Off the Shelf: From Noon Till Three (Blu-ray)

by Patrick Bromley

It’ll keep you on the edge of your saddle.

As someone who grew up on the ‘80s output of Charles Bronson — movies in which he usually played a grimacing cop cleaning up the streets with his own brand of justice, usually for Cannon Films — I sometimes forget that he was once a big movie star who did more than scowl while wasting punks in New York. While fans of his Golden Age work probably know him best for movies like The Dirty Dozen and Once Upon a Time in the West, I’ve been discovering some of his smaller, lesser-known efforts in recent years and realizing that Bronson had a taste for the idiosyncratic and the potential to shine in those kinds of movies. The latest title to add to that list is From Noon Till Three, a charming and offbeat comic western recently released to Blu-ray from Twilight Time.

Bronson plays Graham Dorsey, an outlaw riding into town to pull off a robbery as part of a gang of bandits. Graham is having second thoughts, though, after a nightmare in which he envisions the robbery as a trap that gets him and his friends killed. He opts to stay back and hole up at the home of widow Starbuck (Jill Ireland, Bronson’s real-life wife), whose horse the gang had intended to steal. During the three-hour window before his friends return, Dorsey and Starbuck bicker, talk and eventually wind up in bed together, falling into a whirlwind romance from which Dorsey does not wish to leave. When he’s forced to ride out and check on the fate of his gang, everything changes and new legends are born.

It’s hard to describe the plot of From Noon Till Three in a way that accurately conveys the film’s pleasures. The screenplay, by writer/director Frank D. Gilroy, is based on his own novel and it feels like it: it’s a movie that continues to unfold in unpredictable ways based on who these characters are rather than establish a premise early on and follow it through in lockstep. The first act features bandits and shootouts and an outlaw taking refuge in the home of a good woman against her will — pretty standard western stuff — while the second act becomes a sweet and gentle romance. The third act…well, I don’t want to say what happens in the third act, as there’s almost no chance anyone can predict where the movie is going based on what has happened so far. When you see as many movies as I do, any movie that’s able to go to unexpected places is a welcome surprise.

While it may be too soon to make this kind of a declaration, I sat through From Noon Till Three pretty certain that it was the best I’d ever seen Bronson on screen. He gets to be funny and charming, sweet and romantic, petty and pathetic. He is more than likely a con man, but the fact that Bronson is able to keep us guessing as to his character’s true motivations is a sign of just how good his performance in the movie is — his Graham Dorsey could be seen in a number of ways, all of them potentially correct. It helps that he’s acting opposite his real-life wife Jill Ireland, with whom he has a genuine chemistry and who always brings out the best in the actor when acting opposite him. Ireland, like Bronson, creates in Widow Starbuck a character who is difficult to pin down, and while the first half of the film can be a little tough to stomach by 2016 standards (it is suggested that Bronson makes a woman fall in love with him after having sex one time, and by forcing himself on her no less), the back half of the movie turns the tables on both characters in such a way that it forces us to rethink exactly what has happened. Maybe things aren’t so cut and dried after all.

Twilight Time is releasing the Blu-ray of From Noon Till Three in their usual limited run of 3,000 units. The 1080p HD transfer offers the movie in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio and looks great for a film that’s 40 years old; like most westerns, the color palette is subdued (limited to a lot of earth tones) but the image is bright and clean and filled with good texture and detail. Twilight Time always puts care into the transfers on their releases and it shows even on smaller titles like this. The lossless mono track offered for the main audio option is surprisingly strong, presenting clear dialogue and some lively effects, all mixed well with composer Elmer Bernstein’s lovely and quirky score. That score is actually offered as an isolated option, as is customary for Twilight Time. The only other bonus feature offered is the original theatrical trailer.

From Noon Till Three is exactly the kind of movie I love to discover — one that works within a familiar genre but which carves out its own space by not adhering to any strict rules about what story it can tell or the way it can tell it. It’s a small movie, sure, and could be dismissed as “slight,” but it actually has quite a bit to say about myth making and the way that legends are created and passed down, which is something with which almost all westerns concern themselves. At the very least, it allowed me to see a side of Charles Bronson I had never seen before. What a pleasant surprise this was.

Blu-ray release date:
99 minutes/1976/PG
1.85:1 1080p
DTS HD 1.0 Master Audio (English)

Blu-ray bonus features:
Isolated score
Theatrical trailer

Off the Shelf: Driller Killer (Blu-ray)

by Patrick Bromley

Abel Ferrara isn't just a madman. He also plays one in movies.

There are very few "name" filmmakers more punk rock than Abel Ferrara, a guy who doesn't give a shit about any of the politics of Hollywood and makes movies that only he can make. He's unconcerned with having big box office success (beyond what will allow him to make another movie) and makes real art, albeit most times within a framework of genre and exploitation cinema. With a handful of great films to his credit (Ms. 45, Bad Lieutenant, King of New York) and a couple others that are quite good -- or, at the very least, interesting -- Ferrara is a filmmaker whose work is always worth seeing even when it doesn't completely work. He's a true original.

1979's Driller Killer is only his second feature, having previously directed a couple of shorts and one hardcore porn, 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy, before being inspired by the success of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to make a low-budget horror movie. He casts himself (under the name Jimmy Laine) as Reno Miller, a New York artist who's broke and frustrated and being driven crazy by the New Wave band practicing in the apartment upstairs. One day, Reno finally snaps and begins murdering people with a power drill. That's the movie.

In its way, Driller Killer is a perfect encapsulation of its period, as it's a movie that really couldn't exist at another time or place. It combines the New York art scene, the early days of the post-punk New Wave scene and a specific kind of 42nd Street sleaze to create what is at once a semi-pretentious experimental film and a cheap, gory slasher. It's the kind of movie at home in both the arthouse and the grindhouse. Therein lies its charm. Adding to the fun is the fact that it's Ferrara playing the titular Driller Killer; he's a guy who always seems just one bad day away from becoming completely unhinged -- his movies reflect that -- and so watching him run around and take out all of his frustrations on humanity with a power drill is perversely thrilling. I like, too, that most of Reno's victims are male, as it eliminates the kind of ugly misogyny that once finds in the gritty New York-based slashers released in Driller Killer's wake (and adds an interesting psychosexual component; while there's nothing explicitly homoerotic about the character of Reno, it's impossible to watch him plunge his phallic weapon into a bunch of men and not read something into it). Don't get me wrong; there is still some gross and sleazy misogyny -- the shots of two women showering together don't exactly advance the story -- but at least it's not always directly tied into the violence. When it comes to exploitation movies, you have to take your wins where you can find them.

Driller Killer arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video, who have given the cheap 16mm film an impressive 4K restoration and included two cuts -- the 96-minute theatrical version and a 100-minute "pre-release" version -- in two possible aspect ratios: a 1.85:1 widescreen and a 1.37:1 full frame option that adds a little information to the top and bottom of the frame. Perhaps even more entertaining than the movie itself are Arrow's bonus features, starting with a new commentary by Ferrara and moderator Brad Stevens. On both the commentary and the 20-minute video interview, Ferrara is totally outspoken and uncensored in everything he says, lending the conversations about the film and his career a refreshing honesty. I could listen to him talk all day. Also included is a visual essay about Driller Killer, the original theatrical trailer and, best of all, appearing on home video for the first time is the feature-length documentary Mulberry St. that Ferrara directed in 2010 covering the New York locations where he made his movies. A standard definition DVD of the movie is also included.

Best recommended for fans of either Abel Ferrara or New York-based exploitation from the Golden Age of that sort of thing, Driller Killer is an interesting look at the early work of a director who would refine his voice to better effect just one movie later with Ms. 45. Arrow's Blu-ray restores the film to better effect than anyone could possibly hope, offering multiple ways to view the movie and a collection of extras that celebrate Ferrara as a filmmaker in a really cool way. Plus a lot of people get killed by a drill. Gotta love that kind of truth in advertising.

Blu-ray release date: December 13, 2016
96 minutes/1979/NR
1.37:1/1.85:1 (1080p)
DTS HD 1.0 Mono (English)

Blu-ray bonus features:
Commentary
Interview
Video Essay
Mulberry St. documentary
Trailer

Off the Shelf: Hannie Caulder (Blu-ray)

by Patrick Bromley

There was a notch on her gun for every man she got!

The 1970 movie Hannie Caulder is a fascinating mix of a traditional American western and a nastier Italian one. Director (and uncredited screenwriter) Burt Kennedy knows his way around the genre, having directed mostly westerns from the 1950s through the '70s, but here is pushing in a darker, bloodier direction. This is a movie with a glamorous, iconic movie star playing cowgirl, a rousing and upbeat score Ken Thorne and a rape revenge plot at its center. It's a weird combination of elements, but that's what makes it great. And Hannie Caulder is pretty great.

After a bank robbery gone wrong, the Clemens gang -- played by Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam and Strother Martin -- come upon a ranch occupied by Hannie Caulder (Raquel Welch) and her husband. The men murder the husband, rape Hannie and burn the house to the ground leaving her for dead. The surviving Hannie enlists the aid of bounty hunter Thomas Luther Price (Robert Culp) to train her as a gunfighter so she can get her revenge on the men who wronged her. Like all revenge missions, this one gets bloody.

There's a lot to appreciate in Hannie Caulder, whether it's the gorgeous vistas photographed by Edward Scaife or Ken Thorne's rousing score or the character actor triptych of Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam and Strother Martin or the appearance of Christopher Lee as a cowboy or the very existence of Raquel Welch, a screen presence unlike anyone before or since. But the movie's true secret weapon is Robert Culp as the bounty hunter who becomes a mentor to Hannie in much the same way that Dr. King Schultz did to Django in Django Unchained. While the character work is good across the board (save for Hannie, who is mostly a cipher), Culp creates someone who feels brand new and fully realized. He's almost bookish -- a badass who never has to prove he's a badass -- and his relationship with Hannie feels like it could be romantic someday but is borne out of mutual respect. I don't want to suggest there's something paternal about it because that, combined with the possibility of romance, makes it sound creepy. It isn't. I love their dynamic, mostly because I love Robert Culp here.

I also love the way that director Burt Kennedy commits to all of the movie's big emotions. Hannie Caulder doesn't do anything by half measures, whether it's the bloody violence or Hannie's impassioned rage or the operatic western scope. That's why I mean when I say that the movie feels like a really good mix of American and Italian styles; there's something that's always a little bit square with most American westerns and something unabashedly emotional about spaghetti westerns. Hannie Caulder exists at the cross section of both.

Hannie Caulder is the next in Olive Films' "signature" line; though the company first released the movie on Blu-ray in 2011, this new disc contains an updated HD transfer and a handful of bonus features to make it a true "special edition." The 2.35:1-framed, 1080p HD image is very good, cleaned up and boasting nice detail as well as a considerable amount of grain. There are some really good bonus features, including a commentary from filmmaker and fan Alex Cox (Repo Man, Sid & Nancy) and some interviews that that discuss the making of the movie and its placement within the rape-revenge genre, which arrive at the conclusion that it's not a great example of female empowerment because so much of film is experienced through the POV of the rapists.

I first caught Hannie Caulder on Netflix a year or two ago. It has since been removed, because such is the downside of streaming media. This is a movie I want to own, so I'm happy to see Olive Films upgrading their original barebones Blu-ray release and giving this title the special edition treatment it deserves. If you haven't seen it and you find yourself ever agreeing with my tastes, you really should check it out. This is a movie that deserves a bigger audience. Do it for Robert Culp.

Blu-ray release date: November 15, 2016
85 minutes/1971/R
2.35:1 (1080p)
DTS HD 2.0 Master Audio (English)
Subtitles: English (SDH)

Blu-ray bonus features:
Alex Cox Commentary
"Exploitation or Redemption?" Featurette
"Win or Lose: Tigon Pictures and the Making of Hannie Caulder" Featurette
"Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" Text Essay by Kim Morgan

Buy Hannie Caulder from Olive Films here

Off the Shelf: Raising Cain (Blu-ray)

by Erich Asperschlager

Hickory Dickory Dock. Cain has picked his lock.

In 1992, I was working as a dish washer at a summer camp. I was too young to have a car, so I glommed on to whichever older counselor with wheels made plans to drive to the nearest town on days off. One break, a group of us decided to go to the movies. Most everyone wanted to see Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. I lobbied to see Brian De Palma’s Raising Cain, based solely on the commercials I had seen on the communal TV the staff lounge. I was outvoted, and probably for the best. Unforgiven went on to redefine modern westerns and win Best Picture. Raising Cain fell into relative obscurity for all but diehard De Palma fans and it would be 25 years before I got around to seeing the film that had tickled by early teenage imagination.

Scream Factory released Raising Cain earlier this Fall in one of their deluxe 2-disc “Collector’s Editions.” The main draw of this new set, beside the audiovisual upgrade that comes with the Blu-ray treatment, is the inclusion of the so-called “Director’s Cut” of the film. Although Brian De Palma wrote and directed Raising Cain, he was not entirely happy with the version that was released in theaters. Watching that cut of the film, it’s easy to see why.

Raising Cain is the story of a child psychologist (John Lithgow) who suffers from multiple personality disorder. After years of stability his psyche is shattered by two events: the re-emergence of a shadowy figure from his past, and the discovery that his wife Jenny (Lolita Davidovich) has rekindled an affair with the man (Steven Bauer) she was in love with before they met. It’s a tale of suspense, mystery, revenge, kidnapping, and murder in De Palma’s thrilling signature style. Unfortunately, it doesn’t entirely work.

The best things about Raising Cain are the best things about any of the director’s films. De Palma knows how to build tension in the disconnect between what the characters and audience know, and the dreamlike way he doles out that information. There are twists and shocking revelations. Bits of backstory come to light as the stakes ramp up to a corker of a finale. That story is brought to life by the performances of Davidovich, Bauer, Frances Sternhagen, and a host of character actors playing people who, though flawed, fit into a recognizable cinematic representation of reality. The wild card here is John Lithgow’s Carter Nix, aka. Cain, whose hidden split personality and tragic history amplify the human drama of his wife’s romantic entanglement, turning it into something even darker.

Raising Cain comes together by the end into a tight thriller, but the journey is fractured. The biggest problem with the theatrical cut of the film is that it reveals Lithgow’s character as psycho killer from nearly the opening scene. There’s no mystery, no ramp up. It focuses on Carter, Cain, and their father’s scheme first, with the more relatable stuff about his wife relegated to B-plot. We know he’s a troubled guy well before she does, and it makes her emotional struggle less impactful as a result. Who cares that an old flame is back on the scene when her husband is cracked and stealing babies?

The “Director’s Cut” on Disc Two fixes some of these issues. It saves the Carter/Cain reveal until after the infidelity plot is well-established, which sets up the kind of unnerving twist De Palma utilizes in films like Dressed to Kill. The problem is that to maintain the purity of the reveal, the two halves are stitched together with narration and non-chronological storytelling. It’s less jarring in one way, more jarring in another. The other oddity with this cut is that wasn’t technically De Palma’s doing. In 2012, fan and director Peet Gelderblom took a leaked copy of Raising Cain’s original screenplay and the DVD, copied the film into his computer and re-ordered the scenes to match De Palma’s vision for the film. “Raising Cain Re-Cut” garnered praise from critics and fans, and even got the coveted blessing of De Palma himself. The legendary director was instrumental in convincing Scream Factory to include Gelderblom’s edit in this set. The “Director’s Cut” is a fascinating counterpoint to Raising Cain‘s theatrical incarnation, but it doesn’t magically fix the film. For all its improvements, it still feels like a fan edit. As close as Gelderblom got to De Palma’s original intent, he was limited to material in the theatrical version; several planned sequences were lost forever on the cutting room floor. It’s a valiant effort, but maybe there’s no “fixing” Raising Cain — and that’s okay. Its messy approach to storytelling echoes Carter’s fragmented psyche and other characters’ fumbling to put the pieces together. Discordant as the dreamlike elements of the film may be, De Palma’s bold filmmaking carry Raising Cain through 91 arresting, imperfect minutes.

Whichever version of Raising Cain you prefer, Scream Factory delivers a gorgeous 1.85:1 1080p transfer. The film has a purposely hazy look that doesn’t detract from fine detail and rich color. Given the standard-def roots of Gelderblom’s cut, I assume whoever prepared it for Scream Factory re-cut it from better source materials. Whatever the process, there’s no difference in quality between the two versions. Both cuts have the same audio options: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 mixes, both crisp with clear dialogue and ample power behind the Pino Donaggio score.

The “Director’s Cut” on Disc Two is the most substantial bonus feature included in the Raising Cain: Collector’s Edition, but there is plenty more to enjoy. Disc One has interviews with John Lithgow, Steven Bauer, editor Paul Hirsch, Gregg Henry, Tom Bower, and Mel Harris that add up to more than an hour and half in total; along with the theatrical trailer and a stills gallery. Disc Two has two short featurettes focused on the Director’s Cut. In “Changing Cain: Brian De Palma’s Cult Classic Restored” (2:25), Gelderblom talks about the inspiration behind his re-edit and reactions to his work, while the longer, standard def “Raising Cain Re-Cut: A Video Essay” (13:02) gives the fan editor the space to discuss the film, and detailed differences between the two versions. The set also comes with a slip cover and reversible cover art if you prefer the original poster to the new design.

Raising Cain doesn’t make the best first impression. It’s too bad, because Brian De Palma’s psychological thriller has some delicious reveals. Scream Factory provides two excellent ways to watch the film, in equally gorgeous theatrical and re-cut versions. Neither edit completely captures what the director seems to be going for, but both are great fun and worth experiencing for De Palma’s mastery and John Lithgow’s fearless performance. Scream Factory adds even more bang for your Blu-ray buck with the addition of a hefty collection of retrospective interviews and (sadly too-brief) “Director’s Cut” making of featurettes. Two flawed cuts equal one fascinating mess.

Off the Shelf: The Initiation (Blu-ray)

by Patrick Bromley

You had me at "Introducing Daphne Zuniga."

Know what I miss about the heyday of the '80s slasher movie? There were so many of them that eventually filmmakers had to start finding ways to shake up the formula and continually introduce weirder and weirder shit. That's not to say that all of these movies were "good," necessarily, but that they managed to be distinctive within a subgenre known for its sameness. For as good as horror is today -- and we are in a really good place for horror -- there is no one corner of the genre that is so prevalent as the slasher once was that it inspires various permutations. We don't get a Sleepaway Camp or a Blood Rage much anymore. The reasons for this are ultimately positive and encouraging -- the current crop of horror films are so vastly different from one another that we avoid this phenomenon -- but it still makes me miss that Golden Age of Crazy we got in the '80s.

Firmly entrenched in said Golden Age is The Initiation, a 1984 slasher directed by Larry Stewart and featuring the big screen debut of Daphne Zuniga in a starring role (she had already appeared in a supporting role in another college-themed horror movie, The Dorm That Dripped Blood, two years prior). She plays Kelly, a college co-ed plagued by horrible nightmares in which she sees her mother (Vera Miles, slumming) in bed with another man (Clu Gulager, slumming far less) and then another man set on fire. She's also in the process of rushing a sorority, which requires her and some other kids to spend the night in a department store as part of the initiation. I have literally never heard any any initiation like this for any sorority, but I wasn't cool in college (or before college or now). Wouldn't you know that a slasher crashes the party and starts killing a bunch of them?

To get into all the ways that The Initiation ends up being crazy would require spoilers, which I won't provide here. Like the similarly nutty Blood Rage (ok, Blood Rage is nuttier...way nuttier), the movie has to reinvent certain slasher tropes to stand out. It is more successful in some ways than others. The whole "teens locked in a mall overnight" is reminiscent of movies like Night of the Comet and Chopping Mall (even though one of those came after) and the kills themselves aren't necessarily more inventive or interesting than your everyday slash-and-stab, but the weird psychological detours the screenplay takes (by Charles Pratt Jr., who has spent most of his career writing and producing both daytime and primetime soap operas) are what give the movie color. The presence of both Vera Miles and Clu Gulager help give the project an air of authenticity -- they are genre royalty, after all -- but both actors contribute what are essentially extended cameos. The movie belongs to the young cast. They, too, are mostly generic, save maybe for future soap star Hunter Tylo, who...makes an impression...and, of course, my girl D. Zunigs, who doesn't quite pop off the screen the way she would a year later in The Sure Thing but who still manages to stand apart from the rest of the actors by projecting a kind of quiet intelligence. She feels like some sort of "other" compared to the horny co-eds surrounding her, which works out perfectly for the story being told.

Arrow's Blu-ray is another in their growing line of first-rate editions for movies of which I can't believe we're getting first-rate editions; it's been given a new 2K scan and a 1080 HD makeover so that it looks, while not brand new, better than it has ever appeared to be sure. There's a commentary track included from the members of The Hysteria Continues podcast (the second I've heard from them, as they're also on the Night Train to Terror commentary; if these home video companies are going to be tapping podcasts to do commentaries, can someone get them in touch with us?) that was recorded over Skype and is somewhat spotty as a result. Also included is the original trailer, a single deleted scene and some brand new interviews with actors Charles Pratt Jr., Christopher Bradley and Joy Jones. Sadly, there is no Zuniga to be found.

As both a fan and a student of '80s slashers, I'm all in on a movie like The Initiation. While not quite the rediscovered gem of, say, The Burning or the aforementioned Blood Rage, it's an entry in the genre that's better than some of its better-known brethren (I'm looking at you, Prom Night) and worthy of being a bigger part of the slasher conversation. I love the titles that Arrow is choosing to restore and I love the treatment they're giving these movies, recognizing that while not conventional classics, these are the kinds of films that mean a lot to some of us. Plus, if you're as much a Zuniga fan as I am, this movie's got more of her than it can handle.

Blu-ray release date: November 8, 2016
97 minutes/1984/R
1.85:1 (1080p)
DTS HD 1.0 Master Audio (English)
Subtitles: English (SDH)

Blu-ray bonus features:
Commentary
"Sorority Saga" - Interview with writer Charles Pratt, Jr.
"Pledge Night" - Interview with actor Christopher Bradley
"Dream Job" - Interview with actress Joy Jones
Extended Scene
Original Theatrical Trailer
Screenplay and production schedule (BD-ROM)

Off the Shelf: Salem's Lot (Blu-ray)

by Erich Asperschlager

I vant to suck your blooood, ayuh!

For his second novel, Stephen King tackled one of horror’s most entrenched genres: the vampire story. While the bloodsucking undead were still a quarter century from pop culture ubiquity, 1975’s Salem’s Lot still hit shelves with the baggage of Stoker, Murnau, and Lugosi in tow. It’s hard to say whether the move to capitalize on an existing monster was a good or bad idea. Salem’s Lot isn’t King’s most popular novel, but it is a creepy story well-told with his signature small town flavor. Four years after publication, Salem’s Lot found its way to the small screen, courtesy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre director Tobe Hooper, writer Paul Monash, and forward-thinking folks at Warner Bros. who realized the story would work better as a three-hour TV miniseries than a 90-minute feature film.

Some Stephen King movie adaptations are great, some are good, some are… not. Nearly all of them, however, feel cramped in some way. The author writes sprawling 1,000-page novels full of rich characters. It’s as difficult to fit those complex relationships into a feature film as it is easy to thrill audiences with on-screen depictions of his shocking set-pieces. Although there aren’t a ton of great examples, there’s an argument to be made that the ideal form for a King adaptation is the miniseries. Three to four hours isn’t necessarily long enough to capture a Stephen King novel, but it’s a lot closer.

Salem’s Lot is the story of Ben Mears (David Soul), a best-selling author who returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot, Maine, with plans to write a book about a large, spooky manor that overlooks the town. He is disappointed to discover that the ancient house is already being rented to a European antiques dealer named Straker (James Mason) who has set up shop on Main Street and is waiting for the arrival of his mysterious business partner, Kurt Barlow. As Mears settles back into small town life, reuniting with his favorite high school teacher (Lew Ayres) and starting a relationship with university grad student Susan Norton (Bonnie Bedelia), he can’t shake the feeling that something bad is about to happen. When the town is rocked by a series of deaths, disappearances, and neck bitings, Mears joins forces with monster-savvy high school student Mark Petrie (Lance Kerwin) to stop the evil.

Salem’s Lot is an oft-overlooked Stephen King book, but it might be the best of his adaptations. Hooper brings a stylish eye and horror filmmaking chops to the story. The movie isn’t bloody but it feels scarier than what should have been allowed on late ‘70s TV. Some of the creepiness comes from the vampire effects. When Barlow finally shows his face it’s not a pretty one: blue, with needle-sharp teeth and animal eyes. The vampiric townsfolk aren’t as grotesque, but nothing raises goosebumps quite like a floating, grinning dead child scratching at your bedroom window in the middle of the night.

The extended TV runtime allows for more storylines and characters. A shorter version of this movie would be laser-focused on Mears, Petrie, and the evil inhabitants of the Marsten House. Hooper’s version certainly compresses storylines and limits screen time for certain characters (for example, Father Callahan, who played a role in this book and King’s Dark Tower series), but there’s breathing room. Leaving space for more character moments gives Salem’s Lot the feeling of a fully populated Stephen King small town. Even if it all comes back to Barlow’s plan to take over the town, Hooper gives us a peek into day-to-day character lives, something that is too often cut from King movies.

Salem’s Lot is dated, but in a good way. The outfits and David Soul’s hairstyle root the film the 1970s, but it all fits the Halloween vibe of the story better than if it were set in modern day. Hooper and Return of the Living Dead cinematographer Jules Brenner have created a movie that feels more like a three hour epic feature than a made-for-TV affair. Salem’s Lot comes to Blu-ray alongside another King miniseries, IT. While the adventures of demon clown Pennywise is well-loved, that adaptation feels like something made for the small screen. Salem’s Lot doesn’t. The directing, production values, and performance of the incomparable James Mason all scream major motion picture. The only lingering indication of its television origins is a cast that features many TV actors, including Starsky & Hutch’s Soul, soap star Bonnie Bedelia, and comedian Fred Willard.

Though it was made for TV, Salem’s Lot is the best looking of the three new Warner Bros. Blu-rays. Chalk it up to filmmaking talent, source print quality, and scan technology. The transfer comes with similar caveats as Cat’s Eye and IT — most notably the tendency of shadows to swallow detail — but it’s hard to imagine the 1.37:1 1080p transfer looking any better without it getting the Scream Factory or Criterion “collector’s edition” treatment. Detail and color are sharp against a pleasant layer of grain, with no sign of nasty digital smoothing or damage. Anyone who has worn out the movie on VHS will be impressed. Audio comes as a DTS-HD Master Audio mono mix. What the sound lacks in blockbuster sizzle it makes up for with clarity.

Because this is essentially a budget disc, don’t expect many extras. There’s no additional “European Cut” of the film. No interviews. No retrospective. The only bonus feature is an audio commentary with Tobe Hooper — a cool guy and horror master with interesting things to say.

There’s a whole lot to like about Salem’s Lot. It’s almost incidental that Tobe Hooper’s three-hour Stephen King adaptation happens to have been made for television. You may be tired of vampire movies — I sure am — but Salem’s Lot is a refreshing throwback. King’s Downeast Gothic tale still thrills and chills on Blu-ray, so long as you don’t expect much more than the movie itself.

Blu-ray release date: September 20, 2016
183 minutes/1979/PG
1.37:1 (1080p)
DTS HD 1.0 Master Audio (English)
Subtitles: English (SDH), Spanish, French

Blu-ray bonus features:
Commentary

Off the Shelf: Stephen King's IT (Blu-ray)

by Erich Asperschlager

Beep beep!

Stephen King is known almost as much for movies based on his books as the books themselves. Lord knows there are plenty of both. Since almost the beginning of his career as a novelist, King’s brand of macabre pop has been as popular on the page as it is in movie theaters, VHS rentals, and small screen adaptations in the form of anthology episodes, one-offs, and TV miniseries. Although King movies have a reputation as being schlocky at worst and “not as good as the book” at best, some hit a cinematic sweet spot. The best Stephen King movies find a way to fit a full story into a feature-length runtime—usually under the careful eye (and judicious scalpel) of great filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick, Brian De Palma, and Rob Reiner.

The 1990 made-for-TV miniseries IT isn’t one of the best Stephen King movies. It struggles to contain one of King’s most sprawling novels, rushing the story so it feels more like a summary of the book than an adaptation. The acting is uneven, especially comparing the young cast and their adult counterparts. It’s been neutered to fit TV standards. And yet, it’s a mostly satisfying King adaptation—a fan favorite deserving of a new Blu-ray release from Warner Bros.

IT is the story of an ancient evil in the town of Derry, Maine that manifests as a demonic clown named Pennywise (Tim Curry) and awakens to abduct and murder children every 30 years. In 1960, a group of seven school-aged misfits—Bill (Jonathan Brandis), Ben (Brandon Crane), Eddie (Adam Faraizl), Beverly (Emily Perkins), Richie (Seth Green), Stan (Ben Heller), and Mike (Marlon Taylor)—band together to face off against the clown,and the school bully (Jarred Blancard) who made it his mission to destroy them all. Fast forward to 1990. All of the kids are grown up, and all but one have moved away. Bill (Richard Thomas) is now a horror author, Ben (John Ritter) a wealthy architect, Eddie (Dennis Christopher) a limo company owner, Beverly (Annette O’Toole) a fashion designer, Richie (Harry Anderson) a famous comedian, and Stan (Richard Masur) a real estate agent, while Mike (Tim Reid) still lives in Derry, working in the library and keeping watch over the town. When a new generation of children start disappearing, Mike contacts his estranged friends one by one, holding each to a promise they made after their first battle with the clown: to come back if necessary and finish the fight.

Released in 1986, Stephen King’s novel IT is a massive tome clocking in at northwards of 1,100 pages. Like The Stand, this book has little business being adapted for a movie or TV. However, also like The Stand, IT was made into a fondly remembered TV miniseries. IT made a big impact when it debuted on in November 1990, partly for its story, partly for its boundary-pushing blood effects, and partly for a certain depiction of a particular Dancing Clown.

To most King fans who remember the miniseries, Tim Curry IS IT. Compared to the child and adult ensemble casts, he has barely any screentime. You can see where his bald cap attaches. He chews up, swallows, and spits out the scenery. None of it matters. Clowns are scary and Curry taps into something primal with his oddly clean, red-eyed, gruff voiced, occasionally sharp-toothed killer bozo. I don’t know much about the history of childhood coulrophobia, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that King kicked off at least the modern era of clown terror. Tim Curry’s take on the creature amplifies those inherent fears of a red-nosed planet. The actor known for playing dignified weirdness keeps just enough of his character off-kilter to make Pennywise seem like something from a nightmare, even on television. It’s no wonder kids of my generation who watched IT on TV haven’t been able to shake it since.

Even without Curry, IT stands out among King adaptations for the extra large cast. Plenty of movies have flashbacks with child actors playing young versions of older characters, but few require that both generations pull the same weight. The adult players are easier to praise, brimming with the star power of actors like John Ritter, Harry Anderson, and Annette O’Toole, but the kids (including a young Seth Green and Jonathan Brandis) are asked to shoulder a lot of dramatic weight. The unseen-monster-picking-off-kids story has sequences reminiscent of A Nightmare on Elm Street, including a bloody sink explosion, werewolf attack in a steamy school basement, and a gym locker room scene where a child is terrorized by telescoping shower heads spraying scalding water. The kids don’t always give the most natural performances, but they feel like genuine friends—the kind who care enough about each other to reunite after 30 years and face off against an ancient evil.

The two-part miniseries is loosely split into the ‘60s story in the first half and the ‘90s story in the second. In 3 hour movie mode, that divide is less obvious. The two halves of the complicated story are woven together in an impressive mix of editing, screenwriting, and performance. There are narrative shortcuts, creaky dialogue, and a laughably bad rubber monster, but with something like IT it’s worth watching to see whether the filmmakers can pull it off. For the most part, they do.

Director and co-writer Tommy Lee Wallace got his start working as an editor and production designer with John Carpenter before going on to helm Halloween III and Fright Night 2. IT isn’t a sequel but it does have a second run feel, whether because it’s an adaptation of a popular novel or because it bears the dreaded “made for TV” label. Dismissing it for being either would be a mistake. The film has a bigger budget and more artistry than your average disposable TV movie. That it’s regularly included in the running for best King adaptations is evidence of that.

IT is one of a Warner Bros. trio of Stephen King films newly out on Blu-ray. Fans of the movie should be excited to have it in HD, just as long as they aren’t expecting much else. The new 1080p 1.33:1 Blu-ray transfer looks great, especially for something that originally aired on TV and made its home video bones on VHS (the video tape behind Pennywise is still visible in the cover art). There’s no doubt IT looks better than it has before, but the visual upgrade has limitations. Detail, color, and contrast are best in well-lit scenes and close-ups. The dark scenes are a different story. Shadows swallow detail and make for a generally muddier picture. What you think of the transfer will also depend on how much you like film grain. The ‘60s scenes seem to have a much heavier layer of grain than the modern day story for some reason. None of which should keep interested parties from buying the Blu-ray. Just adjust your expectations accordingly. Audio is presented as 2.0 DTS-MA. It sounds fine. Again, adjust those expectations.

The disc’s only bonus feature is a group audio commentary with Wallace, John Ritter, Dennis Christopher, Tim Reid, and Richard Thomas. It’s fun and insightful, but it’s also the same commentary that was on the DVD. Considering these Warner discs are low-price offerings compared to the feature-rich, pricier Scream Factory sets, the lack of new extras is understandable -- if disappointing.

Stephen King’s IT should have been unfilmable. Made for TV, its depictions of child murder, vicious bullying, and evil should be neutered. Tim Curry in clown makeup should be a joke. For the most part, it’s none of those things. The ‘90s miniseries can’t match the character development and world-building of the book, but it juggles a lot and manages some legitimate scares. The new Blu-ray offers fans a clearer look an ambitious King adaptation whose influence can still be felt today. By which I mean, they are remaking it. Sadly, IT’s journey to hi-def doesn’t come with any new supplemental materials, but as a budget release it should help round out many a future Scary Movie Month playlist.

Off the Shelf: Special Effects (Blu-ray)

by Patrick Bromley

Andrea was DYING to get in the movies...

The joy in watching a Larry Cohen movie is that you're never sure what you're going to get. Yes, you may know the premise -- couple has monstrous baby or killer yogurt becomes the biggest dessert craze in America -- but you're never sure where things will go from there. Every single one of his films (and I'm speaking here of the ones he has directed) has some sort of twist or eccentricity -- often more than one -- to keep audiences off kilter. His work resembles nothing else but other Larry Cohen movies. We have taken him for granted for too long.

His 1984 meta-thriller Special Effects was one of the few remaining Larry Cohen movies I had never seen, an oversight finally remedied by the new Blu-ray from Olive Films. It stars Eric Bogosian as filmmaker Christopher Neville, whose last movie was an expensive bomb and who is on the outs from Hollywood; his career salvation comes in the form of Andrea (Zoë Lund of Ms. 45 fame, billed here as Zoë Tamerlis), a wannabe actress who secretly moonlights in porn to the dismay of her conservative husband Keefe (Brad Rijn). While spending some time on the casting couch with Andrea, Neville strangles her in a fit of rage and catches the whole thing on his hidden camera. Seeing on opportunity for his next film, Neville begins casting and recreating Andrea's life leading up to her death with the participation of her husband, the homicide cop investigating the case and Elaine (Lund again), a lookalike cast as Andrea's onscreen stand-in.

There is so much to unpack in Special Effects, a movie that's years ahead of its time in the way that it examines the relationship between cinema and reality and how they constantly reflect one another; it's like Albert Brooks' Real Life crossed with Body Double with some Vertigo thrown in. The longer the film goes, the deeper into Neville's new project we go, the more those lines begin to blur -- Keefe is reenacting moments that really happened with his wife except he wasn't originally there and is acting opposite a woman who looks exactly like her. There are also satirical elements to the film, probably because Larry Cohen is incapable of not being satirical, like the subplot with the cop who trades in his investigation for a producer credit and starts doing his own rewrites -- everybody wants into the movie business.

The best thing the movie has going for it (besides Cohen's voice) is the performance of Eric Bogosian, still one of the all-time great pricks in cinema history. At the time still known as a playwright and New York actor, this was his first major movie role (after a bit part in Lizzie Borden's Born in Flames one year prior) and it's a part to which he is perfectly suited. Neville is impossibly arrogant and in control -- the right guy to be calling the shots behind the camera -- but also a sociopath and smart enough to not get caught. Bogosian plays the part like a shark, always thinking (sharks think?), always moving, always preying on whatever's next. Less effective is Lund in a dual performance, the first of which appears to have been dubbed by another actor doing a Southern accent and the second of which can't quite decide on an accent (she starts doing a stereotype of a Jewish New Yorker but abandons that pretty quickly). At the same time, I love seeing her in the movie for what she means to the New York film scene and because her performance, like Cohen's direction, is so full of rough edges.

Though available on DVD since 2004, Special Effects has never quite caught on the way that some of Cohen's other films -- The Stuff, It's Alive, even Q the Winged Serpent -- have found a cult audience over the years. Maybe Olive's new Blu-ray will help people find it. Presented in a new 1080p HD transfer in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio, the movie looks solid while still faithful to its low-budget roots. Cohen shoots New York in his usual quick and dirty style, but there are some images (like Bogosian's "red room," for example) that pop in HD. The disc comes with a commentary from Cohen, joined by Steve Mitchell, director of the upcoming documentary King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen. Cohen, as always, is an engaging raconteur, talking about his intentions with the movie and praising the work of many involved. The original trailer is also included.

Special Effects is one of the happiest surprises of my #ScaryMovieMonth. Though not quite horror -- I guess "thriller" would more accurately describe it, though so many of Cohen's movies defy classification -- it is always engaging and unpredictable. I love its '80s New York independent film vibe, I love its rough edges, and most of all I love Bogosian's performance. If you're any kind of fan of Larry Cohen's work and haven't yet seen this one, it's worthy of a blind buy.

Blu-ray release date: October 18, 2016
106 minutes/1984/Rated R
1.85:1 (1080p)
DTS HD 2.0 Master Audio (English)

Bonus features:
Commentary
Trailer

Buy Special Effects from Olive Films here.