Columnists
Entries from March 2013
By Todd Garbarini
Horror films are a hot commodity. Some of the most well-known slasher films of
the 1980’s have been re-issued on DVD and Blu-ray by companies looking to
cash-in on audiences’ seemingly insatiable appetite for murder and mayhem while
also introducing them to a whole new generation of fans with disposable income. Two titles that fans want on DVD and Blu-ray
in the way of special editions are Paul Lynch’s Prom Night (1980) and Richard Ciupka’s Curtains (1983), both Canadian productions through Simcom, the
former having fared far better on home video than the latter.
Prom
Night was originally
released theatrically by Avco Embassy Pictures in July 1980. It was distributed on VHS by MCA Home Video in
1981 and again by Virgin Vision, Inc. in 1988. MCA also released a laserdisc pan-and-scan version on their laser
rot-prone DiscoVision line in 1981 (curiously, the film bypassed the RCA
Select-A-Vision Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) stylus-based format of the
early 1980’s, the direct competitor to laserdisc). The film fared better when a widescreen
laserdisc sourced from a 35mm interpositive followed in 1997 courtesy of Elite
Entertainment. In February 1998, Anchor
Bay Entertainment released a widescreen DVD that included the original
theatrical trailer (1.85:1 presentation is a must for this title as a boom mike
is clearly visible in several shots in the full frame format). After the rights lapsed the film was picked
up by Echo Bridge Entertainment and reissued in October 2007, this time
dispensing with said trailer. Overall, Prom Night has been released on home
video in three different formats no less than six times in the United States
alone, not counting the international, non-Region 1 releases around the globe. All of these U.S. versions contain only the
film without any additional extras that are practically a requirement to home
video now: running commentaries, on-set interviews, behind-the-scenes footage,
isolated musical scores, comments from contemporaries, stills galleries,
etc.
Curtains, on the other hand, is a thriller that
has suffered indignities far too numerous to list. Plagued from the outset by a problematic
production, the financing ran out and put the cast and crew on hiatus for over
one year. Much of the crew was replaced,
and despite having been released theatrically in April 1983 to many respectable
movie theaters by the long-defunct Jensen Farley Pictures, Curtains has only appeared on home video twice in the United States:
in December 1983 Vestron Video released it on VHS, and in October 2010 Echo
Bridge Entertainment released it as part of The
Midnight Horror Collection: Bloody Slashers set which also includes Hoboken Hollow (2006), Secrets of the Clown (2007), and Room 33 (2009). In a maneuver regarded as perfunctory by
those not in the know, Curtains
appears to be lumped in with these three contemporary tales for no better
reason than to “round out†the other titles – the original ad slick for Curtains was jettisoned and replaced
with an image of a hand parting a curtain.
Curtains was also released in April 2007 on
Region 2 DVD in the UK by Black Horse Entertainment. As with the Echo Bridge Entertainment release,
the original poster artwork was not used. Again, an uninspired makeshift cover image that fails to represent the
film in any way adorns the case. Curtains can be found at horror film
conventions on DVD-R sporting its beautiful and atmospheric original one-sheet
artwork, but the DVD transfer is sourced from the Vestron VHS cassette and is
therefore in dire need of color correction; a 2K/4K high definition upgrade is
long overdue.
Prom
Night has a creepy
score by Paul Zaza and Carl Zittrer (he scored a handful of films for Bob
Clark, including the classic 1974 film Black
Christmas and was also a musical consultant on “Act II†of Curtains). Mr. Zaza also scored Curtains, which might have been a rejected score for Prom Night as several cues that appear
in Prom Night also made their way
into Curtains. Director Ciupka’s name was also removed from
the credits to Curtains; whether or
not this has any bearing on the lack of a DVD release is a mystery.
Fans can ponder why these titles are
not available in full-blown special editions, and there are probably many
legitimate reasons why the current DVDs turn up in Walmart discount bins. The original 35mm film negatives to each
respective film may not be available as the whereabouts may be in question, or
they may no longer even exist; management might feel that an insufficient
number of fans willing to pay for the films exists and there is a fear of
losing money on these titles; both films were made as Canadian tax shelter projects and this may also pose a problem. With the glut of far lesser quality horror
thrillers available in beautifully designed special editions, the mind reels as
to why these two films in particular have been marginalized and seem to be
anathema to the royal treatment.
Echo Bridge Entertainment, a DVD
company that uses the slogan “The Entertainment Alternative for What the World Wants to
See†(not sure where that came from or what it is based upon), is now being approached
by fans on an online petition website respectfully asking them
to release the rights for these two films to Scream Factory, the Shout! Factory
subsidiary that is making a name for itself with beautiful deluxe versions of
genre favorites Terror Train (1980), The Funhouse (1981), Halloween II (1981), Halloween
III: Season of the Witch (1982), and the upcoming Deadly Blessing (1981) to name a few. This company would be an ideal organization
to release these films as their work thus far has proven that they will spend
the time and provide just the proper amount of TLC that these films
deserve.
As
of this writing, the petition has 300 signatures and is looking for a total of
1200, which is not an impossible number to reach. Click here to sign the petition
on Petition Buzz requesting licensing of Prom
Night and Curtains.
By Todd Garbarini
James Cameron's The Terminator is a masterpiece of
cinematic storytelling, conceived by Mr. Cameron while in Rome with a fever
years earlier (the late director Robert Altman had a similar situation that led
to the writing of my favorite film of his, Three
Women, released in 1977). Shot in
early 1984 for roughly $6M (the amount spent solely on the sound mix of the
superb $90M sequel seven years later), this futuristic action powerhouse grabs
the audience by the throat and takes us on a wild ride. Despite the inexorable pace – much like the
titular villain’s nature – the film manages to come up for air and miraculously
never feels over-the-top, long-winded or plodding.
The
Terminator opened on Friday, October 26, 1984 and yours truly
missed out on seeing it, electing to see the horror film greatest hits
compilation Terror in the Aisles instead. I had to wait until the end of the school
year eight months later to see the film in a classroom on VHS, the small-screen
presentation diminishing none of the film’s raw emotional power to my teenage eyes,
both of which were glued to the television. The film made Arnold Schwarzenegger a super
star and was the surprise sleeper hit of the season, his depiction of a
terrifying cyborg with a relentless mission it will stop at nothing to complete
solidifying his place as an action icon. Two weeks later Wes Craven's A
Nightmare on Elm Street was unleashed on unsuspecting moviegoers and cinema
hasn't been the same since, introducing a child killer who invades teen-agers’
dreams in his attempts to murder them. The
Terminator added “Come with me
if you want to live.†and the oft-quoted “I’ll be back.†to the American
lexicon and became as familiar as “May the Force be with you.†and “Go
ahead. Make my day.†Nightmare,
of course, contributed the creepy “One, two, Freddy’s coming for you…â€
children’s song.
Linda Hamilton shines as Sarah Connor,
a 28 year-old diner waitress who unwittingly is targeted for termination by the
Terminator after it travels from the future, determined to kill her so that her
unborn son cannot rise against the machines. Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn in a terrific and underrated performance) is
the human counterpart sent to intercept and destroy the Terminator so that
Sarah may live. What makes the film so
brilliant is not only the ideas it presents but how it conveys them to the
audience. For the first thirty-five
minutes, we are just as in the dark as Sarah (not knowing she’s about to be on
the run for her life) and Kyle (since the Terminator looks human on the
outside, he has to wait until it moves in on Sarah before he can strike) and
are only given little bits of information until Kyle and the Terminator meet
face to face at the TechNoir dance club (the shootout in this ultra-Eighties club, followed by the escape, are
beautifully edited set pieces that set the tone for the rest of the film).
The film may be low-budget, but it honestly
does not feel like it. The story is
enthralling and completely believable. Mr. Biehn gives a performance just as compelling as Donald Pleasence did in
Halloween (1978). Without his history, conviction and attempts
to make those around him believe that what he is saying is true, Kyle Reese,
the soldier from the future who comes across time to father John Connor with
Sarah, would fall under the weight of the film. There is a level of plausibility to the story that is lacking from other
films about the future, heightened by Stan Winston’s special effects work. The flashback battle scenes of the war in
2019 recall Mad Max (1979) and Mad Max 2 (1981) (retitled The Road Warrior for its 1982 US
release). The
Terminator is the boiler plate for future films about, well. The future!
Composer Brad
Fiedel has created a magnificently menacing score, robotic and simplistic like
the Terminator. Dick Miller provides a
great cameo as a gun store clerk (I just noticed the store’s address as 14329
and its similarity to 14239, the address of the first Sarah Connor the
Terminator kills from the phonebook listing – and I have seen the film many
times over! Oh, the clarity of high
definition!).
The Blu-ray, which was released at least
twice before (once in a special version containing a hardcover book), comes
with the same extras ported over from the previous editions:
· Behind
the scenes – runes about 13 minutes
· Terminator: A Retrospective – runs just over 20 minutes and contains interviews from
1986 and 1992
· A
collection of deleted scenes
I wish that this
time around the disc included a running commentary with the director at the
very least. This is a watershed film
that rewrote the book on science fiction action films and it is deserving of
more extras than the studios have lavished on it thus far. If you have not yet picked up the film on
Blu-ray, this edition will do quite nicely.
The film has been
remastered and looks as good as it is going to in 1080P.
Click here to order discounted from Amazon
By Todd Garbarini
Most big screen action films feel like
video games made for the theatres. The over-the-top, psychotically-edited films
of most of Michael Bay’s output of late, specifically the Transformer series, can attest to this fact. While the availability of inexpensive
technology that was non-existent twenty years ago has brought tools to those who
wish to push the envelope and find new and different ways to tell stories, there
is virtually no limit to how filmmakers can realize their vision. We have reached a point in our intake of
entertainment wherein movies influence video games and music videos and the
lines between these disparate forms of enjoyment are becoming ever less
defined.
Video games have experienced a surge in
popularity in recent years thanks in part to high definition graphics, powerful
home computers and gaming systems, and the ability to play against complete
strangers several miles away or across the globe. One of
the most profitable series is the Grand
Theft Auto game from Rock Star Games, a company that has received flack for
their violent and sexual content. The
game literally puts the player (or perpetrator, depending upon your point of
view) in the driver seat to navigate a dangerous city plagued by vagrants and
social undesirables. Your mission is to
commit as many crimes as possible as a means to an end. The graphics are high quality and the people
are very realistic. It is this style of
video game animation that has taken center stage in the terrific new film by Pasha
Roberts called Silver Circle.
Set in the vicinity of Washington, D.C. in 2019,
the same year as Ridley Scott’s Blade
Runner (1982), Silver Circle
concerns a world where inflation has run rampant following the financial
collapse of the United States. A beer
costs $90.00 and a gallon of gas averages $152.00, so $7.00 for a buzz and
$3.59 for the precious juice no longer sounds like such a bad deal. But, it’s all relative. Pot has been legal since 2016 (apparently the
war on drugs, a roughly $500 billion a year enterprise, is no longer a top
priority), the same year that silver and gold was outlawed, and the Federal
Reserve, referred to only as The Fed (much like Big Brother) is the country’s
third attempt at a centralized banking system and it simply isn’t working. Desperate attempts by the aforementioned entity
to stabilize the economy via printing worthless paper money with nothing to
back it up except waning public trust is proving disastrous while managing home
prices has similar effects.
Jay, an arson investigator, is brought in
to determine the party responsible for the destruction of several homes in the Glenwood
Homes subdivision which is the property of the Strategic Housing Reserve. He meets the lead realtor at the Cornwall
Real Estate office and is intrigued by her assistant, Zoe, who agrees to meet
with him later and give him some information off the record. Their meeting proves to be fortuitous as Jay
is saved by Zoe when he is ambushed by henchmen looking to throw him off the
case. Zoe gives chase in her
mini-automobile that would make William Friedkin smile, effectively losing the
bad guys. She clearly has some sort of expert
training that the average realtor assistant would be oblivious to. It turns out that Zoe is a part of a group
that call themselves The Rebels who illegally mint tangible, silver coins (hence
the film’s title) in the hopes of stabilizing the financial health of the
country.
While it might be easy to dismiss Silver Circle as just a story told
through the unorthodox platform of video game animation, the film’s message is
very real and serious and most certainly topical. Unlike contemporary action films that hit the
audience over the head with cuts so fast that there is little time to process, Silver Circle moves at a much more visually
manageable pace. It’s a film that has a
message, and it manages to both entertain and inform the audience. The film’s greatest strength lies in getting
the audience to think instead of just veg-out.
The film will begin touring the country starting
in New York on Friday, March 22nd. Click here on the film’s
official website to see where it is playing and read more about the film, the
characters, and the talented animators who brought Silver Circle to life.
Review by Adrian Smith
'Star Trek' has been with
us now for almost fifty years. It has spawned five different incarnations on
television, ten official movies and soon the sequel to J.J. Abram's successful
reboot of the franchise will be in cinemas, titled Star Trek Into Darkness.
Gene Roddenberry's vision of an international, interstellar crew aboard a
gigantic spacecraft whose mission was simply to explore the universe has
touched millions of people and generated some almost alarming levels of
devotion and influence. One only has to look at the campaign to build a real
Starship Enterprise to see that this show is taken very seriously by many
(www.buildtheenterprise.org).
But not everybody is well
versed in 'Star Trek' lore. Over the decades of boldly going through the galaxies
a massive amount of alien races, mythologies and technology has been devised to
keep the shows and movies interesting. Some of these are well known even
amongst non-Trekkies, with most people knowing the difference, say, between a
Klingon and a Vulcan. What what about the Jem'Hadar? Or the Yridians? Could you
name the home planet of the Xindi? Or explain how the Suliban Cabal became
genetically enhanced? Thankfully these questions and more can now be answered
without needing to trawl back through all those old 'Star Trek' tapes. If you
want to be more familiar with the 'Star Trek' universe in time for the new
movie, or just want to take a warp speed trip down memory lane, this new book
from D.K. guides you through each incarnation of the television series, from
the original 'Star Trek' through to 'The Next Generation', 'Voyager', 'Deep
Space Nine' and 'Enterprise'. Also included is information from the first ten
movies.
Aside from the
introduction by John De Lancie, who played the mysterious extra-dimensional Q
in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', there is no acknowledgement in here that
this is all fictional. The book acts as a glossary providing imagery and
information as though it was all real. This is fun for fans who may want to
check how to distinguish a Type-1 Phaser from a Type-2 Phaser, but a little
frustrating if you are more interested in the history and development of the
production from its inception. However, there are plenty of other books out
there which cover that side of the story. Where Star Trek: The Visual
Dictionary stands out is in its wealth of imagery, plenty of which is quite
rare, having only just been released from the CBS archives. The book is well
laid out and is something you can quite easily dip in and out of. You can
marvel at the intricacies of the designs and the imaginations of the show's
creators even if you can't find out who any of them were.
Hemlock
Books
ISBN:
9780955777479
Paperback
Price:
£17.95
295
pages
Review
by Adrian Smith
To
paraphrase Jonathan Rigby in his book English Gothic, horror is the one
genre that Britain can truly claim as its own. And whilst British horror cinema
is inextricably connected to gothic-tinged memories of Christopher Lee,
cobweb-strewn castles and buxom scream queens, M.J. Simpson points out in this
excellently researched tome that the face of British horror today offers far
more.
Simpson
appears to have taken on the Herculean task of watching every film that could
fit the broad definition of being British (not always easy to tell, with
funding and production often involving multiple countries), and being horror,
again something of a broad church. A lot of the films he describes, giving not
only plot synopses but reviews, production information and interview extracts,
sound utterly terrible. He seems to have sat through a staggering amount of punishingly
bad films so that we, the readers, don't have to. But along the way he has
stumbled across a significant number of excellent films, too, many of which
have escaped either critical or commercial attention.
Using
the term British Horror Revival, Simpson offers a complete breakdown of the
twelve years covered, digging up each film and presenting them in the order
they received any kind of release. It is fascinating to see just how difficult
some filmmakers have getting distribution, often producing a film in the UK but
finding it only coming out on DVD in Japan or Australia. Many films manage a
few festival screenings before disappearing into obscurity, so Simpson is to be
praised for finding them again. Of course, some of them sound so terrible that
it does not seem that much of a pity, but others sound like genuine lost gems.
If horror is your thing, this book will have you scouring the internet looking
for DVD or download copies.
Amongst
the filmmakers discussed are genuine talents like Jake West (Evil Aliens,
2006), Shane Meadows (Dead Man's Shoes, 2006), Neil Marshall (The
Descent, 2005) and Danny Boyle, whose brilliant and devastating 28 Days
Later (2002) did much to raise the profile of the British Horror Revival
around the world. Amongst the more obscure entries you can find Beyond the
Rave (2008), a cheap teen-themed vampire horror co-produced by the newly
revived Hammer Films, which Cinema Retro covered extensively (and even appeared
in briefly!) here: http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php/archives/387-EXCLUSIVE-REPORT-FROM-THE-SET-OF-NEW-HAMMER-HORROR-FILM%21.html
This
is an extremely well-researched book, and M.J. Simpson's occasionally sarcastic
and exasperated tone is entertaining, even if it does give the impression that
he had regrets about this project once he had embarked on it. He has uncovered
some gems and revealed that there is a very active, mostly micro-budget British
film industry which gets frequently overshadowed by the Bonds, Harry Potters
and Richard Curtis rom-coms. It is a pity that aside from a few pages of colour
stills the majority of the imagery in the book is black and white. This is a
genre that is frequently soaked in the red stuff. The main gripe however has to
be the lack of an index or references. It is impossible to search for a
specific title unless you know the year it was released, and even then you have
to wade through the chapter concerned. The book could have served as a useful
reference guide, but instead it appears to have been designed to be read from cover
to cover. However, this is only a minor reservation. If you are interested in
the horror genre, or want to find out just how active dozens of British
filmmakers have are, this is a great read.
(Click here for on-line index of people mentioned in the book)
(Click here for on-line index of titles mentioned in the book)
By Todd Garbarini
Walt Disney Studios graciously provided
me with the opportunity recently to discuss Peter
Pan with two of the film’s stars: Kathryn Beaumont, who provided the voice
of Wendy, and Paul Collins, who provided the voice of John Darling.
KATHRYN
BEAUMONT
Todd Garbarini: Thank you for speaking with me about Peter Pan.
Kathryn Beaumont: Thank you, it’s my pleasure!
TG: I am a big fan of the Disney cartoons as I
spent the better part of my childhood seeing them.
KB: I'm so glad! They really are special, aren't they? The Disney cartoons
really stand the test of time.
TG: These are some of the earliest
movies I ever saw in both movie theaters and drive-ins. I really miss the
drive-ins. There are so few of them left.
KB: I know! I miss the drive-ins, too!
TG: I understand that you were born and
lived in London. How did you come to
enter show business?
KG: I was in On An Island with You (1948) and Challenge to Lassie (1949) and at that point MGM was scouting
characters for their new ideas for British classic-like stories, and so they
put me under contract and I started working for them. I was with MGM for a while, and as you know a
lot of those ideas just never come into being and ended up being put on the
shelf. They kept me under contract though
and at that time that was when Walt Disney was looking for his Alice in
Wonderland. The rest, as they say, is sort of history! Just about the time that my contract was due
to be changed over for the next six months, that is a six-month option, at that
point there was some sort of negotiation and I went over to Disney and started
working on Alice in Wonderland.
TG: Were you familiar with Alice's Adventures
in Wonderland when you were asked to perform the voice of the titular
heroine?
KB: (laughs) It reminds me of when
I first met Walt. He greeted me at the door and walked me into the office where
everybody was settled because we were going to be signing the contracts. The
publicity department was there and all of that. He walked me over to the little
table and chairs. He told me that it would be kind of nice for us to go over
the original book. He asked if I was
familiar with the story. I said, “Oh yes, yes of course, of course!†(laughs) I had had it read to me when I was very
young. Everybody in England was familiar with it. Those were the absolute classics. I was familiar with the stories whether I had
read them not and by that time I could read them myself. So yes, I was extremely familiar. So, we sat
down and he was sort of trying to explain to me what his vision was for the
film and how he was trying to bring a little bit of both Through the Looking Glass and Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland into this new animated feature. So, it was very
informative and we had a lot of fun looking through the books and sharing all
the things that we knew about the stories.
TG: Like so many of the classic Disney films, Alice in Wonderland was animated by the Nine Old Men, the famous
animators who worked on so many of these classics. I met two of them, Frank Thomas and Ollie
Johnston, in November 1987 at a local mall when they were promoting their book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation.
They were very nice to speak with. How did you get along with the animators on
the set of the film?
KB: Oh, I was just so grateful to them while I was working there. They just
made me feel so much at home. They had me involved in the entire process as
they would invite me into their offices at the studio where they were working. They showed me the rough drawings that they
had been working on. Later on, they
allowed me to go into “Ink and Paint†and told me to walk around and see what
was going on and how that process worked. It was from one department to another and so on and so forth. As a result, I really felt that I was a big
part of this overall process and I really enjoyed it very, very much.
TG: When it came time to doing Peter Pan, did you act as a live action
reference for the animators as the character of Wendy?
KB: Oh yes, I did, as I had had a wonderful experience doing this also on Alice in Wonderland. When I was nearly
finished with Alice, the studio was
really quite ready to move straight into production on Peter Pan. That was their
next animated feature. And so I began right away with the scenes that Wendy was
involved with, with the live-action recordings. Right after that was the live
action. That process usually consisted
of a day or two of rehearsal to sort of map things out to see what they were
looking for and determine the motion of the characters. As result, we were very
prepared for when the camera was there and so we went through the action. This
was done of course to help out the artists who were trying to draw the human
figures which were the most natural and also the most challenging part of the
process.
TG: Peter
Pan has a few short musical numbers, among them “Follow the Leader.†Did you provide any additional voices for any
of these subordinate characters for the songs or did you stick strictly to
Wendy?
KB: No, I wasn't involved with those.
They used a lot of boys for those voices, and I was not involved with any of
them. The character of Wendy, unlike Alice, was more of a supporting role and
that was the only voice that I provided for the film.
TG: What did you like most about your
experiences on Peter Pan?
KB: Well, I would say it was similar to
my experiences on Alice in Wonderland
and that it was just a wonderful time working with very talented people, people
whom I admired so much, and people whom I came to know very well, such as Hans
Conreid (who provided the voices of Mr. Darling and Captain Hook). Like myself, he was also asked to provide the
live-action as well as the voiceover parts. That kind of experience is what, I
think, stands out in my memory. It was such a lovely time for me as a youngster
playing these important roles and being able to get to know these creative
people involved in this wonderful process.
TG: What was your reaction when you heard your voice in these films?
KB: Oh, I suppose that I viewed the movies I thought, “Oh, that's me!†(laughs)
TG: You became a teacher just after
your stint in Hollywood. What grade or grades did you teach?
KB: Well, as it goes as a new teacher
you're not high up on the totem pole. You end up changing grade levels every
year. So, I have a lot of experience in the upper grades as well as the lower
grades. I really did enjoy second grade. I took every opportunity to make my
desires known that I really liked second grade. So from that point on until the end of my
career, I taught second grade.
TG: What do you think is behind the
longevity of such classic films as the movies that you worked on?
KB: I believe that it's the
timelessness of the stories, and the stories really have something to say to
young children. It came down to Disney's expertise in storytelling and his
wonderful team that he worked with. They
made the characters so realistic in terms that even adults could identify with
them and not just the children in the audience.
Continue reading "INTERVIEWS WITH DISNEY "PETER PAN" VOICE ACTORS KATHRYN BEAUMONT AND PAUL COLLINS "
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