Dylan Dog: Dead of Night's Trailer

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Longer day at work, so I'm keeping things leisurely this evening. This promotional trailer for Kevin Munroe's upcoming Dylan Dog: Dead of Night has been popping up and then vanishing from the 'net recently. Thanks to Jack over at En lejemorder ser tilbage, we have a currently stable YouTube video. Naturally, since I posted it, another sudden disappearance is mutually assured.

As for the trailer, this production that seems to have taken forever looks to have popcorn potential, but I'm still rocky on whether it will come anywhere near the legion's expectations that the comic series has built over twenty-five years of existence. At best, Dead of Night looks helmed by a Guillermo del Toro several years after an horrific car crash gave the Hellboy director permanent brain damage. At worst, Underworld's Len Wiseman on a Twilight-high. Either way, "from the director TMNT" doesn't exactly warm the crimson cockles of the horror fanboy heart.

I've personally read only Dark Horse's English mini-series and a few fan translations, but it's all about the little touches in Tiziano Sclavi's expansive paper and ink creation. A filmmaker like del Toro could definitely impart that, even with a minuscule budget, but who knows with Munroe. There's also a distinct lack of European atmosphere in the three minutes below that permeates every frame of the comic. I'm sure the more diehard fanbase could, and probably already have, tear this trailer asunder (where's Groucho?).

No idea who Brandon Routh is, but he has huge shoes to fill in light of Rupert Everett's intellectual turn as a hybrid of the character in Michele Soavi's Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man, 1994). Sclavi actually modeled Dylan Dog's appearance after the British actor, so it only seems right the role always belong to Everett (who knows if he'd even reprise anyway). Although I'm biased, Soavi's last horror feature is of incredible importance to the genre acting as a headstone to an era and style that should never be forgotten. The 1994 film, despite being very stripped down and self-contained, possesses that certain rich texture both in its appearance and thematic depth the Dylan Dog source demands. That's coloring my whole reaction to this mediocre action-oriented trailer, I guess time will tell...              

Back Covers of Code Red's Upcoming MADMAN & NIGHT CHILD

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Just ran across these two and thought I'd share. Code Red is set to debut a 30th Anniversary Edition of Joe Giannone's Madman (1982) on September 28th and Massimo Dallamano's Night Child (Il medaglione insanguinato) (1975) on September 7th, or tomorrow! Click here to scope out the old Cocktail Video VHS of Night Child. I never particularly cared for Madman, but considering the Anchor Bay disc has been OOP and is demanding high collector prices, Code Red is doing a great service to fans with this re-issue.

Should Read "One of the Luckiest Zombie Films in Decades" - BoGD

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Some living twenty-tweens face off against "zombified" twenty-tweens that defy the laws of decomposition by becoming Olympic track runners upon death...whoopie and such...I wonder how much I'll get paid if I gave this a good review...well, I guess that shipped has sailed...

I think I've touched on this before here, but there comes a time when every horror fan learns to give the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the genre's indie output. There's only so much of the domestic mainstream one can consume before they find themselves brave enough to dip their toes into the bloody undertow of productions that cost less than a Hollywood catering table. In the process, some trade-offs are usually incurred, and accepting them help the viewer develop a better critical view. While many casual moviegoers tend to balk at an entire feature if even one aspect rubs them the wrong way, the versed perspective one gains from daring to trend upon independent material, even gory trash, is a component of growth in becoming a passionate film fan.

That said, I've seen enough no-budget zombie outings from the last few years to appreciate Automaton Transfusion for what it is. Shot in just nine days for the starting price of a Nissan Maxima, Steven Miller should be commended for pulling together a coherent seventy-five feature regardless of genre. That doesn't mean it was necessarily a good idea to rush the task. Miller's film is indistinguishable from the glut of indies that flooded the landscape after DV along with pro editing software became cheap and feasible on your average PC. Sure, there is some splattery gore, but nothing inventive or exceeding what we've all seen in more enjoyable cheapies. This is where dumb luck arises and Automaton Transfusion appears to have a Midas touch far greater than any other film of its ilk that I can think of.

The film received this glowing review from Bloody Disgusting. Now, I'm unsure what Mr. Miska was smoking at the time, but could I have some? He deems it, which the back cover uses as a pull quote, "the Holy Grail of “true” independent horror films." So I'm guessing this feature stands with the likes of Night of the Living Dead, Halloween, The Evil Dead, and The Blair Witch Project? OOOkkkayyy. Regardless, that review left the horror public justifiably itching to see Automaton Transfusion. The trailer is also annoyingly high on itself. Automaton Transfusion is apparently this generation's horror film that defines the culture. I'm not saying indie horror shouldn't strive for greatness, but falsely selling to that extent will create a well-deserved backlash. Snake Oil Transfusion is more like it...

The two Bloody Disgusting quotes the DVD uses, along with calling it a "masterpiece [that] shockingly redefines the zombie genre", simply makes horror fans seem absolutely stupid to outsiders. When did we get so dumbed down to hail such slapdash, mundane jaunts with our beloved flesheaters so ridiculously high? I'm unsure if the late, great Chas Balun ever saw this flick, but it wouldn't be a stretch to say he would keep it sweet and say "fuck it." If I was to rattle off superior living dead indies; Colin, Plaga Zombie: Mutant Zone, Dance of the Dead, The Dead Hate the Living, Meat Market, and even the last two Return of the Living Dead installments are more deserving of an evening in.          

On top of this jerk off session, out of all the fresh genre product to arrive yearly, Dimension's new "Extreme" sublabel picked up Miller's debut for video distribution. Out of all the injustices horror has faced in recent years, this is perhaps the most egregious. Forget Trick 'r Treat being shelved and unceremoniously cast off onto disc, Paranormal Activity not seeing the light of day until Mr. Spielberg came along, or the aforementioned Colin still languishing in North American distro limbo. The simple fact this much-ballyhooed wafer of undead nothingness received the privilege of sitting on Best Buy, Wal Mart, and Blockbuster shelves nationwide seems almost criminal.

But these aren't the only gripes. Either by boneheaded design or one hell of a mistake, Automaton Transfusion's DVD transfer is plagued with image ghosting. The entire feature has an off-putting choppy appearance to any on-screen or camera movement. It's like an incredibly bad PAL-to-NTSC standards conversion. Unwatchable. The faked 2.35:1 scope transfer also isn't anamorphically enhanced for widescreen displays, despite the back cover stating so, making the feature look all the more cheap. So that makes the feature and disc not worth the two bucks I paid at a yard sale. I had no idea why the guy was selling it, but now I know full well...     

Click to read my "different" thoughts on Horrorfind over at the Blood Sprayer!

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Dead Alive (Braindead) (1992) - 1997 South Korean Film 4 Home Entertainment VHS

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This tape was featured in one of my old YouTube videos and I thought it deserved its own scan. Like I said in the vid, the red banner at the bottom seems to indicate the most severe of the country's ratings. I've seen green and yellow-bannered tapes of much tamer works on eBay. Unfortunately, the film clocks in at 87 minutes and is edited of much of the violence (South Korea's rating board has eased in recent years like the BBFC). This edit appears to be derived from the unrated North American version. I still think this tape is pretty badass for its rarity...at least outside of its native country.

Hang on to those Blair Witch DVDs...

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Blu-ray.com just posted this review of Lionsgate's The Blair Witch Project, another $9.99 Best Buy exclusive, and it's immediately clear the studio screwed up the transfer. Like the VHS edition, the picture is zoomed-in for a full screen presentation. Most people assume the original aspect ratio was 1.33:1, but the film was windowboxed with curved edges to mimic a full 16mm frame. The old Artisan DVD preserves this quality; yet for some reason Lionsgate decided to drop this for the Blu-ray. Judging by these 1080p captures, the studio also noise reduced the entire feature (especially evident in the B/W 16mm), making it actually look worse than the DVD instead of the "best" it could possibly be. On a similar note, it's funny how the review site gave the natively 480p standard definition and then further degraded 28 Days Later on Blu-ray a 4.5/5 for picture quality, but gave the mostly Hi-8 shot Blair Witch a 2.5 and totally missed the smeary DNR or aspect ratio alternation.

DVD / Blu-ray

High Tension (Haute tension) (2003) - 2010 Lionsgate Unrated Blu-ray

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I have a neat little relationship with Alexandre Aja's Haute tension. On a complete whim and without knowing anything about the film prior, I ordered it on DVD from South Korea re-titled "X-tension". This edition ended up being edited of several minutes (had no idea of this at the time), but was the first home video release even ahead of the French disc. I then wrote this review for HorrorTalk.com; which might have very well been the first published in English. Afterward, word of mouth spread until the film became the "it" horror import for quite sometime. It's always something special and rare discovering a film before a flood of others.

Being #9 on my top ten of the last decade, I still love Aja's debut in spite of naysayers who bemoan the twist and its little inconsistencies. I'd honestly consider Haute tension to be a watershed genre moment on the order of Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. A fantastic melding between old slasher aesthetics and the unbridled possibilities of the "new" norms of the modern horror film. Incredibly directed, intelligent, violent, and bold. I also have yet to see a horror film since, and quite some time prior, that utilizes its integral aural component to strengthen its imagery so damn well. Simply one hell of a calling card that Aja and Levasseur have pleasingly followed through on. Well...aside from the derailed, Jack Baue...Kiefer Sutherland-fueled Mirrors.

Since this Blu-ray is a Best Buy exclusive until October 5th, I figured I'd scan the cover (click for large rez as always) and share some thoughts for those curious after watching it last night. First off, this disc has all of the extras found on Lionsgate's DVD, but is missing the short introduction from Aja and Levasseur. The 1080p, MPEG-4 AVC-encoded 2.35:1 transfer is solid, but very bittersweet. Haute tension was obviously subjected to extensive tinkering in digital post-production to achieve the film's current stylized appearance. Crushed blacks, extremely boosted color, and blown out contrast levels rule the day.

That's not to say this Blu-ray's picture quality is worse than the standard def discs; however, don't expect the kind of detail/color difference usually seen when shifting from standard to high definition. It does look better in terms of stability, especially on large projection displays, but it's not too much better than the DVD edition (esp. the French PAL) on a good upscaling player at 42" to 60". Fortunately, LG provides a full blown, aggressive-as-hell lossless French DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track that's as good as it gets. The included English Master Audio 5.1 dub sounds weak and distant in comparison. The annoying mix of dubtitles/real subtitles, like the prior DVD, are white and in Blu's easier-to-read high resolution. Considering this Blu-ray is only $7.99 at Best Buy right now, the barn-burning sound quality is worth that alone.

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Finally, THE EVIL DEAD comes home...

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This entry was inevitable if you've been paying attention to my prattling on Facebook and this little article a few days back over at Blood Sprayer. After bebopping into a local Wal Mart for something else yesterday from picking up a few of Best Buy Blu-ray exclusives (High Tension & Blair Witch), I spotted Anchor Bay's Blu of The Evil Dead for a straight $17 and needless to say it stuck to my hand. I've been attentively following this mini-saga over this new release since the studio's initial announcement and will admit to being a hardline skeptic. Anchor Bay can certainly be credited for keeping Raimi's gore classic perpetually in-print from the mid-'90s in their Video Treasure days with a brief Special Edition DVD layover from the sadly defunct Elite Entertainment. Many rightfully took issue with a first ever widescreen version in their Book of the Dead edition. My heart sank with the announcement that this Blu-ray would include this new matted presentation--despite also featuring the original full frame version.

Frankly, the Necronomicon-cased Book of the Dead edition was definitely cool looking, but otherwise held a rather poor presentation of the film. The transfer was too dark, slathered with noise reduction, and exhibited a strange pinkish hue especially evident in fleshtones. The 1.85:1 matting was also "hard", meaning that it was placed over the existing full frame image with no adjustments. This crudely cropped away just enough at the top and bottom of the frame to make most of the composition simply look cramped. So my expectations for this 1080p high definition release were certainly tempered by Anchor Bay's near-malice in their zeal to constantly "improve" the picture quality with each successive DVD. I won't even go into their whole Evil Dead II debacle.

But alas, upon finally watching this Blu-ray firsthand last night in 1080p, Anchor Bay (and Sam Raimi) need to be both deeply praised and thanked. The emerging reviews are true; this disc looks incredible. A fine layer of grain, normalized color temperature, and vibrancy of color create an experience that truly blows away all previous releases. The diehards can stop hyping up the blue-tinted Herald Videogram LaserDisc from Japan as the definitive presentation. This Blu-ray's 1.33:1 presentation is the one fans have been waiting for in The Evil Dead's nearly thirty years of existence. The image quality is so strong and natural, on both the full frame and widescreen versions, that this disc is also one of the best looking Blu-rays released thus far given the original 16mm material. It's just dazzling to think this much detail and color could be captured on a cheap, small square of celluloid back in the late '70s/early '80s. The release of this Blu-ray is honestly just as, if not more, important than the film's first DVD release over a decade ago. Lemme put it this way, if somehow the unthinkable occurred and the negative was lost or destroyed, a single copy of Blu-ray would be the saving grace.    

Although it's not all roses and the most distracting thing about this transfer is the unevenness between shots. Some shots appear tack sharp; while others look noticeably soft. Saying that, this aspect is inherent to the film's elements, not more of Anchor Bay's usual digital tinkering. We now to get see The Evil Dead, finally, warts and all. Concerning the widescreen version, Raimi not only supervised both transfers, but also adjusted the matting per sequence to avoid the cutting away of important picture information (like Bruce's chin, the Band-Aid box, and Scott's axe after chopping up Shelly). The writer/director also went a little Indiana Jones on DVD and applied some CG to block out Robert Tapert standing off to the right in the brush as the Olds rolls across the rickety bridge in the beginning.

Regardless of where one lands on these new or newly revealed aspects, the strength of the transfer cannot be denied. Here's to hoping Anchor Bay continues this trend and goes back to their initial, weak looking wave of horror classics on Blu-ray (including Evil Dead 2) with a fresh perspective. If The Evil Dead can look this amazing on home video, the possibilities seem endless for nearly any classic horror film yet to be unleashed in HD. Again, thanks must go to Anchor Bay for not bowing to the grain haters and Sam Raimi for still obviously harboring a deep love for the little film that permanently ingrained his name in horror fan's minds worldwide. Hop over with your mouse or drive out to the nearest place selling this one and buy it. You won't only be getting the finest The Evil Dead ever, but also sending a message to Anchor Bay to keep going down the road of reference video quality.                                                                     

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Some quick thoughts on Mausoleum (1983)

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I don't have too much to say about my first watch of Michael Dugan's Mausoleum over the weekend; other than count me in with the chorus who enjoy this slice of cheeseball fun. As others have pointed out, the feature is packed with barely concealed racism as a means of queasy comedy. If you ascribed to the ideology Dugan sets forth, Aunt Jemima-like African American maids who spit out trite "black" cliché in affluent white households would be perfectly normal. Also Hispanic men would be fine with menial day labor and are inherently abusive womanizers towards their attractive white female employers. The completely baffling final frame might even indicate that Hispanics are the root of all evil. Or something. Although I can't be too much of an arbiter of race considering the slew of offense, exploitative, yet beloved schlock that sits on my shelves. Add Mausoleum to that list as perfect late night popcorn fodder.  

The general sense of delirium foretells the recklessly campy trend of demonic possession in late '80s horror as the sea change of Friday the 13th (1980) and The Evil Dead (1981) settled in. Mausoleum has the stuffy look and feel of an early '80s horror outing while resisting any indication of influence from the booming slasher craze, Raimi's classic, or even the "serious" knock-offs of the satanic horror cycle of the '70s. Besides the gorgeous nude physique of Bobbie Bresee, this unique quality is what kept me from the boredom that can set in with the backwash of generic horror from this period.

The inept plotting and bloody revelry of John Carl Buechler's effects rock out on the same crap planet as Tim Ritter's Killing Spree and Luigi Cozzi's Demon 6: De Profundis--only with the tone of an entirely different time in the genre. Despite the crude undercurrent of race, Mausoleum deserves recognition for this most likely inadvertent foresight. Not to mention Bresee's decent performance in what's essentially an ex-Playmate vehicle/showcase, some surprisingly creepy moments (i.e. waking up to your spouse quickly rocking in rocking chair in the dead of night), and plentiful laughs.  

I'm unsure about the version status of BCI's DVD (double featured with 1982's Blood Song), but this Embassy Home Entertainment tape is cut in at least one scene involving an exploding cranium. On this edition, the scene cuts away to a static shot with the audio of the "pop" and then cuts back to the victim falling dead. The uncut scene can be watched here on YouTube. Also the IMDB notes this unfortunateness concerning the stateside DVD: "When BCI Eclipse obtained the rights to release Mausoleum on DVD, they could not find any original elements to transfer. This means the original elements either no longer exist or are temporarily lost. BCI was forced to use a damaged print instead for the DVD release. Because of the damage, BCI decided to release it as a double feature instead of a single release as they first planned."

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Castle of Frankenstein #22, Nov. 1974: Slaymate of the Month: Ingrid Pitt

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As a way of making up for my lack of actual babbling in text form, I've decided to debut the first ever substantive appearance of nudity on Basement of Decadence! And who better than Hammer icon Ingrid Pitt (apparently only twenty six-years-old) in vintage yellowed newspaper. This is from the classic horror magazine, Castle of Frankenstein, volume six, number two (or just #22). A large scan of the cover can be seen here over at The Blood Sprayer about the Exorcist's Blu-ray release. That's my bagged copy, but this morning I found another much more beat up copy for only a buck.

Exorcist fans should duly note, this issue goes welcomingly overboard with "fresh" coverage of the just released film. Besides the gaudy and awesome cover, there's multiple articles from various writers with facts and observations about the 1973 classic including a young Joe Dante of...well, a bunch of great horror features. An article on the production's follies or "curse". A long article detailing William Friedkin's take on his film as he presided over a University of Georgia film class. Also a short one-on-one interview with Friedkin that evidently only Castle of Frankenstein could get the reclusive director to agree to.

That may not sound like much, but the magazine's typeset is so small and packed that I can't imagine this magazine being geared toward kids during its heyday. Unless kids are just vastly stupider nowadays and the comparatively slim pages of Fangoria have reflected that. One could literally reformat the text on the Exorcist from these pages, throw in some stills, and have a nice little film guide. Not to mention all the great stuff you don't see anymore in horror mags--like Pitt's glorious frontage.

It might also interest someone like it did myself to know that Maryland-native and frequent Don Dohler personality George Stover also contributed to this magazine as a scribe.  

Swap Meet Finds: The Video!

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Don't Torture A Duckling (Non si sevizia un paperino) (1972) - Dutch Sunrise Tapes VHS

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Roger Avary's "lost" liner notes for Dawn of the Dead (1978)

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This isn't exactly "lost", but here's liner notes for Romero's Dawn of the Dead by filmmaker Roger Avary. These appear on the reverse cover of Anchor Bay's 1999 Theatrical Cut VHS. The front and back cover match the studio's DVD seen here. This never made it to that release and Avary went on to provide a "fan" commentary for the Divimax release of Day of the Dead.

The $130 VHS of Zombi 3...

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An auction for this Mexican tape of the Bruno Mattei/Claudio Fragasso/Lucio Fulci-directed Zombi 3 (1988) ended on eBay this past weekend for a recession fuck you winning bid of $133.50. The seller, despite mostly selling women's clothing, left the semi-knowledgeable description below. I figured I'd throw both the text and cover pictures up here for future reference after the listing is eventually taken down. My measly maximum bid of one fifty dollar bill was easily surpassed...ya win some, ya lose some...
     

"VIDEOMAX was Mexico's number two videocassette distributors, they were responsible for the most obscure horror titles, like the rare Evil Dead 2 version never seen in the US (actually this is Evil Dead, see here). They release most of their titles with Clamshell boxes and they distinguish themselves by changing the traditional rectangular label for a square colorful label with the cover art printed on top. EL ZOMBI was one of their last VHS titles."

Click for my thoughts on A Day of Violence (2009) at Blood Sprayer!

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Congratulations Piranha 3D!...errmm...wait a minute...

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Last evening, before the box office tallies rolled in, I was expecting to do up a little congratulatory entry here over Alexandre Aja's Piranha 3D either topping the charts or at least breaking into the top three. Sadly, this wasn't to be, and the French director's latest tanked with a 6th position at ten million. Horror, especially silly self-referential horror like this, usually doesn't produce sleepers that gain strength at the domestic box office. What can I say, the average movie-goer simply doesn't get that the genre can be knowingly fun, entertaining, and terrifying at the same time. So I wouldn't be surprised to see a complete slide off the U.S. top ten next week, but ya never know. It also appears some idiots are astonished the film is receiving such high praise. And I say fuck 'em if they don't get it. They never will. Although this failure doesn't bode well for Resident Evil: Afterlife and Saw 3D's chances. It might even kill one or both of the franchises; regardless of being shot in 3D or post-3Ded.

Naturally, I didn't help Piranha 3D by staying home and parking my ass in front of the tube (well, digital light projector) for other fare. Isn't it funny how the features that set the online horror community abuzz almost always collapse? To be honest, I'm not too keen on 3D's higher ticket price and effect with my migraine tendencies. If anything, 3D projection should be limited for only the effect scenes with markers for the audience to throw on their glasses with the rest in normal, high resolution 2D. I couldn't imagine sitting through an hour and a half of what probably amounts to over 90% of 2D material anyway. It doesn't help that I'm hearing most if not all equipped theaters are only showing this particular example in 3D-only. I'll wait for the Blu-ray and hope for the inclusion of a standard "flat" version. Can I please appreciate Kelly Brook's ass in glorious, non-color aberrated 1080p, Dimension?

In other tidbits, I figured I'd quickly cover a few flicks I've seen recently but haven't covered here. The first being Slumber Party Massacre II (1987). I enjoyed this fractured slasher quite a bit, and this analysis over at The House of Glib is tremendous. I'm unsure if writer/director Deborah Brock really intended her sequel to be that psychologically deep. If so, then she's some sorta criminally unheralded genius. Regardless, its a fun read after seeing what could be an amazingly accomplishment, happy accident, or (most likely) pleasing '80s hacker ineptness.

Moving up to this year, I watched Breck Eisner's The Crazies on BD a few weeks ago. It was okay, but really just another slam bang mainstream horror outing under the guise of being sold as intelligent. You know, some quiet, an action setpiece, more quiet, another sudden scare, and so forth. Apparently, none of the hard cultural bite of Romero's 1973 precursor to his Dawn of the Dead exists in 2010. I inexplicably hate Radha Mitchell's face as well and didn't care for the subtle inference of hunters being one infection from hunting humans. Or something.

Lastly, I popped in VCI Entertainment's VHS of Gargoyles (1972) last night. '70s television movies were unusually great and this sci-fi/horror potboiler is no exception. Great make-up for the period by Stan Winston with some effective desert atmosphere. A young Scott Glenn appears as a dirt biker wrongfully accused of attacks perpetrated by roaming cave gargoyles intent on destroying mankind. Goofy, tame, with a fizzling conclusion, yet definitely entertaining. VCI's DVD/VHS releases are out-of-print and selling for ridiculous prices. Certainly not worth those rates and poking around has yielded the film being released on tape no less than three times in the '90s. So it can't be that difficult to find; the two VCI tapes uncovered in my travels were under a buck each.

On a final note, a few long days are impending at work, so at best updates might be regulated to cover scans this week. I'm working on a little piece for The Blood Sprayer on Darren Ward's latest, A Day of Violence, so stay tuned for that.   

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The Video Dead (1987) - British 1987 Medusa Home Video VHS

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This was from eBay and I was surprised to be the only bidder given the collector's market popularity of the U.S. tape. The Video Dead has really grown on me over the past few viewings. If there ever was a strangely "quaint" example of a zombie feature (besides the totally crap Return of the Living Dead: Part 2), this little made-for-video feature is it. Some of my thoughts and details on the campaign to get MGM to unlock the film from its analog video bounds can be found here.

In regards to this PAL VHS from Medusa Home Video (BBFC listing here), I'm unsure if this was common for the studio, but the cover is double-sided. I had no idea until some Goo Gone got in between the large clamshell case and plastic cover while cleaning. I could see Medusa's logo through the wet spot (this solution doesn't stain once dried) and sure enough the "red" cover below was hiding on the reverse. Pretty cool surprise I must say!