DVD & BLU RAY REVIEWS
Reviews by JAIME PINA
Inside The Mind Of Coffin Joe
Arrow Films/MVD
Jose´ Mojica Marins is a unique filmmaker from Brazil who is also known by his alter ego Ze´ do Caixåo aka Coffin Joe. Coffin Joe is a character from Marins’ first horror film At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul and with his signature hat, cloak, beard and long nails he is as iconic as Jason or Freddy only with spiritual overtones. Sometimes censored and heavily criticized for the sacrilegious rhetoric spouted by the character, the Coffin Joe trilogy resonates with cult film fans and Goth and Metal rockers alike. Coffin Joe is sworn to fun and loyal to none and dresses like an Elder Goth.
This excellent box set from Arrow includes the Coffin Joe trilogy (At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul, This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse and Embodiment Of Evil), The End Of Man, and the sequel When The Gods Fall Asleep, the murder thriller Hellish Flesh and four films featuring Coffin Joe but not part of the trilogy. I believe this is the first time the trilogy and the related Coffin Joe films have been conveniently available all together in one set. Some of the films appear to be basement level productions while the first two films in the trilogy, produced in 1963 and 1967, are effectively put together and photographed and the final film was produced on a decent budget in 2008 and looks great.
If you already have the coffin-shaped DVD box set and the individual titles and wonder if you need to upgrade the answer is yes. This box set not only comes in a great looking package but is chock full of extras. The films are spread over 6 discs with At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul and Embodiment Of Evil, the first and final Coffin Joe films, getting single discs packed with extras and the other films are paired in order of release. Oddly missing is The Bloody Exorcism Of Coffin Joe. Each disc is crammed with essential documentaries, Marins’ early work, commentaries, trailers and much more. The films are all from new 4K transfers from the best available sources and a book and poster are included.
The Day Of The Locust
Arrow Films/MVD
Based on the book by Nathanael West and directed by John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy, Marathon Man), this film is known as a scathing look at the seediness of the Hollywood filmmaking machine of the 1930’s. Released to mixed reviews in 1975, the film is now thought of as an excellent film as well as a valid critique of Hollywood’s dark underbelly. William Atherton (Ghostbusters, Die Hard) plays a Hollywood hopeful who has just come to town and in his newly rented apartment building he is surrounded by offbeat people also hoping to make it big in “the pictures”. He spots Karen Black (Trilogy Of Terror, Burnt Offerings) giving herself a pedicure on the front lawn, learns that she is an aspiring actress and gets involved with her and her weirdo associates leading to ugliness and ruin. The film is littered with interesting actors including Donald Sutherland, Burgess Meredith, Geraldine Page and Bo Hopkins. Even little Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Barty and director William Castle appear! The film is beautifully photographed during the daytime scenes but the night scenes seem sinister. In the evening is usually when the ugliness occurs.
Arrow presents the film from a new 2K transfer and it looks and sounds excellent. There are plenty of extras including sound options, interviews, commentaries from various crew members, a booklet and more.
The Warriors
Arrow Films/MVD
Director and writer Walter Hill had already proven himself as someone who could deliver with his early writing success with Sam Peckinpah’s The Getaway and The Drowning Pool with Paul Newman. In the director’s chair he scored with the excellent bare knuckle boxing period piece Hard Times with Charles Bronson and James Coburn and The Driver with Ryan O’Neal. So in
in 1979 he could pick his projects or write something and direct it himself. He chose to make a film set in New York involving street gangs.
This is not your ordinary gang film. It is grounded in reality unlike gang films like A Clockwork Orange and These Are The Damned but it has more in common with those films than say The Wild One with Brando. In addition to wearing their “colors” to identify the gangs, their turf and their certain style, these guys are ready for Halloween. The Baseball Furies are the most recognized by the casual movie fan as they wear baseball jerseys with Kiss-like face make-up. The Warriors are from Coney Island and decide to attend a meeting in The Bronx during a gang truce. Things go wrong and the truce is off and every gang in New York is gunning for the Warriors as they try to make their way back to Coney Island.
Hill keeps the pace brisk and there is danger around every corner even when it seems there isn’t. Sex is used to lure the members to ruin and even when they negotiate with a small-time gang to pass through their turf with no issue things go wrong. There are several iconic scenes in the film including the speech by Cyrus (“CAN YOU DIG IT?”), the bit of the subway when the kids coming from the prom in tuxedos and gowns sit across from Swan and Mercy and then quickly exit and of course, the unforgettable bit with Luther clanging the bottles together while calling out the Warriors.
This box set has been highly anticipated because of the unavailability of the theatrical cut. The only release of the film on DVD I can remember was the redux version with the animation. The 4K remaster of the original here looks fantastic. As soon as you see the shot of Coney Island at night you know you are in good hands with Arrow on the case. And the excellent soundtrack
featuring the uplifting “In The City” sung by Joe Walsh is booming. Extras include a new interview with Walter Hill, a roundtable discussion with filmmakers discussing their love for the film, a look at the costumes and film score, an isolated music track and much, much more. Included on disc two is the redux version. This set is an absolute must have for fans of the film. The box set is available in both Blu-ray and Ultra-HD versions.