise is stuffed to the gills with nify extras. 

SHAFT IN AFRICA (1973) (Warner Archive Blu-ray Review)

SHAFT IN AFRICA (1973)

Label: Warner Archive 
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: R
Duration: 112 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS HD-MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Director: John Guillermin
Cast: Richard Roundtree, Frank Finlay, Neda Arnerić, Vonetta McGee, Frank McRae

Shaft in Africa (1973) is the third film in the original trilogy about bad-ass private investigator John Shaft (Richard Roundtree, Earthquake). Directed by John Guillermin (King Kong) the film removes the titular character from his familiar urban setting, broadening the scope of the series with Shaft headed to Africa to investigate an Africa-to-Europe slavery cartel headed-up by Euro-bag-guy Amafi (Frank Finlay, Lifeforce).

At the start of the film Shaft is beaten, drugged and abducted from his Manhattan apartment by a pair of African strongmen working for African diplomat Emir Ramila (Cy Grant). He's then unwillingly put through a series of grueling trials designed to judge his African-worthiness, including being locked in a room with a sand-covered floor under a series of searing heat-lamps meant to simulate the African desert, and forced to stick-fight a towering opponent in the nude, complete with a peek at Shaft's lil' shaft, which is something I never noticed while watching this on DVD .

Passing the unorthodox trials he is contracted by Ramilia after some convincing to travel to Africa and infiltrate a slavery operation posing as an African man looking for work abroad. Along the way there's neck-snapping, biting and torture by electrocution, plus he manages to romances the diplomats very attractive daughter, who serves as his dialect coach, (Vinetta McGee, Blacula), and beds Amafi's nympho lady friend (Neda Arneric) who serve her boss's sexual desires. She's introduced to us while she's slobbing his bone in the backseat of his luxury car, later being sent to Africa to eliminate Shaft when all else fails. She's instructed to seduce him, record the sexual encounter on audio tape, and then kill him.  She's a very sexy lady, and in a very Bond-type way falls victim to a knife meant for Shaft.    

I like that the film removes Shaft from the familiar New York City environs, losing his signature leather jacket for a simpler  traditional African wardrobe and a nguni fighting stick. The undercover aspect of it and the globetrotting locations certainly give the film a very 007 feel, but we still get plenty of bloody action, resulting in a violent blaxploitation spin on the spy-action thrillers. 

Audio/Video: Shaft In Africa (1973) arrives on Blu-ray from Warner Archive with a brand new 2019 2K scan framed in 2.40:1 widescreen, with the 1080p HD image looking sharp and nicely detailed throughout. Though the colors here lean heavily towards brown and beige earth tones occasionally the reds and blues will get a nice pop. The foreign locations looks phenomenal, especially the sun-drenched African landscapes, and you can see the sweat seeping from Shaft's pores like never before, feeling the sun-baked heat radiating right off the screen, this is a very solid looking transfer on Blu-ray.

Audio comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA 2.0 that is clean and free of distortion. Dialogue is crisp throughout with the Johnny Pate score (Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde) sounding great in the mix. While it's not as good as Isaac Hayes score from the first film it's a bit better than what we got in Shaft's Big Score from director Gordon Parks, plus we get a solid theme song from The Four Tops. Optional English ALL CAPS subtitles are included. 

The only extra on the disc is a widescreen HD 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 very cool and quite phallic original movie poster artwork, which is also featured on the Blu-ray disc inside. 

Shaft In Africa (1973) is a wildly entertaining ending to the trilogy of films, expanding upon the gritty original with globetrotting adventures and spy-thriller action. The film looks great on Blu-ray, and is available as part of a triple-feature Blu-ray release with all three of the original films or single-disc Blu-ray from the Warner Archive, this comes highly recommended for fans of gritty 70's action. 

MORE BLU-RAY SCREENSHOTS 

Blu-ray Review: Q THE WINGED SERPENT (1982)

Q THE WINGED SERPENT (1982) 

Label: Shout! Factory

Release Date: August 27th 2013 

Region Code: A NTSC

Duration: 92 Minutes 

Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 

Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.78:1)

Director: Laarry Cohen

Cast: Michael Moriarty, Candy Clark, David Carradine, Richard Roundtree

Tagline: It's Name is Quetzalcoatl.... Just Call it "Q"... That's All You'll Have Time to Say Before it Tears You Apart!

A pair of seasoned cops, Sergeant Powell (Richard Roundtree, Shaft) and Detective Shepard (David Carradine, Kill Bill Vol. 2),  investigate a series of strange murders in New York City. The city is plagued by gory roof-top dismemberment, at the same time a ritually skinned corpse is found in a hotel room, something very strange is going on in Lower Manhattan, including sightings of a giant winged serpent!

Thrown into the mayhem is a quirky small time crook named Jimmy Quinn (Michael Moriarty, The Stuff) who quite by accident stumbles upon the nest of the voracious winged terror in the spire of the Chrysler Building. When Quinn is brought into police headquarters for questioning in relation to a botched jewelry heist he plays the only card he has available, the whereabouts of the beast's nest. Quinn demands not just leniency for his crimes but squeezes a million dollar payday from the city, much to the duress of the Mayor's office and the cops. 

Q is a very simple creature feature with a straight-forward plot and some great character drive drama, it's not rocket science, it's a b-movie science-fiction thriller. While the creature effects are dated in a schlocky sorta way they are nonetheless fantastic and super enjoyable, it's the best sort of low-budget spectacle. If you love vintage stop-motion creature effects prepare to blow a load in your pants, this is a riot. The special effects here are a mixed bag of b-movie awesomeness with some great stop-motion, some not-so-great giant claws grasping a woman from out of a roof-top pool and some poorly matted effects, it's not all high caliber movie magic but it's definitely low-rent entertainment, you get a lot of bang for your buck.

What's so damn enjoyable, and what is typical of Larry Cohen's low-budget features, are the great cast of gritty and neurotic New York City characters, none more so than the superbly unhinged and nuanced performance from Law and Order's Michael Moriarty who steals the film from both beast and co-star, definitely my favorite Moriarty performance. I felt a great deal of  sympathy for his long suffering girlfriend (Candy Clark, The Blob) who just wanted so much to see the good inside of him, but in the end he's just a low-life hood. 

Now the departed David Carradine was an actor with a long pedigree of b-movie credits most of which I've never much cared for, but with Q he gives a great performance as the detective who manages to connect the dots, linking the appearance of the winged serpent Quetzalcoatl with the ritual human sacrifices, plus we have Shaft's Richard Roundtree as his no-nonsense partner, the film has a great cast.  

Giant winged creature, Aztec ritual human sacrifice, a dark comedy laced with some awesome characters, fun dialogue and shoe-string budget special effects. It all adds up to a genuinely entertaining slice of drive-in cinema, if you have love for  The Crater Lake Monster (1977) this one is right up your alley. 

Blu-ray: Back in 2003 Blue Underground Larry Cohen's drive-in classic a very nice DVD release, 10 years later Shout! Factory continue to celebrate b-movie monster romp with a hi-def Blu-ray presented in 1080p widescreen (1.78:1) with an MPEG-4 AVC encode. Q - The Winged Serpent has never looked better! It's not the most eye-popping hi-def you've ever witnessed, there's minor print damage, grain and dirt evident throughout, it's not gonna knock your socks off but the 1080p upgrade is very nice, fans will be quite pleased. The single audio option is English language DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0  which delivers dialogue and effects cleanly, plus the Robert O. Ragland (Grizzly) score comes through strong, it's a fun soundtrack.

Not a lot of extras on the disc, the main feature being a brand new audio commentary from director Larry Cohen and it's a winner, Cohen's a fascinating filmmaker, his oeuvre from the 70's and 80's is loaded with fantastic cult and b-movie gems and Q is one of his finest moments in my opinion. He fondly recalls filming the creature feature in New York City in the 80's, he heaps praise on actor Michael Moriarty and paints a picture of David Carradine's career both before and after the feature. The commentary starts off with a fun anecdote about the first screening of the film and how patrons fled the cinema as soon as the name of American Pictures International impresario Samuel Z. Arkoff's appeared on screen, now that's quite a reputation. Cohen keeps it interesting for the entirety of the film, an essential commentary from one of the great figures of 70's and 80's exploitation cinema. The only additional features are a theatrical trailer (2:32) and a teaser promo (0:30) for the feature. 

Now, the eternal question is to double-dip or not, if you own the Blue Underground disc you may not wanna trade-in that one quite yet, for starters the DVD has a DTS-ES 6.1 surround audio and there's a different Larry Cohen audio commentary moderated by filmmaker Blue Underground's William Lustig (Maniac, Maniac Cop) that you might wanna hang on to. I'm a fan of Cohen's films and I think its worth the double-dip, just keep in mind that unlike a few of the Scream Factory editions we've reviewed which ported the special features from previous DVD editions and added a few new ones, this is just not that definitive an edition, but it's a very nice 1080p presentation just the same and for some, that's quite enough. 

Verdict: Larry Cohen's Q - The Winged Serpent (1982) holds up quite well with some great performances and strong stop-motion effects work, a drive-in cult classic and a fun genre film. If you haven't seen it in a while check it out, definitely an underrated gem of genre cinema. 3.5 Outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: MANIAC COP (1988)

MANIAC COP (1988) Blu-ray

LABEL: Synapse Films
STREET DATE: October 11th 2011
REGION: Region FREE
RATING: R
DURATION: 85 mins
VIDEO: MPEG-4 AVC 1080p 16x9 Widescreen 1.85:1
AUDIO: English: 6.1 DTS-HD MA, 4.0 DTS-HD MA, 2.0 DTS-HD MA
DIRECTOR: William Lustig
CAST: Bruce Campbell, Tom Atkins, Robert Z'Dar, Lauren Landon, Richard Roundtree, Wiliam Smith
TAGLINE: You Have The Right To Remain Silent... Forever.

SYNOPSIS: In William Lustig's MANIAC COP a seven-foot tall disgraced cop named Cordell (Robert Z-Dar, TANGO AND CASH) has seemingly returned from the grave and is stalking the streets of New York City slaying not criminals but innocent folks which sets off a wave of panic and paranoia as everyday citizen's grow to fear the very men sworn to protect them.

FILM: Set to some chilling score from composer Jay Chattaway (MANIAC) a waitress walks home from work on a desolate NYC street. Two punks attack her but she's feisty and gets away but the punks give chase leading to a city park. At the far end of the park she spots the figure of a policeman, she calls for help and runs in his direction, it seems safety is within her grasp... nope. The cop grips her neck with over-sized hands lifting her off the ground, snapping her neck with ease and tossing her limp body aside like a child's toy as the punks stare on in disbelief. The punks are nabbed for the murder after being fingered by a witness who saw them hassle the young woman on the street but did little to prevent the attack, they're protests of a maniac cop on the loose fall on deaf ears.

Detective Frank McCrae (Tom Atkins, HALLOWEEN III, NIGHT OF THE CREEPS) is assigned the case and makes a great noir-ish entrance walking down the shadowy corridor of the coroner's office wrapped in a trench coat. McCrae is alone in thinking that the crimes are in fact being perpetrated by one of the NYPD's own, that the young punks just didn't possess the strength to inflict the severe injuries upon the woman. His instincts don't sit well with NYPD's Commissioner Pike (Richard Roundtree, SHAFT) or Captain Ripley (William Smith, CONAN THE BARBARIAN), the former insinuating that McCrae is unstable, suicidal and that he may be the killer himself. He also notes that he doesn't smile very often to which the veteran detective responds by cracking a bizarre awkward sliver of a grin, funny stuff. If you're a genre film fan I need only tell you once that Tom Atkins is THE fuckin' man with a list of genre film credits that include John Carpenter's THE FOG, HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH, CREEPSHOW, LETHAL WEAPON and NIGHT OF THE CREEPS. Does it get any more awesome than that? Nope.

It's not long before more citizen's fall prey to the maniac cop. Next up is a young couple making out in a parked car when they are interrupted by a strangely silent officer who puts the young man through a sobriety walk only to unsheathe a blade hidden within the hilt of his billy club then double-slashing the man's throat and tossing his body onto the windshield of the car. To me this had shades of the Son of Sam or Zodiac murders, great stuff. The killing spree grips the city with paranoia which escalates even further when the next victim, a musician, falls prey to the uniformed psycho killer. Handcuffed he escapes only to falls face first into a slab of freshly poured cement as the maniac cop presses his foot into the back of his skull pushing the man's face into the concrete suffocating him, the next scene is a forensics team excavating his corpse. 

When a little old lady blows away a well-meaning officer after she mistakes for the maniac cop the mayor lays the heat on the NYPD commissioner who presses Capt. Ridley to find the culprit. It's then that a philandering young beat cop named Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell, BUBBA HO-TEP) finds himself the main suspect when his unhinged wife Ellen (Victoria Catlin, GHOULIES) turns up dead with her throat in the very same hotel room she confronted him and his new lover Theresa Mallory (Lauren Landon, THE STUFF), a fellow officer, at the very night before. Pike and Ripley feel that he's definitely the guy, particularly when the wife's diary reveals clippings of the maniac cop killings and a journal entry indicating that she figured him for the killer. Campbell's mighty decent here and this is probably an overlooked performance coming just after what I think should have been a star-making turn in Sam Raimi's splatter classic EVIL DEAD II. Speaking of chins, actor Robert Z'Dar's chinly protuberance puts Campbell to shame by comparison, check out the mug on that man - that ain't no prosthetic.

McCrae dismisses Forrest as a suspect right away, perhaps a bit too quickly in my opinion, he figures it's a set-up to distract the authorities from the real killer. McCrae ends up working along side Forrest and Mallory and the trio come to realize the killings seem to be the work of a disgraced former police officer sent to prison for brutal acts of vigilante-style justice. The mystery thickens when it's revealed that Cordel apparently died in a shower room assault at the hands of the very criminals he sent to prison over the years. There's a great flashback to prison murder of Cordell in a steamy homo-erotic shower brawl that's right up there with Cronenberg's EASTERN PROMISES bathhouse brawl, it's well shot and thick with ropey tendrils of blood spewing from painfully broken mouths.

The films comes to a thrilling climax with a fantastic car chase with vehicles spinning wildly outta control, screeching sharp turns, a final showdown between Forest ad Cordel and a paddy wagon tearing up the warehouse district before taking a final plunge into the dirty waters of the Husdon River.

Of the film's I've seen from director William Lustig (MANIAC) this may well be my favorite, possibly inching out MANIAC. It's gritty, violent, stylish and co-written by a man who's a great director his own damn self, Larry Cohen (IT'S ALIVE, GOD TOLD ME TOO), and produced by James Glickenhaus who directed the 'Nam vet vigilante classic THE EXTERMINATOR which I would be remiss not to mention has just this week been released through Synapse Films. It has definite slasher vibe mixed-in with a rogue-cop grittiness and a unique anti-vigilante element, it's well paced and impressively action-packed. While the kills are most certainly  violent, brutal and bloody they do lack the visceral punch of Tom Savini's brilliant work in Lustig's MANIAC.

Not sure what the budget was on this production would be but I don't assume Lustig was working with a Spielberg-ian sum but the film looks fantastic with some great cinematography by James Lemmo (MS. 45, MADMAN) and the previously mentioned atmospheric and eerie score from Jay Chattaway (VIGILANTE).

BLU-RAY: Synapse follow up their meaty BD of James Glickenhaus's THE EXTERMINATOR with a single disc 50GB Blu-ray of William Lustig's MANIAC COP presented in it's original 16x9 enhanced 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a brand new 2K HD restoration of the film remastered from original vault elements. Having just watched Synapse's MANIAC COP DVD I can say it's a pretty definitive upgrade in image quality with finer detail, clearity and deeper blacklevels than I've previously seen. Quite pleased to see that the film's grain structure is wholly intact and free of any unwanted DNR scrubbing. Synapse's HD transfers are some of the best I've seen, right up there with Blue Underground and this is no exception, fantastic stuff. The print used is not pristine but nearly so with precious few instances of print damage. 

Not only a superior video upgraded but the audio gets a fidelity boost as well with a dynamic, newly created 6.1 DTS-HD MA surround sound track plus the 2.0 and 4.0 DTS-HS MA tracks. The 6.1 sounds mighty fine with great use of the directionals and atmospheric surrounds, it's an immersive track with some real depth to it plus Jay Chattaway's score sounds creepier than ever. Dialogue, score and effects are well balanced, crisp, clear and free of distortion. Overall a pretty fantastic presentation well worth the upgrade - but don't trade-in your Synapse DVD edition just yet.

Special features begins with Maniac Cop Memories a interview with Robert Z'Dar ported over from the previous DVD edition. Z'Dar reflects upon his early acting career in film and TV, Lustig bringing him onto the project, his fandom among NYPD police force (which is sorta scary) and working alongside Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbel and Laura Landon whom he hints he may have had a romantic relationship with. New bonus content created this release are the Out the Window featurette with Tom Atkins whom recalls working with Campbell and Sharee North, feeling that his character died too quickly, which I agree with, I definitely could have gone for some more Atkins here and in any film for that matter. Something else I could relate to is his recollection of watching the film for the first time on VHS with a huge "NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION" watermark imposed on the screen. I get a lot of DVD screeners with watermarks that are quite distracting, film is a visual medium so stop obscuring your films. The second new feature is Three Minutes with Danny Hicks which is exactly that, Hick's mostly recalling the joys of throwing pretty boy Bruce Campbell up against the paddy wagon during a scene in the film.

Other features carried over from the DVD are the French theatrical trailer, TV Spots, a Spanish radio spot and six scenes from the Japanese TV version of the film involving a subplot with Mayor Killium (Ken Lerner) that really aren't that interesting but are here for completest just the same.There's also an animated promotional art gallery of various posters, DVD, VHS and soundtrack artwork set to the main title. Earlier I mentioned not tossing the previous Synapse DVD to the wolves quite yet and here's why, that's because the one feature not ported over is the group commentary with director William Lustig, writer Larry Cohen, actor Bruce Campbell and composer Jay Chattaway. Not sure what the reasoning may be for this but I would speculate so as not to invalidate the DVD edition. A few of the Synapse Blu-ray editions have been Blu-ray/DVD combos, the exception seems to be titles that Synapse have released recently on DVD previously so it makes sense from a business perspective though I wish it were included just the same. What else could we want? Perhaps a Bruce Campbell interview but honestly is it worth hearing him promote BURN NOTICE every five minutes? Nah.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- MANIAC COP MEMORIES - Interview with Robert Z'Dar (12:12) 16x9 HD
- OUT THE WINDOW - Interview with Tom Atkins (10:56) 16x9 HD
- THREE MINUTES WITH DANNY HICKS Featurette (3:32) 16x9 HD
- Motion Still Gallery (3:07) HD
- French Theatrical Trailer (1:23) 16x9
- TV Spots (3:55) 4x3
- Additional Scenes Filmed for Japanese Television (5:43) 4x3
- Spanish Radio Spot (:31)

VERDICT: Definitely a film that gets a check mark in the must-own box. Is it worth the upgrade if you own the DVD? I say yes though it's unfortunate that the commentary is absent, so don't post it on SwapaDVD just yet. That said, Synapse continue to release top of the line genre-cinema Blu-rays well-worth your hard earned bucks. OWN IT!