2/15/06

Alone In The Dark (1982. USA. Image. Directed by Jack Sholder. Cast: Jack Palance, Donald Pleasence, Martin Landau, Dwight Schultz, Carol Levy, and Erland Von Lidth. 1.85:1 widescreen. 5.1 and stereo. 93 minutes. Extras: Commentary with director, video interview with Carol Levy, video interview with The Sic F*cks, trailer, gallery, and liner notes written by Fangoria’s Michael Gingold): Alone In The Dark is a classic example of how a simple premise can score big time. Dr. Bain (Donald Pleasence) is the head of an experimental mental asylum. Some of the patients are calm and no threat to society--but others have committed horrific crimes. Security is minimal, as the building depends on an electronic “high tech” system. Dan Potter (Dwight Schultz) is the new doctor at the hospital. No one seems to care much for him--since they believe he got the job by killing the doctor he replaced! Things seem okay until there’s a blackout and the electricity shuts down. Oops. Out march four of the meanest psychos (including Martin Landau and Jack Palance!). The town certainly isn’t safe with these dangerous nutbags on the loose. The twisted patients also feel it’s their mission to eliminate Dan and his family. Great atmosphere, stellar cast, and a simple, straight ahead story that never loses focus. Plus, there’s more than a few surprises in store for the viewer. Image’s new anamorphic transfer looks terrific. Excellent. All the extras are cool--especially nice is the video interview with The Sic F*cs (done by Scooter McCrae), one of my favorite bands to see during the early punk days.

Black Torment (1964. British. Salvation/Image. Directed by Robert Hartford-Davis. Cast: John Turner, Heather Sears, Peter Arne, and Raymond Hunter. B&W. 1.33:1 widescreen. Mono. 86 minutes. Extras: None): Despite an easy to predict ending, Black Torment is a very effective 1964 British horror film. Sir John Fordyce (John Turner), with his new bride (Heather Sears), is returning home to his father’s castle. But the townspeople don’t seem too happy he’s back. Apparently, they’ve seen the ghost of his first wife riding on horseback through the town saying she was murdered by Sir John. Then there’s the young girl who was raped and murdered. With her dying breath, she said Sir John was the one who did it. Some of the others in the village said it was witchcraft. No one seemed to care that Sir John wasn’t even in the area when any of this happened. By the time Black Torment draws to a close, one knows it’s not the most original theme. However, the sets look great and the cast are uniformly strong. All in all, Black Torment will be very satisfying for those who like period piece horror films.

Cyclone (1978. Mexico. Synapse. Directed by Rene Cardona Jr. Cast: Andres Garcia, Hugo Stiglitz, Carroll Baker, Arthur Kennedy, and Olga Karlatos. 1.78:1 widescreen. English mono. 118 minutes. Extras: Trailers): Ya gotta love director Ray Cardona, Jr. With Cyclone, he, once again, cooked up a gumbo of other successful formulas to come up with something that might not be unique, but it sure is noteworthy. In a sick way that is. A massive cyclone hits the Caribbean causing all kinds of trouble. A plane crashes and its few survivors happen upon a tour boat that was lost at sea. The overcrowded boat drifts towards another smaller vessel with three more people. Tempers begin to flair as food and water run out. A couple of weeks go by and still no rescue boat. People are dying each day and those who survive are forced into cannibalism. Finally, as their boat is sinking a helicopter arrives--but then so do the killer white sharks. Now who will make it? Cyclone is a film that probably won’t get a lot of time in the DVD player (it’s too damn depressing)--but it is an exploitation classic that will be pulled off the shelf once a year to view.

Eternal (2004. Canada. Sony. Directed by Wilhelm Liebenberg and Federico Sanchez. Cast: Conrad Pla, Caroline Neron, Victoria Sanchez, and Liane Balaban. 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. 5.1. 108 minutes. Extras: none): Countess Bathory lives! A Montreal detective is trying to locate his missing wife. The trail leads to this sexy, mysterious, and very wealthy woman. She admits to having sex with his wife but nothing more. He doesn’t believe her, so he presses on, only to discover a violent, sexual blood cult that’s linked to the legendary Countess Bathory. I have mixed emotions about Eternal. While the sex, violence, and basic story are, more often than not, right on the money, there are moments when Eternal resembles a “made for T.V.” movie. Not essential viewing, but Eternal should find its audience with people who like their vampires smart and sexy.

The Flesh Eaters (1962 USA. Dark Sky. Directed by Jack Curtis. Cast: Byron Sanders, Barbara Wilkin, Rita Morley, Ray Tudor, and Martin Kosleck. 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Mono. 87 minutes. Extras: Deleted Nazi Experiments Sequence, trailers, and outtakes): One of my favorite DVDs for 2005 had to be The Flesh Eaters. This 1962 horror/science fiction movie is often called the “first gore film.” H.G. Lewis might want to argue that claim, but one thing everyone has to agree on, The Flesh Eaters is a well written, acted (entire cast is great, but wait until you see Martin Kosleck’s over-the-top performance. It’s brilliant), and directed story. A pilot (Byron Sanders) is hired by an actress with a drinking problem (Rita Morley) and her hot assistant (Barbara Wilkin) to fly them to Provincetown. The actress is to begin a play there the next day. Despite a very threatening storm, the pilot decides to take the job. Wrong idea, the storm forces them to find safety on what looks to be a small deserted island. They should’ve braved the weather, as there is one person on the island, a German scientist (Martin Kosleck)--who has been keeping himself busy by doing some very dangerous experiments. He’s well aware that there’s something in the water and it likes to eat flesh. It’s also getting bigger with each passing day and it won’t be long until it’s able to come on land. Unlike other films from this time period, The Flesh Eaters is certainly not aimed at little kids. There’s plenty of drinking and, while nothing sexually graphic, the actresses do “bend over” quite a bit, showing a lot of cleavage. Also, the first victim is actually swimming topless (again, nothing is shown, just implied)--is all this this the result of it being edited by the great erotic film director Radley Metzger? The Flesh Eaters also has some effective deaths and a truly zany ending. What are you waiting for, buy this DVD!

Godzilla Final Wars (2005. Japan. Sony. Directed by Ryuei Kitamura. Cast: Mashiro Matsooka, Rei Kikukawa, and Don Frye. 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen. 5.1 English and 5.1 Japanese with English/French subtitles. 125 minutes. Extras: Godzilla: B-Roll To Film Featurette): After the huge pre-release hype hinting Godzilla Final Wars could be the final entry in the highly successful franchise, people seem to be split on the end result. It’s either an overwhelming success or anti-climatic. Personally, I’m going with the former. Last summer seeing this at Fantasia, I couldn’t believe all of the insanity director Ryuei Kitamura crammed into this two hour movie. If Peter Jackson remakes this--his version might have to be a week long! Thanks to a superior alien race with a diabolical plot against Earth, nearly all the giant monsters have been brought back to destroy the planet. The only decision is to revive a frozen Godzilla so he can kick the butts of aliens and monsters to save the Earth. Of course, by the time Godzilla finishes stomping and breathing fire, there isn’t much left of Earth. Still, as usual, it’s all smiles by the time the end credits roll. It’s great seeing most of the great monsters--Mothra, Rodan, Gigan, Ghidrah, et al in action, the cast is hilarious (especially the lead alien and the American officer), and the effects/sets/and men in suits can’t be topped. Fans of Godzilla will have a tough time not shedding a tear over the opening collage of bits from past Godzilla movies. Godzilla Final Wars is a wild trip from start to finish--enjoy.

Gorgo (1961. Ireland. VCI. Directed by Eugene Lourie. Cast: Bill Travers, William Sylvester, Vincent Winter, Bruce Seton, Joseph O’Connor, and Martin Benson. 1.85:1 widescreen. MOno. 76 minutes. Extras: Mini-documentary, photo gallery, bios, photo gallery, and trailer). Not every cool monster came from Japan or Toho Studios. Gorgo is proof of that. Some fishermen capture a huge creature from the sea. Now the big decision, let scientists examine the sea monster or sell it to the circus....hmmm, you guessed right, they make the dumb move and people are lining up to buy tickets. Unfortunately, it turns out this is only the baby and a very angry and much larger mother is coming to rescue her child. Uh oh, London is burning as big Gorgo steps on buildings, tears down London Bridge, and punches out Big Ben. Any fan of giant monsters, who, for some reason, has never seen Gorgo needs to immediately remedy that situation. The effects are stunning and the story/acting strong.

Monster Of Venice aka The Embalmer (1964. Italy. Retromedia/Image. Directed by Dino Tavella. Cast: Maureen Brown, Elmo Caruso, and Jean Mart. B&W. Widescreen. English Mono 77 minutes. Extras: Trailer). Plots a bit thin here--but that shouldn’t matter too much for those (like yours truly) who collect sixties Italian gothic horror. A newspaper man is trying to track down a killer--who dresses in robes, wears a mask, and lives in a cave beneath the canals. Nice photography and a really hip jazz soundtrack.

Terror Beneath The Sea (1966. Japan. Dark Sky. Directed by Hajime Sato. Cast: Sonny Chiba and Peggy Neal. 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. English dubbed mono. 79 minutes. Extras: None). Terror Beneath The Sea is a light hearted Japanese monster movie about an underwater city plotting to take over the world with cyborgs created by the insane Dr. Moore. To the rescue are two reporters played by Peggy Neal and Sonny Chiba (yes, the “meanest man in Japan from the Street Fighter series is playing goofy “Ken the journalist.”). While some might find Terror Beneath The Sea a bit juvenile, others will appreciate it for the fantastic Saturday afternoon sixties matinee film that it really is.

If you have a DVD for review, please sent it to Chip Lamey c/o Video Crypt, P.O. Box 54, Stone Harbor, N.J. 08247.