THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE - BLU-RAY REVIEW

Brought to life as a direct result of George A. Romero’s now-seminal NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968), Jorge “Jordi” Grau’s highly-atmospheric zombie shocker THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE (1974) is perhaps best known for its scenes of gruesome gut-crunching. And, like its primary source of inspiration, Grau also succeeds in generating a potent aura of claustrophobia and mounting paranoia, and it’s this atmosphere of unease—augmented by a bleakness and overlying sense of morbid dread that’s almost palpable—which remains one of its most memorable assets. Released under many alternate titles and in numerous different versions, THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE has been steadily available in several ‘special editions’ throughout the digital age thus far. However, the recent 3-disc Limited Edition Steelbook from those perfectionists at Synapse Films easily eclipses every single other release that preceded it. 

Ray Lovelock plays George, an art dealer from Manchester, England who is eager to escape the polluted and congested city for a weekend getaway in the country. While zipping through the English countryside on his big, fat, black Norton motorbike (with stylin’ leather biker jacket to match), by pure—if fateful—happenstance he crosses paths with Edna (Cristina Galbó) at a gas station. After she accidentally backs into his parked bike with her car, the understandably angry George coerces her into taking him the rest of the way to his final destination Windermere. However, the flighty Edna explain that she needs to get to the town of Southgate in order to visit her ill-and-ailing sister Katie (Jeannine Mestre) instead. After getting lost along the way, Ray and Edna stop to ask for directions at a farm, where the highly-opinionated George becomes openly critical of a new insect-exterminating gizmo the Department of Agriculture is testing, which uses low-level ultrasonic radiation as a potentially ‘eco-friendly’ alternative to conventional chemical pesticides. As George and Edna soon find out, however, this machine also ‘just happens’ to cause recently-deceased human corpses to rise from their graves and walk the earth anew… 

 

Still-topical in its ecological concerns, THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE is an upscale and highly engrossing Euro-horror from talented Spanish director Jorge Grau, who, a year earlier, had given us the equally-fascinating gothic horror film, THE LEGEND OF BLOOD CASTLE (a.k.a. BLOOD CEREMONY [1973]). Executed with great professionalism across the board, TLDAMM’s measured narrative takes it time to develop via a succession of believable dramatic interactions between its protagonists. In what is undoubtedly one of his most memorable leading roles, Ray Lovelock is excellent as George, the staunch—not to mention exceedingly frustrated and antsy!—eco-activist, who is viewed with surly distrust by most of the locals, as well as by Edna herself in the early stages of their unwitting ‘relationship’. As more and more people are besieged—and brutalized!—by the living dead, leaving a trail of mutilated corpses in their wake, George (thanks to the ever-fickle finger of Fate) falls victim to several unlucky coincidences. Much to his misfortune, he becomes inexorably caught up in the personal machinations of the detective assigned to the case, gruffly played by the great Arthur Kennedy. 

 

Much like in Romero’s NOTLD, the uglier side of human nature proves to be as big an obstacle to overcome as the living dead themselves. The short-sightedness of Kennedy’s character combined with George’s deep mistrust of the police (“The cops never like to admit they’re wrong!”) results in a number of clashes between the two men from opposite ends of the political spectrum. During one particularly heated moment, Kennedy relishes the opportunity to espouse his unfettered opinion about George and his ‘kind’ when he emphatically declares, “You’re all the same! The lot of you! With your long hair and faggot clothes! Drugs. Sex. Every sort of FILTH!” That said, as the order-barking dick of a detective, Kennedy is such a nasty, stubbornly vindictive character that you just hope he gets his much-deserved comeuppance sooner than later.

 

Shot almost entirely in England, give or take a few interiors lensed in Spain and Italy, TLDAMM makes the most of its beautiful authentic locales (including Castleton, Derbyshire, which stands in for most of the fictional town of Southgate), many of which are eerily-deserted, and this stark seeming under-population only adds to the impending horror. The opening sequence, which follows George on his motorcycle through the bustling streets of Manchester (including a busty female ‘streaker’ [that quaint social trend of the ’70s!] momentarily jiggling across the road between heavy traffic), initiates this interesting juxtaposition of encroaching industrialization. Set to composer Giuliano Sorgini’s excellent title theme “John Dalton Street,” Grau and his editor Vincenzo Tomassi effectively showcase a civilization teetering on the brink of environmental ruin, cross-cutting between the suffocating, garbage-strewn city streets and the lush open countryside. While NOTLD merely alluded vaguely to the origins of the zombie outbreak, Grau and his writers Sandro Continenza and Marcello Coscia herein directly blame unchecked technological advancement for detrimental effects on our natural ecosystem (“They tampered with nature, and now they must pay the price!” declared U.S. taglines). When George first encounters the aforementioned experimental prototype ‘ultrasonic bug-zapper’, which kills insects and parasites by attacking their nervous systems, he’s quick to dismiss it as “just another machine to pollute the Earth!” But nevertheless, as the film ends, humanity’s inevitable march towards ‘progress’ proves to be unrelenting and unstoppable...   

In addition, Grau's film includes several inventive (if unexplained) touches. Besides their unnerving, star-shaped and exceedingly bloodshot eyes, the living dead are also given an inexplicable ability to transmit ‘unlife’ to one another, which they do by dabbing the eyelids of their fellow dead with the blood of the living (i.e., that of their freshly-dead victims). As the film’s primary zombie (a recently-drowned tramp named Guthrie), Fernando Hilbeck fulfills much the same function as Bill Hinzman had in his infamous turn as the first zombie seen in NOTLD. Like Hinzman, Hilbeck’s imposing presence in the present film has also gone on to become iconic. Having earlier appeared in Narcisco Ibáñez Serrador’s superb THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED (1969), pretty Spanish starlet Cristina Galbó (credited here as “Christine Galbo”) also adds immensely to the film as the understandably distraught Edna as she too witnesses the visceral violence perpetrated by the living dead. 

 

Meticulously photographed by Francisco Sempere, the DP’s work herein looks truly splendid on Synapse Films’ new Blu-ray, which boasts a stunningly sumptuous new 4K restoration taken from the original camera negative. Without going into too many specifics, the image is virtually flawless. Without compromising the film’s natural grain structure an iota, this new transfer is unparalleled in its clarity, with richer colours and deeper blacks; it’s all so impressive, you’ll never need (or want) to re-watch it in any other form! The disc provides two DTS-HD MA audio options, including the film’s original 2.0 mono track and a 5.1 remix, both of which, depending on your set-up, sound excellent, giving further prominence to Giuliano Sorgini’s memorable score and unsettling sound design.

 

Extras on Synapse’s disc commence with two separate audio commentaries, starting with author Troy Howarth, who has plenty to discuss. He gets underway with the film’s genesis, then goes into the significance of NOTLD on the genre, addresses TLDAMM’s still-prescient ecologically-conscious themes, as well as how the filmmakers went through a sort of (quote) “checklist” in order to ensure they had all the necessary commercial aspects covered. Howarth also provides an excellent primer on the once-problematic Spanish film industry under Generalisimo Francisco Franco’s (1892-1975) regime, Grau’s lengthy career, Kennedy’s sojourn within European cinema, and much more, making for a well-informed and thoroughly engaging commentary. For the second audio commentary, Cinema Arcana’s Bruce Holecheck and Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson provide another of their highly-entertaining discussions, which is crammed chock-a-block with tons of invaluable info, plus several fascinating anecdotes too. Both participants are eager to point out that Grau’s film is one of (quote) “the high points of European horror,” then proceed to enthusiastically discuss TLDAMM’s (quote) “surreal, dreamlike quality,” its unique locations, Sorgini’s impressive sound design, the superb cast, special make-up effects artist Gianetto De Rossi, and also some of Grau’s other work, including his vastly-underrated rape/revenge shocker CODE OF HUNTING (1983), as well as his extremely misleadingly-titled crime drama VIOLENT BLOOD BATH(1972). A great listen all round, indeed!

 

Unfortunately, a trio of featurettes (including the great location doc Back to the Morgue) from Blue Underground’s 2009 Blu-ray have not been carried-over on Synapse’s new disc. Making up for that, they have included several other new extras instead. In the first, Catalonia’s King of Cult (88m58s), Jorge Grau gives a career-spanning interview, most of which (natch!) focuses on this his living dead opus. The doc also includes observations on the film from Kim Newman, Rachael Nisbet, John Martin and others. In the following extras, beginning with Scene of the Crime (15m24s), Eugenio Ercolani interviews special makeup-man Gianetto De Rossi, wherein he discusses his (quote) “perfect artistic relationship” with director Grau, his thoughts and apprehension regarding ‘eyeball violence’ in such films as Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE (1979), and his opinions (“Fuck! What I am doing!?”) about his gruesome work on Joe D’Amato’s EMANUELLE IN AMERICA (1976). In the final extra, Ercolani is once again on hand to moderate a very lively Q&A with De Rossi at the (fittingly enough!) Manchester Festival of Fantastic Films (44m29s). In it, they relate interesting—and at times hilarious—stories centered around De Rossi’s time working within the U.S. film industry, his contributions to Fabrizio De Angelis’ KILLER CROCODILE (1989) and its woeful sequel, plus his unexpected return to the fore with Alexandre Aja’s HIGH TENSION (2003). The film’s cool European trailer and an assortment of TV and radio spots conclude the extras.

 

Enclosed in an eye-catching Steelbook featuring original cover art by Wes Benscoter (the package comes inside a slipcover illustrated with some of the promotional artwork used on TLDAMM’s foreign releases), this exemplary set also includes a DVD copy of the Blu-ray as well as a 15-track (29m59s) soundtrack CD of Sorgini’s memorable score. An 8-page booklet with an essay from Nicholas G. Schlegel, Ph.D., and extensive restoration notes from Synapse’s very own Don May, Jr. is also included, as is a poster reproduction of Benscoter’s artwork. As greatly appreciated as the beautiful packaging is, though, it’s Synapse’s superior restoration, which goes far above and beyond all usual expectations, that makes their edition of this Euro-horror gem one of the year’s absolute finest releases! Order it from Synapse Films or DiabolikDVD. 

AMERICAN RICKSHAW - BLU-RAY REVIEW

“Miami just got hotter...” Academy Entertainment’s humdrum tagline for their 1991 VHS videocassette.

Released directly to U.S. videotape as AMERICAN TIGER during the early ’Nineties, this movie was readily available as commonplace ‘shelf-filler’ in most North American video stores. However, Sergio Martino’s AMERICAN RICKSHAW (1989) is anything but conventional. One of the loopier and truly unforgettable Italian films you’re ever likely to encounter, Martino’s genre mash-up now makes its North American HD debut thanks to a new specialty label on the block, Cauldron Films.

 

As he tries to get through college, Scott Edwards (Mitch Gaylord) ekes-out a living as a part-time rickshaw runner in the affluent Miami, Florida suburb of Coconut Grove. But his life is turned completely upside down when one of his fares, a slinky red-headed stripper named Joanna (Victoria Prouty), tricks him into making a sex tape aboard Jason Mortom’s (Gregg Todd Davis) swanky boat. In his haste to get off the boat, Scott gets into a fight with Jason and inadvertently steals the wrong videotape. Unaware that Jason is the son of a famous and influential TV evangelist named Reverend Mortom (Donald Pleasence), this sudden mix-up sets-off an utterly bizarre chain of events that jams together Chinese mysticism, an old witch, a megalomaniacal preacher, a seemingly unstoppable hitman, a ghostly Siamese cat and a hissing cobra snake, the last of which safeguards our frequently-confused hero. 

 

AMERICAN RICKSHAW is a tantalizingly engaging bit of Italian hokum, that no simple synopsis of its plot can adequately convey. Still, despite the ridiculous, anything-goes premise, it all works surprisingly well, given the usual by-the-numbers approach of most Italian exploitation movies during the late ’Eighties and beyond. Check out Umberto Lenzi’s generic crime actioner COP TARGET (1990)—or better (i.e., worse) yet, Bruno Mattei’s hilariously out-of-whack COP GAME (1988)!—for further confirmation of the rapidly declining state of Italy’s commercial cinema at the time. The opening sequence of AR is a particularly oddball attention-grabber: vividly shot in super-slow-motion during a sudden torrential downpour, Scott picks up Madame Moon (Michi Kobi), a frail old Chinese lady who becomes instantly enamored with his gallantry (and his tiger tank-top!). Later, when Scott gets embroiled in a possible murder rap and Reverend Mortom unleashes a black-clad hitman (Daniel Greene) to dispose of him, Madame Moon and her exotic ‘guardians’ watch over him during a succession of wacky encounters. Despite making very little sense whatsoever, the story largely revolves around a mysterious (quote) “stone of evil in the shape of an ugly boar”, which everyone is clamoring to get their hands on. However, thanks mainly to Martino’s energetic direction, Giancarlo Ferrando’s solid camerawork and Eugenio Alabiso’s offbeat cutting, the, um, ‘eccentric’ narrative moves at a satisfying clip while conjuring-up a strange, verging-on-surreal atmosphere.

 

Following his lead in Albert Magnoli’s AMERICAN ANTHEM (1986), ex-U.S. Team Olympic gymnast Mitch Gaylord commits himself with the proper panache required of the role, while the alluring Prouty also fares fairly well, given her one-dimensional part’s lack of substance. In contrast, in one of the film’s more pivotal roles, Martino alumnus Daniel Greene plays the deadly hitman with cool detachment, adding extra dynamism to much of the film. Although his screen time is limited, Donald Pleasence is memorably over-the-top (even more so than usual!) as the swaggering preacher who displays less regard for the sanctity of human life than a Florida gator. Whether it was a deliberate stylistic choice or not, his southern accent veers around wildly throughout, which only adds to the film’s schizophrenic nature; a fact best exemplified in the head-scratching, eye-popping finale.

 

Presented here in a brand new 2K transfer taken from the original 35mm camera negative, Cauldron Films’ Blu-ray looks superb, with excellent detail and colour-saturation throughout, which brings out all the retro ‘Nineties kitsch on display. Compared to Austrian Cinestrange Extreme’s earlier Blu-ray, which featured some digital noise-reduction tinkering and a slightly different colour scheme, Cauldron’s new edition is a noticeable improvement in every way. The LPCM English mono track also sounds well-balanced and quite lively. In addition, the disc includes English SDH subtitles.

 

Kat Ellinger, author of All the Colours of Sergio Martino (Arrow, 2018), and writer and film critic Samm Deighan take part in an audio commentary wherein they share their adoration for Martino’s (quote) “joyful, gleeful and entertaining film.” They have plenty to say about the film itself, including regarding many of its (quote) “confusing plot points” and the (quote) “constant madness” that unreels on the screen. Of course, they also discuss Martino’s varied career at great length, including how he frequently broke conventions and just how (quote) “adaptable” he is as a director, even when working in the United States. They also talk about much of the film’s cast and crew, including prolific if rarely-discussed makeup effects man Rosario Prestopino. A long-time veteran of the Italian film industry (he also lent his talents to such Italian gut-crunchers as BURIAL GROUND and DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. [both 1980]), Prestopino provides some brief-but-effective gore effects herein.  

 

Eugenio Ercolani’s interview with Sergio Martino and production designer Massimo Antonello Geleng (18m30s), which first appeared on Cinestrange’s BD, is thankfully ported-over onto Cauldron’s disc. Focusing on his early beginnings, Martino discusses how he entered the film industry, as well as the financial crisis that adversely affected Italian film production during the ’Eighties. He also relates his experiences working on AR and opines how American crews lack an ability to improvise on set. Geleng, a prolific production designer, speaks warmly about Martino and his versatility as a director, equating him with a (quote) “orchestral conductor.” In the next significant extra, an entire episode of Mike White’s The Projection Booth (65m30s) dedicates their full show to Martino’s (quote) “bonkers” film. Guests include Cullen Gallagher and Kat Ellinger, both of whom delve into AR’s nuttier aspects in what turns out to be a detailed and delightful look at its numerous endearing qualities. Extras conclude with the brief Miami: Now and Then(2m52s) location tour, plus a thorough image gallery (1m04s) that showcases much of the film’s promotional artwork and various videotape releases from around the world. Cauldron’s original Limited Edition pressing also includes a colourful 8-page booklet of liner notes with an essay from David Zuzelo, as well as a nice sturdy slipcover. 

 

Unlike anything else in his extensive and diverse filmography, Cauldron Films have given Sergio Martino’s colourfully outrageous AMERICAN RICKSHAW a first-rate HD presentation, which, of course, comes highly recommended! Pre-order the standard edition here. 

DEMONIA - BLU-RAY REVIEW

With minimal variations, the basic plot of Lucio Fulci’s DEMONIA (1990) is pretty much interchangeable with most of the director’s first modern-day gothic horror films from the early ’Eighties. Films such as CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980) and THE BEYOND (1981) are aped for ideas in an attempt to reinvigorate signor Fulci’s sagging career. While DEMONIA is less ambitious, it does at least still possess some flashes of style and imagination, which is far better displayed via Severin Films’ superb new Blu-ray.

Sicily, 1486: a group of devil-worshiping nuns is attacked and then crucified by angry townsfolk in the catacombs below their monastery. Moving forward to Toronto circa 1990, a young adept named Liza (Meg Register) has a violent premonition and faints during a séance. After cautioning her about participating in these silly activities, she and Professor Evans (Brett Halsey) leave for Sicily and there meet up with a team of archeologists in Santa Rosalia, the very same town from the opening. Of course, the residents take none-too-kindly to these intruding outsiders, who promise (quote) “the worst is yet to come”—especially after Liza begins poking-around at the old accursed monastery... 

 

Although blandly-earnest female lead Meg Register is certainly no Catriona MacColl (matchless Italo scream queen and star of Fulci’s gothic triptych CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE BEYOND and THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY [1981]), much of DEMONIA’s narrative takes great pains in attempting to emulate the atmosphere of those particular Fulci classics. With its languid pacing, dreamlike flashbacks, superstitious townspeople, and a heroine who seems to be in a continuous state of distress, this latter-day Fulci effort does nevertheless still manage to conjure-up a rather uncomfortable ambiance. In view of its less-than-exorbitant budget, DEMONIA is bolstered by a number of spacious and impressive Sicilian locations, which add considerable value to the production. Real-life crypts and catacombs are utilized to fine effect between the multitude of gory, garishly-lit set-pieces. These include one of the villagers having his tongue nailed to a butcher’s block, and, in what many fans consider to be the pièce de résistance, another man is vividly torn in half. Unfortunately, one of the film’s biggest detractors is Giovanni Cristiani’s lackluster score, which does very little – if anything, quite frankly – to enhance the onscreen action. 

 

Following his rather outlandish roles in Fulci’s S/M psychodrama THE DEVIL’S HONEY (1986) and his gory, darkly comedic take on the Bluebeard folktale, TOUCH OF DEATH (1988), this was to be Brett Halsey’s final appearance in a Fulci film (not counting his ‘repurposed’ scenes in Fulci’s A CAT IN THE BRAIN [1990], for which the actor never received payment). Beyond his skeptical character’s calculated defiance of the supernatural, Halsey, despite being DEMONIA’s name-value American star, is sadly given very little to do. Still, when Dr. Porter (Al Cliver), one of his former colleagues, turns up dead, a wholly-unnecessary subplot emerges when Halsey becomes a potential prime suspect in the eyes of local carabinieri. As ‘The butcher of Santa Rosalia’, Lino Salemme, a familiar  character actor, is suitably over-the-top in his efforts to ward-off uninvited outsiders. Continually scowling and treating everyone with scorn, Salemme amounts to one of the film’s numerous memorable highlights. Lucio Fulci, meanwhile, allots himself a larger-than-normal supporting part as an inquisitive police inspector.

 

While it was initially intended for theatrical exhibition, the film’s litany of production woes resulted in it going straight-to-video instead. Most English-speaking viewers first caught the film via Nikkatsu’s VHS videocassette from Japan, a nice-looking transfer for the time (English-dubbed, but with burnt-in Japanese subs) that also retained the film’s original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. This edition remained the gold standard throughout the ’Nineties until, in 2001, Media Blasters inaugurated their Shriek Show line with the DEMONIA’s first-ever official North American DVD. Although a welcome release, Shriek Show’s disc did leave plenty of room for improvement, but fans would have to wait another nearly twenty years for Severin Films’ new Blu-ray. Well worth the wait, their new disc shows off a brand-new 4K scan taken from the film’s original camera negative, which features far more pictorial and audio detail than any previous home video incarnation. Luigi Ciccarese’s somewhat problematic cinematography, which features several over-exposed scenes and is inundated with a general haze for much of the film, likewise fares much better on Severin’s disc. For anyone put-off by the awkward English dubbing (prolific voice talent artist Ted Rusoff dubs at least three [!] different characters), Severin has also included the film’s Italian audio, with optional English subtitles. Sounding altogether more fluent, the Italian audio also consists of some alternate music cues, for those who care. Both audio options are DTS-HD master audio 2.0 mono tracks and sound equally good, so it comes down to personal preference on which option to choose.

 

The copious extras begin with a superb, highly-detailed audio commentary from Stephen Thrower, author of Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci (FAB Press, 2018). He thoroughly discusses the production and its many connections to his earlier, more successful films and its many unique, picturesque Sicilian locations. To help give DEMONIA’s opening sequence some historical context, Thrower provides a brief history of the Spanish Inquisition. He also points out many of the inherent flaws, including some of the poorly-executed special effects that you just have to (quote) “roll with”, given the inadequate budget. Exhaustive background info on many cast and crew and some of the film’s odd stylistic choices are also discussed at length. A real highlight, indeed. Mr. Thrower’s work herein comes highly-recommended, which not only sheds light on the present film but on Fulci’s career at a time when Italian exploitation movies were steadily losing their box office luster. 

 

Severin has also included two newly-produced docs, beginning with Holy Demons (33m17s), an interview with uncredited screenwriter and assistant director Antonio Tentori. Appearing via Skype (due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic), he talks about his long relationship with Fulci, which began when the director appeared as a guest on Tentori’s entertainment and culture show on Radio 2 Rai, which eventually led to his first opportunity within the film industry. Of course, Mr. Tentori also talks about his experiences working with Fulci on DEMONIA and its many production woes, the authentic locations, and inherent potential. In Of Skull and Bones (14m59s), camera operator Sandro Grossi discusses his start in the business and how he came about collaborating with Fulci, whom he affably refers to as a (quote) “bulldozer”. Fulci Lives! (4m29s), a VHS-shot interview (that originally appeared on the aforementioned Shriek Show disc) from the DEMONIA set and the film’s trailer (1m05s) conclude the extras. The Severin edition’s first pressing (limited to 2000 copies) came in a collectible slipcover, which has since sold out.

 

Regardless of DEMONIA’s many flaws as a film, Severin’s major upgrade of it on BD makes for an altogether more satisfying viewing experience. Needless to say, it comes highly recommended! Order it from Severin here.