Audrey
Rose (1977/United
Artists/MGM*)/Count Yorga,
Vampire (1970) + Return
Of Count Yorga
(1971/*both American International/Arrow**)/A
Discovery Of Witches: The Complete Trilogy
(2018 - 2021/RLJ Set)/Murder
In A Blue World
(1973/Cauldron/**all MVD)/Three
Thousand Years Of Longing
(2022/MGM/Warner w/DVD/all Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B-/B- & B-/B-/B-/B Extras: C+/C+/C+/B/C Main
Programs: C+/C+ & C+/C+/B/C+
Now
time to revisit some genre releases we've covered before, including a
new one that is in tine mode of an old classic...
The
horror genre was one Anthony Hopkins was always associated with
somehow and along with Magic
and Lynch's The
Elephant Man
(both reviewed elsewhere on this site) is a thriller about a dead
girl who seemingly comes back to life. Robert Wise's Audrey
Rose
(1977) is one of the director's better films, but still not a home
run. I previously reviewed the now out print Twilight Time edition
at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13140/Audrey+Rose+(1977/United+Artists/MGM)/The+Be
Arrow
has picked up the rights, delivered a new picture and sound transfer
that tops the older Blu-ray, but lacks the excellent booklet and
isolated music score the previous disc offered. Fanatics will want
both versions,
but you get plenty of new extras, including a brand new, feature
length audio commentary by film critic Jon Towlson
Faith
and Fraud, a brand new interview with magician Adam Cardone
about reincarnation and belief in Audrey Rose
Then
and Now, a brand new featurette looking at the New York
locations used in the film
I've
Been Here Before, archive visual essay by Lee Gambin looking at
reincarnation in cinema
Investigator:
The Paranormal World of Frank De Felitta, an archive interview
with the author and scriptwriter of Audrey Rose
The
Role of a Mother, an archive Interview with Marsha Mason
Hypnotist:
Inside the score for Audrey Rose, an archive interview with film
music historian Daniel Schweiger
Theatrical
trailer
Image
gallery
Reversible
sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by
Christopher Shy
Now
you can really get into the film like never before and those curious
will really be able to find out all about the film. Glad it got the
attention!
Bob
Kelljan's Count
Yorga, Vampire
(1970) and Return
Of Count Yorga
(1971) are a set of somewhat
comical vampire films American International got some mileage out of
as they did with their two Blacula
films, which were also silly. You can read about the first film from
our coverage of the also-out-of-print Twilight Time Blu-ray edition
at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13911/Count+Yorga,+Vampire+(1970/American+Internati
The
sequel is about as amusing (or not) as the first and the character is
suddenly finding a new audience, so the top rate reissue with
restorations of both films make sense.
Versus
the previous release of the first film (the sequel was issued by
Shout! Factory in a now out of print version I never saw, though I
had seen both films a while ago), this upgrade lacks the excellent
booklet and isolated music score the previous disc offered. Fanatics
will want both versions there too, but here, extras are otherwise
many, expansive and include
(per the press release) an illustrated perfect bound collector's book
featuring new writing by film critic Kat Ellinger and horror author
Stephen Laws, plus archive contributions by critic Frank Collins and
filmmaker Tim Sullivan
Limited
edition packaging with reversible sleeves featuring original and
newly commissioned artwork by Heather Vaughan
Fold-out
double-sided posters for both films featuring original and newly
commissioned artwork by Heather Vaughan
Twelve
double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction artcards
Reproduction
pressbook for Count
Yorga, Vampire
Then
the first film adds a brand new audio commentary by film critic Tim
Lucas
An
archival, feature length audio commentary by film critics David Del
Valle & C. Courtney Joyner
The
Count in California, a brand new appreciation by Heather Drain
and Chris O'Neill
I
Remember Yorga, a brand new interview with Frank Darabont in
which the award-winning filmmaker talks about his love for Count
Yorga, Vampire
A
Vampire in L.A., a brand new interview with actor Michael Murphy
Fangirl
Radio Tribute to Robert Quarry, an archival episode featuring
host Jessica Dwyer in conversation with Tim Sullivan filmmaker,
Yorga fan and friend of Robert Quarry
Theatrical
trailer
Radio
spots
Image
galleries
And
the sequel adds a brand new audio commentary by film critic Stephen
R. Bissette
Archival
audio commentary by David Del Valle & C. Courtney Joyner
The
Count and the Counterculture, a brand new interview with film
critic Maitland McDonagh
Chamber-music
of Horrors, a brand new interview with David Huckvale about the
scores for both films
Archival
interview with film critic Kim Newman
Theatrical
trailer
Radio
spots
and
an Image Gallery
That
should make fans and the most curious happy, though note the Limited
Edition is the best set and fans should get it while they can.
A
Discovery Of Witches: The Complete Trilogy
(2018 - 2021) is another show we covered before, first on DVD when
handled by one video company, then on Blu-ray from RLJ, which is
releasing this set. Our coverage of the Second
Season Blu-ray gives you
the set up of the show, et al, which you can read about at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16002/A+Discovery+Of+Witches:+Season+Two+(2021/R
For
me, though the lead actors are not bad, I did not find it as
convincing as my two fellow writers, did not think they were
memorable here or even had any chemistry; an issue since they
supposedly fall in love with each other. Trying to cross The
X-Files and the Linda
Hamilton/Ron Perlman Beauty
& The Beast TV
series, it is too late in those cycles and even works less well than
the many other imitators of both or even going back to the mid-1960s
BBC attempt to duplicate the British spy classic The
Avengers, Adam
Adamant Lives!, which was
cancelled because it did not click. I actually think that worked
better than this, even with its problems.
Either
way, you can see for yourself in one package and it is a nicely
thought out one, including the fantasy elements and maybe the leads
might be more appealing to you. It did last three seasons, after
all.
Extras
include a bookmark new to this set and repeats all previous
goodies, including these eight featurettes:
About
the Characters
Mythology,
TV Magic, The Story of The Discovery of Witches
Can
Love Survive
Creating
Elizabethan London
Story
So Far
Blood
Rage
Set
Tour
and
Creating
the Worlds.
Eloy
de la Iglesia's Murder
In A Blue World
(1973) is the still-underseen gem of a sci-fi/horror film made in
Spain with Sue Lyon and Christopher Mitchum that we reviewed many
years ago, but in an import DVD, as the film has barely been
available in the U.S. market. You can read about it here:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1826/Murder+In+A+Blue+World+(PAL+format+-+Region
Also
called A Clockwork Terror
or Clockwork Tangerine
(the latter sarcastically by some critics for whatever reasons) has
some Kubrickian elements in it, but is not an outright ripoff of A
Clockwork Orange (1971,
reviewed on 4K elsewhere on this site) any more than Kubrick ripped
off Peter Watkins' Privilege
(1967) or any of them ripped off Warhol's Vinyl
(1965) that is the first official film version of the Anthony Burgess
Clockwork Orange
novel.
It
is another one of those smart films about a dystopian future like
Kubrick's film that is set in what we would now consider the late
analog era and late modernist era (think building design and
architecture before the post-modern look of Ridley Scott's Alien
and Blade Runner
that has been with us ever since they came out) and in others films
like it from the time (Silent
Running, Soylent
Green, THX-1138,
Logan's Run,
Z.P.G.,
Godard's Alphaville,
Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451,
the original Rollerball
and even The Man Who Fell
To Earth to some extent
among others) tell truths so many later such films seem to struggle
to do when other jettison the implications of such societies in the
worst ways possible.
In
the midst of phonier consumerism, video screens, increasing violence
and the dehumanizing of human sexuality, Lyon is a serial killer and
Mitchum part of a gang that turns on him. Add all kinds of other
wild twists and it is a must-see film for all serious filmmakers as
relevant as when I saw it and when I reviewed it. Yes, some of the
technology has dated or even at least partly predicted what was in
store, but the films' solid script, need to say things and
interesting acting and look make it a real winner and having it on
Blu-ray in this restored version and in the U.S. market is one of the
big back catalog events of the year as far as I am concerned.
The
old PAL import DVD had zero extras,
but this new Cauldron Blu-ray has a nice set of goods including (per
the press release) a newly edited Archival interview with Chris
Mitchum, Dubbing
in a Blue World Video
essay by Film Scholar Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes, Feature Length Audio
Commentary track by Film Historian Kat Ellinger and an Image Gallery.
So
if you think you can handle it, see it!
Lastly,
George Miller's
Three
Thousand Years Of Longing
(2022) is the legendary Mad
Max
director's attempt to do something different with the classic
'jeannie in a bottle' story that we've seen in Disney's Aladdin,
classic hit TV series I
Dream Of Jeannie
(beware the problematic new Blu-ray set issued of that series) and
even a classic Twilight
Zone
episode. The jeannie is played by Idris Elba and sudden bottle owner
by Tilda Swinton. It is not bad and actually more watchable than the
recent live-action Aladdin
with Will Smith, but despite trying something different here (any
clue would be a spoiler, so I will not go into that) except to say if
you are not tired of this tale, you might want to give it a look.
Otherwise, only see it if you are really in the mood and I say that
despite really liking the stars and director.
Save
the Digital Movie Code and DVD, there are no extras.
Now
for playback performance. The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High
Definition image on Audrey Rose and the two Yorga films
are very welcome upgrades versus their previous releases, which were
fine, but were definitely due for more work. Detail, depth, warmth
and especially color are improved here. All three have DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mixes that improve on the
previous releases and are about as good as these films will likely
ever sound.
The
1080p 2 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on the Witches
episodes repeat the solid quality of the second set we already
covered and that also goes for the DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes for all three seasons, so no
problems there. The set has also been issued on DVD, but like the
older DVD set, it just makes it harder to enjoy in lower definition,
so go for this set instead.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on World
even looks better than the older PAL DVD import, which was impressive
in its time, with even better color, detail
and depth. Photographed on 35mm film in 2-perf Techniscope,
Technicolor apparently did some lab work on the film and their
Italian division invented the economical format, but that does not
mean it was issued in 3-strip, dye-transfer Technicolor prints. In
the U.S., it was belated issued by the fledgling and now defunct
Finest Films in 1975, a year after Technicolor labs discontinued
their famous format in the U.S., while Fotofilm processed in in
Spain. That leaves France the only market such prints might have
been produced or produced for, but we have no information on that at
this time, though we'll keep searching. The color here is still very
impressive, so still get ready to be surprised.
And
the 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Years
has some good color, but not many memorable shots or demo ones, but I
was more surprised that the lossless Dolby
Atmos 11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) is a little
underwhelming throughout, despite Miller proving he always knew what
to do with cinema sound. The combination is professional, but could
and should have been better.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
