Cannibal Holocaust (Blu-ray Review) - Grindhouse Releasing

Italy/1980
Directed By: Ruggero Deodato
Written Gianfranco Clerici
Starring: Robert Kerman, Francesca Ciardi, Perry Pirkanen
Color/95 Minutes/Unrated
Region FREE
Release Date: July 1, 2014

The Film
There are few films in the world with a reputation like CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. Few films have been banned for their grotesque nature and brutality they show on screen yet so heavily praised for being an expertly crafted piece of cinema with a far deeper meaning than its shock cinema label will let you believe. A first time viewing of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST will definitely leave you with a memory of the film. From the extreme violence, and gory effects to the completely real killing of animals on screen. Your stomach will turn, you'll want to look away, and perhaps you will. If you're watching the film for the first time with more than violence and shock on your mind maybe you will begin to see the true depth to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST.

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST is absolutely an exploitation picture. It goes all the way and back again. Ruggero Deodato was even put on trial for murdering cast members and he had to prove their existence to escape conviction. It was that believable. It is no surprise that even to this day audiences are in shock and awe over this film and may not be entirely sure exactly what is real but beyond the savages, the gunning down of natives, the extreme ways in which people are killed, the beheading and shooting of animals, the people being impaled and general jungle horror within the film, lies a single question at the end of the film - "I wonder who the real cannibals are?".

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST is brilliant in every way. Ruggero Deodato was no stranger to the cannibal film at this time having previously made Last Cannibal World (aka Jungle Holocaust) in 1977 but this time he made something bigger than an exploitation film. The late Riz Ortolani produced a beautiful and at times haunting score for the film. The cast was pushed to their limits, literally in tears at times during the production over things they had to do. It was an all around effort by everyone involved to give 100% and make this film and although Deodato has said in recent years that he wishes he hadn't made the film I think the world of film, and perhaps in a small way the world itself would be a bit worse off if that was the case. It is true that despicable things were done in the film. Did animals need to die on screen? No, but they did. And they were eaten. It doesn't make it any less horrific but the impact it has on the viewer on a visceral level can't be measured. And that impact leads to deeper thinking and the importance the film brings.

The Audio & Video
Grindhouse Releasing gives CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST its first uncut Blu-ray ever with a stunningly gorgeous anamorphic widescreen transfer. Detail levels are incredibly strong from faces to textures of clothing and other items. Colors are simply stunning, from the lush green jungles to the brown skin of the natives and bright blue skies. Even the 16mm handheld camera footage looks very good, without question the best it ever has. Thankfully Grindhouse Releasing knows what they're doing and didn't destroy the film by scrubbing it clean. This Blu-ray is still grainy but it's a natural and attractive film grain, and not dirt and damage. The DTS-HDMA 2.0 track is in English, the natural langauge of the film, and sounds magnificent. The mix, of dialogue, score and surrounding sounds of the jungle are all handled skillfully as to compliment each other without ever becoming intrusive even at their most extreme. Levels are stable and the crispness to this audio track is just lovely. 

The Extras
I could go on and on about the special features presented here in this 3 disc set, instead I'll simply break down each disc's content.

Blu-ray disc 1:
-Original uncut version of the film
-"Animal friendly" version of the film
-Audio commentary with director Ruggero Deodato and star Robert Kerman
-Audio commentary with stars Carl Yorke and Francesca Ciardi
-Large selection of trailers for Cannibal Holocaust

Blu-ray disc 2:
-11 interviews with key cast and crew members
-Large selection of extensive still galleries
-Selection of additional Grindhouse Releasing trailers

CD soundtrack

The Bottom Line
It is official, there is no better way to watch CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST than this release unless you have a pristine 35mm copy and place to project it. I can't come up with a single flaw against this release, from the brilliant A/V quality to loads of special features and the inclusion of the entire soundtrack. This will go down as one of, if not the best release of 2014 by any company anywhere in the world. 

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST is available HERE

Bloody Moon (Blu-ray Review) - Severin Films

Spain/1981
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Rayo Casablanca
Starring: Olivia Pascal, Christopher Moosbrugger, Nadja Gerganoff
Color/81 Minutes/Not Rated
Region A
Release Date: July 8, 2014

The Film
Five years ago Miguel, a man with a disfigured face, went on a rampage at a pool party. Raping a woman and killing her in brutal fashion. Having been institutionalized and deemed reformed, Manuel has been released to the care of his sister Manuela who, along with their wheelchair bound mother, run a boarding school for young women. Shortly after opening day the bodies start piling up and Miguel is at the center of the suspicion.

BLOODY MOON isn't much in the way of art. No, Jess Franco had nothing of the sort on his mind with this slasher film that even tries its hand at adding in some qualities of the giallo film. This is purely a horror film with slicing and dicing on the brain. There are a couple of elaborate gore set pieces, the biggest and best also being the most memorable part of the film involves a giant stone mill saw. There's also plenty of sleaze here with an entire incestuous subplot. BLOODY MOON is a simple film that is trashy, gory and fun and stands up to repeated viewings.

The Audio & Video
Severin Films has done a great job restoring BLOODY MOON for Blu-ray. The video quality is quite good with natural colors and an overall strong picture quality. There's little in the way of dirt or debris. The English mono HD audio track sounds good as well. There's no background noise and the mix is spot on. Levels are steady and don't jump.

The Extras
-Franco Moon - an interview with director Jess Franco
-Theatrical trailer

The Bottom Line
Franco's take on the slasher film is entertaining and trashy. Exactly what you'd expect from the Spanish-French director making a body count film. Gory and trashy. This disc is definitely worth a look.

BLOODY MOON is available HERE

All Night Long / Tapestry Of Love (DVD Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/1975, 1976
Directed By: Alan Colberg
Written By: Alan Colberg, Chris Warfield, Bob Chinn
Starring: John Holmes, Sharon Thorpe, Ric Lutze
Color/160 Minutes/X
Region FREE
Release Date: July 8, 2014

The Films
ALL NIGHT LONG is the first film in this double feature and the title tells you a little bit about what you can expect. John Holmes and Ric Lutze have been chosen as the two finalists for the coveted "Mascot Of The Golden Rod" the top honor for male porn stars. The only way to win the award is to finish sleeping with your predetermined path of women first, and it's going to take you all night long. The awards ceremony watches on as each woman across town has their love dens rigged with cameras and the ceremony nearly turns into a giant orgy itself! John and Ric encounter everything from a scary dominatrix to the apparent love of their life all while trying to keep up their stamina in what will end up being a photo finish.

ALL NIGHT LONG features plenty of light hearted humor, especially from the cynical man at the awards ceremony who seems unimpressed with everything and a cat fight on stage over an award. The men and their sex race also features plenty of laughs and even a "what the fuck moment" or two, such as a slow motion money shot complete with "splashing" sound effects. That was a first for me.

Then in TAPESTRY OF PASSION there is a sex killer on the loose and it is up to private detective Johnny Wadd to solve the case for the victims' gorgeous sisters and lovers. His only fee to be paid? Well sex of course. Wadd follows the clues until he comes face to face with the killer herself, The Black Widow, who runs her sex house out of the back of a newspaper. How her name or advertisements don't raise any red flags is beyond me but The Black Widow charges a mere $50 (with a money back, satisfaction guarantee!) to dominate her victims and poison them whilst fucking. TAPESTRY OF PASSION works on the back of the Johnny Wadd character. His smooth talking (among other assets) allows him to sleep with even the most suspicious of his clients along with being a viable foe for the nasty Black Widow and her henchman.

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome's double features a pair of 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers keeping each film in its original aspect ratio. The prints look good for the most part. ALL NIGHT LONG is a bit dark and grainy at time but the majority of the film has just light speckling. TAPESTRY looks better, being sharper and cleaner overall. Both films look nice though, even at their roughest. The mono audio tracks are well mixed, with no distracting background noise. 

The Extras
A trailer for each film is included

The Bottom Line
If you're not a Vinegar Syndrome fan this double feature DVD isn't a bad way to jump on board. It features the sex and general exploitation feel that the company is becoming so popular for. If you're already on board with the company then you probably know you'll want to add this disc to your collection by this point. 

ALL NIGHT LONG / TAPESTRY OF LOVE Peekarama Double Feature is available HERE

Jodorowsky's Dune

USA/2013
Directed By: Frank Pavich
Starring: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Michel Seydoux, H.R. Giger
Color/90 Minutes/PG-13
Region A
Release Date: July 1, 2014

The Film
After becoming king of the midnight movie with films such as El Topo and the absolute masterpiece The Holy Mountain, Alejandro Jodorowsky set his sights to make a film that would change the world. He wanted to adapt Frank Herbert's novel Dune. Having never read the book Jodorowsky came up with his own interpretation of the story, gathered his "spiritual warriors" that would help create it with him including artists Moebius and H.R. Giger and special effects man Dan O'Bannon and they painstakingly created the film as it would be shot, angle for angle, shot for shot in hand drawn sequences. They would use this book of Dune to shop the film around to various Hollywood studios. The problem? This was the most ambitious project ever undertaken. Studios didn't get Jodorowsky, they didn't want to give him the fifteen million dollars to make the film and Jodorowsky refused to change anything about the film. Even saying if he wants it to be twelve hours then it will be twelve hours.

That was 1975, nearly forty years later and the film Dune was not directed by Jodorowsky, or made by his team of warriors. The equally talented David Lynch was hired for the project but nothing good came of it as the studios had their way and the film sucked. JODOROWSKY'S DUNE is a gripping documentary about this film that was never made but much like the film that was never made this documentary is much more. This is 90 minutes to sit down with some of the most talented artists around, especially Jodorowsky. Listening to Alejandro Jodorowsky talk is an experience in itself. He will enlighten you, motivate you and totally captivate you. From the passion that still burns within him for a project that didn't work out four decades ago, to the satisfaction he has taken in how his version of Dune has single handedly influenced Hollywood like no other film has, produced or not.

JODOROWSKY'S DUNE is entertaining, you will laugh and smile and you will wonder why nobody was willing to roll the dice on this picture that could have made them a fortune. Or totally bankrupted them. I see Hollywood rolling the dice on films of much less significance all the time yet nobody would let Jodorowsky's creation come to fruition. And that is what Jodorowsky did, create. He did not simply make a movie, he created it. And his Dune created a lot even if it was never made.

The Audio & Video
The Blu-ray of JODOROWSKY'S DUNE from Sony is gorgeous. The film was made in in 2012 and 2013 and looks excellent from the sit down interviews to the animated sequences using the drawings from Jodorowsky's Dune book. The image is very sharp and crisp with gorgeous colors. The English audio track (sometimes subtitled for various other languages being spoken) is a DTS-HD 5.1 track and sounds equally beautiful. There's no background noise or any audible annoyances and it is a perfect mix with perfectly timed subtitles. 

The Extras
45 minutes worth of deleted scenes are included

The Bottom Line
JODOROWSKY'S DUNE may not only be the best documentary about a film never made, it may be the most important documentary on any single film ever. There's so much to love and enjoy in this film that I cannot recommend it highly enough. This is a must watch.

JODOROWSKY'S DUNE is available HERE

Runaway Nightmare (Limited Edition Blu-ray Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/1982
Directed By: Mike Cartel
Written By: Mike Cartel
Starring: Mike Cartel, Al Valletta, Seeska Vandenberg
Color/94 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: July 8, 2014

The Film
A pair of worm farmers get tangled up in a bizarre fight between a desert female cult and the mafia when they dig up a woman who was buried alive and bring her home to take care of her. The woman was part of the cult and was buried by the mafia. The female cult kidnaps the men, turns them into their sex slaves and then proceed to force them into their plan to steal a suitcase full of platinum from the mafia. The men have no choice but to comply since their lives are at stake... plus the whole sex slave thing isn't terrible. What ensues is a weird and wacky romp through the desert only to discover what the briefcase is actually filled with is an entirely different story than platinum.

Who the hell could come up with this? RUNAWAY NIGHTMARE is so far out there it almost comes together perfectly as some weird mash up of zany black comedy, sexploitation crime film. The acting is hammy and fits the flow of the movie and the movie moves incredibly fast as you'll be surprised how often you find yourself watching this with mouth agape wondering just what in the blue hell is going on. Somehow it all makes sense, even if it takes a wink and a nod but it really shouldn't. RUNAWAY NIGHTMARE manages to pull off some ridiculous BS in the story and make it all work for an entertaining piece of trash.

The Audio & Video
Does Vinegar Syndrome do anything without love? The limited edition, numbered out of 1,000 pieces Blu-ray looks pretty damn great for the majority of the film. There's a few instances where the photography is a bit overly grainy and soft but for the most part it's very sharp and features vivid colors and natural, fleshy skin tones. Detail is strong and the film likely has never looked better. The audio is also very clear and crisp. There's minimal background noise and the mix is quite good.

The Extras
-Audio commentary with the director
-Alternate scenes

The Bottom Line
Fans of B-movies or wacky cinema will want to check out RUNAWAY NIGHTMARE and the best way to do so is to get in on the limited edition combo pack while you still can!

RUNAWAY NIGHTMARE limited edition Blu-ray is available HERE but if you miss out on that, the standard DVD is available HERE

Lucky Bastard (DVD Review) - Revolver

USA/2014
Directed By: Robert Nathan
Written By: Lukas Kendall, Robert Nathan
Starring: Don McManus, Jay Paulson, Betsy Rue
Color/94 Minutes/NC-17
Region 1
Release Date: July 1, 2014

The Film
Lucky Bastard is a porn website that hosts contests for fans and subscribers of the site to win a night with one of their stars. This scene is filmed and used for their site with a bit of mocking the amateur guy involved. Mike(Don McManus), the owner of Lucky Bastard convinces his number one girl Ashley Saint (Betsy Rue) to break her rule of no amateurs, and be the prize for this episode. Ashley is reluctant and her introduction to the winner, an awkward and somewhat creepy redhead named Dave, doesn't help things. After several awkward exchanges and a few dramatic episodes of Ashley calling the shoot off, they eventually get the two into the bedroom. Dave's premature climax puts a damper on the whole thing when he shoves Ashley and Mike has one of his assistants bring Dave home. Dave has other plans as he is the Lucky Bastard and was promised he would get to fuck Ashley Saint and is willing to kill for his prize.

LUCKY BASTARD is a found footage style horror thriller filmed through the eye of the production cameras. It is one of the few instances where the style not only makes sense for the film but actually works in the film's favor. The cast is quite good, from the leads down to Nico (Lanny Joon) the cool, but somewhat nervous cameraman. LUCKY BASTARD makes us look at the sometimes unhealthy relationship between fame and fan and the lengths some people will go to touch that fame. It also works as just a pretty decent movie about a man with a broken mind losing it for the last time and going on a nasty little rampage. It does get a bit awkward when the porn scenes are being filmed and the genitals are blurred. It just sort of cheapens the entire movie. I think it was a gamble to either make the scenes less realistic or to have to censor part of them. It really ends up being a lose-lose situation there for the director.

The Audio & Video
Revolver brings LUCKY BASTARD to DVD with a nice looking anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) transfer. The image is sharp, clean and very crisp. The 5.1 surround track sounds great and has a quality mix. There's never any need to reach for the remote as levels are steady. A nice technical presentation overall.

The Extras
-Audio commentary with the director
-3 trailers
-Promo Reel
-TV commercial

The Bottom Line
LUCKY BASTARD is better than expected and worth a look.

LUCKY BASTARD is available HERE

The Addicted (DVD Review) - Revolver

UK/2013
Directed By: Sean J. Vincent
Written By: Sean J. Vincent
Starring: Jenny Gayner, Sean J. Vincent, Thea Knight
Color/90 Minutes/Not Rated
Region 1
Release Date: June 24, 2014

The Film
A quarter century after an apparent suicide in a drug rehabilitation clinic a group decides to break in to the now abandoned facility to try and capture some of the reported paranormal goings on on film. Then, another group does the same. It doesn't take long for the evil with in to appear, along with a masked killer who seems to enjoy nothing more than strapping his victim to a table, shooting them up with needles and using a nail gun to kill them. The dark truth behind the clinic's history is exposed but will they ever be able to leave?

Let me just say that I probably couldn't tell you half of the details about THE ADDICTED because the audio recording is so fucking bad that it just sounds like very quiet mumbling. This gets even worse when the masked killer talks because apparently the director thought it was a better choice to have his dialogue recorded live through a thick mask which makes the already poor audio recording sound even more incomprehensible. Imagine trying to hear someone talk through a thick rubber halloween mask after eating an entire peanut butter sandwich sans milk. That may give you the idea.

What I was able to make out of THE ADDICTED didn't have me all that upset that I was struggling to understand the dialogue. The effects were corny and nothing exactly surprising or new and inventive happened. I did like the killer's mask as it looked like some kind of comic book version of a killer crackhead.

The Audio & Video
Revolver gives THE ADDICTED a home on DVD. The transfer looks okay, probably as good as it could ever look given the photography of the film. There's constant compression and artifacting in darker scenes. Brighter scenes fare a bit better but still don't look amazing. As I mentioned, the audio is so damn muffled thatit's near impossible to make out most of the dialogue, especially from the masked killer. I don't fault the audio issues, or really the video issues on the transfer work done as they can only work with the material they were given.

The Extras
None.

The Bottom Line
There's nothing here I can honestly recommend spending your time on. Take a pass this one.

THE ADDICTED is available HERE