THE DEVIL'S RAIN (1975) (Severin Blu-ray Review)

THE DEVIL'S RAIN (1975) 

Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 86 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1) 
Director: Robert Fuest
Cast: William Shatner, Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Keenan Wynn, Tom Skerritt, Ida Lupino, John Travolta

I first caught up with this Satanic panic drive-in classic when it was released by Dark Sky Films back in 2006 on DVD, it totally caught be surprise, a cool little slice of satanic cinema with an all-star 70's cast and directed by Robert Fuest, a wonderful director who brought us The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), not to mention the involvement of Anton Lavey, the founder of the Church of Satan!

It all begins on a rainy night with Mark Preston (Star Trek's William Shatner) and his mother (Ida Lupino, The Food of the Gods) waiting for his father to return home, when he does he has no eyes and begins melting into a multi-colored glob of goo! Mark's mom is later kidnapped by a local Satanic cult led by Jonathon Corbis (Ernest Borgnine, Escape from New York)who wants a satanic tome that the Preston family has kept hidden away for years, it would grant the cult-leader favor with Beelzebub and make him all-powerful!

When Mark himself becomes ensnared by the cult his younger brother Tom (Tom Skerrit, M*A*S*H) comes to his aid, along with his wife Julie (Joan Prather, Big Bad Mama) and occult expert Dr. Richards, played by Eddie Albert of TV's Green Acres. Working against the group are the local sheriff played by Keenan Wynn (Piranha) who is in tight with the Satanist, including a very young John Travolta in his first movie, though it is a small role.

The satanic thrills come fast and furious in this briskly paced drive-in b-movie classic, aided by some very goopy and surprisingly grotesque special effects from Tom Burman  (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and crew, including Borgnine being transformed into a horned, goat-headed manifestation of evil, who also gets his own goopy transformation. There's also a cool scene where Shatner is rendered eyeless, the make-up effects look quite a bit like the mask from Halloween (1978) which modeled after a Shatner/Captain Kirk Star Trek mask, I thought was pretty nifty. This one has always suffered a bit from a plot that seems to evaporate a bit, I always get list, not in the complicated plot, but in the lack of a clear one, but that's never deterred me from partaking in the satanic fun, plus we get some cool atmospheric and creepy cinematography from Álex Phillips Jr. (Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia). 

Audio/Video: The Devil's Rain (1975) arrives on Blu-ray from Severin Films, the new HD restoration (from an non-specific source) looks very nice, there's a nice but inconsistent layer of film grain, details aren't overly abundant and the image can be soft, but overall this is a nice upgrade compared to by 2006 DVD, even with a few unsightly emulsion scratches. Audio comes by way of an English language DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 track with optional English subtitles. The audio is clean and crisp, I wouldn't say the mix was overly dynamic by any means but it does the job.

Onto the extras Severin have grabbed the devil by the horns with this one, offering up a plethora of extras, beginning with a director's commentary ported over from the 2006 Dark Sky release. Then onto the new stuff, brand new interviews with the cast and crew, including an 11-min chat with Skerritt who spins a tale of how he got started in the business, originally wanting to be a director, scoring a few writing gigs and his early career, making this movie and laughing quite a bit when asked about the involvement of Anton Lavey, which he seems to find mildly amusing. FX artist Tom Burman shows up for a brief 5-min interview discussing the goopy effects created for the film and how the melting people were achieved, it's cool.  

Well established Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana (Blade Runner, Jurassic Park) speaks about landing her first job as a script supervisor on this very film by pretty much conning her way into it, and also being bilingual helped, as the film was shot in Mexico with a Mexican crew and with an English director and an American cast. 

The Church of Satan gets some representation on two featurettes, one with the current High Priest and High Priestess of the Church of Satan speaking about Lavey's involvement on the film, plus LaVey Biographer Blanche Barton, speaking about her relationship with the Lavey, and his time on the film with the cast. There's also a vintage '75 interview with Shatner who speaks about the possibility of a Star Trek movie opportunity, and if that was something he'd be interested in, and what that might mean for his career... he made a wise move accepting the eventual offer! Another very cool extra is an interview with director/actor Daniel Roebuck (River's Edge) who showcases his vintage horror collection while detailing his own trip to the drive-in with his mom to see The Devil's Rain, and what his mom did for him to secure a prize at the screening, fun stuff. The disc is finished up with a theatrical trailer, TV spots and a poster and still gallery.    

This single-disc Blu-ray release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with  sleeve of reversible artwork, which looks awesome on both sides, I believe the a-side is the original movie poster, with a cool variant on the b-side. 

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary With Director Robert Fuest
- Confessions Of Tom - Interview With Actor Tom Skerritt (11 min) HD
- The Devil's Makeup - Interview With Special FX Artist Tom Burman (5 min) HD - 1975 Archive Interview With Actor William Shatner (4 min) HD 
- First Stop Durango - Interview With Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana (15 min) HD 
- Consulting with the Devil - A Conversation with the High Priest and High Priestess of the Church of Satan (10 min) HD 
- Hail Satan! - Interview With Anton LaVey Biographer Blanche Barton (8 min) HD 
- Filmmaker / Horror Collector Daniel Roebuck On The Devil's Rain (11 min) HD 
- On Set Polaroid Gallery Of Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana Accompanied By Radio Spots (8 min) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (3 min) HD
- TV Spots (2 min) HD 
- Poster/Still Gallery(8 min) HD 

The Devil's Rain (1975) is a fun slice of evil 70's cinema, it's not the strongest story but the performances are good and the special effects are surprisingly gooey, which is what makes this so memorable, trust me, it ain't the story! This would make a fun hail-Satan triple-feature with The Brotherhood of Satan (1971) and Race with the Devil (1975) or a fun Borgnine scenery-chewing triple play with Willard (1971) and Deadly Blessing (1981).  I never really thought I needed to upgrade my old DVD of this one, but watching this Severin Blu-ray I can say that the A/V upgrade is very nice and the plentiful extras actually make the movie more enjoyable. 

HAIL SATAN! Drive-in shocker THE DEVIL'S RAIN (1975) arrives on Blu-ray from SEVERIN FILMS!

THE DEVIL'S RAIN (1975) 

1500 Strictly Limited Numbered Slipcase Available

First HD Release Oozing With New Extras!

One Of The Most Notorious Drive-In Shockers Of The ‘70s

Now Restored In HD For The First Time Ever!

Severin Films invites you to spend your Halloween chanting “Hail Satan!” as they bring THE DEVIL’S RAIN pouring down onto home theater screens across North America, soaking horror fans in the wet, heavy bile excreted by the Devil himself! Each copy of the movie comes with reversible cover art and limited, numbered edition slipcase (only 1500 units) with alternate artwork are be available exclusively from the Severin webstore.

Take an all-star cast – including William Shatner, Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Keenan Wynn, Tom Skerritt, Ida Lupino and even John Travolta in his movie debut – at their most hellishly over-the- top. Add one of the most visually inventive filmmakers of the era – director Robert Fuest, of THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES fame – and thrust them into an insane tale of rural occult carnage, featuring Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey as Technical Advisor. Watch in infernal awe as it all hurtles towards the most eye-popping, flesh-melting finale in grindhouse history. Now experience this devilishly infamous classic as you’ve never seen or heard it before, restored in HD for the first time ever and oozing with all-new Extras approved by Lucifer himself!

In addition to this devilish release of the film, Severin has also collaborated with the Church of Satan and it’s merchandising operation iSatanist to produce a stylish pendant necklace recreating the stained glass window from the church seen in the film, available at the Severin Films store or as part of the Prince Of The Abyss bundle.

Pre-Order Available Now!

Prince of the Abyss Bundle Blu With Limited Slip Case & Pendant - $33.00
Devil's Rain Blu with Limited Slip Case - $23.99
Devil's Rain Blu + Pendant - $31.00
Devil's Rain Blu only - $19.99
Devil's Rain DVD - $17.99
Devil's Rain Corbus Pendant - $13.00

*Limited Edition (1,500) slipcase available only through www.Severin-Films.com

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary With Director Robert Fuest
- Confessions Of Tom - Interview With Actor Tom Skerritt
- The Devil's Makeup - Interview With Special FX Artist Tom Burman
- 1975 Archive Interview With Actor William Shatner
- First Stop Durango - Interview With Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana
- Consulting with the Devil - A Conversation with the High Priest & High Priestess of the Church of Satan
- Hail Satan! - Interview With Anton LaVey Biographer Blanche Barton
- Filmmaker / Horror Collector Daniel Roebuck On The Devil's Rain
- On Set Polaroid Gallery Of Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana Accompanied By Radio Spots
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spots
- Poster/Still Gallery

Corbis Pendant (Front)

Corbis Pendant (Back)

POLTERGEIST III (1988) (Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review)

POLTERGEIST III (1988)

Collector's Edition Blu-ray 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 97 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, Stereo 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Gary Sherman
Cast: Kip Wentz, Lara Flynn Boyle, Nancy Allen, Tom Skerritt, Heather O'Rourke, Zelda Rubinstein

The third and final film in the original Poltergeist trilogy features only two returning stars from the franchise, young Heather O'Rourke as Carol Anne and the diminutive spirit-medium Tangina as played by Zelda Rubinstein. This is not a good sign, apparently Craig T. Nelson and Jobeth Williams didn't want anything to do with this sequel, which was probably a wise career decision. Also absent are original writers Mark Victor and Michael Grais who penned the original and the first sequel, and gone is composer Jerry Goldsmith who provided the rich, lyrical scores for the first two movies, which I think were very integral to their overall success. 

In this sequel we have Carol Anne (O'Rourke) being sent away to with her mom's sister Pat (Nancy Allen, Blow Out)in Chicago, who is newly married to Bruce Gardner (Tom Skerritt, Alien)in a 100-story luxury skyscraper. We don't get reason for why she's sent away, other than to assume since Williams and Nelson chose not to participate this was a convenient way to write them out of the story. Aunt Pat is bit of a self-obsessed 80s careerist, an art dealer who doesn't have a great connection with kids, not even her husband's teenage daughter Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle, Twin Peaks), so she doesn't have the most maternal of instincts when young Carol Anne arrives to live with them, making Carol Anne feel like a fourth wheel. 

Carol Anne is enrolled at a school for gifted/troubled youngsters, where the head shrink, Dr. Seaton (Richard Fire, writer of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), begins to believe that her history of supernatural entanglements can be explained away by Carol Anne having the ability to project some form of mass-hypnosis or post-hypnotic suggestion, which to me sounds more far-fetched than the reality of the situation. Anyway, his probing of her psyche seems to have once again attracted the unwanted attention of the demonic doomsday cult-leader Rev Kane, this time played by actor Nathan Davis, as Julien Beck who originated the role in Poltergeist 2 had passed away from stomach-cancer. For hs part Davis does good work, decked out in prosthetic make-up which makes him look similar to Beck's character, but not an exact likeness, he looks a bit more zombie-like in appearance, sort of like the Crypt Keeper from Tales from the Crypt, and the result are certainly creepy in a way, but not on par with the iconic performance from Beck.

While all this is happening the magical dwarf Tangina senses from far away that O'Rourke is again in danger, apparently she's got a bit of The Shining in her, and she races to the high-rise with a mystical necklace given to her by the shaman Taylor from the last film, though she doesn't fare too much better than Mr. Hallorann from Kubrick's The Shining. The movie sets up the high rise luxury building as a technical marvel with some operating bugs to work out, a place with way too many mirrors, which of course plays into the larger picture. Kane and his evil spirit-minions are able to reach out through the mirrors, again trying to whisk away Carol Anne into the spirit world to lead them into the Light. Kane's reach also extends to reflective surfaces like pools of water, he is also able to possess the mirror images of people, which he does to both Donna (a sort of dull pre-Twin peaks Lara Flynn Boyle) and her bland 80s boyfriend Scott (Kipley Wentz).

The movie has some freaky special effects but they're nowhere near the level of creepy as the Giger designed make-up effects we saw on the second film, though I will say that the Great Beast at the end of the P2 was mighty awful, too. However, there are some some cool set-pieces, like when Tangina is attacked and turned into a mummified corpse, then another character crawls up through her remains, returning from the mirror-world, sort of. The mirror stuff is pretty technical and well-done, notably these are in-camera effects, they're cool, but maybe overused at a certain point. I liked the way that the Donna doppelganger's shirt had the lettering on their shirt reversed, which was a nice little detail.

While I enjoy a few touches throughout the movie on the whole it seems a tired from the beginning, the high rise setting takes away from the haunted house vibe which I enjoyed previously, the fact that the Freeling family is absent sort of kills it for me, too. The family dynamic was one of my favorite parts of the previous film, here everyone seems so disconnected. Then there's a weird scenario in the parking garage of the high-rise where everything is frozen over and the cars become murderous, the whole thing was just silly, a definite jump the shark moment. I give it props for fleeting moments of creativity and technical wizardry, but the atmosphere and suspense is null for me. Looking at the cast I like Skerritt well enough but Allen's Pat is just unlikable, and that the overwrought ending hangs on her proving her love for Carol Anne is bad. 
  
Also not helping is that this is the least attractive looking of the sequels in my opinion, shot in standard framing as opposed to scope like the previous films by cinematographer Alex Nepomniaschy who has done some damn   decent TV work on The Americans and Big Love more recently, but this production seems flat. Jerry Goldsmith's wonderful music is also absent, instead we have a decent score from Joe Renzetti (Child's Play, The Exterminator), who had worked with director Sherman on Dead And Buried (1981), but it lacks the resonance of the Goldsmith scores, a lot of what's wrong with this picture is what's missing from it that I loved about what came before. 

Audio/Video: Like Poltergeist II this is not the first time that Poltergeist III has appeared on Blu-ray, we saw a decent 1080p presentation from MGM a few years ago, but it was bare bones. Scream Factory kick it up a few notches with a new 2K scan of the interpositive, and grain is more finely resolved, details and textures look superior, black levels are deeper and the image has a nice crispness and clarity.  Audio options on the disc come bay way of both DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround tracks. The stereo track has some good channel separation, everything comes through crisply, there's some good use of the surrounds with the score and some of the more spook-house type scenes get some rear channel action. Optional English subtitles are included. 

Oh My God! Why did we agree to make
this movie? 

Onto the extras we have two commentaries, one with director Gary Sherman moderated by Michael Felsher of Red shirt Pictures, which is mostly technical with some anecdotes about the production, taking time to speak about the death of O'Rourke. Plus a second with  Poltergeist III Webmaster David Furtney who provides loads of facts and info about the production, including alternate scenes. Red Shirt again provides a trio of new featurettes, a twelve-minute interview with Screenwriter Brian Taggert who speaks of his previous work with director Gary Sherman on Dead And Buried, being brought onto this picture, liking the director's pitch of it being Alice Through the Looking Glass sort of take on the material, even though that's not exactly what ended up on screen. Taggert also speaks about what a tough and interesting old bird Zelda Rubinstein was and the tragic death O'Rourke. 

Actress Nancy Allen shows up for a 12-minute interview, speaking about her experiences working on a movie she didn't quite understand, acting with Skerritt, and how technical and complex the film was, also stating that in her opinion it was a better sequel than the second film, to which I must respectfully say "nope". I love Allen's work in De Palma's movies and Robocop, but this was not one of her better moments in a movie, but I love you Nancy!  

Special Effects Creator John Caglione, Jr (C.H.U.D.) shows in for a 13-minute interview speaking about what an ho it was having special effects legend Dick Smith as the designer of the special effects, being able to facilitate his designs onscreen. Speaks about how game the cast were when it came to doing the effects, covering Lara Flynn Boyle in slime, making a body casting of Rubinstein for the mummified Tangina corpse, creating the Kane make-up for actor Nathan Davis (Thief), and the numerous in camera mirror effects seen throughout the movie 

A nice addition is a 3-minute alternate ending, no audio was available for these scenes and subtitles have been created using script pages, which was cool, not any worse than the theatrical ending in my opinion. Additionally we get the theatrical trailer, some TV spots, and a still gallery. Packaging extras include a slipcover (o-ring) with new artwork from illustrator Justin Osbourn, plus a sleeve of reversible artwork. 

Special Features
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Interpositive
- NEW Audio Commentary With Director Gary Sherman
- NEW Audio Commentary With Poltergeist III Webmaster David Furtney
- NEW High Spirits – An Interview With Screenwriter Brian Taggert (16 min) HD 
- NEW Reflections – An Interview With Actress Nancy Allen (12 min) HD 
- NEW Mirror Images – An Interview With Special Effects Creator John Caglione, Jr. (13 min) HD 
- Alternate Ending (3 min) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (1 min) HD 
- TV Spots (2 min)
- Still Galleries (Behind-The-Scenes Photos, Stills, and Posters) (79 images) HD  
- Script Pages (132 pages)

The third Poltergeist film is a dud, no doubt about it, there are some inspired moments, but overall this is a downer of a sequel, and not just because of the sad passing of young star Heather O'Rourke after it wrapped. As a scary movie this is bad, which is shame for several reason, but for me it's more so because director Gary Sherman directed two classic slices of terror cinema previously, the subway horror Raw Meat (1972) and the macabre Dead And Buried (1981), both of which I cannot recommend strongly enough, they're awesome. I think Poltergeist II might be a case of a good director being thrown in director's jail after a box office dud, much the same way Robocop 3 (1993) pretty much ended the directing career of Fred Dekker (Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps). 

On the bright side, Scream Factory have put together a fantastic Collector's Editions with loads of extras and a superior A/V presentation for fans or the morbidly curious, this is one of those classic cases of a sub-par movie receiving an above par release, and I love that. 2/5

As a side note, one of the more annoying aspects of the movie aside, from Nancy Allen's awful late-80s hair, is how many times "Carol Anne" is said, whispered and screamed throughout the movie. Just for fun here's a YouTube supercut of how many time her name is said, enjoy! 

DAVID CRONENBERG COLLECTION (RABID/SHIVERS/DEAD ZONE) (Via Vision Blu-ray Review)

DAVID CRONENBERG COLLECTION 
 SHIVERS (1975) - RABID (1977) - DEAD ZONE (1983)

Label: Via Vision Entertainment
Region Code: A/B
Rating: R
Duration: 88 Minutes I 91 Minutes I 104 Minutes 
Audio: English Dolby Digital 1.0 I English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Director: David Cronenberg 
Cast: Paul Hampton, Joe Silver, Lynn Lowry,  Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore, Joe Silver, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Tom Skerritt, Brooke Adams 

SHIVERS (1975)

Region Code: A/B

Rating: R
Duration: 88 Minutes 
Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono 1.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Cast: Paul Hampton, Joe Silver, Lynn Lowry

In director David Cronenberg's debut film we are brought into the Starliner Towers high-rise on Starline Island. An idyllic community set apart from the stress of city living. However, the wealthy residents affluent lives are about to be turned upside down by the experimentation of mad professor Emil Hobbes (Fred Doederlein) who feels that humanity has lost touch with their sensual selves. To that end he has developed a parasite that spreads like a venereal disease from host to host. He incubates his parasites inside a young woman named Annabelle Brown (Cathy Graham) whom he murders just before he slices open his own throat when he discovers that his teen petri dish has been sleeping her way through the high-rise. The teen-slut has infected numerous men who are now exhibiting an abnormal growth in their abdomen. The building's doctor Roger St. Luc (Paul Hampton) diagnoses a few of these guys and comes to realize what is happening, attempting to thwart the parasitic plague before it can spread to the other inhabitants of the building and beyond.

Among the tenant we have Janine (Susan Petrie) and her husband Nicholas (Allan Kolman, SE7EN), the older but gorgeous Barbara Steel (Nightmare Castle) as a sultry lesbian and Roger's sexy nurse played by Lynn Lowry (George A. Romero's The Crazies). As the parasite spreads the infected are overcome with the urge to fornicate which further spreads the parasite. We have a great scene of Barbara Steele in a bathtub as a parasite crawls into her body in a very naughty way, and another gruesome sight of a parasite leaping into a doctor's face, burning him with an acidic secretion as he pulls them off with a pair of pliers, and a host who stuffs the parasites back into his mouth, there's some truly grotesque stuff happening, loads of uncomfortable body-horror on-screen for the gore-hounds. 

The design of the parasites is pretty simple, just a few inches long and super-gross. They were created by effects wizard Joe Blasco and were achieved with old school in-camera special effects and they look awesome, with loads of blood mixed in with a perverse sexuality throughout - this is total David Cronenberg. Love the scene of someone vomiting a parasite from a balcony which falls right onto an elderly couple below, and another of the parasites crawling up the walker of another older couple as the man flicks it off the walking aid and smashes it. Then there is a lesbian kiss wherein we see the throats bulge as the parasite is transferred from one to the other. On top of that we have some strange moments of sexual incest, which is always a subversive sight, the twisted movie has not completely mellowed with age, it holds up. 

Paul Hampton and Joe Silver as the docs trying to curtail the spread of the parasites are strong for the most part, though Hampton comes across cold which might be attributed to his character who at one point rejects Lynn Lowry's advances which is just not human. Barbara Steele and Lynn Lowry provide some gorgeous eye candy throughout, Steele was still a total  fox and a feast for the eyes. 


For a film debut I was a bit surprised to see that it contained all the body-horror elements we would come to associate with Cronenberg in the years to come. Shivers remains a seminal work of body-horror and it's vision of parasite driven sex crimes is disturbing stuff. If I would have been a resident at the Starliner I don't think I could have resisted the sexual charms of either Barbara Steel or Lynn Lowry. Speaking of Lowry, she had previously appeared in I Drink Your Blood (1970) and George Romero's The Crazies (1973) as well as softcore flicks like Sugar Cookies (1971) and Radley Metzger's erotic opus Score (1974), such a gorgeous woman, that final scene with her emerging from the pool is just so super seductive, I'd have given up without a fight right there and then. 

A note about the Shivers transfer, this appears to be the same restoration supervised and approved by David Cronenberg which was produced by Tiff Cinematheque Quebec at Technicolor in 2013. The same cut was previously issued by Arrow video, and missing about twenty-five seconds of footage trimmed from several scenes, which doesn't amount to much in the way of gore or content to be honest, but it is missing just the same and for some cinephiles who need the complete uncut version of the movie this will be a huge issue, but I am here to tell you that it doesn't amount to much and I can live without it. 

Shivers Special Features: 
- Introduction by David Cronenberg (2 Mins) 
- On Screen: The Making of Shivers - Vintage television program interviewing David Cronenberg, co-producer Don Carmody, as well as the cast and crew (48 Mins) 
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1 Mins) HD 

Our review of the Arrow Video release of Shivers can be found HERE. 

RABID (1977) 

Region Code: A/B
Rating: R
Duration: 91 Minutes 
Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono 1.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Cast: Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore, Joe Silver

In Cronenberg's follow-up to Shivers he treads familiar waters, we have the attractive young woman Rose (adult film star Marilyn Chambers, Behind the Green Door) who is horribly injured in a motorcycle crash along with her boyfriend Hart (Frank Moore) With no proper hospital nearby she is brought to a plastic surgery clinic where she is operated on by Dr. Keloid (Howard Ryshpan) who has just developed an experimental new type of skin-graft, and given the opportunity he seizes the chance to test his unproven methods. The surgery appears to work and Rose recovers while in a coma at the clinic. When she awakens from the coma it becomes clear that something is not right about the young woman, she has been transformed into a contagious blood-sucker. Not of the Gothic fanged variety, what we have is something more along the lines of the body-horror we would come to know Cronenberg for. In place of a pair of fangs Rose has a needle-like tentacle protrusion which comes out of her armpit, draining blood from her victims. The new blood-sucking appendage seems to act on its own without her control, in fact she seems unaware of the new appendage and the harm that it inflicts
on others. 

Her first victim is a patient at the clinic, a place she runs away from, continuing to drain victims as she travels across the countryside on her way back to Montreal, each time she drains someone they're transformed into a crazed cannibal, leaving behind a trail of rabid infected who continue to spread the plague. Eventually the city of Montreal is overrun with the violent infected and the city is declared to be under Martial Law. 

Cronenberg is working with a familiar premise for those who have watched Rabid, the spread of venereal type disease which transforms its victims - only this time on a larger scale, affecting the entire city of Montreal. Our patient-zero is played by sex-film star Marilyn Chambers, who does very good work here in her first and only venture into the world of legit movies. Given her solid performance here I am a tiny but surprised she never had a legit movie career afterward, or at least did not appear in a few more non-adult movies. Chambers has a vulnerability about her, a girl-next-door sweetness that makes it easy to sympathize with her even though she is the one spreading the plague around. She has a scene right at the end where she chooses to make a sacrifice, while it is not academy award worthy stuff she does what needs to be done for this low-budget action-horror movie, her performance is decently affecting. 

The movie feels like a next step movie fro Cronenberg, the gore is minimal but there are plenty of gruesome sights to take in for fans of troubling imagery, including the police gunning down a Santa at the local mall, plus Dr. Keloid becomes infected and goes rabid during a delicate surgical procedure, slicing off the finger of his nurse before gnawing on his surgical patient. The film manages to be gruesome and thought provoking is several ways, and the ideas and themes introduced throughout sort of haunted me for a while after watching it. An early Cronenberg entry that had a lot going on beyond the usual zombie-epidemic of the premise, but there's also plenty of that too. 

Rabid Special Features: 
- Introduction By Director David Cronenberg (11 Mins) 
- Audio Commentary with Director David Cronenberg 
- Interviews with David Cronenberg (21 Mins) 
- Documentary: The Directors with David Cronenberg (59 Mins) 

THE DEAD ZONE (1983) 
Region Code: A/B

Rating: R
Duration: 104 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Cast: Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Tom Skerritt, Brooke Adams

David Cronenberg's adaptation of Stephen King's novel The Dead Zone takes place in (where else?) Castle Rock, Maine, where a middle school teacher Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) is dating fellow teacher Sarah (Brooke Adams). After a night at the carnival he drops Sarah off at home, sweetly rebuffing her invitation to spend the night, saying "some things are worth waiting for". Driving home through a heavy downpour he is involved in an accident and lays in coma for five years, awaking to the news that Sarah has moved on and married since the accident. 

He recovers at the hospital under the care of  Dr. Sam Weizak (Herbert Lom), discovering that he now has the "gift" of second sight, foreseeing that a nurse's house is on fire and her daughter is in danger. The panicked nurse runs home and it turns out that Johnny's vision was accurate. Afterward, he becomes a sort of local celebrity weirdo, becoming a recluse to avoid the stares and inquiries of the curious in the small town who begin to fear him. 

Sheriff George Bannerman (Tom Skerritt) approaches Johnny hoping to use his gift to solve a series of grisly killings which have plagued the area for years. Initially he refuses but when the Castle Rock Killer strikes again he comes around, using his gift for good, though it feels more like a curse to Johnny. When he is taken to one of the crime scenes he senses that the killer is actually Deputy Frank Dodd (Nicholas Campbell, The Shape of Things to Come), while attempting to apprehend the murderous deputy Johnny is shot by the suspects mother and the deputy kills himself in a memorable death-by-scissors scene. After the incident Johnny moves to a neighboring city where he is hired by the wealthy Roger Stuart (Anthony Zerbe) to tutor his young son Chris (Simon Craig), who is abnormally shy but takes a liking to Johnny right away. While working for Stuart Johnny meets a charismatic but crooked political candidate named Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen). After shaking hands with the Stillson his second-sight kicks in and Johnny is overcome with an apocalyptic vision of the future, of the politician's rise in power, an ascent that will culminate in a nuclear apocalypse. Now Johnny must decide is he should take matters into his own hands and change the course of the future through whatever means necessary. This is a story that holds up very well, both as a Stephen King story and as an entrancing Cronenberg entry. 

The movie can be seen as making the argument that political assassination is a necessary course of action, which I found very intriguing. I've always found Cronenberg's movies to be a bit on the cold side in regard to warmth and emotion but this one is full of warmth, the chemistry between Walken and Brooke Adams is quite nice, as the former couple rekindle their relationship, fulfilling the promise of things worth waiting for. Christopher Walken is wonderful as usual, a quirky recluse with awkward hair who lives with his dad, wants to be left alone, but whose visions of the future force him to take action, it's great stuff. Martin Sheen (The Believers) is charismatic but ultimately evil senatorial candidate, and Herbert Lom (Mark of the Devil) is quite good as Dr. Sam Weizak. There is a wonderful scene of he and Johnny speaking about the morality of going back in time and killing Adolf Hitler, a conversation which sends Johnny on his assassination quest, that is so well handled by both actors. Lom is a powerhouse who many will remember as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus from the Pink Panther Movies, others will recognize him from a string of low-budget horror and exploitation movies from the 70s, he's a welcome addition to the cast here. Brooke Adams (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) always exudes a small town charm with a sweet smile and a soft spot for Walken, whose path seems destined to cross with that of Johnny, she makes for a wonderful love interest. 

The movie is an odd one in the Cronenberg canon, a movie I do not feel is truly recognized as either a top-notch Cronenberg entry nor for being one of the best of the Stephen King adaptations. The Dead Zone is an enthralling watch, accentuated by a wonderful Michael Kamen score and a bittersweet final note. I do hope this Blu-ray earns the underrated flick some much deserved love from those who might have overlooked this David Cronenberg/Stephen King gem. 

The Dead Zone Special Features:
- Audio Commentary from screenplay writer Stephen Jones and Film Critic Kim Newman
- Memories from The Dead Zone (12 Mins) with 
- The Look of The Dead Zone (9 Mins) 
- Visions and Horror from The Dead Zone (10 Mins) 
- The Politics of The Dead Zone (12 Mins) 
- Original Trailer (2 Mins) HD 

Audio/Video: The three-disc set arrives from Via Vision housed in a three-disc Blu-ray case, each movie appearing on its own separate disc. The films are presented in 1080p widescreen looking solid though a bit uneven, particularly Rabid which was made on the cheap and has certain limitations that show through, though of no fault to the transfer. It should be noted that the Shivers cut appears to be the same restoration supervised and approved by Director David Cronenberg which was produced by Tiff Cinematheque Quebec at Technicolor in 2013 and also appeared on the initial Arrow Video pressing in the UK, which was cut and met with the expected outcry. Arrow initiated a disc replacement program to replace that version with a fully uncut version of the movie, but the version here is that same cut which is missing about twenty-five seconds of footage. For the sake of comparison check out the video below from Arrow Video showing the differences between the  R-rated cut, which is what Via Vision are offering, and the uncut version.  

The audio on these disc might prove problematic for the HD purists, The Dead Zone offers an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track with optional English subtitles, sounding crisp and clean with some good depth, the Michael Kamen score sounds outstanding. However, both Rabid and Shivers both receive lossy Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono audio tracks, both tracks sound good within the confines of the lossy format, optional English subtitles are also provided. 

The disc which is labeled as Region B is also playable on Region A Blu-ray players, which is great. Extras on Shivers include an introduction by David Cronenberg, a 48-minute vintage television interviewing David Cronenberg, co-producer Don Carmody, as well as the cast and crew, plus the original theatrical trailer for the movie. Onto the Rabid disc we get hour-long doc The Directors: David Cronenberg, a 1999 documentary on the filmmaker with interviews from Cronenberg, Marilyn Chambers, Deborah Harry, Michael Ironside, Peter Weller and others, a Croneberg commentary, and 21-minutes of archival interviews with the director. The Dead Zone disc carries over all the extras from the region 1 Paramount Special Collector's Edition DVD which includes four making of featurettes adding up to about 43-minutes, plus the original theatrical trailer. Via Vision's disc also includes an audio commentary from writer Stephen Jones and Film Critic Kim Newman which is quite a good listen and is carried over from the UK release from Sanctuary Video Entertainment. 

The Via Vision Cronenberg Collection is a quality set, perhaps a bit on the anemic side when compared to Arrow Video's region B locked releases of Rabid and Shives, but as a budget-minded collection this is a decent package for North American buyers with a healthy dose of extras. It does lose some points for not having the complete version of Shivers and for the lossy audio on both Rabid and Shivers, but overall this is a nice Cronenberg package from Via Vision, which can be found for a great price online.