The Glass Key (1942)

         Continuing the Arrow Academy line of film noirs being released to Blu-ray is Paramount Pictures’ THE GLASS KEY - an attempt to cash in on the success of Warner Bros.’ THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) by bringing to the screen another novel by Dashiell Hammett.

         Crooked politician Paul Madvig (a lightweight, almost skipping Brian Donlevy, way before his QUATERMASS and CURSE OF THE FLY days) is supporting the campaign of a prospective Baltimore governor because Madvig fancies his daughter Janet (haughty Veronica Lake). Madvig is aided immensely by his right hand man Ed Beaumont (Alan Ladd, frequently made to look taller in this with the aid of a hat). 

         When Janet’s alcoholic gambling-obsessed brother Taylor (Richard Denning from CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON) is found murdered, all the evidence / motives point to Madvig. But this being noir-land, nothing is quite what it seems. 

While not as good as THE MALTESE FALCON, THE GLASS KEY boasts some interesting sets (why are they all having dinner right up the far end of that immense room?), convoluted plotting that all works out if you concentrate, some decent performances all round, and a fair old bit of violence. Oh yes indeed, if you want to see Alan Ladd get beaten to within an inch of his life, it’s not SHANE you want, it’s this. 

         The mix of political corruption, seedy bars, ultra-rich gangsters and femme fatales works well too - the lady who keeps getting it on with Ladd on a fireside sofa while her husband shoots himself upstairs is an almost perfect encapsulation of an entire genre - and aficionados will find much here to enjoy, even if the (probably imposed Hollywood) ending feels a bit trite as a way of rounding off this sort of material.

         Arrow’s Blu-ray also has an audio commentary by Adrian Wootton, a new visual essay on the film by Alastair Phillips, and a 30 minute radio dramatisation of the story (with Ladd again). There’s also a trailer, a still gallery, and a reversible sleeve, and if you get the first pressing of this you’ll also get a booklet with new writing on the film by Kat Ellinger. 

Arrow Academy are releasing THE GLASS KEY on Region B Blu-ray on Monday 19th September 2016

The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)

Robert Aldrich’s classic ‘up the creek without a paddle’ character study gets a UK Blu-ray release courtesy of Eureka.

En route to Bengazi, a cargo plane encounters a sand storm and is forced to crash land in the Sahara desert. The survivors are  mainly a mixture of oilmen and military personnel, as well as pilot Frank Towns (James Stewart) who blames himself for the crash, and his recovering alcoholic associate Lew Moran (Richard Attenborough) who may have been responsible for the engine failure in the first place.

They are stuck there. Hope soon begins to fade that they will be found by a search party. At least a hundred miles from anywhere, aeroplane designer Heinrich Dorfmann’s (Hardy Kruger) claims that they can build a new aeroplane from the wreckage of the old are initially met by ridicule and finally with the kind of desperate acceptance you get when the only alternative is certain death. As they begin to take the plane to pieces and construct something new, the water begins to run out, people begin to die, and there are still more surprises to come.

Belonging to a genre that includes Herzog’s AGUIRRE (1972), Coppola’s APOCALYPSE NOW, and others where a group of people are dropped into a hostile environment and we get to watch how they manage, Aldrich’s film copes with its ‘up the creek without a paddle’ setting (as I like to call this subgenre) by suggesting that sometimes the only way out is to build a new paddle, even if the one person who can be trusted with its design may not necessarily be trustworthy themselves. Making Dorfmann German is a bit of a masterstroke in this respect, and making him blissfully unaware that the source of his experience in design might have implications is genius. 

There’s plenty of other genius on display here as well. A collection of great performances, all working from a screenplay (by Lukas Heller) that allows, with Aldrich’s careful direction, for plenty of character development, meaning that the movie’s 142 minute running time feels nothing like it, and by the time you get to the end you feel absolutely invested in the fate of these characters. Disaster picture, desert movie, patrol film (Aldrich’s favoured term for it, apparently), THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX is more than anything great and complex character film-making.

Eureka’s Blu-ray gives us a 25 minute talking head piece from Sheldon Hall that’s well worth a look. Well worth a read (before the movie if you’ve seen it before, otherwise wait until afterwards) is the little booklet essay by Neil Sinyard that gives you much more background on the film. An essential addition to any film classics library. 

Robert Aldrich's THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX is out on 

Blu-ray on 12th September 2016

Matinee (1993)

Charming...Nostalgic...But With Bite!!!

Joe Dante’s loving tribute to 1950s monster movies set against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis gets a dual format UK DVD & Blu-ray release from Arrow.

         Key West, October 1962. While the threat of nuclear war begins to loom large, a local cinema is preparing for a very special event. Cigar-chomping shlock-horror specialist Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman) is coming to town to make a personal appearance and introduce his latest gimmick-filled black and white horror sensation, Mant! 

         Young Gene Loomis (Simon Fenton) has just moved to the local military base and his father has been posted overseas to take part in defending the US against potential soviet threat. He and his younger brother Dennis (Jesse Le Soffer) love monster movies, and now that their father’s life may be in peril they need the solace of a good scare more than ever. And so, it seems, does the rest of the town. As a packed audience sits down to enjoy Mr Woolsey’s latest, complete with electric shock seating and ‘Rumble-rama’, the show promises to be just the experience to help them cope with the life-changing events going on in the world outside.

Joe Dante has always been a clever, witty and subversive film-maker, and MATINEE is one of the best of his films to display these talents. His love for the cinema of the period means that Mant!, our film-within-a-film is spot-on for a 1950s monster movie (cinema had moved on to other things by 1962). Of course, 1962 was when the career of the mighty William Castle, the exploitation maestro upon whom John Goodman’s character is based, was just getting going. Castle never made a monster movie as such but if he had one imagines Mant! would have been just the thing, ‘Rumble-rama’ and all.

As usual, Dante is aided in his storytelling by a cast of familiar faces (Robert Picardo, Dick Miller, Belinda Balaski and John Sayles among them) as well as, of course, John Goodman, who’s just excellent as the huckster with a heart of gold who genuinely believes his pictures are good for people (which, of course, they are!).

          Arrow’s Blu-ray gives us a nice, bright transfer. There’s no commentary track but there is a host of extras, some ported over from previous releases, including the full, uncut 20 minute movie version of Mant!, plus an introduction from Joe and a Mant! trailer.

Best of the extras is a new set of interviews with Dante and his ‘repertory company’. You also get a making of, on set footage, deleted and extended scenes, the original electronic press kit and a trailer, plus a Graham Humphreys cover. As with so many Arrow releases, this is the best presentation of MATINEE out there. Excellent stuff and well worth getting. 

Joe Dante's MATINEE is out on dual format DVD and Blu-ray on Monday 12th September 2016

Vampyres (2015)

Victor Matellano's remake of Jose Larraz's 1974 sexy vampire movie gets a UK DVD release courtesy of Soda Pictures.

         Yes that's right - somebody has gone and remade VAMPYRES. Fondly remembered by those with a predilection for atmospheric micro-budgeted EuroHorrors of the 1970s, as well as those keen on seeing a couple of naked glamour models running around Oakley Court when they weren't rolling around in blood, the original boasted a gloomy, dreamy atmosphere, minimal plotting, and just enough weird sexiness and horrible murders for it to achieve classic status in some circles.

         So what's the new VAMPYRES like? Well to begin with, while the original was a British film with a Spanish director, this new version relocates the story to Spain, which is actually a nice touch. Oakley Court is gone, of course, and the house they've replaced it with is nothing special. 

But onto the more important things. Are there sexy naked vampire ladies? Yes there are. Whether they are your kind of sexy naked vampire ladies will be up to you to decide. Are there gory murders? Yes there are. Is there sex? Indeed - of the sort one would be more likely to encounter in a modern softcore film than horror these days. 

          Those unfamiliar with VAMPYRES will notice that so far I haven't said much about the plot. That's because there really isn't very much of it. Two vampire girls stop single male motorists on a lonely road and take them back to their house to kill them. A couple of tourists (two in the original, three in the remake) get mixed up in things. And that's about it.

         What's a bit odd is that, if anything, the remake of VAMPYRES feels even more slight in terms of substance than the original, and running at a brief 76 minutes (with credits) it really  could have been a bit longer. There are admirable attempts to recreate some of the original's iconic scenes (the girls running through a graveyard, their black-cloaked outlines waiting by the roadside for a victim), but some inappropriate pop songs on the soundtrack (especially over the opening titles) are a serious mis-step, and the chilly, gloomy ambience that permeated the original is sadly lacking as well.

What VAMPYRES does have going for it is its sense of genre heritage. Who would have thought we'd be seeing a brand new film released on DVD this year that featured in its credits the names of Jose Larraz, Caroline Munro (CAPTAIN KRONOS et al) and Lone Fleming (TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD)? The two classic EuroHorror actresses make a welcome appearance for what can be considered more than just a cameo, and they, along with the appeal of this being a remake of a singular slice of EuroHorror, may be just enough to encourage fans of the genre to check this one out. Just don't go expecting too much.

Victor Matellano's remake of VAMPYRES is out on DVD from Soda Pictures on Monday 5th September 2016

Frightfest 2016 Day Five

The Windmill Massacre

In which the spirit of Jean Brismee’s THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE is revisited with a Dutch setting and an almost Amicus feel. A group of individuals on ‘Happy Holland Tours’ get into trouble when the bus breaks down near an old windmill. When a hideous monster starts bumping them off it becomes clear they aren’t there by chance. Old school Euro-horror done well, and a real treat for fans of this kind of thing.

Alternate Title: Amsterdamnation

Man Underground

The gentle tale of a geologist who once worked for the government and believes he saw aliens. Now he has his own youtube channel (350 hits) and spends his time trying to convince the tiny audiences who attend his lectures that They are out there. When he decides to make a movie of his life in five days with the aid of his friend and a waitress he meets at the local diner, he fails to appreciate that the project may end up liberating him in all the wrong ways. A tiny budget, endearing performances, and a low-key feel to the proceedings made this an excellent early afternoon entry.

Alternate Title: Man Overground and Wombling Free

Director's Cut

What happens when a lunatic crowd funder grabs the film he’s funded, recuts it, adds a commentary track, and then kidnaps the lead actress to film his own ending. Often hilarious and managing the difficult feat of pulling off three different narratives (the movie, the re-edited movie, and the commentary) with tremendous skill, this is a very funny satire on the nature of low budget moviemaking that often had me laughing out loud.

Alternate Title: Reshoot First, Ask Questions Later!


Blood Hunters

Living up to the promise of its charmingly 80s VHS cover-style poster, this one’s about an underground medical facility where blood-sucking monsters are on the rampage. Obviously very low budget, and with a plot that tries to touch on both religion and science, mortality and life after death, its reach is probably just a bit too ambitious for what should essentially be a bit of pulpy action fun. When this hits DVD it’ll be okay for a slow evening.

Alternate Title: Underground


Train to Busan

And we finish Frightfest 2016 with what might well be my film of the year. The best fast-moving action zombie picture ever made, the best train-set horror picture ever made, and the best film ever to close Frightfest. It gets a UK release in October. Just go and see it.

And that's it for another year! It's now close to 1am on Tuesday morning. Once again I find myself exhausted but exhilarated, blissfully happy at so many great films and so many lovely people, and yet very sad that it's all over now. Some of these films will find themselves in my top ten of the year (and my bottom five, oh yes indeedy). Normal service will be resumed later this week but for now I have a train to catch, and after that final film I feel quite unnerved about doing so.

Frightfest 2016 Day Four

Downhill

Kicks off with an altar, a sacrifice and something wiggly. Then we cut to some cyclists in the countryside, and what should have been RACE WITH THE DEVIL on bikes. Instead we get half an hour of absolutely nothing at all. I didn’t like the director’s previous HIDDEN IN THE WOODS and I didn’t like this. No more of his stuff, I think.

Alternate Title: Skid Marks


Let's Be Evil

Evil hyper-intelligent kiddies in the CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED mould in this low-budget virtual reality British picture. A fun twist at the end but there was rather too much running around in the dark in this one for me.

Alternate Title: Prodigies of Pain


Broken

Girl with serious problems of her own ends up looking after obnoxious, self-obsessed, tetraplegic ‘rock star’ who caused his own spinal injury through stupidity. A collection of damaged and / or unpleasant characters in a grim tale that I suspect is striving for 'gritty realism'. Unfortunately it just goes all daft in the last act & I ended up not liking it very much at all.

Alternate Title: Crack Heads

Crow

The spirit of Arthur Machen strikes again with this marvellous, atmospheric Welsh horror tale of a valley and the ancient spirits that protect it. Some truly excellent photography gives the landscape a personality all its own, and the movie also boasts some great performances. A real discovery and one of my favourites.

Alternate Title: Druid’s Revenge

Bad Blood: The Movie

Oh yes - this is what we want on a Sunday night! People turning into giant frog monsters and going on the rampage! Gleefully wearing its Frank Henenlotter influence like a dripping slimy crown, this is terrific splattery fun - well directed, with amusing performances and some great non-CGI effects. Full marks for BAD BLOOD.

Alternate Title: Night of the Werefrogs (even the director admitted it’s probably going to get a release as something like that)

To Day 5

Frightfest 2016 Day Three

The Rezort

Ever wondered what the trashy Italian zombie movies of the early 1980s might have looked like if they’d been made by someone with actual talent? Wonder no more as this exceptionally entertaining British zombie picture explores what it would be like if zombies were kept in a theme park on an isolated island for the amusement of the rich and jaded. I doubt if director Steve Barker would admit Bruno Mattei as an influence even if that infamous director’s HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD might have actually been an inspiration. Unashamed trashy fun and the first genuine surprise of the festival so far.

Alternate Title: JuraZic Park

Abattoir

And sadly we follow with the biggest disappointment so far. The central idea of someone taking the rooms in which people have been murdered in order to construct some kind of house of hell is great, but it requires a considerable degree of panache and confidence to make it work. ABATTOIR has neither, and instead throws in several extra plot ‘twists’, two screamy sweary leads who quickly get tiresome, and a denouement that’s more ridiculous than the ending of some episodes of SOUTH PARK. For people who like James Wan movies, ABATTOIR desperately wants to be one, and it fails miserably. For those who don’t like James Wan movies - it’s just like a James Wan movie.

Alternate Title: James Wannabe

The Master Cleanse

What a curious, quirky and charming film! Anjelica Huston and Oliver Platt’s intensive laxative therapy course leads to the birth of cute little bowel monsters that they claim are made up of all one’s ill-feelings. Will Johnny Galecki and Anna Friel be able to complete their purification course by killing their new offspring or not? Delightfully strange and appealingly original, this is well worth a look when it gets a release.

Alternate titles: Bowel Babies / Colon Children / Motion Monsters 


The Creature Below
 

This year’s FrightFest really is full of surprises. I expected very little from this one and was delighted to discover that on a tiny budget we can say hello to a whole new subgenre of British suburban Lovecraft. Girl goes ultra deep sea diving and brings back an egg which she keeps in the basement of her Yorkshire semi-detached. The egg hatches to yield a tentacled thingy that loves blood. Very rough around the edges, the love for old HPL shines through - we even have characters drinking Charles Dexter Ward wine! A suitably apocalyptic and insane ending rounded off this very pleasant surprise indeed.

Alternate Title: Little Shoppe of Cephalopods
 
The Love Witch

Camp and colourful, and as much a tribute to Stephanie Rothman’s THE VELVET VAMPIRE as the movies of Douglas Sirk, THE LOVE WITCH is a beautifully designed and shot piece of luscious film-making. It does go on a bit, mind, and if you haven’t fully bought into the more-soapy-than-horror premise of its central character trying to find love at any cost you might find yourself looking at your watch quite a bit before the end, especially if renaissance theatre performance isn’t your thing. Gorgeous stuff, though, and that includes the lead actress, who deserves to star in a neo-giallo if there’s one going.

Alternate Title: Set A Course For...Witchcraft!

Blood Feast

Good God someone has remade H G Lewis’ 1963 load of old rubbish BLOOD FEAST. Robert Rusler is actually great as Fuad Ramses, who forgets to take his meds and is convinced he can hear the goddess Ishtar talking to him during his night job at the local museum. By day he runs a diner on the outskirts of Paris (France. Yes France). Soon he’s hacking up the locals before inviting his wife and daughter to take part in the feast of the title. Rusler is excellent, everything else is decidedly ropey. Even the gore effects are only slightly better than the original.

Alternate Title: How can you possibly improve on BLOOD FEAST?

To Day 4