THE 'BURBS (1989) (Shout Select Blu-ray Review)

THE 'BURBS (1989) 
Collector's Edition 

Label: Shout Select
Region Code: A
Rating: PG
Duration: 102 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Joe Dante
Cast: Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Rick Ducommun, Corey Feldman, Wendy Schaal, Dick Miller, Robert Picardo 

Picking my favorite film by director Joe Dante is damn difficult, he's made so many classic cult-films, his off-kilter vision of weird Americana has always fascinated me, when I was a kid it was the obvious stuff like Gremlins (1984) and Explorers (1985) that were at the top of my list, as a teen I went back and discovered his earlier horror-stuff, Piranha (1978) and The Howling (1981), but it's the suburban slice of paranoia The 'Burbs (1989) at the end of the 80's that I come back to more often than any other, a ensemble-cast comedy that's weird, a bit creepy, and wonderful. It stars Tom Hanks who was coming off a string of 80's comedies that I don't think did very well, but all of which I love, from the spy-comedy The Man with One Red Shoe (1984), the home-owner's nightmare of The Money Pit (1986) to the not-great but fun Dragnet (1987), I just love Hanks' 80's comedies, sure, he's great in all the dramas and "grown-up" movie he did after but his work in the eighties is my favorite stuff.

In The 'Burbs we have a small group of neighbors living in a suburban cul-de-sac, our main guy is Ray Peterson (Tom Hanks), an average family-man on "vacation" for a week, his wife Carol (Carrie Fisher, Star Wars)  wants him to go for a weekend getaway to a mountain lake, but instead he stays at home and along with a trio of busy-body neighbors get completely wrapped-up in paranoia and suspicion when new neighbors, the Klopeks, mysteriously move into a house on the street seemingly overnight. Their arrival coincides with the disappearance of elderly neighbor Walter (Gale Gordon), leaving behind his lawn cigar dropping ankle-biter dog "Queenie" and his treasured hair piece. The nosy neighborhood's suspicions are bolstered by a weird light show emanating from the Klopek's basement, in addition to some late night digging in the backyard, they're a kooky new addition the neighborhood and Ray and his crew are certain something awful is happening in the neighborhood, and the Klopek's are behind it.  

The 'Burbs has an awesome ensemble cast, lead by Hanks who is joined by comedian Rick Ducommun (Groudnhog Day) as his super-nosy neighbor, the guy instigates a lot of the paranoia and suspicion about the new neighbors with a local tale of a soda jerk turned homicidal maniac. Then we have Bruce Dern (Silent Running) as an eccentric 'Nam veteran named Rumsfield, and his wife Bonnie (Wendy Schaal, Innerspace), plus Cory Feldman (The Lost Boys) as the neighborhood teen delinquent who eggs on his neighbors paranoia, inviting his teen friends over to enjoy the show as it unfolds, he also enjoys watching Bonnie weed the lawn in her very short-shorts. The Klopeks are quite a weird bunch themselves, played by Courtney Gains (the evil-ginger Malachai from Children of the Corn), Brother Theodore and Henry Gibson (The Blues Brothers), Gains as primitive looking salvic-hillbilly Hans is just visually fun, while Henry Gibson as Dr. Werner Klopek is charmingly creepy as the family patriarch, meanwhile Brother Theodore is a more gruff nut with a bad temper.

The film has a Twilight Zone feel about it, particularly "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" infused with Dante's skewed view of Americana and love of horror. The cast make it fun, Hanks is your every man drawn into madness by his colorful neighbors, he seems the sensible one, but when what appears to be a human femur bone is unearthed by his dog on the property line he shares with the Klopeks common sense goes out the window and an ill-advised 'welcome to the neighborhood' visit to the neighbors goes awry, leading to further distrust and strangeness, including an all out assault on the new neighbor's property. 

The small community comedy plays well for me year after year, holding up to annual viewings with a parade of jokes and sight gags, including a fun Sergio Leone parody, and a fun devil-worshipping nightmare suffered by Hanks character, allowing Dante to go full-tilt weird for a bit, before settling back into this off-kilter take of neighborly paranoia, The 'Burbs is a top notch suburban comedy as only Joe Dante could have made, the guy is so underrated in my opinion. 

Audio/Video: The 'Burbs (1989) arrives on single-disc Collector's Edition Blu-ray from Shout! Factory imprint Shout Select with a new 2017 transfer sourced from the interpositive, framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. It looks great, grain is nicely managed though it does level-up during a few of the darker scenes. Colors look accurate and nicely saturated, and the shadow detail is ample This is a great looking release from Shout Select, kudos to them for  ]giving The "Burbs some love. The lone audio options is audio is an English DTS-HD MA  Stereo 2.0 with optional English subtitles. The track is strong and robust, I love this Jerry Goldsmith score, it's fun and goody and perfectly compliments this slice of paranoid, off-kilter Americana.

Onto the extras, Shout Select have licensed some very cool, previously existing extras that were also featured on Arrow Video's region B locked release a few years ago, we get the audio commentary with Writer Dana Olsen, Moderated By Author Calum Waddell, oplus the feature length making of doc 'There Goes the Neighborhood" from High Rising Productions, featuring interviews with Director Joe Dante, Actors Corey Feldman, Courtney Gaines, And Wendy Schaal, Director Of Photography Robert M. Stevens, And Production Designer James H. Spencer - a fun making of loaded with lots of making of stories, if you're a fan of the film this is a must-watch! Also carried over is Joe Dante's workprint version of the film, sourced from Dante's personal VHS copy of the longer version of the film containing extended, alternate and deleted scenes. The quality is sub par but I loved watching this and noticing the differences, if you're a fan this is another must-watch extra. One extra notably not carried over from the Arrow Video release is a theatrical versus workprint video comparison, too bad they didn't carry it over. We also get the alternate ending which has been featured on the previous U.S. DVD and Blu-ray releases for the film, plus a trailer, a behind-the-scenes gallery, a still and poster gallery, and then some new Shout Select exclusive extras! 

The new stuff comes by way of new interviews with Director Joe Dante, Editor Marshall Harvey and Director Of Photography (Additional Scenes) John Hora - all adding up to about forty-minutes worth of stuff. I could listen/watch to Joe Dante talk about movies (his or anyone's) for hours, this interview was apparently filmed at the same time as his interview on the Shout Select' Matinee (1993) Blu-ray release, it touched on a lot of the same stuff as his interviews on the making of doc but there's also some new stuff.

The single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork, the a-side is a new illustration from  artist Pau. Shipper, the b-side featuring the familiar one-sheet movie poster that has adorned previous releases. The first run of this release also features a slipcover (o-card) featuring the same Paul Shipper illustration. As with all of the Shout Select slipcovers it features a numbered spine on one side or the option to display it without the number on the spine.  The disc itself features a blue tinted image of Hanks from the film. 

Special Features: 
- NEW 2017 2K Scan Of The Interpositive
- NEW Interviews With Director Joe Dante (18 min) HD 
- NEW Interviews With Editor Marshall Harvey (10 min) HD 
- NEW Interviews With Director Of Photography (Additional Scenes) John Hora (11 min) HD 
- Audio Commentary With Writer Dana Olsen, Moderated By Author Calum Waddell
- There Goes The Neighborhood: The Making Of The ‘Burbs – Includes Interviews With Director Joe Dante, Actors Corey Feldman, Courtney Gaines, And Wendy Schaal, Director Of Photography Robert M. Stevens, And Production Designer James H. Spencer (67 min) HD 
- Alternate Ending (7 min) 
- Original Workprint From Joe Dante’s Archive (Includes Deleted And Extended Scenes)(106 min) 
- Behind-The-Scenes Still Gallery (6 min) HD 
- Stills And Posters Gallery (8 min) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD 

The 'Burbs is a hilarious cult-classic, the crowning achievement of both Joe Dante and Tom Hanks in my opinion, the pair are magic together and that alchemy is only enhanced more so by the great ensemble cast who feed off one another to a delightful degree. The new Blu-ray from Shout! is fantastic, it looks and sounds great and the combination of new and old extras are awesome. I love that Shout! in quick succession have Blu'd both Joe Dante's Matinee (1993) and now The 'Burbs (1989) with loads of extras, both releases are highly recommended and long overdue.

JACK'S BACK (1988) (Blu-ray Review)

JACK'S BACK (1988) 

Label: Scream Factory
Release Date: January 26th 2016
Region Code: A
Duration: 97 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with Optional English SDH Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Director: Rowdy Herrington
Cast: Chris Mulkey, Cynthia Gibb, James Spader, Jim Haynie, Robert Picardo, Rowdy Herringto

I only vaguely recall this movie from cable TV viewings in my teens and I am pretty sure I never watched the whole things, so I was pleasantly surprised to see it appear on Blu-ray from Scream Factory. I confess that I love pretty much anything James Spader appears in for better or worse, he was one of the penultimate assholes of '80s cinema, in everything from The New Kids (1985) to Less Than Zero (1987), so it was nice to see him stretch his acting-muscle with this one which offered him the chance to play the dual-role of twins Jack and Rick Wesford, playing opposite sides of the same coin so to speak, one brother is an altruistic medical student with a promising future, the other is a shoe store manager with a shady past.  

As the movie begins it has been one-hundred years since Jack the Ripper carved a bloody swath through the red-light district of London, now in the modern age someone is re enacting the Ripper murders in downtown Los Angeles. One night Rick is plagued by a nightmare of his brother being attacked and murdered, and it turns out what he saw in his nightmare actually happened, he somehow experiences his twins death through dreams. The L.A.P.D. believe his brother may have been the Ripper killer, which he knows not to be true. Rick teams-up with his late brother's lady friend Chris (Cynthia Gibb, Youngblood) to help clear his brother's name, but the local cops think that Rick might be a suspect in both his brother's murder and the string of Jack the Ripper slayings, which could prove problematic.  

Right from the start of the movie you know in which decade this is set, the score has a very late-eighties sound that is heavy on saxophone, a bit too much for my taste. Thankfully it also begins with a brief but effective scene of a prostitute murdered in an alleyway, but then things begin to slow down, though it is never dull. I have to credit Spader who turns in his usual magnetic performance, the guy oozes a dark coolness in every movie, and we have more of the same here. Cynthia Gibb is decent as the wide-eyed pseudo love interest, I sort of liked how she didn't jump right into bed with this guy, who is the spitting image of her former best friend who was murdered. They have a decent chemistry, you sort of feel like they have a budding love connection, but you have to remember that this is whodunit murder movie, can she really trust this guy? 

The movie has a few familiar faces popping up, beginning with character actor Robert Picardo (The Howling), who is actually the first face you see onscreen after the opening murder. appearing as psychiatrist Dr. Carlos Battera who is working with the L.A.P.D to develop a criminal profile of the killer. The guy seems shady, and this movie has not shortage of could-be killer types to choose from, it that respect is has a certain Italian whodunit feel about it, minus the black gloved killer and stylish kills.  

For a scrappy eighties whodunit this one is pretty decent, but I didn't love it. I had issues with the lack of decent kills, which is what separates this dramatic thriller from the eighties slashers which were winding down about this time. We are given an effective strangling that is made to look like a suicide by hanging, which worked wonderfully, but otherwise this is pretty anemic and blood and creative kills. Additionally there's a huge gap in logic when one of the characters is caught in a compromising position and goes to the extreme to cover it up, it just didn't make sense to me and stretched credibility a tad too far. 

Audio/Video: Jack's Back arrives on Blu-ray with an AVC encode from Scream Factory from a brand-new HD transfer from the original negative with restoration done at Pinewood Studios. The new transfer looks nice, skin tones and colors are a bit on the cool side and seem to favor greens, I am not sure how accurate that is to the original presentation but I enjoyed it. Grain is nicely managed and looks natural, carrying with it some impressive fine detail. Some soft focus cinematography and smokey-atmosphere don't make for the crispest image you've ever seen on Blu-ray, but this seems accurate, and the clarity is quite nice. The English audio is capably managed by a DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 track with well-balanced audio and score, optional English subtitles are provided. Audio elements are crisp and clear, no issues with distortion of any kind. 

Onto the extras we have an audio commentary with Writer/Director Rowdy Herrington, which can be a bit on the dry side, leaning more towards the technical stuff. There's also a new twenty-four minute making-of doc with interviews from Writer/Director Rowdy Herrington, Producer Tim Moore, Actress Cynthia Gibb And Director Of Photography Shelly Johnson, a highlight for me was Herrington speaking about how Spader was actually choked out during the hanging scene! Finishing up the bonus content we have a brief theatrical trailer for the movie. This is one of Scream Factory's Blu-ray and DVD Combo releases with a standard definition DVD featuring the movie and the same set of extras as the Blu-ray.

Special Features
- NEW High-Definition Transfer From The Original Negative
- NEW Audio Commentary With Writer/Director Rowdy Herrington
- NEW The Making Of JACK'S BACK - Interviews With Writer/Director Rowdy Herrington, Producer Tim Moore, Actress Cynthia Gibb And Director Of Photography Shelly Johnson (24 Mins) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (1 Mins) HD 

Jack's Back is a solid eighties thriller with a fine dual-role performance from James Spader, with the benefit of some stylish low-budget cinematography. I liked the Jack the Ripper copycat aspect of the story but it drops off way too early and does not go anywhere, which was a missed opportunity as that was one of the more interesting plot threads. 2.5/5