DVD & BLU RAY REVIEWS
Reviews by JAIME PINA
Tombs Of The Blind Dead
Synapse Films
I sometimes feel that, although highly regarded, Amando de Ossorio’s creepy masterpiece Tombs Of The Blind Dead is often not given enough respect. Ossorio admits an influence from George A. Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead but somehow this truly extraordinary picture deserves a special place in the realm of undead cinema even as it exists under the shadow of Romero’s film. As it expands on Romero’s blueprint it is unique and disturbing on its own terms. A young woman is on vacation and meets up with an old female friend. She invites her along with her male vacation partner on a camping trip via train but when the male friend starts flirting she throws a snit and hops off the train not knowing that the area she is now stranded in is supposedly haunted by an undead sect executed for heresy. The priests’ eyes were pecked away by birds while they were on the gallows hence the title. The scenes of terror are grueling and relentless and while the effects are sometimes not quite convincing the aura of horror created by Ossorio is so compelling that it is easily overlooked. The final image is simple but leaves the viewer with a sense of deep dread.
This double disc from Synapse is excellent as the picture and sound on the main feature are outstanding. Extras include a Spanish language track as well as a hybrid English track with Spanish in the undubbed sections. There are a couple of commentaries and a brilliant documentary on the film and other Spanish undead films. One of the truly odd extras in the history of home video history is the inclusion of an alternate US credits sequence that tries to tie the film with the Planet Of The Apes series! Also included is a trailer, a music video and a featurette on Spanish horror films. The second disc contains the truncated US cut of the film.
Barbarella
Arrow Films/MVD
Made in 1968 and directed by Roger Vadim, Jane Fonda stars as the heroine from the French Sc-Fi comic by Jean-Claude Forest. While it may have been controversial at the time of release the film seems thoroughly tame by today’s standards but can still be enjoyed for its camp value, interesting photography and color schemes and a young Jane Fonda with big hair. The plot has something to do with a scientist named Durand Durand who has created a weapon in an age when they no longer exist. Barbarella is sent to find the scientist and along the way she meets a blind angel (played by my main man John Phillip Law) and Anita Pallenberg with an eyepatch.
The film tries to be funny and sexy but comes nowhere near other comedies from the 60’s involving sex like What’s New, Pussycat? or even The Nutty Professor. It comes off more like the misfire film version of Terry Southern’s book Candy, a fun bit of a mess with no real teeth. Southern also worked on the script for this film and was approached about a sequel that was never made.
Arrow’s Blu-ray looks fantastic with the crazy colors and cheeseball special effects all popping from the screen. Fonda’s credit sequence anti-gravity striptease never looked better. This is a two-disc set with the main feature on disc one and the extras on this include English and French mono with a new surround remix, alternate credits, a commentary and an isolated music score. Disc two is jam packed full of more extras than you could ever want so if you are a hardcore Barbarella fan then this is like the holy grail. Also included are art cards and a poster.
Tenebrae
Synapse Films
Italian maestro Dario Argento began his film career as a writer including a story credit on Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West. Eventually he started directing films from his own screenplays sometimes collaborating with other writers but keeping things relatively intimate. He made “giallo” films meaning Italian murder dramas with extremely unpleasant scenes of violence. Argento’s kill films were like fine ballets with a lot of blood. In 1977 he made his first horror feature combining supernatural shocks with a giallo mentality. In 1982 he made this film and it marked his return to straight-up giallo films.
Anthony Franciosa (Across 110th Street, TV’s Matt Helm) plays a mystery writer on a promotional trip for his new book titled Tenebre (or Darkness). A maniac starts a murder spree and leaves notes with the author claiming he has been influenced to kill by his work. John Saxon (Enter The Dragon, A Nightmare On Elm Street) and Daria Niccolodi (Schock, Scarlet Diva) play his agent and assistant. To top it off Giuliano Gemma (A Pistol For Ringo, Day Of Anger) is the detective questioning the author about the case. As the killer keeps reaching out to the author he gets dragged into the whole mess of bloody murder.
All of Argento’s films look gorgeous and the 4K transfer here seems pristine. In the scene where the killer washes blood off his razor under running water the picture is so crisp you can feel the water on the steel. And the broken glass in the axe in the head scene shines like it is on your living room floor. The soundtrack, while credited to individual members but also referenced as a Goblin score, sounds deep and punchy. The film can be enjoyed in Italian with English subtitles or English and there are commentaries and several featurettes. Also included is a feature length documentary called Yellow Fever: The Rise And Fall Of The Giallo, interviews, trailers and more. Disc one has the 4K Ultra Blu-ray and disc two is the standard Blu-ray with all the extras included.