INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978) (Blu-ray Review)

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978) 

Label: Scream Factory 
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 115 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Philip Kaufman
Cast: Veronica Cartwright, Jeff Goldblum, Donald Sutherland, Leonard Nimoy, Art Hindle, Brooke Adams

Synopsis: One by one, the residents of San Francisco are becoming drone-like shadows of their former selves. As the phenomenon spreads, two Department of Health workers, Matthew (Sutherland) and Elizabeth (Adams), uncover the horrifying truth: Mysterious pods are cloning humans — and destroying the originals! The unworldly invasion grows stronger with each passing minute, hurling Matthew and Elizabeth into a desperate race to save not only their own lives, but the future of the entire human race.

I first watched the sci-fi horror classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) on late night cable TV in the early eighties during a sleepover at a friend's house. As was typical of these nights he had fallen asleep on the couch and I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning watching scary stuff till I couldn't keep my eyes ope. This is how I first watched  Phillip Kaufman's phenomenal and eerie remake, which was the second movie adaptation of a novel by author Jack Finney, the first adaptation came out in 1958 and starred Kevin McCarthy, who makes a great cameo in this film.  

Kaufman's movie opens on a barren planet somewhere in the cosmos, a planet soley inhabited by gelatinous creatures which leave the surface of the planet and make their way through space to our lovely planet Earth, where they rain down upon the city San Francisco. There they take root in the local flora and sprout pretty pink flower blossoms which are attractive to the indigenous people. San Francisco Health Department employee Elizabeth (Brooke Adams) picks one of these blossoms and takes it home where she places it in a glass of water on her nightstand hoping it will take root, which it does but not in the way she intended. Overnight the flower sprouts a pod while she sleeps, which clones and replaces her husband Geoffrey (Art Hindle, Black Christmas) with an emotionless clone. Unaware of the sinister happening she awakens in the morning and is startled by the transformation of her formerly loving partner, who suddenly treats her coldly and acts rather strangely. 

She confides her worry in her friend and co-worker Matthew (Donald Sutherland, Don't Look Now) who advises her to seek the advice of his celebrity psychiatrist friend Dr. David Kibner (Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek). Kibner is a psychiatrist of the "tell me how you REALLY feel" variety, and while at the party Elizabeth overhears a hysterical woman who tells Kibner that her husband is not really her husband, which perfectly captures how she feels about Geoffrey. Kibner calms the woman and advises Elizabeth that her feelings of detachment are merely her inner yearning to leave Geoffrey. 

The movie does a phenomenal job of creating a sort of big city paranoia from the very beginning, everyone seems to be staring and observing, it creates a palpable sense of dread and deep-rooted paranoia. Our first good look at a pod cloning a human takes place at a bath house run by Matthew's friend, a struggling writer named Jack Bellicec (Jeff Goldblum, The Fly) and his wife Nancy (Veronica Cartwright, Alien). While Jack takes a nap a pod begins to clone him, however, he wakes up before it can finish and his wife discovers the not completely formed body, horrified and at a loss to explain what they've discovered they call Mathew who arrives to investigate. He brings with him Kibner and the group surmise that San Francisco is amidst an alien-invasion of some sort. 

The dread and paranoia of this one is dripping right off the screen, it gets under your skin and stays there right on through to the shocker of an ending, which as a kid watching it for the first time was a serious gut-punch, this was maybe my first downer of an ending and it made me feel small and helpless and haunted me for days. 

Kaufman crafted an intensely dread-filled movie with the help of screenwriter W.D. Richter who did great work re positioning the story from rural California to the metropolis of San Francisco, plus the cinematography from Michael Chapman (Hardcore) is awesome, capturing the sprawling city and bathing the paranoia in swathes of shadow and light, this is a gorgeous movie, one enhanced by some fantastic special effects, some of which are quite horrific, a scene of pods attempting to clone Mathew in his backyard is grotesque stuff. 

The cast is uniformly excellent beginning with Brooke Adams and Donald Sutherland who are the heart of the movie, while romance is not a high priority the two convey an affection for each other that drives their characters. Additionally Goldblum and Cartwight are fantastic in their limited roles, Cartwright is always fun in these small tasty roles, her wide-eyed wonder and terror are conveyed nicely, and Goldblum does good work at the struggling writer with a serious distaste for Nimoy's psychiatrist character. Nimoy's character is about as cold-blooded as his Star Trek character Spock, espousing 70's era psycho-babble with a cold detachment that is tone-perfect. Art Hindle plays an alien clone with a cold detachment that somehow manages to come across as more sinister than flat, which isn't easy. Everyone does good work, conveying the sense of unease, helplessness and paranoia that drives the movie.  

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) arrives on Collector's Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory with a brand new 2K scan of the interpositive, color reproduction and shadow detail are rich and deep, skin tones look warm and natural and there is some nice depth and clarity to the image along with some impressive fine detail. The new 2K scan looks awesome, the new color timing is impressive and does appear a bit different from the MGM Blu-ray from a few years back, looking a bit warmer in tone to my eyes.. Audio options on the disc come by way of English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 or DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, both are rich and nicely balanced, and the eerie and unusual score from Denny Zeitlin comes through with some real vibrancy. 

Extras on the disc include all the bonus material from the MGM Blu-ray which were pretty substantial to begin with, highlighted by the Re-Visitors from Outer Space: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pod documentary which features interviews with Director Philip Kaufman, Screenwriter W.D. Richter, Director Of Photography Michael Chapman And Actors Donald Sutherland And Veronica Cartwright. This also includes a great audio commentary from director Phillip Kaufman, plus featurettes about the sound design, special effects and cinematography of the movie. 

Onto the new stuff exclusive to Scream Factory's Collector's Edition we have a new audio commentary track from Author/Film Historian Steve Haberman, who has done some commentaries for Scream Factory before, notably on Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971) and The Dunwich Horror (1970). The track is loaded with facts and trivia about the original '58 film and the production and behind-the-scenes of this version of the story, it can sound a bit too scripted at times but there's no denying that this one is loaded with some great info. 

Scream Factory also have new interviews with stars Art Hindle and Brooke Adams, screenwriter W.D. Richter and composer Denny Zeitlin, which are all fantastic watches. The nine-minute interview with Adams covers the audition, her non-familiarity with the original, working with the cast and crew, and she even demonstrates her wobbly-eyes from the movie. Art Hindle gets a 25 minute interview covering a lot of his career, this was more in-depth than I would have anticipated, also covering is work with Bob Clark and David Cronenberg. Composer Denny Zeitlin speaks about how he scored the movie, his approach combining the organic and electronic elements and confirming the participation of Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead on one notable scene. Screenwriter W.D. Richter speaks about adapting the story, moving it from a rural area to San Francisco.  Scream Factory have not only upgraded the image of the movie with a new 2K scan but they've also upgraded the extras, this is a fantastic release from Scream Factory, which comes with a sleeve of reversible artwork and a slipcover. 

Special Features: 
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Interpositive
- NEW Star-Crossed In The Invasion – An Interview With Actress Brooke Adams (9 Mins) HD 
- NEW Leading The Invasion – An Interview With Actor Art Hindle (25 Mins) HD 
- NEW Re-Creating The Invasion – An Interview With Writer W.D. Richter (16 Mins) HD 
- NEW Scoring The Invasion – An Interview With Composer Denny Zeitlin (16 Mins) HD 
- NEW Audio Commentary With Author/Film Historian Steve Haberman
- Audio Commentary By Director Philip Kaufman
- Re-Visitors From Outer Space, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Pod – Including - Interviews With Director Philip Kaufman, Screenwriter W.D. Richter, Director Of Photography Michael Chapman And Actors Donald Sutherland And Veronica Cartwright (16 Mins) HD 
- Practical Magic: The Special Effects Pod (5 Mins) HD 
- The Man Behind The Scream: The Sound Effects Pod – An Interview With Ben Burtt And Sound Editor Bonnie Koehler (13 Mins) HD 
- The Invasion Will Be Televised: The Cinematography Pod (5 Mins) HD 
- An episode of SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE, "Time Is Just A Place," Based On Jack Finney's Short Story, Directed By Jack Arnold (26 Mins) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 Mins) HD 
- TV Spots (1 Min) 
- Radio Spots (5 Mins) HD 
- Photo Gallery (76 Images) HD 

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is superb slice of science fiction with some seriously horrific moments, the new Scream Factory release is top notch and worth the upgrade. Definitely a movie that holds up to repeat viewings and worth owning on Blu-ray, highly recommended. 

THE PERFECT HUSBAND (2014) (Blu-ray Review)

THE PERFECT HUSBAND (2014) 

Label: Artsploitation Films
Rating: Unrated 

Region Code: A
Duration: 85 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional english Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD WIdescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Lucas Pavetto
Cast: Gabriella Wright, Bret Roberts, Carl Wharton, Tania Bambaci, Daniel Vivian, Philippe Reinhardt

Synopsis: This terrifying psychological horror film follows Viola (Gabriella Wright) and Nicola (Bret Roberts) as they try to reconcile after an unexpected termination of pregnancy puts a strain on their marriage. They decide to spend a weekend in a family cottage in the woods but what was supposed to be a romantic weekend suddenly turns into a deadly nightmare as seething suspicions, maddening paranoia and blind rage explodes around them. A bloody, unsettling thriller from Italian horror filmmaker Lucas Pavetto.

Caring husband Nicola (Bret Roberts) arranges for a romantic weekend trip to a secluded family cabin in the woods with his wife Viola (Gabriella Wright) who is recovering after the loss of their child during child birth. The tragedy has shaken the relationship to the core and Nicola hopes the trip will bring them closer, but things from uneasy to deadly once they arrive at the cabin.

The film starts off as a slow burn that begins in low-gear and takes a while to get a proper  head of steam about it, the filmmaker establishes that the relationship is not in the best place, that Nicola is a jealous guy, that Viola is somewhat secretive, we glimpse certain strange happenings from the past as the movie is peppered with short flashbacks. Things take a turn for the worse when Viola has an accident in the woods while she is alone. She is found unconscious by a forest ranger who takes her back to his cabin, once she comes to and is able to tell him where she came from he returns her to Nicola. At this point things go from shaky to seeing some serious cracks in the relationship, Nicola is overcome by jealousy which comes to a head over dinner when he accuses Viola of infidelity, not only accusing her of sleeping with the ranger but also questioning her about something he saw while spying on her back in the city. Viola manages to calm things down a few degrees over dinner and afterward they head for the bedroom where Nicola handcuffs his wife to the bed for some kinky good times, bad idea. With Viola handcuffed to the bed and helpless Nicola goes off the deep-end, again accusing her of infidelity and beating her savagely. as things begin to turn bloody the final third of the movie kicks into high-gear with the severing of some digits

Viola manages to escape when Nicola leaves the room for a moment, freeing herself she runs into the darkness of the woods with her murderous minded husband not too far behind her. The first sign is what appears to be a homeless man living in a camper in the woods, Viola seeks protection from the stranger who instead opts to bend her over the hood of his car and rape her, which he does until Nicola comes up behind him and cuts him down with an ax.

The movie definitely started off slow but this final third is a delirious frenzy of brutal bloodlust and psychological terror with one heck of a big twist, one that might not sit well with all audiences as I do not feel it is necessarily earned. At face value The Perfect Husband is a brutal, gory and nightmarish watch with a stellar performance from Gabriella Wright as the troubled woman in peril, though I did struggle a bit when they flipped the switch and turned this one on it's head,

The Perfect Husband (2014) arrives on Blu-ray from Artsploitation Films in the original scope aspect ratio (2.35:1) looking very nice in HD, the cinematography is strong and stylish, the night scenes are lit very nicely, and the shots are composed with some serious craft. The disc only offers a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround audio track, there is no lossless audio option. The track sounds good with a nice balance for the most part, the dialogue seemed a bit low in the mix at times but otherwise it does the job, an optional English subtitle track is included. 

Extras on the disc include the original 38-minute short film made back on 2011, a 24-minute making of featurette and the usual selection of Artsploitation trailers.

Special Features:
- Il Marito Perfectto (short film) (38 Mins)
- The Perfect Husband Behind-the-Scenes (24 Mins)
- Artsploitation Trailers (6 Mins) 

The Perfect Husband (2014) is a solid watch with elements of backwoods horror and psychological terror thrown into the mix, it made for a solid watch, but that twist might have some viewers throwing their hands up in protest, but if you can accept it there is some solid horror to be had. 

BASKET CASE 3: THE PROGENY (1991) (Blu-ray Review)

BASKET CASE 3: THE PROGENY (1991)

Label: Synapse Films
Region: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 90 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Cast: Kevin Van Hentenryck, Gil Roper, Denise Coop, Annie Ross
Director: Frank Henenlotter

Synopsis : He’s back. He’s bad. And he’s a dad! Belial, everyone’s favorite beast-in-a-basket, is back in this sensational third film in the wildly macabre horror series. After being separated again from his conjoined twin brother Duane (Kevin Van Hentenryck), Belial finds out he’s going to be a deformed daddy! Mrs. Belial (“Eve”, played by Denise Coop) delivers a litter of bouncing baby monsters, but the blessed event turns into a nightmarish ordeal when the police kidnap the little critters. They should know it’s not safe to anger Belial! Attacking the cops in a climactic, gory rampage, everyone’s favorite mutant mauler stops at nothing to get his newborns back!

The Time Square Freak Twins, Duane and Belial Bradley, are back in this third and weird final entry in Frank Henelotter's cult trilogy. We find that demented Duane has been placed in a proper padded room following the events of the second film. Sprung from the loony bin by the endearing Granny Ruth (Annie Ross) the twins along with Granny's band of "unique individuals" board a bus and drive south to the home of Uncle Hal where Belial's pregnant girlfriend Eve can safely give birth to their offspring away from the prying eyes of the normies who wish them harm.

Basket Case 3 is a campy freak-fest of fun that tosses out the more straight-up horror element of the first film and dives head-first into the realm of demented comedy and for the most part it works. Thanks to the mad genius of special effects make-up artist Gabriel Bartalos we get tons of low-budget freaks onscreen, not unlie what I imagine a campy version of Clive Barker's Nightbreed (1990) would have been like. There are loads of memorable rubber faced creations on display like Mackerel Head and Moon Face, this one is a cheapie but a goodie. If you're a fan of gore it is here onscreen but it is offset by Henelotter's particular brand of twisted humor, if you're familiar with Frankenhooker (1990) you will find yourself in familiar territory with this one.  

Highlights include a nutty, over-the-top birthing scene, the freaks assaulting the the local jail in an effort to free Duane and an unexpected Aliens (1986) homage with Belial in a mechanical exoskeleton suit, and gobs of bloody gore-infused comedy. 

Audio/Video: Basket Case 3: The Progeny arrives on Blu-ray with an HD upgrade framed in the original widescreen (1.78:1) aspect ratio looking spiffy and vibrant. Colors are strong and black levels are nicely shaded with some good clarity and a surprising amount of fine detail. Overall this is a nice improvement over their DVD from a few years back. The English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo audio track is well balanced with clear dialogue, score and effects. As with the DVD the only extra on the disc is a trailer for the film, unfortunately there is no commentary track from Frank Henenlotter which would have been outstanding, the man is always an entertaining listen and that is a missed opportunity/ . 

Basket Case 3 is a weird and quirky entry in the cult-series that features a great cast of rubber-faced freaks with all the camp infused violence that we've come to expect from Frank Henenlotter. If you're a fan of the movie this new HD presentation from Synapse Films is worth the upgrade. 

THE RATINGS GAME (1984) (Blu-ray Review)

THE RATINGS GAME (1984) 

Label: Olive Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 102 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Danny Devito
Cast: Danny Devito, Rhea Perlman, Gerrit Graham, Louis Giambalvo, Vincent Schiavelli

Synopsis: The Ratings Game stars Danny DeVito as a New Jersey trucking magnate who’s only dream is hitting it big as a Hollywood producer. Luckily for him, he has a girlfriend (Rhea Perlman, TV’s Cheers) who works for the TV ratings service. Together they pull off a hilarious scam on television’s sacred ratings system. DeVito makes his directorial debut with this critically acclaimed satire.

The Ratings Game is a fun send-up of 80s sitcom TV directed by Danny DeVito who enjoyed his share of TV success in the 80s with Taxi (197801983). The movie is focused on an a very Italian guy named Vic DeSalvo (DeVito) who made his millions as a trucking magnate on the East Coast before moving to sunny Los Angeles in hopes of making it big in the TV business. Moving to L.A. he pens some uniformly awful TV scripts which are uniformly rejected by nearly every studio in town. However his luck turns around when he makes a pitch to an exec at the MBC network who has just been fired, the resentful exec sabotages the network by green lighting a pilot for DeSalvo's awful college sitcom 'Sittin' Pretty'. By the time the other network execs realize just what a turd the show is the pilot has already begun production and it is too late to stop the pilot from airing. TV exec Parker Braithwaiter (Gerrit Graham, Phantom of the Paradise) plans to bury the pilot by having it air during the World Series.

However, the crafty DeSalva is dating Francine Kestler, a woman played by Rhea Perlman who works for the TV ratings service called Computron. She is a woman scorned after having been passed over for promotion by her sexist boss (McCarthy), and together she and DeSalva hatch a scam to artificially drive up the ratings during the shows airing. The scam involves identifying and sending the families who own the Computron set-tops on an ocean cruise, and then sending in hired goons to watch his show during the pilot airing. The scam works and the show is a huge success, the network not only orders more episodes but also green lights another show, the animated sitcom The Goombahs. 

With his runaway success going straight to his head DeSalvo extends the ill-fated cruise for the TV ratings families which leads to all sorts of trouble for him and for his girlfriend, who increasingly feels remorse for her role in the ratings-fiasco. The movie is a fun send-up of just how awful the 80s were for prime-time TV, a decade of brain-dead broadcast TV and gets a nice skewering here, even if this one feels severely dated.

This marked feature-length directorial debut of Danny DeVito (War of the Roses) and it does feel rough, having been made for newcomer cable network Showtime it also suffers from that made-for-TV cheapness. The script is fun and the idea is actually genius, but the execution is a bit workman like with some serious pacing issues, while it does feel a bit clunky, I found that the premise holds up.

What made this so much fun for me aside from the winning premise is the cast of familiar faces who pop up, including Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and Barry Corbin (Northern Exposure) as network execs, Vincent Schiavelli (Better Off Dead), future Seinfeld stars Micheal Richards and Jerry Seinfeld, 80s funnyman Steve Allen, Alan Alda (M.A.S.H.) and of course Rhea Perlman (TVs Cheers) who steals much of the movie as the employee of the TV ratings service who partakes in the ratings-scam.

Audio/Video: The Ratings Game (1984) arrives on Blu-ray from Olive Films framed in the original full frame aspect ratio. The image has a consistent layer of film grain and some vivid colors, but suffers a bit from softness and contrast issues, which are probably inherent to the source material. Other negatives include  dirt, debris and some minor nicks and scratches.This Blu-ray is certainly not demo worthy HD but it is nice to have this pay-cable TV movie on Blu-ray to enjoy after years of obscurity. Audio is handled by an English DTS-HD Mono with optional English subtitles. The fidelity is passable with a nice balance but is flat and non-dynamic.

Extras on the disc are substantial by the usual Olive Film standard, including a collection of four early short films by Danny DeVito. The Sound Sleeper (1973), Minestrone (1975), A Lovely Way to spend an Eveing (1983) and The Selling of Vince D'Angelo (1983). The latter two were segments from the Cable TV comedy anthology series 'Likely Stories'. My favorite is The Selling of Vince D'Angelo, a satirical look at a corrupt New Jersey businessman running for the Jersey senate.

Other extra include six-minutes of deleted scenes, a seven-minute making of featurette, a Showtime promo for the movie and a 22-page booklet with writing on the movie from Peter Chermin, plus images and promotional materials from the movie, and information about the short movies. 

Special Features:
- Collection of Rare Short Films Directed by Danny DeVito: The Sound Sleeper (12 Mins), Minestrone (12 Mins), A Lovely Way to spend an Eveing (14 Mins), The Selling of Vince D'Angelo (22 Mins)
- 22 Page Collector’s Booklet
- Behind the scenes featurette (7 Mins)
- Deleted scenes (6 Mins)
- Showtime Promo (2 Mins)

The Ratings Game is a fun watch, a biting send-up of 80s network TV culture from someone who lived through it as a star on Taxi. The movie is dated and the execution can be a bit rough but the idea and premise is top-notch and holds up nicely. The Blu-ray from Olive Films looks a good as can be expected from a made-for-TV movie from the early 80s with a wealth of extras to enjoy, glad to see this one rise up from obscurity and onto Blu-ray 

SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA (1987) (Blu-ray Review)

SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA (1987) 

Label: Full Moon Features
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: R
Duration: 80 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: David DeCoteau
Cast:  Andras Jones, Linnea Quigley, Robin Stille, Hal Havins, John Stuart Wildman, Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer, Kathi O’Brecht, Carla Baron, George ‘Buck’ Flower, Michael Sonye

80s college dorks Calvin (Andras Jones, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4), Jimmie (Hal Havins, Night of the Demons) and Keith (John Stuart Wildman, Terror Night) are your typical 80s dweebs, they love drinking beer and watching horror movies in their dorm room, but when one of them hears that the Tri-Delta sorority house is holding a pledge initiation ceremony they drop everthing and head on over to the sorority house in hopes of glimpsing some sweet co-ed nudity. Peering through the windows like creepers they spy sorority sisters Babs (the late Robin Rochelle, The Slumber Party Massacre), Rhonda (Kathi O’Brecht, Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout) and Frankie (Carla Baron,Necromancer) initiating a pair of new pledges, namely Lisa (Brinke Stevens, Slumber Party Massacre) and Taffy (Michelle Bauer, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers), whom are taking a paddle on the behind and being sprayed with whipped cream, the stuff teenage dreams are made of. Afterward the pledges are sent to the showers to clean-up and the three goofs sneak into the house and make their way to the bathroom where they grab an eyeful of sweet 80s scream queen boobies. The dorks are caught in the act by super-bitch Babs who coerces them into helping the pledges break into a local bowling alley where they're meant to steal a bowling trophy. 

What the dorks and pledges do not know is that Babs' dad own the bowling alley and that she will be watching them from the closed circuit security cameras, watching and waiting in hopes of scaring the group off before they can get the trophy so she can subject the pledges to more paddle-punishment.  Arriving at the bowling alley the pledges and dorks bicker amongst themselves for a bit before coming upon a lady burglar named Spider prying open a cash register for some quick cash. Spider is played by scream queen Linnea Quigley (Return of the Living Dead) in one of her best roles from the 80s, the only downside might be that she does not appear nude, but this movie has that covered already. The reluctant Spider helps the group break into the trophy room to acquire the coveted trophy, which they drop, unleashing a demonic-imp named Uncle Impie whom had been imprisoned inside it for the past thirty years. Seemingly thankful for being released Impie says he will grant each of them a wish for freeing him from his bowling trophy-prison. 

In true monkey's paw fashion the wishes granted turn out to be curses for the group and they either transform into demonic minions or begin dying off in a myriad of creative ways. The sorority sisters are not immune from the demonic imp, Frankie is transformed into the Bride of Frankenstein while Rhonda is turned into a sex-crazed fiend. This one is a lot of 80s fun, there is a nice role reversal of sorts as the women are the dominant force against the demonic Imp. B-movie legend Buck Flowers (They Live) shows up as a janitor who tells the teens the story of the evil imp, a demon summoned by bowler who suddenly turned pro and cleaned-up thanks to the black magic of the imp. His ascent to the top of the bowling game left a trail of dead bodies for which he is arrested some thirty years earlier, afterward the imp was imprisoned in the trophy. The well-informed janitor informs them how they can capture the demonic menace again, which turns out to be rather simple, the ending of the movie comes abruptly with a quick bit of silliness that might be the worst art of the movie.. 

I think the arguably lasting charm of  Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama has everything to do with 80s nostalgia and fans fondness for 80s scream queens Brink Stevens, Michelle Bauer and Linnea Quigley. Watching it now the movie did not exactly age like a fine wine, though it is certainly a fun and entertaining slice of 80s horror. The demonic character of Uncle Impie is also a lot of fun, voiced by Dukey Flyswatter of band Haunted Garage, the pint-sized demon delivers quite a few cheesy one-liners, the kind you could only get  away with in the 80s. Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama is a nice piece of 80s cheese stuffed with 80s scream queens and some sweet nudity, the kills are fun but not executed with any real gusto, but as a fun 80s slice of horror cheese this is just a fun watch. 

Audio/Video: Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama arrives on Blu-ray from Full Moon Features with a new 2K scan of the original 35mm camera negative. Colors are decently vibrant with some modest depth, the HD widescreen presentation is quite an improvement over previous fullframe versions of the movie from Full Moon which were derived from 1" video masters. Now framed in the proper widescreen aspect ratio the movie looks solid, benefiting from a nice crisp image with some good clarity. As per their usual Full Moon have chosen to go with lossy audio track with choice of Dolby Digital 2.0 or 5.1, which does the job just fine but the time has come to go with some DTS-HD MA audio guys, c'mon.

Extras on the disc fairly extensive for a Full Moon disc beginning with an audio commentary from Director David DeCoteau, Actress Brinke Stevens and writer Sergei Hasenecz which is stuffed with info about the production, the death of actress Robin Stille who played bitch queen Babs, and loads of other goodies, DeCoteau usually gives a solid commentary for his movies and this is no different. 

There's an over two hour making of doc featuring vintage behind-the-scenes footage and new footage of DeCoteau speaking about making the movie, another good watch for fans of the movie. The making of doc also features an optional commentary track from director David DeCoteau.

There's a brief 2000 interview with star Brinke Stevens who speaks about the original title of the movie, The Imp, displaying the original artwork for the movie and briefly speaking about her career as a scream queen. We also get some footage of Dukey Flyswatter doing the voice for the Imp, plus a couple of trailers for the movie and a Full Moon trailer reel. 

Special Features: 
- Director Intro (2 Mins) 
- Audio Commentary by Director David DeCoteau, Actress Brinke Stevens and writer Sergei Hasenecz
- Tales From the Bowling Alley, Feature Length Making Of Documentary featuring extensive behind the scenes footage and optional commentary by David DeCoteau (136 Mins) 
- Brinke Stevens vs The Imp Featurette (3 Mins) 
- New 2016 HD Trailer (1 Mins) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (1 Mins) 
- Full Moon Trailer Reel

Sorority Babes In The Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama is a trashy slice of 80s Full Moon fun starring three of the era's most loved scream queens. Sire, the damn thing is goofy and the special effects are a bit cheesy but the 80s horror-nostalgia is strong with this one and i loved watching it again. The new 2K scan of the movie looks great and the extras are top notch, this comes with a high recommend for Full Moon fans and lovers of 80s scream queens and cheesy b-movie cinema. 

DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. (1980) (Severin Films Blu-ray Review)

DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. (1980) 

The Definitive 2-Disc Edition

Label: Severin Films
Rating: Unrated
Region Code: Region-Free
Duration: Doctor Butcher M.D. (82 Mins), Zombie Holocaust (89 Mins) 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0, English and Italian LPCM 2.0 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Director: Marino Girolami 
Cast: Ian McCulloch, Alexandra Delli Colli, Sherry Buchanan, Peter O’Neal, Donald O’Brien

Synopsis: It sparked riots on 42nd Street, spawned a generation of gorehounds on VHS, and forever set an insane standard for Italian mad doctor/zombie/cannibal carnage worldwide: Ian McCulloch (Zombie), Alexandra Delli Colli (The New York Ripper), Sherry Buchanan (Tentacles) star in this blood orgy of gut-munching, eyeball-gouging and face-chopping originally known as Zombie Holocaust, which a notorious American distributor would then re-edit, re-title and re-release as a certified grindhouse masterpiece. Severin Films now presents both films fully restored for the first time ever from original vault elements discovered in Manhattan and Rome, and loaded with all-new Bonus Features that finally reveal the unbelievable truth behind its bizarre history, infamous marketing and still-deviant legacy.

Zombie Holocaust (1980) is a wildly entertaining and somewhat awful mash-up of the Italian zombie and cannibal sub genres that were so popular in the flea pit cinemas as the 70s turn into the 80s. The movie lifts big meaty chunks from Lucio Fulci's Zombi (1979) along with pieces from Sergio Martino's The Mountain of the Cannibal God (1978), including a very memorable location from Fulci's Zombi, and going as far as to borrow the movie's lead actor Ian McCulloch whom they didn't even bother to rename for this one!

The movie opens with a series of grisly corpse mutilations happening at a hospital morgue in New York City. Pathologist Dr. Lori Ridgeway (Alexandra Delli Colli) is at a loss to explain the body part thefts until an orderly is caught red-handed with a human heart. Before they can ask why the orderly runs away and leaps to his death through a upper floor window. The leap through the window is a fun slice of schlock cinema cheese, the obvious dummy the filmmakers threw out the window loses an arm on impact with the ground. The orderlies dying words are "Kito", this word and a series of strange tribal tattoos lead attractive Dr. Ridgeway to surmise that the mutilations has something to do with a cannibal cult and the island of Kito in the South Pacific. With that tenuous bit of info Ridgeway and NYC Health Department official Peter Chandler (Ian McCulloch), along with annoying investigative reporter Susan (Sherry Buchanan) and her boyfriend George (Peter O’Neal) board a jet and fly to the island of Kito in search of answers. Answers for what I am not sure, since the cannibal orderly dead you think that would end their inquest, but the filmmakers have to get this crew to the island of Kito somehow to get things underway proper, and this does nicely if you don't think too long on it, which I do not recommend you do. 

Arriving on tropical island of Kito the group become the guests of Dr. Obrero (Donal O’Brien), an America doc who is on the island studying the local cannibal tribe. The doc organizes a doomed excursion into the jungle for the visiting doc and her crew. Unfortunately Dr. Ridgeway and Chandler run afoul of the local cannibals, with Ridgeway thankfully stripped down nude and body-painted by the cannibal clan, meanwhile Chandler gets caught up in the diabolical mad science of Dr. Obrero who is obsessed with prolonging life through some oddball brain transplants. 

Shot on the cheap and short on originality this Italian production manages to be a lot of fun there is no shortage of crude gore with some ropey gut munching, hacked limbs, slit throats, brutal eye-gouging, and some of the worst zombie make-up ever committed to film. However, the good stuff manages to be pretty great, including McCulloch taking out a zombie with the running propeller blades of a boat motor, which was badass! There's also some sweet nudity  courtesy of Alexandra Delli Colli (The New York Ripper) who portrays a piss-poor doc but is easy on the eyes and often nude. McCulloch as always manages to class up the Italian movies with his presence, even this turd of a zombie movie with his usual charm. Donal O’Brien chews up the scenery as the mad scientist with some great cheesy lines, and bright-eyed actress Sherry Buchanan adds some spunk to the movie, though unfortunately she does not strip down for any of her scenes, though she appeared nude in quite a few movies through the years.

The two-disc set from Severin includes the original longer version of the movie Zombie Holocaust with the original title card and a scene that was missing for previous releases, and also includes, for the first-time ever on disc, the Aquarius releasing version known as Doctor Butcher M.D, a cut with an alternate psycho-tronic synth score with some of the more mundane dialogue trimmed out for pacing,  only leaving behind the good stuff. The Doctor Butcher M.D. retitling is more appropriate as the zombies number in the single digits, making it hard to call this a proper Zombie Holocaust. 

Audio/Video: Severin have gone all out for this one, not only are we getting the a new 2K scan of the original negative of Zombie Holocaust (89 Mins) but we are getting a new 2K scan of the Dr. Butcher M.D. (82 Mins) from the original negative elements straight from the Aquarius Releasing vaults, fully uncut, marking the first time this version of the move has received a release on disc. The new Severin restoration is quite an improvement over my 2002 Shriek Show DVD, there's a nice layer of film grain with some nice clarity and fine detail. The image is brighter and the colors more vibrant, black levels are deeper, a very nice upgrade overall. The movie is low-rent and looks it, but the new transfer is above and beyond previous versions, making the ropey special effects look even worse in HD. 

The 2-disc comes with a few audio options, disc one with the Doctor Butcher M.D. cut includes English DTS-HD MA 2.0 and LPCM 2.0. The Zombie Holocaust cut on the second disc features English DTS-HD MA 2.0 and Italian LPCM 2.0. The Zombie Holocaust version features a score from composer Nico Fidenco while the Doctor Butcher M.D. version features a wonderfully cheesy psycho-tronic score from Walter Sear (who did the alternate score for the Seven Doors of Death version of Lucio Fulci's The Beyond) which I preferred to the original score. The audio tracks on both versions of the movie sound clean and crisp with no snap, crackle or hiss, the scores sound good, everything is nicely balanced in the mix. 

REVERSIBLE ARTWORK!

Onto the extras we have a metric fuck ton of awesome extras spread out over the two Blu-ray discs, the quality of this stuff is Criterion worthy, with Severin once again going above and beyond to give this slice of z-grade cinema a first class edition. On disc one we have the extras for Doctor Butcher M.D. beginning with a half hour interview with Terry Levene, the now eighty-six year old mastermind who ran Aquarius Releasing. The old duff is quite a storyteller and goes into the history of Aquarius Releasing, detailing the success of skin pics like Deep Throat and the gore and grue of movies like Make Them Die Slowly and The Seven Doors of Death. This is a great extras, it does a nice job of setting up the era the movie was shown in, and the very cool ad campaign he created for the movie. 

Down on the Deuce is a guided tour of the now sanitized 42nd Street with director Roy Frumkes and cult movie historian Chris Poggialli of Temple of schlock as they walk down 42nd pointing out where the locations of the old grindhouse cinemas. Each giving their own personal first-hand accounts and insight into each of them, they really pack a lot of history into this one, it goes beyond just flea pit cinemas. The segment is also informed by a series of vintage photographs and video of the area and era, another solid extra. 

Severin have also included Roy Frumkes' segment of the unfinished horror anthology film 'Tales That Will Tear Your Heart Out', which Terry Levene has spliced rather poorly into the beginning of Doctor Butcher M.D. It's nice to have it on this set in its entirety with an audio commentary from Frumkes. 

The reclusive Rick Sullivan of the Gore Gazette shows up for a 12-minute interview, the infamous zine publisher speaks about his time working on the Gore Gazette, promoting Doctor Butcher MD. on the back of the “Butchermobile”, his appearance on the Morton Downey Jr. Show, and some legal troubles he came into while selling grey market VHS tapes when he expanded his catalog to include movies from the now infamous Traci Lords. 

DOCTOR BUTCHER BARF BAG! 

The film editor of Doctor Butcher M.D. Jim Markovic shows up for a 10-minute interview, speaking about his time working for Aquarius Releasing and how Levine would buy Euro-cult movies and "trick them up" for screenings on the grindhouse circuit. Disc one is finished up with an Illustrated Essay: “Experiments With A Male Caucasian Brain (…and other memories of 42nd Street)” By Gary Hertz plus the Theatrical Trailer and two Video Release Trailers for Doctor Butcher M.D.. 

Onto disc two we have an eight-minute interview with star Ian McCulloch who begins by saying that "I started at the top and very quickly worked my way to the bottom", which sets the tone for the brief interview as he speaks about his career in movies and onto his turn in the gore classics Zombi, Contamination and Zombie Holocaust - the latter of which he has never sat down to watch!

The late Italian FX Master Rosario Prestopino shows up for a twenty-three minute archival video interview recorded back in 2007, discussing his work on the movie. Fans will remember his name from other classic Italian movies like Demons, Lucio Fulci's City of the Living Dead and the schlock-classic Burial Ground. The interview is conducted in Italian with optional English subtitles. 

I had no idea that the director of Zombie Holocaust was the father of director Enzo G. Castalari (Bronx Warriors) who shows up for a loving tribute to his father Marino Girolami, which was a nice surprise. The still gorgeous actress Sherryl Buchanan shows up for a chat about her career making Italian exploitation movies, which a fun watch as she speaks about how she was born in Biloxi, Mississippi and how she ended up in Italian movies, including the reason she quit acting, after a body double was used to insert some hardcore sex scenes in the movie Emanuelle and Joanna, after which she was besieged by requests to do sex films. The interview is in Italian with optional English subtitles. 

A five-minute interview with FX Artist Maurizio Trani features the artist reminiscing about working with Marino Girolami whom he recalls did not understand special effects the way that Lucio Fulci did, creating the brain-surgery scene and how they achieved it, using clay to quickly sculpt zombie make-up on set, and fondly remembering make-up artists Rosario Prestopino, though he says he only vaguely recalls making this particular movie. 

Severin have also included a 1964 audio recording of star Ian McCulloch singing "Down by the River"  which has nothing to do with the movie, but is still a cool inclusion. The song is a pretty standard 60s folk song, but not unpleasant. Disc two zipped up with the International and German trailers for the Zombie Holocaust. Packaging extras include a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring key art for both versions of the movie, as do each of the Blu-ray discs. Also, the first 5000 copies ordered directly from www.severin-films.com include a free Doctor Butcher barf bag! 

Special Features: 
Disc One: Doctor Butcher M.D. 
- Butchery and Ballyhoo: Interview with Aquarius Releasing’s Terry Levene (32 Mins) HD 
- Down on the Deuce: Nostalgic Tour Of 42nd Street With Temple Of Shock’s Chris Pogialli and Filmmaker Roy Frumkes. (22 Mins) HD 
- Roy Frumkes’ Segment Of Unfinished Anthology Film ‘Tales That Will Tear Your Heart Out’. Frumkes’ full cut of his episode of the doomed anthology film, accompanied by his audio commentary. (8 Mins) 
- The Butcher Mobile: Interview with Gore Gazette Editor and Butcher Mobile Barker Rick Sullivan. (12 Mins) HD 
- Cutting Doctor Butcher: Interview with Editor Jim Markovic. (10 Mins) HD 
- Illustrated Essay: “Experiments With A Male Caucasian Brain (…and other memories of 42nd Street)” By Gary Hertz. The Doctor from the Butcher Mobile recalls his days on the Deuce.
- Theatrical Trailer (3 Mins) 
- Video Release Trailers for Doctor Butcher M.D. (2 Mins) 
Disc Two: Zombie Holocaust 
- Voodoo Man: Interview With Star Ian McCulloch. (8 Mins) HD 
- Blood of the Zombies: Interview With FX Master Rosario Prestopino. (23 Mins) HD 
- Filmmaker Enzo G, Catsalari Remembers His Father Director Marino Girolami (8 Mins) HD 
- Neurosurgery Italian style: Interview with FX Artist Maurizio Trani. (5 Mins) HD 
- New York Filming Locations Then Vs. Now. A look at the Big Apple locales as they are today. (3 Mins) HD 
- Ian McCulloch Sings “Down By The River”. (3 Mins) 
- International Trailer (4 Mins) HD 
- German Trailer (3 Mins) 
- The first 5000 copies of this double disc release will come with official Doctor Mutcher Barf Bag! Available exclusively from www.severin-films.com
- Sleeve of Reversible Artwork featuring key art for Zombie Holocaust and Doctor Butcher M.D.. 

If you love cheap gore, crude zombies and loads of Euro-cheese then Doctor Butcher M.D. has the prescription you need! Severin's 2-disc edition of Doctor Butcher M.D. / Zombie Holocaust is the definitive gore platter and is the only version of the movie you will ever need to own.