FILM FRENZY

Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men (Photo: Criterion)

By Matt Brunson

(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray, 4K and DVD. Ratings are on a four-star scale.)

CHARLEY CHASE AT HAL ROACH: THE LATE SILENTS 1927 (1927). While considered in some corners to be one of the great screen comedians of the silent era, Charley Chase has been forgotten in ways that his contemporaries haven’t. I’ve often wondered if part of the reason wasn’t due to his looks. Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, and, to a lesser extent, Harold Lloyd all look funny, whereas Chase looks more like leading man material, closer in appearance to Douglas Fairbanks than Fatty Arbuckle. One can glance at Keaton’s stone face or Lloyd’s eager-beaver demeanor or Chaplin’s Little Tramp mustache and immediately smile — I can’t say Chase brings out the same instant mirth in me or, I suspect, many others. But the films themselves are funny, and 15 of his shorts have been brought together in this set. There Ain’t No Santa Claus, in which he has to contend with a mean-spirited landlord, is perfect viewing for the present season, while Forgotten Sweeties, in which his married man experiences difficulties when his ex-girlfriend and her husband move into the same building, offers the sort of frenzied funny business one expects from silent shorts. Perhaps the best of the bunch is Fluttering Hearts, which features a talented leading lady in Martha Sleeper and supporting turns by future character actor extraordinaire Eugene Pallette (My Man Godfrey, The Adventures of Robin Hood) as a harried motorcycle cop and a Laurel-less Oliver Hardy as the bullying Big Bill. Sadly, Chase was a longtime alcoholic who suffered from depression, and he died of a heart attack in 1940 at the age of 46.

Blu-ray extras consist of film historian audio commentary and three bonus shorts: 1926’s The Merry Widower (with a Chase cameo), excerpts from 1927’s Call of the Cuckoo (with Chase, Laurel, and Hardy in support), and 1929’s Smile, Buttercup, Smile (a remake of Chase’s Now I’ll Tell One).

Collection: ★★★½

THE CONQUEROR: HOLLYWOOD FALLOUT (2024). Before he morphed into an insufferably sanctimonious, right-wing zealot, Michael Medved co-wrote with his brother Harry the hugely entertaining 1980 book The Golden Turkey Awards. In the category of The Worst Casting of All Time, the “winner” was John Wayne as the Mongol warrior Genghis Khan in 1956’s The Conqueror, with the Medveds stating that “Wayne might also have qualified for The Most Ludicrous Racial Impersonation in Hollywood History, but we didn’t want this one film dominating too many different positions in the Hall of Shame.” (That dishonor went to Marlon Brando as a crafty Japanese villager in 1956’s The Teahouse of the August Moon.) This connection makes Medved a natural interview subject for this sobering documentary that focuses on the other well-documented story regarding The Conqueror: It was not only a bad movie but also a deadly one. Produced by Howard Hughes, it was largely filmed in various Utah locations that were downwind of where an endless series of nuclear tests were being conducted during the period. With so many cast and crew members later dying of cancer, it’s long been believed that the fallout was the tragic cause of the deaths — while some have disputed that, given the fact that many involved were heavy smokers (including Wayne), this documentary lends credence to the claim by interviewing Utah locals who lost family members to cancer, with some of the victims little children. Either way, it’s chilling hearing the government propaganda declaring the tests as harmless, although a Pentagon scientist later did gasp, “Please, God, don’t let us have killed John Wayne!”

DVD extras include audio commentary by director William Nunez; an interview with Nunez; and a speech by playwright, cancer survivor, and anti-nuke activist Mary Dickson.

Movie: ★★★

DARIO ARGENTO’S DEEP CUTS (1973-1987) / SCALA!!! OR, THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE RISE AND FALL OF THE WORLD’S WILDEST CINEMA AND HOW IT INFLUENCED A MIXED-UP GENERATION OF WEIRDOS AND MISFITS (2023). I can’t stress how much fun I had with these two Blu-ray releases from Severin. They’re like cinematic stocking stuffers: You dig in not knowing what sorts of diverse goodies you’ll receive.

Dario Argento’s Deep Cuts is particularly designed like a grab bag, offering a wide variety from the shows made for Italian television by the helmer of such theatrical giallo classics as The Bird With the Crystal Plumage and Suspiria. First there’s Door Into Darkness, a 1973 anthology series consisting of four episodes, with the best (Il Tram / The Tram) written and directed by Argento himself. Then there’s 1987’s Giallo, best described as a mix of talk show, dramatic series, behind-the-scenes filmmaking footage, and shorts. Argento is of course the host, interviewing celebrities like Anthony Perkins and Pink Floyd members David Gilmour and Nick Mason (the latter two looking awkward, uncomfortable, and uninterested) and offering looks at the making of some of his movies, particularly the then-in-production Opera (although my favorite material is from 1985’s Phenomena, starring a pre-Labyrinth Jennifer Connelly). He’s also behind Dario Argento’s Nightmares, a handful of 3-minute shorts based on his own dreams. Finally, Giallo also presents Night Shift (Turno Di Notte), a series in which a rotating trio of cab drivers solves various mysteries.

Scala!!!, meanwhile, is a feature-length documentary, with the unexpected treats found in the bonus features (more on that below). This excellent movie looks at the history of the beloved London movie theater that screened over 4,000 flicks between 1978 and 1993. Before that stretch, it functioned primarily as a music venue: David Bowie dropped by, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed performed, and The Beatles filmed their concert scenes for 1964’s A Hard Day’s Night there (see From Screen To Stream below). Managed by Stephen Woolley (later the producer of such hits as The Crying Game, Interview With the Vampire, and Carol), the venue often showed movies that inspired future filmmakers (David Lynch’s Eraserhead is cited by several) and counted among its audience members such indie mavericks as John Waters and Mary Harron (both interviewed here). With its code of inclusivity (it was a favorite hangout for the LGBTQ community) and its roster of outrageous films, the Scala served as a middle finger to Thatcherism (the odious Iron Lady’s reign as Prime Minister ran from 1979 to 1990, almost exactly overlapping the joint’s movie-theater years), which explains why it was always on the radar of conservative dipshits — it was successfully shut down by the courts after an illegal screening of A Clockwork Orange and reopened in 1999 as a dance club.

Blu-ray extras on Dario Argento’s Deep Cuts include audio commentaries on two of the Door Into Darkness episodes by author Troy Howarth (Murder By Design: The Unsane Cinema of Dario Argento) and film reviewer Nathaniel Thompson; the 1993 documentary Dario Argento: Master of Horror; the two-part 1999 documentary Dario Argento: My Cinema; and interviews with Argento and fellow giallo practitioners Lamberto Bava and Luigi Cozzi. Blu-ray extras on Scala!!! include audio commentary by co-directors Jane Giles and Ali Catteral; an earlier documentary, Michael Clifford’s 1990 Scala; the 1992 short Scala Cinema; a look at the famous Scala program calendars over the years; footage of an appearance at the Scala by The Godfather of Gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis (Blood Feast); and a dozen experimental shorts shown at the venue, ranging chronologically from 1968’s Boobs a Lot to 1991’s Coping With Cupid. The release also comes toting a reproduction of the Scala program calendar (offerings plugs for the included shorts) and a reproduction of the ticket required for membership.

Dario Argento’s Deep Cuts: ★★★½

Scala!!!: ★★★½

HOLLYWOOD 90028 (1973). Filmed in 1973, released theatrically in 1976, and then never experiencing any sort of home release (not even VHS) until now, Hollywood 90028 is exploitation fodder that isn’t easily forgotten. Also known under the titles The Hollywood Hillside Strangler and Twisted Throats, it plays like a low-rent version of Michael Powell’s 1960 cult classic Peeping Tom — both feature a leading character who works with cameras by shooting naked women for the sleaze market but who also kills many of the females he encounters. Peeping Tom is of course more psychologically complex, but Hollywood 90028 has its share of weighty moments that surprise. The backstory that partly explains the damaged mind of Mark (Christopher Augustine) is genuinely disturbing — so, too, is a terrific monologue delivered by Mark’s potential girlfriend Michele (Jeannette Dilger), as she explains how the vicious cycle of women trying to make it in Hollywood ultimately folds back onto itself in a pitiless circle. And then there’s the startling ending, with a final (and lengthy) shot that is simply astounding — it’s the sort that today would doubtless be faked with CGI. The only feature-length credit for Christina Hornisher — she served as writer, director, and producer — Hollywood 90028 is too amateurishly executed to consistently succeed, but it’s nevertheless worth a look from those who can handle its grimy content.

Blu-ray extras include the alternate cut Twisted Throats; interviews with Augustine, Dilger, and co-star Gayle Davis (who plays the hitchhiker Gretchen); alternate scenes from the original X-rated version (which are pretty softcore for being deemed hardcore); and an interactive “Adult Bookstore” gallery. The release also comes with a CD featuring the film’s score by Basil Poledouris (RoboCop).

Movie: ★★½

INTERSTELLAR (2014). Deeply flawed but also wholly absorbing, Interstellar further marked writer-director Christopher Nolan as one of our most ambitious, go-for-broke directors, unafraid to attempt Sistine Chapel ceilings while his fellow filmmakers are working with Crayolas. To be sure, this is no cosmic masterpiece like 2001: A Space Odyssey, but when a movie can for whatever reason be mentioned in the same breath as Kubrick’s landmark undertaking without inciting giggles, then clearly there’s something noteworthy afoot. Set in a near future when a dusty, ravaged Earth seems unlikely to sustain another full generation of humans, this casts Matthew McConaughey as Cooper, a former NASA pilot and present-day farmer recruited by NASA’s Professor Brand (Michael Caine) for a potentially planet-saving mission that will keep him in space for years, maybe forever. Despite a 169-minute running time, Interstellar never drags, a testament to Nolan’s ability to keep us glued to his quietly unfolding tale. It turns out to be a strange, fitful trip, far flung in its scientific pursuits but down to earth with an involving family tale. Jessica Chastain pops up during the second half, and her character allows the story to unfold in interesting ways. So, too, does the arrival of Matt Damon as a space pioneer; the sequences involving his character are among the film’s finest. And if some of the science seems suspect, it easily falls into the realm of suspension of disbelief — certainly as much as 2001′s star child, or a man who dresses like a bat, for that matter. Nominated for five Academy Awards, this won for Best Visual Effects.

Paramount is offering Interstellar in a 4K + Blu-ray + Digital edition that offers such niceties as five theatrical poster reproductions, costume patch reproductions, and a never-before-seen storyboard sequence. Extras include a new retrospective piece; a look at the film’s science; and pieces on the sets and effects.

Movie: ★★★

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007). Joel and Ethan Coen have always been known for genre-hopping, and their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel smacks of both a contemporary Western and a crime thriller. But may I add the classification of monster movie to the mix? As I watched Javier Bardem’s seemingly unstoppable Anton Chigurh shuffle his way through the picture, killing left and right without remorse, I realized that here was an unsettling creature for the ages. No Country for Old Men is a delirious drama that often echoes such classics as Psycho, Touch of Evil, and Chinatown, not only in its intricate and unpredictable plot structure but also in its look at an immoral world in which chance and fate battle for the upper hand and in which evil is as tangible a presence as sticks and stones. Chigurh spends the film, set in 1980 Texas, on the trail of Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a cowboy who stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and walks away with $2 million in cash. The cat-and-mouse chase between Chigurh and Moss is enough to propel any standard narrative, yet tossed into the mix is Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), a weary sheriff who, baffled and deflated by the wickedness that has come to define his country, nevertheless trudges from crime scene to crime scene, hoping to save Moss and stop Chigurh. This isn’t the first great movie to have its ending criticized even by many who enjoyed the rest of the picture (Apocalypse Now also springs to mind), yet love it or hate it, accept it or debate it, it’s perhaps the only proper conclusion for a movie as uncompromising as this one. Nominated for eight Oscars, it won four: Best Picture, Best Director (both Coens), Best Adapted Screenplay (ditto), and Best Supporting Actor (a phenomenal Bardem).

Extras in the 4K + Blu-ray edition include three making-of pieces and interviews with the Coens, Jones, Bardem, and Brolin.

Movie: ★★★★

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL (1979). A true cult classic, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School finds P.J. Soles (a year after getting murdered by Michael Myers and three years after getting killed by Carrie) delivering an absolutely disarming performance as Riff Randell, a rock fan whose grudge match against her school’s dictatorial principal (Mary Woronov) receives a boost with the arrival of the Ramones. Thanks to a superb soundtrack, a quip-packed screenplay (my favorite: “Do your parents know you’re Ramones?”), and Soles’ boundless energy, it’s near-impossible to resist this film’s goofy charms. Paul Bartel is amusing as a music teacher who sympathizes with the students, while Clint Howard has some choice moments as Eaglebauer, a shady kid who serves as the institute’s capitalistic wheeler-dealer. As for that giant mouse that’s clearly enjoying the Ramones concert, it was created and performed by makeup genius Rob Bottin (The Howling, The Thing). The less charitable might want to knock a half-star off the rating, but even curmudgeons should be won over when the band performs such gems as “I Just Wanna Have Something to Do,” “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker,” “Teenage Lobotomy,” and the title track.

Extras in the 4K + Blu-ray edition include five audio commentaries (among the various interviewees are Soles, Howard, writer-director Allan Arkush, executive producer Roger Corman, and Stephen B. Armstrong, author of I Want You Around: The Ramones and the Making of Rock ‘n’ Roll High School); a feature-length making-of retrospective; an interview with Marky Ramone; critic Leonard Maltin’s interview with Corman; and audio outtakes from the Ramones concert sequence at the Roxy. This set also offers the largely in-name-only 1991 sequel Rock ‘n’ Roll High School Forever, starring Woronov (in a different role) and Corey Feldman.

Movie: ★★★½

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984). What was basically a standard slasher flick emerged as a lightning rod of controversy once the nation got wind that Silent Night, Deadly Night, released approximately six weeks before Christmas, featured a killer who wore a Santa Claus suit while embarking on his reign of mayhem. Young Billy, who (not unlike Batman) witnesses his parents being murdered by a thief, is particularly disturbed that the assailant is sporting a Santa suit. Years later, the 18-year-old Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) loses it at Christmastime and begins slaughtering almost everyone he encounters — all while donning a Santa outfit. Parents protested, Gene Siskel read out the names of the key creative personnel on an episode of At the Movies (“Shame on you!” he admonished), and Leonard Maltin, in his annual Movie Guide, assigned the film his BOMB rating and wrote, “What next – the Easter Bunny as a child molester?” Faced with mounting criticism, the picture was pulled from theaters after a couple of weeks. That’s an awful lot of fuss for a film that, even with the Yuletide slander, really isn’t any more nihilistic than other gruesome horror yarns of the period. It is perhaps even more witless, though, showing little imagination in every department. Nevertheless, the controversy allowed it to become a hit on video, and it was followed by four sequels (one starring Mickey Rooney!) and a 2012 remake.

The 40th Anniversary Edition contains the R-rated theatrical cut on 4K and Blu-ray and the unrated version on Blu-ray. Extras include audio commentary by Wilson and executive producer Scott J. Schneid; a making-of featurette; an audio interview with director Charles E. Sellier Jr.; an interview with supporting player Linnea Quigley; and theatrical and VHS trailers.

Movie: ★

FILM CLIPS

AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD (1972). Perhaps Werner Herzog’s most acclaimed movie in a career full of them, Aguirre, the Wrath of God is at once poetic and brutal, dreamy and nightmarish, beautiful and hideous. Klaus Kinski, a madman perfectly cast as a madman, is the title character, a Spanish conquistador who convinces other soldiers to follow him into the depths of the Amazon rainforest in search of the fabled El Dorado and its limitless riches. What follows is one of the most arduous, most agonizing, and most impossible journeys ever committed to film, as the members of the small army end up fighting the elements, the natives, and each other. Filmed under grueling conditions in the South American wilds, this German classic (which didn’t hit the U.S. until 1977) is an essential entry in the annals of world cinema.

Extras in the 4K + Blu-ray edition consist of two audio commentaries by Herzog, one in English and one in German (with English subtitles); a photo gallery; and the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★★★★

2020 TEXAS GLADIATORS (1983). I can’t say that the 2020 shown in 2020 Texas Gladiators is any worse than the 2020 we did get, except maybe for the fact that it appears the first season of Ted Lasso isn’t streaming anywhere in the film’s post-apocalyptic world. An Italian cheapie that desperately wants to be mistaken for a Mad Max romp, this finds a bunch of gun-toting Rangers teaming up with a bunch of horseback-riding Native Americans to defeat the fascists in charge. Yes, it’s basically a “cowboys and Indians” scenario where they join hands rather than battle each other. It’s not a good movie, but it’s nothing that a six-pack couldn’t help.

Extras in the 4K + Blu-ray edition include archival interviews with director Joe D’Amato, assistant director Michele Soavi, screenwriter Luigi Montefiori, and actor Al Cliver, and the theatrical trailer. A soundtrack CD is also part of the package.

Movie: ★½

FROM SCREEN TO STREAM

CRAWLSPACE (1986). While there’s always intrinsic interest and maybe even value in watching the unhinged Klaus Kinski in action — whether while delivering a performance or in behind-the-scenes footage — even his bizarre behavior can’t elevate this truly atrocious film. He stars as Karl Gunther, a landlord who rents exclusively to female tenants. The reason? Well, it’s a character played by Kinski, so duh: It’s so he can take pleasure in spying on them from within the building’s elaborate crawlspace system. But Karl isn’t merely a landlord and a Peeping Tom; he’s also a murderous doctor and the son of a former Nazi war criminal, and his attic space includes deadly spring-traps, jars containing various body parts of his victims, and a young woman (Sally Brown) forever locked inside a cage (but placed there only after he had cut out her tongue). Kinski’s in full psycho mode here, and the notion that any sane woman would rent from such a transparent creep is as hard to swallow as a bowling ball. But Kinski completists who need to see him smear crimson on his face and roll around on a flat dolly shouldn’t miss this. In 1999, the film’s writer-director, David Schmoeller, would end up making the amusing short film Please Kill Mr. Kinski, in which he describes working with the volatile actor.

Movie: ★

A HARD DAY’S NIGHT (1964). Released stateside in August 1964, six months after The Beatles’ legendary appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, director Richard Lester’s landmark film looks like a documentary, sounds like a musical, and feels like a comedy — small wonder that it was famously described by critic Andrew Sarris as “the Citizen Kane of jukebox musicals.” Their musical genius would continue to evolve throughout the years, but at this freeze-frame moment in time, the four personable band members — cheeky John, charming Paul, quiet George, and worrisome Ringo — come across as nothing so much as complete innocents ready to share their joyous sound with a world that’s hungry for their brand of non-threatening rebellion. The classic bits come pouring from the screen in a mad rush: the frenzied fans, going out of their minds with adoration; John’s bathtub disappearance; Ringo’s barroom blunders; George’s run-in with the marketing director trying to stay on top of what’s “hip”; the mischievous pranks perpetrated by Paul’s “clean” grandfather (Wilfrid Brambell); and the splendid, climactic concert. Alun Owen’s original screenplay and George Martin’s music scoring both earned Oscar nominations.

Movie: ★★★★

THE THREE FACES OF EVE (1957). In only her third silver-screen appearance, Joanne Woodward found gold — Oscar gold — via her Academy Award-winning performance in this psychological drama. She’s cast as Eve White, a mousy housewife whose peculiar behavior leads a psychiatrist, Dr. Luther (Lee J. Cobb), to discover that she suffers from multiple personality disorder. But just as Dr. Luther becomes acquainted with her other persona, a sexy party girl named Eve Black, he discovers that a third personality has emerged: Jane, an intelligent woman who provides a stark contrast to both the emotionally fragile Eve White and the lascivious Eve Black. Anchored by Woodward’s powerful performance(s), this is loosely based on the true story of Chris Costner Sizemore, a South Carolina woman who suffered from 20 different personalities. For another fine film about a woman suffering from multiple personalities, check out the 1976 made-for-TV movie Sybil, starring Sally Field in an outstanding, Emmy Award-winning performance as the title character and co-starring, interestingly enough, Woodward as her psychiatrist.

Movie: ★★★

WALLACE & GROMIT’S WORLD OF INVENTION (2010). The British dynamic duo of cheese-loving Gromit and his canine companion Gromit were already familiar to American audiences thanks to creator Nick Park’s four W&G short films and the movie The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (head here for coverage of the new 4K set Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Cracking Collection). Here the lads returned stateside in a BBC production that aired for six episodes in the U.K. and throughout Europe and hit Blu-ray in the U.S. in 2012. Those expecting nonstop W&G action might be disappointed, since the pair only serve as intermittent hosts for this documentary series that focuses on unusual items being created all around the world, either by trained scientists or harmless eccentrics. Among those whose inventions we encounter are a Russian who’s spent decades building his own submarine, a German who devises a flying bicycle, a Dutchman whose mobile contraption has to be seen to be believed, and even the late screen star Hedy Lamarr, who during WWII had created a torpedo-guiding system. It’s all fascinating stuff, and the wraparound segments featuring Wallace and Gromit contain the usual good cheer and cheesy gags we’ve come to expect from the lovable duo.

Series: ★★★