Classic French horror arrives on DVD:
DVDs for Feb. 7 by Boo Allen
This week, we begin in France:
The Cinema of Jean Rollin:
Fascination, The Nude Vampire, Lips of Blood, Shiver of the Vampire, The Iron
Rose.
In the 1970s, French film-makers Jean Luc Godard,
Francois Truffaut, and Claude Chabrol were expanding on their
established Nouvelle Vague credentials, turning out daring, often
experimental fare. Countryman Jean Rollin appealed to more prurient
tastes while rendering a series of low budget yet entertaining horror
films, usually filled with beautiful but bland, naked and semi-naked
starlets. His sexual obsessions combined with surrealistic
atmospherics, long takes, and slowly building narratives to defy set
genres, making him an often overlooked, hard-to-classify cinematic
figure. Kino International teams with specialty British label
Redemption Films to re-master five Rollin films for Blu-ray
transfers from the original camera negative. In the methodical
Fascination, considered one of Rollin’s best, a man
flees from a gang out to kill him. He ends in a castle where two
mysterious beauties shelter him until midnight when they reveal their
intentions. Nude Vampire sees a wealthy
man using Eyes Wide Shut-type rituals to undergo
research on a woman and her followers who may possess the secret to
immortality, probably because they are vampires. In Lips of
Blood, a man becomes obsessed with a photograph of a castle
where he once had a formative childhood experience with a mysterious
woman. His attempts to find the castle and the woman provide
unexpected, and bloody, results. Shiver sees lesbian
vampires cavorting with an innocent honeymooning couple. In The
Iron Rose, lovers unintentionally lock themselves in a casket
in the middle of a huge cemetery. Each film includes ample
supplements, but many of them repeat and overlap—so, check labels.
Included are an interview with Rollin, a ten minute interview with
frequent collaborator Natalie Perrey, individual film introductions
by Rollin, a 20 page booklet on the director, and more.
Fascination (1979, not rated, 81 minutes)
The Nude Vampire (1970, not rated, 84 minutes)
Lips of Blood (1975, not rated, 87 minutes)
Shiver of the Vampire (1971, rated R, 95 minutes)
The Iron Rose (1973, rated R, 80 minutes)
Shakespeare in Love (*****), The English Patient (****1/2), Cold Mountain (***1/2)–Blu-ray
Lionsgate gives Blu-ray debuts to three excellent works originally released by
Miramax Films. Each disc holds many old and new supplements—again,
check labels. The sublime Shakespeare (1998) nabbed
seven Oscars, winning for Best Picture, Best Actress for Gwyneth
Paltrow, and Best Supporting Actress for Judi Dench. Anthony
Minghella earned Best Director nominations for both the much
discussed The English Patient (1996) and
Cold Mountain (2003).
Shakespeare
remains one of the best ever romantic-comedies, with Joseph Fiennes
playing a young and struggling Bard as he seeks inspiration and finds
it in a titled beauty (Paltrow) beyond his reach. The epic romance
The English Patient,
based on Michael Ondaatje’s novel, received
nine Oscars, including Best Picture. Ralph Fiennes stars as Count
Almasy, a mysterious downed pilot near the start of World War II. His
scarred body lies in a deserted Italian villa tended to by a Canadian
nurse (Juliette Binoche) who listens to his life story, seen in
flashback, as he struggles to regain his memory. Speak, memory
(ANYONE, ANYONE?). Jude Law stars in Cold
Mountain
as a Ulysses-like character who abandons his Confederate Army stuck
in Virginia and then slowly walks back to his home in Cold Mountain,
North Carolina, where his love (Nicole Kidman) awaits him. But his
arduous journey provides a series of Homer-inspired encounters.
All three films are rated R.
Shakespeare: 122 minutes. The disc holds two separate commentaries, 11 deleted
scenes, a three minute segment on the costumes, a 22 minute “making
of” featurette, and more.
The English Patient: 162 minutes. The disc includes two separate
commentaries, 20 minutes of deleted scenes, a 53 minute “making of”
featurette, eight minutes on the real Count Almasy, 22 minutes on
novelist Ondaatje, interviews with various cast and crew, brief
segments on production designer Stuart Craig and producer Saul
Zaentz, and more
Cold Mountain: 154 minutes. The disc offers director commentary,
11 deleted scenes, a 93 minute look at musician Royce Hall, 74
minutes with a separate documentary, a 30 minute “making of”
featurette, and a short segment on the history of the sacred harp.
In Time (***)
Visionary filmmaker Andrew Niccol (Gattaca)
wrote and directed this futuristic science fiction film in which time
is actually money. In the vague future, people quit aging at 25.
Forever young Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried star as a pair of
Robin Hood (and Bonnie and Clyde) lovers who “steal” time from
the rich and give it to the oppressed poor. Cillian Murphy plays the
“timekeeper” chasing them. As he has done in his career, Niccol
raises probing questions about being and non-being, but he also pays
attention to the action, providing a perpetually moving
thinking-thriller.
Rated PG-13, 109 minutes. The DVD, in all formats,
offers a 17 minute “making of” featurette, ten deleted and
extended scenes, and more.
The Lady and the Tramp—Diamond Edition
Disney’s cherished 1955 animated children’s classic
makes its Blu-ray debut in this Diamond Edition which accentuates the
film’s brilliant colors. Familiar is the story of mixed breed Tramp
(voice of Larry Roberts) falling in love with Cocker Spaniel Lady
(Barbara Luddy). And later, although he has a new litter of pups,
Tramp becomes careless, ending up in the pound, causing great anxiety
for everyone.
Rated G, 76 minutes. The DVD, available in all formats,
includes a “making of” featurette, unseen deleted scenes and an
unseen song. Plus, a segment on a Walt Disney story meeting, and an
interview with Diane Disney Miller as she reminisces about her father
Walt, a segment on finding the right voices for the film’s cats, and
more.
And, from this week’s TV offerings:
Ancient Aliens—season three
In the 16 episodes, on four discs, of the third season
of this series from cable channel History, researchers again explore
whether earth was ever invaded by other worldly forms. Various
alleged sightings, crop circles, happenings in the old west, ancient
plagues, and exotic phenomena are investigated by the team of
Jonathan Young Robert Clotworthy and William Birnes.
Not rated, 740 minutes.
Also on DVD: Anonymous, Rebound, The Retrievers, A Very
Harold and Kumar Christmas.