1. ULTRA Q (Mill Creek Entertainment)
The forerunner of ULTRAMAN and its many spin-offs, this complete set of 28 half-hour episodes is not entirely what one might expect from its legacy. Some episodes are indeed about new Tsubaraya monsters (and some thinly disguised old ones) arising to crush cities underfoot, but its real basis is THE TWILIGHT ZONE; there are also unsettling stories about existential situations, haunted houses, science fiction, and childhood imagination - and its all shot in gorgeous 35mm black-and-white, giving this most satisfying package the flavor of a self-contained Japanese new wave fantastique festival. Mill Creek has also issued similar sets collecting the spin-off series ULTRAMAN, ULTRA SEVEN, ULTRAMAN GEED and ULTRAMAN ORB.
2. LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD (Kino Lorber)
One of my favorite movies, given a breathtaking 4K Studio Canal presentation and couched in some of the year's best supplementary features, including a dazzling, enraptured, in-depth interview with assistant director Volker Schlöndorff, actual 8mm home movies documenting the behind-the-scenes reality of the production, a fascinating visual essay by James Quandt, and a booklet essay by K. Austin Collins. I must also mention that it contains a new audio commentary by me; I gave it my all, and it's one of the more than 100 I've done of which I'm most proud.
Indicator's fourth box set of Columbia Hammer titles is, to put it plain, their best yet, collecting Terence Fisher's THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL, Seth Holt's suspense thriller TASTE OF FEAR (aka SCREAM OF FEAR), and Joseph Losey's masterful THE DAMNED (aka THESE ARE THE DAMNED), which may be my own favorite Hammer film of all and a science fiction film I consider equal to METROPOLIS at the very least. The films have not been equally upgraded; REVENGE is given a powerful 4K reading (if you know and love the film, and whether you saw it theatrically or just know it from lesser home video incarnations, the red lettering of the main titles will knock you back in your seat) and THE DAMNED's 2K upgrade is lovely; but this is not to say there's anything disappointing about how the other two look. I found TWO FACES (another Hammer favorite of mine) a revelation in its uncut form. As always, Indicator brings in a number of British Hammer authorities to provide opinion and context; especially appreciated is David Huckvale's talks on the musical scores of the various films, and the female perspectives brought to bear on the heroines of each picture. I've yet to delve into the audio commentaries, but we get Stephen Jones and Kim Newman on REVENGE, Josephine Botting and Jonathan Rigby on TWO FACES, Kevin Lyons on TASTE, and Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan on DAMNED - the billing alone promises fascinating listens. This is a strictly limited edition of 6,000 numbered copies. Follow this link for a complete breakdown of the remarkably thorough contents.
4. UNIVERSAL HORROR COLLECTION VOLUME 1 (Scream Factory)
Collecting the remaining prime collaborations of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi - THE BLACK CAT (1934), THE RAVEN (1935), THE INVISIBLE RAY (1936) and BLACK FRIDAY (1940) - this box set brings together 2K scans of all but the first title (which is nevertheless beautifully detailed), along with an engrossing set of commentaries by Gregory William Mank, Tom Weaver, Gary D. Rhodes, Steve Haberman, Randall Larson, and Constantine Nasr. These are the foremost scholars on the subject and their talks take many different approaches to their subjects, ranging from great intensity, fannish veneration, scholarly distance, juicy gossip, even occasional irreverence - sometimes all in a single commentary! The set also includes a background documentary about the two stars that graduates from disc to disc like chapters from a fat, rollicking, illustrated book exploring their personas, their respective fortunes, and their much-speculated-upon rivalry. Scream Factory has since issued two more such collections of the studio's most macabre B-pictures (VOLUME 4 is coming in March), as well as a stand-alone release of Robert Florey's MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932) with Lugosi, which stands as one of the finest film restorations of the year.
5. THE DEVIL RIDES OUT (Scream Factory)
This the first-ever Blu-ray release of this Hammer classic in its original form; an earlier UK release tinkered with the sadly unfinished climactic special effects footage in an unfortunate attempt to bring them up to date. Seeing it again confirmed a few things for me, but I can sum them up in a single line: this is arguably the best work Terence Fisher, Christopher Lee, and Richard Matheson ever did for the screen. Happily, the disc gives the film all the contextualizing it deserves, including the Christopher Lee/Sarah Lawson commentary from the previous DVD release, a new and invigorating commentary shared by Constantine Nasr and Steve Haberman, and featurette input from Kim Newman, Jonathan Rigby, Marcus Hearn and others.
6. ROBOCOP LIMITED EDITION (Arrow Video)
Ken Russell once famously said that Paul Verhoeven's ROBOCOP was the greatest science fiction film since METROPOLIS, praise that covered half a century. This 4K restoration lovingly preserves all the lustre it ever had and brings us into closer contact with some great performances. In addition to Peter Weller's deeply felt starring role, it's poignant to revisit the raw youthful ambition of Miguel Ferrar's performance. Priced at less than $30 at Amazon, this is much more than a two-disc set; it's also not merely three different versions of the film - just follow the link to look agog at the extras and bonus content. Get it before they're gone. PS: There are also three distinct soundtracks on offer. They're all good, but top marks go to the 4.0 theatrical mix.
7. ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
This is the only contemporary film on my list, which is at least partly due to my not seeing many new genre films this past year. Even so, each new viewing of this picture - written by Quentin Tarantino in a kind of celebration of the VIDEO WATCHDOG ethic - makes it more and more intoxicating; on the big screen, it's environmentally absorbing, and on Blu-ray it's Robert Richardson's master class in how to combine camera movement and historically recreated detail. Nearly every shot has something in it that's hypnotic, nostalgic, and loving. Some people will tell you this film doesn't have a plot, but it's there - just really spread out over an impressive territory, much like Los Angeles itself. Accompanied by 20 minutes of deleted scenes and five shorts to enhance one's appreciation of the cinematography, the clothes, the art direction, and the cars, this is an immensely satisfying disc but I wouldn't be surprised if a more deluxe package comes along later. In the meantime, I recommend Twilight Time's Blu-ray of Jaques Demy's THE MODEL SHOP for a terrific aperitif.
8. ALPHAVILLE (Kino Lorber)
Before ROBOCOP was made, novelist J.G. Ballard claimed Jean-Luc Godard's ALPHAVILLE as the greatest science fiction film ever made - and again, who am I to argue? This is another top shelf Studio Canal 4K restoration, but the black-and-white image retains a certain coarse quality that was apparently - as Anna Karina explains in a 4m interview segment - baked into the picture by Godard's use of a then-new film stock that could shoot in low light. Though ALPHAVILLE has enjoyed a past Criterion release, this is the first ever to include the film's English dubbing track, for which many of the film's American admirers have a special affection as it was how the film was initially shown here in the States. My audio commentary aspires to give equal time to Godard and star Eddie Constantine, and it includes input from Eddie's daughter Tanya (who was a visitor to the set) as well as from co-star Christa Lang Fuller.
9. DEAD OF NIGHT (Kino Lorber)
There were earlier horror anthology films, silent ones and maybe one or two sound ones made in Germany, but this is the acknowledged starting point of all those that would famously follow, from DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS to SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK. More importantly, the film's various directors (particularly Basil Dearden and Alberto Cavalcanti, though Charles Crichton is also aboard) adeptly raise its shocks to a level stronger than what came before, much as THE EXORCIST would so again in the 1970s - watching it, it's very easy to understand how postwar audiences would have been jolted by it. The perfect fodder for a popcorn and gooseflesh night. There is a slight but persistent scratch on the print but it's worth it to see the film a grade closer to its original camera source; there is contrast and detail here never before seen in earlier renderings. There is a terrific feature-length supplement, "Remembering DEAD OF NIGHT" with on-camera reminiscences from Keith M. Johnston, Danny Leigh, Kim Newman, Matthew Sweet (not the musician), Jonathan Romney, Reece Shearsmith, and John Landis - and I provided an audio commentary, which SLANT Magazine's Chuck Bowen described as "characteristically detailed and erudite."
10. FRITZ LANG'S INDIAN EPIC: THE TIGER OF ESCHNAPUR / THE INDIAN TOMB (Film Movement)
This lavish diptych was producer Artur Brauner's bid to tempt Fritz Lang back to postwar Germany to direct motion pictures. For confounding reasons - possibly political, but more probably rooted in American International's decision to whittle this opulent masterpiece down to a combined single-feature length - it has never enjoyed the respect here that it fully warrants. The story itself is pure pulp, but the rest is eye candy of the highest caliber - never moreso than when American actress Debra Paget performs two of the most erotic, downright tantric dances in film history. Not available on disc since Fantoma's 2003 DVD set, both films have been treated to 4K restorations but here include only a subtitled German sound option - so hold onto the Fantoma disc if you want to reserve the English dub option never otherwise heard in this country in its entirety. David Kalat provides two remarkably thorough audio commentaries, incorporating a wealth of research. Other supplements include a 21m making-of documentary, a 36m Mark Rappaport visual essay on La Paget, and an illustrated booklet including a Tom Gunning essay.
11. HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD (Kino Lorber)
The directorial filmography of the great Mario Bava takes another long stride toward completion with HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD - his second feature as director, his first in robust Technicolor, and an early return to the sword-and-sandal genre. Like PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES, the film is an exercise in how to pull the most rewarding rabbits out of a cheap hat, giving us not only Bava the director but Bava the maestro of special effects magic, all produced using charmingly antiquated yet convincing in-camera techniques. Reg Park makes a splendid Hercules, and the story - though it doesn't quite makes sense and evinces a lot of rewriting during production - never stops moving, whether it's forward or sideways. This double-disc set includes no less than three different cuts of the film (Italian, British, and the extensively tinkered-with American version, never before officially released), along with a lengthy if sparse interview with co-star Giorgio Ardisson (then struggling with throat cancer) and my audio commentary, first released on a 2018 Koch Media BD in Germany. That release included a bonus feature as an extra, Mario Soldati's THE TAMING OF DOROTHY (1950), which Bava photographed.
12. DER GAUNER VON BAGDAD aka THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (Colosseo Film)
Arthur Lubin's THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD was made around the same time and I've been waiting literally decades for it to make the leap to disc; it's been missing in action since its 1980s release on Embassy Beta and VHS. Though the special effects of this glorious Steve Reeves fantasy are credited to the British technician Tom Howard, and its miniature scale models attributed to Joseph Natanson, the film also features glass matte paintings and second unit direction by Mario Bava - who chose not to be credited to protect his then-new advent into the director's chair. This German import disc marks the first time the film has been available in full widescreen and its colors, art direction, wardrobe, choreography and battlefield spectacles (one involving a magic army of Reeves lookalikes) are a constant treat for the eye, while Carlo Rustichelli's score blends ethereal exotica and darkly suspenseful cues reminiscent of his work on BLOOD AND BLACK LACE. I've heard complaints about not all the shots looking so great, but the brief shots of slightly coarser quality were all mildly compromised by optical dissolves and have always looked this way.
13. BLOOD HUNGER: THE FILMS OF JOSÉ LARRAZ (Arrow Video)
A box set collecting three of the most representative works of the late Spanish specialist in erotic horror and suspense: the debut feature WHIRLPOOL, not available for viewing for almost 50 years; his most famous feature VAMPYRES; and a powerful and ambitious art feature about the potency of myth, THE COMING OF SIN. Audio commentaries by Samm Deighan, Kat Ellinger, and myself help to fill in the blanks of what's missing and to contextualize what's here; also among the extras providers are Kim Newman, Marc Morris, various cast members, and archival interviews and video of Larraz himself, who was quite a character. The 2K restorations of all three features are superb and one sincerely hopes another such set will follow to prolong the conversation.
13 HONORABLE MENTIONS:
1. THE QUEEN OF SPADES (Kino Lorber)
Thorold Dickinson's enthralling British production from 1949, based on an Alexander Pushkin story, is really an historical melodrama and only tangentially fantastic - Dame Edith Evans stars as an aged Countess who is rumored to have sold her soul for the secret of winning at cards, a mystic secret hungrily coveted by a penniless young officer, played by an intense Anton Walbrook. It's as gripping and dreamy as any Technicolor Powell and Pressburger epic. Graced with a thoroughly informative commentary by Nick Pinkerton, two archival interviews with Dickinson, and an elegant video essay by author-critic Philip Thorne.
2. BLACKMAIL (Kino Lorber)
Includes both the celebrated sound and overlooked silent versions, as well as my audio commentary. According to DVD Beaver, it's at my "usual proficient level and adds significant value and appreciation."
3, SCARS OF DRACULA (Scream Factory)
The extras, notably the new commentary by Constantine Nasr and Randall Larson, and a new 18m documentary, goes a long way toward explaining the shortcomings of a beloved but compromised film.
4. VIY (Severin)
The most celebrated of Russian horror features, distinguished by wonderful special effects sequences by the great Aleksandr Ptushko, makes its Blu-ray debut. Includes "The Portrait," a silent-era short by Ladislas Starewitch, which anticipates THE RING by nearly a century.
5. FANTOMAS THREE FILM COLLECTION (Kino Lorber)
A sterling presentation of Andre Hunebelle's comic crime fantasies, including two sequels that never before had a US release. My audio commentary accompanies the first.
6. THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (Flicker Alley)
One of the year's most impressive 4K restorations, this Blu-ray makes Paul Leni's silent masterpiece almost contemporary in its presence. It also offers a choice of musical accompaniments and a wealth of enriching bonus content, including a Kevin Brownlow essay in the accompanying booklet.
7. QUATERMASS II (Scream Factory)
8. QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (Scream Factory)
Having these two films on Blu-ray is absolutely essential, but under the direction of producer Constantine Nasr, these discs represent important new blocks of research. Three (count 'em), three new commentaries on QUATERMASS II (Ted Newsom, Constantine Nasr and Steve Haberman, and the classic Val Guest and Nigel Kneale track), while PIT includes two commentaries (Bruce G. Hallenbeck, Nasr and Haberman) and more than an hour of new on-camera interviews with various cast and crew members and Kneale's widow Judith Kerr (who has since passed away).
9. THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN and TRAIL OF THE SCREAMING FOREHEAD (Hydraulic Entertainment)
Both funded by Kickstarter campaigns, these two fully-loaded discs bring two of Larry Blamire's surreal genre comedies into high definition, with the latter including two different cuts of the film, one being the US debut of his long-withheld director's cut. The extras include audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes documentation, and some brand-new comedy shots that are absolutely hilarious in their inspired weirdness. I'm counting these two as one, so less call this a tie!
10. TOYS ARE NOT FOR CHILDREN (Arrow Video)
11. AMERICAN HORROR PROJECT VOLUME 2 (Arrow Video)
12. ALICE, SWEET ALICE (Arrow Video)
These three Arrow releases feel related, with TOYS and ALICE both belonging (and, to some extent, crowning) the territory defined by Stephen Thrower's book NIGHTMARE USA and the AMERICAN HORROR PROJECT series. The three titles included in the second AHP box set (DREAM NO EVIL, DARK AUGUST, and THE CHILD) are minor disappointments but the way the set contextualizes and analyzes them is essentially faultless and where the real value of the set resides. TOYS is an inspired and unsettling descent into the sick underbelly of 1970s America, and ALICE - a film that may have somewhat worn out its welcome due to its inclusion in various PD DVD sets - is completely revitalized, not only with a much warmer looking restoration but an ace audio commentary by Richard Harland Smith.
13. LET THE CORPSES TAN (Kino Lorber)
Released early in the year, this is the third feature by the exciting team of Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani (THE STRANGE COLOR OF YOUR BODY'S TEARS) and, as with Tarantino, it proposes a new post-VIDEO WATCHDOG meta-language of storytelling. The genre here is crime with western elements - imagine BREAKING BAD co-directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Sergio Corbucci. The filmmaking is consistently dazzling.
RESTORATION OF THE YEAR:
HOUSE OF SEVEN BELLES (ByNWR)
The sole work print of Andy Milligan's not-only-long-lost but never-completed antebellum, anti-everything epic has been treated to a deluxe restoration by Nicolas Winding Refn's streaming-only channel and is also due to screen on MUBI. Say what you will about it, HOUSE is unmistakably the work of its wonderfully deranged director/photographer/editor/costume designer and this is an important chapter of his story - the last of his Staten Island productions before he relocated to the west coast. The sort of major recovery one simply cannot stop gawking at in disbelief, this never could have happened without Andy's friend, biographer, and archivist Jimmy McDonough, whose completely redesigned and updated book THE GHASTLY ONE is due in March from FAB Press.
I am acutely aware that my list omits most everything of a contemporary nature and heavily favors the classic titles. I have only included titles I have seen. I'm sure there are many titles not on my list that probably belong there - to name just a few: Criterion's GODZILLA: THE SHOWA ERA FILMS; Arrow's deluxe box sets on NIGHTBREED, the RINGU series, and Akio Jissôji's BUDDHIST TRILOGY; and Kino Lorber's LA PRISONNIÈRE and so many, many others.
All in all, this was quite a bountiful year!
(c) 2019 by Tim Lucas. All rights reserved.
