By Hank Reineke

Fans of silver-age horror and sci-fi are likely rejoicing that 1958’s The Monster of Piedras Blancas has, at long last, crossed over to the digital realm. The film’s first and only previous commercial issue was a much sought-after out-of-print 1990 VHS release on Republic Pictures Home Video. This new Blu-Ray version from the folks at Olive Films has made this film, long desired by collectors, available once again – this time in a stunningly beautiful and virtually flawless monochrome transfer.

Unfairly dismissed as a second rate low-budget reimagining of Universal’s Studio’s Creature from the Black Lagoon – this Vanwick Productions film, reportedly made at a cost of a mere $30,000 – is an unassuming little gem. There’s plenty to enjoy here if you’re a buff of 1950s science-fiction, with its cheesecake damsels-in-distress and loathsome rubber-suited monsters. Directed by Irvin Berwick, a freshman helmsman with no résumé in this capacity, The Monster of Piedras Blancas is an unpretentious good old-fashioned creature feature ripe for rediscovery.

The black and white film is set in the sleepy seaside village of Piedras Blancas, where the bodies of two headless, blood-drained fishermen are found on shore. (For you sticklers, while there is an actual Piedras Blancas on the Golden State coast, the film was primarily photographed at a lighthouse near Point Conception and around the town of Cayucus, both in northern California). With no town morgue to speak of, the town constable George (Forrest Lewis) and Dr. Samuel Jorgensen (Les Tremayne) arrange to have the bodies stored – against both the health code and good sense, I would think - in the ice room of Kochek’s Meat and Groceries market. This was probably a poor decision as the storekeeper, the doom-saying villager Mr. Kochek (Frank Arvidson), has already mocked the police department’s contention that the fishermen were killed when their boat went into the rocks during a wild squall. The wary storekeeper doesn’t buy this official ruling for a moment and – much to the anger of town officials – continues to scare his already frightened customers when he mysteriously advises they need only “look up the history of this village” to discern what the real cause of the recent trouble is.

Kochek is at particular loggerheads with the wiry Mr. Sturges (John Harmon), the curmudgeonly keeper of the village lighthouse. Sturges is an isolated-by-choice, painfully secretive loner who only visits town to collect groceries and, more oddly, gather meat scraps for an undisclosed purpose. This week the meat scraps Kochek usually saves for him were given to another customer to feed their dogs. This revelation causes the prickly relationship between the two already grumpy old men to completely sour. Though Kochek possesses few admirable qualities, the self-contained Sturges might exhibit even fewer. In the presence of Lucy (Jeanne Carmen), Sturges’ comely daughter, even the town sheriff sighs that the grim and combative lighthouse keeper is “the most unfriendly man I ever knew.”

He’s also the most mysterious. Following the unexplained death of his wife ten years earlier, we learn Sturges sent young Lucy away to boarding school, fearful of her traipsing along the sand and rocky beachside cliffs of Piedras Blancas. Now back in town while on summer break from college, the girl has taken a counter-person position at a local luncheonette. She’s relatively happy now as she’s managed to attract a handsome beau Fred (Don Sullivan), who is visiting Piedras Blancas on an oceanographic research mission. Though the two would share a passionate From Here to Eternity clinch in the rough surf early in the movie, I would imagine it was to Fred’s disappointment that he was not present when the shapely Lucy chose to shed all of her clothes for a solo skinny dip near dusk. While enjoying her nude swim an articulated reptilian arm steals an article of her clothing from the rocks. Her father is – as is his custom – not particularly pleased to learn of his daughter’s unsanctioned paddle near the restricted cliffs. He had earlier cautioned that the eerie acreage surrounding the lighthouse is “a lonely place to get to after dark.” Upon hearing his daughter express concern that she sensed someone – or something – had been watching her during her naked frolic in the cove, the father would scold – as any reasonable Dad would, I guess – “I don’t know what they teach you in college these days, but it’s not modesty.”

Of course Lucy’s free-spirited ways are a less pressing problem to villagers than the fact that the tally of headless and bloodless bodies has been spiraling upward in recent days. Something resembling a fish gill is found on one corpse, causing Fred and Dr. Jorgensen to suspect that if a sea-monster is terrifying the village, it’s likely an evolutionary aberration; perhaps a diplo-vertebrate, a presumed “mutation of the reptilian family.” (As an aside, I Googled the term “diplo-vertebrate” thinking it was a simply a pseudo-science invention of Piedras Blancas screenwriter C. Haile Chace. Surprisingly, there was a single reference to this term found in an 1891 geological treatise, “structures… not made clear as yet their precise relation to modern Amphibia and Reptilia.”).

In any event, science eventually intersects with superstition and suddenly the villager’s long whispered “Legend of the White Rocks” monster seems plausible to all involved. Apparently, beachside corpses sprinkled about aren’t anything new in Piedras Blancas: this has been going on for years and years, and this grim tide has helped foster the belief that a sea-monster exists within the cave fissures dotting the coastline. What follows is what you might expect: a climactic battle between man and beast atop the tower of the imposing lighthouse. The always most obvious suspect in the film finally admits collusion with the creature, even reasonably offering it was probably “stupid” of him to unintentionally wean The Monster of Piedras Blancas from an all-seafood to an all-meat diet. Well, you can’t argue with that.

This is a Saturday night popcorn movie, presented here in a 1:78:1 aspect ratio and mono sound. The movie sports a pretty good cast, good production values (for its low-budget) and competent direction by a first-timer. The film’s screenplay, while formulaic and unsurprising, is neither terrible nor groan- inducing. The monster’s scaly rubber suit – the design usually credited to Piedras Blancas producer Jack Kevan, who had earlier helped construct the iconic Black Lagoon creature for Universal – is pretty impressive, with actor Sullivan later recalling it being scarier in person than seen on film.

Olive Films should be commended for rescuing this and other such dimly-recalled 1950s sci-fi rarities. In recent years the label has given respectful white-glove treatments to such desirable titles as Fire Maidens of Outer Space (1956), The Colossus of New York (1958), The Invisible Monster (1950), Flying Disc Man from Mars (1950), and She Devil (1957). Could we have soldiered on with our lives without these mostly forgotten titles not having appeared on home video in HD and on Blu-Ray? Of course we could have… though our lives would surely be far emptier without them.

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By Lee Pfeiffer

Released in 1966, producer Ivan Tors' Around the World Under the Sea seemed at first blush like an exercise in stunt casting: cobble together some contemporary TV favorites into a feature film and have MGM and Tors divy up the profits. However, that perception would be entirely wrong. While the film did boast some popular TV stars in leading roles, the film itself is an intelligent adventure flick, well-acted and very competently directed by old hand Andrew Marton. The film stars Lloyd Bridges (only a few years out of Sea Hunt), Brian Kelly (star of Flipper), Daktari lead Marshall Thompson and Man From U.N.C.L.E. David McCallum. Veteran supporting actors Keenan Wynn and Gary Merrill are also prominently featured and Shirley Eaton, riding her fame from Goldfinger, has the only female role in this macho male story line.

The plot finds a team of leading scientists who come together to install earthquake warning sensors on seabeds around the world. The risky mission is undertaken in the Hydronaught, a nuclear-powered state of the art submarine/science lab capable of operating at the ocean's greatest depths. The physical dangers are only part of the frustrations the team has to cope with. The presence of Eaton, as a drop-dead gorgeous scientist on board the confined all-male environment leads to inevitable jealousies and sexual tensions. (Although Tors specialized in family entertainment, even he couldn't resist a most welcome, completely gratuitous sequence in which Eaton swims around underwater in a bikini.) Unlike many films aimed at kids, Around the World Under the Sea boasts a highly intelligent screenplay that has much appeal to older audiences. The heroes are refreshingly human: they bicker, they panic and they make costly mistakes in judgment. Bridges is the stalwart, no-nonsense leader of the group, Kelly is his ill-tempered second-in-command who tries unsuccessfully to resist Eaton's charms, Wynn is his trademark crusty-but-lovable eccentric character. McCallum's Phil Volker is the most nuanced of the characters. A brilliant scientist, he can only be persuaded to join the life-saving mission by making demands based on his own personal profit. He also allows a brief flirtation with Eaton to preoccupy him to the point of making an error that could have fatal consequences for all aboard. Each of the actors gets a chance to shine with the exception of Thompson, whose role is underwritten. The scene-stealers are McCallum and Wynn, who engage in some amusing one-upmanship in the course of playing a protracted chess game. However, one is also impressed by Kelly's screen presence. He could have had a successful career as a leading man were it not for injuries he sustained in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. (Partially paralyzed, Kelly went on to serve as producer on a number of successful film including Blade Runner.)

The film benefits from some wonderful underwater photography shot in the Bahamas, Florida and the Great Barrier Reef - all the result of a collaborative effort between the three top underwater filmmakers of the period: Jordan Klein, Ricou Browning and Lamar Boren. Although the special effects were modestly achieved, they hold up quite well today. Marton wrings some legitimate suspense out of several crisis situations including an encounter with a giant eel and a Krakatoa-like earthquake that almost spells doom for our heroes. How they escape is cleverly and convincingly played out. The movie also has a lush score by Harry Sukman (we'll leave it to you to pronounce his last name.)

Warner Archive's widescreen, region-free DVD looks very good indeed and boasts a couple of nice extras: an original production featurette and an original trailer (with Spanish sub-titles!). The company has wisely retained the magnificent poster art for the DVD sleeve.

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By Lee Pfeiffer

The word "restrained" doesn't often fit into analysis of Jerry Lewis' film career, but in Hook, Line and Sinker, a 1969 black comedy, the legendary funnyman is indeed restrained, as least in comparison to most of the characters he played. The film is an unusual entry from this period of Lewis' film work in that he did not direct the movie. Instead, George Marshall, an old hand at helming diverse films, took on that responsibility. There isn't much discernible difference in the end result and one could easily be forgiven if they were to assume that Lewis directed. He plays Peter Ingersoll, a typical middle class suburbanite who is living the American dream. He has a boring but steady 9 to 5 job as an insurance salesman, a pretty wife (Anne Francis), two polite children, a comfortable home and a devoted best friend, Scott Carter (Peter Lawford), who also happens to be his personal physician. The only consternation in the household is wife Nancy's concern about Peter's costly and self-indulgent hobby of deep sea fishing. Peter's mundane but comfortable existence comes to an abrupt end when Dr. Carter gives him the stunning news that a recent medical check-up has confirmed that he is terminally ill. Distraught and and depressed, Peter is stunned when Nancy suggests that he forsake his responsibilities as husband and father and enact an audacious plan whereby he will spend his last few months on a solo journey to exotic locations where he can spend his final days fishing. Nancy concocts a plot whereby the entire venture can be financed on credit cards that will never have to be paid. Additionally, his life insurance policy of $150,000 will ensure that his family can live in comfort (this was back in 1969, don't forget.) Peter is initially reluctant to engage in the scheme but he ultimately concedes. He ends up traveling to exotic locations as he wracks up enormous bills with carefree abandon. In Lisbon, he is shocked when Scott Carter appears unexpectedly with the news that an equipment malfunction on a medical device resulted in the wrong diagnosis. Peter isn't going to die, but has to pretend he has in order to escape prosecution for the monies owed to the credit card companies. Scott assures him that the statute of limitations last only seven years, after which he can reappear and resume his family life.  By this point, the audience has long since figured out what Peter has to learn belatedly: that the entire plan has been an exercise in deceit on the part of Nancy and Scott. He discovers that the two are having an affair and that Nancy and his kids are in Lisbon, too, where they refer to his best friend as "Daddy Scott" even as their mother shares his bed. Emotionally devastated, Peter concocts a complex scheme of his own to exact revenge on his wife and friend.

Hook, Line and Sinker fares better than many of Lewis' late career big screen ventures in that the humor, characters and situations are more realistic and believable than those found in most Lewis films. The character of Peter is somewhat of a nerd and klutz but is far cry from the typical imbecile he usually portrays. Consequently, although he is dressed in a silly disguise when he discovers the deceit played upon him by those he trusts most, there is a certain genuine sadness that permeates the scene. The humor is also a bit more daring than usual, with the habitual abuse of corpses playing a central role in the plot. There are some over the top elements of the film, but for the most part it's a highly enjoyable, consistently amusing scenario well-played by an energized Lewis, who has a perfect foil in Lawford. It's really Lewis' show, however, with few memorable moments for supporting players other than Lewis perennial Kathleen Freeman, who makes a welcome appearance early in the film as the world's worst baby sitter. The actual on-location filming in Lisbon helps elevate the production values, even if the majority of the movie has clearly been shot in the studio. I'm a sucker for Jerry Lewis films, including this one, which remains one of his more successful efforts of the 1960s.

The Sony DVD is from the burn-to-order program and is region free. The transfer is top-notch but there are no extras. Sony should be a bit more generous in this area and provide at least a trailer, which we present for you here. 

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BY DIANE A. RODGERS

This film comes across as something of a vanity project for Pacino, part documentary, part dramatisation of  Shakespeare's Richard III, in an attempt to explore, understand and represent the play to the common man. The film and its aims are ambitious perhaps and in great danger of hilarious and actorly self parody in places ("It has always been a dream of mine to communicate how I feel about Shakespeare to other people") . Although overall Pacino's film is a little confused about what it's exact aims are, it does capture some entertaining aspects of the creative acting and directing process.

Pacino's sincere passion for Richard III, his earnest attempts to analyse it and make it relevant are admirable; the play is complex and interwoven, full of scheming politics, intrigue and backstabbing. He tackles head on a number of issues including the difficulties American actors and audiences face with the language of Shakespeare, their overly reverential attitude toward the text (which Derek Jacobi points out is the main stumbling block for American actors) and the fact that the average man-on-the-street honestly just finds Shakespeare a bit boring, amusingly illustrated in a number of vox-pops from the streets of New York.

The film features an impressive cast, including performances from and interviews with Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi, Kenneth Branagh, Vanessa Redgrave, James Earl Jones, Winona Ryder, Kevin Kline, and a host of other recognisable faces; therefore, the fly-on-the-wall documentary aspects are often the most gripping. There are some genuinely heated moments of round-table rehearsals, revealing in terms of talent, dedication and understanding of actors of their own art. Notable, amongst others, are Penelope Allen (Herself / Queen Elizabeth), expressing sheer passionate outrage in a clear understanding of her character's complexities and Alec Baldwin (Himself / Duke of Clarence) who seems drop effortlessly and convincingly into inhabiting his character in a most understated manner one moment, and the next making jokes between takes about being paid in donuts. Pacino has clearly made a directorial decision to rely on close-ups and screen actors in efforts to avoid stagey British theatrical traditions, allowing actors to quietly and intimately inhabit their characters, creating a more uniquely American approach to Shakespeare.

Nonetheless, Pacino's sheer intensity and commitment to the process of this do lead to some truly ridiculous actorly moments here, worthy of a Christopher Guest-style parody. For example, Pacino's plan for casting is simply to get a bunch of (famous) actors in a room with copies of the play, let people randomly start reading out whatever parts they feel drawn to, with his intent that "the role and the actor will merge... and hopefully the casting will get done by itself, one way or another. Cut immediately to: room full of extremely confused actors arguing about who's reading what part. In another behind-the-scenes moment, Pacino's co-director attempts to explain iambic pentameter to him; pontificating that it is "like an anteater, very high in the back and short front legs...", leaving a bewildered Pacino shrugging to camera. In fact, Pacino seems unafraid to portray himself as perhaps not the most astute or perceptive amongst his peers, admittedly finding the play "very confusing" and full of "fancy words", expressing wide-eyed awe at Kevin Spacey's clear understanding of the play: "You're a pretty smart guy".

The constant cutting of the film between behind the scenes rehearsal and documentary exposition with more filmic dramatised scenes of the play does not help with clarity for the viewer, however. The point isn't always clear, and some of Shakespeare's text, in scenes taken out of context at least, is not always easy to follow, plus it becomes increasingly unclear what type of film Pacino is trying to make here. At times, it seems a lighthearted parody film about attitudes toward Shakespeare; Kevin Kline tells a story of his earliest memories of Richard III, having attended the play with his girlfriend: "we made out in the back row and left in the intermission." At other times this is a documentary about American actors struggling to understand Shakespearian motives; John Gielgud, upon being asked why Americans find this difficult, replies, without irony: "Perhaps they don't go to picture galleries and read books as much as we do." It becomes even less clear with what purpose the film-within-the-film (of the cast in re-enacting Richard III in full period costume and setting) is being made, particularly as it is filmed using the same close-up documentary-style roving camerawork as for behind-the-scenes sections; there is no clear visual distinction for the audience as to whether this is rehearsal, play or final film.

With regards to the disc itself, the screener DVD copy available at time of review had no menu screen, artwork or extras, so it is difficult to comment on the finished article, although a recently added commentary would be a fascinating and welcome addition. The transfer itself could have been better also; the overall volume level seemed very quiet in comparison to most discs, and the contrast in terms of both colour and shadows was a little washed out and grainy.

This film is a bold attempt to grapple with a number of issues, whilst trying to do justice to the play itself, perhaps trying to do too many different things. It is a shame that the film increasingly focuses on dramatised film-within-a-film scenes when it is the behind-the-scenes documentary struggle that really provides the most fascinating aspects here. In fact, in true Shakespearian fashion, the wisest and most heartbreaking words of the entire film come from the mouth of a homeless, toothless, beggar interviewed ad-hoc in the streets of New York: "...if we think words are things, and we have no feelings in our words...it doesn't mean anything. But if we felt what we said, we'd say less and mean more. [wanders away from camera to a passerby] Spare some change?"

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By John LeMay

Fat City, released in 1972, was something of a “rebound” film for beloved director John Huston, whose previous two films had been flops. Based upon the 1969 novel by Leonard Gardner (who also wrote the screenplay), Fat City follows Stacy Keach as Billy Tully, a small time boxer who never made it big who is living in squalor. When Billy makes a rare return visit to the gym, he meets Ernie (Jeff Bridges, hot off of a Best Supporting Actor nomination for The Last Picture Show). Billy sees some potential in the teenager’s boxing ability and suggests he go see his old manager, Ruben (Nicholas Colasanto—the future “Coach” on Cheers). Ernie does as told, and soon finds himself under Ruben’s optimistic wing, while Billy’s life further deteriorates when he begins an affair with an alcoholic wreck named Oma (Susan Tyrell, who would herself secure a Best Supporting Actress nomination for this film). At the same time that Ernie begins his fighting career, he too runs into trouble when he impregnates his virginal girlfriend and soon leaves the world of boxing behind. When Ernie and Billy reunite on a work crew in the San Joaquin Valley, both become inspired to get back into the ring and return to Ruben. However, for those assuming Bridges and Keach inevitably come to blows in some sort of bloody boxing ring climax, they don’t. This is because Fat City isn’t so much a “boxing movie” as it is a character portrait of Kecah’s sad-sack loser who just can’t seem to help himself out of the bottle and other bad choices. Things seem to be on the up for Billy in the third act when he finally shakes off his alcoholic lover Oma and wins his “comeback” fight. Billy self-destructs soon after though when he doesn’t get as big of a cut from the fight as he hoped for from Rudy (who has already given Billy plenty of money in advances). Billy soon goes running back to Oma, now back with her husband, and after her he crawls right back into the bottle. Billy ends the film just as he had begun it, and though we don’t know his future, it looks to be subpar as he shares a cup of coffee with Ernie.

Though character pieces like this are fairly common today, back in 1972 Fat City was something of a trailblazer. And though things end on an ambiguous if not totally sour note for the film’s protagonist, for director John Huston Fat City was indeed a successful comeback as it was both a critical darling and a financial success. Once again the famous director was back in high demand. As to those who no doubt puzzle over the film’s title, which is never spoken in the film itself, author Leonard Gardner told Time in 1969, “Lots of people have asked me about the title of my book. It's part of Negro slang. When you say you want to go to Fat City, it means you want the good life. I got the idea for the title after seeing a photograph of a tenement in an exhibit in San Francisco. 'Fat City' was scrawled in chalk on a wall. The title is ironic: Fat City is a crazy goal no one is ever going to reach.”

So in summary, those hoping for an inspiring sports movie might be disappointed, but for those that love downbeat realistic character studies, Fat City is a real winner. The Twilight Time Blu-ray comes with the film’s theatrical trailer, an isolated score track, an audio commentary with film historians Lou Dobbs and Nick Redman, and also some wonderful liner notes written by Julie Kirgo. This is a limited edition of 3,000 units.

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Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Time Life:

Bob Hope, the greatest entertainer of the 20th century, was above all a patriotic American dedicated to our troops around the world. His star-studded USO Christmas shows brought a taste of home to servicemen and women scattered thousands of miles from their families. Bob rang in the Christmas season with the biggest stars in Hollywood along with major figures from the worlds of sports and music, and cracked jokes with his celebrity pals and presidents alike. At home or abroad, his specials proved that laughter was the best medicine. 

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES 6-DVD set features 13 specials from Bob’s career, spanning five decades with dozens of celebrity guests. Highlights include: 

Bob’s first studio comedy special “in living color” with guests Jack Benny, Bing Crosby and Janet Leigh

The Bob Hope Chevy Show with the entire cast of I Love Lucy—Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley, plus James Cagney and Diana Dors

A hilarious spoof of Star Wars and other sketches with Tony Bennett, Perry Como, James Garner, Mark Hamill, Dean Martin, Olivia Newton-John, Barbra Streisand, Tuesday Weld, The Muppets and more stars

The murder-mystery parody Joys (A Comedy Whodunit) with nearly fifty guest stars including Charo, Milton Berle, Dean Martin, Don Rickles, George Gobel, Alan King, Don Knotts, Groucho Marx, Vincent Price andFreddie Prinze

The best of the bloopers from 30 years of Bob’s shows with George Burns, Sammy Davis Jr., Angie Dickinson, Phyllis Diller, Burt Reynolds, DonRickles, Brooke Shields, Elizabeth Taylor, Mr. T, John Wayne and others.

Bob’s 1967 USO tour to 22 bases around Vietnam, Thailand and the South Pacific in 15 days with special guest Raquel Welch

Highlights from over 25 years of specials in Bob Hope’s World of Comedy and the celebration Highlights of a Quarter Century of Bob Hope on Television

A look at Bob’s personal relationships with American presidents including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, and Harry S. Truman

Bob Hope’s 90th birthday celebration featuring tributes by Johnny Carson, George Burns and many more!

EXCLUSIVE BONUS: Plus, the DVD set contains the exclusive bonus feature Shanks for the Memory about the world of golf according to Bob Hope, which includes historic clips of Bob with Bing Crosby, presidents and pros on courses around the world, and special appearances by Pres. Gerald Ford, pro golfers Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and more.

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BY TIM GREAVES

Trotted out towards the tail end of the early 1980s slice-'em-and-dice-'em heyday, The Initiation is a competent if unremarkable entry to the subgenre, notable if anything for its 'name' casting – Psycho's Vera Miles, Clu Gulager from long-running TV western The Virginian – and an early performance by Daphne Zuniga; despite the fact she receives an "introducing" credit on the opening titles, the actress had actually appeared in an earlier slasher feature, 1982's The Dorm That Dripped Blood.

College student Kelly Fairchild (Zuniga) has been suffering from nightmares, possibly manifested by a repressed childhood memory in which her affluent parents (Miles and Gulager) were attacked in their home by an intruder. Submitting herself to experimental dream therapy under the college's psychology lecturer (James Read), Kelly is also one among a group of sorority pledges who, as part of their initiation into Delta Rho Chi, have been tasked with breaking into the shopping mall owned by her father’s company. She and her friends subsequently find themselves locked in for the night, unaware that they’re in the company of a shadowy prowler who's just stopped off in the sports department to pick up some handy hunting goods...

Former actor Larry Stewart was an episodic television director when he took up the reins on 1984's The Initiation and it represents his only theatrical feature. One can see why. The pacing is painfully pedestrian, in fact aside from the enigmatic flashback/dream sequences – which, since they’re swiftly shelved once the stalkin’ ’n’ slashin’ kicks into gear- are clearly in situ to lay the foundations for some dark familial revelations come the finale – the first hour is notable only for its dearth of engaging incident. At least when the killing begins the pace picks up a little, yet although the bursts of violence are convincingly staged – which is more than can be said for some of those in a number of The Initiation's genre siblings – Stewart and screenwriter Charles Pratt, Jr fail to muster up anything particularly imaginative; this is strictly paint-by-numbers stuff. Even the twist ending – which despite some heavy handed attempts at audience misdirection at least manages to remain fairly unpredictable – falls shy of unique. Coming to the party so late in the day, The Initiation needed something – anything – to make it stand out; sadly it just comes up wanting.

Still, the movie looks good, the multi-floor shopping mall location lending it a goodly measure of production value, and the strong cast alone makes it worth a visit, especially Vera Miles, who'd just recently revived her Psycho heroine Lila Crane in a 23-years-later sequel. Daphne Zuniga is excellent too and manages to eschew the script’s nudity demands, the decoration in that respect befalling former model and future soap star Hunter Tylo. James Reid is also entertaining as the college lecturer sidelining in unauthorised therapy; I must admit though, whenever I see the actor I can't help but think of him as that dodgy dentist in TV movie Columbo: Uneasy Lies the Crown. 

In summation, where seasoned slasher aficionados are unlikely to find anything here they’ve not seen a dozen times before, as undemanding booze'n'popcorn terrors go The Initiation makes for an adequate enough time-passer.

Released on DVD in the UK by Arrow back in 2013, the company has reissued the film in a newly restored Region A/B dual format Blu-Ray/DVD package. There's a moderate level of grain present throughout the feature and the hi-def image occasionally serves to accentuate poorly focussed shots. The mono soundtrack is nice and clean. Extra features comprise a chatty commentary from podcast team The Hysteria Continues, a short piece of footage from a frat party sequence (omitted from the restoration due to the loss of the original soundtrack) and a trailer. Additionally there are interviews with writer Charles Pratt, Jr and supporting cast members Christopher Bradley and Joy Jones; sadly, though perhaps to be expected, there’s no input from stars Miles or Gulager, whilst disappointingly Zuniga is also conspicuous in her absence. Reversible sleeve artwork and a limited edition collectors' booklet spruce up the deal.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

I recently wrote in relation to a review of "The Big Show" that circus movies have gone the way of the Model T. You can add to that another genre of film that used to be a Hollywood staple- the safari movies in which the hero was a great white hunter. Changing social attitudes make it unlikely we'd ever again cheer some rock-jawed leading man as he unloads some hi caliber bullets into a grazing elephant or a lazing hippo. The last word on such films was Clint Eastwood's woefully underrated (and woefully under-seen) 1990 film "White Hunter, Black Heart", which was loosely based on the hunting obsessions of director John Huston during production of "The African Queen". Nevertheless, jungle-themed adventures are still the stuff of cinematic thrills in the minds of retro movie lovers. One of the best is "Rampage", a 1963 opus directed by Phil Karlson and based on a novel by actor/screenwriter Alan Caillou. Robert Mitchum stars as Harry Stanton, known in zoological circles as the world's most eminent tracker of wild game. The Wilhelm Zoo in Germany makes him a proposition: they will finance his trip to Malaysia to track down and capture the Enchantress, a legendary one-of-a-kind animal that is said to be half-leopard and half-tiger. Part of the deal is that Harry must also return with two tigers. Harry is told he will be traveling with Otto Abbot (Jack Hawkins), an internationally famed hunter of exotic prey. Harry is invited to meet Otto at his opulent home which is unsurprisingly decorated with trophies of his more notable expeditions into the wild. However, Harry's eye goes immediately to Abbot's girlfriend Anna (Elsa Martinelli), an exotic beauty many years younger than Otto. It's clear that Abbot takes great pride in his relationship with Anna and he enjoys seeing Harry looking at her with pangs of desire. It turns out that Anna was a young girl of fourteen who had no family and who was facing a harsh life on the streets. Harry "adopted" her, presumably for humanitarian reasons but, in fact, he was grooming her to be his lover. Out of gratitude for the opulent life Abbot has afforded her, she has complied even though it is clear she would rather have a relationship with another man. It only takes a moment for she and Harry to lock eyes before both of them realize they are drawn to each other. 

At first the journey to Malaysia goes well enough. While Harry personally loathes the killing of exotic animals, he respects Abbot for his achievements. However, en route to their destination, it becomes clear to Abbot that Harry and Anna are becoming increasingly flirtatious. He even tells her that she has his permission to have a fling with Harry as long as it's a short-term affair and she continues to regard him as her "real" lover. However, Harry and Anna aren't interested in a quickie sexual thrill...both of them want to build a relationship. Things become more tense when they arrive in Malaysia and begin hunting the tigers and the Enchantress. Abbot attempts to kill a a charging rhino and finds it takes him two shots to do so, which apparently is a no-no in the world of big game hunting. The failure to bag the rhino with one shot becomes a metaphor for Harry's diminishing virility. To prove he still has what it takes, he foolishly attempts to capture the Enchantress in a cave and ends up being badly mauled. It falls to Harry to capture the beast. By the time the group is back in Germany, tensions are raw. Both Harry and Anna admit that they did make love and Anna tells Abbot that, while she respects him, she has never loved him. Driven to madness at the thought of losing Anna, Abbot lures Harry into the storage room where the Enchantress is locked in a cage. He frees the animal with the expectation that it will kill Harry but, instead the beast leaps from the train and hides somewhere in Berlin. With an all-out hunt on for the dangerous animal, the film predictably finds Harry, Abbot and Anna facing off against each other as well as the Enchantress.  

"Rampage" is certainly dated. It's the kind of movie where the two male antagonists-to-be dress in tuxedos for their initial meeting and drink cocktails while the leading lady saunters about the house in a lavish gown. However, the movie was ahead of its time in terms of addressing the issue of animal conservation. The film makes a poignant plea through Mitchum's character to stop the wholesale annihilation of entire species. In that respect, the film joins only two others from this era that spring into mind that were similarly-themed: John Huston's "The Roots of Heaven" (1958) and Ivan Tors' "Rhino!" (1964). Despite intelligent direction by Phil Karlson and a compelling screenplay, the movie exists to showcase its three glamorous stars. Mitchum is solid as the thinking man's tough guy, Hawkins is old world elegance and superficial charm and Martinelli has the kind of traditional sex siren persona that is all but invisible in today's film industry. The movie also benefits from some exotic locations (apparently filmed in Hawaii, not Africa) and an impressive score by Elmer Bernstein (even if the title track sounds like a combination of Monty Norman's theme for "Call Me Bwana" combined with "The Banana Boat Song".) There's even an appearance by Sabu as a guide for the hunting expedition. The movie is unusually frank for its day in its treatment of sex. Mitchum and Martinelli practically undress each other with their eyes and this aspect lends increasing tension to the inevitable mano a mano showdown between rivals Mitchum and Hawkins. "Rampage" is largely off the radar screens of retro movie lovers but that's all the more reason why the DVD release through the Warner Archive is highly recommended. (Note: the DVD contains no extras but is region-free.)

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BY JOHN M. WHALEN

Ted Kotcheff’s “Billy Two Hats” (1974) is one of those off-beat kind of movies they made back in the mid-Seventies when studios still believed in small, realistic films that focused on character more than shoot-outs, believable story lines more than special effects and solid performances by seasoned actors who knew their craft more than flashy histrionics by shiny boys and girls who just stepped off the front pages of the supermarket tabloids. It’s not a great film by any means. It’s slow, and a bit heavy handed in getting across the themes contained in Alan Sharp’s (“Osterman Weekend,” “Ulzana’s Raid”) script, but it’s worth watching, if only so you can say you’ve seen the only “Kosher Western” ever made.

57-year-old Gregory Peck, speaking with a thick Scottish accent, stars as Arch Deans, a bank robber on the run with his young Kiowa half-breed sidekick Billy (Desi Arnaz Jr). Jack Warden is Henry Gifford, the sheriff who’s tracking them down. Gifford is a man with no love for outlaws or Indians or much else for that matter. He captures Billy early in the story and tells him that he looks on him as the lowest of the low. He’s also a cynic. When they ride out into the desert he tells Billy to stop looking for his compadre to come to his rescue. Deans is half way to Mexico, he says, already spending the measly $400 they stole from the bank. But out in the desert, Kotcheff gives us a shot of Deans up in the hills watching them.

Gifford stops for the night at a general store/saloon out in the middle of nowhere run by an old friend—an ex-buffalo hunter by the name of Copeland (David Huddleston), who has settled down with an Apache woman. Copeland shares Gifford’s views on Native Americans, even though he lives with one. He tells Gifford he and his “wife” had a son but, says, he “made her give him to her people.”

In the morning, Deans comes down from the hills and rescues Billy, wounding Gifford in the shoulder. While Copeland patches him up, Gifford asks Deans why he came back for Billy and Deans just shrugs and says: “He’s my partner.” After the outlaws have ridden some distance away, Gifford reminds Copeland of his old buffalo gun hanging on the wall of the saloon. Copeland takes it down, loads and sights it carefully, and shoots Deans’ horse out from under him at a distance of over half a mile or more away. Deans suffers a broken leg as a result and the fugitives double up on the remaining horse and get away.

It takes Gifford a few days before he’s well enough to ride. While he’s recuperating there’s the obligatory scene where Copeland and Gifford remember the days when they could stand in one spot all day and watch the same herd of buffalo pass from morning to night. But Gifford also tells Copeland he just can’t figure why Deans came back for the boy. He was in the clear. It just doesn’t make sense to him that anyone would do that, especially for a “breed.” “I’m a reasonable man,” he says. “It’s important to me that things make sense.”

Meanwhile Billy has made a travois (an “Indian perambulator,” Gifford calls it) for Deans and they try to get through the mountains to Mexico, but in a canyon they run into a handful of Apaches. They manage to scare them off without any loss or injury, but you know they’ll be back.

Their next stop is a small cabin inhabited by a settler named Spencer (John Pearce) and his bought- from-St.-Louis- for-$100-wife Esther (Sian Barbara Allen). Esther stutters and Spencer slaps her in the face whenever she gets stuck on a word. “It shakes up her brain box,” he explains. Spencer has a wagon and after some haggling agrees to drive Deans for $100 to a town two days away where they have a doctor.

That night Deans and Billy sleep out in the barn and Deans suddenly recalls how Gifford asked him why he came back for him. He tells Billy he didn’t rightly know. But he asks Billy if he ever read the Bible. “Well, there’s a bit in it,” he says, “from the Book of Ecclesiastes, that says `Two are better than one because they have good reward for their labor. And if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up. And if one shall prevail against him, two shall withstand him.’”

“Billy Two Hats” is essentially a movie about loneliness, loyalty, hatred and the need for relationships, all good ingredients for what could have been a gripping drama of alienation and a search for meaning in a meaningless world. But Kotcheff (“First Blood,” and “Weekend at Bernie’s”) seems to lack the depth and sensitivity to bring out the themes and emotions contained in Sharp’s screenplay. The film’s pace is slow and the tone so muted that a lot of scenes fail to convey any convincing emotion.

Peck’s performance as Deans is solid and his Scottish accent seems authentic—one of the many off-beat touches of the movie. Warden as Gifford is as effective as ever at making his character look lived-in and Huddleston provides good backup for him. Arnaz isn’t called on to do much, and frankly his love scenes with Sian Barbara Allen are handled rather clumsily and are too perfunctory to have much dramatic effect.

Despite these limitations, “Billy Two Hats” is worthy of your attention, at least as a breather from today’s super violent comic book movies and a reminder that they once made movies, even westerns, for grown-ups.

By the way, while it may look like the American Southwest, “Billy Two Hats” was actually filmed in the Negev Desert in southern Israel. Kotcheff explains in an interview included on the Blu-Ray disc that for financial reasons they could not make the movie in the U.S. and both he and producer Norman Jewison thought the Spanish locations used in Spaghetti westerns had been overused. Jewison was filming “Jesus Christ Superstar” in Israel at the time and suggested he film it there. Thus, Kotcheff says, was the first “Kosher Western” born.

Kino Lorber has released “Billy Two Hats” on An impressive 1920x1080p Blu-Ray that presents all the desolate beauty of the location captured on film by cinematographer Brian West. An interview with Kotcheff and three trailers for this film and two other Gregory Peck movies are the extras.

John M. Whalen is the author of "Hunting Monsters is My Business: The Mordecai Slate Stories" . Click here to order the book from Amazon)

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By John M. Whalen

In “Blackmail,” (1939), Edward G. Robinson plays John Ingram, an expert at putting out oil well fires with explosives. He’s got a wife, Helen (Ruth Hussey) a son, Hank (Bobs Watson), and a sidekick named Moose (Guinn “Big Boy Williams). After one of his jobs, the newspapers snap his photo and put him on the front page. His success affords him the opportunity to buy his first oil well. But a short time after his picture appears in the papers an obsequious stranger, William Ramey (Gene Lockhart), shows up at the house begging for food. He turns out to be someone from Ingram’s past, who know that the oil man is actually a wanted fugitive who escaped from a southern chain gang nine years ago.

To keep Ramey quiet, Ingram gives him a job, but it doesn’t take long before Ramey keeps upping the ante. He finally tells Ingram he knows he’s innocent of the robbery charge he was sent to the chain gang for, because he was the one who stole the money. In a scheme that only a dumb hero in an MGM potboiler would fall for, Ingram exchanges ownership of the well for a signed confession. Ramey, of course is too smart for Ingram, and in the end Ingram not only does not get the confession, he also loses the well and is taken in by police for questioning. Next thing you know, it’s back to the chain gang.

“Blackmail,” was released by MGM seven years after Warners’ “I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang,” (1932) starring Paul Muni. Rather than focusing on social injustice and the deplorable conditions of Southern chain gangs, as the Warners film did, “Blackmail” uses all that as background for what is basically a melodrama. It was probably a smart move to go that way, since there was no way MGM, or anyone else, could have turned out a better socially conscious chain gang movie than the Paul Muni film.

The chain gang scenes in “Blackmail” are not bad, with director H.C. Potter and his writers (David Hertz and William Ludwig), focusing less on the social inequities and more on how Ingram intends to honor his promise to his wife not to try and escape again by not letting anything that happens on the chain gang get to him. But after learning that Ramey is planning to sell the well, and his family is now living in near-poverty, he begins to crack. Not only that, the sadistic guard, who he escaped from nine years ago, is still there with his bull whip, adding to his misery. He finally makes a break with help from his good buddy, Moose, and heads back home for a showdown with Ramey.

“Blackmail,” is an entertaining movie. Not every film has to have “redeeming social value,” but it’s just too bad MGM couldn’t have come up with a more believable plot. There are too many scenes where the characters do things that strain credulity, especially when the film reaches its climax.

One of the problems is that Edward G, on loan to Metro, was miscast. We’re used to him in his gangster roles—the tough guy who always comes out on top. He gives a good performance as Ingram, but this tricky bit of casting-against-type undermined the basic story line. As Ramey keeps squeezing him, you keep expecting Ingram to pull a gun out of his coat and tell him: “Say, what do you think I am? Some kind of sap? Got any last wishes?” But instead he falls hook line and sinker for Ramey’s machinations.

Lockhart is another bit of unusual casting. Normally the kind-hearted, sympathetic guy, as Ramey, he plays a groveling, totally despicable snake. Those distractions wouldn’t be so much of a problem if the plot and its unlikely twists, didn’t require so much suspension of disbelief. The story, as contrived as it is, move along at high speed, and Ingram’s problems pile up one after another for 81 fast minutes to the point where it seems he’ll never resolve them. You won’t be tempted to hit the stop button on your remote control until you reach the final frame, even though the denouement may leave you scratching your head.

The Warner Archive has released “Blackmail” on DVD. Picture and sound quality are very good. The only extra on the disc is the original theatrical trailer. If you’re an Edward G. Robinson fan, or just like chain gang movies, you’ll probably want to add this obscure title to your collection.

John M. Whalen is the author of "Hunting Monsters is My Business: The Mordecai Slate Stories" . Click here to order the book from Amazon)

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By Dawn Dabell

Can it really be 25 years since the release of The Commitments? An acclaimed hit with audiences and critics alike when first seen, it quickly grew in stature into something of a modern classic and has remained perennially popular ever since. It has also inspired touring bands, a major stage production and a few million sub-standard karaoke renditions of the iconic Mustang Sally (and other ditties) in pubs up and down the land.

Unemployed Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins) dreams of being a band manager, and places an ad in the local paper – “Have you got soul? If so the world’s hardest working band is looking for you.” Various losers, opportunists and drop-outs turn up at his door to audition, but bit by bit he manages to put together an inexperienced band comprising ten members: men, women, backing singers, guitarists, saxophonists, a drummer and an unlikely lead vocalist in the shape of slobbish Deco (Andrew Strong). Their specialty is soul music and, with Jimmy’s undimmed enthusiasm driving them (“say it once, say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud”) they begin rehearsing for their debut gig. The name of the band: The Commitments.

Tensions run amok among the band members, but despite their off-stage bickering they prove surprisingly terrific on-stage. Around Dublin their reputation grows and they find themselves on the verge of greatness, receiving glowing reviews in the local press and growing word-of-mouth hype. On the night of their biggest gig, saxophonist Joey ‘The Lips’ Fagan (Johnny Murphy) assures the band he has arranged for soul and R&B legend Wilson Pickett to join them on-stage after performing his sell-out gig in Dublin. By this point, the bands’ internal politics are at breaking point. Can they keep their tempers at bay long enough to hit the big-time, or will this show mark the final curtain for The Commitments?

Director Alan Parker does a wonderful job, creating a hilarious view of working class Dublin. He doesn’t shy away from the bleaker, grittier elements, showing rundown shacks used as shops in the middle of a ramshackle housing estate, drunken pub brawls, foul-mouthed street altercations, dreary living conditions, garbage piled high, and people bickering about sex and music through their unremittingly glum, booze-drenched days. There is nothing glamorous about the film: it is a feel-good movie in some ways, but there is equally a feel-bad vibe running beneath it all at the same time.

The band is thrown together from an advert in a local paper, with potential talents auditioning in Jimmy’s cluttered front room, or even out on the street, while he watches from an armchair or even from the bath-tub with his shower cap on. Parker’s characters use words like ‘fuck’ or ‘shit’ as regularly as they use basic determiners and nouns, yet he somehow invests them with love and warmth and makes them people worth rooting for. Over his career, Parker worked on a number of successful musicals including Bugsy Malone (1976), Fame (1980) and Evita (1996). Critics have drawn parallels between The Commitments and Fame, citing this as an Irish counterpart. Although Parker is a great director, it is surprising to note he only has 19 directing credits to his name. With him, it’s all about quality not quantity: he has proven himself a brilliant director across numerous genres with films such as Midnight Express (1978), Shoot The Moon (1982), Mississippi Burning (1988), Angela’s Ashes (1999) and The Life of David Gale (2003). Parker shows up briefly in a Hitchcock-style cameo as a producer at Eejit Records, the label which shows interest in signing the band.