In
Fear (2012/Studio
Canal/Umbrella Region B Import Blu-ray)/Q:
The Winged Serpent
(1982/Umbrella Region Free Import Blu-ray)/Razorback
(1984/Umbrella 1080/50i/Region B Import Blu-ray)
Picture:
B-/B/B- Sound: B- Extras: C-/B-/C+ Films: C-/B-/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
All of these Import Blu-rays come from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment and are Region B (Razorback
is additionally a 1080/50i disc, so have a player and HDTV that can
handle both factors) and Q
is Region Free. All can be ordered from the link below.
Here
are some horror thrillers with mixed results hitting Blu-ray...
Jeremy
Lovering's In Fear
(2012) has now arrived in Australia from Studio Canal and Umbrella
Entertainment in a Region B Import Blu-ray. I reviewed the Anchor
Bay U.S. Blu-ray at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12632/Day+Of+The+Animals+(1977/Film+Ventures+Inter
I
was curious if this would play any better in a different transfer, et
al, but I instead was re-disappointed at what a missed opportunity
this British thriller about a young couple getting lost going to a
music concert and finding a killer on the loose failed. Alice
Englert and Iain De Caestecker
make for a good couple and we get the same Behind
The Scenes
featurette as the only extra, but the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix from the
U.S. Blu-ray is replaced by a lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
mix that is as good, but no better and does not reveal any more
nuances in the sound mix or recording. You should see ti for
yourself, but this should have worked.
Larry
Cohen's Q:
The Winged Serpent
(1982) is the oldest film here, as well as the most bashed, in part
because the visual effects are very cheap. Now, after endless and
endlessly bad digital CG visual effects, it has a new charm. In New
York City, people are being killed by a mysterious force that turns
out to be the flying killer creature of the title. Can it be found?
Will anyone believe it exists? Two cops (Richard Roundtree and David
Carradine) investigate, but it I a crook (Michael Moriarty) who seems
to really be in the thick of things.
Cohen
is being darkly comic here as he would later be in his Uncle Sam
screenplay (see the Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) and definitely
proves again he knows his way around a genre. However, even the
late, legendary film scholar Robin Wood (see the classic book
Hollywood:
From Vietnam To Reagan... And Beyond,
elsewhere on this site) had written that more works in this film than
you may have heard, even if it is not always successful. I recommend
you watch it with the pretext that you ignore any faults with the
visual effects, then you will see what Cohen was really doing. Candy
Clark also stars.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer can show the
age of the materials used, but this is easily the best the film has
looked in a while despite showing the age of its visual effects and
limited budget.
Color reproduction, some depth and detail are also decent, while the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless mix (try Pro Logic
surrounds or the like on it if you have a home theater system) sounds
better than expected.
Extras
include a nee 2014 feature length audio commentary track by Cohen and
new on camera interview featurette (25 minutes) with Cohen entitled
Confessions
Of A Low Budget Maverick
in 1080p HD.
Russell
Mulcahy's Razorback
(1984) was a breakthrough feature for the longtime Music Video
director (he is up there in hit clips and all time quantity) and
helmed later films like the original Highlander
and the Alec Baldwin Shadow.
We previously covered this giant killer pig thriller at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7998/Oz-Ploitation+Volume+1+(incl.+Turkey+Shoot
Though
it too has not improved, the improvement in picture quality versus
the DVD makes some scenes look and work a little better, but that is
not enough for me to like it any more than before. You can see why
it is a cult item and the 1080/50i 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition
image at least uses the scope frame better than most digital
productions and does not play it TV safe. Gregory Harrison (Trapper
John M.D., the TV series version of Logan's Run) will be
one of the only recognizable faces to non-Aussie audiences, but it
should be out on Blu-ray and that gives it a better chance for its
audience. The lossless
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mix is also a nice upgrade from the
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD, so there's another improvement.
You
can order
all three of these Umbrella
import Blu-rays and much more by going to this link:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
