HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD - 4K UHD / BD REVIEW

Translation of an original Italian newspaper ad: “An overwhelming threat to all humanity.”  

During the ’Eighties, Bruno Mattei’s HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980) was readily available as shelf-filler in the “horror” sections of virtually every video store in North America thanks to Vestron Video’s VHS and Beta videocassettes. While initially conceived as a cash-in on George A. Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD, this film’s U.S. theatrical and home video release as NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES was promoted as a highly-ostensible companion-piece to Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE (1979), whose marketing campaign even promised “They Eat the Living!”, a cheeky tribute to Jerry Gross’ original “We Are Going to Eat You!” ad copy. Bearing some rudimentary - if key – similarities to Romero’s then-recent smash-hit, including that film’s Goblin score, which is brazenly pilfered here, HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD’s dark vision shall arguably stand as one of Mattei’s finest moments within the sphere of Italian horror.

 

Commencing the film in fine gloomy style, no sooner have the opening titles ended than several scientists and workers at Hope Center One have been contaminated by a mysterious green vapour and turned into flesh-eating zombies, a gruesome side-effect of ‘Operation Sweet Death.’ Developed by Professor Barrett (Joaquín Blanco), this experimental project is quickly deemed a “complete failure” when he reveals that “some kind of degenerative process has begun, which may by catastrophic for everybody!” This contamination also results in another violent altercation at the U.S. consulate in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea where a gang of terrorists have taken one of “the highest-ranking magistrate in the city” hostage in the hopes of shutting down the Hope Centers, which, much like Romero’s film, also introduces our quartet of S.W.A.T. team members who successfully overpower the terrorists. Led by Lt. Mike London (“Robert O’Neill”/ José Gras), this tightly-knit foursome soon finds themselves in a jungle hell on a top-secret mission, but when their rendezvous at a native graveyard fails to materialize, they reluctantly team up with famed French journalist Lia Rousseau (Margit Evelyn Newton) and her cameraman Max (Gaby Renom). Amidst the usual strained psychological warfare and in-fighting, the group encounters hordes of the living dead as they venture to Hope Center One, only to learn the highly ironic truth behind the apocalypse…

 

Unlike its inspiration, HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD accents pulpy action and lots of gore over credible human drama with Mattei wasting no time getting down to the nitty-gritty, which includes zombie attacks, gut-spilling, and a lengthy shootout within the film’s first 15 minutes. Despite several potent ideas interspersed within Claudio Fragasso’s and Rossella Drudi’s script (who goes uncredited here), their original and much-grander treatment (which has finally been revealed in Brad Carter’s novelisation of the “mega-budget screenplay edition” of said film) was unfortunately never realized due to budgetary constraints. Behind Goblin’s dynamic orchestrations (which even includes tracks from Luigi Cozzi’s CONTAMINATION [1980] and Joe D’Amato’s BEYOND THE DARKNESS [1979]), and its generally grim outlook, Mattei attempts some pointed and pertinent commentary about world politics and societal malaise (“The apocalypse is bearing down upon us!” Exclaims Lia), but he never takes the time to fully develop these ideas and soon slips back into more familiar territory with lots of killing and lots of blood spilled, but not before he and his scriptwriters deliver the film’s exceedingly cynical development.

 

Considering the picture’s obvious limitations and strictly Spanish locales, Mattei and his crew also manage to come up with some decent tropical settings (the lush Vallvidrera woods near Barcelona filling in nicely for Papua New Guinea), which are chock-full of zombie extras, some of which are decked-out in undeniably gruesome zombie make-up. However, the whole careful illusion is immediately shattered by the inclusion of painfully obvious stock footage, most of which usually includes innocuous shots of various wild animals, but in a possible nod to Italian cannibal films (which were also popular at the time), Mattei even includes long stretches of solemn, real-life tribal funerals, which are easily the most harrowing, stomach-churning moments in the entire film. Of course, this cut-and-paste technique was nothing new to signor Mattei who also employed this highly-dubious practice for his various surrealistically ‘authentic’ sex-themed mondo films such as PORNO NIGHTS OF THE WORLD (1977).

 

As Lt. Mike London, tough-talking José Gras exhibits less sanctity for human life than the zombies themselves, and is only interested in completing his mission no matter the cost. Initially galaxies apart from Margit Newton’s character Lia in both profession and personality, his hatred for his purely coincidental ‘enemy’ accounts for most of the film’s dramatic conflict, but like most of Mattei’s filmography, much of the film’s interesting ideas are also drowned in over-the-top histrionics and hilarious English dubbing. While not without its share of decent lines (“Why should nature begin breaking its own rules?”), dialogue also incorporates several – um – jewels (e.g., “You shit-faced bastards!”) to keep trash movie fans suitably entertained. As the wide-eyed perspirant Zantoro, frequent character actor Franco Garofalo (who also appeared in Mattei’s and Fragasso’s nunsploitation two-fer THE TRUE STORY OF THE NUN OF MONZA [1980] and THE OTHER HELL [1980] the same year) chews the scenery and swallows it whole without passing for breath, so logically he gets most of the best lines (“Whoa! These mothers have got more lives than a cat!”), but even he admits (in an interview located elsewhere on the disc) that Mattei allowed the actors to “ham it up” a little too much. 

 

While most critics were generally unkind to this shameless, cobbled together rip-off of DAWN OF THE DEAD, it has nonetheless remained in print throughout the history of home video, and in the UK as ZOMBIE CREEPING FLESH, the film was also caught up in the video nasties furor where it was classified as a Section 2 video nasty. Although never released on Laserdisc, it did receive a nice widescreen videocassette release in Japan courtesy of TDK Super Video, which remained the optimal release for English-speaking fans of the film until it hit DVD in 2002 via Anchor Bay. Given this was the early days of the format, this turned out to be a one hell of an upgrade over its analogue brethren, which also included an interview with Mattei entitled Hell Rats of the Living Dead (8m38s), a poster and still gallery, cast and crew biographies, filmographies, the film’s English-language export trailer (3m48s), and a 4-page liner notes booklet, which included a conversation with director Scooter McCrae and former Fangoria editor Michael Gingold. Of course, other DVDs from around the world soon followed including a Blue Underground re-release in 2007, and later in 2014, a BU Blu-ray double feature paired up with Mattei’s RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR (1984). 

 

Taken from the film’s original camera negative, BU’s new HD transfer was another huge leap forward in terms of picture quality and the DTS-HD master audio 2.0 mono track was likewise nice and clear, which allowed viewers to better to appreciate the off-the-wall English dubbing, which includes such voice talent stalwarts as Edward Mannix voicing José Gras, and a truly manic Frank Von Kuegelgen having loads of fun as the voice of Zantoro. However, it should be noted this Blu-ray was very slightly – almost imperceptibly – edited due to some unorthodox splices in the OCN, which required the removal of some frames, a fact which was revealed on numerous forums. Extras included the previously-seen Hell Rats of the Living Dead featurette, the English export trailer, and the film’s Italian trailer (3m47s) as well. The disc also included Bonded by Blood (50m14s), one of the very best and entirely unique making-of documentaries, which has Severin’s David Gregory casually interviewing Fragasso and Drudi at an Italian restaurant as they prepare dinner while Fragasso discusses his career, the film’s in question, his directing work, and even the subtleties of Italian cooking. Other turnouts in the doc also include Margit Evelyn Newton, Franco Garofalo, and actors / stunt performers Ottaviano Dell’Acqua and Massimo Vanni as they visit an aging De Paolis Studios where Rats was shot. Great stuff!

 

In the UK, 88 Films released this former video nasty on both Blu-ray and 4K UHD in 2017 and 2023, respectively, and while the 2017 Blu looked virtually identical in terms of picture quality to BU’s earlier release (including the subtle edits), 88 Films did include both the English and Italian audio tracks in LPCM 2.0 mono audio (with optional English subtitles on the latter) alongside a set of new special features including an interview with Margie Newton entitled Margie Among the Living Dead (22m06s), and Welcome to Hell (26m11s), yet another conversation with Fragasso wherein he talks about his entire career including his working period with Mattei. The film’s English-language export trailer was also present as was an 8-page liner notes booklet with writing from Marek Zarcharkiw. Unfortunately, 88 Films’ initial print run of their 4K UHD/BD combo was met with a good deal of controversy, but after loads of online grumbling, a replacement program was eventually put in place, and while not having the time to check these corrected discs, it has since been confirmed that not only do they look terrific, these new transfers also reinstated many of the cuts which plagued both the earlier BU and 88 Films Blu-rays. For the record, the 2023 edition also included a newly-recorded audio commentary with authors and film historians Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth, further interviews with Newton (26m36s), Fragasso (39m02s) and Drudi (22m56s), Attack of the VHS Zombies: Zombie Creeping Flesh and the Video Era (27m52s), the film’s trailer, a fold-out poster featuring newly-commissioned art from Graham Humphreys (which also adorns the slipcover) and a 12-page liner notes booklet with writing from Francesco Massaccesi. 

 

Given the film’s on-going popularity on the home video market, it was inevitable that a 4K UHD would eventually hit North American shores, and who better to release this beloved Italian horror film and former Section 2 video nasty but Severin Films. “Scanned in 4K from the original camera negative,” their new 4K UHD (with Dolby Vision) looks and sounds outstanding, which has superior detail that accents plenty of luminous highlights like glistening gore, and an overall richness (especially in terms of the film’s colour palette) missing from previous editions. While the numerous instances of stock footage still stick out like a sore thumb, even these haphazardly inserted scenes also seem improved with Severin’s superb transfer, and like the 88 Films disc, this new printing also includes the full uncut version with all of the previously-mentioned edits restored. The DTS-HD master audio 2.0 mono tracks, which include both English and Italian (with optional English subtitles on the latter) likewise sound nice and crisp with most of the aggression centred around the film’s many bursts of machine gun fire and Goblin’s pounding score. Closed captions are also included. 

 

As expected, Severin have loaded their 2-disc set with several fabulous special features not seen on previous editions beginning with Go To Hell – A Talk with Bruno Mattei(12m29s), an archival interview with the late director where he talks about his love for horror movies, how this project came to fruition, his love of improvisation, Fragasso’s patience with actors, and how the two men formed a “perfect symbiosis.” In The Beauty and the Zombies – A Talk with Margie Newton (11m21s), she goes over her surprise of getting the lead role (“It was a mix of joy and fear!”) who was chosen because the directors wanted an “international face” and not Italian. She also goes on to talk about the production and the “open-ended hours” of the shoot, which allowed her to do plenty of sightseeing around Barcelona, her shyness about the nudity in the film, Fragasso’s and Mattei’s working relationship, and the arduous make-up required for the film. Next up, Franco Garofalo is interviewed in My Big Chance (21m40s), a lengthy sit down with the charismatic actor who reminisces about his many early roles and his time on said film, which was “an adventure inside an adventure” due to the production’s limited means. Despite feeling “a bit uncomfortable” within this genre of film, Fragasso gave him a lot a space, which allowed for a lot of improvisation whereas Mattei “brought a lot of energy” to the set. In what turns out to be a nice surprise, the once elusive José Gras appears for an on-camera interview in the aptly-titled Lt. Mike London is Back (26m35s) wherein he discusses how he obtained the role, Fragasso’s involvement in the picture, the production itself and his many co-stars including Victor Isreal and Franco Garofalo (“He had a quality. I liked him.”), the film’s premiere in Stiges, the origin of his ‘Robert O’Neill’ pseudonym, and how he eventually fell out of acting as roles began to dry up. Spanish character actor Bernard Seray is up next in I Will Never Be A Zombie (10m55s) in which he also talks about his early career as a fashion model, which led to his meeting with Spanish director Ignacio F. Iquino and his subsequent role in the director’s LOS VIOLADORES DEL AMANECER (1978). As for HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD, he signed on for the role with the clear intention of “not going to be a zombie” because he was a staunch vegetarian and didn’t want to eat raw meat, and despite his small role, he enjoyed his time on the picture, which he regards as a “real cinematographic feat.” And for those interested in such trivia, he reveals the zombie child in the film is the grandson of Spanish director José Antonio de la Loma! Lastly, Pep Ballester is interviewed in My Son Is A Zombie (8m05s) who also goes over his early start and how his career changed after the death of dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco, and in an interesting bit of minutiae, he alludes to some possibly alternate scenes, which were shot for his death scene at the hands of his zombified son. 

 

Taking a break from the many actors who appear in the film, producer José María Cunilles steps in front of the camera next in Producing the Apocalypse (5m39s), where he reveals this was a project initiated by Italian producer Roberto Di Girolamo, the film’s “complicated shoot” due to the many locations used throughout the production, and the film’s distribution. Even though the picture “sold well in many countries” at a “fixed price” and went mostly straight to video, the shifty U.S. distributors at Motion Picture Marketing released it to theatres without his knowledge. Next up, Xavi Sánchez Pons and José Gras guide us through the many locations used in the film in Papua New Guinea in Barcelona (42m24s) beginning with the Teknon Clinic, which doubled for the U.S. consulate in the film, the aforementioned – and still operational - power plant at the end of the fast-flowing Besembocadura del Besòs river, the Merendero Font de las Planes in Collserola, a now popular camping destination, which has changed significantly over the last 40 years since it was seen in the film as the abandoned mission, and of course, they also visit the lush forests of Vallvidrera. Last but not least, in Peter and the Test Tube Babies – Zombie Creeping Flesh (17m40s), frontman Peter Bywaters of the British punk rock band is interviewed wherein he talks about his how and why he got involved in punk music, which allowed him a greater focus to “release his anger,” his early gigs (including lots of footage of them performing), some of their wonderfully absurd lyrics, his numerous albums such as “Pissed and Proud,” and of course their 1983 single Zombie Creeping Flesh is discussed at length. Finally, the film’s English-language export trailer (3m45s) concludes the extras. And for anyone that orders directly from Severin Films, their limited edition 3-disc 4K UHD/BD also includes the film’s soundtrack CD (13 tracks, 39m11s) and an exclusive slipcover.

 

Despite some momentary flashes of ingenuity and an energetic, gore-filled narrative, Bruno Mattei’s HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD shall, if nothing else, forever remain noteworthy for its sheer, lowbrow audacity, and now more than ever, there’s no better way to watch this fan-favourite than via Severin Films' stunning must-own 4K UHD.

EATEN ALIVE! - 4K UHD / BD REVIEW

“When the cannibals attack, I want you to kill me!” exclaims Sheila, making a doom-laden proposition to her jungle guide, Mark. 

Although he is technically credited for launching the so-called ‘Italian cannibal film’ cycle with his gruesome if well-mounted jungle adventure THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER(1972), director Umberto Lenzi’s film – despite featuring a brief, gory bit of anthropophagy – is simply a copy of Elliot Silverstein’s A MAN CALLED HORSE (1970) which transposes that film’s Native American setting over to Southeast Asia instead, and like the Silverstein film, most of the primary promotional materials for Lenzi’s unofficial ‘remake’ likewise centered on its grisly initiation rituals. However, it was the success (or infamy?) of Ruggero Deodato’s LAST CANNIBAL WORLD (a.k.a. JUNGLE HOLOCAUST, 1977) and his harrowing CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1979), which truly kicked-off this questionable ‘body horror’ subgenre into overdrive, resulting in a number of imitations, including Umberto Lenzi’s notorious CANNIBAL FEROX (a.k.a. MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY, 1981) and the present EATEN ALIVE! (1980), one of the more shamelessly entertaining and completely bonkers films the genre had to offer, which even incorporated – and certainly tried to capitalize on – the notoriety of real-life fanatical cult leader Jim Jones and the tragic 1978 mass suicide / massacre he presided over in Jonestown, Guyana.

 

Following a series of baffling murders perpetrated by some low-level assassin by means of “tiny darts dipped in cobra venom” in both Niagara Falls and New York City, our blow-dart killer is, during a moment of panic, run-over by a garbage truck in midtown Manhattan. Soon after, Sheila Morris (Janet Agren), a “good ’ole Southern gal from Alabama”, is summoned to NYC because the police happen to find a canister of 8mm film in the murderer’s pocket (!) – yet another connection to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST – featuring footage of Sheila’s sister Diana (Paola Senatore) participating in some sort of native ritual involving mondo-styled scenes of suspension piercing. More disconcerting still, though, is her involvement with Jonas (Ivan Rassimov), a “first-class nut”, who has set up camp somewhere in the wilds of New Guinea with his cult of worshippers, a bunch of “ecology freaks”. With the help of Professor Carter (a seriously slumming Mel Ferrer), Sheila heads to New Guinea, where she meets up with Mark (Robert Kerman / a.k.a. Richard Bolla), a Vietnam deserter, who begrudgingly agrees to help locate her sister and, in the midst of some shocking sights, promises the wide-eyed Sheila “you’ll see worse before this is over!” 

 

Unbelievably crass, but highly entertaining, Lenzi’s  cannibal film is a genre-hopping jungle romp, which features some form of indignity and/or gory set-piece every few minutes. However, unlike Deodato’s unforgivably harsh CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, Lenzi’s film is just so slapdash and preposterous that it’s hard to take seriously. Furthermore, Lenzi – rather brazenly – includes footage from a number of previous cannibal flicks, including Deodato’s aforementioned LAST CANNIBAL WORLD (a.k.a. JUNGLE HOLOCAUST, 1976), Sergio Martino’s upscale THE MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD (a.k.a. SLAVE OF THE CANNIBAL GOD, 1978), and also from his very own THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER, which was undoubtedly done to pad the film out with as much gore for a modicum of the cost. Minus some of the film’s obligatory animal cruelty, most of the gory makeup effects are of the “H.G. Lewis” school, but at the same time, it’s hard to deny the effectiveness – and nastiness – of shots showing cannibals slowly eating people alive during one of the film’s climactic sequences, which is done without the use of any music whatsoever and is accompanied by sounds of the natives hungrily chewing on raw flesh, the victims’ dying breaths and birds chirping in the background. It’s certainly a grisly, unforgettable tableau. For the most part though, this is an enjoyable, fast-moving film, which also affords prominent porn-star Kerman / Bolla another leading man role following his turn in CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, and who also gets to perform many of his own stunts; it’s too bad he wasn’t offered more non-adult roles over the course of his lengthy career. Usually cast as the heavy, veteran Eurocult star Ivan Rassimov really gets to chew on the scenery here as well, in what is undeniably, one of his more over-the-top roles as the Jim Jones-inspired (if that’s the right term!) Jonas, who is seen either barking orders, overseeing native sexual rituals or, in yet another one of the film’s more ‘notable’ eyebrow-raising scenes, gleefully participating in some ceremonial mumbo-jumbo involving a drugged Agren, who he seems to perceive as some sort of deity.  

 

Briefly released theatrically by Continental in 1985 as DOOMED TO DIE, which also flaunted a “Banned in 38 Countries” moniker (that’s a whopping 7 more countries than Lenzi’s MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY!), Continental released it soon after on home video in 1986 as THE EMERALD JUNGLE (retitled once again to cash-in on John Boorman’s then-recent THE EMERALD FOREST [1985]), in a colourful, over-sized box, which housed an uncut copy of the film. In the early 2000s, a number of DVDs surfaced in Europe, but at the time, the best release came from Shriek Show in 2002, which included a solid transfer (albeit incorrectly framed at 1.78:1) of this low-budget film and a trio of interviews with Lenzi, Rassimov and Kerman. The film eventually surfaced on Blu-ray in 2018 thanks to Severin, and was most definitely a vast improvement, which included the film’s correct aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and a far more pleasing presentation. And despite the film’s low-budget origins, everything looked damn fine. Unbelievably, the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono also included English, Italian and Spanish options, and in a nice surprise, English subtitles were even included for the Italian audio track, which differs slightly and makes for a highly welcome inclusion. Closed Captions were also included for the English audio.

 

Extras included on Severin’s disc were also plentiful, and these began with Federico Caddeo’s Freak-O-Rama-produced Welcome to the Jungle (16m37s), an on-camera interview with the always enthusiastic Lenzi, who discusses one of his most popular and infamous phases in his long and varied career, beginning with THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER and that film’s inception; apparently it was based on some of Emmanuelle Arsan’s first-hand experiences in Myanmar and Thailand where, according to Lenzi “the nature was wild!” Of course, he goes on to discuss his later films, as well as his dissatisfaction with star Kerman (“…we didn’t have a relationship”), and also Agren’s professionalism. The second, most-substantial extra, was Me Me Lai Bites Back: Resurrection of the Cannibal Queen (79m55s), a feature-length documentary originally included with 88 Films’ THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER U.K. Blu-ray, which runs through her entire career while placing a particular emphasis on her Italian film work. In The Sect of the Purification (13m03s), yet another Freak-O-Rama production, veteran production / costume designer Massimo Antonello Geleng goes into detail about his time in Ceylon and his “instinctive” approach to his work, and how most of EATEN ALIVE!’s “raunchiest scenes” were filmed back at DEAR Studios in Rome. Culled from Shriek Show’s DVD, a pair of archive interviews (12m20s) with Kerman and Rassimov were also included, but were significantly improved upon thanks to some skilled editing. In the last extra, on September 21^st, 2013, Lenzi attended a Q&A at the Manchester Festival of Fantastic Films (23m43s), where he discussed much of the same topics from the previous interviews, including his dislike for these cannibal films, but because they continue to bring in the royalties, he has no choice but to modestly declare them “masterpieces!” The original English-language export trailer (3m13s) finished-off the extras, and in a nice gesture, Severin also included the film’s soundtrack CD (35m40s, 14 tracks) as a bonus.

 

Given the film’s rather patchwork nature and Severin Films’ already impressive Blu-ray set, this didn’t seem like a contender for a UHD upgrade, but their new 2-disc UHD / Blu-ray combo edition manages to wring even more detail out their new transfer with details looking even sharper thanks to the uptick in resolution. The film’s occasionally bold colours (highlighted by the surrounding jungle fauna and glistening viscera) also burst off the screen with a vivacity missing from other disc releases, and while many of the ‘borrowed scenes’ do fluctuate in terms of overall picture quality, the rest of the transfer looks mighty impressive indeed. As with their earlier Blu-ray, Severin once again includes DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono options in both English and Italian with optional English subtitles for the latter track along with SDH subtitles for the English audio. However, the previously included Spanish language track has been left off their new disc. 

 

Outside of the film’s soundtrack CD, Severin have thankfully ported over every extra from their excellent BD disc, but they have also included several new – and very worthy - special features beginning with an audio commentary by Troy Howarth (author of Make Them Die Slowly – The Kinetic Cinema of Umberto Lenzi [WK Books, 2022]) and Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson. From the very start, they are the first to admit that this picture is one of Lenzi’s “grubbiest films” but one that also has “major entertainment value,” which they consider a “big dividing line of Umberto Lenzi’s filmography.” Outside of discussing the film’s low-budget aesthetic, our commentators also touch on the film’s genesis and its producers Luciano Martino and Mino Loy (who also produced Lenzi’s CANNIBAL FEROX the following year), Lenzi’s “explosive temperament” on set, but a director who nonetheless always delivers a professional product, the large amount of borrowed stock footage from other cannibal films, the “pulpy quality” of the gore scenes, the condescending outlook of the “savage culture” portrayed in these films, and the film’s lively and exciting cast. Of course, they address Robert Kerman’s “dueling careers” between adult films and legit films, some of the other adult film actors who appear in the film such as Gerald Grant and Jack Teague, Me Me Lai’s fascinating career, the always “striking and intriguing” Janet Agren (“She’s one of the great ones!”), and Ivan Rassimov’s rather one-dimensional take of Jim Jones, who they usually regard as a very “compelling” actor. As can be deduced from the above description, this is another highly-entertaining and detailed listen, which nicely balances the minutiae related to the film itself, Lenzi’s long and varied career, and the rapidly changing Italian film industry at the time. It’s a great track and one that easily justifies a double-dip for those who already own Severin’s other Blu-ray.

 

Other extras include Deodato Meats Lenzi (13m33s), the only known interview where the two directors discuss their respective cannibal films. Recorded by Manlio Gomarasca in 2004 at the Joe D’Amato Horror Fest in Livorno, Italy, the two men discuss the trials and tribulations of working in genre cinema and how ANAC ((Associazione Nazionale Autori Cinematografici) favoured “so-called auteurs” while they essentially remained “freelancers” and underpaid with producers even blackmailing them into working for very little. Of course, they also discuss their cannibal pictures, beginning with “playboy” producer Giorgio Carlo Rossi and how THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER came together, which eventually led to Deodato directing LAST CANNIBAL WORLD, and how journalists created much of the hype regarding their rivalry. As for the other extras, several minutes of alternate footage (4m15) have been uncovered, which contain a never-before-seen HOLOCAUST 2 title card, and quite a few alternate, and shortened scenes, which may have been prepared for less permissive markets. And if that weren’t enough, Severin have also commissioned Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies’ Claire Donner to pen Eaten Alive! – The Primal Screams of Umberto Lenzi, a sharply written essay included in the nicely-illustrated 17-page liner notes booklet where she discusses Lenzi’s extensive career with obvious emphasis on his notorious gut-munchers.

 

As long as physical media continues to thrive, Severin Films' new 2-disc 4K UHD + Booklet w/Exclusive Slipcover of EATEN ALIVE! will most certainly remain the ultimate edition of this Eurotrash classic. 

THE CAT IN HEAT - BLU-RAY REVIEW

Although featuring one of composer Gianfranco Plenizio’s most distinctive and original scores, Nello Rossati’s THE CAT IN HEAT (1972) has remained a relatively obscure effort for most English-speaking viewers, stuck in that unforgiving no-man’s land between genres. Neither an all-out giallo or erotic drama, this thoughtfully plotted chamber piece emerges as one of Rossati’s more intriguing and compelling films, which is also greatly aided by a pair of uniformly fine performances from Eva Czemerys and Silvano Tranquilli. 

While driving through the desolate, fog-enshrouded motorways of Northern Italy, Paolo (Tranquilli) quietly reflects on his recent marriage to Anna (Czemerys), and through Plenizio’s evocative title theme and Aristide Massaccesi’s moody photography, Rossati effectively establishes a highly-potent and inescapably gloomy atmosphere, which neatly foreshadows the impending predicament. Shattering their already fragmenting marriage, Paolo arrives home and is shocked to discover his neighbour Massimo (Anthony Fontane) dead on his front lawn and his distraught wife in the kitchen staring down at a gun. After haphazardly concealing the body via some leaves, the film becomes something of a psychological mood piece, brooding on the protagonists’ tenuous relationship and what led to the film’s opening murder…

 

Based on an original story by Rossati, THE CAT IN HEAT incorporates many a giallo motif while simultaneously combining elements from Claude Chabrol’s LA FEMME INFIDÈLE (1969), and to a lesser degree, the melodramatics of Douglas Sirk’s ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (1956) peeling back the veneer of a seemingly ideal marriage. Through some clever framework, Anna relates what led to the murder via flashbacks (“He was my lover. And I murdered him.”), which eventually reveals the prestige and sense of security assured by her marriage to a wealthy businessman such as Paolo is no replacement for the love and attention she so obviously craved (“A woman needs some romance, and above all, be wanted.”). Through her hermitically sealed home of material privilege, Massimo’s almost otherworldly visage haunts Anna to such a degree that their mutually exclusive worlds eventually collide, leading to a spurious love affair and even an LSD-drenched orgy (“Now we can make it a foursome.”), a typical heightened fantasy nightmare of many ’Seventies gialli. 

 

Although making token allusions to the fanciful title (“When you’re in heat, any man will do I’ll bet!” Remarks Massimo rather callously), this is a more ‘artistically’ inclined picture, which conveys meaning through visual cues such as the film’s rather sombre opening and Franco Bottari’s relatively sparse art direction, which further suggests the emptiness of Paolo’s and Anna’s marriage. Although visually very savvy and well-constructed (Lamberto Bava also served as the film’s assistant director), it’s the sincere performances, which allowed Rossati to transcend the rather ordinary material. As the morally conflicted and unsatisfied Anna, Czemerys is the star in every sense herein unveiling a torrent of anger and sadness throughout the film, which is even depicted in some the picture’s more exploitable scenes where she heeds her urges and disrobes to examine her naked body in front of a mirror. Veteran actor Tranquilli is also thoroughly convincing as the emotionally wounded but uptight businessman who manages to coax some sympathy out of his earnestly aggrieved husband, straddling the ethical twilight zone between protecting his wife and his reputation, which provides a vibrant social comment on bourgeois hypocrisy. 

 

Never released on North American VHS or disc, Austria’s Cineploit Records & Discs really came to the rescue of this little-seen film with their impressive “worldwide 2K Blu-ray premiere” (Region B locked), which exemplifies plenty of depth and appropriate grain textures, which gives considerable prominence to Massaccesi’s beautifully refined and shadowy photography. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono tracks, which include English and Italian options (the latter with English subtitles) also sound clean and free of any issues, and it’s great to finally have the English dub readily available, which includes well-known voice talent such as Susan Spafford and Frank Von Kuegelgen. Optional German subtitles are also included.

 

Extras begin with an introduction by Mark Thompson Ashworth (5m43s) where he discusses this “perplexing and quite intriguing crossbreed” as well as film’s very “disparate” themes and temporal shifts, and of course, Plenizio’s wonderful score and Edda dell’Orso’s sublime voice. In the archival Calling the Nurse (23m04s), which originally appeared on No Shame’s DVD of THE SENSUOUS NURSE (1975), director Rossati and costume and production designer Toni Rossati are interviewed and mostly discuss their time working in the industry and how they came to be involved with the film, and even though they don’t discuss the film at hand, it’s a nice document of their working process. In the final featurette, Christian Kessler is interviewed (13m28s) where he also talks about the difficulty of classifying Rossati’s sophomore effort, which was usually regarded as an erotic film, sexuality in Italian cinema, the influence of Salvatore Samperi’s MALICIOUS (1973), and how the film “follows in the footsteps of Chabrol.” A brief poster, photo and video art gallery (1m14s) concludes the special features.

 

Housed in one of Cineploit’s customary Mediabooks with a choice of two different styles (as of this writing Cover A is now sold out), this rather striking release also comes with a 28-page liner notes booklet with writing by Uto Rotenberg (in German and English), which also includes several photos of worldwide promotional material on the film and a nice fold-out poster. Order the Blu-ray from Cineploit Records & Discs or DiabolikDVD. 

THE CULT OF AGFA TRAILER SHOW - BLU-RAY REVIEW

Eagerly delivering another assortment of drive-in intermissions, fast-food snipes, commercial ads, and loads of amazing film trailers, this direct follow-up to THE AGFA HORROR TRAILER SHOW from 2021 quickly establishes another high-energy party landscape, and as anyone familiar with AGFA’s previous Mystery Mixtapes, this is much more than just a collection of coming attractions. Moving at lightning-fast intensity, this is without a doubt AGFA’s most heavily stylized effort, which is given an extra jolt of adrenalin (“There’s something special in the air. Something magical. Can you feel it? Magic… everywhere!”) by way of some ingenious – and very dynamic – cutting. Weaving together the usual showtime countdowns (“Show Starts in 3 minutes!”) alongside commercials for Lee designer jeans, Activision video games, and some of the most infamous PSAs from the ’Eighties (“This stuff is crack. The most addictive form of cocaine.”), this extraordinary tapestry of pop culture obsession brilliantly succeeds in attaining a terrific audiovisual harmony, which is every bit as eye-popping and ear-shattering as you might expect.  

Fascinating to watch, the integration of the film trailers is also exceptional whose excesses are frequently interwoven into the nostalgically dated proceedings (the complete trailers are also present elsewhere on the disc) beginning with Jamie Luk’s ROBOTRIX (1991), an insane Hong Kong take on ROBOCOP (1987), which is immediately followed by the family-friendly C.H.O.M.P.S. (“A bite-sized, motorized, transistorized, computerized, bundle of teeth!”, 1979) about a mechanical guard dog. Of course, being an ’Eighties-centric compilation, it’s not surprising to see Penelope Spheeris’ THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION: THE METAL YEARS (1988) get some love, which nicely segues into another decibel shattering preview for The Shaw Brothers’ SEX BEYOND THE GRAVE (1984), one of the studio’s many wild horror outings from the period. Quickly switching gears yet again, Peter Jackson’s one-of-a-kind MEET THE FEEBLES (“The adult puppet movie with something to offend everyone!”, 1989) is up next, while Gregg Araki’s rather polarizing ’Nineties indie THE DOOM GENERATION (1995) perfectly summarizes AGFA’s creatively courageous aesthetic in their wild comingling of art and trash. 

 

Bolstered by additional overly-keen big budget commercials for the likes of General Electric (which features an entire slew of new wave styled characters from Gary Numan’s worst fucking nightmare), Dr. Pepper (“Out of the ordinary. Like you.”) and Worlds of Wonder’s Lazer Tag, other no less significant trailers include a highly-condensed – and far-better – preview for the Showtime stinker THE BIRDS II: LANDS END (1994), Frank Henenlotter’s BRAIN DAMAGE (“It will turn you inside out!”, 1988), another condensed cut of Sun Classics’ THE MYSTERIOUS MONSTERS (1975), the Jerry Lewis misfire SLAPSTICK OF ANOTHER KIND (1982), the Something Weird Video obscurity THE SINS OF RACHEL (“The oldest, newest, dirtiest, cleanest, detective story you’ve seen in years!”, 1972), MEATBALLS 4: TO THE RESCUE (1992), which features Corey Feldman and Jack (ERASERHEAD) Nance (!), Marcelo Epstein’s breakdancing extravaganza BODY ROCK (1984) with Lorenzo Lamas, the ludicrously-titled Hong Kong action film TOUGH BEAUTY AND THE SLOPPY SLOP (1995), Hal Needham’s endearingly popular RAD (1986), Adrian Lyne’s superb directorial debut FOXES (1980), more ’Eighties nostalgia with Fritz Kiersch’s TUFF TURF (1985), a couple of Manson family previews, Tina Hirsch’s MUNCHIES (“They’re Cute. They’re Cuddly. They’re Out For Blood.”, 1987), and a very amusing trailer for Jackie Kong’s BLOOD DINER (1987) hosted by the world famous “Gore-Met, Phil A. Mignon.” Reworked with the utmost style, this is just a smattering of delights which await viewers in this jumble of fast-moving clips, making this one of AGFA’s most prestigious and enjoyable trailer compilations yet.

 

Preserved from a “newly struck 35mm theatrical print of the show,” all of the inherent flaws in the various trailers and clips include the usual speckles of dirt and debris, and some occasional faded colour, but everything still looks nicely detailed and very strong. Adding plenty of aural intensity, the DTS HD 2.0 mono audio also sounds terrific, even with all the customary pops and crackles. Special features begin with an audio commentary from the entire team at AGFA who enthusiastically discuss these “incredible time capsules” alongside their recollections of first seeing these films via cable-TV, film festivals, and videocassette. They also go into great detail on how everything was pieced together, their many interesting editing choices, and why many of the trailers have been abbreviated. Like the show itself, this is briskly-paced listen with everyone having lots to say about the production and the films themselves. Additional special features include Rated R (8m35s), another quick-fire mix of TV-spot title cards from a wide variety of films, the hallucinogenic The Day The Earth Got Free Richard Pryor’s Photos (3m26s), and the entirely bizarre Just When You Thought It Was Safe (3m30s), ensure that THE CULT OF AGFA TRAILER SHOW is yet another consistently enjoyable must-have disc! Order it from Vinegar Syndrome.