The
Bat
(1926/silent/Undercrank Productions Blu-ray Set)/J-Horror
Rising
(1999 - 2007/Arrow Blu-ray Set*)/Killers
(1996/Synapse Blu-ray/*both MVD)/A
Nightmare On Elm Street 4K
(1984/New Line/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A- Picture: B/B- (Shikoku
and Inugami:
C+)/B+/X Sound: B/B-/B+/A- Extras: C+/B-/C+/B Films:
B/C+/C-/B+
Now
for more chilling feature films, including a slasher classic, lost
classic and more...
In
1908, Mary Roberts Reinhart published The
Circular Staircase,
an all-time mystery novel classic that made her the U.S. counterpart
to Agatha Christie, was a big hit, helped establish the dark house
mystery set-up, was made into a series of shorts in 1914, a full
length movie in 1915 and was rewritten as a stage play known as The
Bat.
Roland West's first film of The
Bat
was made and released in 1926 and was considered lost for decades,
but now, it has been found and is being issued on Blu-ray by
Undercrank Productions. It also turns out to be one of the greatest
silent mystery and detective films ever made!
The
title character is a bold thief, taunting the police with messages
before
committing his crimes and after pulling them off, then insulting the
police despite their best efforts. But he is still a single
individual and is hiding out in disguise in an elaborate mansion now
being temporarily rented and occupied by Miss Cornelia Van Gorder
(Emily Fitzroy) and her maid Lizzie (Louise Fazenda) not yet aware of
what is really going on.
Lizzie
is easily spooked, so when she is the first to notice some odd
things, they are dismissed at first. We meet more characters and
when things get worse, a police detective (Tullio Carminati) finally
shows up to investigate when Lizzie's claims are no longer being
dismissed. Can they find the killer before he strikes again? Can
they catch The Bat?
I
have always been interested in seeing all the early versions of the
book/play on film and for the most part, it has been the
campy-but-entertaining 1959 Bat
with Agnes Moorehead and Vincent Price with a passable copy of the
1930 film (see link below) in its 35mm found and issued on home video
a few decades ago. The incredible 65mm version of that, plus an
alternate 35mm version and this 1926 version are all found and making
their worldwide home video debuts in a matter of weeks.
The
earlier we go back, the less comedy we get and the comedy in this
1926 silent version is the most practical, least exaggerated and best
at combining tension and suspense with the actual robberies, attacks
and even murders throughout. I can see why Director West poured on
more comedy in the 1930s versions (see link below), for commercial
and more broad entertainment purposes, though the comedy still comes
up different in the three cuts issued on that Blu-ray set (see below)
while this silent version (not having seen the two mid-1910 films, if
they still exist as I hope they do) has a balance between all the
elements.
I
not only like how those elements are juggled, but it is one of the
many reasons this holds up so extraordinarily well. Sure, a few
items will be aged a century later but the film does not look that
old amazingly, as this surviving copy is more often pristine than
almost any film I have seen from its era. To express just how good
this looks, the clarity, detail and depth made be forget its age and
I was drawn into it more effectively than even I though I would be.
Composition and the way it is shot is remarkable on a visual level
and top show you how ambitious the lighting is, consider this.
The
makers went way out of their way to make this stand out and when
anyone turns a light on or off, electric, candlelight or otherwise,
we get a slight jump cut because the film stock's light sensitivity
was so severely low (think maybe 2, 5 or 10 ASA/ISO versus 40, 160,
250, 500 or even 1,000 for later film or 8,000 for your smart phone)
so much light was needed to get the look here that turns out to be
one-of-a-kind in a genre that was very popular (mystery, suspense)
that included some elaborate serials and from all over the world.
The
jump cuts are there because they had to stop the film, change all the
lighting (get a bunch of lights on or off just to make a dent in the
film for the image to take) and even with that noticed (whether you
would know specifically what it is, how or why it is) is yet another
unique feature of the film that actually adds dimension to it.
Of
course, this film, and its 1930 remake influenced Bob Kane to create
Batman, form certain motifs, to the look of the character (though the
fake bat head the title character wears looks more like a rough, dry
run for Man-Bat) and even an early 'bat signal' moment among other
parts make this a curio. As well, it was highly imitated and
influential in other ways, which I discuss in my review of the 1930
remake at the link just below.
Extras
include A
Fraternity Mixup
(1926) a rare silent "scare
comedy"
short that features one of the weirdest gorilla suits ever and
includes a funny moment that references a major female diver of the
time, plus a new video essay, Roland
West: Cinematic Man of Mystery,
which outlines the director's life and career. You can read more
about West's 1930 sound remake of this film, The
Bat Whispers
(also in 65mm as noted above!) at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16480/Bat+Whispers+(1930/VCI+Blu-ray)/D
This
1926 The
Bat
is a must-see film for all serious film fans, mystery fans, silent
film fans and yes, even Batman and pop culture fans. To think it was
almost lost forever. Like its later 1930 sound remake, it is a
classic and now that it has been restored and reissued after decades
of being unseen, it needs to be recognized for the influential
classic it is. In a year of so many great restorations and
preservations of classic films, it is one of the most important among
so many important ones and after you see it, you'll never forget it,
have a new respect for silent film and so much more!
J-Horror
Rising
(1999 - 2007) deals with Japanese supernatural terror of the new
millennium with mixed results over eight years and seven films from
the period and they have some diversity, but get into repetition as I
described in my Daiei
Gothic
Blu-ray set review, also from Arrow, elsewhere on this site.
The films are as follows:
Shunichi
Nagasaki's Shikoku
(1999) follows a young woman coming home, only to find her best
friend has drowned and is unsure what her mother knows or how and if
she was involved, but since she was into magic and the like, so it
will not be easy to expect what comes next.
Toshiyuki
Mizutani's Isola:
Multiple Personality Girl
(2000) might trivialize the actual medical and condition of mental
illness for some, but a gal is shaken by a severe earthquake and she
turns to a volunteer worker who happens to have psychic powers (lucky
her?) to figure out the mysterious figure who is starting to haunt
her.
Masato
Harada's Inugami
(2000) has a teacher infatuated with a local papermaker, but not only
does he find hostility, but the spirit of an ancient spirit that is
connected to killer dogs.
Ten
Shimoyama's St.
John's Wort
(2001) has a gal inherit a gothic mansion and as they gather
information and other pieces on it, something undead is slowly
unleashed, among other things.
Koji
Shiraishi's Carved:
The Slit-Mouthed Woman
(2007) has the title supernatural monster on a kill and children are
not safe or easily spared. Some might find this a child in jeopardy
film, while others pass it as a ghost story, but it is on the adult
side.
Takashi
Komatsu's Persona
(2000) has a group of students loving a new craze where everyone
wears ceramic masks, but faster than you can say 'eyes wide shut,'
bad things start to happen and unmasking the cause will nto be easy.
And
in Koji Shiraishi's Noroi:
The Curse
(2005) plays like a found footage film where people investigate and
tape key locales connected to a deadly ancient spirit and discover it
is alive again!
The
problem with all the films to me is they have good high concepts, but
none of them quite know how to get the
most out of them, though the actors are often not bad (Tatsuya
Fujiwara and Chiaki Kuriyama from Battle
Royale
appear in Persona)
while some of the films don't look bad, though others are not as
visually interesting (Noroi
is repetitive and too familiar in particular) so this set (pricey as
expected) is great for serious fans of these kind of films ands the
extensive extras more than justify the price, but you had better be a
really BIG fan of this kind of storytelling in this period to bother.
Otherwise, it was mixed viewing for me and none of them stuck with
me, save some professionalism, but competence is not alone memorable
where applicable. Therefore, I kept my synopses short so as not to
spoil any surprises and leave the films as fun and suspenseful as
possible, though I thought they were somewhat lacking overall.
Now
you can see for yourself if you really want to.
Extras
are extensive
and (per the press release) include:
An
illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Eugene
Thacker, Jasper Sharp, Anton Bitel, Amber T., Mark Player, Jim
Harper and Sarah Appleton
DISC
ONE: SHIKOKU / ISOLA: MULTIPLE PERSONALITY GIRL
DISC
TWO: INUGAMI / ST. JOHN'S WORT
DISC
THREE: CARVED: THE SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN / PERSONA
DISC
FOUR: NOROI: THE CURSE
Mike
Mendez's
Killers
(1996) has been remastered by Synapse Films and is now on Blu-ray in
the wake of release the Director's superior film on 4K UHD, The
Convent,
which is reviewed elsewhere on this site. In Killers,
two brothers with face paint murder their parents while they are
sleeping in their bed and get some local cult status because of it.
When they escape prison and show up at the doorstep of a family's
house, things start to get weird as they seek refuge there. Things
aren't as they seem though as the family image breaks away from
previous conception to reveal deceit.
The
film stars Dave Larsen, David Gunn, and Damian Hoffer.
While
the film has some interesting ideas, ultimately the acting and lack
of empathy for the any of the characters really kills it. Almost
every character in the film is over acting and it comes across to a
painful degree. Mendez's talent behind the camera is evident as the
film is photographed nicely and has a lot of creative shots and
angles, but the lack of talent onscreen really holds this one back.
Special
Features:
Unrated
Director's Cut
Audio
Commentary with director Mike Mendez and horror scholar Michael
Gingold
Original
Promotional Trailers
Liner
Notes booklet by critic/writer Heather Drain
and
an Alternate Ending.
And
last but not least, Wes Craven's classic A
Nightmare on Elm Street
(1984) is a hugely important film in horror film history (and '80s
pop culture) that spawned a hugely successful franchise that's
beloved and still highly relevant today. After a long wait, the
iconic film has finally made it onto 4K UHD from Warner Bros. in time
for the Halloween season and the film's 40th Anniversary.
The
only disappointing aspect of this release is that there's nothing new
in terms of extras, with the only incentive aside from the 4K
presentation being eight seconds of uncut gore not available in
previous releases. It's certainly curious why these deleted elements
are finally being made available now after the countless times this
film has been on home video the past four decades, but the novice fan
will barely notice them.
The
classic film stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley,
Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, and Johnny Depp in his first feature length
film role.
Teenager
Nancy Thompson (Langenkamp) witnesses the brutal murder of her close
friend at an overnight sleepover and at first it seems that her
boyfriend is to blame. But Nancy soon discovers the culprit is a
terrifying demonic madman named Freddy Krueger, who kills teenagers
in their nightmares and has an unusual connection to the parents of
the kids of Elm Street. As her friends start to drop off under the
iron fingered claws of the mind bending madman, Nancy will stop at
nothing to defeat Freddy before she herself becomes his next victim.
If
you are a fan of the Insidious
franchise then you can will notice a young Lin Shaye as the teacher
in Nancy's classroom. (Of course her brother was the head of New
Line Cinema so her cameo here makes sense.) Star Heather Langenkamp
remains perfect as Nancy and fans will take note that she returned to
franchise twice, as Nancy again in the third installment, A
Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
(1987), and as herself in Wes
Craven's New Nightmare
(1994). Johnny Depp also humorously returned for a quick cameo in
Freddy's
Dead: The Final Nightmare
(1991) in which you see him in a drug awareness commercial on TV.
If
you're new to the Elm
Street
series, this original film sets everything in motion and features a
scarier version of Freddy than subsequent sequels. By the time you
get to the sixth film in the original series franchise, Freddy's
Dead: The Final Nightmare,
you see the character become a lot more humorous and cartoon-like in
comparison. This original film represents both Craven's dark
independent vibe mixed with his more main stream sensibilities in
what is arguably his most commercial film before Scream
(1996).
Of
course, Freddy went back to his evil roots with the underrated Wes
Craven's New Nightmare,
and of course finally went up against Jason Voorhees in Freddy
Vs. Jason
(2003) in much later years, but Freddy remains an important horror
icon 40 years later and that's saying something due to the over
saturation of the horror film market. Only one time did the studio
try to recast Freddy in the disastrous 2010 film (see our review at
the end of this one) with Jackie Earle Hayley in the role, and that
was met with nothing but hatred from fans. As of this writing, it's
unknown what the future holds for the horror icon, but if he's put to
sleep with what has been accomplished thus far then we still have
this original classic film and the third entry, Dream
Warriors
(1987), to highlight him at his best.
So
what was cut out of this film anyway? (SPOILERS) The sequence where
Tina (Amanda Wyss) is talking to Nancy in the school hallway, you see
the cutaway of snakes slithering from her dress. Also Glen's death
scene in the bed is a tad longer than in the original version with a
longer fountain of blood spewing from the bed. That's it. I suppose
these added few minutes of gore were a bit much for the censors at
the time.
A
Nightmare on Elm Street
has been remastered in 4K from original source materials for this new
release with the best looking scan of any previous version of the
film. Having owned this film on every format going back to VHS, I
immediately saw a huge difference in the image with this release,
with much sharper looks at all of the characters and more texture and
detail than in the previous cuts in lesser definition. Some of the
night sequences have been color-timed a bit darker, which help sells
some of the aging visual effects at certain moments. Overall, it's
incredible how much more detail there is on characters and you can
see more grisly detail in Freddy's make-up here especially which adds
to the experience.
Special
Features:
R
rated and Unrated cuts of the film
Archival
Ready
Freddy Focus Points
Archival
Commentary with Wes Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp,
Ronnie Blakely, Robert Shaye, and Sara Risher.
Archival
Commentary with Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and
Jacques Haitkin.
Alternate
endings
Archival
The House that Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror
Archival
Never Sleep Again: A Nightmare on Elm Street
and
Archival
Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven's Nightmares
PLUS
a Steelbook version (available in certain markets).
You
can't go wrong with A
Nightmare on Elm Street,
and hopefully this is a good sign that more of the Elm Street films
are heading to the 4K UHD format soon, maybe with more footage that
the studio is holding out on us. If you own this film ten times over
as this reviewer, I will say that the new 4K UHD presentation is
worth the upgrade as long as you aren’t expecting much new in the
way of extras. For another look at the poor remake, go to this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10597/A+Nightmare+on+Elm+Street+(2010/New+Line+B
Now
for playback performance. A
Nightmare on Elm Street 4K
is presented in 2160p on 4K UHD disc with HDR10, an HEVC / H.265
codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and remastered audio
tracks in a lossless English Dolby
Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) 48kHz,
24-bit upgrade for this new release and original theatrical
monophonic sound in an English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono
lossless mix. The studio didn't skimp out when it came to showcasing
the film at its best here with three solid sound mixes to choose from
that revamp the classic audio mix and make it anew.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on The
Bat
will, of course, show the age of the materials used, but it is in
small parts and small sections of the footage where we get damage,
fogging and wear, but this is truly does otherwise looking really,
really good and it stuck me that this was released the same year as
Lang's Metropolis.
Worldwide silent cinema was on a roll, but that was about to change
a year later when the original Jazz
Singer
permanently brought sound to film. Though I like sound films too and
very much so, I wonder if a few more years of silent cinema would
have helped movies a little more in the long run before the
inevitable.
The
lossless PCM 2.0 Stereo of the solid new score by Ben Model, who has
been scoring a long series of silent gems for years and this is some
of his best work. It also sounds great and is one of the best silent
re-scores I have heard in years. It is also such a nice improvement
over the lossy Dolby Digital accompanying their previous home video
releases on Blu-ray and DVD. The combination is impressive.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on all seven
J-Horror
films can show the age of the materials used, but Shikoku
and Inugami
have more softness and age-related issues that might also have to do
with storage, how the films were developed in the lab, what specific
film stocks they used, if the negatives were used to make prints
and/or if they needed to be accessed for copies more often than the
others. Even counting style choices, all can show issues, but I at
least give a percentage to some of the softness being style where
applicable. The all seven films offer lossless PCM 2.0 Stereo mixes,
while all but Persona
also offer DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes that are just
fine for their budgets, but none are sonic standouts and all sound as
good as they ever will. That disappointed me a little bit.
Killers
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4
AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and an English DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless mix. The presentation looks
nice on disc overall besting previous versions for sure. The fact
that this was shot on actual photochemical film certainly gives it an
edge above most other films of its kind.
-
Nicholas Sheffo and James Lockhart (4K, Killers)
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
