Once Upon a Time in the West on Blu-ray and What's New in the Restored Version...

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I first saw Leone's western swan song back when AMC stood for American Movie Classics and not Another Mediocre Channel. Before Paramount's highly anticipated DVD in 2003, the network debuted a new restoration carried out by Lowry Digital of the 165 minute version. By then I grew up on Leone's prior Dollars trilogy, but never particularity warmed to the genre. Once Upon a Time in the West helped in my reevaluation and appreciation of the western; spaghetti or otherwise.

There's been annals written about Leone, his westerns, and this meditation of a transitioning Old West facing steam-powered change. It's tough to state anything that hasn't already been said other than this is an exceptional film regardless of genre. It doesn't matter even if you hate westerns, you need to make a note to see this one.

Once Upon... is iconoclastic toward lighthearted trends Leone himself helped mold with Eastwood's European trips. In this bleak departure, everything is set back to an "idealized realism" seen in the work of Leone's idol, John Ford, to which the Italian filmmaker directly borrows elements from (among others) for this picture. For this, like with Tarantino's features, those critical question the "purity" of the expansive western Leone always wanted to make. I say who cares when the result is so magnificent irrespective of whether one believes it's a stylized rip of classic American westerns or a loving, epic homage to them. I'm siding with the latter considering Leone's professed love of both the real and cinematic Old West. If you haven't already, see Once Upon a Time in the West as soon as possible...or revisit it once more.

And that's exactly what I did last night with Paramount's still warm-off-the-press Blu-ray release. Before I get to my thoughts on video quality, let me preface this by saying I've seen Once Upon... more times than I care to admit. Upon hearing of Paramount's initial DVD, I ordered their French disc since it came out several months before the North American release (the film was a monolithic smash hit in France). Then the stateside 2-DVD Collector's Edition, the old Paramount widescreen LaserDisc, the longer CVC Italian language-only disc from Italy, and most recently the single-disc re-issue. I'd like to think I have a little more perspective on what the film generally looks like than someone fresh to it.

The 1080p, MPEG-4 AVC-encoded 2.35:1 Techniscope transfer is a bit controversial on A/V forums. There's been talk about the picture quality not being all that it could be, possibly from the age of the restoration, but honestly the more I watch the better it looks. Paramount's DVD had considerable edge enhancement which created artificial line halos around objects giving the false impression of detail.

Thankfully, this tinkering is completely absent along with any signs of moderate to heavy noise reduction (unlike MGM's embarrassing The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Blu-ray). That doesn't rule out what looks like some mild low pass filtering that was probably done before the master was transferred to Blu-ray. As a result, grain takes on a slightly clumpy appearance that doesn't seem to hamper detail. That said, shots that were always soft; like Cardinale's close-ups after the duel, are still soft. Fleeting signs of damage are in the usual spots. Added detail from the bump to high definition is always obvious and contributes noticeably to a better sense of depth. Colors seemed to have been normalized and lack the slight yellow appearance of the prior DVD. Harmonica's climatic flashback has a subtle and unexplainable greenish tint. Overall, Once Upon... has never looked better on home video and it's questionable how superior a newer telecine of the restoration would be. Although it remains to be seen what the Italians do with their eventual Blu-ray edition...

Again, unlike MGM's G,B,&U, the lossless English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 retains the original foley sound effects from every footstep to pistol blast. Despite being a upmix, the sound remains front-heavy and surprisingly dynamic for a late '60s soundtrack. The included "restored" English mono sounds muffled by comparison. All of the supplements of the Collector's Edition DVD have been ported over.

Finally, what's this about "restored" and "theatrical" versions being included? Well, it's unfortunately a bust. The Blu-ray has seamless branching, so the 165 minute theatrical version is the "base" and if selected, the added minute of new footage of the restored version is added back in. So in reality, both versions are restored. The problem is the new stuff only equals roughly 22 seconds.

The restored version carries a 17 second text intro informing of who's responsible for this presentation. That only leaves an additional 22 seconds of actual footage. The only addition I can spot is a few seconds when the train pulls up in the beginning, Elam scans the length a little longer as Al Mulock taps his holster before Elam signals the three to start converging together (Frayling's DVD commentary goes silent during this). This snippet was previously only seen on the Italian DVD and I have no idea why it's included on this Blu-ray when that DVD has eleven minutes of new footage and some differing musical ques (detailed here by yours truly) compared to any Paramount release. This shouldn't be the reason to grab this Blu, the A/V presentation is definitely the main course and well worth the $15 price range...

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Black Valor (Savage!) (1973) - 1988 Simitar/Bingo Video VHS

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Absolutely ridiculous (i.e. - awesome) and unrelated "urban" artwork for one of the great Cirio H. Santiago's first American/Filipino co-productions originally entitled Savage!. A watchable trash collision between Blaxploitation, jungle backdrop explosions, and faceless little brown soldiers twirling to the sound of gunfire. James Iglehart as lead sports the fashion-conscious duo of short afro and thick muttonchops with Lada Edmund and Carol Speed looking pretty whilst delivering Shakespearean level dialogue (and boobies). I doubt we'll see Shout Factory! ever issue this one into the Roger Corman Collection...

When digging around for information on Savage!, you might notice most references point to Don Julian's funky score. It is indeed excellent being the kind of orchestration so good that it "lays" on top of scenes making the visuals even more embarrassing. As usual with Simitar or Bingo Video tapes, the EP-speed cassette seems to just barely play properly...                    

Finally, Leone's masterpiece arrives on Blu-ray today...

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Night Life (1989) - 1990 RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video VHS

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Will Sony ever give this forgotten little light fare zombie comedy the time of day on disc?

Retribution (1987) - 1989 Virgin Vision Alternate Cover VHS

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Maybe I was too hard on Guy Magar's Retribution when reviewing the Japanese VHS awhile ago. Watching it now in the background, the concept of a suicidal man's soul swapped with a stranger's spirit that's screaming for vengeance over his own brutal murder during a near death experience is certainly a novel idea. The gory murders perpetrated by the survivor and his quest to discover the truth behind his visions and possession could make for a compelling horror outing.

It's still weighed down by a miscast Dennis Lipscomb, unrealistic love interest, and lengthy duration. Not to mention the damn MPAA cuts to the splatter. Regardless, I snagged a tape this morning featuring a different cover than the usual Virgin Vision VHS. Both the cover and cassette give no indication of being a screener, promo, or otherwise special from the "regular" version. Anyone else own or ever see this cover?

Alternate Cover TOP | "Standard" Cover BOTTOM 

The Horror of the Passover Seder!

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Not to sound like I'm discrediting one's choice of worship, but religious videos of any denomination often don't date well with time. The best titles are lurid exposés that scorn once popular media like hair metal or '80s horror as a scourge upon youths with hindsight making the targets seem innocuous today. They're mostly produced regionally or by mail order and in very small numbers. So when you come across an interesting one, usually for the wrong reasons, it's always best to pick it up.

I found this one this morning, a video chronicling a Jewish Passover Seder, and I had to do a double take at the cover. The blood dripping down the title, the sacrificed lamb with its throat torn open, Jesus with the build of Van Damme slathering a door's edges with its blood, and a spooky green hand coming down from the skies. I had to stop and ponder "Is this a horror movie?!" upon first glance. The art looks more suited for a metal t-shirt!

My "New" VCR, How I Fixed It, and Other Helpful Tips...

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Buyers of old home theater equipment have surely heard this line before, "I'm selling it for a friend who upgraded...". And anyone who bought whatever it was are probably aware of the inevitable outcome once plugged into an outlet. My guess is the seller can justify passing off a broken VCR, DVD player, or whatever by saying this line at the time of purchase. Thinking that the buyer might blame this phantom "friend" and not be able to come back to complain to him about his supposed friend's junk.

Whatever the case, I encountered this situation last Saturday. This Sony SLV-770HF VCR was sitting at a yard sale with a chunk of cardboard proclaiming "VHS $5.00". I immediately knew it was one of Sony's higher end models from the front panel's dropdown door and electroluminescent display. This deck also has a rewind mode dubbed "Hi-Speed Rewind" which like old VCRs places the tape back into the cassette for rewinding instead of running the tape against the drum and through the machine at lightening speed (less wear and tear).

In spite of hearing that infamous line, the unit looked too good cosmetically and the price was low enough to take the gamble. Sure enough, upon ejecting an old blank that was already inside, the eject mechanism labored and the tape barely popped out. Pulling the cassette out revealed ribbons of eaten tape unspooled inside the machine. Sometimes the VCR would make a few noises in protest and immediately spit the tape back out. This is why it's never a good idea to ever quickly pull a tape out of a VCR. Ya just never know...

Now what? It's a tape eater! The worst thing to an avid collector who wants to enjoy their collection through its original purpose. Popping the case off, I suspected a particular piece to be the culprit and was proven right. One of the guide pins, the metal posts that pull the tape from the cassette into the mechanism for playback, was extremely stiff when moved manually by hand.

Another blank tape sacrifice proved the half load (or return) arm (red arrow) functioned as intended at pulling the tape in, but when swinging back to eject, swung too slowly with the tape catching and wrenching out when the cassette lifted up and out. This resulted in troubled ejecting and "eaten" tapes.

Apparently this is a known issue with Sony models, but it can also apply to many other VCRs since the internal layout is standardized. The original factory grease thickens over time and clogs the arm's movement resulting in hungry VCR syndrome. The fix was simple enough. I marked the tiny hexnut that holds the arm down with a magic marker. Then I took a pair of needlenose pliers and slowly unscrewed the nut while counting the turns by the mark I made (mine was about nine turns).

Why count turns? The arm is supported by a fragile spring and counting the turns helps when re-fitting the arm back onto the post. The arm needs to be correctly aligned back or it will crimp the tape as it moves along the arm. Ever see a tape with a shredded edge that played like shit? Misalignment of this arm was the reason.

After removing the arm and being careful not to even touch the spring, I soaked the piece in some isopropyl alcohol and then scraped the dried ear wax-like "grease" out of the post hole. I dug in the garage for some Silicone Spray lubricant (easy to find) and thoroughly sprayed the hole and broke California State law by spraying my fingers directly to lub up the post in the VCR. I'd avoid spraying anything inside the VCR.

Placing the arm back in its original position (the spring's end sits under a little holding tab), nine turns of the hexnut later and another blank cassette saw that the tape was aligned properly while playing on the first try. Eject worked smoothly and the arm swung freely by hand and with the VCR's normal functions. Keep the case's screws out and tape them on the side for top in a baggie just in case you ever need to open the VCR again. Fixed, cool VCR for five bucks!

Pissed off robotic Pam Grier in the year 1999 approves of her playback device!

The Nameless (Los sin nombre) (1999) - US Echo Bridge vs. Spanish Filmax DVD

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Spanish horror filmmaker Jaume Balagueró's debut, Los sin nombre (The Nameless), acts as both his best and most irritating horror feature. Starting off extremely atmospheric, the chilling possibilities revolving around a mother's quest to find the whereabouts of her missing young daughter seem endless. A new wrinkle in what was a cold case brings her in contact with a grizzled detective and the pair set off to discover a revelation that goes far beyond the bounds of the dreaded expected. 

Like Balagueró's Darkness and Fragile: A Ghost Story, the mournful psychological side of The Nameless is exceedingly well done. It's just that the "other" side is purely contrived horror movie cliché that depressingly reveals itself as the film precedes. The twists become groan-inducing and the immense, building tension deflates at the cornball climax. This shouldn't stop anyone from seeing The Nameless, just temper that initial feeling of promise. As always, it's more tragic to settle for good within spitting distance of great than to merely flatline at mediocre. Fortunately, REC and its sequel(s) see Balagueró finding his footing at pure horror/action with only dollops of what make his three prior films ultimately frustrating.           

As for Echo Bridge's new Miramax re-release; it's the usual no-supplement, stereo audio (English dub-only), and overall rushed cheapie we're coming to expect. The anamorphic transfer is interlaced and zoomed in (to the left), but the interesting aspect is how different the color is compared to the Filmax. The palette is vastly more natural and the image lacks the heavy noise reduction and aliasing that plagues the Spanish disc. The EB disc also boasts the film's Catalan title, Els sense nom, in the opening credits.

Although since the Filmax is the DVD of The Nameless's country of origin and Balagueró is all over the two disc's worth of supplements; it's a safe bet the very bleached and very crushed blacks of the Spanish Collector's Edition presentation is accurate to the director's intentions. A shame about the DNR, but the Filmax is the way to go for the original subtitled language, anamorphic transfer, and DTS 5.1 audio (DVDCompare's listing is incorrect).

Echo Bridge U.S. TOP / Filmax Spanish BOTTOM

High Crime (La polizia incrimina la legge assolve) (1973) - 1983 The Nostalgia Merchant VHS

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This might be the most prized tape in my collection. Not only is this a fantastic film (where's the DVD?), but this particular video release is extremely rare and one of the first I picked up years ago long before the hoarding started. This is also one the "I've been doing this for twenty-five years..." titles a certain video dealer swore didn't exist. Don't ask me why James Whitmore is doubled on the back!?

John Carpenter's The Ward - Theatrical (or DTV?) Trailer

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Looks from a sketchy source, watch it while you can before pulled!

To Truly Appreciate VHS Horror, One Must Immerse into the Analog...

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I've been looking for a small cathode ray tube dinosaur for some time now. Part of the reasoning is the whole retro video thing that I'm obviously into if this blog is any indication. While it's certainly nice that HDTVs currently support composite video for formats like VHS and LD, watching old horror flicks on these archaic sets are what I remember from growing up. Plus dead formats, even DVD to a certain extent, were originally designed to look best on CRT sets. So it just made sense to be on the outlook for a set in good cosmetic and working order. Especially since practically no one else cares anymore.

Several weeks ago, I was at a thrift shop and came across a 13" Sony Trinitron KV-1379R from the mid '80s for twenty-five bucks. I was instantly fond of the "cute" styling of the ancient television. Upon closer inspection, someone had broken off the set's rabbit ears and the top's plastic wood grain finish looked hit with an electric sander. So that was no deal and the last time I saw the poor thing it was relocated in a corner with a bad crack across its curved screen.

This past weekend at the first swap meet I stopped off at, down the very first aisle, sat another 13" Sony that looked virtually identical--a KV1370R. After looking through the entire place, I trekked back and there it still sat, lonely and trembling over its fate. Pretty good shape, missing the wireless remote, but I couldn't get the best look with the sellers hovering over like vultures for some reason.

How much? A measly three dollars. It was just up to me whether I wanted to carry it back. Needless to say there I am, pushing through gawking crowds cradling a television most would throw in a dumpster. For the price, I figured that's where I could chuck it if the thing ended up being a paperweight. It's amazing how much awkward attention arises when showing interest in dead technology. It was like I was carrying a wounded child or something by the looks.

Getting home, I took the time to look over and clean the set. Turned out to be in surprisingly great condition for supposedly pulling kitchen duty for years. Hardly any marks on the plastic wood grain shell and zero scratches on its screen. Just the usual hardened finger sludge on the buttons and a broken plastic latch on the front picture control door. After some wiping and some scrambling for an open outlet, the big test arrived. Hitting the power button, I was greeted with a satisfying "click", some crackling, and after a few seconds the screen glowed a bright white with the word "VIDEO" in the upper right hand corner.

Like many vintage NES consoles, the set still works and it's awesome. Perfect for its new purpose of emitting horror and exploitation images of all sorts. There's knob controls for Hue, Color, Brightness, Picture (old term for Contrast), Cable On/Off, and buttons for adding and erasing channels. An illustrious mono speaker is at the top of the cabinet and actually doesn't sound bad despite its weird placement. On the back; a cable jack, composite video jack, and a single audio jack. A headphone jack is located on the front panel along with power, volume, channel, and TV/Cable buttons.

I wanted to hook it up the my RCA VDT-600 VCR (see my video here), but that deck is substantially larger and heavier than this TV. I'd have to have a dining room size table to sit them both together. So my DVD/VCR combo is playing the part. I might eventually haul out my CED and back-up LaserDisc players to let them join in on the fun. What's old is new again indeed. Gaze upon the retro radiation!

Night of the Creeps (1986) - 1986 HBO/Cannon Video VHS

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After two bootleg DVDs, HBO's LaserDisc, Japanese VHS, and Blu-ray...I've finally found the tape!

It's Getting Warm in Here: Tanya Roberts in Tourist Trap (1979)

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Sometimes you encounter slasher girl fodder that is more disarmingly beautiful than usual. Tanya Roberts in David Schmoeller's Tourist Trap starring a gone batshit doll-making Chuck Conners in need of a paycheck is a definite example. In a glorious case of female objectification; on the grounds of "teh hawtness", Ms. Roberts ranks along side Marianne Walter in The Toolbox Murders (1978) starring a gone batshit flesh-craftsmen Cameron Mitchell in need of alcohol money.

But Schmoeller's paranormal slash creeper has more class, directed with confidence and anchored by the great Pino Donaggio turning in another fantastic, atmospheric score. Often forgotten in conversation even to many horror fans, amazingly Hollywood's "re-imagining" brigades haven't yet come to cannibalize. Also considering its age and Full Moon's usual wishy-washy quality, their DVD looks surprisingly strong barring consistent film damage. Getting back to Tanya, no wonder she went on to become the Beastmaster's main squeeze and a (not as attractive as here) Bond girl...     

Video: This Morning's Swap Meet Finds

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Decent haul this morning after a rocky start... 

Murderock - uccide a passo di danza (1984) - DomoVideo VHS (NTSC Version)

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The rare NTSC-compatible variant of Italian distributor DomoVideo's Murder Rock. Lucio Fulci's often derided giallo/slasher answer to the Flashdance craze. This tape does indeed playback normally on my North American VCR, but presumably to cater to Italian speaking communities abroad, the language is Italian with no subtitles. Based on the memory of seeing Shriek Show's DVD years back, the presentation appears uncut, and interestingly the (roughly) 1.66:1 widescreen framing shifts from shot-to-shot.

The Price to Enter the QuadeaD Zone?

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Here's an incredibly scarce tape that ended on eBay last week while creating a stir in collector circles. Chester N. Turner is primarily "known" to a small niche of obsessive trash aficionados for 1984's Black Devil Doll from Hell. Several years later, Turner unleashed his anthology, Tales from the Quadead Zone, in '87 onto an unsuspecting world and then simply vanished from the illustrious landscape of bargain basement genre filmmaking.

Both of his shot-on-video features are tremendously awful spectacles, but they're also strangely ahead of their time. As self-produced examples of African American Horror, Turner crafted both in a decade in which "black horror" was basically non-existent since blaxploitation's heyday and its belated resurrection with the excellent Tales from the Hood in 1995.

That doesn't save Turner's productions from unintentional, almost otherworldly hilarity. The real story here is how rare the tapes of these two are. Black Devil Doll... is quite rare, but Quadead Zone's tape is like finding an albino hermaphrodite quad-amputee who runs marathons on pirate peg legs.

Both were produced in small quantities by Turner and presumably distributed around rental joints in the filmmaker's area (like Tim Ritter's early projects), making them even harder-to-find. The price this go-around for what might be the rarest North American VHS after 36 bids? $660. The Thrifty Peanut and their $1.99 sticker never even knew what hit them...      

Rebellion (Equilibrium) (2002) - 2006 Toshiba Entertainment Japan HD DVD

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Since the premature death of Toshiba's format, there's been several Blu-ray releases of Kurt Wimmer's Carpenter-esqe dystopian gun-fetish action extravaganza. However, this HD DVD remains one of the best options. The Canadian and British BDs are improperly framed at 1.85:1 while the new Echo Bridge BD is 1.78:1 (along with only stereo audio!?). There's also a Dutch BD in the correct aspect ratio with lossless DTS audio that lacks any extras.

This Japanese Toshiba HD DVD and Sony's subsequent Blu-ray are in the original 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Both retain the supplements of Buena Vista's DVD along with several Japanese trailers for the film. The Blu-ray has the advantages of lossless Dolby TrueHD and a higher bitrate, but both are from the same master with very little visible difference.

Like Shochiku's Fragile: A Ghost Story HD DVD (see here), this disc is encoded in MPEG-4 AVC at 1080i with Dolby Plus 5.1. I still have no idea why so many Japanese HD DVDs were handicapped this way despite the format's full 1080p/lossless audio capability. Yet another reason to clutch onto my HD DVD players...