Disc Junkie

Add these to your weekly list: Oct 27-Nov 2.
By Paul Gaita

Since Halloween is essentially the national holiday for the Grindhouse Nation, please allow me to flip the script this week and present that section first – all the better to showcase the wealth of horror and cult titles that street this week to coincide with Trick or Treat Time. The selection is admirably eclectic, ranging from subtle and sinister to out-and-out sleazy, so Grindhousers should be able to find something here to match their particular tastes.

For me, the best of the bunch this week is Harry Kumel’s Daughters of Darkness (Blue Underground), an elegant vampire story that offers equal amounts of sexual thrills and sanguinary chills. Delphine Seyrig (Last Year at Marienbad) is the mysterious European noblewoman who entrances a young couple with her worldly demeanor and hints of decadent sex; the pair quickly discover that her interest in their handsome bodies goes far beyond bedroom athletics and traverses something entirely, well, deadly. BU’s double-disc presentation includes commentary by Kumel, star John (Cagney and Lacey) Karlen, interviews with the cast and crew, radio spots, trailers, and on the second disc, the equally sexy/gory Blood-Spattered Bride, a ‘70s Spanish horror title that shares the same predatory-female vibe as Daughters.

Also definitely worth a look-see for vampire nuts is Casanegra’s double bill of The Vampire and The Vampire’s Coffin. Mexican horror films like these received plenty of ire during their late-night TV airings in the US during the ‘60s and ‘70s thanks to atrocious dubbing, but thanks to companies like Casanegra, fans can enjoy the Gothic atmosphere and imaginative direction that make Mexican horror such a pleasure to discover. The Vampire (essentially a revised Dracula set South of the Border) and its sequel, The Vampire’s Coffin, are presented uncut and remastered in this double-disc set, with the original Spanish language audio tracks, as well as commentary, radio and TV spots, and for DVD-ROM owners, a complete French photonovel adaptation of Coffin.

Okay, those are the classy titles – now, on to the hard stuff. Grindhouse Releasing is reissuing two of the most infamous titles in horror history, both of which were previously available as limited edition DVDs. David Durston’s I Drink Your Blood is an unnerving ‘70s freakout about a Satanic hippie cult that spreads a virulent strain of rabies throughout a remote town, while Umberto Lenzi’s Cannibal Ferox (better known Stateside as Make Them Die Slowly) is an eye-peeling Italian gorefest that pits a research team against a tribe of hungry cannibals. Both huge hits on the drive-in and grindhouse circuit during their heyday, Blood and Ferox are relentless in their drive to shock the viewer down to his or her core with scenes of flesh-eating, disembowelment, and (sadly) real animal slaughter. Blood’s DVD includes the original X-rated print of the film, along with commentary by and interviews with Durston and the cast; Ferox has director Lenzi’s commentary, liner notes by grindhouse historians Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford, and multiple trailers. Both are highly recommended for hardcore horror heads.

Meanwhile, VCI has The Northville Cemetery Massacre, a gritty late entry in the biker subgenre, with good-hearted 1 percent battling mad and bad lawmen. Mike Nesmith of the Monkees, contributed the score; the 30th Anniversary DVD includes director’s commentary and an alternate track by the Detroit chapter of the Scorpions motorcycle club (!). And Dark Sky has one of the most enjoyable guilty pleasures from the ‘70s drive-in circuit – The Devil’s Rain, a ludicrous chiller with Ernest Borgnine as the leader of a Satanic cult and William Shatner and Tom Skerrit as the brothers who try to bring him down. The film’s finale, which treats viewers to the sight of a pre-fame John Travolta dissolving into a pile of goo, is worth the purchase price alone, but there’s commentary by director Robert (Abominable Dr. Phibes) as well. Parts: The Clonus Horror (from Mondo Macabro) caused a minor stir on internet discussion boards last year when it was discovered that Michael Bay’s big and ugly The Island shared more than a few plot points with this offbeat ‘70s sci-fi title; while no one in the cast (which includes Dick Sargeant and Peter Graves) looks quite as fetching as Scarlett Johannson, the paranoid tone and a respectable amount of suspense make this worth seeking out for fans of future shock cinema.

Newcomers Severin have a pair of ‘80s efforts from the absurdly prolific European director Jess Franco: Mansion of the Living Dead is leering horror-sleaze about nubile vacationers so wrapped up in carnal pursuits that they don’t notice a throng of zombies on the loose, while Macumba Sexual is a delirious fever dream starring Franco’s significant other, Lina Romay, as a housewife obsessed with a voodoo priestess (king-sized transsexual actress Ajita Wilson). Both titles are uncut and offer interviews with Senor Franco. Also on the velour sexploitation front: Lady Libertine and Black Venus, both from freshman outfit Private Screenings, and both fond memories for those that grew up sneaking peeks at Cinemax after their parents went to sleep. Franco’s producer, the notorious Harry Alan Towers, is behind both, so expect lots of skin, solid production values, and hilarious premises. And Panik House is reissuing two Japanese girl-gang thrillers, the fabulously titled Terrifying Girls High School: Lynch Law Classroom, and Girl Boss Guerilla, as single discs; both turned up last year as part of its ambitious Pinky Violence boxed set.

Last few before we shift back to the mainstream stuff: 42nd Street Forever, Vol. 2: The Deuce (Synapse) celebrates New York City’s late, lamented ground zero for all things grimy with this collection of horror and trash trailers; Joy Sticks (Guilty Pleasures) is hilariously dopey ‘80s T&A with Joe Don Baker on the warpath against video game nuts; The Hitchhiker, Vol. 3 (HBO) compiles more episodes of the cable suspense series which could be best described as The Twilight Zone with tits; Cult Epics’ massive Irving Klaw Classics, Vol. 1-4 presents the works of ‘50s-era softcore and fetish director Klaw, whose subjects included the legendary Bettie Page (all four volumes are available as separate releases as well); Most Beautiful Wife (NoShame), with Ornella Muti as a young Italian woman who takes justice into her own hands after being assaulted by a Mafioso (Ennio Morricone provides the score); Future-Kill (Subversive), with original Texas Chainsaw Massacre stars Marilyn Burns and Ed Neal in a goofy sci-fi story about frat boys and mutant gang members; Schramm (Barrel), a no-holds-barred nightmare tour through the day-to-day existence of a serial killer, courtesy Jorg (Nekromantik) Buttgereit; and last but not least (well, maybe), Jules Verne’s The Fabulous Journey to the Center of the Earth (Code Red), a thoroughly loopy Spanish take on the classic adventure, with more men in monkey suits and rubbery dinosaurs than should be allowed by law in one film.

Also out this week: CSI: Miami – The Complete Fourth Season (Paramount); V for Vendetta (Warner); It’s a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition; Paramount); Tales from the Crypt: The Complete Fifth Season (Warner); KISS: KISS-ology, Volume 1 (1974-77; VH1 Classic); The Martin and Lewis Collection, Volume 1 (Paramount); The Kids in the Hall – Complete Season 5 (A&E); Gonin 1 & 2 (Tokyo Shock).