FILM FRENZY

Jeffrey Combs in Bride of Re-Animator; Patty Mullen in Frankenhooker (Photos: Bride, Ignite Films & Eagle Rock Pictures; Frankenhooker, Synapse)

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.)

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981). Until it derails at the end, John Landis’ tongue-in-bloody-cheek thriller does a nice job of mixing its horror with humor. Yankee tourists David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are backpacking across the English moors when they’re attacked by a frightful man-beast; Jack is killed, but David is only injured and shipped off to London to recuperate. A lovely nurse (Jenny Agutter) takes him under her wing, but David begins to doubt his own sanity after he’s confronted by a decomposing Jack, who informs him that he’ll turn into a werewolf during the next full moon. Landis goes with the flow here, referencing classic lycanthrope flicks through the dialogue, cramming the soundtrack with appropriately titled oldies (“Blue Moon,” “Bad Moon Rising”), and even taking some good-natured digs at English mores (and moors) and manners. Unfortunately, he runs out of steam just before the finish line, as the film ends with the sort of chaos (crashing cars, falling bodies) that was appropriate in the director’s previous hits (National Lampoon’s Animal House and The Blues Brothers) but proves to be awkward and insufficient here. For his excellent work, Rick Baker won the Best Makeup Academy Award in its first year as an annual (rather than occasional) award.

Extras in the 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital edition include audio commentary by Naughton and Dunne; two feature-length documentaries, one about the history of werewolf flicks and the other specifically about this picture; interviews with Landis and Baker; and outtakes.

Movie: ★★★

BLUEBEARD (1972). Richard Burton made a sizable number of critical and commercials duds during the 1970s — among them The Assassination of Trotsky, Raid on Rommel, Exorcist II: The Heretic, and the truly awful The Klansman (reviewed here) — but it was Bluebeard that inspired Roger Ebert’s famous and oft repeated line, “There is no longer any novelty in watching the sad disintegration of Richard Burton’s acting career.” Burton does indeed deliver one of his dreariest — and stiffest — performances in this campy update of the folklore tale about a literal lady-killer. He’s Baron Kurt Von Sepper, a former World War I pilot who literally sports a blue beard and who is irresistible to women. He has a nasty habit of marrying international beauties and then murdering them once he finds them too annoying — after disposing of six wives (and a bisexual prostitute for good measure), he’s now wed to a chirpy American (Joey Heatherton). She tries to postpone her own demise by having her psychotic hubby babble on about his past spouses — these include a nymphomaniacal nun (Raquel Welch), a woman (Virna Lisi) who speaks only in song, and a feminist (Marilù Tolo) who of course ends up capitulating to the Baron and begging him to beat her. Because the film is clumsily presented as a dark comedy, the most horrifying aspect isn’t the murder of the wives — after all, no real actresses were harmed in the making of this motion picture — but the wholesale slaughter of animals (before advocates had any say or power), as a lengthy hunting sequence features actual birds and rabbits and other critters getting bloodily killed on camera.

Extras in the 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray edition include film historian audio commentary and an archival interview with Jean Porter-Dmytryk, the wife of director Edward Dmytryk.

Movie: ★½

BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR (1989). One of the most beloved “B” horror flicks of the ‘80s, 1985’s Re-Animator found medical student Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) using his school’s facilities to revivify first a cat, then a cadaver, and finally deceased colleagues — all with increasingly frenzied results. The combination of gonzo effects, Combs’ hilarious performance, and a screenplay dripping with tongue-in-bloody-cheek wit (most famously, the “giving head… literally” scene) led to its emergence on home video as a cult favorite. If Bride of Re-Animator isn’t its equal, it’s also no disgrace — the loss of Re-Animator writer-director Stuart Gordon as guiding light is unfortunate, but all those who do return, including producer Brian Yuzna (now also serving as director and co-adapter), again get into the spirit of the project. With the H.P. Lovecraft story “Herbert West – Reanimator” continuing to provide inspiration, this finds West once again convincing reluctant colleague Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) to help him with his grisly experiments involving resurrection reagents. Still mourning the loss of his fiancée Megan Halsey (killed at the end of the first picture), the mopey Cain becomes more committed when West suggests that they can create an entire new human being by using Megan’s heart in conjunction with the head of a patient (Kathleen Kinmont) who just passed away, the legs of a prostitute, the feet of a ballerina, and other assorted body parts. Little do the mad scientist and the sad scientist realize that West arch-nemesis Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale) — or rather, just his severed head — has been reanimated and seeks revenge. There’s a haphazard quality to the storytelling that wasn’t evident in the more tightly controlled original, but Combs again dominates the proceedings as the always-say-die West, and the bravura gore effects reach their zenith in an all-out climactic explosion of monster madness mayhem.

Regardless of how one rates the feature attraction, it’s obvious that the various editions being offered by Ignite Films and Eagle Rock Pictures deserve four stars across the board. As with the outfits’ 2025 release of the original Re-Animator, Bride of Re-Animator is available in four editions: the standard Blu-ray edition, the standard 4K Ultra HD edition, the 4K UHD + Blu-ray Deluxe Edition Box Set, and the 4K UHD + Blu-ray Ultimate Limited Edition Box Set. The standard versions come with a slipcover (available only via Ignite-Films.com); the Deluxe Edition includes a rigid outer box, collector art cards, and a hardcover book featuring new interviews with Comb, Abbott, Kinmont, and Fabiana Udenio (cast as Francesca Danelli, basically the only normal character in the entire film) as well as an introduction by Yuzna; and the Ultimate Edition offers the box, the cards, the book, and a replica of the film’s Finger Creature, which can be used as a desktop phone holder. Extras include various audio commentaries featuring Yuzna, Combs, Abbott, and others; a new hour-long making-of documentary; extended interviews with Yuzna, Combs, Abbott, Kinmont, and Udenio; a piece on the “splatter masters” who created the special effects; a deleted sequence; and a behind-the-scenes reel. For those so inclined, the R-rated version of this unrated movie is also included.

Movie: ★★½

A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1959) / DEMENTIA 13 (1963). What’s Halloween without a Roger Corman flick on tap? Here are a couple of candidates being offered in a two-disc Blu-ray edition, thus providing an instant double feature.

Armed with $50,000 and a mandate to complete work in five days, Corman as director-producer teamed up with writer Charles B. Griffith to make A Bucket of Blood, whose worth as a horror flick is surpassed by its merits as a dark comedy. It beautifully captures — and gently chides — the era’s Beatnik scene, with brainy but self-important poets holding court at trendy coffeehouses. Simple-minded Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) is the busboy at The Yellow Door, where he admires intellectuals like Maxwell H. Brock (Julian Burton) and pines for fellow employee Carla (Barboura Morris). After accidentally killing his landlady’s cat, he hides it by covering it in clay — believing it to be an actual artistic creation, Carla and the others profess admiration for Walter’s previously latent talent. After a misunderstanding results in Walter accidentally murdering an undercover officer (Bert Convy!), he likewise applies the clay, and soon he’s being praised for his genius and offered large sums of money for his “art.” Griffith, who wrote many other scripts for Corman (including the hits The Little Shop of Horrors and Death Race 2000), populates his piece with a wide range of unique characters (Burton’s Maxwell Brock is particularly memorable), and prolific character actor Miller scores in what proved to be one of the few lead roles of his lengthy career.

After toiling in the background for Corman on a couple of flicks — and helming the softcore romp Tonight for Sure on the side — Francis Ford Coppola was granted the director’s chair for this ultra-low-budget chiller. While this doesn’t quite show off his filmmaking prowess, it remains an essential part of his filmography. Coppola used his own hastily assembled script about a wealthy family haunted by the memory of a tragic accident that occurred on the grounds of their Irish estate. Two brothers (William Campbell and Bart Patton) are twitchy in their own right, a trait they share with the family doctor (Patrick Magee) — but can one of these three men really be the axe murderer who suddenly appears on the scene? Comparisons to Psycho are a given (including the early death of a leading character), but the film is stylish enough to maintain modest interest.

Extras on each movie include film historian audio commentary; the Trailers From Hell episode; and a new trailer. A 14-page booklet also comes with the release.

A Bucket of Blood: ★★★

Dementia 13: ★★½

THE CLOWN MURDERS (1976). The title turns out to be the most exploitative — and most entertaining — aspect of a no-frills, no-thrills drama that should bore general audiences and slasher flick fans in equal measure. This Canadian production centers on four friends — one aloof (Stephen Young), one obnoxious (Gary Reineke), one irksome (John Bayliss), and one always stuffing his face (John Candy in one of his earliest roles) — who decide to screw up the business transaction of a hated rival (Lawrence Dane) by stashing away his wife (Susan Keller) long enough so she can’t help him complete the deal. Since it’s Halloween, they disguise themselves in clown outfits to pull off the snatch — somehow, these geniuses never assumed that everyone else might think this was an actual kidnapping and that they would be in big trouble. It doesn’t matter that this film is populated exclusively by loathsome individuals (Candy’s character possibly excepted) — it’s impossible to care about anyone or anything because the atrocious script by Martyn Burke (who also directed, although I’d be hard-pressed to see where or when) utterly fails in such niceties as credible plotting and coherent and consistent character behavior. The titular murders don’t even occur until the final quarter-hour, and even here there isn’t any real attempt to make any sense of what’s slowly unfolding on-screen.

Extras in the 4K + Blu-ray edition consist of two audio commentaries, one by Burke and executive producer J. Stephen Stahn and the other by film historians.

Movie: ★

FEAR NO EVIL (1981). The most impressive aspect of this low-budget horror flick is its soundtrack, and it’s surprising that the filmmakers had the dough to obtain usage of great tunes by the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, Talking Heads, and The B-52’s. In all other respects, this is pretty lousy, although writer-director Frank LaLoggia probably deserves points for ambition. Fear No Evil begins as a rip-off of The Omen before morphing into a Carrie rip-off before transforming into a Night of the Living Dead rip-off — it finally culminates with a Passion Play as well as what I imagine (given the light show) must be a tribute to the glory of disco balls. The plot basically deals with the efforts of three archangels — two taking the bodies of elderly folks (Elizabeth Hoffman and John Holland), one electing to appear as a high school girl (Kathleen Rowe McAllen) — to stop Lucifer in his various incarnations. For now, he’s appearing as Andrew (Stefan Arngrim), a quiet high school senior who’s constantly being harassed by Tony (Daniel Eden), a classmate whose bullying somehow leads to a liplock between the two. There’s also a zombie epidemic, death by dodgeball (anticipating the death by basketball in Wes Craven’s Deadly Friend), the sight of Tony growing voluminous female breasts (don’t ask), and the final appearance of Lucifer looking like a backup dancer at a glam-rock concert. The older cast members fare better than the younger cast members, most of whom are terrible. TV fans might recognize Arngrim from his earlier days as a child actor, when he co-starred as young Barry Lockridge on the Irwin Allen-produced series Land of the Giants (1968-1970).

Extras in the 4K UHD + Blu-ray edition include audio commentary by LaLoggia; a piece on the special effects; and behind-the-scenes footage.

Movie: ★

FRANKENHOOKER (1990). No less than Bill Murray plugged a certain 1990 release by stating, “If you see one movie this year, it should be…” Scorsese’s GoodFellas? Costner’s Dances With Wolves? Culkin’s Home Alone? Cosby’s Ghost Dad? No, nope, nix, and nay. Instead, it was Frankenhooker, which, in addition to having Murray’s quote to plaster all over the posters and videocassette boxes, also benefited from an eye-catching tagline promising “A Terrifying Tale of Sluts and Bolts.” Directed and co-written by Frank Henenlotter, whose 1981 Basket Case is one of those films one simply doesn’t forget over the course of a lifetime, Frankenhooker would actually make for a strong double bill with Bride of Re-Animator, as both involve a deceased and mutilated fiancée being stitched back together and revived in the name of love. In this one, it’s twitchy Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz) who’s devastated when his fiancée Elizabeth (1988 Penthouse Pet of the Year Patty Mullen) gets chopped to pieces by a runaway lawnmower. Luckily, Jeffrey is an amateur scientist, and he decides to bring Elizabeth back to life by assembling the body parts of various prostitutes who exploded after using his “super-crack.” The operation succeeds, but Jeffrey’s taken aback when he sees that his creation is acting less like Elizabeth and more like the streetwalkers. Frankenhooker runs 85 minutes, and while that’s a typical length for a picture of this nature, it’s a shame this isn’t longer. That’s solely because of Mullen — she delivers an eccentric and animated (no pun intended) performance, and the picture would have benefitted from more of her exploits (the material with Jeffrey just doesn’t compete).

Extras in the 4K UHD edition include audio commentary by Henenlotter and makeup effects designer Gabe Bartalos, and an interview with Mullen.

Movie: ★★½

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1986). Little Shop of Horrors began as a 1960 Roger Corman cheapie (and eventual cult classic) before being reinvented as an off-Broadway musical in 1982 by songwriters Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, the team that would soon be helping lead the Disney animation renaissance with their Oscar-winning work on The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. This 1986 movie is an adaptation of the stage hit, with ex-Muppet man Frank Oz taking the director’s chair for this saga about lonely schnook Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis) and the dire consequences that arise after he finds a plant that thrives on human blood. The only off-Broadway cast member making the trip to the screen is Ellen Greene, and it’s easy to see why: As the delicate Audrey, she shows off her formidable singing ability while also providing the piece with its warm center. Steve Martin is a riot as the sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello, and there are cameo appearances by John Candy, James Belushi, Christopher Guest, and, in the role that Jack Nicholson made famous in the 1960 original, Bill Murray as a dental patient who thrives on pain. As for the voice of the killer plant, it’s provided by Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops. This earned two Oscar nominations, for Best Visual Effects (the animatronic work is excellent) and Best Original Song (“Mean Green Mother From Outer Space”).

The 4K + Digital Code edition contains the theatrical version and a Director’s Cut that restores the original prerelease ending (which is dreadful). Extras include audio commentary by Oz; a making-of featurette; a new retrospective piece; and deleted scenes.

Movie: ★★★

THE POPE’S EXORCIST (2023). Russell Crowe is the sole redeeming feature of this forgettable terror tale that uses a real person at its center. That would be Father Gabriele Amorth, who by most accounts was the papal Patch Adams — instead of laughing in the face of illness, he joked throughout exorcisms. Crowe brings the right measure of twinkly-eyed charm to the role, only turning deadly serious when he realizes his latest case — the possession of an American boy (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) living in Italy — might represent a real possession rather than the usual hoax. The flashbacks involving Father Amorth’s past sins provide the movie’s most interesting subtext — everything else is boilerplate blather, with the final battle an orgy of damning CGI satiety. As an aside, I was greatly amused when my older daughter later informed me that she had read that, instead of the actual historical symbol for the Spanish Inquisition, the filmmakers erroneously used the logo from the Dragon Age: Inquisition game! Clearly, not enough of this motion picture’s $18 million budget went toward the research department.

Extras in the 4K Ultra HD + Digital Code edition consists of a behind-the-scenes featurette; a piece on the real Father Amorth; and the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★★

MONSTER SAVINGS FOR HALLOWEEN:

THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951). Christian Nyby may be credited as director, but it’s long been established that Howard Hawks (billed here as producer) was the one calling most of the shots on this horror/sci-fi hybrid. Certainly, the film fits right into his compendium of classics: Like Rio Bravo, The Big Sleep, and oh-so-many-others, it features crackling dialogue, deliciously subversive humor, confident and competent heroes, and a healthy air of sexual playfulness between its romantic leads. Featuring James Arness (before Gunsmoke) as the deadly e.t. who makes life difficult for a group of soldiers and scientists huddled together at a North Pole research facility, this has endured largely because of all the top talent Hawks corralled for the project: ace cinematographer Russell Harlan (the sequence in which the men use fire to fight the alien is a standout of lighting and composition), top composer Dimitri Tiomkin (employing the theremin to great effect in his score), and revered screenwriter Charles Lederer (Hawks’ His Girl Friday). Equally (if not more) recommended is John Carpenter’s excellent 1982 version (simply called The Thing), featuring Rob Bottin’s imaginative makeup effects and Ennio Morricone’s beautifully minimalist score. Best, however, to skip 2011’s The Thing, a prequel to the Carpenter flick that for some reason sports the exact same title.

The Thing From Another World is one of the many 4Ks, Blu-rays, and DVDs included in the Fright Night at MovieZyng sale, running through Sunday, October 25. A whopping 150 titles are included in the promotion, which offers 10% off each title. Available movies and TV shows range from such classics as the 1933 King Kong and Horror of Dracula to more recent fare like The Purge: The Complete TV Series and The Pope’s Exorcist (reviewed above). Head to moviezyng.com here.

Movie: ★★★½