David J. Howe's Blog, page 21

Review: Thieves' Highway (1949)

Arrow Academy dual-format Blu-Ray/DVD release, 19 October
2015




The movie




The late-era film noir Thieves’
Highway is held in high regard by many fans of the genre, but its great
reputation is – in this reviewer’s opinion – not entirely deserved.




The main problem with the movie lies in its scripting, and
more particularly its characterisation. The story centres around war veteran Nick
Garcos (Richard Conte), who returns home to the States to find that his
truck-driver father has lost both of his legs in an accident arranged by
unscrupulous San Francisco market trader Mike Figlia (Lee J Cobb) as part of a
scheme to avoid paying him for a consignment of tomatoes. Joining forces with a
deceitful former associate of his father’s, Nick drives to the city with a
truckload of prized Golden Delicious apples, seemingly intent on using this as
a pretext to make contact with Figlia and exact revenge on him. So far, so
good. However, it appears that, on arriving in San Francisco, Nick promptly
forgets all about his revenge motive after he manages to get Figlia to pay him
a good price for the apples – despite having foolishly abandoned his truck
right outside the man’s market stall, predictably prompting him to help himself
to the produce. Then, in a moment of jaw-dropping idiocy, Nick uses a public
phone in a crowded café to call his girlfriend Polly (Barbara Lawrence) and
brag about how much money he has made, while everyone present listens in. It is
no great surprise that, when he later goes for a stroll
along a deserted waterfront, he is attacked and robbed – although it eventually
transpires that the culprits are two men sent by Figlia to get his money back.
In the meantime, while waiting for Polly to arrive in San Francisco so that
they can get married, Nick has started an affair with an Italian prostitute, Rica
(Valentina Cortesa), despite knowing that Figlia has paid her to keep him
occupied. (Honest, I’m not making this up.) Small wonder that when Polly does
arrive, she is none too impressed to find Nick lying on Rica’s bed – although
it is only on learning that he has lost all of his money that she immediately
gives up on him and leaves! And so the plot staggers on, from one improbable
development to another …






In many classic film noirs, the protagonist is dogged by
fate at every turn, but in Thieves’
Highway, the misfortunes that Nick suffers are really all the result of his
own stupidity – or, at best, unbelievable naivety – which is nowhere near as
satisfying. It is only after Nick himself has been repeatedly scammed by Figlia
that he apparently remembers why he came to San Francisco in the first place,
and physically attacks the man – until, that is, some police officers turn up
to deliver the patronising moral that people can’t take the law into their own
hands, so Nick should really have left it all to them. Nick then hooks up with
Rica, and they drive off into the sunset together in his truck …

To be fair to the movie’s esteemed director Jules Dassin
(also responsible for such classics as The
Naked City and Rififi), the
moralising police officers and the implausible ‘happy ending’ for Nick and Rica
were late additions made by the studio, 20th Century Fox, without
his agreement. Where Thieves’ Highway does
succeed admirably is in the visual flair that Dassin brings to it, and in its
authentic depiction of the lives of the truckers and market traders involved in
the Californian fruit and veg trade – an unusual but interesting background for
a movie. The outdoor fruit market scenes shot on location in San Francisco’s
Oakland Produce Market area are especially effective, with a number of
real-life market traders being used as extras; and there are some memorably
dramatic incidents on the road as the truckers make the long, tiring journey to
San Francisco. In the end, though, the shortcomings with the script really let
the whole thing down.




The Arrow Academy Blu-ray


















Arrow’s
recent Blu-ray release of the movie – which is handily presented in a
dual-format package with a DVD (not seen for this review) and a well-designed
booklet with an essay by critic Alastair Phillips and some nice stills – has
immaculate picture and sound quality, courtesy of an excellent new 4K digital
restoration by 20th Century Fox. A good collection of extras include
The Long Haul of A I Bezzerides, a
55-minute documentary portrait of the man who wrote both the movie and its
source novel, Thieves’ Market;
another new documentary, The Fruits of
Labour, in which film noir expert Frank Krutnik, author of the excellent
book In a Lonely Street: Film Noir,
Genre, Masculinity, discusses the movie’s genesis, production, reception
and politics; selected scene and character commentaries by Krutnik; and the
theatrical trailer.



Review by Stephen James Walker

Review: The Spider (Edderkoppen)

The six hour-long episodes of the Danish TV serial The Spider (original title Edderkoppen) were released as an English-subtitled two-disc DVD
set in the UK last summer, fifteen years after their original broadcast, as
part of Arrow Films’ “Nordic Noir” strand of crime dramas. Unlike more famous
Danish shows such as Borgen and The Killing (with which it shares a number
of principal cast members), The Spider is not a contemporary thriller but a
period piece, set in 1949, a time when Denmark was still suffering the
after-effects of the Second World War, with many everyday items still subject
to rationing. The central character, Bjarne Madsen (Jakob Cedergren), is an
idealistic rookie journalist on a left-wing newspaper, who becomes preoccupied
with investigating a local ring of black marketeers presided over by the
ruthless Svend Aage Hjalmar (Bjarne Henriksen) – “the Spider” at the centre of
this web of crime. Bjarne is aided by veteran crime reporter H C Vissing (Bent
Vejding), who takes him under his wing, but they find their enquiries
obstructed at every turn by corrupt police officers, who are in the pay of
Hjalmar.




Partly based on true events, the story is set
against the background of a nation struggling to come to terms with its wartime
past, when some people joined the resistance to oppose the Nazi occupying
force, while others became despised collaborators, creating tension within
local communities and even individual families, as shown when Bjarne’s cocky
collaborator brother Ole (Lars Mikkelsen) – curiously named after the series’
creator, director and main writer Ole Christian Madsen – returns from a period
of effective exile in New York with a wad of cash, intending to set up a jazz
club.






This is a very well-made serial, with strong central
performances, high production values and good direction, creating a very
authentic-seeming period atmosphere. Unfortunately, it is really let down by its
scripting. The characters are clichéd and one-dimensional, the situations
hackneyed and predictable, and the plotting disjointed and implausible. The end
result is that, although The Spider has an interesting setting and an
intriguing premise and is very pleasing to look at, sitting through all six
episodes becomes really rather a trial.




Arrow Films’ DVD presentation of the serial is a
bare-bones one, too, with no extras whatsoever. So, overall, this is sadly not
a release I can recommend.






Stephen James Walker

Review: Five Dolls For an August Moon (1970)

So this is a Mario Bava film, and one that I'd never heard of. The director is famed of course, and rightly so, for such masterworks as Black Sunday, but it seems that somewhere after that he lost his mojo.



I have no idea why this film is called Five Dolls for an August Moon. There are no dolls in the film, and no moon either, and it may or may not be set in August. What it seems to be is a sort of rip-off of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians, or And Then There Were None, in that there are ten people, five men and five women, on an island, and that they get killed off one by one ... no-one seems to know who the killer is, not least of all the viewer, and to be honest the film is so talky and slow that the viewer actually ceases to care much ... And when we get to the end, it doesn't make sense anyway, with people seemingly vanishing when the police arrive and then reappearing again ... and the police search the house - by which they go to the top of the stairs and without moving a foot further, or calling out, or checking any of the rooms, declare that the place is deserted. It's all very strange.





One of the woman is a sort of 'observer' type character and runs around outside in a short dress or fetching pair of jeans, acting strange, hiding clothes in rocks, eating seafood straight from the water ... that sort of thing. The others are a strange mix of poorly acted Italian stock, looking as though they have just wandered in from whichever Italian Soap Opera was popular at the time ... It's all spinning beds and girls in knickers ... very soft porn stuff.  There is one nice death reveal - where a load of glass balls tumble down a staircase and roll along a passage to a bathroom, falling in the bath where one of the girls seems to have slit her wrists because she can't take it any longer ... I know how she felt!



And the music! Oh my. It sounds as though it's all been played on a Bontempi organ and is dreadful. There's a meat locker in the house (inexplicable) and for some reason all the dead bodies get wrapped in plastic and hung in there.





While I can applaud Arrow for seeking out, cleaning up and issuing all these strange films in high quality Blu-Ray format, it's a shame when the subject matter is as poor as this.



There is an interesting and informative documentary on the disc (apparently from around 2000) where Mark Kermode explores the life and work of Bava. Of particular interest were the parallels between Bava's Planet of the Vampires and Scott's Alien ... where it seems that if Ridley Scott hadn't seen Bava's work, then the writers certainly had ... there are a lot of parallels.



So overall, it's a lovely transfer, clean pictures, incomprehensible film and dreadful music ... Probably unmissable for the Bava completist!



SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Optional English and Italian soundtracks presented in original uncompressed mono PCM audio
Optional isolated Music and Effects track
Optional English subtitles for the Italian audio and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English audio
Audio commentary by Mario Bava’s biographer Tim Lucas
Mario Bava: Maestro of the Macabre – a documentary profile of the director, hosted by Mark Kermode and featuring interviews with Joe Dante, John Carpenter and Tim Burton
Theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Glenn Kenny and a new essay by Adrian Smith on the Fancey family and their efforts to bring international exploitation titles, including Five Dolls for an August Moon, to a UK audience during the 60s, 70s and 80s

New Magazines

I'm a sucker for magazines. I love the real world-ness of them ... a sense of permanence that the good old world of PDFs and Websites can't replicate. This is why I still have stacks of old and loved magazines ... copies of House of Hammer, Monster Mag, Fangoria, The Monster Times and many more ... And now there's more to add!





I'd seen mention of this new magazine called Zombie! online but hadn't heard a thing about it ... but when I saw a copy in the local Smith's I had to grab it. For a start it has a glow in the dark cover!  When I was a kid I loved glow in the dark things ... from the Aurora Monster Model Kits to silly plastic skeletons you could get in Christmas crackers, I loved all things which glowed. I even tried to find some glow in the dark paint to paint some stuff with but failed! I don't think they made it at the time!



Anyway, Zombie!  has a cracking cover courtesy of Oliver Frey who used to do all the covers for the old Fear magazine - I told you I loved the mags - and his gory, stylised work is perfect for this magazine which, as the title suggests, is about all things Zombie.  So we get a Zombie Survival Guide, a Cultural History of Zombies, 21 Zombie Movies to watch before you die, reviews of zombie related stuff, feature on The Walking Dead, interview with Oliver Frey, games reviews, zombie tattoos, zombie comics, and finally a short piece with author Darren Shan about his Zom-B series of novels ... all in all it's a packed read, and has a snappy, modern, jumpy layout with lots of boxouts of information and imagery ... Really well designed and fascinating to flip through.



I have no idea whether it will last, whether there is enough zombie news, reviews and features to fill a monthly (at least I think it's monthly - I can't find any information!) magazine.  But I wish them well! From the first issue, it's a very promising start.



To grab a copy, head to:

http://www.get-zombie.today/



The other magazine offering is far more sedate. From its perfect and stylish black and white cover, The Mummy is a mag all about that creature, but more specifically about the 1932 Universal film. This is one of a series of publications from the amazing Nige Burton and team, and is a top quality printed work, with beautifully reproduced photographs. The care that has gone into it is evident, and it shows. They kindly sent me a copy for review.



Each edition focusses on one film, and here we have the Boris Karloff version of the Mummy ...so we have background details on the film, biogs of all the main players from both in front of and behind the camera, Mummy merchandise is covered, as are the sequels of declining quality, everything illustrated with stills and posters and lobby cards ... a beautiful appreciation of the film.



For more information about Nige's series of magazines and special publications, please head to:

https://www.facebook.com/classicmonstersofthemovies

http://www.classic-monsters.com/shop/

2015 Overview

Linzi Gold and Alan Glass


2015 ... here's some thoughts ... It started with some good news for Sam’s daughter Linzi … we met by accident with a friend of a friend, the ex-drummer with The Marmalade, Alan Whitehead, who, it turned out, was acting as a music agent. He heard Linzi singing, loved her, and signed her up!  He introduced her to a brilliant producer/musician called Alan Glass, and on 1st Jan, Linzi Gold had an initial meeting with Alan Glass, and work started on creating her music. Under the guidance of Alan Glass, she has now created lyrics and melody for eight tracks, and has recorded a video for one of them (‘Killing Kiss’). She has two more tracks to record, and then we can put them all together in a debut album next year …




She parted company with Alan Whitehead mid-year, but is continuing to work with Alan Glass to complete the album.




Some of her tracks can be found on YouTube, and on SoundCloud – just search for Linzi Gold in each case to find them. We also have an EP available for sale, and a DVD of the video – check her webpage at www.linzigold.com for details of how to order them.







Sam with John Barrowman


February and we were again off to LA for the annual Gallifrey Doctor Who convention – a week of friends and parties and drinking basically. As usual we had a brilliant time, and met up again with friends like Chase Masterson, and Dean Haglund (who was on the verge of moving to Australia!). Unfortunately despite everyone’s best efforts, we weren’t able to get to meet with Clive Barker again – the week we were there, people at Clive’s place fell ill with throat infections and were called out to other cities on business … so we couldn’t make it happen. We’ll try again in 2016!




One highlight of the visit was that David finally got to see the Baxter Building – a distinctive place in Downtown LA, which was used in the film Blade Runner, as well as being the main location for the ‘Demon With a Glass Hand’ episode of the sixties series The Outer Limits. It’s an amazing place! (see howeswho.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/the-bradbury-building.html for pics!)





David with Jason Connery


After the news last year that we had a new kitty in the form of Jinx, sad news in March, as on the 10th, she was hit by a car on the road out front and killed instantly. We were distraught. We have decided not to get another cat as it’s not fair – that road is so dangerous and cars go down it at 90 miles an hour (even though it’s a little country lane). Even next door’s cat was killed on it, in the same way, a few months later.




We had a busy first part of the year with events in Pwllheli, Peterborough, Lincoln, London, EasterCon in London, and Wales Comic Con in Wrexham. All seemed great, and we were visiting a friend down in South Wales when the world turned on its head.




It was Sunday 3 May, and we were heading to Cardiff to see the Doctor Who Exhibition there, when David started to feel ill. A couple of miles further on, we stopped at a service station just inside Wales, and David basically collapsed. It turned out he was having a massive heart attack, and so was rushed by ambulance to Cardiff University Hospital, where he was emergency-stented and his life saved.




David was in hospital for a week, and then Sam brought him home … and so the next six months were devoted to getting better and stronger and recovering from the attack. Of course all events and travel had to be cancelled, David was earning no money from working, and so we resorted to living off what money we had saved.





David, Sam and Patricia record the 'Zombie Special' edition

of THE STONE TAPES


Thankfully David has pulled through and is now back to being hale and hearty once more. He’s on medication for life now, but as this keeps him alive, we don’t mind too much.




In the middle of all this, we also recorded Linzi’s music video, and Sam recorded the first of her monthly radio shows on SirenFM, Lincoln University’s Community Radio station. It’s a genre chat show, covering music and books and films and television and is called THE STONE TAPES after the old seventies Nigel Kneale play, The Stone Tape. It seemed suitable. We have recorded 8 editions so far, and they have all been great fun indeed.




If you want to listen, then they are all stored as downloadable Podcasts and can be found here:

southsidebroadcasting.podbean.com/category/the-stone-tapes/




David’s first event post-Heart Attack was in July, at HorrorCon in Rotherham, which was an excellently organized affair with some great guests.





Sam with Gunner Hansen


We met the lovely Gunner Hansen there, who played the original Leatherface in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and he was a nice man. We were saddened to hear that he had died later in the year.




The big event of the year was of course our Wedding. Planned since last year, it finally happened in October, and was as fun and laughter-filled as we could have hoped for … We wanted it to be all about family and friends, and we hope we achieved that.




It was also ‘Steampunk’ which meant dressing up … and the array of outfits was superb: From Uncle Brian’s ‘Ozzy Osbourne’ to corsets and Victorian Ladies aplenty, top hats and tails, and beautiful dresses and glamorous people. We had an absolute ball, and the photos reflect all the fun and laughter we had on the day.




I've put a pile of pictures on this blog here: howeswho.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/wedding-pictures.html




After the wedding, we didn’t head off immediately on honeymoon … the reason being that we had been invited to two USA conventions: Long Island Who, and Chicago TARDIS; which were two weeks apart. So we planned to head over to both, and to use the week in between for a honeymoon break. So that’s what we did, and spent an amazing time in Las Vegas …





David with some friends in Las Vegas



Sam in Vegas


We didn’t gamble, but watched, and when we did decide to spend $20 on the machines, we stopped when we had won $38 and came out ahead! We’re not daft!



At the tail end of the year, David also released another book!  This is a selection of his reviews of Doctor Who on television, and covered all of the Chris Eccleston and David Tennant years. He called it Then and Now as it represented all the reviews as published at the time, together with additional notes and comments on a re-watch this year. The book has been very warmly received, and David hopes to do a follow up volume when Peter Capaldi eventually leaves the role ...

Copies are available from Amazon as follows:

UK: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1518776000/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0Q1DAMX857R3W6DK9CHD&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=577048407&pf_rd_i=desktop

USA: www.amazon.com/Then-Now-Doctor-Who-Review/dp/1518776000/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451578674&sr=8-1&keywords=then+and+now+howe




SAM’S WRITING




2015, and Sam finally managed to find an agent who could represent her. This is a smashing lady called Hazel Latus, who we have met with and have high hopes of working with on all manner of projects.



The books Sam has had out this year (2015) are as follows:




VAMPIRE GENE REPRINTS: Sam sold the rights to her popular Vampire Gene series of novels to Telos, and they have all been reissued with smart new covers …




The next edition, JADED JEWEL, is due for release in 2016.

JINX TOWN: This is a post-apocalyptic novel involving alien invasion, death and disaster … It’s a great read and had some brilliant reviews.




KAT OF GREEN TENTACLES: This was another in Sam’s brilliant Steampunk Adventure series. This time it’s Anne of Green Gables mixed with the Fae and a Cthulhuian monster in the basement …




All those are from Telos here: www.telos.co.uk




SHORT STORIES: Not such a good year for these due to David’s heart attack, but one that Sam did manage to complete was ‘Sabellaed’, a tribute to the author Tanith Lee who passed away this year, which was printed in an anthology called Night’s Nieces edited by Storm Constantine and published by Immanion Press. Copies available here: www.immanion-press.com/info/book.asp?id=483&referer=Hp




Another piece which finally saw light this year was the first piece for the audio publishers Big Finish, when 'Freya' appeared as part of Series Four of their Confessions of Dorian Gray series. This can be ordered here: www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-confessions-of-dorian-gray-series-04-1195




A further Kat Lightfoot story was written as a special Wedding favour for our guests. We published it as a short chapbook and it featured our wedding, and the guests, as Kat battles the forces of evil around us … great fun! We still have a couple of copies available for sale if anyone's interested: www.sam-stone.blogspot.co.uk/p/sam-stone-merchandise.html




TELOS PUBLISHING




Despite the health issues, we’ve managed to keep things moving forward at Telos, with 29 new titles coming out, plus Kindle and new POD editions of many other titles on top.




We have lots of Romance titles there now, for those who like that, as well as more horror and non-fiction titles.




For full details, check out our website at www.telos.co.uk.




IN SUMMARY




On balance, 2015 contained some superb highs – the wedding – and some dramatic lows – David’s heart attack. Overall it was good, with lots of love and laughter, but we’re hoping for a healthier 2016, with lots more fun and friends and events and good news.

Wedding Pictures

Here's some pics from Sam and my wedding in October 2015 :)

Review: The Black Cat (1981)

Lucio Fulci may be better known for his zombie fare, but he has made far more films than that, and this offering from Arrow is a Poe adaptation which was made between the heady rotting delights of Zombie Flesh Eaters and The Beyond.



It's not a bad film, but suffers a little from a lack of clarity around what is actually happening. There's a black cat (of course) which seems to have a propensity to attack those around it, scratching hands and faces and causing maximum damage for very little provocation. I think I would have had the beast tracked down and put down to be honest, but here it wanders through the plot with scarcely anyone paying it much attention until it attacks them.





The main thrust of the film follows Patrick Magee as Robert Miles, a college professor and medium. He seems to be being stalked by the cat of the title, and indeed, the creature is killing people in interestingly and slightly supernatural ways ... so Magee does indeed catch the cat and hangs it, but this then unleashes more supernatural shenanigans.  In fact, Magee is a bit of a creep here and tries to hypnotise American Tourist Jill (Mimsy Farmer) which fails due to feline intervention, and who then kidnaps her and walls her up in his house (a typical Poe trope).  She is found when the police hear a cat crying and discover that it has been walled up with Jill ...



There is a strong film here struggling to escape from the script which is vague and meandering, and perhaps is showing a few Giallo roots wherein atmosphere and event takes the place of plot and progression (ie things happen for apparently no reason).  Which is a shame as Fulci does a good job of piling on the atmosphere and Magee is excellent in the lead - his voice is very creepy and adds a lot to the feeling of dread that the film starts to build up.





The print from Arrow is very nice indeed, with good colours and great clarity, which makes viewing the film even more pleasurable. It's just a shame that the script is a little too shakey.



Among the extras are a couple with Film Historian Stephen Thrower who discusses the film and visits the locations.  The location piece is actually lovely, and it's nice to see the 'then and now' comparisons, but someone should have told Thrower not to say 'Errm' every second. It's so jarring and is very distracting.  On the studio-bound discussion, I notice that he seems to be cut every couple of seconds, perhaps to remove the majority of these 'Errms' and 'Arrrs'? But some still remain. A shame as he seems very knowledgeable about the subject ... but not a natural performer for camera.



A final note: the DVD set from Arrow also contains the film Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, but this was not provided for review.





LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:



Limited Edition boxed-set (3000 copies) containing Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key and The Black Cat
Brand new 2K restorations of the films from the original camera negatives
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Original Italian and English soundtracks in mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-rays)
Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
Limited Edition 80-page booklet containing new articles on the films, Lucio Fulci’s last ever interview and a reprint of Poe’s original story


YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY:

Through the Keyhole – a brand new interview with director Sergio Martino
Unveiling the Vice – making-of retrospective featuring interviews with Martino, star Edwige Fenech and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
Dolls of Flesh and Blood: The Gialli of Sergio Martino – a visual essay by Michael Mackenzie exploring the director’s unique contributions to the giallo genre
The Strange Vices of Ms. Fenech – film historian Justin Harries on the Your Vice actress’ prolific career • Eli Roth on Your Vice and the genius of Martino
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin


THE BLACK CAT:

Brand new audio commentary by filmmaker and Fangoria editor Chris Alexander
Poe into Fulci: The Spirit of Perverseness – film historian Stephen Thrower on Fulci’s Poe-tinged classic
In the Paw-Prints of the Black Cat – a look at the original Black Cat locations
Frightened Dagmar – a brand new career interview with actress Dagmar Lassander
At Home with David Warbeck – an archive interview with The Black Cat star
Original Theatrical Trailer






Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin

Review: The Honeymoon Killers (1969)

ARROW BLU-RAY, RELEASED 9 NOVEMBER 2015



The movie



Based, albeit somewhat loosely, on the famous real-life story of the so-called ‘Lonely Hearts Killers’ Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, who in the late 1940s murdered a number of women whom Fernandez seduced through a correspondence matchmaking service with a view to stealing their savings, The Honeymoon Killers is a unique film in many ways – at least, I don’t think I’ve ever seen another quite like it.



Shot in stark, documentary-style black-and-white, on a paltry budget of $150,000, this was the first film to be made by its stars Tony Lo Bianco and Shirley Stoler, all of whose previous acting experience had been confined to the stage; the first to be produced by television current affairs programme-maker Warren Steibel; the first to be written and directed by Steibel’s friend Leonard Kastle, who was actually a composer by profession; and the first to be shot by cinematographer Oliver Wood. In fact, Kastle was the third choice as director – the first was a young Martin Scorsese, just starting out on his career, who was fired by Steibel for working too slowly, although the small amount of material he oversaw was retained in the final edit.





The rookie status of the film-makers and the impoverished nature of the finished production means that, at times, it almost has the look of a student film project. Apparently the actors had to do their own hair and make-up, as no professional input could be afforded for this; and another pointer to the lack of finance is that, instead of a specially-composed score, the soundtrack is comprised of sections from two Gustav Mahler symphonies – the use of which, it must be said, becomes a little over-the-top and distracting at times.



However, in spite of, or perhaps because of, its poverty row trappings, the end product is strangely effective and compelling. There is a cold brutality about the way the couple’s killings are depicted, and it is no surprise to learn that at the time of its release, it was seen as an ‘exploitation film’; indeed, it was banned in Australia until the late 1980s. Over the years, however, The Honeymoon Killers has certainly acquired plenty of admirers – famed French director Francois Truffaut once famously described it as his favourite American film – and reassessing it courtesy of this new Arrow Blu-Ray release, it is easy to see why.





Blu-ray presentation



Arrow have handily packaged the Blu-Ray along with a DVD of the film (not seen for this review), making a very nice dual-format release. With a brand-new 4K restoration, the quality of the Blu-Ray picture is excellent, as is that of the original, uncompressed mono audio. There is also a generous offering of well-presented extras:



• Love Letters, a video piece by Robert Fischer featuring actors Tony Lo Bianco and Marilyn Chris and editor Stan Warnow.

• Folie à Deux: Todd Robinson, director of the 2006 remake Lonely Hearts, explores the true story of the Lonely Hearts Killers.

• Body Shaming: Todd Robinson discusses the film.

• Beyond Morality: Fabrice du Welz, director of the 2014 Belgian-French film Alleluia, explains how The Honeymoon Killers inspired him.

• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw.

• Illustrated collector’s booklet (not seen for this review) featuring an extensive new essay by horror author and researcher Johnny Mains on the film and its real-life inspiration, plus archive materials.



Highly recommended.



Stephen James Walker

Writing Then and Now

I was shocked when I realised that I'd not actually written and released a book since 2011, when my horror fiction collection talespinning came out from Telos.  Time has a way of getting away from you ...



I have suggested a few titles to the BBC over the years, but unfortunately they seem to be running something of a closed shop at the moment, and anything coming in from 'outside' seems of no interest to them ... which is saddening ... but it also means that trying to do something good and cool with images and artwork is way out of the scope of an independent press - it all costs a lot to clear and to print, and then sales can be very hard to come by too - it's like a game of roulette ... you might succeed, but all the odds are all stacked against you.



Then, in May this year (which is 2015) I had an unexpected and massive heart attack, which brought me literally down to earth. I couldn't work, I couldn't really do much at all except recover. And that meant sitting around a lot and doing very little except watch television and watch the grass growing in the garden.



So, in an attempt to alleviate boredom, I decided to re-watch some Doctor Whos ... I started with Hartnell, and worked my way through the first season before getting a little restless ... there's not many monsters there you see, and the historicals have never been to my taste ... so I then skipped to all the available Troughtons and loved seeing those again ... and then I wondered whether to continue with Pertwee or move to something else.



I then considered that I had reviewed all the NuWho episodes from 2005 onwards on my Blog, and that here was a great opportunity to watch them all again, and to see if I agreed with what I had said at the time ... and what a great idea for a book!  Something which looked at Who as it was transmitted, and then was re-evaluated based on a current viewing. So that's what I did.



Starting with 'Rose' with Christopher Eccleston, I re-watched them, in order, and took in some of the special mini-episodes as well if they seemed relevant to the overall television 'story' of the show.



It was fascinating to see how the series developed, year on year, with Doctors and Companions coming and going ... Interesting to see how the Soap Opera elements which were prevalent at the start, lessened, and how the story arc idea, strong at first, again lessened.



The first volume of reviews, which I decided to call Then and Now, goes up to the end of the David Tennant era, as that seemed to be a good cutting off point. Plus, the book was getting too long!



I am currently up to the start of Peter Capaldi with my re-watch, and it's again been interesting to see overall what an impact Steven Moffat has had on the show during the Matt Smith years, with the narrative coherence slowly dropping away, and continuity, event and introspection taking the place of actual plot and adventure. Not that I see this as a good thing ... for me, the plot and 'adventures in time and space' and monsters have always been the prime focus of the show ... and the inner lives of the Doctor and his companions don't interest me ... but there you go.





I'm still enjoying the show, and like the occasional flashes of brilliance that it shows. I wish it could be more coherent and more consistent, but for that I suspect we need another sea change in the running of the show, bringing in fresh ideas and eyes to carry it forward.

For the moment, as I write this, we are in the middle of Capaldi's second season ... and I'm wondering if my opinions of these episodes will change between viewing them now, and then re-watching them in a few months time ... We shall see!



Then and Now can be bought from Amazon:



UK: BUY FROM AMAZON UK



USA: BUY FROM AMAZON USA



I should also have copies at various events I'm attending around the world ... so please come and catch me at one of them if you want a signed edition!

Review: Madman (1982)

I have to confess that I had never heard of or seen this film before ... and now thanks to Arrow, I can rectify this. It's fairly obvious from the very start where this film's antecedents lie. It opens with a group around a camp fire, telling ghost stories ... and it's very like the opening to John Carpenter's The Fog (1980)... They talk about there being the ghost of a killer in a creepy house nearby who will appear if you say his name too loud and he will then come and chop you to pieces with his axe ... and that of course is exactly what happens. It's a bunch of kids too, all at a summer camp ... and of course this brings Friday The 13th (1980) to mind as well.  Add to this a sort-of supernatural, unknown killer who cannot be killed himself, and you also have John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) as well ...



So that's pretty much what you get here. The killer is Mad Man Murz, hence the title, and he's a hulking, brute of a man with the strength of over three men! He also has claws and hairy feet and swings an axe like there's no tomorrow.





The rest of the cast are basically forgettable cannon fodder, and of course have sex with each other and get chased and slaughtered. Mad Man Murz is keeping the bodies in the cellar (Psycho (1960)) of course, and we see a line of them from skeletal to most recent - he's been at this for some time! This is reminiscent of scenes in Death Line (AKA Raw Meat 1972), and he also hangs one girl up on a hook which goes right through her chest (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)) ... it's like the film makers decided to take their favourite bits from a whole host of 1970s and 1980s slasher horror films, and make a film of their own which included it all. The only thing missing are vampires and the living dead/zombies ...





On the plus side, it looks fabulous and is very nicely directed and shot. On the minus it's slow and drags interminably in places. There's a hilarious spa bath sequence which seems to go on forever where a boy and a girl sort of chase each other around the edge of the water ...



Another plus for me was the music, which, given the inspiration to the whole thing, you won't be surprised sounds like something John Carpenter might have come up with ... and typical of films of the time, there are no explanations. Why is Murz haunting this summer camp with his axe, where are the police, and how is he seemingly getting away with all this?





There are a host of extras here too, but I get the feeling coming away from it all that this might be the only film of worth that the writer/directors actually made, and that they are still hanging onto it, looking to do a remake or something ... Much better to take all that learning and make new things!  But checking IMDB this seems to be the only film ever directed by Joe Giannone, who died in 2006, It's also Gary Sales' only writing credit (for the story, with Giannone, and Giannone also wrote the screenplay), though he at least has gone on to be First AD on many other films.



Overall it's an interesting slice of 80's slasher film. Heavily influenced by other films around it, and very derivative. For a night out with beer though, it's probably a good fun film to enjoy with others.





SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

Brand new 4K transfer from the original camera negative
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Original Mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Audio commentary with director Joe Giannone, Madman stars Paul Ehlers and Tony Fish and producer Gary Sales
Audio Commentary by The Hysteria Continues
The Legend Still Lives! Thirty Years of Madman – a feature-length retrospective documentary on the slasher classic including interviews with various cast and crew
Madman: Alive at 35 – Sales, Ehlers and star Tom Candela look back at the making of Madman, 35 years after it was filmed
The Early Career of Gary Sales – the Madman producer discusses his career in the film industry
Convention interviews with Sales and Ehlers
Music Inspired by Madman – a selection of songs inspired by themovie, including the track ‘Escape From Hellview’ from former CKY frontman Deron Miller
In Memoriam – producer Sales pays tribute to the some of the film’s late cast and crew, including director Giannone and actor Tony Fish
Original Theatrical Trailer
TV Spots
Stills & Artwork Gallery with commentary by Sales
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin
Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic James Oliver, illustrated with original archive stills and posters