THE PHANTOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES - BLU-RAY REVIEW

A lone fisherman off the coast of some unnamed beach is killed when his boat is capsized by a strange beast, which resembles some sort of giant, mutated sea serpent.  Later that evening – even if it does look more like morning, due to some rather unconvincing “day-for-night” photography! – his charred boat washes ashore while his burned body becomes the focus of an investigation by Bill Grant (Rodney Bell) and Ted Stevens (Kent Taylor), a highly-regarded oceanographer who seems to have connections to Washington because he was one of the first to develop a “workable death ray.”  At the Pacific School of Oceanography, Professor King (Michael Whalen) has also been using “hydrogen isotopes in heavy water” in his laboratory, which mutates a harmless turtle into some sort of monster.  While wooing King’s daughter Lois (Cathy Downs), Dr. Stevens learns there may be some connections between Prof. King’s experiments and the creature, which has been terrorizing the local beach…

Released by American Releasing Corporation (ARC), which later morphed into the better-known American International Pictures (AIP), this super-cheap quickie was picked up in order to fill the bottom half of a double-bill alongside Roger Corman’s DAY THE WORLD ENDED (1955).  Advertising ace and co-founder James H. Nicholson (along with Samuel Z. Arkoff) of both ARC and later AIP came up with the snazzy, if nonsensical title, wonderfully lurid poster and ad-copy; which promise a lot but deliver a lot less.  Despite it’s success at the time, this very economical horror flick is pretty slow on the uptake, and even though everyone in the cast does a serviceable enough job, the relatively brief running time is filled with seemingly endless scenes of talking.  Kent Taylor plays the straight-laced, stuffy hero as expected, while Cathy Downs – who would go on to star in Edward L. Cahn’s The SHE-CREATURE (1956) and Bert I. Gordon’s The AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN (1957, AIP productions both) is just another pretty face and she doesn’t add a whole lot as the concerned daughter and love-interest.  Michael Whalen as the shifty Professor King (“I’m working on breathtaking things!”) definitely adds some much-needed B-movie madness to the proceedings as he discusses utter nonsense such as “atomic mutations” and “death rays” while Vivi Janiss as King’s duplicitous secretary and Helene Stanton as Wanda, a curvy, blond “femme fatale” in league with some unidentified country trying to obtain King’s ‘secrets’, are also two of the more interesting, if still derivative, characters to grace this lowly film.

U.S. Half-sheet poster.

The shoddiness of the entire production is evident almost immediately, as the film’s key setting, an eerie, desolate stretch of beach, only exhibits such desolation – not because they were trying to invoke some potential “atmosphere” – but because the producers simply couldn’t afford any extras outside of the film’s players.  The threadbare interior sets are also indicative of the production’s decidedly thrifty nature; the so-called Oceanography school is especially cheap, and seems to consist of merely a single outer room with a secretary’s desk and some filing cabinets.  King’s small, overcrowded laboratory is equally as economically furnished.  Even Ted Stevens, who is apparently backed by Washington, also doesn’t have the resources to properly study this menacing creature, and other than for a couple of scuba gear tanks and a paltry rowboat, his ‘research’ isn’t very substantial, to say the least.  In fact, the whole chintzy production looks like it reuses the very same rowboat time and time again, including during a scene where the obligatory amorous teenage couple have their brief encounter with the beast.  This rip-off of Jack Arnold’s CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954) does actually feature some decent underwater photography, but unlike the athletically agile Ricou Browning as the Creature in Arnold’s film, this monster merely floats in and around the surface attacking (off-screen, yet!) anyone that wanders into its neck of the beach.

Director Dan Milner was a prolific editor of low-budget films, such as Richard C. Kahn’s SON OF INGAGI (1940) whose career stretched back to the ’30s.  He only directed three films, including FROM HELL IT CAME (1957), which features yet another less than agile monster – a demonic tree!  The present film was one of Lou Rusoff’s early writing assignments, and he would go on to become a prolific writer for AIP in their early years, which also included William Asher’s phenomenally successful BEACH PARTY (1963), which spawned a number of sequels.

One of the many public domain DVD's.

A public domain mainstay since the dawn of DVD, this was initially released by Retromedia in 2001, but it wasn’t until September 2007 than an ‘official’ DVD was issued through MGM/Fox as part of MGM’s popular Midnite Movies line, which paired it up with David Kramarsky’s equally cheap The BEAST WITH 1,000,000 EYES.  Earlier this year, Kino Lorber Studio Classics issued this on Blu-ray in a newly remastered 1080p transfer, which is a massive improvement over those earlier DVDs.  Framed at 1.85:1, detail is excellent throughout but still very film-like while the DTS-HD Master 2.0 Audio track sounds terrific for such a low-budget film.  As for extras, the disc includes a very solid, informative commentary from TCM/Movie Morlocks’ Richard Harland Smith who discusses all sorts of interesting tidbits about the production, its players and even the genesis of American International Pictures.  The only other extra is a “Trailers From Hell” trailer with Joe Dante commentary and bonus trailer for Arnold Laven’s The MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD (1957), which is also available from Kino, and is yet another recommended Blu-ray.

While certainly far from good, anyone with a fondness for ’50s monster movies will undoubtedly still find something to appreciate here, especially via Kino’s excellent Blu-ray, but relative newcomers may still by put-off by the lack of production values, action or a very satisfying monster.  Order it from Amazon here. 

THE WILD EYE - BLU-RAY REVIEW

“I can’t stand to see that poor animal die!” exclaims Barbara (Delia Boccardo), to which Paolo (Philippe Leroy) adamantly replies, “Then shut your eyes!”

That’s one of the first dialogue exchanges in Paolo Cavara’s The WILD EYE (1967), a still-pertinent exposé on the lengths some reporters (or documentarians) will go to in order to get the ultimate scoop or indelible image.  Philippe Leroy stars as Paolo, a director of sensationalistic documentaries, who, along with his entourage – which includes Barbara (Delia Boccardo) and his trusted cameraman Valentino (Gabriele Tinti) – travels the world in search of the weird and horrific, but Paolo’s insatiable appetite for capturing anything and everything eventually leads to the team’s moral and ethical breakdown.

Anyone even remotely familiar with Italian mondo films, and in particular the fascinating cinema of Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi, will instantly recognize what – and whom (hint-hint) – Paolo Cavara’s film is about.  Director Cavara was, along with Jacopetti and Prosperi, a co-director of MONDO CANE (1962), one of the first and most influential ‘shockumentaries’, and he was quite obviously very affected by what he had seen during his tenure with Jacopetti; in a filmed interview with Lars Bloch (one of the actors from the film) included on this disc, Bloch reveals that this film was purposely made as a sort of “revenge on Jacopetti”.  

The opening of the film sets the tone immediately, as Paolo and a group of what appear to be tourists – including Barbara (Delia Boccardo), her boyfriend John (Bloch) and an elderly couple – are in the midst of racing across the North African desert in hot pursuit of a gazelle, but when their jeep breaks down, they are forced to walk the excruciating 60 miles back to town.  Paolo doesn’t hesitate for a second to film their fears, torment and anguish en route, exploiting every possible moment beneath the scorching sun.  At one point, they come across the carcass of a camel, and as Valentino’s camera rolls, Paolo calmly asks the elderly woman, “What would you give for a glass of water?” to which he rhetorically replies, “Would you give a year of your life?”  In a bizarre turn of events, Barbara is eventually wooed by Paolo’s worldly travels and jet-set lifestyle, even though she knows he “organized” that dirty trick out in the desert.  Even during her more lucid moments, she is fully cognizant that people are nothing more than mere disposable objects or characters to him, which he exploits unsparingly in his films, but this doesn’t stop her from following him off to the Far East, leaving John in the lurch.

During their time in the orient, they visit a rehabilitation centre where a majority of the patients are recovering drug addicts (opium, to be exact), but instead of curing them with “faith” to alleviate the “desire” of opium, as the resident physician demonstrates, they are viciously beaten on camera (all faked, of course) because Paolo doesn’t think that the real, far-less-cinematic method makes for “much movie-wise”.  When Barbara questions him, he simply states, “Reality is boring. Lies are entertaining.”  As they proceed from spectacle to spectacle, Paolo continues to dumb-down his audience, because it’s only a matter of “occasional stimulation that makes the public digest the rest of the film.”  It’s certainly a fitting and still prescient statement in these overstimulated times of ours when most people’s attention spans don’t last much longer than a 6-second Vine Video.  With input from Italian novelist Alberto Moravia, who himself narrated and even wrote some of the more extreme mondo efforts (including Alfredo and Angelo Castiglioni’s MONDO MAGIC [1975] and Antonio Climati’s and Mario Morra’s uncompromising SAVAGE MAN...SAVAGE BEAST [1975]), there are further ruminations with existential leanings about just what it is that entertains people, the decline of the western world, and even mass-consumption in our relentlessly consumerist society.

As the film progresses, Paolo continues to put himself and his crew into increasingly dangerous situations, including the secret filming of a Vietcong ambush, during which Paolo takes a beating; to which the latter replies, “Any film of me while I was beaten?”  Later, in a bombed-out Vietcong square, Valentino is shocked at the blatant disrespectfulness of his own, and especially Paolo’s, moralistic convictions, when they shoot – no pun intended – a live execution, which may or may not have been planned by Paolo.  In yet another extreme bit of journalistic incredulity, they are informed of a possible bombing at “The Lion's Bar”, a popular G.I. watering hole, which Paolo insists getting on film both prior to the bombing (“Get good shots of the customers”) and the bombing itself, which finally puts Barbara and Valentino over the edge.

Released theatrically in North America by AIP but never released on domestic home video, The WILD EYE hits both Blu-ray and DVD thanks to Scorpion Releasing.  Available exclusively through Screen Archives, Scorpion’s 1080p Blu-ray presents the film in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio with 16x9 enhancement, and is a real beauty, with excellent detail and naturalistic colours.  The mono sound is offered in both English and Italian languages, with the added bonus of English subtitles for the Italian audio track.  Extras include the aforementioned interview with actor Lars Bloch, who reveals all sorts of interesting info on the film, such as trying to shoot scenes in sequence, a method which was ultimately scrapped as unworkable; in addition, Bloch reveals how he inadvertently became the sound assistant on the film, and that Cavara was “a real gentleman.”  The only other extra is the American theatrical trailer.  

THE EXECUTIONER PART II & FROZEN SCREAM - DVD REVIEW

Inexplicably linked by producer-writer Renee Harmon, James Bryan’s The EXECUTIONER PART II and Frank Roach’s FROZEN SCREAM are a pair of insane, almost indescribable pieces of cinema, which are once again made available from the fine folks at Vinegar Syndrome with this latest Drive-In Collection DVD.    

Despite the rather confusing title, it should be pointed out that James Bryan’s The EXECUTIONER PART II (1984) is NOT a sequel to Sam Wanamaker’s The EXECUTIONER (1970) with George Peppard, which was however, popular enough in Europe to gain financing on the title alone.  Clearly ‘inspired’ by James Glickenhaus’ rather slick New York-based revenge actioner The EXTERMINATOR (1980) with Robert Ginty (even the crudely-illustrated—if pretty cool—poster art features a Ginty lookalike), this extremely inept rip-off shifts the action to Los Angeles, where, instead of a flamethrower, the Executioner likes to use hand grenades and plenty of hand-to-hand combat.

A vigilante is on the loose in L.A. and the cops, led by detective Roger O’Malley (Chris Mitchum), are at a loss, even though some impromptu narration informs us, “Maybe we’d all sleep better if the police leave him alone.”  Celia Amhurst (producer Renee Harmon), a reporter on the case, tries to get answers, but she doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere.  Meanwhile, O’Malley’s daughter Laura (Bianca Phillipi) is trying to pay for her drug addiction (“I need dope!”), and through her friend Kitty (Marisi Courtwright) is introduced to Pete Vance (Frank Albert), a lowlife pimp who arranges “special entertainment” for Tony Casallas (Frisco Estes), the local underworld boss better-known as “The Tattoo Man”, who also wants this “modern-day superman or reckless vigilante” dead, because he’s seriously interfering with Casallas’ criminal empire.  O’Malley continues his investigation and begins to suspect his friend and fellow ex-Vietnam veteran Mike (Antoine John Mottet), who has been suffering from some serious flashbacks…

Laura (Bianca Phillipi) and "The Tattoo Man" (Frisco Estes).

Although on paper it sounds like any run-of-the-mill vigilante film, James Bryan’s The EXECUTIONER PART II is, like Bryan’s DON’T GO IN THE WOODS (1980), incomparable to what most regular movies should be and feel like.  Breathtaking in its ineptitude, it’s one of the more impoverished and chaotically-assembled films you’re likely to stumble upon, with its own set of rules.  According to “The Executioner’s Song” (a filmed interview with director Bryan included on this disc), this film was shot using 35mm short-ends over weekends in order to maximize longer camera rentals, and even though Bryan is credited as the director, his directing credit is negligible since he was essentially “the crew”, doing any and every job he could.  Pieced together with whatever footage he could salvage, most of the dubbing and sound effects were also done in post-production, so the cut-rate action scenes have an exaggerated, other-worldly feel to them; the excruciatingly awful dubbing only adds to the threadbare production values and just about turns the film into a comedy.  Even many of the so-called gang members look like third-rate rejects from Walter Hill’s The WARRIORS (1979) auditioning for FLASHDANCE (1983), which seriously harms their credibility, and at times, the film almost seems like a sendup of the genre.  Only Tony Casallas as the elusive “Tattoo Man” demonstrates any real threat, and with the help of Pete, he gets to indulge in his sadistic tendencies when he puts out his cigarettes on Laura.  Regardless of its MANY shortcomings, The EXECUTIONER PART II still has an infinite amount of infectious energy, and for that fact alone it remains hugely entertaining.

Moving onto the other feature on this “Drive-In Collection” disc, Frank Roach’s FROZEN SCREAM (1980) is another Renee Harmon production, which allows this “German war bride”-turned-filmmaker even more screen time, and to be honest, is all the better for it.  She stars as Lil Stanhope, a doctor experimenting with immortality (“Ever since the creation of life, I have dreamed of immortality”), which involves reanimated corpses, robe-cloaked murderers and ocean-side séances.  Along with Sven Johnson (Lee James), they kill their former partner Tom Gerard (Wolf Muser) after he suffers from an ethical crisis, but they didn’t count on Tom’s wife Ann (Lynne Kocol) and Detective McGuire (Thomas Gowen) snooping into Tom’s mysterious death.

Renee Harmon as the nefarious Dr. Lil Stanhope.

Again, what at first appears to be a regular, rather mundane plotline becomes an almost mystifying film experience due to its unique and haphazard execution, and it has no right to be as enjoyable as it is.  Made on a shoestring by Harmon utilizing some of her film class students, FROZEN SCREAM moves in-between dream sequences and flashbacks without any thought whatsoever, which is further complicated by yet another hollow, post-dubbed soundtrack (courtesy of James Bryan who, once again, handled most of the post-production work) only adding to the already bizarre, but highly entertaining nature of this entire production.  What begins as a standard slasher film, complete with a double murder by a bug-eyed, robed man and typical P.O.V. shots soon escalates into something entirely different.  More murders do occur, including a rather gory axe to the head, but FROZEN SCREAM seems much more preoccupied with existential themes about human existence and our destinies in the afterlife (“What we call death is merely a change”).  During a flashback, a séance on a deserted beach is taking place during Halloween where Stanhope and Johnson organize a “celebration of the spirit of resurrection” as everyone chants “love and immortality”, while Cathrin (Sunny Batholomew), who is like “walking ice”, drops her top.  Then, in a rather confusing turn of events, Ann has a flashback within a flashback about her dead husband Tom.  In case it all gets a little too confusing for everyone, Detective McGuire provides some film-noirish narration to try and help keep things in check, but in a sloppy or purposely arty bit of sound editing, his narration occurs during a dialogue scene.  A truly delirious experience, FROZEN SCREAM is a labyrinthine assemblage of grand ideas made on a zero budget, and, as such, is a completely invigorating and unforgettable bit of independent horror cinema.  

In spite of their humble origins, both films look far better than any previous available versions on this Vinegar Syndrome Drive-In Collection disc.  Mastered in 2K from the original camera negative, The EXECUTIONER PART II looks incredibly sharp and crisp, and unlike the old edited VHS version, it retains the original 1.78:1 aspect ratio, and is also completely uncut.  As for FROZEN SCREAM, it was also mastered in 2K from the original 16mm camera negatives, but due to the limitations of the 16mm photography it’s still quite grainy, but infinitely more watchable than any previous VHS or bootleg DVD release, with a clarity not seen in those earlier, and far inferior, releases.  Other than the aforementioned James Bryan interview, “The Executioner’s Song”, the only other extra is a very entertaining trailer for The EXECUTIONER PART II.  Order this amazing double feature DVD from Vinegar Syndrome here.  

THE FARMER'S DAUGHTERS - DVD REVIEW

Director Zebedy Colt, who made The FARMER’S DAUGHTERS (1976) at the height of porno chic, was never interested in the high-gloss productions of his contemporaries; instead he focused his attentions on the downright nasty, and according to Stephen Thrower, author of the indispensible book NIGHTMARE USA, (quote) “some of the most diabolically honest products of American erotic cinema.”  Following his superlative, and still shocking, The DEVIL INSIDE HER (1976), Mr. Colt once again focuses his attentions on a small country family, but this time instead of devil possessions and satanic black masses, three escaped convicts not only terrorize, but also unleash a torrent of dirty secrets within the family that seriously challenge their already over-active libidos.

Zebedy Colt and Gloria Leonard (credited here as Gayle Leonard) star as the husband-and-wife couple whose three insatiable daughters (Marlene Willoughby, Susan McBain & Nancy Dare) gleefully spy on their lovemaking and then, in a heated frenzy, forcibly have sex with the local farmhand (Bill Cort).  When three escaped convicts looking for refuge barge in on their ‘antics’, these equally horny guys, led by future SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA (1987) star Spalding Gray, also get in on the action, leading to a prolonged outdoor orgy, incest, a rather startling twist, and a completely bizarre surrealistic ending. 

Taking its cue from the numerous ‘roughies’ (a brand of sexploitation film mixing sex with violence) and Wes Craven’s LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972), this backyard production, which, incidentally, looks like it was shot over one long weekend somewhere in either upstate New York or New Jersey (The DEVIL INSIDE HER was shot in Lambertville, New Jersey, for those that care about such things), is an utterly irredeemable porno flick.  At just over an hour in length, director Colt strips the film down to the bare essentials with virtually wall-to-wall sex, and given the film’s horror-styled approach, it’s sadistic edge is definitely hard to forget.  As with most of Colt’s film work, The FARMER’S DAUGHTERS is a very low-budget affair and not exactly an inventive piece of filmmaking, but the rural setting (imagine an even lower-budgeted and far nastier version of all those Harry Novak hillbilly flicks like TOBACCO ROODY [1970]), and surprise casting of Spalding Gray (1941-2004) – future “legit” actor and monologist from such films as Roland Joffe’s The KILLING FIELDS (1984) and Steven Soderbergh’s KING OF THE HILL (1993) – give the film an odd distinction among the glut of ’70s smut. But what really separates Colt’s humble adult features of the time is his rather unflappable approach to the scuzzy material.  Although sloppily shot by Charles Lamont (who also worked with Colt on numerous occasions) with lots of hand-held camerawork, the rather unrehearsed feel also adds to the depraved verisimilitude, and to their credit, Colt and Lamont do the best they can with the ‘one-day wonder’ budget which producer Leonard Kirtman (working under his “Leon de Leon” moniker) most likely allotted them.  As for Kirtman, he produced a number of films throughout the ’70s, including the aforementioned The DEVIL INSIDE HER, he was also the director of CARNIVAL OF BLOOD (1970), a low-budget carny horror featuring an early appearance from character actor Burt Young, and then, later in the decade – usually credited as “Leon Gucci” – he directed a number of adult features like INSIDE DESIREÉ COUSTEAU (1978).

Newspaper ad from the L.A. Herald (1978) courtesy of Mike Ferguson & Steve Fenton.

Originally available on DVD through Alpha Blue Archives in a Zebedy Colt Triple Feature and separately from Gourmet Video, both these versions utilized a cut, VHS-sourced version, which was quite the eyesore.  Don’t expect any earth-shattering restorations with this newest DVD release from Impulse Pictures; it includes all the usual scratches and splices indicative of no-budget stuff like this, but unlike those earlier, inferior releases, the picture quality is vastly improved and, even more importantly, this is the rarely-seen uncut version which, according to the ad-copy, is “one of the most eyebrow raising films in the Impulse Pictures library!” Presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, there are no extras related to the release, but this disc does include a “sneak peek” at Impulse’s ongoing and exhaustive 42^nd STREET FOREVER - THE PEEP SHOW COLLECTION series, which has so far spawned 13 volumes.  Buy The FARMER’S DAUGHTERS from DiabolikDVD here.  

LEGACY OF SATAN & BLOOD - BLU-RAY REVIEW

Originally released in 1974 by Bryanston Pictures, Code Red has decided to recreate this rarely-seen double bill with this Limited Edition Blu-ray, which was released through Screen Archives Entertainment earlier this year. 

Like so many ’70s horror pictures purporting to deal with Satanism or some sort of devil cult, Gerard Damiano’s LEGACY OF SATAN (1974) doesn’t have the usual nudity or even mild gore associated with a genre such as this, and despite many nice atmospheric touches and one of the most wacked-out, abrasive synth scores you’ll ever hear, it’s actually quite anemic, despite the inherent potential, but yet, in some strange way, it’s all quite compelling just the same. 

Beginning with the eponymous satanic ceremony, it is foretold that a “girl of pale complexion and tender years” will be chosen for a historical union in order to “strengthen the power of the master”.  Lots of mumbo-jumbo, blood-drinking and chanting (“Lord Rakeesh, come to us!”) keep the viewer entertained as big, garish credits unspool over the proceedings.  Maya (Lisa Cristian) and George (Paul Barry) play a New York couple, who, while hosting a dinner party at their house, discuss the philosophical complexities of good and evil (“you must also believe in the devil”) with their friend Arthur (James Proctor).  He is actually part of the aforementioned coven, and he is ordered by his leader Dr. Muldavo (John Francis) to invite Maya to a “costume party” at his out-of-the-way, castle-like mansion.  Further ceremonies and drugged-out hallucinations ensue, but when Muldavo’s assistant Aurelia becomes jealous of Maya, she helps George escape his shackles, and with the help of an EXCALIBUR-like sacrificial sword (it actually glows in the dark while a low-fi buzz is heard on the soundtrack to demonstrate its supposed power!), they try to defeat Muldavo.  

Produced a year before Damiano’s now legendary The DEVIL IN MISS JONES ([1973] a clever take on Sam Wood’s The DEVIL AND MISS JONES [1941], with Jean Arthur), LEGACY OF SATAN could be viewed as a minor precursor to what is arguably one of Damiano’s darkest and best films.  Running at a very brief 69 minutes, it’s rumored that LEGACY OF SATAN began as a hardcore film (sometime around 1972) and, at the insistence of its producer ‘Lou Parish’ (the infamous Louis “Butchie” Peraino, producer of Damiano’s DEEP THROAT [1972] and part of the Colombo crime family) decided to turn the film into a straight-up horror film.  Why the sudden change is anyone’s guess and it could just be a rumor, but the brief running time and simplistic set-up would certainly attest to this.  Anyway, what we’re left with, to quote the late Mighty Monarch of Exploitation, Mr. David F. Friedman, is “all sizzle and NO steak!” 

Although nudity and even gore is kept to a minimum, LEGACY OF SATAN seems almost childlike in its execution next to The DEVIL IN MISS JONES, but for those willing to give it a spin, it still has enough weirdness to keep it entertaining.  Early in the film, Maya is possessed from afar by Muldavo’s resident High Priestess (Deborah Holren), which results in a number of hallucinations (like crusty-faced killers and bleeding paintings) and a sudden, almost obsessive interest in blood.  At one point, she cuts her finger and gets her rather apprehensive husband to seductively lick it off in one of the many sexual tension-filled scenes.  Once at Muldavo’s mansion, Maya and George (wearing a diaphanous nightie and jester’s outfit, respectively) are drugged and begin hallucinating almost immediately as the film resorts to lots of distorted wide-angel photography and multi-coloured gel lighting as the already jarring synth score crescendos to a fever-pitch at almost ear-piercing levels.  Composed by Arlon Ober and Mel Zelniker, this is surely one of the more unique and, perhaps, ahead of its time scores; it may annoy the bejesus out of many, but it certainly adds plenty of weirdly effective atmosphere.  Unusual for such a no-budget production, the film also looks great (especially on this Blu-ray) thanks to João Fernandes’ slick and colourful photography.  Usually hiding behind under his nom-de-porn of ‘Harry Flecks’, Fernandes was a very prolific DP and a favourite of Damiano’s who used him on many of his best-known adult features, but he also lent his talents to many a low-budget feature such as William Witney’s DARKTOWN STRUTTERS (1975).  In the ’80s, he became Joseph Zito’s favourite cameraman, starting with BLOODRAGE (1981, a.k.a. NEVER PICK UP A STRANGER) right up until RED SCORPION (1988), but also found the time to work on Fritz Kiersch’s CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984) and numerous Cannon films.

Previously available from BCI/Eclipse as part of their “Blood Bath 2” 4-pack, LEGACY OF SATAN comes to Blu-ray courtesy of Code Red presented in it’s original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and enhanced for 16x9.  Mastered from a “surviving C.R.I. 35mm” print, and as promised on the back of the Blu-ray, “due to the high volume of internet complaints, we did not use DNR and kept the grain intact”, so the transfer is quite sharp and very film-like; this will NEVER look any better than it does here!  

The second feature on this disc is one of Andy Milligan’s more elusive period efforts, the rather blandly titled BLOOD (1974), but despite that title, it’s anything but.  After moving from the fictitious European region of Mortavia, Dr. Lawrence Orlofski (Allan Berendt) returns to the U.S.A. with his wife Regina (Hope Stansbury), who “doesn’t like the daylight hours”.  Along with Orlofski’s servants Carrie (Patti Gaul), the legless Orlando (Michael Fischetti) and dim-witted Carlotta (Pichulina Hampi), this bunch of misfits promptly move in and immediately give Regina a life-saving injection as she deteriorates in the harsh New England sun.  It seems Lawrence Orlofski has some unfinished business with his father’s estate, which has been put in the hands of the unscrupulous Carl Root (John Wallowitch), who also threatens to reveal the family secret and Lawrence Orlofski’s real name: Talbot.

This throwback to the Universal horrors from the ’30s and ’40s is probably one of Milligan’s more accessible and polished efforts from his stable of horror films – the other being his British-lensed The MAN WITH TWO HEADS (1971).  His tongue is firmly planted in his cheek for most of the running time (the ending is a nice touch), but Milligan’s monsters are even more tortured than normal allowing him to pepper his script with his usual acerbic, and almost autobiographical, dialogue.  When Lawrence is questioned by Regina for his afternoon dalliance with Root’s assistant Prudence Towers (Pamela Adams), she quickly tells him to “Go to hell,” for which he replies, “I’m there already!”  Further bickering ensues between Carrie and Regina (“you are such a selfish woman”), which are all typical staples of most Milligan films.  When Carrie’s brother Johnny (David Bevans) arrives from overseas, he is first introduced as her possible boyfriend, but as they kiss, a much darker relationship reveals itself, which is soon cut short as Regina plants a giant meat cleaver in his skull.    

A general malaise permeates the entire film, and even though its no surprise Lawrence turns out to be a werewolf and Regina a vampire (the Daughter of Dracula, no less!), they are portrayed as frustrated and sickly.  In one of the film’s stranger subplots, the cultivation of carnivorous, highly poisonous plants provide Regina with a necessary serum to help keep her alive, but the plants themselves need constant doses of new blood.  These dubious experiments have also taken their toll on their devoted caretakers; Orlando has already lost both his legs to these monstrous plants, which are now growing beyond their control (“the climate seems to agree with them more”); Carrie’s leg is also badly infected with giant pustule-like sores; Regina, in complete desperation, resorts to eating live mice and even Lawrence suffers greatly after turning into a werewolf.  When a highly inquisitive real estate salesman arrives asking questions, he quickly becomes a meal for these mysterious plants as they slurp and munch away on his legs, but Lawrence is worried that these plants are quickly becoming “completely carnivorous”. 

Like GURU THE MAD MONK (1970), this film runs just over an hour in length (this Blu-ray contains the full 69-minute film as opposed to previous versions, which only ran 57 minutes) and moves rather briskly (at least for a Milligan film) right up to its entertaining conclusion.  Anyone even remotely interested in those early monster movies will certainly get a kick out of this very, very low-budget monster mash, even if the monsters themselves don’t have that much screen time.  Milligan’s usually erratic camerawork is a little more restrained this time around, with some decent compositions, which at times were even a little reminiscent of the colourful milieus of a low-rent Douglas Sirk.  Honestly!  Even some of Milligan’s meager costume design (once again hiding behind his usual pseudonym of Raffiné) is better than average, as opposed to some of the thrown-together stuff from his earlier and more widely-seen TORTURE DUNGEON (1970).  

Retaining the film’s original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and enhanced for 16x9, BLOOD was mastered from a “longer 35mm print”, which contains occasional lines and scratches, but for the most part, it also looks pretty damn good despite the limitations of Milligan’s photography.  This “Bryanston Pictures Double Bill” was a pleasant and much welcome surprise from Code Red, so order your copy from Screen Archives here before it disappears.