Blu-ray debut for Richard Kelly's ever-more-pertinent cult classic, SOUTHLAND TALES

Fifteen years have passed since SOUTHLAND TALES, the follow-up film to Richard Kelly's now cult classic Donnie Darko, made its theatrical debut. 

Back in 2006, TrustMovies found the film alternately bewildering and fun. As I recall, the movie also marked the passing of the name of one of its stars, The Rock, into the more mainstream moniker of Dwayne Johnson (his co-stars were the then-very-hot Sarah Michelle Gellar and Seann William Scott). 

Mr. Kelly, meanwhile, has written and directed only one other movie since then, The Box (from 2009). This seems to me a great waste, as all three of his films may be flawed, but they are also fascinating. Southland Tales, in fact, holds up much better now, I believe, than it seemed to upon release. Times have, unfortunately, caught up with the movie, and it turns out that Kelly (shown at right) was either prescient or remarkably ahead of his time.

His plot, if you can even quite call it that, both sci-fi-ish and political, has to do with travel between dimensions and the fight between right-wing fascists and left-wing neo-Marxists for the power and soul of the USA. Very big deals, right? Yet Kelly seems more amused by it all than overly worked up. And while his sympathies may lie more with the left than the right, he makes fun of both their methodologies, while making the most of his very game cast -- the supporting roles of which are played by some of our crème de la crème of comic actors (then and now).

Kelly also makes the most of the sex appeal (as well as the general appeal) of his three stars. Johnson (above, left) and Scott (at right) shine brightest here, though Gellar (below), in a lesser role, is certainly good enough. 

The filmmaker's tone is remarkably consistent in its goofiness, and this is where those supporting actors prove most important. Crazy as things get -- do they ever -- performers such as Nora Dunn (below), Jon Lovitz, Amy Poehler, John Larroquette and Beth Grant keep things humming and on track throughout. 

Wallace Shawn and Bai Ling (below, left and right) are used delightfully, too, as is the late Zelda Rubinstein (further below). Even as the "plot" keeps spinning off grid, the enjoyment of watching these actors strut their stuff keeps us happily bouncing along. 

From the outset Southland Tales is apocalyptic (think climate change, even if the movie puts it elsewhere), while the behavior of its generally crazy characters is often violent and close-to-scary. Timely, right?  

Further, the willingness of most of the characters -- politicians, military, police -- to embrace this terrible scenario also proves a little too close for comfort. If Kelly and his script is serious about anything, that would be our back-then-current -- and fuck-it-all, still current -- mid-east wars. 

The film's narrator (and perhaps the actual main character), a wounded vet played by Justin Timberlake (above) gets a kind of musical number for himself and his hot-girl chorus that is both wonderful and downright depressing.

Finally, though, it's the charisma, charm and sheer sex appeal of the three stars that bring the movie home. When one woman places a gun to her head and tells the character played by Johnson that if she can't suck his dick, she's going to pull the trigger, I suspect you'll know exactly how she feels. Then, once satisfied, what the hell, we'll be ready for that apocalypse.

From Arrow Video (distributed here in the USA via MVD Entertainment Group) and running 158 minutes (in the Cannes Festival cut) and 145 minutes (the theatrical cut) -- both are included on this two-disc 2K restoration set, approved by director Kelly and director of photography Stephen Poster, which also includes some nice Bonus features -- Southland Tales hit the street for purchase this past January. My copy, however, did not arrive until last week. Hence the late reporting. Click here for more information on the release.

Blu-ray debut for Philip Ridley's 1990 cult classic, THE REFLECTING SKIN

Early in the excellent "making-of" bonus feature on the new Blu-ray of THE REFLECTING SKIN, writer/ director Philip Ridley (shown below) posits that some movies pull you in immediately and hold you because you are simply drawn to them, while with others, you need to actively reach out; inclusion won't be automatic. His film, Ridley maintains, is of the latter variety, and TrustMovies would definitely agree. I've seen the movie twice now, and while I can appreciate many things about it, I must admit that I am not a huge fan. For me, Ridley's 2010 film, Heartless, is much more memorable: original, hypnotic, mystifying and unforgettable.

The main reason for rejoicing at this new Blu-ray release is the transfer itself. Finally, The Reflecting Skin can be seen in all its gorgeous cinematic glory. The photography, by two-time Oscar nominee Dick Pope, is extraordinary. The opening scene alone -- a golden field of wheat  -- should produce a gasp and a need for sunglasses, so blindingly beautiful is it to view.

The writer/director also has a great eye for casting; in the three of Ridley's films I've seen, each character, along with the actor who plays him/her, seem indelible, memorable, and near-perfectly cast.

The three leads in The Reflecting Skin are played by Jeremy Cooper (above), as the central character, a mischievous young boy with a vivid imagination and too much time on his hands; Viggo Mortensen (below), as his older brother, just now returning from active duty in the armed forces during the time of the atom bomb testings in the Pacific;

and Lindsay Duncan (below, center) as the British widow who lives more or less next door, in this tiny, two-horse town on the prairie. The themes tossed around in the film -- the atom bomb, angels, the afterlife, love, sexuality, family, responsibility, serial killers in a black Cadillac and, yes, vampires -- are rather clunkily assembled so that, while we "get it," some of us are still not apt to care all that much. (Heartless weaves a much more bizarre, mysterious and entrancing tale with as many oddball themes but with much more artfulness, it seems to me.)

Still, the sheer beauty of the film, together with its fine cast, and the imagination and skill that Ridley brings to each of his projects (he also wrote the fine screenplay for The Krays) combine to make the movie a worthwhile watch -- even if you don't go away raving about its brilliance.

From Film Movement Classics, the Blu-ray and DVD -- complete with commentary and Bonus Features -- hit the street this coming Tuesday, August 13, for purchase and/or rental.

Unearthed Films digs up another fun "classic," Jean-Paul Ouellette's THE UNNAMABLE

Celebrating its 30th anniver-sary this year, the cult horror film THE UNNAMABLE -- which TrustMovies had heard of occasionally over the years but never actually seen until now -- turns out to be a bit of good, old-fashioned horror/ supernatural fun, for reasons that begin with its surprisingly well-imagined and executed "monster" and include some decent dialog, well-placed scares, and better-than-average performances from most of the cast members. (The musical score is far too over-the-top, however.)

As directed and adapted (from an H.P. Lovecraft short story) by Jean-Paul Ouellette (shown at right), the movie's main problem (today, at least) is that the tale it tells seems awfully been-there/done-that, so audiences -- cult audiences are likeliest to fall for this one -- will simply have to ignore or forgive these trespasses and stick with what makes the movie the most fun.

The late Mr. Lovecraft, whose work has been adapted or inspired into nearly 200 movies so far (according to the IMDB, at least), did have a knack for scares & fright.

He knew how to make use of "the unknown," while turning the "knowing" of it into something much worse than one's previous ignorance.

In The Unnamable, we begin maybe a couple of hundred years previous, in a large New England house in which a very naughty "being" is semi-imprisoned. When it misbehaves, carnage ensues.

Cut to present day (present day circa 1988, anyway), where a very attractive bunch of university students plus one dweeby nerd (yes, the usual suspects) are discussing the rumors surrounding that house and what they might mean.

Before you can say "pile on some more exposition," sure enough, one of the fellows (two photos above, at left) decides to explore the place. Yes, say goodbye to him. Then we meet a couple of hot and hunky frat boys (clearly quite expendable victims), who talk two female students -- one hot, the other sweet, and all four shown above -- into exploring the house with them as a ruse and a road to some nooky.

All this is followed by suspense, scares, and more gore and carnage. And a little near-sex. One of the girls, played by Laura Albert, (above), possesses one of  the nicest nipples I've seen in a long while, and her character also keeps her on pearls on during sex -- always a sign of class.

Our hero is played by an actor who went at the time by the name of Charles King (but later became Charles Klausmeyer), shown being menaced, above. He is adorable and naive and properly sexy, at least to the girl (Alexandra Durrell, below) who pines for him but whom he does not notice properly until the finale. Well, the course of true love never did run smooth, as Willie the Shake told us way back when.

Now, to get to the main reason for watching The Unnamable: that really scary, amazingly put-together monster, of whom, as befits all good horror movies, we view only snippets until fairly close to the finale, when she (yes!) appears in all her gory glory.

What a creation this one is, and despite all the ugliness, there is more than a hint of sexuality and carnal desire present here. One gets the sense that if only one of our hot and hunky young men had pulled a nice, big boner for our creature, he might have remained alive. Or at least enjoyed himself a bit before the end. Ah, well. Best not to dwell on what might have been.

From Unearthed Films and running 87 minutes, the movie hit Blu-ray and DVD last month via MVD Entertainment Group -- for purchase and (I would hope) rental. The disc is full of Bonus Features, as well (click here for details), so fans can really dig in.

VAMP: Richard Wenk's cult classic horror-comedy hits Blu-ray; Grace Jones: Yikes!

When the surprise scares-with-laughs movie, VAMP, first opened in theaters -- in the summer of 1986 -- audiences were taken with its original combination of vampire horror and charming college-kids-in-danger plot. TrustMovies had not seen it since its theatrical release (and then again when it hit videotape not long after), so he was primed to take another look, 30 years later, via the new Blu-ray release of the film from Arrow Video and MVD Entertainment. It does not disappoint.

As written and directed by Richard Wenk, shown at left (this was his first foray into full-length filmmaking), the movie has a funny, bouncy sense of humor coupled to a wealth of scares, little and large.

Many of these creepy moments come from the film's star, musical performer Grace Jones -- shown below and further below -- who was then at her peak and has the perfect role here: one that calls for no dialog, but offers a terrific dance number/performance art piece, followed by some spectacular vampire make-up. Ms Jones delivers every bit as well as does the movie itself.

The plot has to do with a couple of friends -- the sweet and silly Chris Makepeace and the uber sexy Robert Rusler -- who, in order to get into the fraternity of their choice, must arrange for some good-time girls to perform for the upper classmen. They manage to borrow the car of the class nerd, a rich kid longing for acceptance and played to goofy perfection by Gedde Watanabe, who comes along as part of the deal.

One of the great charms of this film is how it uses its tiny budget so smartly and gets much of its ambience from, of all things, colored lights and gels. It one major special effect -- other than the terrific vampire make-up -- is the way in which the little group manages to enter the netherworld. This occurs via the sudden spinning around of a car gone out of control. The effect produced is original, simple and smart.

Once in this very weird "other" place, the group encounters an adorable young woman (Dedee Pfeiffer) who seems to know the character played by Makepeace. Ms Pfeiffer turns what could be silly or too cute into something original, sassy, and very sweet. Along the way we get a rogue elevator, a family of nasty albinos (led by Billy Drago), a sad little girl with her doll (below), an ultra-skeevey club manager (Sandy Baron), some attractive strippers (the film may put you in mind of From Dusk til Dawn, though it got there a full decade before Mr. Tarantino).

The consistent alternating of laughs and scares works quite well, and the movie builds nicely to a tingly climax, with its last laugh providing a low-key but very funny moment. How sweet it is to see a film one remembers so fondly that actually holds up decades later.

From the ever-productive British firm of Arrow Video and released here in the USA via MVD Entertainment, Vamp's beautifully transferred Blu-ray disc, available now, is awash in fabulous extras, my favorite of which is a present-day interview with the film's director, Mr .Wenk, and three of its stars: Mr. Rusler, Mr. Watanabe and Ms Pfeiffer. There's also a blooper reel, image gallery, subtitles for the hard-of-hearing, plus Mr Wenk's earlier short film, Dracula Bites the Big Apple, which helped lead the filmmaker into Vamp.

Shear & Thom's WILD IN THE STREETS: this 1960s "instant classic" has aged quite well

When WILD IN THE STREETS hit cinemas back in 1968, no less a critic than the fine Renata Adler in The New York Times deemed the film a "kind of instant classic" -- you can read her entire review here -- and went on to praise it in terms that very few (if any) movies distributed by American International Pictures had ever earned. TrustMovies saw the film back in '68 and loved it, but when he viewed it again, maybe twenty years later, he felt that it didn't hold up so sturdily, after all. Well, here we are in 2016, with a certain con-man/liar with a very "loose" hold on reality running for President, and damned if the film doesn't resonate presciently -- and so entertainingly -- all over again.

Thanks to Olive Films' new Blu-ray and DVD release, those long-ago fans, as well as newcomers, can recall or find out what all the fuss was about. Some of that fuss centered on a hot new actor named Christopher Jones, above and below, who starred in the film as the pop singer-turned-business-magnate-turned-you'll-find-out who sets young America ablaze, as he sings to, then rounds up, his "troops" for a frontal and all-out assault on "aged" Americans (that would be anyone over, say, 30 or 35). Mr. Jones looked to be a sure-thing "star" and worthy successor to James Dean, but that star failed to rise. The actor was never again as well-cast and resonant as he was here, and after a few more films, for whatever reason(s), he fell off the grid.

As written by Robert Thom (from his short story) and directed by TV & film vet Barry Shear (Across 110th Street), this 97-minute movie barrels along -- with plot and incident aplenty, and a half-dozen good pop-rock songs that also feed the plot nicely -- at a speed rarely seen back in 1968. Today, the film seems much less speedy, though certainly not slow enough to bore. Even its editing (by Fred Feitshans and Eve Newman, both of whom were Oscar nominated for their work on the film), which looked amazingly fast and furious in its day, would probably need to be sped up a bit by our current standards.

Still the film's combo of politics (every bit as venal then as now), marketing (cornering the "youth" vote by lowering the voting age), drugs, sex (of more kinds that audiences were used to back in the day) and rock-and-roll -- all conceived around a fractured "family" tale that Brady Corbett's recent Childhood of a Leader might have learned from -- adds up to a remarkably entertaining and juicy look at how the USA can be manipulated for fun, profit and finally horror. And the filmmaker's clever use of documentary footage (as above) within their thrusting narrative works nicely, too.

What's missing is any hint of the income gap, the one per cent, and the rise of the corporations. But of course: This was well prior to Ronald Reagan's Presidential ascent and the beginning of our capitulation to wealth and power. But taken as an entertainment, the movie zings and sings. Its songs are fun, rhythmic and even have the melody that much of today's music has totally lost. The screenplay is wonderfully pointed and funny, and the movie's ironies are often a delight. (Watch for the little song about "campaign dinners" that a de-frocked politician -- played with relish, and then abandon, by Ed Begley -- chants toward movie's end.)

The cast also includes Shelley Winters (in foreground, two photos up), going all out to become one of the more memorable of movie "mothers"; Hal Holbrook (above), as the politician who thinks he is using Mr. Jones and his troops; Diane Varsi as a drug-addled hanger-on; and especially Richard Pryor (below and before we even knew who this guy was!) as a smart member of Jones' band.

The film is probably ripe for a remake, which, if it happens, should only provide as much timely fun and frolic as did this original -- available now from Olive Films, on both Blu-ray and DVD, for purchase and, I would hope, rental. (Netflix really ought to order this one -- now!)

Is Ken Russell's CRIMES OF PASSION (now on Blu-ray/director's cut) as bad as we thought?

Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes! But you know what? With time -- 32 years -- the movie seems to have become a lot more fun. Not nearly as much fun as, say, Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, though the two films have things in common. Both want to get us all bigtime hot-and-bothered, while simultaneously teaching us the right pathway to pursue. Meyer's is the much better of the two films, though Ken Russell's over-the-top movie (the filmmaker is shown below) has its own special charm -- and a couple of very hot actors in the leading roles.

We forget how incredibly gorgeous and sexy (and talented) was its leading lady Kathleen Turner, just three years off Body Heat when CRIMES OF PASSION was released (1984). Co-star John Laughlin was in his prime at the time, too, and he makes one hot hunk of beefcake in the role of a horny husband whose wife (Annie Potts) wants nothing to do with him in the sack. Mr. Russell made a number of good movies in his time (his bio films for the BBC about artists constitute his best work), but this one is not among them.

Ms Turner plays a smart and sexy young woman who goes by the name of Joanna Crane at her day job in the garment industry; by night she's China Blue (above), a hot-looking whore with a rather low-end clientele who is menaced (though she does not seem to realize this for quite some time) by a Bible-toting nutcase, played in his best-though-much-overused nutcase fashion by Anthony Perkins (below).

Into the mix comes Mr. Laughlin (below), hired to trail Turner due to some supposed industrial espionage, who falls prey to her charms and is soon banging her every which way, and at the same time, of course, falling in love with the gal.

And therein lies the biggest problem with Crimes of Passion. Every time Russell (along with the script, penned by Barry Sandler) gets serious, the movie goes south. Scenes evidently designed to comment on societal hypocrisy play like something written by and for Boy Scouts (granted, these Scouts have very dirty mouths), but then we get back to the sex-and-sin and come-on-in, and things get enjoyably hot-and-heavy once again. (Russell was always pretty good at giving us "shock value".)

Along the way, we see various of China Blue's clients in multitudinous positions -- most of which may have seemed shocking in their time but today seem more recherché than anything else.  By the time we get to the suspense-thriller finale, it's all so been-there/done-that, you'll see the "big surprise" coming a mile away.

Still, there is fun to be had in watching Turner strut her stuff and noting once again that Mr. Russell's would-be shocks can sometimes prove less transgressive than merely tired. The director's true home was either in those long-ago black-and-white biography films (his Savage Messiah is also pretty good) or in the fun-and-frolicsome genre of The Lair of the White Worm.

From Arrow Video (via MVD Entertainment Group) Crimes of Passion , running 107 minutes, hits the street on Blu-ray + DVD this coming Tuesday, July 19 (or maybe on July 26: I've been told two different street dates on this one), with a huge load of bonus materials, plus both the director's cut and the unrated version of the film included.
Click here for further details. 

Spanish horror! Instituto Cervantes screens eight scary films that span half a century....

Instituto Cervantes (IC), New York's hot spot for Spanish culture, has just begun quite a nifty (and unusual for IC) series of horror movies from Spain that range in time-frame from the 1960s through the current decade. The series -- Spanish Horror Films -- has been curated by José Luis Rebordinos, founder of the Horror Film Festival in San Sebastian and editor of Nosferatu magazine.

Señor Rebordinos has selected eight of his preferred horror films to delight IC patrons over the next eight weeks. (Unfortunately, news of this series reached TrustMovies only today, and the first film in the bunch -- the very frightening Thesis, staring one of Spain's sexiest imports, Eduardo Noriega -- was already shown this past Wednesday evening. The other seven films, however, remain on the horizon.)

Notes Rebordinos, “I had two possibilities: selecting eight unknown thrillers that I really liked or choosing eight films that represent the different ways the Spanish horror genre has been recognized with-in last two decades. I opted for the latter. For some Spanish horror film lovers, these will be well-known. For many others who are not familiar with this film genre, the films will prove a surprise treat”.

I can second Rebordinos' opinion, having seen five of the eight films being shown -- and as the other three come with plentiful bona fides, I shall make it a point to be there to view them. Here's the schedule, below, for the remaining films: Click on each title link to learn more and/or see further details about that film. For the address of IC click here and scroll way down. (Yes, this storied organization has perhaps the worst web site in the world: Shame!)

Oh, and one final thing:  As I understand it, these films will be shown free of charge, which makes this a very good deal indeed....

Who Can Kill a Child?
Wednesday, January 23, at 6pm
This nasty little masterpiece of horror from Narciso Ibañez Serrador in 1976 is considered a classic of the genre. It holds up remarkably well, and though its theme of kids-gone-bad has been done many times since, and may have come close to being done as well, it has still never been bettered.

Bilbao
Wednesday, January 30,
at 6pm
I had not even heard of this film until now -- which, so far as I can tell, was never released here in the USA -- but since its director Bigas Luna is a filmmaker whose work I generally enjoy, I very much want to check it out. Made in 1978, at the beginning of the post-Franco era of freedom for film (and everything else -- except the wealthy and fascist-minded), this should be unusual, and unusually sexual, too, I suspect. (A still from this film is shown, third from top.)

The Day of the Beast 
shown Wednesday, February 6, at 6pm
This early film from Alex de la Iglesia is not available in the USA on DVD, so far as I know -- which makes my visit to IC a must. Since this one, the talented filmmaker has made a number of other fine films, so I would think that catching up with his early work is a must for completists. It certainly will be for me. (A still from this film is shown, fourth from top.)

The Nameless
Wednesday, February 13, at 6pm
Still one of my favorite Spanish horror films of all time, this is also one of the darkest and most transgressive -- particularly for a country whose roots are buried deep in Catholicism. Beautifully woven and surprisingly subtle, the film upends so many of our notions of the appropriate that it remains in a class by itself -- while still conforming to the guidelines of its genre. This is a masterpiece, of sorts. (A still from it is shown at top of post.)

The Orphanage
Wednesday, February 20,
at 6pm
I was not as big a fan of this film as were many. It's lovely to look at and well-done -- up to a point. But although a big box-office success in Spain and elsewhere, the movie seems to me to be trying too hard to move us, rather than scare us. I love it when a film manages both -- but not when you are quite so aware of the wheels grinding. Still, Belén Rueda, in the lead role, is always a pleasure to watch. (A still from this film is shown, second from top.)

[REC]
Wednesday, February 27, at 6pm
This is the film that we have to thank for the current zombies-run-rampant-via-hand-held-video (that includes 3 RECs, two American spin-offs, and countless other would-be horror films). Some critics think REC reanimated the zombie genre. It may have helped but it was not until [REC] 3 to that this series really took off. The original proved some fun at the time, but does not hold up as well as it might, given what we've now seen come down the pike.

The Awful Dr. Orloff
Wednesday, March 6, at 6pm
Directed by Jesús Franco in 1962, this is considered to be the first Spanish horror movie. I've never seen it -- though it sounds a lot like Franju's Eyes Without a Face, made the year previous. Movie-makers, god knows, have never been above ripping each other off. In any case, I'll be visiting IC at this screening, for sure.

The photos above are from posters of, 

or stills from, the films themselves; 

the photo at top--from The Nameless--

comes courtesy of MovieScreenShot.com