Reviews (4)

Very Mixed Bag
First, to get it out of the way, some copies of the Circus of Fear disc are bad, but Blue Underground's website has instructions on getting a free replacement disc. Overall, these aren't the best films Lee made. The common thread uniting all four is that they were produced by Harry Alan Towers. In addition, three out of four of the films are directed by Jess Franco.

Circus of Fear (the only film not directed by Franco) is based on a story by German suspense writer Edgar Wallace. As is typical of his stories, the film depends not so much upon a good mystery or skilled detective work, but upon the police unravelling hundreds of red herrings designed to confuse the viewer and keep us guessing. It has great acting, including a minor role by Klaus Kinski, and a great setting (a circus), but is not a great film. Lee does not get any major screen time, and for most of that time his face is masked, but it is still a fun role.

The two Fu Manchu films would have been a lot more enjoyable if they both didn't suffer from poor pacing. However, even when they're bad, Franco's films are always interesting, and here we get to see him working with budgets closer to what he deserved. Both films are pure pulp fiction adventure, with members of Scotland Yard attempting to stop the evil Fu Manchu's plans for world domination. As with pulp fiction, most of the characters are pure stereotypes, although this 1960s series made a point of occassionally noting that Fu Manchu does not represent most orientals and is wanted by eastern authorities as well. I far prefer Lee's earlier Fu Manchu films, but neither have Jess Franco as a draw. Lee gets very little screen time in both and seems to be bored with the role.

The film that makes this collection worthwhile is The Bloody Judge, released for the first time in a director's cut which combines several "alternate" endings into one coherent ending. The Bloody Judge is based upon a real British witchhunter. Lee, as the titular judge, abuses his office in an attempt to win the hand of a woman by burning her innocent sister as a witch, and then threatening to burn her as well (what a romantic). Included are exploitative dungeon torture scenes Lee says he was unaware of while making this film. It isn't as good as Michael Reeve's/Vincent Price's "Witchfinder General" (whose success The Bloody Judge was trying to cash in upon), but it is still a good, antiestablishment historical film with a very well done battle scene (Franco also directed the classic battle scenes in Orson Welle's "Chimes at Midnight"). The Bloody Judge is only available as part of this set (likely to help Bill Lustig ensure he recovers the cost of restoring it). Lee gets a lot of screen time in this one and gives one of his best performances.

Overall, The Bloody Judge is the main reason for getting this collection, and I would say that Franco fans will be more pleased with this collection than Lee fans. Here's hoping Blue Underground releases a second collection with the better Fu Manchu films, and Lee's best non-Hammer, non-LOTR film ever, "Blood Demon"!

Great Collection; Bad Disk
First, the presentation of these four movies by Blue-Underground is superb. All widescreen format, wonderful color, and only a slight bit of age showing though any of them. Not a problem. If you're a Christopher Lee fan, these movies are a complete joy. And for those of you who enjoy Leo Genn, you've got to check out "Circus of Fear". Leo Genn gives a wonderful performance as an incredibly humble, compassionate police detective, who genuinely cares about people. But...

That brings me to the "bad disk" comment. Apparently there are problems with this first disk. I have two dvd players, and in the G.E. brand player, it kept spitting the disk back out and displaying "unplayable disk" on the digital readout. I finally got it to play by hitting the play button two or three times while it was reading the disk. But, further problems ocurred; skipping again and again, finally freeze ups. I was upset, to say the least.

Then I tried it on the other player, a Panasonic DVD-RV20, and it played flawlessly. I don't know why there would be such an increadible differance between the players. However, I know others are having the same difficulty with their players. So beware. Blue-Underground has issued a statement that they believe something happened during the manufacturing of the disk, and are considering how they can replace the disk in the very near future. I hope so, because this is a great box-set, and I believe any Lee fan would give a lot to own it.

Great Set....But......
The films in this set are superb. Quality and extras are very good and well worth the price.

One problem seems to be with CIRCUS OF FEAR. Several people including myself have discs that lockup during loading and lockup during playing. I have yet to receive a reply from Blue Underground and Amazon regarding this problem.

Excellent collection for an excellent actor
When I was very young, I was only allowed to watch certain horror movies- mainly Vincent Price vehicles (especially the ones based on Poe's work) and Christopher Lee's Hammer films. So for most of my life I had a great admiration for this deep voiced, dignified actor. This set contains movies from his 70's B-picture work, but the quality is amazing.

"Circus of Fear" is a fun little picture, and Lee raises it above your usual schlocky circus setting movie. There are also many funny moments scattered throughout. The Fu Manchu movies are a lot of fun- Lee plays the part perfectly and the makeup is amazing. About the only really "offensive" picture on this is The Bloody Judge, and not that much. Jess Franco and Lee seemed to be a great team on these latter pictures, even if at times they disagreed.

Technically, Blue Underground completely gave these releases the red carpet. The transfers are near perfect- all are in widescreen, there is very little grain, colors are just the right tone and they all look superb. The sound is also very well done, I heard no pops or crackles and there are no sound fade outs. The box is very attractive, and the covers are very nice (the inserts contain the original poster art.) Extras are a bit sparse- mainly commentaries and interviews- but they are well done, interesting and informative.

This is a great treat for Lee fans, especially fans of his earlier genre work. However, if you're looking for a group of scary pictures, you should look elsewhere. If you only know him from Star Wars: AoTC or the Lord of the Rings movies you may be dissapointed, but it's still worth a look to see some of what made him such a legend. This set is a must! Hopefully we'll see Blue Underground release more Christopher Lee pictures in the future. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Very exciting Italian Shocker!
A boat arrives in New York Harbor, explorers look around the deserted ship to find out that the crew has died and has a cargo of green alien eggs that squirt a liquid that can make people explode. However, it's up to a research woman and a former Astronaut ( Ian McCulloch) to find out the mystery of the deadly Eggs and it's carrier which happens to be a cycloptic monster.
A somewhat farfetched but very exciting Italian Science Fiction horror shocker with some decent perfomances, but the dubbing was ok and there is some great make-up and gore effects such as the exploding chest scenes. The DVD by Blue Underground is terrific in picture and sound quality, the extras are very good but this is definitely good for a gore-hound or Sci-fi lover.
Also recommended: The Thing ( 1982), Scanners, Total Recall, Phenomena ( a.k.a. Creepers), Day of the Dead, Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn, Tenebre, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, Critters, Night of the Creeps, Bad Taste, Alien, Aliens, Alien3, Alien Resurrection, Predator, The Toxic Avenger, Pitch Black, Starship Troopers, and The Beyond.

Charming Low Budget SF
Finally this long neglected SF film appears on DVD: withdrawn some 20 years ago in Britain during the 'Video Nasty' witchhunt and unavailable in any form since, 'Contamination' is a film full of charm despite its highly derivative nature. The most obvious comparison is with 'Alien' of course but as the director himself points out in a lovely interview that is the best of the extras on this disc, his aim with the film was to pay homage to 50s American SF pictures. What a nice chap Luigi Cozzi clearly is - ready to admit his debts to other SF, clearly in love with the genre and unashamedly open about his derivative approach
References to 'Invaders From Mars' and 'Quatermass 2' abound: the Martian Cyclops monster is a corker, refreshingly unrealistic and like the director charmingly unsophisticated and direct.
The gore effects remain quite shocking but are relatively few and far between - most descriptions of this movie indicate that someone's chest bursts apart every ten minutes or so, but all such descriptions are overexaggerated. Why this film remains banned in the UK after so long is a mystery to me...
The main problem with the film is its pacing - the middle of the film does lack suspense and imagination, some scenes crawling along when the injection of original ideas (unfortunately the lovely Cozzi doesn't have many of his own, apart from the blatant blood and guts) would have upped the adrenalin.
The picture on the DVD is very good indeed and the music by Goblin is of course excellent, despite the absence of Claudio Simonetti: only one gripe here, Cozzi under-uses the score which is apparent when one owns the superbly remastered cinevox CD.
If you love cheap pulp SF, you have to get yourself this unoriginal but fun film that will take you back to your childhood experiences of lurid science fiction at its most potent.

Avocado of Death
No, this is not about Pinkwater's Snarkout boys. Instead it is about a movie called Alien Contamination (A.K.A. Toxic Spawn) a strange but entertaining foreign film set in America with shades of Atomic Submarine and The Arrival.

A runaway freighter is boarded and found to contain a gruesomely dead crew and boxes marked coffee that contain large avocado-like pods or eggs. These eggs explode on maturity and any mammalian life nearby will explode seconds later. Research shows the eggs to be non-terrestrial in nature. A chance landing by alien spores is ruled out and the failed Mars mission is suspected.

The surviving astronaut from the Mars mission is now a drunk. He had claimed to have seen avocado-like eggs on Mars but the rest of the crew denied his claims. With his help the coffee shipment is tracked to a plantation in South America and the action moves there.

It turns out that the Mars crew mate is not dead. He is alive and running the operation to destroy all human life. He is under the control of a being known as the Cyclops. He brought a Cyclops spore back from Mars where he was hypnotized. After some fun scenes the heroes triumph in the end and the menace from Mars is ended.

Despite the feeling of wrongness that foreign films in English often have, this is actually well above the usual monster shlock movie. In a way it reminds me of The X-Files with investigators that actually investigate records instead of just stumbling along. It was much more of a detective film with aliens than an alien movie with detectives.

I recommend this film for anyone who likes better horror and science fiction films.

Alien arrives on Earth, indeed.
A search of a supposedly deserted ship uncovers a gruesome mystery. The crew is dead, literlly torn apart by some unknown force, and the ship's cargo is not coffee, but groaning, glowing eggs that make people explode whenever contact with the slimy green filling is made. Writer/director 'Lewis Coates' (aka Luigi Cozzi) crafts an incomprehensible story of alien invasion (or simple destruction, the exact goal is never made clear) in this most famous (or infamous) Italian cash-in on Alien. In the to be expected excellent supplements (the disc is from Blue Underground, so special things are almost a matter of routine) Cozzi comes across as a real classic sci-fi geek. Too bad that love didn't infuse his script or direction. While the movie is entertaining, it is mostly for the wrong reasons, and Cozzi fumbles chances for suspense during key moments in the film (i.e. having the female lead trapped in a bathroom with an alien egg) by dragging the scenes out until they become ludicrous. Nonetheless, fans of this long gone era of movie making (late seventies/early eighties low budget schlock cinema) will find something to enjoy in the movie. I did.

Never pick up alien eggs
"Contamination" is one of those low budget Italian science fiction potboilers that provide countless hours of fun. There's something deeply nostalgic about these films for me; I spent whole evenings watching this pap on cable television back in the mid 1980s. There was nothing like coming home in the summer, ordering a pizza, and spending all night with these delicacies. I guess things haven't changed too much since I am still watching them thanks to the DVD revolution. That these movies look and sound better now than they did when they first came out is one of those technological marvels that stagger the mind. Thanks go to Bill Lustig and the folks at Blue Underground for taking the time to release "Contamination" with a plethora of extras coupled with a great audio and video presentation. If you have never sampled the wonders of Italian schlock films, this is a great place to start. "Contamination," in case you haven't guessed, is a shameless rip off of Ridley Scott's classic science fiction gorefest "Alien." But don't expect to see Sigourney Weaver or John Hurt appear anywhere near this cheesy little number.

Eggs. "Contamination" deals primarily with eggs. An abandoned ship sails into New York harbor loaded with weird, pulsating pods the size of basketballs. When the authorities attempt to investigate this strange ship, a bunch of people die horribly when the eggs blow up and spray them with a viscous goo. The hapless souls coated with explosive yolk simply don't keel over and die in a nice, peaceful manner, though. Nope, they explode in ultra slow motion, with their chests and throats opening up with a bang. Obviously, the origins of these objects represent a significant threat to the human race, so the government quickly gets involved in the whole affair. Scientists quickly learn the pods are not of this world, a discovery that brings up a recollection of a disastrous trip to Mars some years before. In an effort to discover what the heck is going on, the government agents, headed up by sexy Colonel Stella Holmes (Louise Marleau), track down an astronaut who survived the ill-fated mission. With an annoying New York cop in tow, Holmes must work fast if she is to save humanity from a fate with decidedly alien implications. Yay!

The emotionally destroyed astronaut, Commander Ian Hubbard (Ian McCulloch of "Zombie" fame), just cannot bring himself to cast his mind back to that horrible time on the red planet. Eventually he does, of course, and in the process recalls a cave filled with millions of pulsating pods and a light as bright as the sun. What does it all mean? Not much at first. Then we discover that some lunk head Hubbard knows only too well managed to bring back the pods, and something else much more dangerous, to earth. The exploding eggs are the central linchpin in a plot to conquer the world. It is up to the psychologically unbalanced Hubbard, the mouthy cop, and Colonel Holmes to thwart this dastardly deed before people start blowing up on a regular basis. Their mission takes them around the world in search of a coffee magnate who smuggles the eggs in wooden boxes filled with beans. All the while, Hubbard's flashbacks about the mysterious cave on Mars reveal more and more clues about what is occurring here on planet earth. Can our heroes stop this nefarious plot before it gets underway? Can Hubbard overcome his difficulties and save the world? Will that cop ever shut up? These questions, and many more unimportant ones, will find resolution by the end of "Contamination."

The movie isn't a masterwork of cinema, even for an entry in the low budget Italian horror-science fiction genre, but it does have its moments. Ian McCulloch is always fun to watch in these types of movies, and he does a good job in the role of the horrified Hubbard. The rest of the cast, well, let's just say the word "forgettable" applies on more than one occasion. At least the gore keeps you on your toes; director Luigi Cozzi wisely spaces out the gruesome death scenes throughout the film, which greatly helps the pacing in an otherwise slow film. Moreover, the effects, from the grue to the pulsating eggs, are well done considering the ultra low budget. Throw in some scenic shots from different locales along with a pounding score from Goblin, and you have the makings of an entertaining little shocker. And let's face it; we all could use more exploding torsos and melting heads to help us get through the day. "Contamination" gives us all of that and not much more. Cozzi is no Sergio Leone, but he doesn't need to be when making a zero cost science fiction puker.

The extras included on the disc are as good as they are surprising for such an obscure film. You get trailers, of course, but you also get so much more. Blue Underground got Cozzi to do an interview about the film, an interview that sheds light on many aspects of the film. With all of the framed 1950's movie posters on the wall behind the director during the interview, it is obvious he likes classic science fiction films. Indeed, Cozzi emphasizes his love for old science fiction and how the genre inspired him to lens "Contamination." Add in a grainy looking featurette made during the filming of the movie and some poster stills, and you have yourself a very nice DVD worth purchasing. Give Cozzi's film a shot if you like your sci-fi gooey and cheap. If not, you can always rent "Alien" again. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A sad farewell to a very exciting movie genre
It's commonly said - and with good reason - that the movie 'The Man Called Blade' is the last entry in the interesting genre named 'western spaghetti' that dominated the Italian movies in the sixties and seventies. But, unfortunately, this movie is a very sad farewell to an otherwise exciting genre. This movie has a simple plot - like almost all the other movies of the same kind - but so full of flaws and absurd situations that the viewer - even an addict of spaghetti westerns - will be tired and boring before the middle of the story. In fact, 'A man Called Blade' is quite a rip off of 'Keoma', a huge sucess with Franco Nero, directed by Enzo G. Castellari. Maurizio Merli was picked up by director Sergio Martino to live Blade because of his resemblance with Nero, at these times completely out of westerns movies. A routine and poor imagined story of vengeance and hate, the movie goes on and on until an old fashioned 'finale'. Good performance by John Steiner, as the villain.

Should have gotten Morricone... PLUS EASTER EGG below
The music was a real letdown for me. I think that music in a movie can become something like a supporting cast member, but this music (by Guido e Maurizio De Angelis) just didn't fit in most places. Especially when the soloist began singing. Yuck. I mean, double yuck, out of luck, upchuck. I hope they weren't trying to save money by scrimping on the score. Sometimes the very thing that can save a movie is the soundtrack, and this one just didn't cut the mustard. It didn't have any semblance of being a thoughtful composition. If it had been pressed into an album, I wonder how many people would have purchased it? I'm sorry to ramble on, but the music just pinned my emotions down on this one. Just as I would gain some interest, the music shoots it all down. Guido's score (sorry, sir) didn't need a hatchet to kill "A Man Called Blade."

Maybe it was the music, but it definitely didn't help get me into the mood of this movie, which technically is another fine transfer from an original film stock and presented by Blue Underground. Honestly? I'd rather watch the opening FBI warning (a really cool animated revolving red light instead of the plain blue page) than sit through the musical score with the lyrics being sung.

I wish Blue Underground could have given the viewer an option to turn the music off. Maybe that's why I couldn't relate to the characters. Yes it's violent and somewhat surreal, but ask me whether I cared who died? The music made me wish it would hurry and end (with no lyrics, of course). If I had a hatchet in hand while watching this, the lyrics would probably have driven me to throw at the speakers. I wished that I could have gotten past the music, but it just permeated everything.

Tech Specs and at least one Easter Egg: Region free, NTSC DVD @ 96 minutes color from an original print in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 (no full frame option) and enhanced for 16X9; English mono, Italian mono; optional English subtitles; trailer; featurette called "A Man Called Sergio (interview with director Sergio Martino); poster and production stills gallery; linear notes; a two- page pamphlet with deeper information about the movie. I found only one Easter Egg (2 previous Blue Underground discs had 3 of them that I found in each). This one is located on the Extras page. Highlight A Man Called Sergio and push RIGHT to reveal a hatchet to access.

PS- The score of two stars is for the overall DVD. If it hadn't been presented so well by Blue Underground, I would have given it only one star.

Brilliant Spaghetti Western 'Revue' of 1977
A very late entry into Italian western genre from Sergio Martino, better known as director of the "cannibal" exploit movies. Amazon's review recaps the plot very well so just a couple of tidbits: Martino has captured the essence of earlier 60's spaghetti westerns with their grim sets and grimier characters, almost to the point of parody. The theme of betrayal is very well done and even packs a surprise or two, while the motivation of greed pervades the film in better-than-average spaghetti tradition. Incidentally Martino seems to borrow the idea of a traveling dance troupe from Colizzi's "Boot Hill" with it's weird circus, and he seems to borrow plenty from Colizzi in general throughout the movie. Some others have complained about the music in this movie -- just wish I could find a separate soundtrack of this on CD! IMHO the music is great! This is one spaghetti fanatic who really enjoyed this movie although a few of the scenes could have been cropped for a faster pace -- but then again this was 1977 and not 2003! All told five stars from me and one of the best especially in light of the excellent technical rendition to DVD and restoration. A beauty! If only Martino made more like this one!

Lowbudget, but Entertaining.
I'v herd allot of good reviews from this SP Western.I got it along with the Spaghetti Western box set. The movie was entertaining and you can expect cheesiness, but the Bayou Billy looking Hatchet character was cool and the DVD was restored very well. If it wasn't for the corny theme song they chose for this movie I would actually give it 3 stars, but every time that annoying murky theme song that didn't fit in played, It ruined my attention to the film. Overall I recommend this(although overpriced) movie,just push mute when the corny theme song plays and enjoy.

Just like they used to be
This one came well after the Spaghetti Western had rode off into the sunset (in fact, I think it was the last one ever made). And it's a doozy - probably because it's a throw-back to all those silly, action-packed spaghetti westerns of the sixties. Gunfights and brutal fistfights punctuate the tried and true tale of revenge every five minutes, so you can forgive the trite dialogue and the occassional sequence that doesn't make any sense. The hero, who comes across as a nastier version of Patrick Wayne, is perfectly balanced by gaunt-faced John Steiner as the villainous foreman who is not adverse the wiping out the hired help and even bumping off his boss in his quest to become the big cheese. The film is similar in look to Keoma (the Franco Ndero western that is a must-have for Spaghetti enthusiasts) - the same sets are used and it sounds like they've brought in the same singer for the "you've got to hear it to believe it" soundtrack. The only drawback is the obvious lack of budget in some of the bigger set-pieces and a climactic gunfight that falls strnegly flat (in fact, in several of the shootouts, the director simply has the bad guys all standing still in the same place and being picked off one by one by the hero - but what the hell, they did the same thing in Road to Perdition didn't they?). This is consistently rated among the top 10 spaghetti westerns ever made so it's worth a place in your collection. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

conquest
great movie from godfather of gore
i realy love this movie this was the
first movie i saw from fulci.
and a very god havey soundtrack from claodio simonetti
if you dig conan barbarian you wont be disepointed
and there are som gory effects to. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A powerful thriller
Even though this film is called "Venom" and features a snake, this is no "creature feature." Two English domestics (Oliver Reed and Susan George), along with an international criminal (Klaus Kinski), conspire to kidnap their wealthy employers' ten-year-old son. The plan goes awry after the boy mistakenly receives a highly aggressive, super-poisonous black mamba (originally intended for a research facility), which kills one of the conspirators and transforms the attempted kidnapping into a tense armed standoff. A box-office flop in its day, American audiences were probably turned off by the film's stodgy English production values and -- thanks to a misleading advertising campaign -- probably felt duped once they realized it wasn't a killer snake movie. Still, a strong script and Kinski and Reed's explosive performances make this a powerful thriller. Highly recommended.

Three and a half stars out of five.

Return of the Black Mamba
Do not get fooled by the horrenduos DVD cover art that has nothing to do with the movie. The movie has a black mamba and the cover shows a rattlesnake!! and it is horrible!!! But the movie is one hell of a ride! Late great actors Reed and Kinski bring some very cool and violent stuff to the screen. They kidnap a rich kid and everything goes "Violently" wrong, they get trapped in a house and ask for a ransom without knowing that a deadly black mamba is loose between their feet....that's when all hell breaks loose! Venom is a very entertaining Low budget film with some great visuals, amazing score and some very chilling atmospheres. The fact that they used real black mamba snakes in the film makes the viewing even more creepier- A very entertaining film with a great and violent ending...give it a try!

I Remember Mamba...
VENOM is a tense horror / thriller starring Oliver Reed (the family chauffeur) and Klaus Kinski (a german underworld figure) as crooks who decide to kidnap the 10yo son of a wealthy woman. Unbeknownst to them, the boy has brought home the wrong snake from the pet shop. Instead of a harmless serpent, he's now in possession of a black mamba, the deadliest, most aggressive snake in the world! This is bad news, as it quickly escapes it's box and bites the maid (an accomplice) in the face. She dies in minutes, leaving the two would-be kidnappers, the kid, and his grandfather trapped in the house with their scaly friend (they can't go outside, since Reed's character shot a cop on the front stoop). Just where is that bloody snake? Who will it strike next? Can the police get these guys before they kill the hostages? Will anyone survive? Prepare to squirm! Highly recommended...

Pretty Good Snake Flic....
Kidnappers hold boy and family hostage in their English townhouse. A foolproof plan has been set up. But there's just one little catch! A venonmous Black Mamba is running loose in the house and is not in the best mood. Makes for some tense moments and a gripping finale. Definitely worth a watch.

I saw this movie when it first came out on the big screen...
This movie scared the hell outta me! I can't wait to see it on DVD!!!The acting was pretty good and the snake story...What can I say? This movie ended with a twist that leaves it open for a sequel! If you love horror movies, you will really like this one! ... Read more

Reviews (235)

Classic Horror Film; Not So Classic DVD Release Here's Why
Repeated.

First, this movie from an entertainment value from 1 to 10 is a 10 plus.
Second, this movie from a technical visibility and technical audibility release value on DVD from 1 to 10 is a 4.

Reason for the first critique: The PROS
1. Director Lucio Fulci directs a fast paced nail biter from start to finish.
2. Excellent film scoring as the music really accentuates the drama.
3. Excellent casting, the actors are solid for this type of film - no phonies.
4. Excellent locations - from New York City to the exotic Carribean where the two main characters meet up with vacationers who agree to charter their boat and take the main two characters to the island of Matool where the horror begins - you'll know why there going there as you see the film.
5. Excellent makeup effects for zombies and the gruesome and great death scenes.
6. Excellent cinematography to heighten the tension during the film.

Reason for the second critique: The CONS
1. Anchor Bay Entertainment's DVD release of this movie is poor. This critique of poor DVD quality is rare when it comes to Anchor Bay Entertainment releases as their remastered-from-the-good-old-cellar-movie reputation normally puts out excellent quality DVDs with full frame-by-frame color correction, removal of original picture blurriness, and excellent audio track remastering, but this movie somehow slipped through the cracks as perhaps there was a rush to get this movie out on DVD due to its immense popularity among gore hounds and Fangoria Magazine fanatics. The rush job to DVD certainly shows. And below are the main points to look out for on this particular Anchor Bay Entertainment release.

2. Poor picture clarity. The picture from start to finish is viewable, but not at all crisp and without blur. This will be corrected see ALTERNATIVE DVD below.

3. Poor color management. The color from start to finish lacks vibrance and richness. The color frame-by-frame is as dead and bland as the zombies themselves. The opening scenes especially as the abandoned yacht( or so you think ) sails into New York Harbor as it is coralled by the New York police, you will see that the city buildings including the World Trade Center towers look more purple/grey in tone, the harbor looks dark brown-grey in color, the sky looks grey in color, and the facial tones of the characters look more fuscia-pinkinsh-beige. The color on this release is horrible and will be corrected. The most frustrating aspect of the poor color is when the movie shfts to the Carribean as two main characters meet up with two vactioners and the four somehow agree to sail for the Island of Matool, after some hesistancy, you will see that the color really suffers here. The exotic locations - the beautiful water, the green of the palm trees, and the like are painfully lacking the vibrant standout color correction needed to make every film frame standout with crisp clear picture quality and life like color. This will be corrected see ALTERNATIVE DVD below.

3. Muddled audio track. The sound is clear, but not at the level of a remastered audio track with either DTS or THX Sound treatments. The musical score periodically steps on the sound effects This will be corrected see ALTERNATIVE DVD below.

4. From the original uncut full-version, there are some scenes missing on this DVD. This will be corrected see ALTERNATIVE DVD below.

5. Periodic purple outlines on the edges of the widescreen black bars.
This will be corrected see ALTERNATIVE DVD below.

-----> ALTERNATIVE DVD <------

Coming from Media Blasters Entertainment, another respected DVD Production Studio in the same ilk as Anchor Bay Entertainment and Blue Underground Studios a two new releases of this film are on thier way.

The first will be a Special 2-Disc Fully Remastered ( Picture and Sound ) 25th Anniversary Edition Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer due out as Amazon.com states on the web page hosting this title as July 27, 2004.

--This DVD has 2 hours of Extras including Director commentary, Film Trailers, TV-Spots, Cast and Crew interviews and audio options. This version is the one to buy and as of this review is only less than two months away.

The second will be Single Disc Fully Remastered ( Picture and Sound ) Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer due out I would suspect around the same time as the 25th Anniversary 2-Disc Edition in late July 2004.

Final Thoughts:

1. Avoid buying the Anchor Bay Entertainment release if you can wait less than 2 months from todays date June 13th. The wait will definitely be worth it. If you own this version already as I do, then I would recommend donating this release to the local public library for a tax break when the new versions, especially the 2-Disc set, come in.

Expect from the newer versions as a recap.

1. Excellent Frame-to-Frame Picture Quality from start-to-finish and Full Elimination of Film Blur.
2. Excellent Frame-to-Frame Color correction bringing the movie to life.
3. Excellent Sound Treatment for fully enhanced dialog clarity, punchy sound effects, and a robust musical score getting more crisp.

If these do indeed happen as Media Blasters Enterainment Studios are indicating, then this film goes from a 4 to a 5 plus.

I have revised my opinion of this movie
The first few times I saw this film ,I hated it. I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about,but I really wanted to see this film as others saw it(only because so many people love it). So,it was a really hot,dark evening with a thunderstorm threatening to knock the power out,and I was really bored and regretting not buying Torso at the mall earlier, so I pulled out my copy of Zombie and set out to watch it. Lo and behold, I was very entertained and managed to scare myself silly(storms and Italian horror movies make a scary combination). The beginning is somewhat slow, but does a good job setting up the story. There's a zombie here, a zombie there,just enough to show you something's up. By the time they get to the island,though,things really start heating up. All of a sudden,there's zombies everywhere, and these aren't the shambling, blue-skinned ghouls of Dawn of the Dead. These are friggin nasty looking suckers. They have worms crawling through their eye sockets,and their flesh is all rotted and hanging from their bodies. Fulci got the throat-rippings right too, with pulsing blood spurting all over the place. The gore is absolutely superb,especially for 1979, and makes Dawn(another film I was never fond of) look like a sunday school picnic. That said, many people will be bound to hate this film. Some will be bored, some will be nauseated, and some will just laugh. But it's still worth checking out, and if you hate it, you can always scare your friends with it(I have a friend who is deathly afraid of zombies;I already showed her Dawn and Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things,now this...hehe...fun...). I also love Italian horror now, I have no clue why I said before that I didn't (bad brain...bad! Lying is bad, you get a spanking now...hehe... :)).

THE VERY VERY BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 100.000.000 STARS!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST ZOMBIE FLICK EVER MADE IN MY OPINION!!!! I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS 25TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION 2 DISC SET TO BE RELEASED ITS ABOUT TIME THIS FLICK GETS THE RESPECT IT DESERVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THERE IS NOT MUCH ELSE TO SAY EXCEPT THAT FULCI IS GOD!!!!!!!!! later on fellow horror fans!!!

ZOMBIE
EVERYTHING A ZOMBIE MOVIE SHOULD BE! VERY GORY AND SCARY. ONE OF THE BEST ZOMBIE FLICKS AROUND.NICE AND MOODY FEELING.DEFINITELY WORTH THE PURCHASE. GET IT!!!!!!!!!

AWESOME ZOMBIE FLICK!!!
When you think of the all time great zombie movies George A Romero's trilogy "Night of the Living Dead" , "Dawn of the Dead" and "Day of the Dead" most likely come to mind. Lucio Fulci's "Zombie", which has been called a sequel to the above mentioned "Dawn of the Dead", doesn't seem to be as popular and not as well known (at least around here) as Romero's trilogy. However, I believe Zombie is almost as good as the above mentioned

Plot is simple; Tisa Farrow plays Ann Bowles, when Ann discovers her father's boat to be abandoned in the New York Harbor her and reporter Peter West(Ian McCulloch) go searching for answers. Their search takes them to the small island of Matool where an unknown virus makes the dead stand up and walk, and of course they do much more than just walk. The plot is so simple yet extremely effective. The movie does move a bit slowly and the acting isn't very impressive but everything that makes a great horror movie is presented, creepy score, spooky elements, extreme gore and the most realistic, best looking zombies of any zombie movie I've ever seen.

This was only the second Fulci film I've seen but from seeing those two movies and reading other reviews it's easy to see a couple of Fulci's trademarks, bad dubbing and extreme gore. The killing scenes were awesome!! A big splinter through an eyeball, zombies feasting on dead woman's guts (that's pretty nasty!) and my favorite, a zombie tearing at the jugular of a woman as blood squirts out and shoots everywhere. If you haven't seen this movie yet and your a fan of horror movies add this one to your collection!! ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Bob Clarke is the forefather of American slasher films..
Deathdream, alternatively known as The Night Andy Came Home and Dead Of Night, is that rarest of things-essentially a slasher film with a social conscience.
Andy is a young soldier fighting in Vietnam, his family eagerly awaits his return home. Much to their dismay, they receive the news that Andy has been killed in battle. Awakened by a knock at their door later that night, the family is shocked but relieved that their son has returned. But Andy is a very different person-withdrawn and prone to outbursts of extreme violence. It seems that Andy is now a shell of his former self-the living dead requiring the blood of the living to rejuvenate himself. Andy is no ordinary vampire, he injects the blood of his victims into himself with a hypodermic needle-much like a heroin addict. The film climaxes in a strangely poetic graveyard scene with the soldier committing himself to his earthly resting place with his distraught mother at his side.
The acting in this is above average-John Marley(The Car), is excellent as Andy's concerned father and Richard Backus is suitably creepy as the doomed Andy.
Bob Clarke, should be considered a pioneering horror film director. The influence this film, along with Black Christmas, has had on later films like Carpenter's Halloween is incalculable. Clarke has fashioned in Deathdream, an exceptional supernatural/slasher yarn that is clearly anti-Vietnam. The previously mentioned climax is especially moving, as is Andy's limited dialogue throughout the film.
Blue Underground has provided an extras filled DVD that should be considered a must for fans of this unique film. If you remember seeing this film on late night cable, as I first did many years ago, you should give it a second glance-it has aged very well. Fans of suspenseful slasher fare, who prefer atmosphere and narrative over gratuitous gore and sex will be pleased with this too.

How about a DVD release in the UK?
I am originally from Georgia, U.S.A. and have been living in the UK for more than five years now. I first saw "Deathdream" at a drive-in in Georgia under the title "It Came From The Grave!" back in the 1980's. I then saw it there on VHS video under the title "Deathdream". It was out here in the UK a few years ago on VHS video and played on t.v. here under the title "Dead of Night", which could be confused with the 1945 British classic of the same title. I sincerely hope that Blue Underground will make this DVD release of "Deathdream" available here in the UK very soon. Along with Bob Clark's other classic, "Black Christmas", it is one of my favorite horror films of all-time. It's great to see "Deathdream" finally getting the recognition that it has long deserved.

ANDY'S HOME! 1970'S FRIGHT NIGHT CLASSIC RETURNS TO HAUNT!
Aside from another rediscovered cult classic - LEMORA, A CHILD'S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL - DEATHDREAM has always been my favorite horror film from the 1970's that haunted me on numerous late-night TV showings. I've watched this cult classic countless times and have come in contact with numerous bad quality prints on VHS, complete with extremely cheesy box artwork!!! For years I've hoped for a DVD remastering of this special film, and now, thanks to Blue Underground, we have the definitive edition. DEATHDREAM is now in anamorphic widescreen, from a remastered negative and accompanied by juicy extras to please hardcore fans like me! Although there are times when a bit of grain is still noticeable in a few sequences, this is THE version to own.

For the 'virgin viewer,' you're in for a treat. DEATHDREAM is a grim, low-key, and extremely eerie film that benefits from great performances by John Marley, Lynn Carlin, and especially Richard Backus as Andy; a chilling AND moving script by Alan Ormsby; an unsettling music score by Carl Zittrer; grisly makeup effects by Orsmby and a young Tom Savini; and screw-tightening direction by Bob Clark. The overall effect is tragic and haunting.

The film was one of the first to address the cataclysmic after-effects of the Vietnam war when veterans returned to their families. Andy plays one such veteran, a young man whose parents receive the awful news that their son has been killed in action. The night they receive this information there's a knock at their front door. It is Andy, although they are shocked at his pale, sunken face and expressionless demeanor. At first they are elated by his appearance, but as Andy is encouraged by his loved ones to resume where he left off before going off to war, his family begins to realize that something isn't quite right about Andy - something's missing, both physically and emotionally. Eventually they discover that Andy is indeed dead and has come back to them as a bloodthirsty corpse!

The film manages to move and provoke the viewer as well as frighten him/her. There are several truly disturbing sequences, and if you are squeamish about needles (like me) I will warn you that they are Andy's prefered method of obtaining blood! Horror films like these don't appear that often, especially in these irony-addicted times where film-makers seem incapable of taking their subject matter seriously. Despite a low-budget, DEATHDREAM takes itself very seriously and manages to hold up well alongside scare flicks today! Rediscover this long-lost classic ASAP. I recommended viewing this with Bob Clark and Alan Orsmby's other gems - CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS, DERANGED and BLACK CHRISTMAS. All are similarly atmospheric and way creepy, although DEATHDREAM, in my opinion, is their masterpiece!

This one will chill you!
This is a very low budget 1972 horror flick concerning the return of a Vietnam vet to small town America after his parents had been notified he was dead. He acts very strange, won't eat or sleep, but has a strange craving... Bob Clark, who would become a huge cult icon with Black Christmas, Christmas Story, Porky's and Murder by Decree, cut his teeth on this low budgeter. His talent shines through. He was lucky enough to get a young Tom Savini to do the bloody effects. Richard Backus plays the young soldier. He is quite restrained and very creepy!
This is one of the first anti-Vietnam War films.
You've probably only seen it on late night TV. Now, Blue Underground releases the film in all it's glory: included are two commentaries (writer and director), an interview with Backus and a short about Savini. This is a must for early 70's horror freaks, and all others are invited to be creeped out!!

Good but not great horror film
Bob Clark's 1974 film Deathdream is a very good try at an American horror movie with a great idea that somehow does not quite gel. Fusing the Vietnam War with the classic tale "The Monkey's Paw", Clark here creates what could have been a minor masterpiece but unfortunately falls short.

The main character, Andy, is a young soldier in the Vietnam War. One day his parents receive the tragic news that he has been killed. They are grief-stricken, of course, but cling to the hope that somehow he may still be alive. The mother, in fact, keeps saying to herself, "You promised me, Andy"--to return, that is.

And one night, he does. Naturally his parents are overjoyed. What they don't know is that Andy has come back as, unfortunately, a walking dead man--a zombie. At first things seem to be relatively normal, but soon enough Andy's condition starts deteriorating and he needs a lot of blood to keep things healthy, so to speak.

The film starts to fall apart as the Andy's condition itself deteriorates and it becomes basically a gorefest--which for gorehounds is fine, but for those of us who want more can be frustrating. While the first half of the film is excellent, the second half sags and that's really too bad.

I would really have loved to give this four stars, but it's just not quite there. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Larry Cohen's Dark Black Comedy
This 1972 comedy-drama marks the directorial debut of popular and prolific B-movie auteur Larry Cohen, who also wrote the screenplay. Though Cohen is known today for penning and directing well-crafted but low-budget indie flicks in the science-fiction, horror, or fantasy genres, BONE is a brilliant and biting Juvenalian satire that astutely dissects the issues of race relations and economic stratification in the United States. Part of the film's intelligence comes from the fact that Cohen's script is not one-sided. Not only does he take lunges at average white folks and their stereotyped views of themselves and those of darker-skinned ethic persuasions, he also uses his dark rapier-like wit to flay the typical black citizen's equally stereotyped attitudes towards upper-class whites. But Cohen doesn't end it there. BONE is a complex, multi-layered story in which one can find many subtle comments and observations above and beyond the primary theme. Addressed are socio-economic issues such as honesty, avarice, marital ennui, contemporary sexual mores, familial trust, the consequences of acting on one's personal fantasies, and lots more, and it definitely requires multiple viewings to peel back the layers and take it all in.

Though some socio-political pundits will rightly argue that race relations and the social standing of non-whites have improved since the era in which this film was made, there are still palpable gaps between the social and economic classes in America, and recent notorious racial hate crimes demonstrates that there is certainly a lot of ground yet to cover where racial issues are concerned. This being the case, BONE still seems just as fresh and relevant--and just as satirically witty--as it did in 1972.

The principal actors in BONE are phenomenal. In the titular role, actor Yaphet Kotto portrays a black robber and rapist who upends the calm, boring life of an affluent middle-aged white couple. His Oscar-caliber performance is forceful and dynamic, yet the character he creates is still sympathetic and at times downright hilarious. Character actor Andrew Duggan, in what is probably the best performance of his career, creates a dead-on three-dimensional portrait of a smarmy and greedy salesman who one day finds his daily routine abruptly disrupted by Bone. And Joyce Van Patten is delightfully dingy as the bored, cheerless housewife who eventually develops romantic and erotic feelings towards her abductor.

Certain aspects of BONE leave the narrative open to interpretation. In the end, one is left to decide if the events depicted really happened, if they were simply a fantasy of the housewife, or if they took place in the imagination of the affluent couple's son (who, we learn, is in a European prison for drug smuggling and is therefore regarded by his parents as an embarrassment and a social liability). This is a brilliant tactic on Cohen's part, as it forces the viewer to mentally review the film's issues and themes--or even to view the film again--and consider everything more deeply in order to formulate a personally sensible interpretation of the open-ended plot.

Unfortunately, the complex themes, the sophisticated satire, and the generally controversial nature of the film have proved too deep for the average audience, and BONE has therefore never achieved the notoriety or the distribution that it deserves. Instead, it has basically been relegated to the status of a cult film or an exploitation flick, and only film aficionados who actively seek quality non-mainstream works have been lucky enough to obtain access to a copy of BONE in recent years.

Until now, that is. Thanks to the folks at Blue Underground, BONE has been lovingly restored and made available on DVD. In addition to a fantastic picture and great sound, the DVD also features extras such as a humorous and informative commentary by writer/director Cohen and his protégé, Bill Lustig; a short statement from the film's original distributor, Jack Harris; some footage from an earlier aborted shoot of the film, which includes some differences in cast and dialog; and a theatrical trailer in which the film is marketed under an alternate title of THE HOUSEWIFE.

Anybody who appreciates good filmmaking and great satire will enjoy BONE, and fans of Larry Cohen will definitely want to snatch up a copy of this disc for their DVD collections. Blue Underground's DVD edition of BONE is well worth the price of admission.

A Bad Day in Beverly Hills
Well, here it is, in all its' wide screen glory. Blue Underground presents writer/director/producer Larry Cohen first film Bone, also known as Housewife, Dial Rat for Terror, or Beverly Hills Nightmare completely uncut and uncensored with a whole lot of juicy extras.

This is truly a bizarre film. The title, Bone, refers to the character played by Yaphet Kotto. The movie opens by the pool of a seemingly affluent, older couple that lives in a rather large house in Beverly Hills. Bone, an unstable, unpredictable violent criminal forces his way into the lives of this couple, looking for some easy money, and we are treated to one wild ride as the plot veers into the uncharted waters of absurdity.

The very nature of perversity is explored, as the characters are forced to confront hidden desires, exposing the seamy underbelly of modern life. The material presented here may have been tamed over time, thirty years after its' inital release, but the I think the film still commands the effect to disturb, shock, and make one laugh through its' use of imagery and dialogue. Yes, I said laugh, as I would call this a black comedy of sorts.

The movie can be hard to take at times, but the use of jump cuts and incidental music are used very effectively. What may seem insignificant at times later reveals it to be of some importance. Probably my favorite performance in this film was that of Oscar nominee Jeannie Berlin (The Heartbreak Kid) who played The Girl. Her character was truly fascinating even though she had little screen time compared to the rest.

As I said, Blue Underground provides a wealth of extras on this, up until now, rare movie. There's a wonderful commentary with Larry Cohen, a short interview with distributor/director/producer Jack H. Harris, selected scenes from an early shoot of the film, trailers, a radio spot, a gallery of promotional materials, a Larry Cohen biography, and even a small reprinted still of a poster for the movie inside the case. If you are willing to take a chance on something a lot out of the cinematic mainstream, then this is as good a place as any to start.

Jump-cut masterpiece
You're right- my previous review of this film sucked. But the film itself decidedly does not suck. What we have here is a highly sophisticated satire with the denouement hinted at with stylish jump-cuts fron scenes (as in "Performance" and "Petulia"), which if fully understood as we just catch glimpses of them during the buildup, would explain the whole thing before we'd had the fun of hanging with the three main characters. Cohen's dialogue and characterizations are interesting and funny. A really good satire of wealthy whites and why they are wrong to look down their noses at poor people of color. ... Read more

Description

Young, nubile, and virginal Justine (Romina Power, Tyrone Power's 18-year-old daughter) is cast out of a French orphanage and thrust into a depraved world of prostitution, predatory lesbians, a fugitive murderess (Mercedes McCambridge), bondage, branding, and one supremely sadistic monk (an outrageous performance by Jack Palance). It's a twisted tale of strange desires, perverse pleasures, and the ultimate corruption of innocence as told by the Marquis de Sade. One of the most lavish and bizarre erotic shockers ever made by the notorious Jess Franco, "Justine" is bursting with wanton nudity, sexual perversion, and an all-star cast including Akim Tamiroff (Touch of Evil), Maria Rohm (Venus in Furs), and Klaus Kinski (Nosferatu) as the Marquis de Sade. Originally released with over 30 minutes cut, this infamous film is presented here fully restored and completely uncensored for the first time! ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A restrained treat
Of course this film is not explicit by current standards- it was released in 1968. If blatant expliciteness is what you want, you're looking at entirely the wrong decade. I still find this to be a most erotic movie. Romina Power is really very cute. The scenes of her chained and naked have given me quite a lot of pleasure. Depending on who you believe, she was either 16, 17 or 18 when this film was made. Whatever her age, in this film she had the most delightfully pert and un-enhanced late teen breasts. I've not seen a pair like it in real life or the media for ages. Ah, the memories! Nice close-ups of her bare feet, too.

Pretty Poor
If you are expecting an S&M feast, you will be dissapointed. I fast forwarded through most of this movie. Granted the lead actress is very atractive, but the "good" scenes are shrowded in this annoying green and red light. not worth it to be honest.

Mildly erotic tale, semi-explicit for the times.
This tale, like Eugenie, Her Journey Into Perversion, isn't bad, and fairly explicit, for the late 60's, but is still pretty tame, by today's standards. Has a weird appearance by Jack Palance, as a mad monk, or something. Also, a limited appearance by the late Klaus Kinski. Limited nudity and sex, but hey, what can one expect-it's fairly low budget. There are interviews and other features for the "technically" minded. Worth a look, but not worth the price I paid for it, or the other one-Eugenie. Minimal relation to the works of De Sade; which they, both, are supposed to be based on.

Fast forward review
For sex sleaze fans, any more sleaze on the DVD than on the tape? Nope, sorry, same scenes. The quality is very nice, so you'll never see the hankerchief-sniffing branding scene looking so good.

One thing I noticed in fast-forwarding through this awful thing (nice DVD advantage there), is that aside from the "M" scene there's really not much. The sixteen year-old Romina is stunningly cute, and you can clip the pictures of her hanging from a chain leaking poor quality Franco fake blood and doing a "Pretty Baby" couch turn, but the green and red lighting is actually not very erotic.

Most other sexploitation flicks have a lot more graphic nastiness, but the branding scene is a must, there's no question about that. One star for that, and one star for brief lolita Romina nudity, that's it.

Fun seeing Jack Palance soused --
As director Jesus Franco says in an accompanying interview, Jack Palance would start guzzling red wine at 7 in the morning the days his scenes were to be filmed, and BOY, can you tell it in the finished product! There are lots of pretty scenes, photography, costumes, people, etc., but it's mostly a bore. I recommend EUGENIE DE SADE for anyone dipping their toe into Franco .... ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Trapezoidal
Jack Palance plays an insane villain who takes over a mining colony on a planet with a population of about 12 (who spend most of the film hiding from Jack in a cave). He uses his newfound power as head (and now sole) miner to crash his only interstellar ship, manned by a robot, into the headquarters of the galactic government on earth (actually, Ontario Place), thus causing so much damage that it takes the government all of 10 minutes to make repairs. Jack then demands that he be made supreme dictator on the strength of this demonstration, and apparently also because of his ability to cast cool spinning holograms of himself. The earth government is too afraid to counterattack Palance (who no longer has the means to even leave his planet), so it looks like he'll get his wish, except that several heroic types hijack an unfinished battleship in order to launch a counterattack. Once on Jack's planet, they must defeat about 20 slow, clumsy robots that look like mini-fridges with legs and which can be taken out if you hit them once over the head with a staff. Luckily for Jack, all the good guys are absolutely incompetent morons (although not as incompetent as the good miners who stand still long enough so the robots can electrocute them in battle). Oh yeah, there's one robot who turns good and gains the ability to teleport for no apparent reason and which, for comic relief purposes, falls in love with the lead female (which means it must consider itself to be either a male or a lesbian). Some poor mutant children (they look like Edgar Winter) show up to pull at your heartstrings, and there's production design straight out of Space: 1999 and Battlestar Galactica which could give you a bad case of disco fever.

The movie never gets dull, but is not that as funny as my description might make it sound. It's not as good as anything from Towers' amazing Franco period, but is far better than his dismal South African period (apartheid made filming there cheap in the 1980s). The only real reason for getting this movie is out of some bizarre nostalgia for the late 1970s/early 80s or for Palance's performance which is so entertaining that you might forget that his character is only slightly more threatening than someone on life support.

Makes Buck Rogers Look LIke Citizen Kane
Beyond your wildest imagination.... beyond belief is more like it. In the wake of STAR WARS came the cheap knock-offs like STAR CRASH and THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME, which placed the blame on H.G. Wells. Jack Palance, once again, is the evil villain, trying to force the moon colony (the Earth is a wasteland from the great robot wars) into making him their dictator because he controls the only supply of medicine that counters the effects of radiation (I didn't know that there was radiation on the moon). Scientist Barry Morse, his son (Nicholas Campbell) and the beautiful Anne-Marie Martin (billed here as Eddie Benton) make off in the Star Streak to stop the dastardly Palance. They are accompanied by SPARKS, a robot with more than a passing resemblance to a trash can. Meanwhile, Carol Lynley of POSEIDON ADVENTURE fame leads a pathetic group of rebels. I cannot believe that the gang at MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 overlooked this turkey. BLUE UNDERGROUND has brought this embarrassment back to life, so fans of Grade-Z cheese will be able to experience the gentle, slow motion ballet of "time dilation." ... Read more

Reviews (3)

"I have great affection for this movie." - David Cronenberg
The 2-Disc Limited Edition was purchased impulsively on its street date release, after I saw it staring at me on a shelf at a local retailer. Having greatly enjoyed Rabid, The Brood, Videodrome, and Crash, I had long been curious to see Stereo and Crimes of the Future. Yet having picked it up for Cronenberg's two early features, I was watching Fast Company for the sixth time on Saturday night of that same week.

Phil Adamson (John Saxon): You know you're out of your goddamn mind, Johnson. You're out of your mind, and you're over-the-hill. First you turn my trailer into a goddamn whorehouse, now it's an insane asylum!

John Saxon's villainy as the FastCo oil company rep is hilarious. Aside from the wonderfully written dialogue, his facial expressions and gestures are fantastic. Lonnie "Lucky Man" Johnson's (William Smith) team consists of a Western genre family-like trio, with character names such as Billy the Kid, P.J. and Elder; all wonderful performances. Gary "The Blacksmith" Black (Cedric Smith) is Lonnie's top competitor. He is neither a one-dimensional friend nor foe. His personal team members, known as Stoner and Meatball, are a funny pair. Stoner is likable and not-such-a-bad guy, while Meatball is a classic A-hole. Candy (Judy Foster) is Miss FastCo, a not-so-dumb blonde with feelings for Billy, and who makes an admirable stand when her self-respect is threatened by her employer's demands. William Smith and Claudia Jennings are the long-distance relationship lovers that I, on a personal level, have grown strongly attached to. Both, individually and together, add to the film something magical and nostalgic for me that I find very rare in most movies that I've seen. The scenes involved with them makes me feel like a small boy spending time with a favorite aunt and uncle. Mind you, I come from a Hispanic middle class background.
The cinematographer is largely to thank for capturing the humor of the film, as well as the documentary-like and exciting treatment of the dragsters; not to mention a multitude of highly admirable shots. Also worth mentioning is the work of Art Director Carol Spier, as well as the choices of music that significantly add to this wonderful little film. I have to say that Fast Company has been one of the most delightful surprises that I have encountered on DVD so far this year, along with The Passion of Joan of Arc, Flesh + Blood, Humanité, and Diary of a Country Priest.
Now, about Stereo and Crimes of the Future - after my purchase, I got home as fast as I could, and saw them first. Alas, they did not fully appeal to me, though Cronenberg's aesthetic approach to the storytelling on both, and his very nice camera work, did. I am very glad to have finally seen them, and I do intend to redo so again in the immediate future.
Blue Underground along with the personal supervision of Cinematographer Mark Irwin present an amazing print for a late-Seventies B-movie. The colors and sharpness are outstanding; and the sound is extremely satisfying. David Cronenberg's commentary is both interesting and very pleasing. His own enthusiasm on the film, and at the discovery of the restoration of a thought-to-be lost seen is wonderful. Comments like: "...it's very much me. And I don't think anybody else could have made this movie the way ... that I did." He stumbles at this last comment, probably concerned with sounding egotistical. However, with his style being so distinct along with his input into the script, he has justification to make that statement. Cronenberg also remarks on the commentary: "Worth every penny of it, wasn't it?" I quite agree. And am very pleased to hear a director satisfied with his own work, for a change. This film should appeal to fans of Seventies exploitation and car racing, while bitter and stubborn Cronenberg no-nonsense horror fans might need some lubing, or repeated viewings, to appreciate it for what it is and not for what they want it or expect it to be.

Billy "The Kid" Brooker (Nicholas Campbell): You know something, gang? There's a lot of junk you can put down your pipes, you know what I mean. Now I'm talking about the good stuff. You gotta take care of your baby's engine. So I suggest you go like the pros, and go with FastCo. If you want that power, that performance, and that protection. Yeah. FastCo. This is what all the pro racers use. FastCo Motor Treatment. (Chuckles). All right.

An Experiment in Telepathy
Stereo and Crimes of the Future are among the best underground films produced in North America in the late 60's/early 70's, a time when Kenneth Anger and Martin Scorsese were also making their first films. Thanks to Blue Underground for releasing those two important productions (along with the great Fast Company in a fantastic transfer) in such a classy edition.

May the experiment in telepathy begin...

Heaven bless Blue Underground!
I was lucky enough to catch showings of Stereo and Crimes of the Future at a retrospective of DC's career in Manhattan two summers ago. I've been waiting with fingers crossed for someone to release them on DVD. Blue Underground has proved to be a Godsend for genre fans, and this is no exception. Both films are fascinating early art-projects by Cronenberg that any DC fan will want to have in their collection. They are also pretentious, but this is par-for-the-course for such fare, and is not intended as a condemnation. They are striking, wholly original, and, despite their flaws, provide truly memorable experiences. Cronenberg's genius is on display here in an embryonic but unmistakable manner. It was wonderful of Blue Underground to include these two films on a bonus disc: DC fans have always wanted to see Fast Company, but once the novelty wears off and it is revealed as the mediocre film I suspect it to be, we will have Stereo and Crimes of the Future as recompense for the money we spent. And recompense indeed! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Cheap from A to Z
Bad dialogue, bad directing, bad acting, bad camera work, and slow describe this waste of time. Grab a camcorder, go see "The Godfather", and you probably have tools enough to make a better film than this; and as far as action and gore are concerned -- it's lame.

The Goriest Gangster Flick Ever
One question that should be asked is - Why are there hardly any mafia films based in Italy? Sure we have the Godfather series with its flashbacks of Sicily, but what about Italy? There are not many and certainly even the best of movie lovers will have trouble trying to list one or two if any at all! So here you have one... and its good!... in its own very odd strange way.

Contraband is a lost classic that has now been restored here on this DVD. What happens when the world's foremost gore director decides to make a crime caper? Answer - more blood than Al Pacino can shoot up in all his gangster flicks put together. Although the plot is mostly non-existent and certainly there is little here in terms of brains, there is plenty of action and horror to boot.

Basically the plot revolves around several smuggler gang families from Naples all snubbing each other out in the worst possible way imaginable... and that is all there is it to it really.

Everything on display here is pretty pointless but it is not done badly at all and the acting is a little better than what you would expect. There are several gore scenes that stand out - a woman getting her face torched to full melt, a gangster having his head machine gunned to pieces, a mob leader having his throat blown off, plenty backs of the heads flying across the room, cops arresting nuns, horses burning up, mobsters getting boiled alive, gangster shot up in church, a vicious rape sequence, intestines being shot out and lots of screaming - all done to the tune of a funky eighties disco beat that is more apt for a ...movie. No Sir, you will not find this one playing on television any time soon.

If gangsters, guns and gore is your thing then you'll love it, but don't get this expecting the cinematic flair of what Hollywood has done with this genre.

Bloody Crime Drama
One of Fulci's best films. A violent italian made crime drama about smugglers of cigarettes and dope. Very gory. Starts out a little slow in the beginning but picks half way in with a vengeance. All the action sequences are top notch. Not so much suspenseful as they are shocking. Recommended viewing for anyone that is a fan of Fulci or Italian spaghetti westerns made in seventies like Django and Mannaja.

Fulci made a Crime Flick? Fugeddaboudit!
The wonderfully warped world of the late Italian film director Lucio Fulci offers much to the fan of horror films. His most notable films, "City of the Living Dead," "Zombie," "The New York Ripper," and "The Beyond" are legends amongst fans. Rabid Fulciophiles excitedly point to his mind blasting gore scenes as proof positive that he is one of the true greats when it comes to sleazy horror films. Who among us can watch the Olga Karlatos splinter gouge in Zombie and not swell up with pride in a job well done? Or note the razor blade devastation in "The New York Ripper" without cringing in ecstatic delight? Horror fans the world over continue to offer paeans of praise to good old Lucio's memory. I myself have often cast my eyes to heaven after surviving one of Fulci's gorefests. Unfortunately, too many Fulci fans overlook his technical weaknesses while singing praises for his screen violence. Let's face it, several of the maestro's films are all but incomprehensible in terms of script, pacing, and cinematography. At least "Contraband," Fulci's contribution to the crime film genre, has a semi-coherent narrative to go along with his trademark gore.

"Contraband" takes place in Naples, Italy. Two brothers, the Di Angelos, who happen to be cigarette smugglers, run into problems after an opium smuggler attempts to ply his trade in the area. What follows is a lengthy run of assassinations directed against the tobacco syndicate. After Luca Di Angelo, played effectively by Fabio Testi, loses his brother in a hail of bullets, he avoids his wife's advice to get out of the business and launches a vendetta against the men who are trying to take over his smuggling operation. Predictably, Luca's enemy abducts his wife and young son in order to force Di Angelo to join forces with the drug trade. Equally foreseeable is a huge mob war resulting in numerous fatalities before Luca saves the day.

If this summary seems short, that is because this is about all there is to the film. Fulci tries to incorporate a few twists and turns in the plot, but the whole thing is convoluted and often times uninteresting. There is one scene where Luca Di Angelo and the other cigarette smuggling bosses meet to discuss the threat they face from drugs that reminded me of the Vito Corleone/Sollozzo scene in the first Godfather film. The comparison is only fleeting, since "Contraband" could never compete with Coppola's cinematic masterpiece. Ultimately, the best thing in this film is Fabio Testi. The guy looks like a star and can actually act like one as well. The rest of the cast is forgettable.

The gore is really a hit or miss affair in this film. There are several great ideas here, especially a dip in an acid pool and a blowtorch applied to a face. Regrettably, a majority of these effects fail to arouse any interest because the execution is so mediocre. On the other hand, a shotgun blast to an abdomen and a bullet in the throat are notably effective. In short, the effects in "Contraband" are not the best we've seen from Fulci. Personally, the atrocious dubbing continually distracted me from any of the other elements of the film, as did the ultra cheesy disco soundtrack. Oddly enough, as bad as the main disco theme was, it does stick in your head for a few days. So does the song playing during the scene where the Di Angelo brothers meet one of their fellow smugglers in a discotheque. The musical score is not something one usually takes away from a Lucio Fulci film, but it happens with "Contraband."

There are few extras on this DVD version, which is completely expected on such an old, low budget cheese fest. There is a trailer for "Contraband," along with text biographies on Lucio Fulci and Fabio Testi. For a Fulci beginner this film biography of the director is an excellent summary of his career and major works. I think including a few extra trailers from other Fulci films would have been nice. There are no commentary tracks, either. While the director is dead and cannot comment on the film, how about getting an expert on his films to step in and do one?

Lucio Fulci not only dipped his toe into the crime film genre, he also did a western, a science fiction film, and a sword and sandal flick. I am interested in seeing those films because they are a Fulci creation, but I think in the meantime I will stick to his horror movies. At least with his gore films I know where I stand. Fulci completists will want to obtain "Contraband" for their collections, but for the rest of us who admire the work he did in a few memorable films this production falls solidly in the "to rent" category.

Great addition to a gorehound's Fulci collection
I'll admit, the artwork on the cover of the DVD case had me thinkin this was some corny James Bond type spy flick, the only thing attractin me to it was that the master Fulci had directed it, and I'm an enormously diehard Lucio Fulci fan. After hearin good things about it, I picked it up, and I'm so glad I did.

Along with New York Ripper, Maniac, Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer , Man Bites Dog and Cannibal Holocaust, this is one of the most violently aggressive movies I have ever seen, I loved every minute of it. It is slow-paced in some parts, and the disco music kinda got to me at some spots, but the blowtorch scene among others made up for any weaknesses. And trust me, the violence and brutality are definitely Fulci-esque: One of the henchmen gets blasted in the gut point blank with a double barrel shotgun, splattering his innards, while another guy gets his throat shot out, and, of course, there's that great 80's exploitation flick staple: gratuitious nudity. Also, the rape scene is pretty intense, anyone with a wife or girlfriend might have a hard time stomaching it, but after all these years of violent cinema, I'm pretty much desensitized to anything. 5 stars for sure, go grab this if you love Fulci's work or bloody Tarantino crime movies. ... Read more