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DVD LATE SHOW

By Christopher Mills

November 15, 2005

  No rambling preamble this time. Let's get right to the reviews….

Because most major home video companies will only release many of their older catalog titles if there's a way to tie it in to a new studio release, we owe BATMAN BEGINS for the 1943 Columbia movie serial BATMAN – and its 1949 follow-up, BATMAN AND ROBIN – being released on DVD.

For those unfamiliar with movie serials, they were multi-chapter movies that ran in weekly 15-minute installments at most movie theaters during the Thirties, Forties and early Fifties. Each episode tended to end with the hero in some sort of danger, a situation that would not be resolved until the beginning of the next week's chapter. Thus, the other colloquial name for these action-packed chapter plays, "Cliffhangers."

These Cliffhangers usually were shown at Saturday matinees, and were therefore aimed at a primarily juvenile audience. Since kids tended to be less demanding in those days, serials were often produced on remarkably low budgets, starred minor studio contract actors and substituted fistfights and car chases for complicated plotting.

Both of Columbia Studios' Batman serials were clearly products of that kind of thinking. BATMAN stars Lewis Wilson as Batman and Douglas Croft as Robin, the Boy Wonder (which makes the only time on screen that Robin is actually portrayed by a kid). The plot, such as it is, hinges on the sinister machinations of Japanese spymaster/saboteur Dr. Daka (played by the talented character actor J. Carrol Naish) and the Dynamic Duo's attempts to thwart his evil plans. The serial is full of politically incorrect, wartime racial slurs, and even as a pop culture product of its time, it's kind of startling. Yet, I commend Sony (a Japanese-owned company) for releasing this uncensored.

The 15 Chapter serial comes in a 2-disc set designed to resemble the advertising and DVD dress of BATMAN BEGINS, and it's appealing if a bit misleading. The first chapter looks pretty bad; very washed out and contrasty. But, beginning with Chapter Two, the quality of the presentation makes a marked improvement, with a nicely detailed, well-balanced black & white image for the rest of the serial. There's some age-related print damage here and there, and some spotty degradation, but overall, it's a fine presentation. I'm guessing that Columbia couldn't find a good 35mm source print for the first episode and used the best they could find, probably a 16mm dupe. There are no extras provided, not even liner notes, which might have placed the serial in its proper historical context.

BATMAN AND ROBIN, made six years later, stars Robert Lowery as the Caped Crusader and the somewhat mature John Duncan as Robin. This time, their adversary is the mysterious Wizard, who possesses a miraculous remote device, which allows him to control pretty much any machine in Gotham City. It's fast-paced fluff, if somewhat cut-rate (For example, in neither serial is there a Batmobile, and in the second, Batman tools around in the same convertible he drives as Bruce Wayne. This leads ever-observant girl reporter Vicki Vale to ask: "Does Bruce Wayne know you're using his car?"). Like the other set, the overall technical presentation is solid, if bare bones.

Fans of the Caped Crusader will be interested in these two sets so as to experience the first appearance of their hero on film, and collectors of Cliffhangers will be glad to have decent-quality copies for their libraries. I'm both, so I happily recommend both releases.

VCI Home Entertainment, on the other hand, specializes in classic films and television, and doesn't need a big studio blockbuster tie-in to prompt them to put out great old stuff. For example, witness the recent release of the 1951 Cliffhanger, CAPTAIN VIDEO, directed by chapterplay veterans Wallace Grissell and Spencer Bennet.

Aside from being one of the last theatrical serials produced, CAPTAIN VIDEO was the very first example of a popular television show being adapted for the big screen. Inspired by the then-popular kid's show of the same name, the serial stars Judd Holdren as the titular Captain, and Larry Stewart as the his loyal sidekick, the Video Ranger.

The story has Video battling the sinister scientist Doctor Tobor and the forces of the alien planet Atoma. Everyone in this serial has astounding surveillance equipment and more gadgets than a dozen Sixties secret agents. There's car chases, space flights, fist fights, robots, ray guns (including the "Cosmic Vibrator!") and death defying escapes aplenty – and not a single female in sight to spoil the boys' fun.

VCI's presentation is pretty good. There's some occasional print damage and the images sometimes wavers, but the detail and shadows are solid. VCI has re-created the original theatrical version's color tinting – with the full-screen image taking on a blue, green or red hue depending upon what planet the action is taking place. The two-disc set includes bonus serial trailers, a VCI serial promo reel, actor bios and a sci-fi photo and poster still gallery.

For Cliffhanger fans, this is a must-buy.

Speaking of Sixties super spies (as I was a few paragraphs back), Sony sent me an advance copy of the upcoming MATT HELM LOUNGE four-movie set, which stars Rat Packer Dean Martin as a swinging secret agent in THE SILENCERS, MURDERER'S ROW, THE AMBUSHERS and THE WRECKING CREW.

Clearly the direct inspiration for Mike Meyer's "Austin Powers" series, the four "Matt Helm" films are (very) loosely based on an excellent series of hardboiled novels by author Donald Hamilton. However, producer Irving Allen and star Martin managed to transform the cold-blooded assassin of the novels into, well, basically an extension of Dean Martin's established stage persona. Womanizing, laid-back and liable to start crooning, drop a double entendre or down a double martini with the slightest provocation, Martin's super spy was a lounge lizard in an ill-fitting turtleneck, saving the world casually between cocktails.

Not to say the films are without merit, though; they may not be up to the standards of the rival Bond series, but they're fun and funny, loaded with Rat Pack in-jokes and populated with some of the most beautiful femme fatales in the genre. These lovelies include Stella Stevens, Daliah Lavi, Cyd Charisse, Ann-Margaret, Senta Berger, Sharon Tate, Tina Louise and Nancy Kwan, among many others.

Here's a quick rundown of the four films in the set:

THE SILENCERS (1966). The only flick in this set previously released on DVD, this is the exact same disc Sony put out a couple years ago. In the first of the series, directed by Phil Karlson, Matt Helm comes out of retirement, rejoins ICE (a top secret American spy agency) and sets out to foil the plans of Tung-Tze (Victor Buono) and his organization Big "O" with the assistance of ditzy Stella Stevens. The film is presented in a colorful, if slightly weathered 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and includes trailers for unrelated Columbia discs.

MURDERER'S ROW (1966). In this second film, directed by Henry Levin, Helm heads for the Riviera and teams up with the incredibly sexy Ann-Margret to stop Karl Malden from destroying Washington D.C. with a heat ray. A rather fun hovercraft chase is the highlight of this one (well, that and Ann Margret's go-go dancing). ROW is presented in a crisp 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and includes trailers for THE AMBUSHERS and a couple unrelated Columbia comedy discs.

THE AMBUSHERS (1967). This third film, again directed by Levin, is generally considered the weakest in the series, with Helm heading for Mexico in search of an American-built flying saucer that can only be piloted by women. Martin – and everybody else in this film – seems tired, and the plot plods along with very little pizazz. Martin's stunt doubles are more obvious than usual and the climactic chase is presented entirely with the stars in front of poorly-aligned rear-projection screens. The disc features a solid 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and assorted trailers.

THE WRECKING CREW (1968). Things pick up a bit with the final Helm flick, as original director Phil Karlson returns to the series, and injects a little more wit and energy. This time, Helm's off to Copenhagen in search of a stolen trainload of gold, and is accompanied by the beautiful Sharon Tate. Future B-film star Chuck Norris has a cameo as one of the villain's thugs and Bruce Lee was the movie's "Karate Consultant." Another film, THE RAVAGERS, is announced in the end credits, but was never made, as Dean turned his attentions to his TV variety show (which only required him to work one day a week). The extras and technical specs are identical to the other discs: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and Columbia trailers.

The four movies come packaged in two space-efficient slim packs tucked into a cardboard slipcase. Be warned, though, the packaging has the four films in the wrong order. It doesn't matter much as there's no continuity to speak of, but the list above is correct.

Sixties spy-fi fans, Dean Martin/Rat Pack aficionados and "bird" watchers (as Austin Powers might say) will definitely want to pick this set up when it streets next month.

Dark Sky Films, a subsidiary of MPI, continues to impress with their new line of cult and B-movies. My favorite so far has to be THE FLESH EATERS, a nifty, nasty little sci-fi horror from 1962.

Directed by Jack Curtin (best known as a voice actor on cartoons like SPEED RACER) and written by Silver Age comic book writer Arnold Drake (Doom Patrol, Deadman), this low-budget effort shot on Long Island is an interesting transitional film in the genre. The plot is pure Fifties drive-in sci-fi hokum, but the movie includes numerous gory effects that foreshadow the horror films of the late Sixties and Seventies.

The performances are uniformly excellent. The cast is made up of various New York soap opera stars, all of whom overact just as much as necessary for a film of this stripe. Martin Kosleck is particularly good as the mysterious scientist, and Byron Sanders makes a suitably square-jawed hero.

Dark Sky's disc is remarkable, with an extremely good, 1.85:1 anamorphic letterboxed transfer of this rare, black & white shocker. The disc includes two effective trailers and a deleted "Nazi Experiments" sequence, along with outtakes from that sequence.

A great presentation of a rare and important B-movie. Recommended.

Also from Dark Sky Films, comes the Japanese sci-fi adventure,TERROR BENEATH THE SEA (1966), starring Sonny Chiba (STREET FIGHTER, KILL BILL).

Chiba plays a newspaper reporter with a hot blonde American girlfriend (Peggy Neal, THE X FROM OUTER SPACE), who, while investigating sightings of strange amphibious fish men, is captured by a scientific megalomaniac bent on world domination. Chiba is as charismatic as always and makes a decent enough hero, even if he's not as much of a badass here as he would become in his later action roles.

This early film by cult director Hajime Sato (GOKE, BODYSNATCHER FROM HELL) is full of great miniature effects, bright pop art colors, and an army of underwater cyborgs that look like the Creature from the Black Lagoon's distant cousins. It's fast-paced, goofy fun, that plays like a Godzilla movie without the giant lizards.

Dark Sky's DVD unfortunately crops the original full-frame ratio to an artificial 1:85:1 ratio to allow for anamorphic enhancement. This leads to some tight framing, with chins occasionally chopped off. However, the quality of the source material is excellent, with virtually no damage, bright colors and a razor sharp image. Dark Sky has also provided a new, clear Dolby two-channel stereo mix. There are no extras on the disc.

The unnecessary cropping of the film is unfortunate, but doesn't really affect the entertainment value much. The real draw here is the outrageous comic book-styled plot and the Sixties special effects. Fans of Japanese sci-fi should love it.

Filmmaker George A. Romero (NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD) made a long-overdue return to theaters – and the genre he invented – with last summer's Universal release, LAND OF THE DEAD (2005). While an exciting and often surprising zombie horror film, the latest entry in Romero's "DEAD" series doesn't quite stand as tall as the previous three entries.

Set some years after 1985's DAY OF THE DEAD, LAND takes place in a world now completely overrun by the walking dead. A millionaire (Dennis Hopper) has somehow walled off Pittsburgh (though shot in Toronto, it's clearly supposed to be Romero's hometown), where the wealthy live in sealed skyscrapers as the poor fend for themselves on the streets. Protecting and supplying them is a group of armed mercenaries led by Riley (Simon Baker, RED PLANET), equipped with a tank-like vehicle called Dead Reckoning. When one of the mercs, Cholo (John Leguizamo, the ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 remake), is screwed over by Hopper, he takes the tank and threatens the city. Meanwhile, the living dead are starting to evolve intelligence and are marching on the burg.

The movie is an entertaining horror/action flick, complete with Romero's trademark dry wit and (in this case, maybe too-obvious) social commentary. The zombie effects are exceptional, and it's nice to see Romero work with a decent budget for a change, allowing him at last to increase the scope of his vision. Unfortunately, while full of visceral thrills, the movie is short on the kind of dread and horror that made earlier entries in the series so memorable, and it lacks a strong dénouement. I liked it more than many reviewers, but I don't think it comes anywhere close to the iconic status of its predecessors.

Universal's "Unrated Director's Cut" provides a flawless, 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, with full-blooded 5.1 DTS and Dolby Digital soundtracks. The disc is loaded with bonus features: at least five behind-the-scenes featurettes, John Leguizamo's video diary, deleted scenes, a commentary track by Romero, a music video and a short feature about the film's cameo appearances by SHAUN OF THE DEAD filmmakers Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright.

While it's not likely to be remembered as a classic, it's a solid zombie horror film, well made and directed, and the Universal disc worth adding to your DVD library.

It took Bruce Campbell about twenty years to put together the financing for his dream project B-movie, THE MAN WITH THE SCREAMING BRAIN (2005), ultimately having to relocate the action and rewrite the script to take advantage of tax shelter funds in Bulgaria.

I wish I could say it was worth the wait.

Co-financed by the SciFi Channel, the version of SCREAMING BRAIN that Campbell has finally brought forth is (and it pains me deeply to write this) an unfortunately tedious, threadbare production that remains watchable primarily due to the writer/star/producer/director's still-potent (if subdued) charm.

It's a great premise: an arrogant American businessman (Campbell) and an ex-Communist Russian cab driver are both killed by the same insane Gypsy woman. The local mad scientist (Stacy Keach in an inappropriately low-key performance) combines chunks of the two men's brains in Campbell's head in an attempt to prove his own scientific theories. Meanwhile, Bruce's blonde wife is also murdered by the Gypsy, and has her brain transplanted into a cut-rate robot body. Now all of them are out for revenge!

The set-up of the film takes way too long, and once all the brain transplants take place, the audience is desperate for some good, old-fashioned B-movie nuttiness. Unfortunately, Campbell never manages to imbue the movie with any energy. Probably because it was intended for TV, there's no decent gore or violence, no real sex, and even the comedy falls flat. Ted Raimi is fun to watch with his Stooge-esque antics, but nobody else in the flick matches his performance.

Campbell is very subdued (for him), and one gets the feeling that handling the direction and dealing with the untrained Bulgarian film crew sucked all of his usual cock-sure, wiseacre energy right out of him before he ever got in front of the camera. He plain looks tired.

Ultimately, it's another SciFi Channel Original Picture, with all that suggests. Cheap, bland, and sadly forgettable. It says something, I think, that I was more entertained by the crappy but energetic ALIEN APOCALYPSE than I was by this.

The Anchor Bay DVD has some decent behind-the-scenes material, including a short featurette on how Bruce and partner David Goodman shopped the property around for 20 years and the path that led to Bulgaria that's quite fascinating, actually. The movie is presented in a slightly letterboxed 1.77:1 transfer (no doubt so it could be anamorphically enhanced) and includes an audio commentary by Campbell and co-producer Goodman. There is also a trailer, some outtakes, a storyboard gallery, and a "comic book gallery" that presents the first issue of the Dark Horse comic book adaptation.

Recommended for Campbell completists only.