THE WOMAN, JEAN ROLLIN AND GODZILLA GO BLU,
AND PAM GRIER LANDS IN THE ARENA,
THIS WEEK ON THE WALL!
January may have started slow but this week… it ALL changes. More than fifteen titles from grindhouse classics (THE ARENA), macabre masterpieces (the films of Jean Rollin), to future classics like THE WOMAN, and mark the words of The Wall; this will be a classic. To save my hands, and your eyeballs, the write-ups will be short and to the point. As always, click the cover art to buy or browse at Amazon and help support our little dirty secret.
DG PICK OF THE WEEK
The Wall ain’t lying, Bastards; Lucky McKee has made a film that will be a grindhouse classic in due time. McKee gets better and better with each film. He has Cronenbergian skill when it comes to suspense and the slow draw of a scene… until you get to the last 30 minutes when the film goes completely ape-shit with violence on a level we rarely see. The Wall just saw this film last night, the feelings are raw, but this is a powerful and complex film. Look for a full review in the coming days.
It was rumored and reported here back in August of 2011 and confirmed just after that. Now, we finally get the goods from Criterion; Big G on Blu. This has to be the best release from Criterion for the DG crowd since THE KILLING hit Blu. Check out these special features:
New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Audio commentary by David Kalat (A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series)
New high-definition digital restoration of Godzilla: King of the Monsters!, Terry Morse’s 1956 reworking of the original, starring Raymond Burr
Audio commentary for Godzilla: King of the Monsters! by Kalat
New interviews with actor Akira Takarada (Hideto Ogata), Godzilla performer Haruo Nakajima, and effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai Interview with legendary Godzilla score composer Akira Ifukube
Featurette detailing Godzilla’s photographic effects
New interview with Japanese-film critic Tadao Sato
The Unluckiest Dragon, an illustrated audio essay featuring historian Greg Pflugfelder describing the tragic fate of the fishing vessel Daigo fukuryu maru, a real-life event that inspired Godzilla
Theatrical trailers
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic J. Hoberman
Finally! Jean Rollin on Blu-ray. All we need is Hammer to open up stateside distribution for their 30 Blu titles that will soon make their way to the U.K. and all will be right with the world.
THE NUDE VAMPIRE was the second feature from Rollin and it’s a nutty ride blending horror and sci-fi elements.
Considered by most to be the best film of Rollins’ career and The Wall agrees. This flick is an end-to-end masterpiece of style and macabre.
The Wall actually hasn’t seen this flick yet but it was the first one we popped into the cart. The fans either love this film or have seen it once and never feel like watching it again. Color us curious.
After SHIVER and THE GRAPES OF DEATH, this is The Wall’s favorite Rollin film. This flick contains some of his best horrific moments (in our opinion).
Rollin cites this as his favorite film, it’s without a doubt the most commercial.
Pam Grier + Gladiator style battles… you add that shit up.
Vintage slasher flick that The Wall forgot all about.
Never heard of it but The Wall is a sucker for pulpy covers and single-word titles.
THE DEVIL’S MEN aka LAND OF THE MINOTAUR is not a great flick but Cushing delivers the goods as the leader of a devil worshiping cult. Pleasence isn’t bad in this but he just was never half the actor Cushing was. TERROR has not been watched.
Not a lot of info is available on this one, but if it’s from anybody remotely associated with THE DEADLY SPAWN (which had its Blu-ray release pushed back to February), then we want in.
This is a visceral revenge story that would make a perfect double feature with I SAW THE DEVIL.
After IP MAN, this and KILL ZONE are The Wall’s favorite Donnie Yen films. This has a pretty remarkable ass-kicking that goes down in an open market.
FROM THE DRAWERS OF THE HYPE FILE…
This flick has a ton of heart and was fun as hell. Trust The Wall.
These flicks are one-trick ponies. After you know where the jumps are they have zero re-watch, so you may want to rent this one first.
That’s it for this week, Bastards.
The Wall will return next week with: DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK, NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS (Blu), HAUNTED, and more.
Until then…
HERE’S TO GOOD WATCHING THIS WEEK, SALUTE!
THE WALL
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