AN IDEAL PLACE TO KILL (1971) (Mondo Macabro Blu-ray Review)

AN IDEAL PLACE TO KILL (1971)

Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 90 Minutes 
Audio: English & Italian DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director:  Umberto Lenzi
Cast: Michel Dardinet, Ornella Muti, Ray Lovelock, Irene Papa

A pair of free-spirited hippie teens, Dick (Ray Lovelocke, Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man) and Ingrid (Ornella Muti, Flash Gordon), are spending the summer vacationing in Italy, driving across Europe in their flower-power painted sport scar, paying their way by selling foreign smut (dirty mags and dirty 7" singles), and when those items are gone they make their own homegrown porn, selling picture booth nudes of the gorgeous Ingrid for cash. Eventually they get busted by the authorities for selling the smut, which was illegal back then, and are told they must leave the country withing the next 24-hours or face imprisonment. 

The carefree teens don't exactly make a beeline for the border though and end up detouring through the countryside, where they are antagonized by a gang of thieving bikers for a bit. Continuing on their journey until their gas tanks run dry, stranding them near a secluded villa. It seems empty at first, they enter the garage and begin to siphon gas from a car when they are discovered by homeowner, a middle-aged woman named Barbara Slater (Irene Papas, Don't Torture A Duckling). Barbara at first seems none-too-pleased by their illicit arrival, but then she comes around to their free-spirited ways, seemingly enthralled by their youthful vigor and sexual energy,  with the teens unaware that they've walked right into a spider's web.

Director Umberto Lenzi is synonymous with the low-budget gore and splatter films that he made in the early 80's, stuff like Eaten Alive! (1980), Nightmare City (1980) and Cannibal Ferox (1981), but in the 60's and 70's he was making stylish and sexy sophisticated thrillers and black-gloved gialli, stuff that I myself am only discovering recently, and it's been great fun checking out his earlier stuff after only seeing his more exploitative output. 

The film is also known as Oasis of Fear and Dirty Pictures, and immediately sets itself apart with a pop-song theme and playful tone, with both Ray Lovelocke and Ornella Muti oozing youthful sexuality, flaunting authority, and slinging smut for profit to fuel their Italian vacation, it's got a great vibe to it. 

The early part of the film plays out episodically as a bit of a humorous smut-peddling European vacation travelogue, but tensions ratchet up once they arrive at the villa unaware that they've walked right into potential trap, with the woman of the house taking advantage of their arrival, scheming to seduce them and make them her patsies! Calling this a giallo is a bit of a stretch in my opinion, it's got some stylish lensing and and the appropriate atmosphere but it's lacking a the black-gloved killer and a decent body count, coming off as more of an erotically charged thriller with some solid twists and turns.

It does feel a bit padded at times with wayward plot threads involving the thieving bikers and a very brief Manson Family reference that seemed out-of-place, but those strays are harmless, and don't spoil it at all. The trio of main characters are all interesting and the film is stylish, with a cool slashery altercation in bird enclosure and a cool flashback to an earlier murder scene that was well put together, but the film certainly wold have benefited from a bit more violence I think. 

We also get a bit of nudity, though it's clear from the edit that neither of the nude women are the actual stars Irene Papas or Ornella Multi, but it's not clumsily done, the scenes still look great, and the body doubles offer up plenty of eye-candy. I really enjoyed the playful nature of the film, it defied my expectations a bit, I figured early on that the youthful hippies would take a violent turn along the lines of the Greek exploitation film Island of Death (1976), presuming that they would turn into the villains of the film, but it turns out their the flies caught in the spider web of the older woman they thought they were seducing, making this a solid thriller with a great twisty ending that brought a smile to my face. 
   
Audio/Video: An Ideal Place To Kill (1971) makes it's worldwide debut on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro in 1080p HD, framed in 2.35:1 and sourced from a new 2K scan of the original camera negative. It's very filmic looking image with plenty of uniform grain throughout, the image can be a tad soft but otherwise showcases natural looking skintones and pleasing colors throughout, with the primaries getting a solid showing. The lensing from cinematographer Alfio Contini (The Night Porter) may not be Argento level stylish but it looks great in HD. 

Audio comes by way of both English and Italian DTS-HD MA mono with optional English subtitles. Dialogue on both the Italian and English audio tracks sound good, there's a bit of source related hiss present but only a tiny bit, and the pop score from Italian singer-songwriter Bruno Lauzi sounds terrific, the main theme is a really catchy tune. 

Extras begin with a brand new commentary from Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson, they're a great pairing and offer up a fun and info-packed commentary, discussing locations, cast and crew, and other films in Lenzi's filmography. There's also an exclusive 24-min interview with the late director Umberto Lenzi in which he discusses the film being altered by producer Carlo Ponti, originally it was panned that the free-spirited teens would be drug peddlers (not smut), and Lenzi was none too happy with that change. He also discusses the casting of the film, passing over Carol baker for fear he was using her a bit too much at the time, and how he knew Ornella Multi from the age of thirteen. He also gets into the score, and how Sophia Loren, who was married to the producer, suggested Bruno Lauzi.

We also get 1-min of deleted scenes, basically small clips of sex inserts, plus a 4-min trailer for the film. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single sided sleeve of artwork. 

Special Features: 
- Brand New 2K Transfer from the Original Film Negative
- Exclusive Interview with Director Umberto Lenzi (24 min) 
- Audio Commentary by Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
- Deleted Scenes (1 min) 
- Original Trailer (4 min) 
- Mondo Macabro Trailer Reel (14 min)

An Ideal Place To Kill (1971) definitely has me interested in checking out more of Umberto Lenzi's giallo offerings. It's a stylish, playful and erotic thriller, though I would hesitate to cal it a giallo, but it's got plenty of suspense, a bit of mystery, and a great looking cast. The Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic, and we get some excellent extras to go along with it, another rock solid release from Mondo Macabro and a high recommend to lovers of eurocult, giallo and sexed-up thrillers.     

THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES (1963) (Second Sight Limited Edition Blu-ray Review)

THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES (1963)

Label: Second Sight Films
Rating: PG
Duration: 79 Minutes
Region: B
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Roger Corman
Cast: Ray Milland, Harold J. Stone, Diana Van Der Vlis 

In Roger Corman's sci-fi gem The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (a.k.a. X, a.k.a. X - The Man with the X-Ray Eyes) we have Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland, Dial M for Murder) a former surgeon and current optical research scientist experimenting with a serum administered through eye-drops that could potentially allow humans to see beyond the visible spectrum and into the realm of ultraviolet and into the unknown. His experimentation in the lab on primates has only gotten him so far, and with human trials to far out for his satisfaction, he ill-advisedly chooses to experiment on himself. Dripping the experimental yellow droplets into his own eyes he immediately begins experiencing the effects, able to see through things, and later glimpsing beneath party goers clothing at a swinging get-together, and then saving a young woman's life by seeing into her organs to diagnose a illness.

Despite this initial success his colleagues advising him to discontinue experimenting on himself, and defund his research, but fueled by his own hubris and his quest for knowledge, he keeps at it secretly. Not long after a mishap at the lab ends with the death of his colleague Dr. Sam Brant (Harold J. Stone, The Invisible Boy), and correctly fearing that he will be blamed for the accidental death he flees the scene.

Now being hunted by the authorities he goes off the grid, using his enhanced vision to get a job as a mentalist at a carnival, working with a sketchy barker named Crane, played by legendary insult comic Don Rickles (Innocent Blood), who plays it surprisingly straight. As Xavier's eyes continue to evolve he has to continuously wear a pair of dark, lead-lined sunglasses to not only conceal the bizarre color-changes happening to his eyes, but to not be overwhelmed by his new vision. Eventually Crane gets wise to Xavier's extra-sensory gifts, convincing him that they should go into business together, abandoning the carnival gig and setting up shop as a healer of sorts, using his extrasensory sight to scan their organs for illness, before eventually abandoning that and making his way to Las Vegas. In Vegas he uses his x-ray vision takes wing big at the black jack table, before it all comes crashing down around him.

Eventually all the eye-dosing gets out of control, Xavier's quest to see beyond what man should see drives him mad, and he ends up wandering the desert after a car chase, eventually he winds up at a church revival tent where he confesses to the preacher that with is eyes he is now seeing the all-knowing eyes of the cosmos, not sure of it's good or evil, to which the man of God offers some sage biblical advice, leading to an open-ended finale that worked for me. Despite the exploitative titling this Roger Corman directed slice of sci-fi, which also dips it's toes into the realm of body-horror, is surprisingly thoughtful in it's examination of how science sometimes extends beyond where it was meant to stray. This is all anchored by Ray Milland's strong performance as the knowledge-addicted scientist driven mad by his quest for knowledge, sort of being both the protaganist and his own antagonist, not a bad guy, just a man driven mad in the pursuit of science.

Audio/Video: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes (1963) arrives on region-B locked Blu-ray from UK distributor Second Sight Films framed in 1.85:1 widescreen and presented in 1080p HD. This is not advertised as a new scan so I will assume this is the same HD scan as used by Kino Lorber for their U.S. release. Whatever the source it's solid, being mostly clean and free of blemishes with only a few minor dings along the way. Colors are warm and vibrant, back levels are pleasing, and there's some good depth and clarity tot he image, the amount of fine detail was a bit surprising. A few of the FX shots are a bit grainy but it's nothing that's ruinous to the experience, this is a very pleasing HD presentation.

Audio on the disc comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 presentation, it's clean and crisp, if sounding a bit dated, but it sounds authentic for the vintage, and the score from exotica-lounge pioneer Les Baxter (House of Usher) sounds quite nice, optional English subtitles are provided.

Second Sight do it up right by licensing all the previously existing extras that appeared on the Kino Lorber release in the U.S. and sweetening the deal by commissioning a few new ones to make this the most comprehensive release of the film on disc to date. We start off with a pair of audio commentaries, the first is an archival track with director Roger Corman that first appeared on MGM's Midnite Movies DVD version, the legendary director/producer is always a pleasant listen, it holds up. We also get a new commentary with author Tim Lucas (Video Watchdog) who gives an exhaustive accounting of the film, full of facts about the cast and crew, making-of anecdotes, and script-to-screen comparisons. Honestly, whenever I see Tim Lucas listed as an extras contributor on a genre film I am inclined to say it's an easy upgrade. We also get the original 5-min prologue with a cool melting paint title sequence that brought to mind one of Corman's Poe adaptations, though which one eludes me at this moment. We also get a new 14-min interview with Roger Corman, a brand new 23-min appreciation by journalist Kat Ellinger, a 6-min appreciation by director Joe Dante (Piranha), who himself comes from the Roger Corman school of making movies. The disc is nicely buttoned-up with a 2-min Trailers from Hell commentary with director Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers), and the original 2-min theatrical trailer.

The single disc release arrives in a cool looking black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring a new Graham Humphreys illustration, I love it, though I do wish it had a reversible art option with the original theatrical illustrated artwork, if only because it's one of my favorite movie posters ever. The same artwork is also featured on the disc itself, this coming housed within a sturdy slipbox with the same artwork, and it looks great sitting on the shelf. Inside there's a 20"x16" fold-out poster with both the new and original artwork, plus a 36-page softcover book with cast and crew information, lots of stills, posters and lobby cards, plus brand new appreciations from authors Jon Towlson and Allan Bryce.  

Special Features:
- New interview with Director Roger Corman (14 min)
- Interview with Author and Diabolique Editor Kat Ellinger (23 min) HD
- Audio Commentary by Roger Corman
- Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas
- Original Prologue (5 min) HD
- Joe Dante on The Man With X-Ray Eyes (6 min) HD
- ‘Trailers from Hell’ Commentary with Mick Garris (3 min) HD
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD

Limited Edition Contents:
- Rigid slipcase featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys
- Reversible poster with new and original artwork
- Soft cover book with new writing by Jon Towlson and Allan Bryce

The Man With The X-Ray Eyes (1963) is a bit of a hidden gem in the catalog of Roger Corman I think, it's not as well regarded as it should be, maybe because it's not the slice of exploitation that the title implies, and it's not part of the Poe cycle, but it's a cool sci-fi film with big ideas, anchored by a fantastic performance by Ray Milland. It's also got some vintage, trippy special effects that pre-date the psychedelic film cycle that arrived just a few years later, they are endearingly retro and cheap-looking. Second Sight's limited edition Blu-ray is a thing of beauty, it's got premium packaging, and artwork, loads of extras, and a solid HD presentation, this comes highly recommended.

More screenshots from the Blu-ray: