ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK (1972)
Label: Severin Films
Duration: 95 Minutes
Region Code: All
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: English & Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Sergio Martino
Cast: George Hilton, Edwige Fenech, Ivan Rassimov
Sergio Martino's stylish and surreal giallo-shocker All The Colors of the Dark (1972) opens with a wild nightmare sequence that wouldn't seem out of place in a Fellini film, with zooming and kaleidoscopic images of a drag queen queen and a nude pregnant woman on an examination table. This introduces us to the main character of Jane Harrison (giallo royalty Edwige Fenech, Blade of the Ripper), a somewhat hysterical woman who after miscarrying her unborn child has been plagued by recurring nightmares, these visions include the aforementioned surreal stuff plus ultra, blue-eyed killer (Ivan Rassimov, Eaten Alive), whom we are told is the man guilty of murdering her mother years earlier.
The nightmares have begun affecting her in many ways, not the least of which is her sex life lover Richard (George Hilton, Blade of the Ripper), who suggest some concentrated vitamin pills as a cure for her mental ailments. Meanwhile her sister Barbara (Nieves Navarro, The Big Gundown) implores her to see her psychiatrist Dr. Burton (George Rigaud, Eyeball), but the psycho-babbler doesn't seem to help all that much either. At her rope's end Jane eventually meets a new friend by way of neighbor Mary Well (Marina Malfatti, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times) who after learning of her problems suggests that she attend a black mass, which sure, sounds like a great idea!
At the black mass she meets the long, blue-fingered cult leader who commands her to drink the blood of a sacrificed dog and join in on a sex orgy, which she does, naturally, it was the 70 after all. The next day she's not sure if she was at the orgy or if it was all imagined, but either way it does seem to have improved her sex life, but the nightmares become even more pronounced, and she begins to see the blue-eyed killer stalking her on the streets with increased frequency. As her sanity begins to crumble she loses her ability to distinguish reality from her nightmares, eventually being indoctrinated into the cult after murdering a willing participant, and then things get even weirder.
All The Colors of the Dark has had a good reputation for years, when I first started sifting my way through the cycle of gialli films after discovering DariO Argento's seminal entries I wasn't all that impressed with it. I thought it dragged, and Fenech was a bit too much of a damsel in distress for my tastes, but it's a film that has grown on me with each viewing. Set in London the film has some Gothic trappings that set it apart from the usual black-gloved whodunit, in fact there is no black gloved killer here,we have a blue-eyed man, which is pretty cool. Also setting it apart are the occult elements, which were not unheard of in the genre, you need look no further than the criminally underrated Short Night of Glass Dolls (1971) which arrived a year earlier. Also differentiating it is a more overt supernatural element with the theme of precognition which adds another dimension to the proceedings.
Edwige Fenech is radiant as ever here, her films with Martino are among my favorites, she's simply a stunning woman, those eyes draw you right in. She's sultry and has a voluptuous body that Euro-cult dreams are made of, it's always a pleasure to see her in the buff and this film doesn't disappoint in that regard. She's a bit more of damsel in distress here than I am used to seeing, calling out for her lover throughout the film, hysterical and paranoid, but that's the character she plays. Hilton is his usual charming self, another regular collaborator with director Sergio Martino, often paired with Fenech in numerous films.
Audio/Video: All The Colors of the Dark (1972) arrives on Blu-ray from Severin Films with a new 4K scan from the original camera negative, presented in 1080p HD and framed in 2.35:1 widescreen. Having only previously watched this on the Shriek Show DVD I can say that the image is quite an improvement. Colors looks solid, skin tones look more accurate and natural, the black levels are pleasing and there's more detail visible.
Audio comes by way of English and Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English subtitles for both the English and Italian tracks, with some slight but notable differences in translation. The English track is more robust to my ears, both are clean and nicely balanced, the score from Bruno Nicolai (The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave) is fantastic.
Severin have included a terrific set of extras, beginning with the shorter 88-min U.S. cut of the film with the title 'They're Coming To Get You' presented in standard definition and cropped widescreen at 1.85:1, with lossy audio. It's a cool extra for completest, I wasn't very fond of it myself in it's abbreviated form.
The film also gets an audio commentary courtesy of Katt Ellinger, author of 'All the Colors of Sergio Martino" and co-host Daughters of Darkness podcast. Ellinger always gives good commentaries, this one is insightful, loaded with info about Martino's filmography, focusing on his career more so than anything screen specific.
Sergio Martino shows up for a brand new 40-min interview discussing the film, giving lots of credit to screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, describing how he wanted to something more surreal with this giallo as apposed to his others, and how that was not well received in Italy. This interview is in Italian with English subtitles.
There's also a 32-min interview with actor George Hilton intercut with Italian horror expert Antonio Tentori. Hilton speaks about his early career and becoming a spaghetti western star, while Tentori speaks about the giallo cycle and how this film influences many other, in Italian with English subtitles.
The last of the interviews is with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi who discusses his career, collaborations with Sergio Martino and his thoughts on this film in particular, in Italian with English subtitles.
This 2-disc Blu-ray/CD release comes housed in a spiffy looking black Blu-ray keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork, which looks to be a slight variation on an original Italian movie posters, the Blu-ray discs features the same key art. The CD soundtrack included features an image of Edwige Fenech from the black mass orgy. Inside the keepcase you will find a glossy index-card sized track listing for original motion picture soundtrack, this being the expanded 29 song soundtrack version. I always prefer a separate CD fr soundtracks as opposed to isolated score, I can't easily rip a Blu-ray score onto my iPod or play it on my stereo, so I appreciate when Severin offers these!
Special Features:
- They're Coming To Get You- Alternate US cut (88 mins)
- Color My Nightmare- Interview with Director Sergio Martino (40 min)
- Last of The Mohicans- Interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi (18 min)
- Giallo is the Color- Interviews with actor George Hilton and Italian horror expert Antonio Tentori (32 min)
- Audio Commentary with Kat Ellinger, author of All the Colors of Sergio Martino
- Theatrical Trailers (3 min)
- International Trailer (3 min)
- They're Coming To Get You TV Spot (1 min)
- CD Soundtrack (78 min) (29 Tracks)
Severin have brought us a gorgeous presentation of All The Colors of the Dark (1972) on Blu-ray, a very good giallo that sets itself apart from the standard black-gloved thriller with a delerious, psychedelic cult element that's not only stylish, but offers a pleasing eyeful of giallo-queen Edwige Fenech in all her glory, highly recommended.
APT PUPIL (1998)
Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: MA 15+
Duration: 111 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video:1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Bryan Singer
Cast: Brad Renfro, Ian McKellen, Joshua Jackson, David Schwimmer, Bruce Davison,
Ann Dowd,
James Karen, Elias Koteas
Following The Usual Suspects (1995) I was very excited to see what newcomer director Bryan Singer would do next, when it was announced it would be an adaptation of Stephen King's Nazi next door novel Apt Pupil I was very excited. Set 1984 the film stars Brad Renfro (Ghost World) as high schooler Todd Bowden who is a bit too curious about Nazi culture. So much so that he is able to identify his elderly neighbor Arthur Denker (Ian McKellan, Lord of the Rings) as fugitive Nazi war criminal Kurt Dussander, an officer in the ranks of the SS, who oversaw an extermination camp where atrocities were committed against the Jews.
The first sign that the kid is not your average teen is when he doesn't report the criminal to the authorities, instead he approaches the elderly man and informs him after some polite conversation that he knows who he is and what he has done, calling him by his true name and indicating the camp he oversaw. He uses this leverage to ply the man for detailed information about how it felt to do the things he did, going into great detail about the atrocities he committed. These morbid tales ignite a growing darkness within the teen, at one point purchasing a Nazi officer uniform which he demands the elderly Nazi wear while he puts him through his paces, it's a disturbing scene.
The increased time spent together reliving Nazi atrocities has an effect on both individuals, the old Nazi's sadistic tendencies are seemingly re-awakened, while Todd's growing darkness continues to consume him, with his academic studies suffering, while growing apart from his best friend Joey (Joshua Jackson, TV's Fringe). Both men begin to dabble in animal cruelty, the old man attempts to roast a stray cat in his oven while Todd needlessly kills a pigeon at school. The old man's blood lust eventually leads to him luring a homeless gigolo (Elias Koteas) into his home with the intent to kill him with a knife, but a heart attack requires him to bring in Todd to finish the job, with a bit of black mail of his own leveraged over the teen.
Eventually a chance encounter at the hospital has the Nazi being recognized by an elderly death camp survivor which puts Nazi-hunters n the trail of Denker, threatening to expose not just him but the teen's complicit nature in the whole ordeal.
I've always found this film compelling, how it begins to explore the dark nature of the boy's disturbing fascination with Nazi culture, but it never really nails it down to a satisfying degree. Singer's adaptation also explores homosexuality and homophobia as well as the holocaust, but that too doesn't really have a satisfying message to convey, it's a film that has a lot of ingredients but they don't all come together in a way that I feel it should, it lacks depth.
The late Brad Renfro turns in a nicely dark performance here, he was a talented guy and he portrays the kid's sickening curiosity with good intensity. He plays well off of the chilling turn from McKellan, with the pair entangled in a wicked cat and mouse game of blackmail and leverage, with increasingly dire results for both individuals. Watch for appearances from Bruce Davison (Willard) as Todd's dad, plus James Karen (Return of the Living Dead), Elias Koteas (Let Me In) and TV's Friends star David Schwimmer as Todd's guidance counselor with a hideously bad moustache.
Audio/Video: Apt Pupil (1998) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment presented in 1080p HD and framed in 2.35:1 widescreen. The image looks solid throughout. There's no mention of a new scan for this release, so this is probably the same HD master used by Image for their out-of-print Blu-ray, it looks solid, the colors are strong and the black levels are decent throughout. The film has a bit of haziness to it because of some soft focus cinematography, so it's not a super sharp and crisp looking presentation, butt overall this is a solid looking presentation, a nice upgrade over the DVD.
Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles, it's a healthy sounding stereo presentation with no issues with distortion that I could discern. The score from John Ottman (Lake Placid) holds up nicely, it gets some nice life in the mix, too bad we don't get a 5.1 audio track for this one, I am fairly certain all previous home video releases had one.
Extras are slim, we get a 7-min vintage making of featurette with interviews from Bryan Singer, Brad Renfro, Ian McKellan, with loads of behind-the-scenes footage. We also get a theatrical trailer for the film and some TV spots.
The single-disc release comes housed in an oversized Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, both sides featuring the same image, what looks to be a collage of a pair of original movie posters for the film, with one side not having the unsightly ratings logo on the cover. Like the other Stephen King adaptations released by Umbrella the sleeve has the worn, dog-eared look of a paperback which gives the collection of Blu-rays a nice symmetry on the shelf when placed next to each other. The disc has an excerpt from the same key art.
Obviously I would have loved some new extras for this title, it's controversial for several reasons, especially some behind-the-scenes stuff involving director Bryan Singer and some lawsuits filed against him by some young men who felt that some shower scenes, but that's not usually the sort of thing you find on an extra for a film, particularly about a still working director. That said, some new interviews would have been appreciated.
Special Features:
- Behind-The-Scenes (7 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (3 min)
- TV Spots (2 min)
Apt Pupil (1998) is an underrated gem of Stephen King adaptation, it lacks depth and doesn't fully explore the themes it sets up, but I still find it a compelling Nazi-next-door film. Kudos to Umbrella Entertainment for making this release available again on Blu-ray, the out-of-print Image release has been fetching some steep prices on the secondary market, so this is a welcome release, and it's region-free!
Label: Dark Sky Films
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 87 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Mathew Holeness
Cast: Sean Harrias, Alun Armstrong
Sean Harris (24 Hour Party People) stars in the grim and dark indie film Possum (2018) as a neurotic, disgraced former teacher who returns to his decrepit childhood home after becoming a suspect in the disappearance from a local boy. The place was charred years earlier by a fire that killed both his parents, though the place is still inhabited by his crusty and ill-tempered uncle Maurice (Alun Armstrong, Sleepy Hollow).
From the start of the film Philip carries around with him a leather bag, at first we only glimpse the contents, but we discover that inside it is a creepy puppet he's created, a nightmare effigy with a haunted looking human face with long spider legs, it's a horrible looking thing. Throughout the films run time Philip looks to be rid of it by dumping it in the woods, submerging it in water and burning it, but the things keeps returning to him, like a childhood trauma that won't go away.
The horror here is of the psychological kind, bringing to mind David Cronenberg's Spider (2002), with Sean Harris turning in a very fine performance as the childhood trauma-scarred man. Tiny bits of his past keep bubbling to the surface of this dark film, but it's a bit on the surreal side with more visual impressions than straight-up storytelling, a choice I will assume might befuddle some watchers of the film, but it certainly tapped into my love of arthouse cinema.
The setting in a dour looking small British village is brown-stained and drab, the color palette having the appearance of a nicotine stained wall paper with mossy highlights, it feels cold and with some creepy animations of the spider puppet, and surreal imagery of balloons enveloped by smoke. There's also the recitation of a dark children's poem which seems to be the creation of Philip, accompanied by some unsettling drawings, all this coming together to create a unsettling bit of psychological sadness filled to the brim with dread.
While I dig it quite a bit the film does have the feel of an interesting short story stretched to feature length, luckily we have Harris' turning in a fine performance to anchor the film, and some nightmare imagery and dark subject matter that keeps the gears turning right up till the end without over extending the premise.
Audio/Video: Possum (2018) arrives on DVD from Dark Sky Films in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) with English Dolby Digital 5.1 with Optional English subtitles.
Extras include 58-mins of interview with actors Sean Harris and Alun Armstrong, director Mathew Holness, and producer James Harris, plus 11-mins of behind-the-scenes footage and a 2-min trailer for the film.
Special Features:
- Interview with Mathew Holness and Sean Harris (18 min)
- Interview with Alun Armstrong (11 min)
- Interview with Mathew Holness (18 min)
- Interview with James Harris (11 min)
- Behind-The-Scenes (11 min)
- Trailer (2 min)
Possum (2018) is not gonna a film for the general horror audiences, but if you dig dark, psychological thrillers with a slow-burning pace and a strong lead performance this is a bit of n indie gem.
