Dressed To Kill 4K UHD (1980)

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"Sparkling 4K Transfer With New Extras That's Worth the Upgrade From Blu-Ray"

Nearly 12 years after its Blu-ray release, Arrow Films are bringing out Brian De Palma's occasionally ludicrous but frequently masterful DRESSED TO KILL on 4K UHD with archival extras ported over from both the Blu-ray and the US Kino Lorber release, plus some new ones as well. 

Nice, likeable, middle-aged housewife Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) lives a dull, unfulfilled, middle-class New York life. She is married to Ted (Norman Evans in what must be one of the most thankless roles in cinema), who provides her with a boring sex life. She also has a teenaged son, Peter (Keith Gordon), who is something of an electronics whizz. One morning, after an appointment with her psychiatrist Dr Robert Elliott (Michael Caine) Kate pays a visit to a museum (it’s actually the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the inside). There she meets a man who takes her back to his place for a bit of afternoon bedroom shenanigans. Getting ready to leave, she finds a letter notifying the chap of having a venereal disease (with exclamation mark). Leaving the building she’s attacked in the elevator by a woman wielding a razor and her bleeding, dying body is discovered by call girl Liz (Nancy Allen) who becomes the killer’s next intended victim.

Most people know how DRESSED TO KILL pans out, but in case you don’t I’m not going to reveal any more, suffice to say that this is Hollywood cinema at its most stylish and operatic. When it was originally released DRESSED TO KILL came in for a lot of criticism for being overly misogynistic. In fact, if anything it’s men who get a rough portrayal in this movie. The male characters in the world of DRESSED TO KILL are either beer-swilling useless insensitives (poor old Ted), geeks (Peter), STD-infected lotharios (the chap from the museum) or the perpetrator of the murders. Women come out of this better than men, but at the end of the day, and in the world of the giallo the individual characters don’t matter as much as the overall style of the piece. 

It’s a testament to de Palma’s skill as a film-maker that DRESSED TO A KILL is a film that doesn’t stand up to repeat viewings from a logical viewpoint (the film cheats all over the place, often so blatantly you can’t help but see De Palma with a cheeky grin while doing do) but nevertheless it’s a film you have to see several times to appreciate the sheer technical accomplishment of the piece, as well as the many subtleties that you may miss the first time around. Despite all its problems of narrative logic, and the way it does several things that can’t even be described as sleight of camera to distract, deceive and manipulate the viewer, DRESSED TO KILL has gained status as a deserve classic, mainly because De Palma’s style is so arresting and so mesmerising. 

There are other factors too, however. The acting from Dickinson, Allen, and Keith Gordon is very good indeed, and pretty much lets us forgive Michael Caine who does feel a bit out of place in this (although who else would have been better in the role - another curious DRESSED TO KILL dichotomy). As mentioned above, the elevator murder remains an operatic triumph of direction, editing and music. Pino Donaggio’s work deserves special mention because it really is one of the best dramatic scores composed for a film of this type. Criticised by those with nothing better to do at the time as being a pale imitation of Bernard Herrmann’s score for PSYCHO, Donaggio’s music actually goes well beyond that. While the scraping strings of PSYCHO’s shower murder are imitated in the elevator scene, Donaggio underpins them with woodwind to create an effect that, if anything, feels even more violent and over the top, in keeping with the operatic nature of De Palma’s film.

I reviewed Arrow's 2013 Blu-ray release of DRESSED TO KILL and its extras, all of which have been ported over, back in 2013 so go here to read about them. Extras new to UK viewers on Arrow's 4K disc are two commentary tracks, one by critic Maitland McDonagh and another, newly recorded for Arrow, by podcasters Drusilla Adeline and Joshua Conkel. The McDonagh is a little drier and more academic while the Adeline and Conkel is much chattier and feels as if you're watching it with knowledgeable friends.

There are two new visual essays: BJ and Harmony Colangelo discuss the themes of duality in the film in terms of not just character but the way the film is shot and its narrative structure (11 minutes) , while Jessica Crets talks about De Palma's empathic treatment of his subject matter in a concise but well-worded piece (9 minutes).

Interviews from 2022 (and presumably prted over from Kino Lorber's Blu-ray) include Nancy Allen (18 minutes), Keith Gordon (14 minutes) and associate producer Fred Caruso (8 minutes).

Finally, the image on Arrow's transfer is a step up from the Blu-ray with dark scenes clearer and the colours on brighter scenes really popping (eg in the museum). The bottom line? If you love DRESSED TO KILL then you have to have this.

Brian De Palma's DRESSED TO KILL is out on 4K UHD from Arrow Films on Monday 3rd March 2025

Cronos (1993)

 

Guillermo del Toro's debut feature gets a limited edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray double disc release from the BFI.

Antiques dealer Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi) acquires a statue of an angel and discovers, hidden in the base, a brass clockwork device in the shape of a large scarab beetle. Unknown to him (but known to us because we've seen the prologue) this is an immortality device, designed and built by the alchemist Fulcanelli. 

Soon Jesus has wound the device up and had the skin of his palm pierced, leaving him feeling younger but with an aversion to daylight and a craving for blood. And those aren't his only problems. Rich, dying De La Guardia (Claudio Brook) wants the device for himself and sends the brutish Angel (Ron Perlman) to get it.

CRONOS isn't perfect - there are pacing problems and the final act tails off rather than reaching a satisfactory conclusion, but in 1993 there was still no doubt that the film heralded the arrival of a very promising talent. Now, all the years and awards later, it's possible to see some of Del Toro's obsessions (little children exposed to the world of fantasy, well-meaning monsters encountering external threats to their existence) correct and present even at this early stage, while the cronos device itself is a beautiful marvel of production design.

The BFI's set consists of two discs. Disc One is either UHD or Blu-ray with the film in a 4K (2160p) restoration in Dolby Vision from the original 35mm negative supervised by the director. Extras on this disc are limited to three commentary tracks - a new one moderated by Vic Pratt and featuring Jason Wood, author of the Faber Book of Mexican Cinema, and two archival commentaries from 2002, one by Del Toro and another with three of the producers.

Disc Two is a Blu-ray with the other extras including a new 33 minute interview with Del Toro by Olivier Pére. Geometria is a jolly little 6 minute horror short from 1986 and Del Toro talks for seven minutes about it afterwards. There's the 2017 BFI LFF interview with Del Toro conducted by Mark Salisbury around the time THE SHAPE OF WATER came out (75 minutes). The rest of the material is archival from other disc releases including a five minute interview with Federico Luppi from 2003, two interviews with Del Toro from 2010 (60 minutes and 17 minutes), one with DP Guillermo Navarro (17 minutes) and a charming one with Ron Perlman (7 minutes) where he discusses why he and the director get on so well. 

There are also the usual trailer and image galleries, plus the set comes with a 60 page book featuring new and archival writing on the film and Del Toro. Finally you also get four postcards and a fold out poster.

Guillermo Del Toro's CRONOS is out in a two disc set (UHD and Blu-ray or two Blu-rays) on Monday 24th February 2025

Cruising (1980)

     The original theatrical cut of William Friedkin's controversial giallo-style thriller set in the New York gay leather bar underground scene is getting a two disc 4K release from Arrow films with a bunch of new and archival extras.

A serial killer is preying on members of New York's gay underground scene, stabbing them to death in a particular way. Meanwhile body parts are being found in the river and are thought to be linked to the murder spree.

Because of his physical likeness to the killer's preferred type of victim, rookie cop Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is asked to go undercover by his boss (Paul Sorvino). He accepts the job with enthusiasm but as his immersion in his role becomes ever deeper he runs the risk of losing his own identity, much like A SCANNER DARKLY's Bob Arctor or SHOCK CORRIDOR's Johnny Barrett.

A cold, dark, grim thriller that pulls no punches in its unflinching portrayal of the scene Pacino's cop has to infiltrate (or rather Friedkin's own personal creation of it), Arrow's uncut 102 minute print will have you wondering how the director got away with so much back in 1980 (he had to cut a lot, too, which is discussed in the commentary tracks and other extras). It's not exactly a gruelling watch but to anyone not familiar with that particular scene it's certainly an eye-opening and educational one, and the educational element also extends to some of the extras as well.

Arrow's CRUISING set consists of two discs. Disc one is a 2160p UHD with a brand new 4K restoration of the film from the original 35mm camera negative by Arrow Films. To accompany this are three sound options (mono, 2.0 stereo and 5.1) and a further four audio tracks including two archival commentaries by Friedkin, one from 2007 and the other from 2019 moderated by Mark Kermode. There's also a track in which various individuals are interviewed about the film's eclectic soundtrack and finally a new music track, the 'Heavy Leather' alternate score by Pentagram Home Video which is synth heavy and a good listen if you like electronica but this option doesn't allow for the film's dialogue.

Disc two is a Blu-ray with a battery of interviews and other bits and pieces. These include a new interview with star Karen Allen (38 minutes), and actor and police advisor Randy Jurgensen who over a whopping 71 minutes talks about not just his involvement with the film but his own experiences as a cop going underground in the New York gay underground scene. 

Archival material is mainly a bunch of interviews from 2017 including editor Bud Smith (55 minutes), and actors Jay Acovone (14 minutes), Mike Starr (47 minutes), and Mark Zecca (37 minutes) with a piece from 1990 in which Wally, Wallace,  the manager of the Mineshaft club, is interviewed (33 minutes).

The BeyondFest Q&A from 2022 is actually a good place to start these extras as it's a 41 minute on stage interview with Friedkin who is a little frail here but in good spirits and exhibits a good sense of humour. Stop the Movie is a short silent film about the protests to CRUISING's release. Finally, and one of the best extras here, is David McGillivray's piece on gay 'coding', going at greater length (ooer) to explain the handkerchief code than the film does, as well as talking about the history of queer coding. Who would have thought the classified ads of Films and Filming were once such a hotbed of such things?

Finally, the set comes with a 120 page perfect bound book featuring archival articles , essays, interviews and an introduction from William Friedkin. You also get a reversible sleeve. It's a fantastic set for a unique, eye-opening and unsettling film.

William Friedkin's CRUISING is out as a 4K restoration in a two disc set from Arrow on Monday 24th February 2025

Sirk in Germany (1934 - 1935)

Eureka Entertainment are bringing out a double disc set of German director Douglas Sirk's early works that includes three feature films and some short pieces, all in new restorations from the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation. Sirk is best known for a series of vividly colourful melodramas he made in Hollywood in the 1950s. While in this set Sirk is very much at the beginning of his career, all three films are eminently watchable (and are actually immensely entertaining). They also require no prior familiarity with the director's work in order to appreciate them. 

Disc One

April, April! (1935)

That's the German for 'April Fool!' by the way. Sirk's directorial feature debut is an 82 minute comedy of mistaken identities. The owner of a pasta company receives a message that a prince is interested in his product. It's April Fool's Day and two of the pasta owner's friends decide to play a trick and convince him and his stuck up family that the prince is coming to visit the factory. Things start to get out of hand when the story is leaked to the papers, necessitating someone to actually play the prince. Then the real prince reads the news story and turns up to the factory as well. Much hilarity ensues in this pacy, good-natured, thoroughly entertaining piece of classic comedy that breezes along in the presence of likeable characters acted well.

The film comes with a commentary track by Sirk expert David Melville Grove who provides an erudite and extremely listenable commentary track that frequently goes into detail about what's happening on screen.

The disc also include three short comedy pieces: TWO GREYHOUNDS (30 minutes) in which applicants for an accountant's job end up in a case of mistaken identity; THREE TIMES BEFORE (19 minutes silent with intertitles, 16 minutes silent but with subtitles) is a story of marital disharmony that results in intervention by a third party; and THE IMAGINARY INVALID (38 minutes), an adaptation of a play by Moliere.

Disc Two

The Girl From Marsh Croft (1935)

The girl in question is Helga, a maid who has had a child by her previous employer and now cannot find work in the small rural German town on which the film is set. Kind-hearted Karsten takes pity on her and offers her a job on his farm, much to the consternation of his fiancé Gertrud, who demands Helga be dismissed from his service. 

A romantic melodrama, THE GIRL FROM MARSH CROFT also provides a fascinating historical insight into the farming activities of the rural folk of Germany in the 1930s. There's also a bit of magic realism in there if you want it. Eureka's presentation is aided immensely by a very helpful commentary track by David Melville Grove who frequently analyses scenes with particular attention to why director Sirk has chosen particular camera angles and movements. He points out the (to this viewer) almost godlike character of Jens the boatman, instead likening him to a Greek chorus, whic is also an apt description. Like APRIL! APRIL! the film holds up surprisingly well and, like that film, tells its tale in a brisk 81 minutes. 

Pillars of Society (1935)

A Henrik Ibsen play is the basis for this tale of a wealthy shipbuilder whose empire turns out to have been based on lies and deceit. In fact so cynical is this film in places it's rather depressing to say that it doesn't feel that dated. Albrecht Schoenhals, who played the prince in APRIL! APRIL! returns here as the Norwegian brother-in-law done wrong by Heinrich George's corpulent man of business who also has a secret love child. The climax is set during a well-executed (for 1935) storm at sea and the entire enterprise demonstrates Sirk's developing feel for both melodrama and character development. 

Disc two also has a 20 minute piece from Sheldon Hall who offers a useful potted history of Sirk's life and career, explaining how over the years the director's work has come to be more appreciated through film texts and retrospectives, as well as paying special attention to the three films included in this set. 

Finally, the set comes with a limited edition 'O' card and a collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films. 

Sirk in Germany is out from Eureka Entertainment in a limited edition (of 2000) double disc Blu-ray set on 

Monday 24th February 2025

Doctor Vampire (1990)

"If the CARRY ON team ever made a vampire picture..."

That sounds crazy, doesn't it? But it doesn't take too much of a stretch of the imagination to see how those two 'genres' collide in Jamie Luk's raving mad, extremely silly vampire sex comedy that's getting a UK Blu-ray release courtesy of Eureka.

Dr Chiang Ta-Tsung (Bowie Lam from John Woo's HARD BOILED) is on holiday in the UK when his Volkswagen Polo breaks down in the middle of nowhere. He comes across a castle, and when he goes in it appears to be a fully functioning British pub complete with fruit machines. There also happen to be gorgeous girls busy draining men of blood. Our hero doesn't spot this, though, until he's seduced by a lady vampire who bites him on the penis.

Back in Hong Kong amidst the hilarity of being a doctor in a sex comedy hospital, Chiang's girlfriend spots bitemark-style spots of blood on his underpants and Chiang himself develops a need for dark glasses. The head of the vampires (Peter Kjaer) decides to come to Hong Kong because apparently the doctor's blood is the best he has ever tasted. Meanwhile the foundations of a new hospital block are about to be purged of any possible ghosts by a Buddhist ceremony. Could all of this collide in a supremely wacky climax?

Imagine Jim Dale as the hero, Charles Hawtrey as the vampire count, and Kenneth Williams as the head of the hospital and you'll quickly see how this could be a Carry On film. For slightly younger viewers, the word 'Troma' will likely pop into your head during the final act where the doctor and his friends get transformed into...well, I'm still not sure. What I am sure of is that DOCTOR VAMPIRE is exceptionally silly, but if gags like a hospital patient turned into a hopping vampire with a permanent erection make you chuckle (and I'll admit it did raise a smile here) then you may well have a good time with this.

Extras include two commentary tracks, both of which are new. One has East Asian film experts Frank Djeng and John Charles while the other has Hong Kong cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. Stacey Abbott (author of Celluloid Vampires) gives us a 20 minute piece contextualising the film in terms of other vampire nmovies around at the time, while Mary Going provides a 22 minute essay on all the ways a vampire has been slain throughout cinema history. Finally, you get a collector's booklet with new writing on Hong Kong vampire films from MR VAMPIRE to DOCTOR VAMPIRE by Katarzyna Ancuta.

DOCTOR VAMPIRE is out on Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment on Monday 24th February 2025