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Figurative Vermin, and Man’s Best Foe

Lewis Teague’s Cujo really holds its own as a mini-genre classic, most because the director focused on the very real fears of a mother and son trapped in a Pinto, while a drooling, pussy St. Bernard waits them out as rabies slowly turns the former workyard dog into a carnivorous monster.

Branded the 25th Anniversary Edition (which, given the film’s 1983 release date, makes 2007 its 24th anniversary, but why quibble), the new DVD from Maple (Canada) and Lionsgate (U.S.) adds meaty extras, and upgrades the audio options with selectable original mono and pseudo-stereo 2.0 mixes. The interviews are fun & informative, and like Teague’s commentary track for Cat’s Eye, the director provides an engaging retrospective of the film’s production history, as well as his own career.

The labels’ other genre release, Bug, has its own share of intriguing extras, and the film stands as William Friedkin’s best work in years. Maybe it’s the keen interest he has for the original stage play, or perhaps he loves the challenge of shooting a psychological thriller in confined spaces with just a handful of characters, but Bug shows the director has the skills to deliver a thriller that starts rather benign, and tips into madness and nihilism, arguably two core themes he’s revisited in prior works such as Sorcerer, and Rampage (the latter still unavailable on DVD, and in need of a proper special edition, with both the British and U.S. versions in one super happy magic deluxe edition).


- MRH

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Musical brilliance on DVD

It’s a luxury when a documentarian is allowed a full hour to edify viewers on the brilliance of a singular film composer, and while it’s been 15 years since Joshua Waletzky’s doc on Bernard Herrmann debuted on PBS, it still holds its own as a fine intro to the world of one of cinema’s greatest film composers.

From his long association with Alfred Hitchcock – producing such magnificent scores for The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, The Wrong Man, Psycho, and Marnie – to his superlative scores for Ray Harryhausen’s enduring fantasy epics – The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, and Mysterious Island – and his final work, Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, Herrmann’s style and unique approach to film scoring is detailed with film clips, music excerpts, and rare footage of Herrmann himself, including clips from the recording sessions for Francois Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black.

Released as part of a 4-title wave from Kultur, you can read my DVD review at Music from the Movies HERE, along with the first title in the series, The Hollywood Sound.


- MRH

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Visions of Hell

The first horror review couplet is up, with a breakdown of the new 20th Anniversary Edition of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, the influential 1987 film that still stands on its own as one grisly, weird vision, and father of an increasing bad series of sequels (of which the first two are the most interesting, and the third is just nuts, placing Pinhead in space).

The latest film from Dark Castle also debuts Oct. 15th on DVD after a long wait since its theatrical run (boy, did they blow a lot on advertising), and surprise: it doesn’t stink. Not really a horror film and more straightforward theological thriller, The Reaping has its weaknesses, but if taken as a glossy B-movie, it should please fans of religious thrillers, although its decisive lack of sleaze means most horrific turns are far too earnest. Augmented by a great score from John Frizzell (whom we interviewed regarding his music).

Following the latter’s film's gross imagery of giant swarming locusts (Jesus, they’re huge), the next titles on the roster involve bugs and a killer pooch.


- MRH

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Traveling to new horizons

Whether it’s space travel or moving to a new pad (which in my case means reducing, compacting, compressing, storing, and re-establishing selected stuff in a new home after seven years in a toxic mold-infested abode), stress is a factor that determines whether those moving from point A to B have the will and resolution to see it through, or go plain cuckoo in the process (of which I came close, particularly after vital keys were locked, for a second time in personal history, in a very stupid, inaccessible place).

Moving to a new house is one thing (and a loathsome, bothersome, disruptive thing at that), but going into space with a hard plan only to have things go awry is a wholly different experience (well, duh), and one the world at large watched on TV in 1970 when the men stuck inside the joined crafts of Apollo 13 were trying to figure out how to get home safely, with a massive NASA support team working overtime on practical solutions.

Although released way back in April, it’s worth checking out two space exploration documentaries from MVD Visual, particularly as they function as intriguing appendixes to the recent theatrical doc, In the Shadow of the Moon, which traces Man’s journey from this rock to the smaller one that’s been hypnotically roving around us for a long time.

Apollo 13: Houston, We’ve Had a Problem (2004) relies on archival footage and audio, and unlike prior docs and dramatizations of the mission, it plops the viewer (you) in between the scientists and the astronauts as the mission moves towards a very uncertain resolution.

Apollo 11: The Eagle Has Landed, is director Robert Garofalo’s second space doc, and similarly relies on rare footage, plus intermittent narration by Tom Baker (Dr. Who), and traces Man’s mobilization to safely land on the moon. The pacing is appropriately measured, and the footage is hypnotic, and both docs offer some vintage glimpses into the events depicted in David Sington’s 2007 doc, In Shadow of the Moon.

To balance out the ethereal beauty of real space travel we’ve added Queen of Outer Space, a longtime cult favourite that was recently given a deserved DVD release as part of Warner Bros.’ Cult Camp Classics wave.

Included in Vol. 1 of three genre-themed boxed sets, this 1958 stinker was made for a few bucks, and endures as a hypnotic (though sometimes dull) depiction of wonky fifties morality with women clumsily governing their own planet until the guys set things right with some smiles, bad gags, and some nuzzling and cuddling.

Zsa Zsa Gabor co-stars, and while she never really becomes more than the queen of her planet (a much smaller dominion, for sure), this B-picture proves Gabor couldn’t act for more than 30 seconds of screen time – making Queen of Outer Space a real treat.

Lastly, we’ve added an interview with Jeff Toyne, an up-and-coming composer whose prior experience as an ace orchestrator has served him well on several recent solo ventures. Released on CD and as a downloadable MP3 album via MovieScore Media, Shadow in the Trees is another fine horror score – low-key, thoughtful, and character driven – coming from a new voice in film scoring.

Toyne’s album was reviewed in a recent issue of Rue Morgue magazine, so here’s an interview with the composer.

And now that the unpacking is 65% done (I still have no idea where 4 tailor-made screws for an IKEA desk went, dammit), the backlog of material will start filling up the site, so keep checking for new material, or watch for our web posts, and those interested in expanding their soundtrack collection with titles they missed during the late 80s/early 90s are encouraged to check out our sale, which knocks down the prices substantially.


- MRH

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