INTRUDER ARRIVES UNCUT, A FLYING HOOD
ORNAMENT, KILLER KLOWNS,
AND THE YAKUZA ON ACID
THIS WEEK ON THE WALL!
It was a battle, but INTRUDER took out THE ROCKETEER with a band-saw. It was one of those weeks where I struggled to pick the top dog but in the end, blood beats brawn, at least around these parts. As always, click the cover art to buy the good shit from Amazon. Thank for supporting The Wall bastards, we appreciate it!
DG’S PICK OF THE WEEK
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For all the good shit Empire Pictures did (FROM BEYOND, CELLAR DWELLER), they sure could fuck a film up in a New York minute, case in point: INTRUDER. After wrapping up his writing gig on EVIL DEAD 2, it was time for Scott Spiegel to make his directorial debut. What he created with INTRUDER is a masterpiece of the slasher genre. Unfortunately, Empire went crazy with the weed wacker and heavily cut the best parts of the film. Quentin Tarantino told Spiegel he should rent ever copy in the area and replace it with the unedited cut. No need, Synapse is here to do what they do best; taking genre classics and restoring them to near perfection, jamming them with cool special features, and in the case of INTRUDER, giving the unedited version to the masses. Every. Last. Drop.
Walnut Lake Market is closing up for the night. Please make your final selections and proceed to the register. After the staff is told the store has been sold, they are asked to stay late and slash prices on all items. Someone got the wrong message and starts slashing up the staff instead. We aren’t talking about machete kills, we aren’t talking bad dreams, we are talking trash compactors, meat hooks, and band saws. DAWN OF THE DEAD owns the mall, INTRUDER owns the grocery store.
INTRUDER is a smart film that deserved better on its initial release. Synapse, as always, did an amazing job with this title. The film is presented in a 1080 progressive anamorphic widescreen with an amazing 2k transfer. Synapse has always been among my favorite distributors, this year though they are at the top of the list as the best distributor of the year. If you need me to validate that comment, just buy INTRUDER and then you’ll know what’s what.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Commentary: Scott Spiegel and Lawrence Bender
“Slashed Prices: The Making of Intruder”
Extended Murder Sequences from the Original Workprint
Outtakes from the now-lost short film, Night Crew
“The Slashing of Intruder” with Filmmaker Vincent Pereira
Behind-the-Scenes Stills Gallery, Original Cast Audition Footage, trailers.
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Goddamn this flick is pure, unadulterated bliss. This is a giant homage to the 30’s and 40’s adventure films with some superhero heroics mixed in for all us geeks. I was in my teens when this first came out but fuck if it didn’t make me feel like I was watching STAR WARS or RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK for the first time. I am not saying it’s as good as those flicks, but it gave me the same feeling. That’s the power of good filmmaking.
I wanted this to be successful, I wanted an entire franchise of ROCKETEER films, I also wanted desperately to see Jennifer Connelly naked… thank you HOT SPOT. Joe Johnston may not have been able to make another film with the flying muffler but he did get to go back to his Nazi killing superhero ways with CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER which is almost as good as THE ROCKETEER… Almost.
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The films of Seijun Suzuki are an acquired taste. I dig the hell out of them but they are really kind of abstract and difficult to follow. The images though are flat out amazing and hyper-stylized. The characters in this film are right out of a Melville flick. Think LE CERCLE ROGUE meets JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR without the music. Sorry, best I can do.
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The story in this one is slightly more coherent than TOKYO DRIFTER but visually it’s even more extreme. Suzuki was fired from his studio after he turned in this cinematic equivalent of a painting by Pollock. I am a bigger fan of DRIFTER but BRANDED TO KILL is probably his most popular film.
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This is a hard film to watch, but it’s probably one of the best films of the last decade. It’s a visceral experience of kids who are tied up in a life of crime in Rio de Janeiro. When combat photographers don’t want to walk around your neighborhood, you’ve got problems. This is a pretty hopeful film in the end, but damn…
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This is a reissue but it’s one of Peter Jackson’s best films so I always like giving this attention when we can. The blending of fantasy and reality in this flick is pretty amazing to see. Dude’s got chops, he should make bigger films some day.
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The IP MAN franchise is 50/50 so far in my book. The first one is all kinds of cool, the second one though was just kind of empty. I know a lot of you bastards dug it but it just didn’t work for me. This is a prequel sans Donnie Yen but I am curious enough to check it out. Donnie Yen has made some noise about returning for a 3rd film so this may have to hold fans over until then.
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Shout! Factory is one of those labels that you can trust. You see their stamp, chances are it’s golden. I haven’t seen either of these films but they sound tough as hell.
Check out the skinny from Amazon:
The Nickel Ride: Cooper (Jason Miller, The Exorcist), known as the key man because of his large ring of keys, manages several warehouses containing the Mob’s stolen goods. When the Mob has stolen so much that they are running out of space, they send Cooper to negotiate for a new warehouse. His boss gets nervous and, believing the big-hearted key man to be more of a risk than an asset, orders him to be watched. Also starring Linda Haynes (Rolling Thunder) and Bo Hopkins (The Wild Bunch). Directed by Robert Mulligan (To Kill A Mockingbird).
99 and 44/100% Dead: In a future where the laws of reality have been suspended, Harry Crown (Richard Harris) is a hit man whos been hired by Mafia don Uncle Frank (Edmond O’Brien) to eliminate Big Eddie (Bradford Dillman), a rival gangster who has been moving in on his turf. Big Eddie counters with his own enforcer, Marvin ’Claw’ Zuckerman (Chuck Connors), and as the rival killers attempt to destroy each other, some wild high-speed chases ensue. Directed by John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, Seconds).
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This trailer is fucking awesome. We haven’t seen this yet, but expect a full report soon bastards!
FINALLY FROM THE DRAWERS OF THE HYPE FILE:
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The film that begs the question: Why the hell isn’t the original FRIGHT NIGHT on Blu-ray? Anyway, this film is actually okay and worth a watch.
UPDATE! We just heard from our buddy @pdxcreep that Screen Archives just released a Blu-ray edition of FRIGHT NIGHT. Fuck that shit above, snag your copy of the original classic here:
http://www.screenarchives.com
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Probably the best big-budget film I saw this summer. Trust me.
THAT’S IT FOR THIS WEEK BASTARDS.
We’re back on 12/27 with the last NEW RELEASE WALL of the year with: HOSTEL III, STRAW DOGS (2011), FINAL DESTINATION 5, APOLLO 18, SID & NANCY (Blu), and more.
Until then…
HERE’S TO GOOD WATCHING THIS WEEK,
SALUTE!
SEE YOU ON FORTY DEUCE,
G
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