Batwoman
(1968)/Panther
Women
(1967/VCI Blu-ray*)/Corpus
Christi
(2019/Film Movement Blu-ray)/Family
Portraits
(2003)/Theatre
Bizarre
(2011/both Severin Blu-rays)/Vigilante
4K
(1982/Blue Underground 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray/*both
MVD)/Welcome
To The Circle
(2020/Artsploitation Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A- Picture: B-/B+/B/B/B+/B+ Sound:
B-/B+/C+/B-/B+/B+ Extras: C-/C+/C/C/B+/C Films: C/B/C/C/B/C+
Up
next are some thrillers and odd cult films, including two upgrades of
titles we reviewed before...
If
you enjoy cheesy Mexican exploitation thrillers then you'll want this
double feature of The
Batwoman
(1968) and Panther
Women
(1967).
While
today the filmmakers would be sued for copyright infringement in the
'bat' of an eye, back in the simpler times of the late 1960s you
could get away with making a sexy rip-off of Batman
no problem. Inspired by the success of the American TV series, The
Batwoman
is about a sexy female crime fighter who wears a cape and a cowl and
battles against a scientist whose harvesting glands of wrestlers for
his own diabolical purposes.
The
films star Carlos Suarez, Maura Monti, Ariadna Welter, Roberto
Canedo, Tongolele, and Hector Godoy to name a few.
A
ring-side fight to the death happens in Las Mujeres Panteras aka The
Panther Women,
were worshippers of Satan fight to defend his name. From the same
director as The
Batwoman,
Rene Cardona, the film has the same level of cheese as its
predecessor.
Both
films have been restored and are presented in 1080p on Blu-ray disc
with a 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio and PCM 2.0 Mono mix. While
both films have been restored in 4K from the original camera
negatives as it says on the cover, but the presentations here are
nice but not perfect. Some scenes have a bit of compression issue
and the image never seems to be quite as sharp as it could be. I am
sure, however, that this is likely the best that these films have
ever looked though. Please note that Panther
Women
is in black and white and The
Batwoman
is in color.
Extras:
Trailers
for other films of the era
These
Mexican B-Movie classics are about as silly as it gets, but fun to
revisit on disc. While at the time I'm sure they were controversial,
today they are pretty tame. Batwoman here, by the way, does not look
like the new version now in her own TV series or the old version in a
yellow outfit, or any variant of Batgirl, but runs around in a
variant of the Batman costume of the time. Needless to say DC Comics
skipped suing.
The
intense Polish religious thriller, Corpus
Christi
(2019) tells the story of a misfit turned priest as a young man
surrenders his past life for a better one. The film was chosen to
represent Poland in the Best International Feature Film category of
the 92nd Academy Awards and was well reviewed all over the world.
Now available on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement, this involving
film is sure to touch your heart.
The
film stars Bartosz Bielenia, Aleksandra Konieczna, Eliza Rycembel,
and Barbara Kurzaj.
Corpus
Christi
is presented in 1080p Blu-ray disc with a widescreen aspect ratio of
2.39:1 and Polish audio mixes in lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
5.1 and Polish Dolby Digital 5.1 with English subtitles. The film
has nice color correction and predominantly blue and green tones that
come across nicely here and the cinematography on the whole is very
impressive and well done.
Special
Features:
Making
of Featurette
and
Nice
To See You
(2004) - short film directed by Jan Komasa
Douglas
Buck's Family
Portraits
(2003) begs the question, is it a feature film or is it just three
shorts by the same director released like one. Cutting
Moments
(1997), Home
(1998) and Prologue
(2003) all have tales of violence, mutilation, murder and extreme
toxic dysfunction that would give them a hard R or NC-17 rating, with
the same sense of flat dread. This does not make Buck an auteur in
any way, though, and any shock value did not impress me. It would
not have during their original release either.
Shooting
the films on what looks like simple 16mm color film with low budgets
and little to no lighting helps bring some realistic feel, though
some of this also feels a little cliched. The acting is as flat, but
that makes some sense considering the way these are made. Some
viewers might be more impressed, but I was not and these did not stay
with me. At least he's consistent.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image look accurate and
authentic enough, throughout with some flaws (left in there perhaps,
but probably not intended) and will likely never look better, even if
these were in 4K or the like. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mixes are as flat and
dull, including location audio that will remind one of such
productions in the late 1960s through the late 1970s.
Extras
include separate audio commentary tracks by Buck and Maitland
McDonagh, 1998 interview on Cutting
Moments,
a podcast on that short called That's
Dark,
Deleted Scenes, Behind The Scenes, Stills, Trailers and an older
short entitled After
All.
Buck
is also one of seven directors on the anthology release, Theatre
Bizarre
(2011) that Severin issued on DVD many years ago and we reviewed it
at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11582/The+Asphyx+(1972/Kino/Redemption+Blu-ray)/Mo
Now
it is back in a Blu-ray upgrade and though I do not think it has aged
well, it did not get much worse. It is still a very average release
that could have been much better, but it did play better in this
upgrade. The DVD made it look and feel cheaper than it was, though
this is not highly budgeted, it is the preferred way to see it.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition images are not suddenly
brilliant and vivid, but are not plagued with the annoying softness
of the old DVD. Some of them even look a bit better than I expected
versus what I saw years ago. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix varies
on each short slightly, but this is much clearer and even sometimes
warmer than the old, lossy Dolby Digital on the old DVD.
Extras
repeat the audio commentary tracks on almost all the shorts, a
trailer, director's interviews and behind-the-scenes clips on each
short.
Mother Of Toads
is here in an extended edition now, we get new commentary tracks
recorded in 2020 and trailers, so the extras have been upgraded and
expanded too.
An
incredibly fun '80s action film in the same vein as Death
Wish
from director William Lustig (Maniac),
Vigilante
(1982) gets the 4K UHD treatment courtesy of Blue Underground.
Starring the late Robert Forster and Fred Williamson, this time is a
great time capsule action movie that shows a touch as nails and
dangerous New York City with all sorts of wild characters. The film
is also very creatively shot and still holds up pretty well to
today's standards. Admittedly, I hadn't seen this film prior to this
release and found it to be quite a good time and doesn't shy away
from being controversial with its violence and chaos scenarios.
The
film also stars Richard Bright, Rutanya Alda, Carol Lynley (Night
Stalker
(1972)), Woody Strode, Joe Spinell and Salsa legend Willie Colon.
In
a story similar to The
Punisher,
a regular joe named Eddie (Forster) gets his wife and kid are
brutally slain for no good reason by a gang of rapist murderers.
When the crooked judge lets them go free, old Eddie decides to
transform himself into a 'vigilante' and extract his own brand of
justice.
Vigilante
is presented in 2160p on 4K UHD disc with an HEVC/H.265 codec, HDR &
Dolby Vision, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and several high
end audio mixes in lossless Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz,
24-bit) and lossless English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1. This is a
brand new restoration from the original 35mm camera negative and lays
out much more detail than previous editions (including the solid
older Blu-ray release we reviewed elsewhere on this site), which is
why I mentioned it's a nice time capsule piece to see 1980s New York
on display.
There
is also included a 1080p version of the film on Blu-ray disc with
similar audio and widescreen specs, however a slightly more
compressed image than the 4K UHD version.
Special
Features include...
NEW
Audio Commentary #3 with critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
NEW
Blue Collar DEATH WISH - Interviews with Writer Richard Vetere, Star
Rutanya Alda, Associate Producer/First A.D./Actor Randy Jurgensen,
and others
NEW
Urban Western - Interview with Composer Jay Chattaway
Audio
Commentary #1 with Co-Producer/Director William Lustig and
Co-Producer Andrew Garroni
Audio
Commentary #2 with Co-Producer/Director William Lustig and Stars
Robert Forster, Fred Williamson and Frank Pesce
Theatrical
Trailers
TV
Spots
Radio
Spot
Promotional
Reel
Poster
& Still Galleries
Theatrical
Trailers
and
BONUS: Collectible Booklet with new essay by Michael Gingold
Reversible
sleeve with vintage poster art
and
First
pressing only:
3D lenticular slipcover.
This
is a fun action flick if you haven't seen it and very '80s. If
you're a fan then you will certainly want to upgrade your previous
version to this collectible one.
Finally,
a thriller in the same vein as Midsomar
only on a smaller scale, Welcome
to the Circle
(2020) aka The
Circle,
is the story of a father and daughter who encounter a dangerous and
twisted demon worshipping cult in the woods and soon become prisoner
to them. At first, the group seem relatively normal if not a bit too
nice and pretty, but when the father character sees them eating the
guts of a young man, he starts to fear for his and his daughter's
safety. The film isn't shot or made badly and has a few creepy
moments, but if little girls wearing creepy masks and an abundance of
mannequins freak you out then this film may not be for you!
Directed
by David Fowler (who, oddly enough, worked on some Disney Nature
movies before this) the film stars Taylor Dianne Robinson, Andrea
Brooks, Cindy Busby, Hilary Jardine, and Heather Doerksen.
Welcome
to the Circle
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4
AVC (24.55 Mbps) codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and a
lossless English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) mix.
The presentation is pretty solid with nothing to complain about.
Special
Features:
Trailer
Trailer
for other Artsploitation films
Welcome
to the Circle
isn't too bad or completely original either.
-
Nicholas Sheffo (Severin) and James
Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
