Critters: A Four Course Feast (1986 - 1992)

Arrow Films are releasing a limited edition box set of all four CRITTERS films in 1080p HD (no 4K this time around) with 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround audio options for all the films. You also get a 60 page book with new writing, double-sided posters for all the films and reversible sleeves but for now let's take a look at the films:

Critters (1986) 

A charming, occasionally gory and frequently amusing movie which was a big hit back in the day. In the extras we're told the aim was to produce 'PG-13' horror, which meant in the UK CRITTERS got a 15 certificate, but you can certainly see where with a few cuts it could have been PG over here.

Somewhere in space, in a maximum security prison run by a creature named Zanti (a nice and unostentatious gag for Outer Limits fans) a renegade band of hungry bitey little furballs called Krites steal a spaceship (how maximum actually is this security?) and set off for earth. They are pursued by two shapeshifting bounty hunters and everyone converges on a small Kansas farm. The Krites start chomping and the bounty hunters start blowing everything up.

If you've not seen CRITTERS you may be expecting some ultra low-budget Charles Band-style tomfoolery. Actually CRITTERS was a New Line production, has a decent budget, good acting (from Dee Wallace and Billy Green Bush amongst others) and special effects, and a pseudo Jerry Goldsmith score from David Newman. It feels a little slower now than it did back in the day but you can still see its heart is firmly in 'fun monster movie' territory.

Extras include two archival commentaries, one from Barry (producer) & Don (star) Opper and the other from special effects boys the Chiodo brothers. There's a new commentary from Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain who have contributed new commentaries to all four films and on this one they're joined by screenwriter Shane Bitterling (PUPPET MASTER X and similar fare). Extras ported over from the 2018 Shout Factory release include a 71 minute making of and a 22 minute tribute to screenwriter Brian (Domonic) Muir. You also get 12 minutes of behind the scenes footage of the Krites being manipulated, the alternate ending which didn't do so well with test audiences, trailers TV spots and an image gallery.

Critters 2: The Main Course (1988)

Scott Grimes, Don Opper, Lin Shaye and Terrence Mann all return from the first film for this David Twohy / Mick Garris-written sequel which sees the eggs left behind at the end of the first film hatching and causing havoc. 

Like a lot of sequels this one 'goes bigger' - instead of a farm we now have an entire small town under attack. It's actually good fun and is arguably better than the first film, with some fun ideas (the Easter Egg hunt where the eggs turn out to be critters, the Krites' battle sphere) and feels as if it's been made with as much care as the first, even if there are a couple of repeated FX shots.

Extras include two archival commentaries from Mick Garris and the Chiodo Brothers with another new commentary from Budrewicz and Wain. There's a making of documentary, which like the one for the first lasts over an hour, behind the scenes footage (24 minutes), 13 minutes of additional scenes for TV, trailer, TV spot and image gallery.

Critters 3 (1991)

Horror writer David J Schow provides the screenplay for this one, which features Don Opper again, as well as Nina Axelrod (from MOTEL HELL), Frances Bay (from IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS) and, in his first film role, Leonardo Di Caprio. Kristine Peterson directs this tale of the Krites coming to Los Angeles. Any thoughts that they're going city-wide this time will be dashed once you realise the action is going to be restricted to an apartment building. It's not bad but the lower budget means it suffers in comparison to the first two. 

Extras include a Barry & Don Opper commentary, a new Budrewicz and Wain commentary and a making of featurette which lasts 27 minutes and includes screenwriter David J Schow but not director Peterson), plus the usual bits and pieces (trailer and image gallery).

Critters 4 (1992)

'Will they ever stop?' some viewers must have been thinking with the release of this fourth film, this time set on a space station, and making enthusiasts for crap sequels wonder quite why so many franchise part fours used the same idea (LEPRECHAUN 4, HELLRAISER 4). Don Opper and Terrance Mann are present and correct and this time we also get Brad Dourif and Angela Bassett as well as Anders Hove (SUBSPECIES and a couple of Lars Von Trier movies), Eric DaRe (from Twin Peaks) and Hammer star Martine Beswick's voice.

Extras include an archival commentary from Rupert Harvey, who produced the first film but also gets to direct this time around, and a new one from Budrewicz and Wain. There's also a making of featurette (22 minutes), trailer and image gallery.

CRITTERS: A FOUR COURSE FEAST! is out in a limited edition Blu-ray box set from Arrow on Monday 2nd December 2024

Watership Down (1978)

At last! Martin Rosen's stunning, touching and above all faithful adaptation of Richard Adams' novel gets the 4K treatment from the BFI.

You probably know the story by now - a bunch of rabbits leave their warren after one has a premonition of it being destroyed (which turns out to be true). They have a number of adventures in their quest to find a new home - the Watership Down of the title - and then have to defend it against the marvellous villain that is General Woundwort.

Richard Adams' novel made a huge splash when it was published in the mid 1970s. Nobody could decide on the target audience, though, and so Penguin published it in both adult and children (through their Puffin imprint) editions. Consequently for a lot of nine and ten year olds (myself and my friends included) it was our first taste of more adult-orientated fiction and we loved it. Kids went rabbit mad and when the film came out there was no question of us going to see it. 

In the excellent booklet that accompanies the extras Martin Rosen says he would have preferred the film to have not be awarded a 'U' certificate. Interestingly it's only recently that I've learned that a few people (and parents) felt traumatised by it. Certainly there was no outcry back in the day - we just all left the cinema with tears in our eyes because of how lovely that ending is, and, I suspect now watching it through older eyes, because of Angela Morley's score, rather than because of any 'scary violence'. In fact it was a relief to a lots of us kids at the time to see an animated film that that didn't portray animals in the 'Disney cute' style.

The BFI's 4K transfer is a wonder, and will be especially of interest to animation fans because it really allows you to see a level of detail in the compositions that was previously impossible. Extras include some ported over from previous releases - a 2005 commentary track from Martin Rosen (with Chris Gore), a 17 minute conversation with Rosen and editor Terry Rawlings, and 12 minutes of discussion with the animators ('Defining a Style'). There's a new commentary from academic animation scholars Catherine Lester and Sam Summers, 14 minutes of storyboard comparisons, a 28 minute Super 8 digest version, and, most fascinating of all, 3 minutes of home super 8mm footage from Arthur Humberstone of the animators at work. 

There's also a bunch of interesting 'odds and ends' short films including 'Bolly in a Space Adventure', a five minute cartoon from the psychedelic era. Do not watch unless you want the brief theme tune stuck in your head forever. There's also the creaky 'Once We Were Four' (nine minutes), Rabbits for Profit (15 minutes) and another creaky one -Cartoonland, Make Believer (17 minutes).

Finally, the set comes with a double-sided poster, four postcards, and an 80 page book that offers more fascinating insights into the making of the film and its release and reception. 

    Hey! I got to the end of this and didn't mention Bright Eyes. It wasn't quite the Brian Adams 'Everything I do' of 1978 but it was a song you couldn't move for for weeks back then. 

Martin Rosen's WATERSHIP DOWN is released by the BFI on 4K UHD and Blu-ray on Monday 25th November 2024 

Monster Summer (2024)

"Highly enjoyable horror adventure for all ages"

There's something strange going on in a small town on the island of Martha's Vineyard. Children are disappearing for a few hours and when they turn up again they seem to have been drained of all their youthful vitality. The disappearances have coincided with the arrival of black-clad Miss Halverson (Lorraine Braco) who rents a room from the mother of teenage Noah (Mason Thames). Soon Noah and his friends are convinced that she's a witch. But how to prove it? And what to do when they do? Can mysterious retired policeman Gene (Mel Gibson) help, or will he just make things worse?

MONSTER SUMMER is teenaged adventure horror done right. Director David Henrie exhibits the kind of lightness of touch, yet seriousness of approach that we used to see from Joe Dante, or even Steven Spielberg, with a confident and frequently inspired sense of visual storytelling that means you're never less than fully involved in the story.

The young leads are likeable and work well together, and while some films of this type can overdo the cultural references, dialogue mentioning NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or THE TERMINATOR never feels forced. Mel Gibson as the retired policeman with a past is excellent, delivering a nuanced, touching and appealing performance, such that by the end when there's talk of vampires and werewolves you'll be wanting this disparate group to have another adventure. Surprisingly good. Here's a trailer:

MONSTER SUMMER is coming out from Signature Entertainment on Digital on Monday 25th November 2024

Cooking Price-Wise (1971)

 

"Even More Entertaining Than You Might Expect"

And that's a lot down to some excellent extras on this, the BFI's Blu-ray release of Vincent Price's cookery show, broadcast on ITV in the early 1970s, often on a weekday at around 4pm just before children's programming kicked in. 

Shot at a rate of about one a day, the format was simple: Vincent Price, in a mock-1970s studio fitted kitchen, takes the viewer through recipes that at the time would have seemed immensely exotic. One wonders how many husbands came home looking forward to fish and chips or shepherd's pie only to be presented with Moroccan lamb and a cucumber crocodile. One also wonders what the reaction might have been.

There are six episodes here, each with a central theme  - lamb, cheese, bacon, and so on, with the first reserved for the potato. Try watching it and not feeling the urge to repeat Mr Price's pronunciation of that particular vegetable. We also get a brief history of some of the ingredients used, along with rather charming line drawings, and the recipes get summed up at the end so have pen and paper ready.

Extras include commentary tracks on three episodes (potatoes, bacon and cheese) from three different pairs of commentators. Vic Pratt and William Fowler - The 'Bodies Beneath' Boys - on potatoes, Lisa Kerrigan and Josephine Botting on bacon and Jenny Hammerton and Peter Fuller on cheese. It's an excellent idea as everyone comes at the subject matter from different angles. Pratt and Fowler discuss the ins and outs of this kind of TV broadcasting of the period, and I do hope Jenny and Peter succeed in their search for the saucepans used on the show.

Jenny Hammerton returns for two featurettes - Monster Munch (24 minutes) in which she takes you through some of Vincent Price's recipes, and Kitchenfinder General (21 minutes) in which she talks to Vic Pratt about Price and his love of food. Price's culinary predilections are also discussed by his daughter Victoria Price in Until We Eat Again (18 minutes).

Finally, the BFI once again offers up a cornucopia of curios from its film vaults with a batch of interesting short subjects, not all of them complete (or at least the comedy How to Cook a Cabbage does come to a rather abrupt end). These include a selection of films made by the Orwellian-sounding Ministry of Food, Tea Making Tips from 1941 and a culinary train journey on the Centenary Express from 1980. 

To some this release may seem a little odd while others (and especially fans of Vincent Price and the Flipside series in general) will completely understand why it's been brought out. All I'll say in summary is that it's a release that's packed with stuff, such that if you have any interest in the subject matter this is a must buy.

COOKING PRICE-WISE is out from the BFI in their Flipside series on Monday 25th November 2024

Louis Feuillade: The Complete Crime Serials (1913 - 1918)

Eureka are releasing a massive nine disc Blu-ray set of four silent crime serials directed by the hugely influential French film-maker Louis Feuillade, all in 1080p presentations from 4K restorations, with excellent music scores from the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra and Patrick Laviosa. The set also includes a 98 page book featuring new and archival writing on the films but for now, let's take a look at the serials and what extras we get:

Fantômas (1913 - 1914)

In a series of five linked films (or just one lengthy serial if you prefer), Fantômas is probably the earliest (and certainly best known) movie supervillain. In the short term the serial influenced Fritz Lang's Dr Mabuse series, but watching these it's also possible to see the groundwork being laid for the villains of James Bond and even the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movies. To that end here's a summary of each episode, as they're all rather fun:

Disc 1

1 In the Shadow of the Guillotine

In which Fantômas steals a large sum of money from a Princess, and is found to be responsible for the death of Lord Beltham when the man's body is found in a steamer trunk. Sentenced to death, Fantômas concocts a plan to escape the gallows with Lady Beltham.

2 Juve Vs Fantômas

In which Fantômas again faces his nemesis Inspector Juve, the man he thwarted in the previous episode. The crushed body of a woman has been discovered at the house of a doctor 'above suspicion' but guess who he is? Also includes a daring train robbery featuring some endearing model work, plus possibly the fattest policeman disguise in silent cinema. Be warned, amidst all the entertaining chasing about and an exploding house, the end of this episode does feature a python meeting what looks like a genuinely unpleasant end. 

3 The Murderous Corpse

After Lady Beltham's villa exploded at the end of episode two Inspector Juve has lost his memory and disappeared, leaving it to his journalist chum Fandor to investigate the bizarre case of a convicted murderer whom we know to be innocent, who dies in police custody and whose body subsequently disappears. After this, the dastardly crimes which would usually be attributed to Fantômas all bear the dead man's fingerprints. The reason is rather gruesome in a highly entertaining pulp crime way.

Extras: David Kalat provides an engaging commentary track (recorded in 2010) for the first two episodes that's also an excellent potted history of silent cinema and how Feuillade's FANTOMAS fits in and how it influenced subsequent moviemakers, including Fritz Lang.

Disc 2

4 Fantômas Vs Fantômas

A vague rumour that Jude might actually be Fantômas leads to him being locked up while our villain plots to steal a vast sum at a charity ball. It's fancy dress which provides ample opportunity for all concerned (including the police) to don a variety of flamboyant outfits, plus more than one Fantômas turns up, too.

5 The False Magistrate

Villains steal 250,000 Francs' worth of jewels and the 250,000 Francs as well. Meanwhile Fantômas is in prison in Belgium which to the French police simply will not do. Juve springs him and impersonates him with the intention that Fantômas will return to France where he can be arrested and tried 'properly'. It all gets even more complicated when Fantômas assumes the identity of the judge presiding over the robbery.

Extras: An excellent 38 minute Kim Newman talking head piece that you need to watch after having finished the entire set as there are quite a few spoilers.

Les Vampires (1915 - 1916)

Not supernatural (unfortunately), 'The Vampires' is the name given to a criminal gang that operates in Paris. The entire serial is just under seven hours long which, if you consider it as a single work, makes it one of the longest films in existence. If you've watched FANTOMAS first you'll spot some familiar sets and locations, and once again we have a hero working with a sidekick to track down the baddies. 

Disc 1 contains the first four episodes, in which reporter Phillipe Guérande, on the track of 'Les Vampires' learns that the policeman in charge of the case has been found decapitated, has to spend the night in a creepy house with sliding panels and finds the missing severed head in a box. He then gets captured after witnessing a dancer killed by a poisoned ring at the ballet, and finds a codebook that leads him to 'Irma Vep' (an anagram of vampire and played by the iconic Musidora). He avoids Irma's attempts to kill him but she and her accomplice escape over the Paris rooftops. Episodes vary from 15 minutes (episode 2) to 39 minutes (episode 3) in length and episodes 3 and 4 have commentary tracks from David Kalat who provides another excellent contextualisation of this series of films.

Disc 2 has episodes 5-7. Highlights include a scene where the vampires gas an enter ballroom full of people so they can steal their jewellery (episode five) and Musidora's pretty much see-through black bodystocking in episode seven. Beware, though, of episode six which features the killing of two bulls in a flashback sequence. Pamela Hutchinson talks about Musidora for 22 minutes in this disc's special feature.

Disc 3 contains the concluding three episodes plus a short essay (12 minutes) from Elizabeth Ezra on 'The Spectre of War in Les Vampires'

Judex (1916)

Considered by some as a precursor to more modern heroes like The Shadow and Batman, Judex is a cloaked avenger and was possibly conceived as the flip-side of FANTOMAS after critics complained to Feuillade that his previous two serials had made criminals look too good. You can certainly see the groundworks being laid for future superhero adventures here. The father of the man who will become Judex dies a miserable death caused by a villainous banker, after which our hero assembles a disparate group to help him get his revenge.

Disc 1 includes the 40 minute prologue and the first five episodes, with Tim Lucas commentaries on the prologue and the first two. Disc 2 has the remaining seven episodes (Lucas commentaries on episodes 11 and 12) giving a runtime for this serial of just under six and a half hours. The other extra on the second disc is a 30 minute piece by Neil Brand who begins by asking the entirely reasonable question for the uninitiated of why should we spend hours and hours watching old silent French serials, before launching into a lengthy and excellent answer. 

Tih Minh (1918)

Tih Minh is a woman from Vietnam who, along with Jacques d'Athys, the man she comes home with after he has completed his expedition to Indo-China, becomes the target of thieves and spies. The MacGuffin in a book Athys has unwittingly brought back to France with him that contains a code leading to both government secrets and treasure.

As Neil Brand states in his extra on JUDEX Disc Two, TIH MINH is very much a case of 'one damn thing after another', its nearly six and a half hour running time filled with incident rather than plot all of which is, nevertheless, as entertaining as the other serials in this set. 

Disc 1 includes episodes 1-6 with Tim Lucas commentaries on episodes 1 & 3 while Disc 2 has episodes 7-12 with a commentary on episode 12. Also included on the second disc is a 42 minute piece from Tony Rayns which gives us 'A Closer Look at Louis Feuillade'.

LOUIS FEUILLADE: THE COMPLETE CRIME SERIALS is out in a nine disc Blu-ray set from Eureka on Monday 11th November 2024