DVD's and Blu-Rays You Must Not miss

 

If you enjoyed the brilliant Animalada (Synapse), you'll appreciate this unofficial companion film on the same subject. Director Ulrich Seidl has a unique voice and a sharp eye for composition. 

 

Graeme Whifler's Neighborhood Watch was retitled Deadly End, a shitty, generic title. But don't be fooled. This ultra-dark and disturbing horror flick has a Stuart Gordon sensibility and grim intentions. It's set in a world not unlike Gordon's King of the Ants crossed with the paranoia landscape of Arlington Road. 

 

Recommended to me by my dear friend John Arden, a true aficionado of cinema, it's a strange and fascinating '72 flick that bears similarities to Bob Clark's Deathdream, but it's a unique beast that blends a simple love story with a tale of grotesque dread. The horror is too undercooked for some (read most reviews), but I liked it very much, and thought it massively original.

 

Nothing I can add to the chorus of approval on this little number, the late Ken Russell's epic on religious hysteria. The BFI DVD is as good as this film will ever look on anything but Blu-Ray.  

 

A new transfer from the Brits, excellent liner notes, and a fine piece of foreign poster art. The film almost feels quaint now in a Fred West kind of way.  

 

This ball-tearing crime drama (a British four-parter) features a killer cast and enough violence, intrigue, sleaze, and appalling behavior to power a movie studio for a month. Underseen and underappreciated, it is a revelation, and more than equal to material churning from paycablers such as HBO.

 

I know grotesque, so when I say this is truly grotesque, trust me. Bondage Game doesn't begin to describe the glorious, brain-damaged filth on display here. Only for true enthusiasts. 

 

True crime is going ratings-crazy on Australian TV, and there seems to be a new recreation of some criminal's appalling life every time you open the TV guide. This assembly of appalling behavior is hard-hitting and as fascinating as Chopper.   

 

 

Andrzej Zulawski's L'Amour Braque is riveting stuff, and this DVD from Mondo Vision is essential.

 

Stunning Hungarian classic about a serial seducer is given immaculate restoration treatment by the UK's Second Run.

 

Almost a lost movie until now, Lost Boundaries, from the Warner Archives, tells the fascinating and true story of a black doctor who decides to be a white man (for good reason). A true curiosity from the 40's.

 

Another stellar recommendation from the indefatigable Mr. Arden, this true New Zealand crime drama focuses on a notorious shooter who became the worst mass murderer in the country's history. Directed in a documentary-like style, it assembles character details (of victims and shooter) that are jaw-dropping.    

 

Love the book, loved the film when I first saw it almost two decades ago. This new Blu-Ray from Summit is of the highest quality, and there are some fantastic extras including a directory commentary and vintage behind-the-scenes footage. 

 

This searing drama about a community's reaction to the slapping of a child at a party went off like six months of fireworks when it was first screened in Australia, triggering heated debate and much controversy. It really is an extraordinary piece of writing and filmmaking, and is blessed with incredible performances.   

 

This Blu-Ray of one of the best films ever made is demonstration quality, and it stands the test of time like no other. 

 

Six staggering installments in which cameras not only follow, but actually ride the backs of birds in flight as they cross the world in search of food. Stunning photography, a rousing score, and a celebration of a creature whose ingenuity knows no bounds. One of the best nature documentaries I've ever seen.

 

This is funny. It's a restoration (from Legend Films) of Plan 9 (for colorization purposes). The best part: The "extra" is the original, black and white version (also restored), so all is forgiven. Great to see Ed getting his due. 

This just arrived today. From the rundown of what it includes on the back cover, it's obligatory viewing. From Synapse.

Bondage Bonus

These de Mullotto pieces are the last of those received from the very generous Bridgitte, a bonus of bondage art from a fine young lady who has enjoyed a close relationship with the artist.

 

As noted in prior posts, these represent some of the earliest attempts of any artist to compose work of this nature in a CG environment. Today, the discipline has been well refined. I post them here for the sake of completion.

 

The artist worked as an illustrator in a variety of fields simultaneously, but signed these works "de Mullotto" to protect his professional identity.

Mark of the Master, his epic of Satanic bondage and submission, was recently reprinted by 'Wet Angel', a division of Creation Books. The quality of the 'Stanton Archives' original (1980) is definitely superior in terms of printing and reproduction, but the reprint is worth having if you don't have the Stanton version.

In the new printing, the text font has has been changed, and a double-page spread that appeared in the center of the 'Stanton Archives' version now appears across the inside of the glossy front and back covers.    

 

Wherever you are today, Mr. de Mullotto, I wish you well.

Perversion For Hungry Eyes

 

David Lindsay wrote about the world "being rotten with illusion from top to bottom... the most sacred and holy things ought not to be taken for granted, for if examined attentively, they will be found as hollow and empty as the rest... Behind this sham world lies the real, tremendous and awful Muspelworld, which knows neither will, nor Unity, nor Individuals; that is to say, an inconceivable world." 

I have a lot of time for Colin Wilson, the author of a mind-boggling variety of books (fiction and non-fiction). When I stumbled upon his earnest digest examining the obscure works of David Lindsay, I was compelled to read. Clearly, so was Wilson. In fact, Wilson's read a great deal more Lindsay than I have, my association with him limited to the truly troubling A Voyage to Arcturus and The Haunted Woman. Read several years ago, both left an imprint on me like a long journey one can't forget, a journey insisting on a replay. 

Wilson's approach to Lindsay comes from a certainty that the man was compromised, stifled by a blight he calls the reader over one's shoulder (or: self-consciousness of imminent publication). Writes Wilson: "It's a pity he was not more like Lawrence, who was too sure of himself to suffer from self-consciousness, and is subsequently never afraid to write as he would talk." 

Wilson's slim but meaty volume is a midnight love letter to the writer in which he praises, cajoles, and attempts to school him. Wilson conveys a strong sense of disappointment in Linsday, and attacks the writer's use of cliches, but concedes Lindsay "was not really a solitary visionary... He was expressing the spirit of the age..."

He includes the book with a wonderful quote from Einstein:

"One of the strongest motives that leads men to art and science is to escape from everyday life, with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires."

This is such a wonderful book by about a strange, brilliant bookman. 

 

This is a Road Book in the Twain style. Road Movies are more common these days, but Road Books endure, nonetheless. I wanted this one to endure longer, so I read it slowly over a two week period, savoring its magical essence. 

It is magic. Magic like Jonathan Carroll's The Land of Laughs is magic. As you read, you smile a lot. You nod. You smile. You take the book away from your eyes and hold it at arm's length to appreciate it. I did a lot of arm extending while adventuring with King of Citizen Bands.

It's about freaks on an odyssey, freaks searching for a better place to be, a place where they're free to be themselves. It's a bible for non-violent Outsiders.

There is The Dwarf who isn't, the King (of Citizen Bands), and a blind girl who trusts them both. Nathan Tyree, who writes in a clear and colorful style, loves these people. I think he'd defend them with his life. His affection for them is, in fact, what makes the journey so involving and inviting. It's not like the drama itself is bloody and lives are threatened and lost at every turn. No, the drama emerges from the Outsider status of the characters, their struggle for acceptance, their letting go of old ways.

I'm struggling to think of another book I've loved this much recently (present company excluded). 

 

I read Mr. Overby is Falling before King of Citizen Bands. It's taken me this long to write about it. 

Still, six months later, I can't shake its surprises.  

It's head-scratchingly difficult to discuss without giving up its secret. There is a big secret and it's a well earned one. 

'Mr. Overby', our protagonist, is not unlike the lead character in Bobcat Goldthwaite's God Bless America, a film I can recommend with reservations; I'll discuss the reservations at some other time, but they involve keeping your expectations at a realistic level.  Overby, unlike that film's protagonist, doesn't feel like he can do much about what's wrong with the world. He doesn't have the balls or the organizational abilities. Until they're handed to him.

That's enough about the plot. Mr. Overby is Falling, true to its title,  is a decent into hell, a hell most people will not be comfortable with. Some reviews (there are a few) have attacked the book for its content while circling its actual value as literature. 

In other works of this nature, the solution to the problem becomes a bigger problem. This doesn't go in that direction. It goes in a much darker one.

Using just seventy-nine pages to do it, Nathan Tyree rightly fucks you up with this book. God bless the guy.

If I could liken the tone of this book to that of any other writer's work, I'd have to say Bentley Little. Little's ultra-paranoid thrillers such as The Association, The Store, The Policy, and The Ignored share atoms with Mr. Overby. 

I envy anybody their first read.  

    

 

By nature, we're hopeful. That hope gets stomped out of us by experience, but, like a ball attached to an elastic band, we bounce back with hope renewed. Then, more stomping. 

Jonathan Carroll's After Silence is a fuckin' amazing book about a man whose hope gets stomped on and shattered. And, with that hope lying in pieces, he finds another reservoir. Yes, fueled by dreams and love (the two entwined in a fragile dance), he inches forward, propelled towards another stomping.

Sounds dark? It is.

Easily one of the most inventive living writers, Carroll never disappoints me. In a weird way, he's someone whose work I love dearly, so, even when I don't "like" him, I love him nevertheless.

In the indefatigable The Land of Laughs, he presented a snoozing dog talking in his sleep. With that introduction, I never left.   

 

Delany's wonderful sci-fi works are not as relevant to the "enjoyment" of The Tides of Lust (originally: Equinox) as is Hogg, his most disturbing novel. Still, if you appreciate his love of language and his stubborn adherence to theme, you'll take much from this controversial, pornographic, and banned-in-some-countries work.

It describes the adventures (sexual and otherwise) of a diverse group of people, its leading protagonist being a black sea captain and his dog Niger (one 'n'). Its banning and subsequent revisions (mostly to address the age of some characters) resulted in its initial publisher (Savoy) being jailed. The '73 edition (pictured) contains the original text and copyright notice.

Delany, who writes vigorously and has no truck with gender distinctions, lets loose with a volley of uncompromising sexual excess that is never less than metaphorically relevant to its themes of corrupt authority and sadomasochistic powerplay. 

Truly an extraordinary work.

Also well worth reading is Delany's book on writing itself:

 

Another Savoy beaut in which Charles Platt invokes sexual anarchy via a sci-fi/horror premise. A gas loosed on Southern England has unexpected consequences for those affected. They become rapid fuckers of everything and everyone imaginable, and no body part or bodily fluid is excluded in a spirited free-for-all that feels wonderfully fresh.

Today's wild and unpredictable world of internet pornography seems closest to what Platt predicted. Back in 1970, when the book first appeared, it probably felt like a natural extension of both the free love movement and the growing permissiveness of popular culture.

Ironically, today, despite the existence of a Wild West underground internet culture, the book would surely shock common sensibilities a great deal more. Fanned by witchfinder generals of both underaged and unconventional sex, our sexual culture, though shoved at us in PG-rated bubbles via commercial trojan horses, is, at the same time, being demonized by anybody with a microphone and and a dubious political agenda.

The book is a riotous good time, an example of unfettered literary freedom, a freedom so well exercised, in fact, that author Platt later revised some passages, dismissing his original scribblings as symptoms of reckless youth.

As horror, social statement, and porn at gut level, this is a goddamned masterpiece, a Fuck You, Charlie! to hypocrisy .      

Sexual Adventure From Nikkatsu

Impulse Pictures (Synapse) released the "Nikkatsu Roman Porno Trailer Collection" last year to the gratitude of diehard Nikkatsu fans and devotees of on-screen erotica . Its release was not dissimilar to the sexy neighbor half disrobing for you as you ogled her from the assumed cover of a darkened room. She knows you want her, but she's not going to make it easy. She wants to test your long term interest, and who can blame her? A one night stand won't pay the bills or fuel her fires when nights are cold.

Finally, the sexy neighbor has made good on her promise and exposed her sleek little body not once but twice with the releases of True Story of a Woman in Jail - Sex Hell (Koyu Ohara), and Debauchery (Hidehiro Ito). Like many a shy lass, this one is full of delicious surprises.

Ohara's flick, the first in a a sleazy trio, is modeled on Shunya Ito's Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 ('72), but it's less surreal, more erotic, and far sleazier than any 'Scorpion' entry with the exception of Masaru Konuma's Caged ('83). Having directed a minor erotic classic (Fairy in a Cage; '77) and one of my favorite pink flicks of all time, White Rose Campus - Then, Everyone Gets Raped ('82), Oharu delivers the expected goods to Sex Hell, but he also succeeds in bringing a surprising amount of solid characterization to the movie, as well as some sharp performances. In all honesty, female prison flicks can be repetitive and overly familiar, usually meeting conventions and little else, but Ohara's effort here demonstrates commitment to producing a work that rises above the usual.

From a kink perspective, this is one juicy and creative exercise. Ticking the usual boxes (lesbianism, rape, and shower fondling), it also adds a cheery helping of golden games and sensual brutality. A bloody tampon makes an appearance here, too, and would again seven years later in the wild White Rose Campus; in that, a pervert  enters a public bathroom and engages in some mind-boggling tampon-sniffing. Ohara's strength is his guiltless commitment to the material.

A terrific DVD bonus here is a color reproduction of the film's original poster; it's an absolute corker. On top of that, Japanese film expert Jasper Sharp provides concise and info-rich liner notes on the film and its cinematic context.


Highly recommended... and the first sequel is on its way...

 Impulse's simultaneous release is the inferior Debauchery ('83) from director/writer Hidehiro Ito. Ryoko Watanabe stars as an unhappy housewife who finds herself on a semi-reluctant erotic odyssey to a land way beyond her personal boundaries.

Directed and shot with an average amount of style, it's powered by a strong central performance and a constant escalation of its shock factor. 

The theme of a woman exploring her limits is not new at all in Japanese cinema. Recent releases such as the Flower and Snake remakes have plumbed these well-worn depths with unbridled panache, but Debauchery, though a more modest affair, lifts itself out of typical 'Oniroku Dan' territory (many of these efforts are based on Dan's novels) by sheer invention and a refusal to remain within "acceptable" limits (relatively speaking); the "explosive" climax neatly returns our heroine to her initial starting point, completing a neat circle. During this period in Nikkatsu's history, their output was as controversial and limit-pushing as possible. Debauchery reflects that status.

With these two releases, Impulse has established a solid standard for their Nikkatsu releases. The transfer/print quality is as good as it's going to get (bar a Blu-Ray bump), and the choice of material is strong.

One of the upcoming titles that excites me immensely is 'Zoom In: Rape Apartments', a truly mind-boggling piece of fiery erotica that will be retitled Zoom In: Sex Apartments for its US debut. This film is a must for the whole damn family (well, at least those over eighteen).

 

Also falling into the must-buy category are Eros School: Feels So Good, and Zoom Up: The Beaver Book Girl (not seen by me, this one, but I'm as excited as the bloke on the cover).

 

Kang Je-Kyu's MY WAY

 
Did I like Je-kyu Kang's My Way (Mai Wei; 2011) as much as his Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)? Not as much. But I was still very impressed.

I feel fortunate to have seen the film at LA's CGV cinemas. These Korean cinemas, recently built, are owned by CJ Entertainment, the producers of My Way and some of Korea's biggest movies. As cinemas go, these are the cat's meow. Incredible digital presentation. Ear-bending accoustics. Great seats. A far cry from the last Asian-focused cinema I sat in (Melbourne's Chinatown Cinema), that's for sure. Situated in Koreatown (a mile and a bit off the 10 freeway), the cinema (there are four screens) is also screening Nameless Gangster and Helpless, both worthy efforts -- and very recent releases in Korea. Some weeks see popular Hollywood releases filling the screens also.

In the US and elsewhere, My Way has been butchered by critics for its alleged excesses. Having seen it, this criticism seems undeserved. The film is big and loud and glossy. The dramatic situations are ultra-dramatic and ultra-emotional. Like any film, it manipulates your feelings and runs you through a gamut of emotions. Is it excessive? No. Is it violent? Yes. In fact, it feels somewhat like an old John Woo film with more money and resources. A Bullet In The Head with a little less darkness. Beginning well prior to WW2, the story involves two privileged athletes, a Korean and a Japanese, who find themselves reluctantly fighting side-by-side in several of WW2's bloody arenas. Like Tae Guk Gi, it is driven by themes of patriotism, xenophobia, and brotherly conflict. As I'm reluctant to give the movie's many surprises away, I must mention that there's much to "enjoy" and  marvel at as our hero, Jun-shik Kim (Dong-gun Jang, who was so good in Tae Guk Gi) finds himself pressed into service for the Soviets, the Japanese, and the Nazis.

How historically accurate the whole shebang actually is is not of immense interest to me. I was sucked into the film's violent maelstrom and engaged by its relentless drama. There are several extraordinary set pieces, and a generous serving of true cinematic poetry.

Said to be the mostly costly Korean movie ever made, it is certainly a major achievement. And though it doesn't rise to the level of  Tae Guk Gi's command of all cinema's disciplines, it delivers old-fashioned entertainment on a scale that never erupts into excess.

If you can make it to CJ's new cinemas in LA, you're in for a treat.

 

The Theatre Bizarre

 The Theatre Bizarre is an ambitious showcase for the work of six directors, an anthology-style piece of cinema that borrows the structure of Amicus movies such as Tales From The Crypt, The Vault of Horror, The House That Dripped Blood, and Asylum. There is a traditional wrap-around segment from which the individual short films are launched, and this segment, in itself, is visually impressive. The British spelling of 'Theatre' in the title is indicative perhaps of the British background of the film's originating producers.

 The film was made for a very small budget and is a terrific example of what can be done with love, passion, sacrifice and commitment. The feel of the introductory segment is Grand Guignol-inspired, but the six films themselves don't necessarily adhere to that theme, and better represent the individual, unfettered dreams of directors Richard Stanley (The Mother of Toads), Buddy Giovinazzo (I Love You), Tom Savini (Wet Dreams), Douglas Buck (The Accident), Karim Hussain (Vision Stains), and David Gregory (Sweets).

 What you, as a viewer, will take from the film will depend on where your tastes lie as far as horror goes. Stanley's segment, which references Bava, Argento, Fulci, and Warren publications, is a Lovecraftian journey into witchery set in a foggy, visually stunning section of rural France. Lacking structure, it even feels like some of Fulci's more puzzling works. Giovinazzo's I Love You, set in a Berlin apartment, is an intimate essay on the disintegration of a relationship that ends as you would expect a Giovinazzo movie to end. Referencing Zulawski's Possession (at least tonally), its greatest asset is its strong cast of two. Wet Dreams, directed by Tom Savini, delivers a tasty feast of gore, sex, and sleaze. A cheating husband pays for his deeds with foul, paranoid dreams. Without a doubt, this story is in closest proximity to the spirit of the old EC-inspired anthologies. The Accident, by Douglas buck, opens with images that echoed, for me, Agnes Varda's Vagabond. Probably the most deeply disturbing of the offerings, it plays and feels like European arthouse horror, and involves an accident that affects a mother and daughter.

 Director Karim Hussein, who also shot Stanley's Toads, serves up Vision Stains, a pleasingly subversive and wet entry with a strong premise that, unfortunately, is not as well explored dramatically as it could have been. Some additional writing might have helped. Still, it's visually invigorating, and the lead performance is strong. Finally, David Gregory (also one of the anthology's producers), follows up with Sweets, his first directorial effort since Plague Town. Of the bunch, this was the most outright entertaining for me, and its subject of extreme gluttony had me squirming. Reveling in a cinematic form of Grand Gastronomic Guignol, it consciously or unconsciously references the surreal excesses of Marco Ferreri's La Grande Bouffe with its lurid tale of a  young couple and their sweet tooth. As its focus is a familiar subject, the "relate" factor to its putrid, vomitous horror is high.

Anthologies directed by one person (Creepshow, for example) are difficult to rate because success is based on the effectiveness of multiple stories, not one. Anthologies directed by six directors, such as this, are an even more difficult proposition. The Theatre Bizarre is an appropriate title because each tale is bizarre, and the theatre serves as a gallery for the exhibition of multiple genre efforts with very loose thematic connections. Also worth mentioning is the fine atmosphere and strangeness director Jeremy Kasten achieves with his wraparound segment in which a young woman is drawn to a strange theatre filled with mannequins, odd machinery, and Udo Kier. I couldn't help thinking that there is a story about this theatre and its inhabitants somewhere.

Not as consistently Grand Guignol as the title suggests, this unusual anthology is, nevertheless, well worth the admission price.

A DVD (from Image) with excellent commentaries on most segments and some brief behind-the-scenes snippets is now available. Unfortunately, Image didn't deem the film worthy of a BluRay release. Hopefully, they'll get a clue and address that error in judgment.