by Todd Garbarini

Samurai Cop, director Amir Shervan's 1989 film starring actors Robert Z'Dar, Matt Hannon and Jannis Farley, has been restored in high definition on DVD by Cinema Epoch and is now available for purchase in a special edition for a limited time on Amazon.com prior to the film's June 4th, 2013 DVD street date. Click here to purchase this new pressing (do not be fooled into purchasing the inferior Media Blasters DVD that was released in 2004). This new version is superior.

While going through boxes last year in a California studio vault, both Cinema Epoch President Greg Hatanaka and Cinema Epoch Producer and Director of Acquisition's Douglas Dunning (he's also a cult actor and voice over artist) discovered the original 35mm camera negative to the late Mr. Shervan's film. It is from this source that the new DVD has been transferred.

Samurai Cop will also be screened at midnight on May 31, 2013 at the Landmark's Nuart Theatre in the Westwood section of Los Angeles. Tentatively scheduled to appear in person at this screening on the 31st are actor/stuntman Gerald Okamura, actors Jimmy Williams and Mark Frazer, film composer Alan DerMarderosian, cinematographer Peter Palian, and Ben Shervan (the late director's son). There will also be a limited number of pre-signed DVDs autographed by actor Robert Z'Dar for purchase at this screening only.

Samurai Cop’s Facebook page can be found here.

Upcoming screenings will also be taking place at:

May 10 & 11 at 12:30m – Egyptian Theatre, Seattle, WA

May 31 & June 1 at Midnight – Uptown Theatre, Minneapolis, MN

June 7 at Midnight – River Oaks Theatre, Houston, TX

June 7 at Midnight – E Street Cinema, Washington, DC

June 7 at Midnight – Ritz at the Bourse, Philadelphia, PA

June 14 & 15 at Midnight – Inwood Theatre, Dallas, TX

June 28 & 29 at Midnight – Sunshine Cinemas, New York, NY

June 28 & 29 at Midnight – Esquire Theatre, Denver, CO

By Todd Garbarini

Rarely has distributor exploitation been as blatant as in the case of Simon Wincer’s The Day After Halloween (1980), a ludicrously-named Australian outing originally optioned under the name of Centerfold, then changed to Snapshot after the producers were unable to secure that title, and was eventually released as One More Minute. It appeared on video shelves here in the U.S. on VHS both in 1983 from Catalina Home Video under the title of The Day After Halloween and in 1985 as The Night After Halloween on Magnum Home Entertainment. The film came on the heels of the John Carpenter-scripted Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) which was set against the milieu of the fashion industry. Filmed in 1978 and released in Australia the following year, The Day After Halloween has absolutely nothing to do with John Carpenter’s seminal holiday suspense yarn, and isn’t even a slasher film. It isn’t even a thriller. At best, it can be considered a mystery that concerns a young woman named Angela (Sigrid Thornton) who lives with her wretched, belittling mother and is trying to fend off the unwanted affections of her obsessed and emotionally unstable ex-boyfriend Daryl (Vincent Gil) who drives an ice cream truck (think Phantasm!). She’s late for work which earns her the condemnation of her hairstylist boss but garners the affections of Madeline (Chantal Contouri), a sophisticate who dresses like Joan Collins who encourages Angela to parlay her natural good looks into a modeling career which lands her topless in Cleo, the Australian equivalent of Cosmopolitan Magazine, in an ad for Bermuda Cool cologne. The ad proves lucrative but also draws the unsolicited attention of lots of tongue-wagging men twice her age in an effort to score with her. A photographer sets up a meeting with her and uses an innocent photo session as a ruse to get her drunk and undressed, but she bails, which leads to a frightening confrontation later on.

Given the cookie-cutter nature of films from this era, it isn’t difficult to realize who really idolizes Angela and wants her the most. The Bermuda Cool photographing sequence goes on much longer than it should (remember that long, wordless sequence in Play Misty for Me set to a Roberta Flack song? That was shorter!). Lacking a cinematic style, the film for the most part is shot in masters and throws lots of red herrings at the audience, but it makes for an entertaining film. The acting is impressive for this sort of story. The score is by the late Australian composer Brian May whose music to George Miller’s The Road Warrior (1981) is one of the best action film scores ever. Prior to this, Mr. May scored Patrick (1978) which was produced by Anthony Ginnane who also acts as producer on this film as well (if you have seen the Italian cut of Patrick, Mr. May’s score was replaced by Goblin’s). Director Wincer has gone on to director more notable and successful films: Phar Lap (1983), D.A.R.Y.L. (1985), Quigley Down Under (1990), Free Willy (1993), and The Phantom (1996).

The film has been released on Scorpion Releasing’s Katarina's Nightmare Theater line, hosted by Katarina Leigh Waters. Ms. Waters proves to be a charming and knowledgeable emcee and provides an amusing introduction to the film. She points out that this is the first time the film is being presented on home video in its original 2.35:1 anamorphic Panavision aspect ratio. The film is transferred from a theatrical print, but it is free of dirt and scratches. The sound is in mono and is passable.

The DVD contains the entire, uncut version of the film with Snapshot on the title card, however there is an extra that contains a portion of the opening credits with The Day After Halloween as the title (the fuzziness of the image and overall lack of quality appears to be sourced from VHS). There is also an extremely informative running commentary with producer Anthony Ginnane moderated by Ms. Waters. A veteran of over fifty films, Mr. Ginnane is a fountain of knowledge and remembers quite a bit about the making of this film which had a very tight production schedule on the order of three weeks shooting time. The DVD cover replicates the original American one-sheet which is a nicely-designed image but is completely misleading – it is simply the wrong cover for this movie.

Click here to order from Amazon 

By Todd Garbarini

On Saturday, April 23, 1988, I attended the Official Starlog Festival at the then-Penta Hotel in midtown Manhattan on Seventh Avenue. It was my first time meeting makeup artist Tom Savini and several cast members of Star Trek were also on hand. Film producer Frank Marshall, whom cineastes will know from The Warriors (1979), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Poltergeist (1982), Back to the Future (1985), and most recently The Borne Legacy (2012), also showed up for a few hours to debut footage that director Robert Zemeckis shot for a new upcoming film entitled Who Framed Roger Rabbit? which was based upon the 1981 novel by Gary K. Wolf, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? The footage that we saw consisted of Bob Hoskins interacting with Roger and other animated characters and it looked pretty seemless. When the film opened two months later, I was delighted to see my favorite cartoon characters appear in one film.

The premise is fairly straight forward and owes a huge debt to the film noirs of the Thirties and Forties and there is more than a passing wink at Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974) as Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) is hired by R.K. Maroon (the head of Maroon Cartoons) to investigate allegations that Jessica Rabbit, the wife of cartoon star Roger Rabbit (both of whom live in Toontown with other cartoon characters who act in movies for real people producers and directors), is having an affair. Eddie hates toons because his brother, Teddy, was killed by one some years earlier. Eddie shows Roger pictures that he took of Roger’s wife, Jessica, playing patty-cake with Marvin Acme. Roger interprets this as his wife cheating on him, and when Acme is killed the next day by a fallen piano, Roger moves to the head of the suspect list. Since toons are pretty much indestructible (they have to be in order for them to be “killed” in their cartoons!), an evil man named Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd), who presides over Toontown, knows that the only way to kill a toon should one of them step out of line is to submerge them into a vat of acid he calls “The Dip”. His minions are sent out to find Roger and bring him back for the murder of Marvin Acme. This leads to a series of action-packed misadventures that are executed in the tradition of most of the beloved Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies cartoons.

This is the film’s first foray on to Blu-ray, and its third go-round on DVD. It comes in a 2-disc set with one Blu-ray and one DVD. The Blu-ray contains the following extras:

Filmmaker’s running commentary (runs in tandem with the film)

The Roger Rabbit Shorts: Tummy Trouble, Roller Coaster Rabbit & Trail Mix-Up

Who Made Roger Rabbit (10:55)

Deleted Scene: The Pig Head Sequence (5:30)

Before and After (3:07)

Toon Stand-Ins (3:14)

Behind the Ears documentary (36:37)

On Set! behind-the-scenes (4:50)

The DVD contains these additional extras:

Valiant Files

Toontown Confidential, a feature that can be enabled while watching the film which has facts and trivia

What is missing, and this is something I have never seen on any home video release of the film be it VHS, laserdisc (does anyone remember the controversy surrounding this release?), or previous editions DVDs, is the CBS-TV special Roger Rabbit & the Secrets of Toon Town which aired on Tuesday, September 13, 1988. Its exclusion might be attributed to a rights issue. Fortunately, it can be seen here on Youtube. The quality is not stellar, however it is better than not having access to it at all.

All in all, this Blu-ray is a worthy upgrade to a fun film that has earned its place in movie history.

Click here to order from Amazon

By Todd Garbarini

Pasha Roberts is the director of the new film Silver Circle.  He obtained his masters in financial engineering, which he describes as “hedge fund math,” roughly ten years ago.  His interest was in financial digitalization and how to apply modern computer graphics to high finance. His thesis subject consisted of applying a game-like graphics engine to doing equity trading in finance so that a reasonably intelligent 13-year-old gamer could use it to learn this type of trading.  Upon doing this, he realized that what was missing from financial communications was a way of describing complicated concepts from a Ph.D level and bringing it down to a Masters level, essentially reducing the complexity and making it accessible; he did this by working with banks, corporations and think tanks.

Beginning around 2006, he began moving towards more economic-type concepts, and felt that it was important to describe things on more of an economic level rather than a financial level. When the housing and financial crash occurred in 2008, he decided that Silver Circle should really be about a crash and the intrigue around that crash.

Todd Garbarini: Your animation company, Two Lanterns Media, produced a series entitled Save Sonny which concerns a young adult entering the workforce who becomes perturbed to find that some of his paycheck is being deducted by a mysterious entity known as FICA (laughs). Does Sonny personify the average young American in your mind?

Pasha Roberts: At that point, we kind of did that, yeah. That was kind of a South Park-level of humor, there are some farts jokes in there as well. The goal at the time was to take the subject and make it interesting and acceptable for somebody who, when they get their first job, suddenly realizes that they don't get all of their money. They want to know where it goes to, specifically FICA, and why. That was a whole, completely different other style and was not as serious as (our new film) Silver Circle, but kind of tongue-in-cheek and somewhat educational.

TG: The series reminds me of Schoolhouse Rock which endeavored to educate children on science, economics, history, etc. Do you see yourself as an educator for social change and personal financial responsibility through animation?

PR: Yeah, you could say it that way. We were focusing on the story first and therefore tried to make it fun and interesting without trying to be too pedantic about it. That's why Silver Circle isn't full of speeches, although it has one or two that are kind of mixed in. We were interested in working with people who wanted to make a movie with a backbone and a spine and ideas in it. The audience can certainly enjoy it on an intellectual level in that regard, but otherwise they can also enjoy themselves from the movie perspective as we do have some action sequences and a car chase.

TG: Silver Circle posits the financial collapse of the United States economic system roughly six years from now. It is animated in the style of a contemporary video game. Was this your decision from the get-go?

PR: We were actually looking at A Scanner Darkly, actually we did use Maya, we didn't really use cel shading for this but we did look a lot at that. We really wanted to make the characters look less realistic and keep them from looking kind of spooky, and even so I think we could have done more with that. It's kind of a crossover thing, you don't see a lot of animated movies that are not comedies or fantasies, so people aren’t used to seeing this type of animation with something serious.

TG: How long did the process of making the film take, from conception to final product?

PR: Four years. We basically started brainstorming about it the day after Lehman Brothers went down because it was such a big dramatic moment, and I thought this could be a real interesting theme. The screenwriting itself took about a year as there was a completely different concept at first and it took a little while to burn through a couple of screenwriters until we finally settled on Stephen (Schwartz). Then we spent three years on production. The overall budget was roughly $2M. One of the really interesting things about the movie is that the end credits contain the names of about ten core people who really worked on it, compared to an army of animators.

TG: In the film, the Federal Reserve has been tasked with stabilizing the economy, but all attempts have failed and the Rebels illegally mint silver coins hoping to stabilize the financial health of the country. How do you feel this mirrors the current economic situation in the U.S. today?

PR: I think that we are currently heading in the direction that is depicted in the film, although I don't think that it will be as bad. There were a couple of things that are in the movie and were even in the script but hadn't happened yet but actually came true as we progressed through making the movie. For example, there is a guy by the name of Bernard von Nothaus who is currently in prison for making money out of silver, and that’s his crime. His sentencing judge basically called him a domestic terrorist for trying to make money out of silver. So, that was not going on. Then, the Federal Reserve was actually talking about taking over neighborhoods and basically calling them “land banks,” which is of course essential part of Silver Circle’s plot. So, there are angles going on in that direction already and I do believe that marijuana is on its way to being legalized, and this also occurs in the movie. I hope that the movie obviously isn't prescient in terms of being completely true. We looked at a lot of the history of Argentina and Zimbabwe and what happens when a currency begins to die and how people behave as a result of that.

TG: What do you hope audiences will take away from the film?

PR: First off, I hope that they enjoy the story. Obviously, I want them to have a great time. I want it to be a fun, good story for the audience. After that, I hope that people are not only entertained, and but there are also a lot of embedded things in the movie for the so-called armchair economists and conspiracy theorists. I really do hope that it gets people to start to think about money and know that there is this thing out there called the Federal Reserve that is very real and they are not murderous bastards (laughs). I want the audience to not take the concepts of money for granted. Most other countries understand that and the changing of European currency and so on and so forth - things abroad do not appear to be as well-established or as stable as things appear to be here. So, hopefully the audience will think about that. The angle that we're taking is that we really can make an animated movie with a spine of ideas that people will actually appreciate instead of just offering up a whitewashed movie.

Silver Circle Theater Schedule:

4/05 Laemmle’s NoHo – Los Angeles, CA (Buy your tickets here)

4/11 Pollack Tempe Cinema – Tempe, AZ (Buy your tickets here)

4/12 Regal Cinema – Ballston – Arlington, VA (Tickets on sale soon)

4/18 Flix Brewhouse – Round Rock, TX (Buy your tickets here)

Silver Circle’s official website is here.

Click here to read Todd Garbarini's review of Silver Circle 

By Todd Garbarini 

Room 237 is the title of the excellent new documentary by director Rodney Ascher that takes the points of view of five off-screen individuals who do their best to unmask the purported hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick’s initially disappointing yet subsequently revered 1980 film version of Stephen King’s The Shining. In doing so, they are keeping in line with a motif derived straight from the novel in a sequence wherein Horace Derwent, a former owner of the Overlook Hotel, urges his costumed party-goers to unmask at a lavish celebration, thereby revealing their identities. The human face as a mask is also a common theme throughout all of Mr. Kubrick’s filmography, so it is only fitting that Room 237 takes the approach of removing layers to reveal what might be hidden beneath the surface in order to get at The Shining’s essence.

As a fan of Mr. Kubrick’s film for the past thirty years, I can honestly say that even though I have seen it easily more than fifty times I never noticed the props, visual references or subtexts that these five narrators diligently point out (granted this was difficult to do on archaic home video systems such as CED or VHS due to their significantly reduced image quality, to say nothing of the substandard televisions they were played back on, although the technically superior Blu-ray is a much better medium due to its high definition quality and lends itself ideal for this examination). Nor did I see the various continuity errors, judged as deliberate by Mr. Kubrick from the narrators’ perspectives, such as the carpet that changes direction in the hallway or the chair against the wall disappearing during Jack Torrance’s (Jack Nicholson) emotional outburst after his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) interrupts his writing. An argument can be made that Room 237 is less about the hidden meanings in The Shining than it is an explanation of five different people’s interpretations and experiences of seeing The Shining. There were times wherein the person speaking discussed in great length the strange layout of the Overlook Hotel and I must admit I could not see what they were getting at, however this is just one point that is made and there are numerous theories to go around on other subtexts of the film: the purported significance of the number 42; the architectural impossibility of the window in Mr. Ullman’s office; the ludicrous sexual reference in Mr. Ullman’s first handshake with Jack (this is a bit of a stretch – no pun intended, of course!); the Minotaur motif; the strange layout itself of the Overlook Hotel; the references to the genocide of Native Americans and even the Holocaust, the subject of which Mr. Kubrick later attempted to make a film about but eventually abandoned as he felt he could not do justice to the horror of this bleak period in history.

Director Ascher makes the interesting choice of not showing the faces of the narrators, and this maneuver works to the film’s advantage since so much of it is about pointing out what the narrators see. Cross-cutting between the narrators and the points they want to make would have either reduced the film’s running time (102 minutes, roughly the same as The French Connection (1970), my favorite film) or would have left most of the cogent points on the cutting room floor. I can only hope that the forthcoming DVD will offer up some nice extras in the way of deleted scenes. I am certain that there must have been some discussion about the significance of Jack telling Mr. Ullman that Wendy is a “confirmed ghost story and horror film addict,” yet her artistic escapes consist of reading The Catcher in the Rye and watching Summer of ’42 (there’s that number again!), two classics about the coming-of-age of a young male.

I especially liked Room 237’s framing device of using Lamberto Bava’s Demons (1985) and Demons 2: The Nightmare Continues (1986) as footage of an audience viewing The Shining in a theater and on television, respectively, to make certain points. Ideally, The Shining should be viewed in a movie theater, although realistically that is unfortunately not an option for most of us. The home video revolution saved many a film from inevitable obscurity and this is where the majority of Shining enthusiasts (myself included) had the opportunity to see it and thrill to it to our heart’s content.

The prerequisites for enjoying Room 237 include more than a passing interest in The Shining (it certainly helps to be a rabid fan of the film, thus having tremendous familiarity of it), patience, and certainly a sense of humor. Room 237 succeeds in imparting to the audience just how compelling and frightening The Shining can be to a first-time viewer. It is also a testament to the notion that film viewing is a solitary experience as no two people will see any one film with the same set of eyes. Perhaps, as is the case with The Shining, and many other Kubrick films, multiple viewings of Room 237 will clear up and even reveal more of what the narrators say they see. Whether you consider the film to be completely true or complete bollocks, one thing that can be said is that Room 237 is entertaining, thought-provoking, fascinating and enlightening. It’s my choice for Best Documentary at the 2014 Oscars.

Click here for the film’s official site.

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…” 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 22^nd. 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.

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.

By Todd Garbarini

I remember the first time I saw Peter Pan (1953) on the big screen. It was the re-release in the summer of 1976 on a very hot day at the Cort Theatre on East Main St. in Somerville, New Jersey. Unlike The Outsiders’s Pony Boy Curtis, when I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie theatre, I had only one thing on my mind: food. My hunger for beautiful animation was satiated for the moment, but I was very hungry after spending nearly three hours in the theatre. My childhood was sprinkled with double features of Disney cartoons and live-action films. Until I saw the thrilling Superman: The Movie in 1978, Peter Pan really gave the seven-year-old I was the idea that I could actually fly – at least vicariously. The Sir James Matthew Barrie story of a boy who soars through the air and who doesn’t age has captivated the world for well over a century, easily crossing cultures with its love of childhood and its adventures in Neverland. There are several sequences that may raise a few eyebrows in today's politically correct environment, such as those of involving the depictions of Native Americans in a visibly racist fashion, however this film is a product of its time and Disney has wisely chosen not to alter it in any way. On that note, it is interesting that to this day we still cannot get a legitimate video version of 1946’s Song of the South, a film that I enjoyed immensely as a child but appears to be a sore spot with the company in how African-Americans are depicted in that film.

The action in Peter Pan begins in Bloomsbury in London wherein two brothers, John and Michael Darling, are playing pirates, based on stories that their older sister Wendy told them. Their father feels that Wendy should have her own room now and must stop telling silly stories to the young ones who keep the household in chaos. That night, Peter Pan and his little sidekick Tinkerbell show up and take the kids to Neverland, a place where Peter lives and has made the decision to never grow up, remaining instead a child. There are other people in Neverland, including the Lost Boys, a group of six youngsters who are all dressed in pajamas. There are also a group of pirates just off the coast headed by Captain Hook and Mr. Smee (Smee plays Otis to Hook’s Lex Luthor). It turns out that Tinkerbell is jealous of Wendy and aims to get her out of the picture! More adventures ensue, but this is a Disney film, and no great harm ever comes to the characters.

This is the first time that the film has been released on Blu-ray, and as is customary with the previous Disney releases, the film has undergone a major restoration. The results are spectacular. The nuances detailed in the images are sharp and sumptuous. If you haven't seen the film on Blu-ray, you really haven't seen it. I know it's a cliché but it's very true especially when it comes to films of this ilk.

The Blu-ray comes with a standard definition DVD as well as the requisite digital copy. In addition to the film, there is a wealth of extras: I’ve made no bones about the fact that I love audio commentaries, and thankfully one is included with this film. It is provided by Roy Disney, and also included are comments from the animators and some voice actors as well.

Backstage Disney – this extra is shot in standard definition and previously appeared on the original Platinum DVD released in 2007. There are five featurettes in this batch:

You Can Fly: The Making of Peter Pan

In Walt's Words: Why I Made Peter Pan,

The Peter Pan That Almost Was

Tinker Bell: A Fairy's Tale

The Peter Pan Story

Music & More – A collection of songs:

The Pirate Song

Never Land: The Lost Song

The Second Star to the Right

There is an introduction to the movie by Walt’s daughter, Diane Miller-Disney, shot in high definition.

Growing Up with Nine Old Men – this is a nice documentary that runs about forty minutes and is in high definition also. The nine old men in question consist of animators Les Clark, Marc Davis, Ollie Johnston, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Frank Thomas. Unfortunately, all of these gentlemen have since passed on. However, their children discuss their fathers’ work for Disney.

There is a short section on deleted songs and scenes which consist of storyboards and early artwork. There is also a Peter Pan sing-along which allows children to sing-along songs. This can be enabled by turning on the subtitle option.

Click here to order from Amazon

By Todd Garbarini

Richard Klemensen’s Little Shoppe of Horrors is a stellar magazine. If you like Gary Svehla’s Midnight Marquee and similar publications that are well-written and polished, you’ll love the beautiful Little Shoppe of Horrors. In 2012 it entered its 40^th anniversary with the most current issue, number 29. Cinema Retro is a mere youngster by comparison! Subtitled “The Journal of Classic British Horror Films,” Little Shoppe of Horrors is chock full of exclusive images of the glory days of the Hammer horror films. It is obvious that Mr. Klemensen has a true love for these films. In this issue you’ll find a wonderful look back at the life and work of Vincent Price. The front and rear covers of the latest issue feature beautiful images by Jeff Preston and Mark Maddox, respectively, of Vincent Price, and the inside covers feature artwork by Dean Ormston and Paul Watts.

Issue #29 includes:

• · An exclusive interview with film and television director Frank Darabont and film director Tim Burton, whose love of Vincent Price can been seen through much of his work over the past thirty years, going back to the very beginnings of his career with his short film, Vincent, which is about a young boy who wants to be Vincent Price and can be seen here (it’s even narrated by Vincent Price!). Both directors talk specifically about The Abominable Dr. Phibes.

• · Justin Humphreys gives readers an in-depth look at the making of The Abominable Dr. Phibes in a nearly 30-page article (take that, Cinefantastique!) about the making of the film. He also profiles the late Dr. Phibes set designer Brian Eatwell.

• · David Taylor writes about the late model-turned-actress Virginia North who played Vulnavia in the film.

• · Author Denis Meikle provides an inside look on the set of The Abominable Dr. Phibes when he interviewed Vincent Price.

• · Sam Irwin and David Taylor create a chronological history of the treatments and script ideas related to what was to become a Dr. Phibes franchise, in addition to a look at how Dr. Phibes has lived on in novels and comic books.

And much, much more in its 108 pages.

Little Shoppe of Horrors has a beautifully designed and easily navigable website that permits readers to see what’s coming up in the next issue, in addition to ordering copies of back issues.

All in all, this is a beautiful-designed and printed publication, published first and foremost by the only people who should be publishing it – die-hard fans with a true love for the subject matter. A must for horror fans!

As an aside, there is also a wonderful audio interview that was recently conducted with Mr. Klemensen, and you can click here to listen to it. He explains how he was such a fan of these movies and how they differed from other horror films from the time in that they were in color and featured classically-trained actors such as Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing who both starred in innumerable roles for Hammer. He also talks about how he contacted people in the British film industry who were more than willing to talk to him about their work, and how he managed to visit Pinewood Studios in England.

By Todd Garbarini

The Definitive Document of the Dead is the latest incarnation of director Roy Frumkes’s insightful behind-the-scenes look at the making of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978), a film that has achieved a level of adoration and cult status that is truly amazing given that it was released unrated at a time when such a maneuver was considered box office poison. No doubt increasing in popularity after its release on VHS (this is where Yours Truly first saw it in the summer of 1985), Dawn has become the zombie film by which all others are measured. What this 16mm documentary illustrates brilliantly is the creative process that a director must go through, and it conveys it extremely well to the average moviegoer who may not have the slightest idea as to how a movie is made. It looks at its subject from the standpoint of filmmaking as an art form, and at one point director Romero, with omnipresent cigarette in hand, even compares the process to painting, and how an artist uses watercolors and “accidents” in their final work. Dawn went into production in October 1977 at the Monroeville Mall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania and lasted approximately six months (if you believe the Internet Movie Database) and thankfully Mr. Frumkes actively sought and was given access to the mall set over a weekend in January of 1978 (my guess is that this was the third or fourth week of that month as the archival footage shows the entire exterior of the mall blanketed in snow; the entire Northeast had suffered a snowfall of one to nearly two feet at that time).

Most documentaries that appear on DVD and Blu-ray nowadays are nothing more than self-promotion pieces. The Definitive Document of the Dead, on the other hand, actually takes you behind the scenes of the film and enlightens the viewer on the creative process, specifically the teamwork and the collaborative nature of the people working on the film. Mr. Frumkes talks to Tom Savini, Michael Gornick, John Amplas, Richard Rubenstein, the cast of Dawn, and of course director Romero himself (it’s interesting to note that filming had to be suspended from Thanksgiving until just after Christmas as decorations populated the mall. Of course, nowadays Christmas starts being promoted as early as the end of August, something probably completely unheard of 35 years ago!). The documentary gives us a great look into Mr. Romero's creative methods of filmmaking; he is quite candid about how he makes movies and discusses how he feels about being compared to Alfred Hitchcock with his 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. The comparison probably stems from the fact that the opening scenes look like a throwback to silent cinema storytelling, and that is an area that Night excels at, giving visual information to the audience and pulling us into the movie. There is mention of Howard Hawks’s film version of The Thing, released in 1951, as the movie that introduced Mr. Romero to horror and the idea of confined spaces made him want to make movies. Another pivotal film that is not touched upon in this documentary (but is mentioned on the newly-recorded commentary provided by Mr. Frumkes) is Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger's The Tales of Hoffmann, also from 1951, a film that was an enormous influence on Mr. Romero and aided in the creation of his own personal visual style. He also talks about how actor Duane Jones, the lead black actor in Night, was chosen simply because he was the best actor who auditioned for the role, squashing rumors that he was making a statement about the black man’s struggles in a white man’s world. Naturally, this draws comparisons to Ken Foree’s role in Dawn. Richard Rubenstein also weighs in and discusses the European style of producing, and how Dario Argento and his brother Claudio co-financed Dawn. Dawn was originally a much darker picture with a very down and bleak ending. As shooting progressed, the film took on a comic bookish feel and there is an obvious lightening up of mood. Whereas Mr. Romero had a crew of about eight people on Martin (1977), Dawn has a cast and crew in the hundreds. The most fascinating part of the documentary has Mr. Romero describing the rhythms created by editing and spatial design. Prior to his foray into feature filmmaking, Mr. Romero honed his editing skills by making many 30-second commercials (like Sir Ridley Scott who made roughly 3000(!) prior to The Duellists (1977) and Alien (1979).

After a discussion about the distribution of the film and leaving it unrated with a running time of just over two hours, the documentary switches gears to the 1989 summer filming of Two Evil Eyes (1991). Mr. Romero discusses how he wants a family atmosphere on the set without any of the political Hollywood nonsense. There is also a follow-up segment on Land of the Dead (2005) which focuses on Mr. Romero's daughter, Tina Romero, who discusses how she got involved in filmmaking. Be warned: there is a trailer for a hard-core sex parody of Night, and I'll let your imagination guess what the title of this film is! While this trailer does not contain any overt sex, there is much nudity.

There is also footage of the Chiller Theatre convention in 2005 which features a reunion of the cast of Day of the Dead, discussions with Greg Nicotero, Bill Lustig, and some of the cast and crew of Dawn. The final segments, all of which are shot on standard definition video, ends with Mr. Frumkes heading to the Toronto set of Diary of the Dead in the fall of 2006. While these last few segments are nowhere near as incisive as the footage shot for Dawn, they still are relevant, fun to watch and make The Definitive Document of the Dead a worthy addition to the libraries of Romero fans.

This documentary has been available on home video several times before. It first made the rounds in 1985, and I first time I saw it was four years later when it was released on VHS. It also appears on Dawn of the Dead: the Ultimate Edition, which was released on DVD in September 2004. Synapse Films then released it on DVD in 1999 with some nice extras, including a commentary with Mr. Frumkes and some cast and crew members. This latest version, The Definitive Document of the Dead, goes further than its previous incarnations. In addition to the extra footage that has been added, it begins with a slightly different beginning than its predecessors: a very humorous introduction by Mr. Romero for the audience at a screening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX and segues into a little bit of a discussion that he had in 2006 in Huntington, Long Island.

The documentary is available in two flavors: as a single, stand-alone standard definition DVD with a newly-recorded commentary provided by Mr. Frunkes running 102 minutes that covers Dawn up to Diary, and as a limited edition DVD/Blu-ray combo set that includes a standard definition DVD with the aforementioned extras, plus a Blu-ray of Mr. Frumkes’s original, 1978 documentary Document of the Dead, which runs 66 minutes and was scanned in high definition from the 16mm master. If you have a Blu-ray player, it is worth spending the extra cash to get the limited edition, which also contains a fold-out poster of Wes Benscoter’s beautiful new cover art for the DVD and Blu-ray. Have a look at this artist’s website. His work is brilliant.

NOTE: It has come to our attention that the Blu-ray edition of this title sold out immediately. The DVD edition is still available from Amazon. Click here to order

By Todd Garbarini

Frankenweenie (2012) is an animated big-screen expansion of Tim Burton's own 1984 live-action short film of the same name and utilizes the Frankenstein monster tale by Mary Shelley to tell a clever and ultimately moving story about a young boy, Victor Frankenstein, and how he copes with the loss of his beloved dog. This is a universal scenario that every child who grows up with a pet must face at some point. I have only seen a handful of films tackle this subject, and Don Coscarelli’s 1975 outing Kenny and Company is notable for its depiction of a young boy who must take his dog to the vet to be put to sleep.

Victor loves making 16mm movies with his dog, Sparky, in his hometown of New Holland, which is constructed to look like Everytown, USA. Sparky stars as the “Sparkysaurus.” After all, what young boy doesn't love dinosaurs? Mixing footage of Sparky with self-made animation, Victor's movie illustrates an imagination no doubt inspired by The Twilight Zone and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953). Victor, obviously an alter-ego for director Burton, is an awkward child who keeps a low profile from his classmates and his neighbor Mr. Burgermeister (a nice nod to Rankin and Bass) who brandishes a hedge clipper. During a baseball game, Victor hits a home run, but Sparky chases the ball into the street and is killed by a car. Devastated, Victor mopes through school until his science teacher, Mr. Rzykruski, a grotesque caricature of a man, shows the class how to use electricity to move a dead frog’s legs. Experiencing a “Eureka!” moment, Victor is filled with a new sense of purpose, and converts his parent’s attic into a makeshift laboratory. Following his teacher’s instructions, he reanimates Sparky with the help of lightning.

Victor does his best to keep Sparky’s reemergence a secret. A creepy, overzealous kid from the neighborhood, Edgar, wants to know how Victor did it. Word gets out about Sparky, and other children competing for a science project attempt similar experiments until things get out of control: a rat becomes a crazed monster; a turtle is made enormous and stomps among a town square carnival like a mixture of Godzilla and Gamera; sea monkeys run amok through the streets; a cute, next-door poodle who fancies Sparky is made to resemble Elsa Lanchester. (There are some cute inside jokes here: the name "Shelley" appears on a tombstone and Bambi is displayed on a local theatre marquee, perhaps as much a nod to the classic short film Bambi Meets Godzilla as it is an homage to the Disney film.) The climax is a loving homage to James Whale’s 1931 classic that started it all and fueled nightmares for years to come.

Thematically, Frankenweenie shares many similarities to Henry Selick's 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas (produced by Burton) in that a protagonist compelled to do a good deed ends up making a mess of things. Most of the characters, particularly the children, have predominantly large eyes, as if they stepped out of a Margaret Keane painting (it’s no wonder that she is the subject of the director’s next film, due for release later this year).

Filmed on Canon EOS 5D Mark II single lens reflux cameras and printed in black and white, Frankenweenie looks lovely and is easily one of the year’s best films. It should win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. It would be nice to see black and white return to the screen as an art form as it truly looks beautiful. Danny Elfman provides yet another memorable score to a Tim Burton film.

There are a few nice extras included on the Blu-ray disc:

• · We get a short film starring Sparky called Captain Sparky vs. the Flying Saucers, the in-movie that appears at the start of the film and runs roughly two and a-half-minutes in length (no relation to Siskel and Ebert’s Sparky the Wonder Dog of PBS’s Sneak Previews from the early 1980s.).

• · Miniatures in Motion: Bringing Frankenweenie to Life is an excellent behind-the-scenes documentary featurette that runs about 23 minutes (I wish it was longer) and takes us to the massive 60,000 foot soundstage in London where the film was shot and contains comments from the many animators who worked on the individual scenes – they all averaged about two minutes per week of screen time! What is truly extraordinary about this piece is seeing the astonishing level of detail and attention that is made to even the smallest of items. You get a new appreciation of the film and all the hard work that went into making it. Absolutely nothing in this movie has been computer-generated. It was all designed, built, and manufactured for the film.

• · The Frankenweenie Touring Exhibit is enough to make one jealous if you don’t live in one of the cities that it comes to.

• · A music video

• · Tim Burton's original 1984 featurette, Frankenweenie, upon which this film is based. This wonderful live-action film was financed by Disney and the producers were reportedly shocked at how frightening it would be for children, so much so that they fired Burton and shelved the project. It runs 30 minutes and stars Barret Oliver (The Neverending Story) as Victor, the young son of Ben and Susan (Daniel Stern and Shelley Duvall). Sofia Coppola, inexplicably using the name Domino, appears as a friend of Victor’s.

It would have been nice to have a running commentary with Tim Burton or from the animators as I love commentaries and eagerly listen to them whenever they appear as extras. However, this is a minor quibble. The film looks absolutely amazing on Blu-ray and is a worthy addition to your collection.

Click here to order order 4 disc deluxe edition with DVD and digital copies included. 

By Todd Garbarini

It's hard to believe that Pixar Animation Studios’ Finding Nemo, which was released on Friday, May 30, 2003, is now ten years-old. One of the most popular animated films of all time, Finding Nemo is a delightful excursion into the world of undersea life with plenty of colorful characters to go around. Employing the voice talents of some of Hollywood's best-known and most respected performers, Finding Nemo aims to not only entertain us but educate us, as well. It succeeds extraordinarily well in doing both.

Despite the years of science that I've accumulated under my belt by way of elementary, intermediate, and high school, I must plead ignorance and admit to never having heard of a clownfish (scientifically known as Amphiprion ocellaris) prior to Finding Nemo. Director Andrew Stanton reportedly saw these water dwellers in an aquarium in Florida and their vibrant look helped provide inspiration for the film. The aptly-named Marlin and Coral are two such fish, parents just starting a family. Unfortunately, a barracuda attack leaves Marlin alone except for one remaining fish egg out of roughly one hundred which he decides to name Nemo, a name that his wife Coral liked prior to her untimely demise. As a result of this attack, Nemo suffers from a malformed right fin, making him the runt of the litter, so to speak. Due to this perceived limitation, Marlin becomes just a tad overprotective and overbearing and follows Nemo wherever he goes, looking out for him. When Nemo goes off to school to learn the ways of underwater sea life, his father finds it very difficult to let him go off on his own. This frustration leads Nemo to rush off into unchartered waters where he is swooped up by humans, possibly to never see his father again. Marlin sets out to rescue him, and is befriended by Dory, a well-intentioned regal blue tang who suffers from short-term memory loss. They join forces to locate Nemo after a clue that reveals he is in Sydney, Australia. Along the way they encounter some crazy characters, such as a shark who is swearing off eating fish; a group of jellyfish; a group of sea turtles caught up in the East Australian Current; and a pelican who is trying to help Nemo. Added to this mix are a few human characters, specifically a dentist whose fish tank is home to a motley crew of sea life all trying to help Nemo (who is now a prisoner in the tank) get home. One of his patients is his niece, Darla, a pre-prepubescent nightmare sporting metal braces and is the film’s answer to Toy Story’s Sid, the kid down the block who loves to destroy toys.

The film is beautifully animated. Pixar has certainly come a long way from its early days; more money, of course, means better technology and the underwater world of Finding Nemo really comes to life here in a way that 1989’s The Little Mermaid only hinted at. The nuances in the plant life are exquisite, and the banter between the characters is laugh-out-loud funny. The underrated Albert Brooks, whom I liked so much in Taxi Driver (1976), Broadcast News (1987), and Drive (2011), voices Marlin with a fatherly exuberance and concern. Ellen DeGeneres is his equal as Dory, the forgetful fish. Also on hand are Willem Dafoe, Allison Janney, Austin Pendleton, Geoffrey Rush, and Elizabeth Perkins. In the same way that Jaws (1975) made oceanographers and marine biologists out of wide-eyed children in the audience fascinated by the Carcharodon carcharias, Finding Nemo his more than likely inspired more than a few future Jacques Cousteaus.

As to be expected, the Blu-ray is a revelation, and Finding Nemo has never looked better on home video. There is a clarity, sharpness and depth that truly amazing to see. The film comes in two flavors on disc: a three-disc set and a five-disc set (this contains a 3D version of the film). The first Blu-ray disc extras contains the following extras in high definition: a cute, three and-a-half minute short from 1989 called Knick Knack; a five-minute loop called “Aquarium” that allows you to run continuously on the monitor; “CineExplore,” a feature that allows you to view the complete film while hearing comments from the filmmakers with superimposed storyboards on the screen; “Finding Nemo: A Roundtable Discussion” is a seventeen-minute discussion among the filmmakers reminiscing ten years after the film’s release; “Reinventing the Submarine Voyage” at Disneyland, runs roughly fifteen minutes and looks at the underwater sea rides; alternate opening (three minutes); and “A Lesson in Flashbacks” which runs eight minutes wherein the director recalls how the film was originally conceived. The second Blu-ray contains the following extras all ported over from the original 2004 DVD release, which are all in standard definition with the exception of “Aquariums” and “Art Review” (an eight-minute discussion of concept design); “Making Nemo” is a 25-minute documentary on the making of the film; “Exploring the Reef” is exactly what the title entails; “Studio Tour” which takes the audience behind the doors of Pixar for five minutes; several outtakes, deleted scenes, and publicity pieces; and “Mr. Ray’s Enclyclopedia.”

It is interesting to note that Pixar was more focused on The Incredibles (2004) during the making Finding Nemo, believing that the former would be the huge hit and the latter would do minimal business. Universal Pictures did the same thing in 1974 when they were making The Hindenburg and gave the green light to Jaws, thinking that the star-studded disaster film by Robert Wise Allen would be the box office champ while the film about a Great White Shark was their “little picture.”

Finding Nemo is a big picture of the little clownfish that could.

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By Todd Garbarini

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: From Concept to Classic is a 30^th anniversary paperback reprint of the book that was originally published in hardcover for the film’s 20^th anniversary in 2002 that accompanied the special edition DVD Ultimate Gift Set of Steven Spielberg’s classic story of a young boy, the product of a divorced home, who befriends an extra-terrestrial who is mistakenly left behind by his spaceship following a hasty exit from earth. If you own the 2002 edition, the new book is identical except for the fact that it is paperback and its dimensions measure 9” x 0.4” x 10.8”, a little larger than its predecessor. The introduction to the new printing by Steven Spielberg is also updated and does not retain his introduction to the 2002 edition.

The book is essentially separated into three sections. Section one covers the origins and the overall development of the film from concept (as a story called Night Skies which was originally very malevolent in tone) to the first draft which was penned by Melissa Mathison, whose work on Carroll Ballard’s 1979 film The Black Stallion impressed Mr. Spielberg so much that he hand-picked her to write the script. Mr. Spielberg’s idea for E.T., which originated while on location in the summer of 1980 during the shooting of Raiders of the Lost Ark, came from his thoughts about the alien at the end of his own Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and what it would be like for him if he were to be inadvertently stranded on earth. There are also comments from producer Kathleen Kennedy (now the president of Lucasfilm), E.T. designer and creator Carlo Rambaldi, actor Henry Thomas, actress Drew Barrymore, actor Robert MacNaughton, actor Peter Coyote, actress Dee Wallace-Stone, composer John Williams, cinematographer Allen Daviau, editor Carol Littleton, sound designer Ben Burtt, visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren, and production designer James D. Bissell.

Section two contains the film’s complete screenplay, which was the first draft that Mrs. Mathison wrote and was so good that the director decided to shoot it as-is with very little, if any, changes. The screenplay is complemented by illustrations by Ed Verraux and production notes the give further insight into the original ideas that the crew had in mind but had to be abandoned or altered due to time constraints or logistics. It also includes the sequence with the school principal (played by Harrison Ford) that was cut from the film, in addition to other shots/scenes that were cut.

Section three concerns itself with the film’s post-production (the models of the children on their bikes, E.T.’s spaceship) and its impact on the movie-going public (the E.T. phenomenon and merchandising), and the 2002 restoration.

It is interesting to note that E.T., which was originally entitled A Boy’s Life, was conceived of as a small, personal film. Although the director was by this time a household name due to the success of Jaws and the aforementioned Close Encounters and Raiders, no one could have expected the film to do the sort of business that it ended up doing, easily propelling it to the top spot as the year’s most financially successful film. This book does an excellent job of giving the reader great insight into not only the making of the film but into the thoughts of those involved in its creation. What is most evident is that everyone on the set (cast and crew alike) treated the creature of E.T. with dignity and respect as if he was a real, live creature. Itself the brainchild of designer and creator Carlo Rambaldi, who also created the aliens in Close Encounters, the mechanical head effects of the alien in Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), and the entacled creature in Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession (1981) to name a few, E.T. rarely looks like an animatronic puppet even in the behind-the-scenes shots. You would really swear that he was a real creature. Mr. Rambaldi passed away in August of this year at the age of 86, and E.T. stands as one of his greatest (and certainly most emotional) achievements.

For fans of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, this book is a must-have.

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By Todd Garbarini

One of the strangest G-rated “family films” that I have ever seen is Al Adamson’s 1982 effort Carnival Magic, released by HD Cinema Classics by way of Film Chest Media Group. As a fan of the best genre efforts that were afforded by what is arguably the last truly great summer for movies in the United States, 1982 gave us Conan the Barbarian, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Poltergeist, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Blade Runner, The Thing, The Beastmaster and The Road Warrior. I must admit that I was stunned to learn of this film as I had not heard of it prior to its 2010 release on home video.

Filmed over three weeks in Gaffney, South Carolina and Shelby, North Carolina, Carnival Magic is, in the words of producer Elvin Feltner, “the story of a magician and a traveling carnival and his pet monkey, who just happens to be a talking monkey.” It is also a film that cannot make up its mind if it wants to be a slapstick comedy or a family film with dramatic adult themes. Starring a cluster of soap opera actors and actresses, producer Feltner does what any good producer does when faced with the rising costs of a film budget. He thinks outside the box and delivers a film that can easily be categorized as a cult favorite.

The carnival’s magician, Markov (played nicely by Don Stewart), can read people’s thoughts and levitate objects. Armed with his talking chimp Alex, they are the top crowd pleaser, easily making the wild animal trainer second banana and very jealous in the process. Hoping to regain his former glory, the trainer attempts to kidnap the chimp and give him to a medical laboratory for experimentation in the hopes of displacing his competition and making a good deal of money. Among this plot are a bevy of carnival beauties who dance, and a young adult romance that blossoms innocently.

I couldn’t help but think of Tobe Hooper’s The Funhouse (1981) while watching this film, as the carnival atmosphere always intrigued me since I saw the “Levitation” episode of Tales from the Darkside in May 1985.

The video transfer of the film is done from a recently unearthed 35mm theatrical print discovered lying in a warehouse (the original negative apparently was not among the finds unfortunately), but HD Cinema, a terrific company in their own right, has done a wonderful job of cleaning up the print with their restoration transfer. I honestly cannot wait to see what this company has up its sleeve in the months to come. If they can get their hands on low-budget, independently made films and do high definition transfers of them for new audiences, their future is surely bright.

There are a host of extras in this collection. A running audio commentary with cult film historian Joel Rubin and producer Feltner reveals a great deal of information regarding the making of the film. Although Carnival Magic was copyrighted in 1982, most people did not see the film until roughly a year later in select screenings, as it was difficult to find theaters willing to book the film. Mr. Feltner makes mention that the film was shot in 1981 in the video interview introduction, however historian Reuben points out that according to lab documents it was filmed in the previous year. When Mr. Feltner mentions that it was shot in 1982 on the audio commentary and become fairly adamant, it leads the audience to wondering why the discussion is up for debate when such information is easily verifiable. The subject is eventually put to bed when the outtakes that appear in the supplementary section clearly reveal the date of July 1980 on the film slate.

The remaining extras consist of twenty minutes of outtakes sans audio and a short “ before” and “after” restoration demo. What is most interesting is the inclusion of both the original television trailer and the theatrical trailer, wherein the former presents the film as a non-stop riot and the latter gives one the impression that they should expect something along the lines of Smokey and the Bandit. Rounding out the extras is an interesting slideshow which consists of newspaper clippings illustrating when the movie came to the respective filming locations, looking for extras to appear in the carnival scenes.

Regardless of one's opinion of the film's narrative, the movie stands as a time capsule of a more innocent era in American life, of small-town folks enjoying the summer with family and friends. The carnival sequences almost serve as a documentary of what life was like in 1980 for these people.

HD Cinema Classics gets it right by releasing this as a DVD and Blu-ray combo package, something that too few companies are doing even now. They are to be commended for offering the film in both formats, though Blu-ray is really the way to go due to the increased sharpness and definition. The colors really pop out in this format.

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By Todd Garbarini

The Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass production team are best known to millions of television audiences as Rankin & Bass for their unforgettable holiday-themed, stop-motion animation outings such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970), Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971), and The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974). Christmas and Easter would not be the same without a viewing of these specials on either television or home video. Though the bulk of their work is comprised of television movies and specials, they also collaborated on theatrically-released films like The Daydreamer (1966), Mad Monster Party? (1967), Wacky World of Mother Goose (1967), and The Last Unicorn (1982). This prolific producing and directing team assembled a crew of talented sculptors, writers, editors, photographers and musicians to create some of the most memorable family entertainment.

Warner Archive is continuing their extraordinary work in bringing more of the Rankin & Bass catalog to their burn-on-demand library. Thus far they have released a double feature of Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977) & The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) and the long-desired, beloved made-for-TV movie The Bermuda Depths (1978). Just prior to the latter, Rankin & Bass made The Last Dinosaur (1977), a low-budget film that was originally intended for theatrical release, but was shortened by eleven minutes to a 95-minute running time and aired on ABC television instead on February 11, 1977, which is good because the film has a TV-movie feel to it. Warner Archive has recently released the full, uncut 106-minute theatrical cut on DVD-R. Written by William Overgard, scored by Maury Laws, and directed by Tsugunobu Kotani (listed in the credits as Tom Kotani) who all repeated their roles for The Bermuda Depths (also released theatrically in Europe), The Last Dinosaur is a fun movie for the twelve year-old set and under, though I am sure that Rankin and Bass completists will find much to enjoy here. Mason Thrust, Jr. (Richard Boone) is a cantankerous and misogynistic safarist who meets the sole survivor of an expedition who witnessed the existence of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Intrigued, Thrust puts together a team that includes the sole survivor, some experts, and, against his wishes, photographer Francesca Banks (Joan Van Ark), just because she’s a woman. They travel to the jungle locale and have a few close encounters with beasts that should have been dead millions of years ago, one of which is the T-Rex who roars a little like Godzilla. Along the way, they run into some Neanderthal dwellers, one of whom resembles Nova from Planet of the Apes (1968) who runs off with Francesca’s purse. It’s a fairly straightforward tale involving the usual Rankin & Bass special effects which, at times, look just like that. The cheesiness is part of the film’s charm, though it is slow-moving by today’s standards. The nighttime scenes are all shot day-for-night, and the film begins and ends with the Nancy Wilson tune “The Last Dinosaur.”

Previous Warner Archive titles featured non-descript DVD covers that were comprised of a publicity shot from a particular film superimposed over a blue background. The company’s subsequent success has allowed Warner Archive to invest in providing a film’s original artwork on the DVD-R cover, and The Last Dinosaur boasts the exciting painting that was originally intended for the film’s theatrical one-sheet; this image also appeared on the French poster when the film was distributed theatrically as Le Derniere Dinosaure.

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By Todd Garbarini

One of the most iconic of all monster movie images is most certainly Universal Pictures’ Creature from the Black Lagoon, as depicted by numerous actors in the film of the same name. Although Universal’s previous monsters – the Frankenstein monster, Dracula, The Wolf Man and The Mummy – all had their genesis in the world of literature, the Gill Man, as the Creature is alternatively known, is largely a cinematic concoction and his story is no doubt patterned after the King himself, Kong. While the similarities between the largest inhabitant of Skull Island and the Gill Man are undeniable, the method of bringing these two nightmare-inducing monsters to the screen is not. While the former was a combination of stop-motion animation and large-scale mechanics, the latter is the cinema’s first depiction of a monster in a beautifully-designed, full-body suit inhabited by an actor, most notably swimmer Ricou Browning in the underwater scenes of not only the original film, but in two sequels.

In 1954, Dragon Books in the United Kingdom published the novelization, or movie “tie-in,” of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), written by John Russell Fearn under the pseudonym of Vargo Statten. It featured colorful cover art by artist John Richards and is very rare, commanding between $1K and $6K dollars depending upon its condition. Now, DreamHaven Books has reprinted this tie-in here in the United States with a beautiful cover by Bob Eggleton. What you will find in this beautifully designed new book, in addition to the novelization, is an excellent introduction by David J. Schow, himself a Creature historian. He provides not only a valuable look into the making of the film, but also the procedures that were in place at Universal Pictures and the team of artists who were tasked with designing, creating and building a suit that would look like a living, breathing creature, under the supervision of make-up head Bud Westmore. The more that I read about this, the more I wished that Creature had been filmed in color; unfortunately, Universal wouldn’t spend the additional $100K required to do that. This is a shame as the Gill Man is a truly beautiful creation.

Mr. Schow also illustrates the finer points of writing a movie tie-in, and how authors of such materials were generally hired on a contractual, per-project basis, and were based upon drafts of the script that were often changed later on thereby making the novelization radically different than its usually far superior cinematic counterpart. Such books were produced within a quick timeframe, and one can only imagine the possibilities today of utilizing a dictation software package to bang out a few of these books on a laptop in a matter of months, technology only dreamed of fifty years ago.

The novelization of Creature goes a few steps further than the film by not only introducing further dialog into the mix to pad out the story and flesh out the characters, but also brings the reader inside the Gill Man’s head and gets inside his thoughts, especially in his captivation of Kay Lawrence, portrayed in the film by Julie Adams, and his desire to win her over. There are also 57 beautiful behind-the-scenes shots of the making of the film and, as a bonus each, of the book’s nine chapters is prefaced with a publicity still.

The book is rounded out with a terrific afterword about author Fearn, written by Philip Harbottle, chronicling Mr. Fearn’s early life in the cotton business, which he abandoned after two years to pursue writing. It also covers his stint as a motion picture theatre projectionist.

This is a must-have for Creature fans and is highly recommended for horror fans who want to broaden their knowledge of this fascinating progenitor of many subsequent man-in-the-suit horrors, Dan O’Bannon’s titular Alien being the most obvious and arguably the most frightening in the cinema.

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By Todd Garbarini

Poor Pretty Eddie is a bizarre concoction, the sort of movie that they just don't make anymore, and certainly not in the way in which this politically incorrect creation from 1974 was made. Released on DVD in 2006 with a fairly lousy and dark transfer, the film has been issued in a Blu-ray and DVD combo pack by the fine folks at HD Cinema Classics. Remastered in high definition by Film Chest, Inc. from a 35mm theatrical print, Poor Pretty Eddie concerns an African-American singer, Liz Weatherly (Leslie Uggams), who ends up stranded in the woods after her car breaks down and encounters a bizarre group of characters. Where is a cell phone when you need one? Due to the presence of the newly-built interstate (have you ever noticed how all of these characters’ ills are attributed to government highways?), the remote southern town that she stumbles across is on its last legs. It would be impossible to discuss this film without making a mention of John Boorman’s Deliverance made two years prior to it, and all of the backwoods redneck jokes that probably popped into the audiences’ minds while viewing the film.

Weatherly takes a room at an inn that is home to a group of show business wannabes, most notably Bertha (the always reliable nutcase Shelley Winters, fresh from her turns as Mrs. Armstrong, Auntie Roo and Helen Hill), Bertha’s lover Eddie (Michael Christian) who has patterned himself after Elvis and sees Bertha as his ticket to fame, Keno (Ted Cassidy) the handyman, and Sheriff Orville (Slim Pickens). Dub Taylor even shows up! The Charlie Williams Pinecrest Lodge in Athens, GA doubles as the inn (it was closed in early 2004) where 90% of the action was filmed. The film appears to have a look and feel that seems to almost be drug-induced, with a strange array of characters and big colors as part of the set design. It is an unpredictable hodgepodge of weirdness and must be seen to be believed.

Cinematographer David Worth provides a very interesting and entertaining commentary along with cult film historian Joe Rubin. Mr. Worth’s loquacity is matched only by his erudition of the film business, and for a film made nearly 40 years ago he speaks with tremendous flair and great recollection, despite his claims to the contrary. In the early 1970s, aspiring editors and directors generally cut their teeth in what was then known as the porn industry (now called the “adult film industry” – it has become more respectable I suppose!). They rarely had their names appear in the credits of such fair. Poor Pretty Eddie was no stranger to controversy, as it contains a rape scene involving Eddie and Liz; the scene juxtaposes images of dogs mating in slow motion. Make of that what you will!

The transfer is in high definition, although the print is not completely free of lines and scratches, particularly just after the head of the reel changes. This is a minor complaint, however.

In addition to the feature audio commentary, the package contains the following extras:

• - Theatrical Trailer
• - Production Stills
• - A historical essay
• - A neat postcard featuring the original poster art
• - A restoration demonstration

I personally love HD Cinema Classics. They package their films as a combo pak, which gives the viewer the opportunity to see that Blu-ray is definitely the way to go.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER POOR PRETTY EDDIE FROM AMAZON.COM

 By Todd Garbarini

One of the great joys of going to the movies as a child was seeing Walt Disney films in a movie theater. I saw many of the live-action variety, but there were instances of Disney's classic cartoons being reissued on double bills with other Disney fare. One such film was 1950’s Cinderella, a movie that my mother had seen when she was about ten. I recall, even as a child, having a deep appreciation for the art of animation and, in the early 1990s, a woman who attended one of my classes in college was buying up the Disney films on VHS. I remember thinking how much better the films fared on laserdisc, but I never said anything for fear of sounding like a snob. All of those previous analog technologies, which were passable at the time, pale in comparison to the new Blu-ray of Cinderella. Disney has been doing an extraordinary job with their animated features in terms of high definition, sparing no expense at bringing their classic library one film at a time to home video. If you don’t see Cinderella on Blu-ray, I can honestly say that you really haven’t seen it, nor is it possible to fully appreciate the artistry that went into the making of this classic film. Nuances that were never before seen in analog format (even the high-end laserdisc editions) are now breathtakingly clear, colorful and robust. All of this has been made possible thanks to the folks who have given Cinderella a much-needed digital facelift and overhaul.

By now, the story of Cinderella is so familiar that it would be difficult indeed to find anyone unfamiliar with it. The story of a young girl forced to work as a maid for her evil stepmother and two wicked stepsisters and her turn at the ball have become so much a part of our lexicon and culture that even those who have not read the story or seen the film knows exactly what one is talking about merely through reference. If you’re one of those who have not seen the film yet, there is no better way to get acquainted with the story than with the new Blu-ray.

The extras include:

Tangled Ever After animated short which is a lead-in to the film (also on the DVD)

Never-Before-Seen Alternate Opening Sequence in storybook form

Personalized Digital Storybook: Bibbidi-Bobbidi-You – “Disney Second Screen” technology which permits viewers to experience a virtual storybook addendum to the film on an electronic device such as a computer, an iPod Touch, or an iPad.

Behind the Magic: A New Disney princess Fantasyland (about 8 minutes and also on the DVD)

The Real Fairy Godmother – a 12-minute tribute to Walt Disney’s wife

The film is available in several different flavors:

a 2-disc set which is comprised of one Blu-ray and one DVD

a 3-disc set which is comprised of one Blu-ray and two DVDs

a 6-disc set which includes Cinderella (1950), and the made-for-video productions Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002) and Cinderella III: Twist in Time (2007) on Blu-ray, DVD, and a Digital Copy of Cinderella. All six discs reside in a Cinderella Picture Storybook that sits inside a jewelry box.

The sound is also much improved and a far cry from the low-fidelity, hiss-y sound that was so prevalent on the VHS version of the film.

Cinderella has never looked like this before. This Blu-ray is a must-own.

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By Todd Garbarini

The 1970s were an unorthodox time in American cinema. It was an era in which an actress like Jodie Foster could play a 12-year-old prostitute one year and appear in a family comedy about switching bodies with her mother the following year. I can honestly say that's not something you would ever see today.

In early 1978 my parents took me to see Disney's Pete's Dragon (1977). Before the movie started, the trailer for the R-rated Straight Time starring Dustin Hoffman was shown. I distinctly recall the scene of Hoffman doing an embarrassing number on M. Emmet Walsh and stranding him on the highway. Crazy! The experience did not detract from the fact that Pete’s Dragon, a live-action film mixed with animation and the most expensive that Disney made up to that point (roughly $8M, which is about $32M today), is a charming family film that arrives on Blu-ray with a beautiful transfer. The story of a young orphan named Pete (Sean Marshal who has since left acting for other pursuits) and his inarticulate, grunting sidekick Elliott (an animated and sometimes invisible dragon) set in the 1920s features Shelley Winters as Pete’s abusive adoptive mother trying to get him back; Mickey Rooney as Lampie, a drunken lighthouse keeper who sees Elliott and tries to convince his doubters; Helen Reddy as Nora (Lampie’s daughter) who thinks that Elliott is just an imaginary friend; Jim Dale as Doc Terminus, a snake oil salesman and his sidekick Hoagy (Red Buttons); and Jim Backus as the Mayor. The action is punctuated by a good number of musical interludes, and the film was nominated for Best Original Song (“Candle on the Water”) and Best Original Score. It won the Golden Globe for Best Original Score for Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn.

The mixture of animation and live action cannot rival that of today’s computer technology, but it doesn’t detract from the film, either. The performances and the musical numbers are what really propel the story and make it a fun-filled viewing until the end when it gets a tad elegiac as Elliott must move on.

The set design is also fairly spectacular, including a full-blown lighthouse that was built (and subsequently torn down) for the film in San Luis Obispo, CA which doubles as the tongue-twisting Passamaquoddy, Maine.

Disney is really getting it right by releasing combo DVD and Blu-ray sets. I wish that more studios would adopt a similar method of releasing films. Judging by the side-by-side comparison, it is obvious that Blu-ray is the best method to watch the film. The clarity is far better than standard DVD, and the sound is a lot richer than the previous VHS and DVD releases. I am hoping for a Blu-ray of One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing (1975), which I saw at a drive-in when I was seven.

The Blu-ray features the following extras:

Brazzle Dazzle Effects: Behind Disney’s Movie Magic which illustrates the history of Disney’s mix of live-action and animation. Narrated by Sean Marshall (Pete), the featurette runs just over 25 minutes and has a lot of nice behind-the-scenes footage during the film’s production in 1976. It also compares the technology of then to the computers of today.

Deleted Storyboard Sequence: “Terminus & Hoagy Hunt Elliott” which presents a rare, demo dialogue track set to visual storyboard sketches and runs two and-a-half minutes.

Original Song Concept: “Boo Bop Bopbop Bop (I Love You, Too)” which is a first demo recording from 1976, with early story sketches of Pete singing to Elliott and runs two and-a-half minutes (this is included on the DVD).

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By Todd Garbarini

Bye Bye Birdie (1963) is an exuberant, squeaky clean musical comedy from Columbia Pictures that is based upon the 1960 Broadway musical of the same name. It is also extremely dated by today’s standards and flat-out corny at times. Overall, however, it is a fun ride that sports a good number of memorable musical interludes, the title song easily giving the viewer a severe case of earworm. Director George Sidney was no stranger to musicals as he was also responsible for Ziegfeld Follies (1945), The Harvey Girls (1946), Holiday in Mexico (1946), Annie Get Your Gun (1950), Showboat (1951) and Scaramouche (1952). Here, he brings to the screen the story of Kim MacAfee (twenty-two year-old Ann-Margret in her breakout performance) as a high school girl who becomes the envy of her peers when she is given the opportunity to kiss teen rock idol Conrad Birdie on the Ed Sullivan Show in front of the whole nation- a development that leads to a rift with her boyfriend Hugo ( real-life teen idol Bobby Rydell in a passable performance). Inspired by the military drafting of Elvis Presley in December 1957 (he went on to co-star opposite Ann-Margret in 1964’s Viva Las Vegas, also directed by George Sidney), Bye Bye Birdie possesses an infectious energy with its smile-inducing attempts to curtail the ever overflowing zeal of female fans who cannot get enough of the titular singer (Jesse Pearson). That fervor for Elvis would soon be eclipsed by something even more radical: Beatlemania. Why girls would be expected to swoon over the less-than-stellar looks of Birdie is anyone’s guess but in this film fantasy we are also expected to believe Paul Lynde could have fathered Ann-Margret. Lynde is actually very funny in his role (with his quirks and mannerisms that made him literally the center of attention on Hollywood Squares), especially in his rendition of “Kids,” a song about annoying offspring.

The film opens with a tantalizing rendition of the title song by Ann-Margret set against a bright blue screen, and this illustrates that this is primarily a star-making showcase for her. Although she appeared previously in smaller roles in Pocketful of Miracles (1961) and State Fair (1962), the vivacious actress shines in this film. The aforementioned sequence is a powerful and memorable enough showcase to have influenced an entire episode of AMC’s fine series Mad Men and reportedly was shot after filming wrapped specifically to promote her. Ann-Margret’s singing bookends the film as Albert Peterson (Dick Van Dyke, as his usual and likeable self) tries to write a song that Birdie will sing on the TV show. Albert’s girlfriend Rosie DeLeon (Janet Leigh, in a musical performance I would never have expected from her) wants his domineering mother (Maureen Stapleton) to butt out of his business and marry Albert. As a Hollywood musical, everything turns out for the best in the end, but not before the lead characters belt out a few songs of their own.

Bye Bye Birdie was the first movie that I ever rented from West Coast Video in the fall of 1987 on VHS. The Columbia Home Video tape was even produced in the old oversized clamshell box and the picture quality was absolutely horrendous. Twilight Time’s brand-new Blu-ray blows all previous home video incarnations of this film out of the water. Retaining the film's original anamorphic 2.35:1 Panavision aspect ratio, the image is head and shoulders above the Pioneer special widescreen laserdisc edition from the 1990’s and the DVD from 1999. The Blu-ray contains an isolated music and sound effects track and has been pressed in a limited number of 3,000 copies, so click here to pick one up from Screen Archives Entertainment. They also offer the infectious soundtrack album which can be purchased here.

By Todd Garbarini

Mad Monster Party is a relatively obscure stop-motion animated musical treat from 1967 that many non-genre fans are unaware of. Aimed at children, it is the creation of Rankin and Bass, the production team responsible for so many holiday television specials including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, The Little Drummer Boy, and The Year Without a Santa Claus. Unlike these specials, however, Mad Monster Party made the rounds to movie theaters as a feature-length film for Saturday and Sunday matinees. It’s the obvious inspiration for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), boasting an infectious musical score that sticks in your head long after the movie is over.

Baron Boris von Frankenstein, the lead character who is voiced by Boris Karloff in one of his last roles, decides to hang up his lab coat and hand his castle and duties over to his less-than-capable nephew Felix Flankin (Allen Swift) who can’t seem to do anything right. He plans to make this announcement at a gathering of monsters that includes a dim-witted monster of his own creation, the monster's mate (voiced by Phyllis Diller), his lab assistant Francesca (Gale Garnett), Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Dracula, the Werewolf, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Mummy, a King Kong-like ape, and a creepy-looking Peter Lorre look-alike. Naturally, Felix goofs up everything, which causes the monsters to conspire to eliminate him and find out the secret that Baron Frankenstein his unearthed.

Mad Monster Party was originally released on Embassy Home Entertainment in the mid-1980s and was sourced from a dark 16mm print, much like its rare television airings. The opening credits referred to the availability of a soundtrack album, however one was never released at the time. It took nearly 20 years for a now-defunct record company, Percepto Records, to finally issue the music on compact disc, which is now long out of print but can be found if you look hard enough on eBay. Unfortunately, the film's original camera negative was reportedly water-damaged many years ago, rendering it unusable. Whether or not it still exists is anybody's guess, but fortunately a pristine 35mm print, which possesses a minimal amount of dirt and scratches at the head and tail of each reel, has survived and was used for the new Blu-ray/DVD combo release which is now available from Lionsgate. The Blu-ray is a revelation and the film has never looked this good before. It is framed in the 4 x 3 (1.33:1) ratio, but on widescreen monitors and televisions the image can easily be expanded to 16 x 9 (1.78:1) without looking contorted.

Both the Blu-ray and the DVD have the following extras that have been ported over from the Lionsgate DVD-only release from 2009:

"Mad Monster Party: Making of a Cult Classic" featurette (14:47)

"It's Sheer Animagic! Secrets of Stop-Motion Animation" featurette with Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh (9:35)

"Groovy Ghouls: The Music of Mad Monster Party" featurette with Maury Laws (3:45)

Two bonus sing-along tracks for kids of all ages: "Our Time to Shine” and "One Step Ahead"

Trailer (1:29)

The new Blu-ray is a worthy step up from the standard DVD and worth the purchase. This will make a great addition to one’s collection, especially for Halloween.

Click here to order from Amazon.com.

By Todd Garbarini

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) opened on Friday, June 11, 1982 and was considered to be a small and personal film by director Steven Spielberg. It was also the first movie that I recall being released on multiple screens at the same theater simultaneously and this widespread exhibition of the film, in addition to word-of-mouth, was no doubt partially responsible for making E.T. the top-grossing film of the year.

Filmed under the original title of A Boy’s Life in late 1981, E.T. was written by screenwriter Melissa Matheson of The Black Stallion (1979) fame, and the fact that the title was changed illustrates the switching of focus from Elliott (Henry Thomas) to the little alien creature whose plight captured the world. A beautifully crafted story about childhood, loneliness and growing up was brought to life by perhaps the only filmmaker who could have done it justice. Mr. Spielberg had been fascinated by outer space since the night he and his father looked up at the stars in his backyard. As a teenager, he made an ambitious, 140-minute film called Firelight (1964) about UFOs. Years later, his own Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) acted as a sort of follow-up to it, and E.T. was inspired by the idea of one of the aliens at the end of this film being left behind. The product of divorced parents, Mr. Spielberg has claimed that E.T. is the only script he has read and wanted to make immediately without major changes.

The performances by everyone involved are wonderful. Mr. Spielberg always manages to get authentic reactions from his child actors. Who can forget Barry Guiler’s (Cary Guffey) look of wonder (accomplished by Mr. Spielberg dressing up as a rabbit off-screen) in Close Encounters when aliens raid his mom’s kitchen? Here, the director really shines, especially with Elliott’s little sister Gertie, played by six year old Drew Barrymore.

E.T. has not lost any of its original charm or wonder, nor does the film feel dated in any way. In 2002, the director made significant changes to the original version by adding an additional scene with E.T. in the bathtub by way of computer-generated imagery. He also removed the guns from the hands of the men seen near the film’s end who take over Elliott's house. He replaced the guns with walkie-talkies, thus outraging purists. Fortunately, the Blu-ray is the original 1982 version without these changes.

The film would not have made the impact that it had were it not for John Williams’ wonderful score. He has created a main theme for E.T. that simply makes the onscreen action soar. The special effects team is to be commended as well for their ability to take a rubber and mechanical puppet and turn it into a living, breathing creature with emotions.

If there is a drawback to the Blu-ray set, it is the exclusion of Harrison Ford's role as Elliott's school principal. The director had shot a scene where Elliott is sent to the principal’s office following the frog dissection fiasco sequence, and Elliott’s principal (Ford) asks him why he behaved the way he did. Since E.T. is a film about children and how they see the world, adults (with the exception of Dee Wallace as Elliott’s mother) are seen in synecdoche, their faces obscured. The principal was filmed this way, but the director cut the scene feeling it was extraneous. The only time this footage ever surfaced to my knowledge was in the deluxe CAV laser disc edition that was produced in limited quantities in 1996. As far as I know, no VHS, DVD, or any other video format has ever offered up this footage, but you can see a low resolution transfer of it here on Youtube.

The Blu-ray comes with a standard DVD and a digital copy of the film in addition to these extras:

Steven Spielberg & E.T. (HD, 13 minutes)

The E.T. Journals (HD, 54 minutes)

Deleted Scenes (HD, 4 minutes)

A Look Back (SD, 38 minutes)

The Evolution and Creation of E.T. (SD, 50 minutes)

The E.T. Reunion (SD, 18 minutes)

The 20th Anniversary Premiere (SD, 18 minutes)

The Music of E.T. (SD, 10 minutes)

Designs, Photographs and Marketing (SD, 45 minutes)

Special Olympics TV Spot (SD, 1 minute)

Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2 minutes)

This is clearly one of the best Blu-ray releases this year, as the carefully orchestrated color palette of Allen Daviau, the film’s Director of Photography, has never looked better on home video.

Click here to order from Amazon.com.

By Todd Garbarini

As Rush is now on tour in support of their Clockwork Angels album, I thought it would be fitting to have another look at their latest DVD and Blu-ray concert release, Rush: Time Machine Tour 2011 – Live in Cleveland, in addition to some truly nifty releases of their back catalog.    

Rush has always been a band that never took themselves seriously, despite what their most ardent detractors have vehemently suggested.  In retrospect, I still cannot understand what the music critics have been griping about all these years when it comes to Rush’s unique sound, which itself has gone through so many changes from one album to the next.  As far as playing live is concerned, Rush is truly mystifying to watch as I can never quite figure out how just three people are making this music which sounds so epic and grand in scope.  Yes, they have an entire group of behind-the-scenes experts making sure that the show goes smoothly, but the band sounds as though there are six people playing instead of just three.   

I recall seeing Rush’s first concert video released to the masses, Exit…Stage Left, on video in 1983 and being completely wowed by the boys.  Subsequent concert videos followed, but they never included the full concerts that they showcased, which was always frustrating as the tracks I really wanted to hear were invariably dropped.  Thankfully, that practice has gone by the wayside, and now Rush’s concert videos are always presented in their complete form (except for the initial release of R30, which was re-issued in toto on Blu-ray).   

I always wanted Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart, the triumvirate that comprises Rush, to come out on stage prior to a concert’s start and have them all go to the wrong instruments by “accident” and attempt to play them, only to correct themselves and start off in their respective positions.  The closest that we have gotten to seeing this happen is in the videos that appear on their most recent tour in which they do just that.  Whether you watch Rush’s Time Machine Tour 2011 – Live in Cleveland on DVD or Blu-ray, you can appreciate the hard work that goes into making a show.  What is really nice about this release is that this is the first time that a concert video is featuring Rush playing on U.S. soil, and they chose Cleveland as this was the city that really put them on the map in terms of radio airplay thanks to then-disc jockey Donna Halper, author of 2001’s Invisible Stars: A Social History of Women in American Broadcasting.  

By Todd Garbarini

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a strange concoction that never seemed to get a fair shake at the box office during its original release.  It's kind of like the unwanted offspring of the Halloween films and was originally projected to be the first in a series of yearly horror yarns released every October that dealt with different stories surrounding the titular holiday.  The film is among the least successful of the series, so any future franchise plans were abandoned, which is a shame because Halloween III is a fun little movie in its own right. In addition to being marketed incorrectly, it has not been represented properly even on home video.  DVD certainly hasn't been kind to it, having seen no less than three incarnations in “movie only” editions released in 1998 by Good Times Home Video, and in 2003 and 2007 by Universal Home Video. This is about to change, however, thanks to the fine folks at Shout! Factory.  Their new “Scream Factory” line is releasing a widescreen, feature-rich DVD in September (along with Halloween II from 1981) that should satisfy any passing or diehard fan of this film.  Having been erroneously promoted as the third installment of the popular horror series at the time, it is the only film having absolutely nothing to do with the manifestation of pure evil, Michael Myers.  Halloween III is more of a science fiction/horror film in the tradition of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), the film the director obviously admires greatly.    

Released on Friday, October 22, 1982, Halloween III was co-written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace whose future credits would go on to include episodes of the of the mid-1980's revival TV series The Twilight Zone and the 1990 made-for-TV movie adaptation of It by Stephen King. Halloween III features Tom Atkins, who worked with John Carpenter on The Fog (1980) and Escape From New York (1981) and with George A. Romero in Creepshow (1982). He is also known for Fred Dekker's Night of the Creeps (1986) and Richard Donner's Lethal Weapon (1987). Mr. Atkins always delivers a terrific performance regardless of the subject matter of the films that he appears in, and Halloween III is no exception. Here he plays Dr. Dan Challis, who looks no more like a doctor than yours truly, and ends up playing doctor with Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin), the twenty-two year-old grand-daughter of a man who died in his care (actress Nelkin is reportedly the woman Woody Allen had an affair with in the mid-1970s and inspired Mariel Hemingway’s character of Tracy in his 1979 film Manhattan). It turns out that a company producing Halloween masks (courtesy of Don Post Studios) is actually a front for an evil man named Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy) who has produced a legion of androids in the form of well-dressed men, and is the monster behind the television commercials for Silver Shamrock Novelties which are geared towards children. Cochran’s plan is to kill children who wear his masks on Halloween night by activating a microchip in their masks which contain a fragment of Stonehenge. He wants to resurrect the festival of Samhain which he relates to witchcraft.

The story has elements of science fiction and reminds one of the aforementioned granddaddy of social paranoia flicks. The well-dressed men remind me of the soulless crew members of the Cygnus in The Black Hole (1979). Some critics even claimed that the film is a social commentary about the pitfalls of consumerism and the power of large corporations. To paraphrase Sigmund, sometimes a thriller is just a thriller!

Halloween III has become one of those films rescued from obscurity thanks to the availability of home video. Were it not for the ancillary markets of cable television and video playback devices, it is highly unlikely that so many genre gems would have ever retained any sense of life and made it into the homes of fans around the world. While obviously it is better to see such films on the big screen, particularly movies such as Halloween III which was shot in the 2.35:1 anamorphic aspect ratio, for many of us, this was the only way to see these films at all. Network TV airings were hit or miss.

John Carpenter and Alan Howarth provide a nifty synthesizer-driven film score which aids in giving the film a spooky and alien feel to it. The Silver Shamrock theme is a variation of the public domain children’s song “London Bridge is Falling Down.”

I love going to the locations where movies are shot, and Sean Clark of Horror's Hallowed Grounds does another excellent job of taking us on a tour of the locations for Halloween III. However, I must say that this is about as close as you would want to get to the town of Loleta, CA where the bulk of the film takes place. While it looks industrial and low-key in the film, 30 years have not been kind to this location. The motel where the aforementioned tryst occurs is dilapidated and home to people you don’t want to know.

If you're going to own Halloween III, this is the edition to get. This special DVD comes with the following extras:

- Audio commentary with director Tommy Lee Wallace, Sean Clark of Horror's Hallowed Grounds and Rob Galluzzo of Icons of Fright

- Audio commentary with actor Tom Atkins

- Stand Alone: The Making of Halloween III: Season of the Witch featuring Tommy Lee Wallace, Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dick Warlock, Dean Cundey and more...

- Horror's Hallowed Grounds - Revisiting the original shooting locations

- Still Gallery

- Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots

Click HERE to purchase from Amazon.com. 

By Todd Garbarini

Poor Pretty Eddie is a bizarre concoction, the sort of movie that they just don't make anymore, and certainly not in the way in which this politically incorrect creation from 1974 was made. Released on DVD in 2006 with a fairly lousy and dark transfer, the film has been issued in a Blu-ray and DVD combo pack by the fine folks at HD Cinema Classics. Remastered in high definition by Film Chest, Inc. from a 35mm theatrical print, Poor Pretty Eddie concerns an African-American singer, Liz Weatherly (Leslie Uggams), who ends up stranded in the woods after her car breaks down and encounters a bizarre group of characters. Where is a cell phone when you need one? Due to the presence of the newly-built interstate (have you ever noticed how all of these characters’ ills are attributed to government highways?), the remote southern town that she stumbles across is on its last legs. It would be impossible to discuss this film without making a mention of John Boorman’s Deliverance made two years prior to it, and all of the backwoods redneck jokes that probably popped into the audiences’ minds while viewing the film.

Weatherly takes a room at an inn that is home to a group of show business wannabes, most notably Bertha (the always reliable nutcase Shelley Winters, fresh from her turns as Mrs. Armstrong, Auntie Roo and Helen Hill), Bertha’s lover Eddie (Michael Christian) who has patterned himself after Elvis and sees Bertha as his ticket to fame, Keno (Ted Cassidy) the handyman, and Sheriff Orville (Slim Pickens). Dub Taylor even shows up! The Charlie Williams Pinecrest Lodge in Athens, GA doubles as the inn (it was closed in early 2004) where 90% of the action was filmed. The film appears to have a look and feel that seems to almost be drug-induced, with a strange array of characters and big colors as part of the set design. It is an unpredictable hodgepodge of weirdness and must be seen to be believed.

Cinematographer David Worth provides a very interesting and entertaining commentary along with cult film historian Joe Rubin. Mr. Worth’s loquacity is matched only by his erudition of the film business, and for a film made nearly 40 years ago he speaks with tremendous flair and great recollection, despite his claims to the contrary. In the early 1970s, aspiring editors and directors generally cut their teeth in what was then known as the porn industry (now called the “adult film industry” – it has become more respectable I suppose!). They rarely had their names appear in the credits of such fair. Poor Pretty Eddie was no stranger to controversy, as it contains a rape scene involving Eddie and Liz; the scene juxtaposes images of dogs mating in slow motion. Make of that what you will!

The transfer is in high definition, although the print is not completely free of lines and scratches, particularly just after the head of the reel changes. This is a minor complaint, however.

In addition to the feature audio commentary, the package contains the following extras:

- Theatrical Trailer

- Production Stills

- A historical essay

- A neat postcard featuring the original poster art

- A restoration demonstration

I personally love HD Cinema Classics. They package their films with both a DVD and a Blu-ray, which gives the viewer the opportunity to see that Blu-ray is definitely the way to go.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER POOR PRETTY EDDIE FROM AMAZON.COM

By Todd Garbarini 

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is one of the funniest movies ever made.  It's listed at number 56 on the American Film Institute's list of top 100 comedies.  I personally feel that this ranking is unfair, as it should instead be in the top ten.  No matter how many times I've seen it, it never fails to make me laugh out loud.  Jerry Garcia of the band The Grateful Dead declared it as his favorite movie and it is held equally in high regard among Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's most die-hard fans.  Filmed in February and March of 1948, the film was released on Tuesday, June 15, 1948.  They really banged out films quickly in those days.  The budget was just under $800,000.  Even though it stars one of Hollywood's greatest comedy duos who succeeded in just about every entertainment arena there was at the time - on stage, on radio, on motion picture theater screens, and on television - there are moments in the film that can be very frightening to young children who are unaware of the film’s satirical tone.  I was roughly six years-old when I first saw it and it gave me nightmares.  As I got older and realized that it was just a movie, I really grew to love it.  Sunday mornings were a struggle for me as my family dragged us off to church and I would nervously check my wristwatch during the sermon in the hopes that we would get home in time for me to see the Sunday Morning Movie at 11:30 AM on WPIX-TV Channel 11 in New York City.  They showed one of eighteen Abbott and Costello films that they made for Universal International in the 1940s and 1950s in constant rotation. Some were terrific and some weren't, but Sunday mornings weren't the same without Abbott and Costello when they followed F-Troop.

The premise of the film works perfectly because the duo and the monsters play the material straight. Lon Chaney, Jr. sells the movie in his portrayal of Larry Talbot, a man who knows all about the Frankenstein monster and Dracula since he himself is the Wolf Man. He attempts to stop the shipment of the exhibits of Dracula and Frankenstein's monster to McDougal's House of Horrors fully knowing them to be real monsters. Naturally, his attempts to convince Chick Young (Bud Abbott) do not go according to plan. However, Wilbur Grey (Lou Costello) begins to believe him. Wilbur's girlfriend Sandra (Lenore Aubert) initially appears innocent, though she proves to be in on the plot to replace the Frankenstein's monster's brain with a dim-witted one, namely Wilbur's. This sets into motion some of the funniest antics that Abbott and Costello have ever performed on screen.

When reading about the history of the making of this film, one comes to learn that the original script was entitled The Brain of Frankenstein. Lou Costello was not a fan of this script, and even commented that his five-year-old daughter could have written better. Learning this fact later on truly astonished me. The title of the film was also changed to avoid confusion to the audience who might have assumed that was a legitimate Universal monster movie.

Boris Karloff was approached to play the monster but declined, his reasoning being that he didn’t feel that the monsters should be mocked. He reluctantly agreed to be featured in a promotional ad campaign for the film as long as he didn't actually have to see the film!

The opening credits, created by animator Walter Lantz of Woody Woodpecker fame, are among the film's highlights.

The film has been released on home video many times: multiple times on VHS, three times on laserdisc, and three times thus far on DVD. Now, as part of Universal Films' 100th anniversary, there is a new Blu-ray edition which comes with a DVD which replicates the 2000 DVD release, and a digital copy of the film. If you're wondering about the presence of the Realart Pictures logo title card that found its way onto the second DVD release (the film was re-released in 1956 by Realart on a double bill with 1949’s Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff), the answer is no. These discs contain the Universal International title cards, and I can honestly say that the Blu-ray is definitely worth the upgrade. The picture is much clearer and sharper as one would expect from such an upgrade. The extras from the previous editions have been ported over to the Blu-ray and give insight into the making of this classic film.

A huge highlight of the movie is Frank Skinner's brilliant and sinister score, which is rumored to be up for a re-recording and released as an upcoming soundtrack CD.

There are two new and interesting bonus features available on the Blu-ray include two short promos. The first is called 100 Years of Universal: The Lot which features sound bites from Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann, Ron Howard, John Landis, Dan Aykroyd and others talking about their love of making films at Universal on the famed back lot. This promo runs just under ten minutes. The second is called 100 Years of Universal: Unforgettable Characters that covers the gamut of the classic monsters, Al Pacino's turn as SCARFACE, and BACK TO THE FUTURE to name just a few. This runs just over eight minutes.

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By Todd Garbarini

Ever since I saw Rick Rosenthal's Halloween II (1981) on home video in 1983 I cannot help but associate it with The Chordette’s 1954 hit “Mr. Sandman” which plays briefly during the opening and over the end credits. Stanley Kubrick managed to completely alter our images and impressions of Singin’ in the Rain with A Clockwork Orange. What use of pre-existing music!

Halloween II is one of my favorite horror film sequels, which is saying a lot as most of them are silly or unnecessary. It was one of the earliest movies that I ever owned on home video on the RCA Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) system which was an analog video disc unit in which video and audio was played back using a stylus cartridge and a high-density groove system similar to phonograph records. Unlike DVD or Blu-ray today, CED presented viewers only the movie. There were no special editions, no running commentaries, no trailers, and no additional interviews. If you were looking for added value, you had to go to the far more expensive laser disc format that was in full swing some ten years later which usually included a letterboxed version of the film in addition to the aforementioned goodies. This double-disc standard DVD set will make a terrific addition to your collection as the transfer is very crisp and clear; plus, there are a multitude of extras that puts the original Halloween II DVDs from Goodtimes Home Video in 1998 and Universal Home Video in 2001 to shame. Those versions provided no extras and somewhat noisy transfers.

While it is not as cinematically polished as John Carpenter's extraordinary original, which was referred to as "an absolutely merciless thriller" by Roger Ebert, Halloween II picks up the same night that Halloween left off (October 31, 1978). It breaks the unwritten rule of sequels by using footage from Mr. Carpenter's film as a segue into the new movie, but it doesn’t hurt the film as much as one might think. Psycho II and Poltergeist II were both guilty of this (the former was a very good follow-up to Alfred Hitchcock’s masterful original whereas the latter was a poor simulacrum of the spectacular funhouse of the Freeling’s first go-round with the alternate universe). Donald Pleasence reprises his role as the indefatigable Dr. Loomis, spouting some of the film's best lines, such as "You don't know what death is!" and "I shot him six times!" He actually shot Meyers seven times if you count the gunshots. Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode, however I am not sure that I completely buy the plot point that she is Michael Meyers's sister. This development was written into the script and since Halloween was being premiered on NBC on Friday, October 30, 1981 (the same night that Halloween II was premiering theatrically), several additional scenes were filmed and added to the Halloween network premiere to drive this point home as well as to pad out the film's running time. Thus begins Michael Myers's reign of terror on Haddonfield after miraculously surviving the point-blank blasts of Dr. Loomis’s handgun. There are some genuinely scary moments in Halloween II which don’t really hold up now as they have been mimicked to death and have become in and of themselves clichés, seen in literally hundreds of slasher films made over the past thirty years.

Lance Guest, who played the lead in 1984’s The Last Starfighter, is very likeable as an EMT who looks after Laurie. Leo Rossi is his usual sleazy self as his partner. Comedian Dana Carvey is seen briefly and is listed in the credits as "Assistant." He appears twenty-two minutes into the film wearing a blue sleeveless jacket and a blue cap. He is pointed out on the commentary by director Rosenthal.

Michael Myers was primarily portrayed by Nick Castle in the original, and close-ups were done by Tony Moran. Here, he is portrayed by Dick Warlock, and his gait is obviously different, slightly less menacing than the previous actors.

The extras that appear on this set consist of the following bonus features:

The theatrical version and the television cut with added footage not seen in the theatrical version

Audio commentary with director Rick Rosenthal and actor Leo Rossi

Audio commentary with stunt co-ordinator/actor Dick Warlock

The Nightmare Isn't Over: The Making Of Halloween II featuring interviews with director Rick Rosenthal, actor & stunt coordinator Dick Warlock, actors Lance Guest, Leo Rossi, Nancy Stephens, Ana Alicia, Tawny Moyer, executive producer Irwin Yablans, director of photography Dean Cundey, co-composer Alan Howarth, costume supervisor Jane Ruhm, co-editor Skip Schoolnik, and filmmaker Tommy Lee Wallace

Horror's Hallowed Grounds: The Locations of Halloween II – Host Sean Clark revisits the original shooting locations of the film

Deleted scenes with optional audio commentary from director Rick Rosenthal

Alternate ending with optional audio commentary from director Rick Rosenthal

Theatrical trailer

TV and radio spots

Stills gallery

All in all, this is the version of Halloween II to own. Released by Shout! Factory under their Scream Factory line, they are proving themselves as a force to be reckoned with, releasing genre favorites in deluxe special editions with lots of lavished extras, including new cover artwork, with the original artwork viewable in the form of a reversible sleeve.

Click here to order the film from Amazon.com. 

By Todd Garbarini

All good things come to those who wait. That being said the reason why Blu-ray was invented is finally here. Steven Spielberg's Jaws, arguably the first and the greatest summer movie ever made, in addition to being one of the best American films of all-time, has been given a complete digital 4K restoration derived from the original camera negative. The results are magnificent. A far cry from the MCA DiscoVision laser disc, the Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) by RCA, the VHS tape, the 20th anniversary letterboxed laser disc, or even the past two previous DVD incarnations (which were admittedly pretty decent), the new Blu-ray most closely approximates what it was like to see Jaws for the first time in movie theaters in the summer of 1975. Best of all, the Blu-ray cover retains artist Roger Kastel’s iconic poster art.

The plot of Jaws by now is so familiar that I do not feel it warrants a summary. Jaws is a nearly perfect film, held together by three fine lead performances by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw. At times humorous, playful, thrilling, terrifying, and wildly adventurous, Jaws is one of the best-edited motion pictures ever made. Verna Fields won a well-deserved Oscar for fashioning a masterpiece out of all the raw footage brought to her by Mr. Spielberg. Each subsequent viewing of Jaws tends to reveal something new. The mafia angle which was prevalent in the novel is somewhat alluded to in the one brief scene where Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) is cautioned by Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) to keep the beaches open, and that the Island needs summer dollars. This verbal strong-arming calls to mind Tony Soprano. This conversation speaks volumes about corporations putting stockholders interests ahead of the safety of their workers, a comparison that can be drawn to Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) if one cares to delve into it.

Watching the film again makes one realize just how powerful the bond is between Mr. Spielberg and John Williams, the composer on nearly all of Mr. Spielberg’s work for the past 40 years. Equally, Jaws is possibly the first film to have terrific and memorable one-liners that have made their way to the American lexicon. Chief Brody, the fish out of water from New York City who is also deathly afraid of the ocean, in the end prevails against all odds and could quite possibly take the credit for being the model of all of those horror film heroes that were to follow in the footsteps of Jaws. (i.e either one man or one woman is left standing after their comrades have been massacred.) The ending is also a metaphor for the success of the film itself, wherein one issue after another befell this production which lasted for nearly one year. Jaws is not only grand entertainment, but the film stands as an example of how triumph in the face of adversity can be attributed to good old fashioned brainpower and problem-solving.

While it is understandable to groan about double and triple dipping when it comes to movies being reissued on home video formats, the new Blu-ray of Jaws is a must buy. With the exception of the beautiful 60-page booklet that accompanied the 2005 DVD (hold on to that!), the Blu-ray retains all of the previous DVD extras:

- The Making of Jaws – Laurent Bouzereau’s excellent two-hour documentary on the making of the film which originally appeared on the 1995 laserdisc box set

- Deleted scenes and outtakes

- From the Set – a report from the set of the film

- Production photos, storyboards, marketing Jaws and the Jaws phenomenon

- Original theatrical trailer

In addition to these extras, the Blu-ray sports the inclusion of the long-desired documentary about the Jaws phenomenon entitled The Shark is Still Working: The Impact and Legacy of Jaws directed by Erik Hollander and produced by Mr. Hollander, James Galete, Jack Grove, and J. Michael Roddy. The film runs 101 minutes.

Jaws also includes an all-new 7.1 audio soundtrack, in addition to Spanish and French audio. Subtitles are provided in English SDH, Spanish and French.

A standard definition DVD is also provided and it contains the restored film, in addition to a 50-minute version of the aforementioned documentary by Laurent Bouzereau. The inclusion of this disc and the truncated documentary is questionable given Jaws’s release on DVD in 2000 and 2005. I would have liked to have seen a double Blu-ray set with even more extras. If someone doesn’t have a Blu-ray player by now, Jaws is the reason to get one. This minor carping aside, I am grateful to finally have one of my favorite films in this format.

Lastly, let’s all be thankful that the shark didn't work most of the time!

CLICK  HERE TO ORDER THE JAWS BLU-RAY + DVD + ULTRAVIOLET INSTANT STREAM + DIGITAL COPY FROM AMAZON.COM

CLICK HERE FOR MY REVIEW OF JAWS: MEMORIES FROM MARTHA’S VINEYARD AND INTERVIEWS WITH THE BOOK’S AUTHORS. 

By Todd Garbarini

In August 1981, at the age of twelve, I viewed my very first horror film, Dan Curtis' 1976 theatrical outing Burnt Offerings, based upon the 1973 novel of the same name by Robert Marasco. I was immediately impressed with the film's spooky quality and the performances by Oliver Reed, Karen Black, Bette Davis, and Burgess Meredith. One area that stood out most was the chillingly icy score by Robert Cobert. I was eager to discover other works directed by Mr. Curtis and it would be nearly 30 years before I would finally see episodes of what is arguably his most popular production, the soap opera/thriller Dark Shadows. Running for nearly five years on ABC-TV from 1966 to 1971 and consisting of 1,225 episodes in total (some of which were in black and white), Dark Shadows is an enjoyably spooky production that was shot on videotape. It stars Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins, Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, and Lara Parker as Angelique. Genre fans will recognize the late Ms. Bennett from as Celia Lamphere in Fritz Lang’s Secret Beyond the Door… (1948) and as Madame Blanc in Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977). Like many of Mr. Curtis’ other creepy productions, it was scored by Robert Cobert as well.

For those of you who were watching this series when it premiered 46 years ago, your opportunity to view uncut and uninterrupted episodes is now possible thanks to home video. There are two newly released single DVDs (Dark Shadows: Fan Favorites and Dark Shadows: Best of Barnabas), each of which contain nine of the most loved episodes by the millions of fans who tuned in to it daily. These DVDs were released to coincide with Tim Burton’s film version of the show starring Johnny Depp and give new viewers a taste of what the series was like. While it is a far cry from such current vampire fare such as HBO’s enormously popular True Blood, it still possesses (no pun intended) an air of Gothic creepiness and in my humble opinion the entire series should have been shot in black and white. Eagle-eyed viewers will catch a glimpse of a boom mike here and there, and it’s a hoot to see that the show’s costumes were provided by Ohrbach’s, a department store I recall from my youth in the 1980s. Actresses Kathryn Leigh Scott and Lara Parker provide introductions to the individual episodes which are a nice added value for the money spent.

If you’re a rabid fan and need to have every episode, the complete series is due out on DVD in July 2012. If you’re looking for a sampling of the show prior to seeing its complete run, these two DVDs are the perfect appetizer prior to the entrée due out next month.

The success of the show led to two theatrical offerings: House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Night of Dark Shadows (1971), also directed by Mr. Curtis and scored by Mr. Cobert.

Click here to order Fan Favorites DVD from Amazon

Click here to order Best of Barnabas DVD from Amazon

Click here to order deluxe limited edition entire series DVD set

By Todd Garbarini

New Zealand film director Peter Jackson is a favorite among genre fans most notably for his early, off-the-wall gross-out comedy/horror films. Anyone who has seen Mr. Jackson's early work – specifically Bad Taste (1987), Meet the Feebles (1989), and Dead Alive (1992) – cannot help but wonder how in the world he managed to score the director’s chair for the film versions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s massive epic about hobbits and Middle Earth. These three films, while highly entertaining, are exercises in excess and were not embraced by the masses, although they have all since developed cult followings. Bad Taste, about aliens who invade a fictitious village in New Zealand in order to harvest human beings for their outer space franchise of fast food, took four years to make on weekends and was a gross-out success. It permitted Mr. Jackson to secure financing for Meet the Feebles in 1989, a black comedy about the entertainment industry, akin to The Muppets on acid. Like Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles was shot on 16mm. The film is comprised of puppets and adults in oversized puppet suits and details a troupe of performers called The Feebles, the antithesis of Jim Henson’s lovable group of which Kermit and Ms. Piggy are the most recognizable members. The Feebles is a vulgar group of two-timing, backstabbing performers who are caricatures of the worst people the business world has to offer. A hilarious satire with terrific music by Peter Dasent, the film is woefully in need of a deluxe Blu-ray release.

His next film, Dead Alive, was his first 35mm outing and is an over-the-top, cartoonish gorefest that needs to be seen to be believed, and is now available on Blu-ray from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The plot involves a creature known as the Sumatran Rat-Monkey who goes nuts and bites people, spreading disease and contagion, resulting in one of the goriest and messiest endings in film history involving limbs and a lawnmower. The style of the film is that of an uproarious horror comedy and is by no means meant to be taken seriously, much like Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator (1985), and once again Peter Dasent is on board to provide a wonderful film score.

Timothy Balme and Diana Peñalver are wonderful as Lionel and Paquita, respectively, two lonely souls who find one another in a New Zealand town. Lionel lives with his overbearing mother, brilliantly played by Elizabeth Moody. She is bitten by the rat monkey and the contagion begins to spread. Despite his best efforts, Lionel is unable to stop the spread of the virus and his house becomes a battle ground of blood and guts as the townspeople turn into ravenous zombies.

The late publisher Forrest J. Ackerman makes a funny cameo and there is enough comedy and gore to go around to satisfy the appetites of the genre’s most discriminating followers. The Blu-ray is a significant improvement over the film’s previous home video appearances on VHS, laserdisc, and DVD and is a worthy upgrade. The de rigueur trailer constitutes the disc’s sole extra; English and Spanish subtitles are a welcome addition, too.

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By Todd Garbarini

Filmed in 2009 in San Juan and Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, The Rum Diary (2011) feels much the way that Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987) felt in that it seems like two movies in one. In Mr. Kubrick’s Vietnam War film, the opening boot camp scenes took the audience through the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island, SC to see the demoralization process in action that makes killing machines out of the marines. The combat scenes, which were shot before the aforementioned training sequence, takes the audience out of the boot camp and puts them into the heart of the action. In the The Rum Diary, the first half of the film follows an alcoholic, Kemp (Johnny Depp), through his exploits in Puerto Rico after he lands a job as a journalist for a dying newspaper in the years prior to the Kennedy assassination; the second half almost feels like the hangover and the after effects of too much self-indulgence. This is not a swing at the film, which is an accomplished cinematic work and not the desultory meanderings of an idealistic writer that the film’s detractors have intimated. Rather, it is a regard for the differences in tone and style the film takes as the protagonist makes his way through the underbelly of society which is bifurcated into the incredibly wealthy and the outright dirt poor, with crooked politicians and corrupt police officers galore.

Based upon the novel by Mr. Depp’s longtime friend Hunter S. Thompson, who wrote the novel in the 1961 and had it published in 1998 after Mr. Depp’s urging, The Rum Diary depicts Kemp, writing BS-stories and horoscope for a newspaper that is on the verge of failing. Lotterman (Richard Jenkins), the paper’s Editor-in-Chief, knows the end is near and hires Kemp, knowing full well of his romance with the bottle and; Sala (Michael Rispoli), a staff photographer who runs cock fights on the side, philosophizes about life in Puerto Rico and lands in deep dung with Kemp and what passes off as The Law. The perpetually inebriated Moberg (Giovanni Ribisi in arguably the film’s best performance), who mouths off to Lotterman, is another of the paper’s staff members – he gives Kemp and Sala a drug that causes trips they won’t soon forget. Hal Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart, in a two-faced role not nearly as nefarious as his turn in Neil LaBute’s In the Company of Men (1997) but still crooked nonetheless) is a wealthy local aristocrat who takes Kemp under his wing and asks him to write about a proposed hotel that he is involved with. Kemp’s assignment is to paint Sanderson and his business partners in a positive light even though the beautiful landscape would be severely compromised by the deal. Sanderson's fiancé Chenault (Amber Heard) catches Kemp’s eye, and before long she is out of Sanderson’s arms and into Kemp’s bed. Ms. Heard plays Chenault with the same aplomb she has brought to her previous onscreen characterizations, most notably as the AIDS-infected Christie in Gregor Jordan’s underappreciated The Informers (2009).

The critical reaction to The Rum Diary reminds me of another of Mr. Depp’s films, Blow (2000), which was unfairly overlooked upon its initial release, as it drew comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s admittedly superior Goodfellas (1990), with the former somehow being the bastard stepchild of the latter. Blow was as entertaining as is The Rum Diary, and who better than Mr. Depp to bring it to the screen after his collaboration with Mr. Thompson on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in 1998?

The Blu-ray looks terrific, with minimal film grain and manages to capture the dark and light aspects of Puerto Rico quite nicely. Extras-wise, the disc contains: A Voice Made of Ink and Rage: Inside The Rum Diary in high definition, which runs about twelve minutes. Mr. Depp talks about his friendship with Mr. Thompson, while other members of the cast and crew discuss the story in general and working on the film. The Rum Diary Back-Story is in standard definition and runs about 45 minutes, discussing how the film got made.

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By Todd Garbarini

Sergio Martino’s Torso (1973) was originally recommended to me on VHS at a Chiller Theatre horror film convention in 1999. I caught up with it later when DVD supplanted the inferior videocassette format as the primary method of home video viewing and while that transfer was a considerable step up, it was nothing compared to the new Blu-ray from Blue Underground, which is absolutely gorgeous. The image is pristine and bright. Derived from the original camera negative, Torso, succinctly and mercifully truncated from the jaw-breaking I Corpi Presentano Tracce di Violenza Carnale (Italian for The Bodies Show Signs of Carnal Violence), falls into the category of the Italian giallo thriller. The word giallo (pronounced gee-AL-oh), like the term splatter films which is used for the brutally violent American horror thrillers released in the 1970’s and 1980’s in the wake of John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), describe an Italian genre of film and literature which possess elements of both mystery and crime fiction. Giallo in Italian translates into the word “yellow” in English and refers to the series of paperback novels, better known as “penny dreadfuls,” which had yellow covers. Gialli (plural) generally refer to films directed by Mario Bava and Dario Argento, and these two gentlemen are certainly responsible for some of the genre’s best outings. However, there are other Italian directors who have produced such work and based upon Torso, this is a genre that horror fans should familiarize themselves with if they have not already done so.

Shot primarily in the Perugia section of Italy in the spring of 1972, Torso is a tale of sexual violence seen in unusually graphic detail. A spate of brutal murders occurs in this university town and young women are the target. The only clue appears to be a red and black scarf used by the killer to off his victims, and just about every man in town is a potential suspect. A quartet of young female friends, one of whom is played by Suzy Kendall who previously appeared in Dario Argento’s stunning debut film The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1969), leave town and stay at a mountaintop retreat until the killer is caught. Naturally, instead of fleeing from the killer, they unexpectedly lure him right to their front door.

Torso is by no means original in terms of plot or narrative structure, but it is head and shoulders above similar yarns from a cinematic standpoint. The final reel of the film is masterfully photographed and edited, literally with no dialog, and really keeps the audience on the edge of their seat. As director Eli Roth quite correctly states in his introduction to the film, this sequence is pure cinema. The films falters slightly during its denouement, as it contains a scene where the killer reveals the reasons for killing, a device derided in many movies, even Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). However, don’t rob yourself of the experience of viewing this nifty thriller due to this minor quibble.

The disc extras consist of:

• · Murders in Perugia – an interview with Sergio Martino

• · U.S. Opening Credits

• · Theatrical Trailers

• · TV Spots

• · Radio Spot

• · Poster and Still Gallery

• · Viewer’s Choice of Watching the Uncensored English Version or the Full-Length Italian Director’s Cut

Hopefully, we will soon get to see a Blu-ray of Giuliano Carnimeo’s Perché Quelle Strane Gocce di Sangue sul Corpo di Jennifer? (What Are Those Strange Drops of Blood Doing on Jennifer’s Body?), better known as The Case of the Bloody Iris, starring French actress Edwige Fenech.

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By Todd Garbarini

The first Disney movie that my family owned was Dumbo (1941) on the Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED), RCA’s long-defunct pipe dream home video format that began production in 1981 and ended in 1986 after seventeen years in development, an also-ran in the kiddie’s seat while the recordable VHS sat at the grown-up’s table. The picture quality of CED was nothing to write home about though it was arguably better than the aforementioned recordable cassette. CED was a stepping stone, albeit in the analog realm, to a future of home video viewing in the form of movies on a disc. While Disney offered a considerable number of their most beloved titles on VHS, the sheer lack of decent picture quality never sat well with me. I was beside myself, however, when most of their best known works made their way to the superior laserdisc (still an analog format), especially Lady and the Tramp (1955), which looked wonderful in the letterboxed format. This image was improved upon with the DVD releases in 1999 and 2006, but even they pale in comparison to the new Diamond Edition Blu-ray, which is jaw-droppingly beautiful thanks to a frame-by-frame restoration and easily worth the price of the upgrade. Just about every detail and every nuance can be seen in this version.

Generally overshadowed by Disney’s other features Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) and Sleeping Beauty (1959, in its gorgeous Technirama splendor), Lady and the Tramp, which was released theatrically on June 22, 1955 and was the first animated feature filmed in CinemaScope, is a fun film for the whole family. Based upon Happy Dan, the Whistling Dog by Ward Greene, which Walt Disney read in a 1943 issue of Cosmopolitan, the story concerns Lady, a cocker spaniel who is given to Darling Dear by her husband, Jim Dear, on Christmas morning in 1909. The center of attention until a new baby is born, Lady trades in her digs for time with other dogs from the neighborhood: Jock, a Scottish Terrier; Trusty, a bloodhound, and Tramp, a mutt. When the couple leaves the baby in the care of ailurophile Aunt Sarah (a questionable maneuver given the infant’s age) who despises dogs, Lady gets into a tussle with her Siamese cats, prompting Aunt Sarah to buy a muzzle for Lady. A lot of hijinks ensue: think Tom and Jerry but without the over-the-top violence as Lady and Tramp make a run from the house to a fancy restaurant in a scene that earned the film a place at number 95 on the American Film Institute’s list of “100 Greatest Love Stories of All Time.”

Lady ends up the in the dog pound and discovers that having a license is her ticket out while getting an earful about Tramp’s status with other female dogs. Bailed out by Aunt Sarah, Lady returns home and castigates Tramp for his checkered past. After a rat makes its way into the baby’s crib, Tramp knocks the crib over, setting in motion a series of misinterpretations by Aunt Sarah who has pegged Tramp as a troublemaker and sends him to the pound. Jock and Trusty come to the rescue, but not without Trusty nearly losing his life in attempting to save Tramp. All’s well that ends well when at the following Christmas Lady and Tramp are the proud parents of four puppies.

There are a good number of musical numbers in the film, one of the most memorable being “We are Siamese if You Please” by the titular cats, and all the animals only speak among themselves.

Lady and the Tramp comes in three flavors:

3-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) = $44.99 U.S./$51.99 Canada
2-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD) = $39.99 U.S./$46.99 Canada
1-Disc DVD = $29.99 U.S./$35.99 Canada

Here is a listing of the features on the Blu-ray:

Blu-ray Bonus:  Disney Second Screen: Inside Walt’s Story Meetings* 

Audio Commentary: Inside Walt’s Story Meetings 

Diane Disney Miller: Remembering Dad 

Three Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes 

Never Recorded Song: “I’m Free as the Breeze” 

Classic DVD Bonus: 

- Lady’s Pedigree: The Making of Lady and the Tramp

- Finding Lady: The Art of the Storyboard 

- Original 1943 Storyboard Version of the Film 

- PuppyPedia: Going to the Dogs 

- “The Siamese Cat Song,” Finding a Voice for the Cats 

- “Bella Notte” Music Video 

- Trailers 

- Excerpts from “Disneyland” TV Shows 

DVD Bonus:  Diane Disney Miller: Remembering Dad 

PuppyPedia: Going to the Dogs 

Digital Bonus:  Diane Disney Miller: Remembering Dad 

Three Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes 

PuppyPedia: Going to the Dogs 

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By Todd Garbarini

After the dramatic, Ingmar Bergman-esque directorial turn he took with Interiors (1978), on the heels of his Oscar winner Annie Hall (1977), Woody Allen turned back to contemporary New York for a daring film that was shot in black-and-white and scored with the music of George Gershwin. Manhattan (1979) was the result. Proclaimed as the only truly great American film of the 1970s by film critic Andrew Sarris, Manhattan is a joy to behold from start to finish and is quite simply one of the most romantic films of all-time. Gordon Willis’ beautiful photography married with the sumptuous Gershwin music makes me wish that filmmakers would make black and white films today. There are some who do, but they appear to only do it within avant-garde and independent circles.

Manhattan, released on Wednesday, April 25, 1979, stars Woody Allen as Isaac Davis, a twice-divorced television writer who is unfulfilled with his life as a comedy writer. His second ex-wife Jill (Meryl Streep) has left him for another woman and is writing a book about their marriage. Isaac is 42 and is dating Tracy (Mariel Hemingway) who is 25 years younger than he is and is still in high school. He feels very guilty about this, but genuinely cares for her (this plot point was reportedly inspired by Mr. Allen’s affair with actress Stacy Nelkin on the set of Annie Hall in 1976, though her part was eventually cut from that film). His friend Yale (Michael Murphy) is writing a book about Eugene O’Neill and is married to Emily (Anne Byrne) but has started an affair with Mary Wilkie (Diane Keaton) whom Isaac initially can’t stand but increasingly grows fond of. Throughout the film we are confronted by these characters that cannot seem to put their finger on what they want and stick with it. They are not inherently bad people: they just keep making questionable decisions. By the end of the film, the only person who seems to have their head on straight is Tracy and the film ends, like Mr. Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), on a very positive and upbeat note.

The real star of the film is Manhattan itself, with its pulsating and bustling people and automobiles. Rarely has the city looked so luminous and beautiful onscreen. Gordon Willis, the revered cinematographer of The Godfather films and Mr. Allen’s Annie Hall and Interiors, captures Gotham in all its beauty even during an era when the city was beset by social decay. For the first time in his career, Mr. Allen forgoes the relative constraints of the 1.85:1 flat ratio to the far more accommodating 2.35:1 anamorphic Panavision vista and the results makes one ache for further use of this format.

By Todd Garbarini

As long as there are films, there will always be lively discussions as to what Woody Allen’s best movie is. Most film fans tend to argue amongst his four greatest works: Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). If I personally had to choose, it would probably be Hannah, which is perhaps the finest film that he has ever made. At the same time, I don’t want to neglect the others, so it becomes an exercise in futility as none of these films suffer from any condition other than they are great films. Mr. Allen would probably disagree, insofar as Annie Hall is concerned. Mercifully title-changed from Anhedonia (a condition which characterizes a person’s inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found to be enjoyable), Annie Hall is a film full of life, laughs, and, ultimately, ironies. Few comedies have reached the heights that Annie Hall reaches for and easily tops, and as such it resides on the number four spot of the American Film Institutes’ 100 Funniest American Movies of All-Time.

Annie Hall, which opened on Wednesday, April 20, 1977, won the Best Picture award over George Lucas’s Star Wars (1977) in April 1978 at the 50th Annual Academy Awards. I was nine at the time and positively bewildered that anything would have trumped my favorite science fiction film. Didn’t everyone see and love Star Wars? Who could have voted against it? When I finally did see Woody Allen’s comedy years later I was broadsided by how different, mature, and outright hilarious it was. The film is a feast of high-brow humor with its visual and verbal in-jokes, effectively upping the ante from the hilarious sight-gags that populated Take the Money and Run (1969), Bananas (1971), and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex: But Were Afraid to Ask (1972). What makes this film so remarkable are the performances, the dialogue, and the brilliant editing. Originally intended as a dramatic murder mystery with a comedic and romantic subplot (which Mr. Allen shelved until 1993’s Manhattan Murder Mystery), Annie Hall revolves around Alvy Singer (Allen), a neurotic Manhattan comedian, and his relationship with his girlfriend, the titular Annie Hall (played by Diane Keaton, whose real name is Diane Hall). Told in flashback like J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (which is mentioned in the film), Annie Hall details their struggles to maintain a relationship in the Big Apple. Alvy meets the awkward Annie, and once their relationship begins the film soars in its cinematic depiction of how they relate to one another as well as to the audience. This is the one film of Mr. Allen’s which begins and ends with no music over the credits, and wherein he talks directly to the audience in character. Among the standouts are Alvy’s description of his childhood; Alvy’s harassment by “the cast of The Godfather” outside the Beekman Theatre; Alvy introducing Marshall McLuhan to an annoying theatre patron; Alvy and Annie’s attempts to cook lobster; their first meeting and first date; making fun of people in Central Park; Alvy meeting Annie’s family; Annie’s middle-of-the-night call to kill a spider in the bathtub; and Alvy’s “fish-out-of-water” reaction to Los Angeles.

The film is about memory and acts also as a great time capsule of what life was like in 1976 when the film was shot. I can’t help but notice how dressed up people are at the movie theatres, most of which specialized in foreign films. It is hard to believe now that New York City was once a place that was moderately affordable to live in.

MGM's Annie Hall Blu-ray presentation is a considerable step up for the previous DVD release which was marred by video noise as well as speckles and blemishes on the film. The new Blu-ray is, of course, sharper and is sourced from a film print in considerably better condition. The disc has subtitles and the theatrical trailer.

If you are a Woody Allen fan, the purchase of this Blu-ray is a no-brainer.

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By Todd Garbarini

Dario Argento’s Inferno (1980) is one of the most beautifully-realized cinematic experiences ever captured on film. The follow-up to his previous film, Suspiria (1977), Inferno is a film that upon first viewing appears to be short on substance but considerably long on style. While dialogue has never been the director’s strong suit, the verbal platitudes that permeate not just this phantasmagorical tale of alchemy and murder, but just about every other film he has directed, provide a certain charm that has become an unofficial and unmistakable part of his oeuvre. Although the film takes place in New York, virtually all of it was faked in Italy between April and August 1979, with some minor location shooting in the Big Apple. Beautifully framed and suffused with primary colors, Inferno, the story lifted from the myth of the Three Mothers as written by Thomas De Quincey in his 1945 essay “Suspiria de Profundis,” takes the viewer on a journey not seen outside of a nightmare. Whereas Suspiria was loud, strident, and truly graphic, Inferno is a study in contrasts – long, meandering scenes suddenly give way to abrupt changes in mood, the accompanying music cacophonous in its energy. The film is no less graphic in its depiction of violence. Leigh McCloskey stars as Mark, a music student in Rome who becomes involved in trying to track down his sister, Rose (Irene Miracle), who has disappeared in New York. With the help of a fellow student, Sarah (Eleanora Giorgi), Mark uncovers a layer of evil permeating the earth that he formerly was oblivious to. This threadbare plot provides the basis for some truly stunning set pieces ever mounted by the director.

By Todd Garbarini

I have always loved movies that take place outdoors in the wilderness ever since seeing Ken Annakin’s The Swiss Family Robinson (1960) at a matinee showing in 1980 (when theaters still did that sort of thing) and John Boorman’s Deliverance (1972), though I will admit that the latter, although beautifully lensed by Vilmos Zsigmond, is enough to make anyone want to stay indoors! Matthew Leutwyler’s The River Why (2010), filmed in Portland, Oregon in the summer of 2008, is the film version of David James Duncan’s 1983 novel of the same name and the beautiful outdoors figures prominently in the film. Essentially, this is a coming-of-age story about a young man named Gus Orviston (Zach Gilford of Larry Fessenden’s The Last Winter and television’s "Friday Night Lights"), who is at his wits end when it comes to the constant bickering of his parents, played effectively by William Hurt and Kathleen Quinlan, the former of whom refers to Gus by his full name Augustine. He decides that rather than whine and complain, he will actually do something about it. His answer is to move to a small cabin by himself so he can concentrate on fishing, something that he loves to do. He creates an “ideal schedule” that consists of eating, sleeping and fishing. This schedule is more or less a result of tunnel vision as he believes that this is all that he wants in life. As the days progress, he wants a stronger connection to the people around him, especially with the young and initially elusive fisherwoman named Eddy (played by the luminous Amber Heard of 2010’s The Rum Diaries) who catches his eye and his heart.

The River Why is a slow-moving and relaxing viewing and requires patience to stick with it. Viewers used to the slam-bang editing that has become the norm in Hollywood productions will more than likely be bored, but for other viewers the film will be a rewarding experience. The story is a character-driven drama rather than plot-driven, and there are solid supporting performances from William Devane as a newspaper journalist and Dallas Roberts as a philosopher who gets Gus to look at The Big Picture.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray, the latter of course is the way to see this film as the scenery, not to mention Ms. Heard, is sumptuous in high definition.

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By Todd Garbarini

In the experience of moviegoers, there are films that possess characters we come to care about, characters whom we wish would make different choices by the film’s end. Inevitably, there are films that end badly for those characters and even after repeated viewings we still wish that the film would end positively in their favor. One such film is the 1994 New Zealand outing Heavenly Creatures, directed by a then-still-unknown Peter Jackson. Anyone who has seen Mr. Jackson's early work – specifically Bad Taste (1987), Meet the Feebles (1989), and Braindead (1992) – cannot help but wonder how in the world he managed to score the director’s chair for the film versions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s massive epic about hobbits and Middle Earth. Mr. Jackson’s first three films, while highly entertaining, are exercises in excess and were not embraced by the masses but have all since developed cult followings. The positive reception of Braindead was instrumental in getting his next and fourth film fast-tracked and in front of the cameras in early 1993. At this point, Mr. Jackson had developed a certain look and feel to his films that managed to carry over into his next and most ambitious project. In my humble opinion, and without taking anything away from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Heavenly Creatures stands as the finest film that Mr. Jackson has made to date. Beautifully scored by Peter Dasent and peppered with operatic cues, it is a film of such complexity, such visual wonder, such sheer cinematic style, and is so self-assured that it easily warrants repeated viewings. There are films that we all see and we go on with our lives without thinking twice about, and then there are films that we experience and find ourselves changed by. Heavenly Creatures falls into the latter camp, and this truth cannot help but be overshadowed by the fact that Heavenly Creatures, while being truly awe-inspiring, is loosely based upon the true story of a heinous and unfathomable case of premeditated matricide.

By Todd Garbarini

The quintessential and politically incorrect New York movie The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) has arrived on Blu-ray from MGM. Adapted from John Godey’s novel of the same name and brilliantly directed by Joseph Sargent with loads of smile-inducing and laugh-out-loud humor, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three concerns four heavily armed men, all sporting moustaches and machine guns, and named after colors to mask their identities (this idea was lifted by Quentin Tarantino and used to great effect in his 1992 film Reservoir Dogs), who commandeer a train from the New York City subway system and hold eighteen passengers hostage. They demand one million dollars in cash for their release – a mere pittance in today’s money. Robert Shaw shines as the lead baddy and heads the superb cast which also features Martin Balsam as a confederate, Walter Matthau as the police lieutenant who negotiates with Shaw, Hector Elizondo who is virtually unrecognizable as the monkey-in-the-wrench who causes problems for Shaw with his own sense of bravado; and Kenneth MacMillian as the Borough Commander. Among the film’s highlights are Matthau’s off-handed and embarrassing treatment of the representatives of the Tokyo Metropolitan Subway System who are visiting; Tom Pedi’s role as Caz Dalowicz whose no-B.S. approach to the hijackers results in a shootout in the tunnel; Lieutenant Rico Patrone (Jerry Stiller) who reads the newspaper and is bothered that he is being “interrupted” by the Japanese reps touring the facility; Lee Wallace’s turn as the Mayor (he’s a near dead ringer for Mayor Ed Koch who became the New York Mayor four years after the film’s release) and his inefficacy in dealing with the situation at hand, including his deputy mayor, played well played by Tony Roberts; Robert Weil as a transit worker (he’s a character actor who appeared in dozens of great New York films) and the film’s priceless ending. Film composer David Shire, who wrote excellent music for Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) and Martin Ritt’s Norma Rae (1979), provides a spectacular score that one cannot help humming long after the film is over.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a terrific balancing act of high suspense and tension and outright hilarity, something that few films are ever able to achieve. (One notable exception is Bob Clark’s 1974 thriller Black Christmas, which manages the same feat). What the film captures perfectly is the sense the people working in New York City have about themselves and their jobs, a veritable “another day at the office” mentality as they go about their routines no matter how outrageous the circumstances. The film couldn't have come to Blu-ray at a better time. With politicians using the safety and well-being of Americans as a bargaining chip for political gain (i.e. health care), the sentiments of the film are timeless and ring true in a city where corruption and racism run behind-the-scenes and are perfectly sized-up by Doris Roberts’s turn as the mayor’s wife when she tells him what he’ll get in return for paying out the ransom: eighteen sure votes.

There is no mention on the Blu-ray packaging of a remastered image and sound, so the transfer appears to be derived from the same master that was used on the standard definition DVD released in February 2000. The image is sharper this time with just a few instances of dirt and some scratches that are barely noticeable. The Blu-ray also adds subtitles in English, Spanish and French and retains the film's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The disc also includes the film's theatrical trailer. I originally hoped that with the release of Tony Scott's 2009 remake, itself a well-made version with less emphasis on humor and more on action, there would be a reissue of the original with commentaries and a documentary on the making of the film, but no such luck. Still, despite the lack of the usual bells and whistles that generally accompany far less entertaining films, the upgrade to Blu-ray is worth it as this is one of the best films made during the American cinema's most riveting decade. Lensed also in 1998 for television by Felix Enriquez Alcala (how can you make this film without profanity?), this 1974 original is the most entertaining version of this story.

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By Todd Garbarini

Like most children of the 1970s, television viewing was a big part of my week. Beginning at 7:30 PM and ending two and-a-half hours later, my family’s Thursday nights consisted of That’s Hollywood, Mork and Mindy, Angie, Barney Miller, and Carter Country. Not having seen Barney Miller until well into its sixth season, I just assumed that the entire show took place in the police station. Now that the show’s entire series is available in a DVD box set, courtesy of the fine folks at Shout! Factory, my initial impressions of the show were proven wrong. The pilot episode features Barney Miller’s family, specifically his wife, played with charm by Barbara Barrie. Abe Vigoda, Maxwell Gail, and Ron Glass appear from the get-go, and guest star Chu Chu Malave, who played Maria’s boyfriend who tackles Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon (1975), and (of all things) the delivery boy who seduces Bobbie Bresee in Mausoleum (1983), plays an out-of-control prisoner who commandeers Fish’s gun and holds the precinct hostage.

During the initial episodes, Barney Miller feels like it is trying to find its way, and it gets much funnier as it progresses into later seasons. If it were made today it more than likely would have been axed after a few lackluster-performing episodes. To think that it lasted eight seasons illustrates just how different the television landscape was back in the 1970s. What is most surprising is the level of diversity among the ethnic groups that were represented early on in the show. Although this is so commonplace now, it was sort of a watershed back then: Gregory Sierra as the Puerto Rican detective Chano; Max Gail as Polish Detective Stan "Wojo" Wojciehowicz; African-American Ron Glass as Harris (my personal favorite); Jack Soo as the deadpan Japanese-American Yemana; and Abe Vigoda as Fish - I cannot think of him in anything except The Godfather (1972).

Where the show always shined for me even at a young age was in the characterizations of both the detectives and the silly perps who made their way through the 12th Precinct in Greenwich Village. Ron Carey as Levitt and James Gregory as Inspector Luger always made me laugh when they showed up. This was not a show of one-liners, but rather one that dealt with a multitude of topics and situations and made them truly laugh-out-loud funny. The term “sitcom” really fits this show as the humanity and hilarity that ensues comes from the characters, not punch lines.

The first three seasons of Barney Miller had been released on DVD by Sony, but due to lackluster sales the remaining five seasons were neglected. Shout! Factory, on the other hand, has put together a beautiful DVD box set which belongs in the collection of all fans of the show. The entire series of 168 episodes is provided on 25 DVD’s and comes with a beautiful booklet that details the names of each and every episode and the original airdate. There is a half-hour look back at the show with Hal Linden, Max Gail, and Abe Vigoda; a half-hour description about the character’s creations; a featurette about the show’s writing; the show’s original, unaired pilot with Charles Haid(!); and all 13 episodes of Abe Vigoda’s short-lived spin-off series Fish from 1977.

Shout! Factory has done an extraordinary job of putting together this collection which was obviously done with a great deal of care and foresight. Highly recommended.

I would love to see the same treatment bestowed upon on T.J. Hooker, a favorite of mine from my teen-age years. This was another show that Sony released and abandoned after only the first two seasons made their way to DVD. Fingers crossed!

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By Todd Garbarini

Beauty and the Beast was a very successful film for Walt Disney upon its was released on Wednesday, November 13, 1991. The follow-up to the studio’s highly praised The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast proved that a new generation of audiences had a desire for animated film fare. As a result of this success, Disney decided to create another adventure with Belle and the Beast. The result was Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, which originally was intended as a theatrical continuation of the story, but ended up being produced for home video in 1997. The film may appear to be a sequel, but it is not. The action actually takes place within the timeline that occurs in the original film: after the fight with the wolves, but before the fight with Gaston.

Since the Beast was transformed from a Prince on Christmas, he is understandably Ebenezer Scrooge-ish when it comes to the yearly holiday, and forbids the mere utterance in his presence of any mention of the word. Belle must adhere to his wishes or face violent outburst, which are frequent, from the Beast. With the help of the castle’s anthropomorphized clock (Cogsworth), candle (Lumiere), tea pot (Mrs. Potts) and tea cup (Chip), Belle has to prove to the Beast that Christmas is a wonderful holiday.

The film was released on VHS cassette in 1997 and is now available on a double-disc set of a standard DVD and the high definition Blu-ray. As you can well imagine, the difference in picture quality between VHS and DVD is dramatic, and comparing the VHS to Blu-ray is even more startling. If you are a fan of this film, the upgrade is most definitely worth it.

In addition to the Enchanted Christmas, Disney is re-issuing their made-for-home video film Beauty and the Beast: Belle’s Magical World on standard definition DVD. This film was released on VHS in 1998 and was comprised of three separate segments: The Perfect Word, Fifi's Folly, and The Broken Wing. In 2003, the film was released on DVD and an additional segment, Mrs. Potts's Party, was added. It is this same DVD version that is being made available once again, this time with different cover art. If you have the VHS and are on the fence about upgrading, this new DVD is the way to go. If you already have the 2003 DVD version, there is no reason to upgrade.

The musical numbers in both films are quite nice, although the animation isn’t quite up to the high level of excellence of the original theatrical film. Paige O’Hara and Robbie Benson reprise their roles as Belle and the Beast, respectively, in both films.

The obvious audience for the films is children, girls in particular. The filmmakers reiterate the message that love can overcome differences between people in an entertaining way that never threatens to become overly-preachy.

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By Todd Garbarini

Having grown up on the Rankin Bass Christmas specials since I was a child, the Yuletide season just isn't the same without a yearly viewing of some of their most enchanting shows. Since the 1960s and 1970s, specials such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, The Little Drummer Boy and The Year Without a Santa Claus were shown on the major television networks. In the late 1980s it became increasingly difficult to see most of these specials unless you had cable television or video cassette recorders as the major networks stopped airing them. With the availability of home video, the shows were inevitably made available to the masses and made great Christmas presents.

The fine folks at Classic Media have released some of these beloved Christmas classics on Blu-ray. In a two-disc set entitled The Original Christmas Classics, disc one contains Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. Premiering on Sunday, December 14, 1970, Santa Claus is a stop-motion animated special that stars Fred Astaire as a postal worker who uses the device of children’s letters and inquiries about Santa as the basis for telling the story of how Santa came to be. Santa Claus is voiced by Mickey Rooney. The story is based upon the Christmas song of the same name and features a wide variety of musical numbers. There is the mean-spirited character Mayor Burgermeister Meisterburger who despises toys and arrests anyone in possession of one. There is a scene where his soldiers burn a group of toys in front of horrified young children. The sequence was often cut from some broadcasts because it was deemed too upsetting to kids. Fortunately, it has been restored for the Blu-ray, along with other scenes that were occasionally cut to accommodate more commercials

Disc two features three specials, the first of which is the most well-known of all, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which premiered on Sunday, December 6, 1964. Also running 51 minutes, the copyright year is erroneously listed as MCLXIV (1164), not MCMLXIV (1964). A stop-motion animated special that premiered on the NBC network and was sponsored by GE, Rudolph made its way to CBS for many years and is based on the Johnny Marks song of the same name. It features a lot of themes that are still prevalent today, including the consequences of bullying and name-calling. However, despite all of this, Rudolph triumphs in the face of adversity with his equally-spurned friend Hermie who wants to be a dentist!

Next up is Frosty the Snowman, a hand-drawn animated special from Sunday, December 7, 1969 that features Jimmy Durante and a host of enjoyable songs. The idea was to create a show that resembled a Christmas card and for the most part the concept is successful. A young girl, Karen, makes a snowman she christens “Frosty” and tops him off with a top hat she obtains from a magician. Karen is voiced by June Foray, best known for Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Cindy Lou Who, Witch Hazel, and Granny.

The final show is Frosty Returns from Tuesday, December 1, 1992 and it cannot hold a candle to its predecessors. It is a curiosity to behold as the dominant theme mirrors that of Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, (i.e. corporate enterprise schemes to profit at the expense of the environment.) The show is also an exercise in political correctness as the there are no overt references to “Christmas.”

It is wonderful to see these specials in high definition, although Frosty Returns looks like it was mastered from a lower-quality video release and there is a fair amount of dot crawl prevalent. If you look closely at Santa Claus and Rudolph, you can see the wires that were used to move the characters around, something that was difficult to see on standard television viewings. The colors are strong and vibrant, especially in the sequence about the Island of Misfit Toys. Despite the aforementioned quality issues on Frosty Returns, it’s safe to say that, by and large, these gems have never looked better and make for a perfect holiday treat.

The programs are provided with the requisite chapter stops and have no extras.

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By Todd Garbarini

Space: 1999 was one of my favorite shows as a child. Even before Star Wars changed my life, I eagerly watched Martin Landau and Barbara Bain and their adventures in outer space in this series created by Gerry Anderson. Unlike its predecessor Star Trek, the show ran for just two seasons. From 1975 to 1977, I was treated to a view of the future that was both exciting and ominous. I say was because the difference between seeing this show as a child and seeing it now as an adult is night and day. At the time, I really was convinced that the show took place in outer space. Viewing the episodes today, the special effects don’t look quite so convincing, to put it charitably.

As a child, I never realized the show was a British production. In the series opener, the moon has become a garbage heap for earth’s nuclear waste. An accident occurs, causing a cataclysmic eruption that occurs on September 13, 1999. The force is so enormous that it knocks the moon out of its orbit, and the result is that many earthlings are sent spiraling into outer space. Most of the episodes are predicated on the fantastic, not the realistic. If you are a fan of this series, this Blu-ray purchase of the complete first season is a no-brainer. Although the series was released in the U.S. on standard DVD nearly ten years ago, this new Blu-ray set puts that DVD set to shame, as the Blu-ray collection is mastered from the original camera negatives and looks as though the show was just made today. The 7-disc set is from A & E.

Visually, the show is obviously inspired by Douglas Trumbull’s work on Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and has a Logan’s Run (1976) look to it. Most of the show is relegated to the soundstages, and it cannot compare to today’s action shows for sheer excitement. Still, it is a great time capsule of the type of show that passed for entertainment just over thirty-five years ago. Some of the music is a bit silly, and the episodes do run at a snail’s pace, but for true fans of the show you absolutely cannot go wrong with this set.