I Walked With a Zombie and The Seventh Victim (1943)

"Two Classic Lewtons get the 4K Treatment"

Bravo to Criterion, who are releasing two of the best films producer Val Lewton made for RKO in the 1940s on 4K UHD and Blu-ray.

Jacques Tourneur's (heavily Jane Eyre inspired) I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE is the story of a nurse, Betsy (Frances Dee) who takes a position on a Caribbean island looking after Jessica (Christine Gordon) the near-catatonic wife of Paul (Tom Conway). Apparently Jessica got that way after contracting a severe illness that affected her spinal cord, but the song Sir Lancelot (a mainstay of 1940s and 1950s movies) sings suggests more is going on. 

Falling in love with Paul and determined to help him at any cost, Betsy determines to cure Jessica with voodoo, and the result is one of the film's highlights - a midnight trek through the cane fields, including a confrontation with the zombiefied Carrefour (the iconic Darby Jones). 

Whereas many horror films of this period build to an often fiery climax, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE's strength lies more in the subtleties along the way, the character interplay and the dialogue, rather than in its ending, which is measured and sombre rather than a confrontation between 'good' and 'evil'. Tourneur's careful direction and the screenplay from Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray are all of a much higher quality than was probably required or expected by RKO, and the result is a classic you can show your non-horror loving friends to show how thoughtful and carefully put together classic genre cinema can be.

In THE SEVENTH VICTIM, Mary (a young Kim Hunter) learns that her sister Jacqueline (Jean Brooks) has disappeared. Her attempts to find her lead to the discovery of the Palladists, a group of Satan worshippers, whom Jacqueline has betrayed and whom they now want dead. However the group has forsaken violence and so their intended victim (Jacqueline will be the seventh) has to kill themselves.

Some superbly atmospheric sequences help to paper over a screenplay that does feel a bit cobbled together, complete with an ending that must have left 1940s audiences open mouthed, and not in a good way. Lewton's films were always the antithesis of Universal's mid 1940s lumbering monster rallies, and while THE SEVENTH VICTIM is indeed haunting and ultimately desperately sad, it leaves too many important questions unanswered to be entirely satisfactory. That said, there's much to enjoy here, from the subway scene (did it influence de Palma?) to the numerology - there are plenty of instances of the number seven, or multiples thereof, and look at how many times the names of the places Mary visits consist of seven letters (an influence on Peter Greenaway's DROWNING BY NUMBERS, perhaps?). And of course there's that climactic scene where Brooks is pursued, perhaps by nothing more than her own anxiety and paranoia. Some think THE SEVENTH VICTIM is Lewton's best, but that's up to you to decide. 

Criterion's 4K transfers are, unsurprisingly, a huge improvement over the old DVDs. Comparing with the 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray there's extra crispness and detail that you would expect from the format, with a good level of grain in the image but the image noticeably clearer on the UHD.

Extras include an archival Stephen Jones & Kim Newman commentary for I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE while Steve Haberman performs similar duties for THE SEVENTH VICTIM (it's also an archival commentary - from the 2005 DVD release). Another alternate audio track on both films gives us excerpts from Adam Roche's eleven-part series about Val Lewton from his classic movie podcast The Secret History of Hollywood. 

Both the two films and the extras above can be found on Criterion's UHD disc. A Blu-ray is included with the UHD disc or it can be purchased separately. It includes all the above, but also: an erudite and well-illustrated talking head piece from film historian Imogen Sara Smith about the two films; the 2005 documentary Shadows in the Dark: the Val Lewton Legacy, which is excellent and it's good to see it resurrected on this set; 12 minutes of excerpts from the PBS series Monstrum about Haiti and zombies; more audio material from Adam Roche about Jean Brooks (53 minutes) and Tom Conway (69 minutes). There are also trailers for both films.

Finally, the set also comes with essays by Chris Fujiwara and Lucy Sante.

Val Lewton's I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE and THE SEVENTH VICTIM are being released on a single disc by Criterion as either Blu-ray only or a UHD / Blu-ray dual format package on Monday 14th October 2024

The Exorcist III (1990)

William Peter Blatty's own sequel to THE EXORCIST (and adapted from his sequel novel Legion) gets a 4K upgrade and a two disc release (one UHD, one Blu-ray) from Arrow.

An aging Lieutenant Kinderman (George C Scott, replacing the by then late Lee J Cobb from the original) is investigating a series of murders in which the victims have been decapitated and the head of a religious icon put in their place. The killer has the same modus operandi as the Gemini killer, who went to the electric chair fifteen years ago.

When Kinderman's hospitalised friend Father Dyer (Ed Flanders) becomes the latest victim, he learns that there's an inmate of the psychiatric ward who claims he is the Gemini killer, and also that he has connections to a certain exorcism performed fifteen years ago.

Taking a completely different approach to EXORCIST II Blatty's sequel is filled with impressive imagery and an endearing central performance. However when the film was finished executives insisted on an exorcism being included which is why Nicol Williamson's Father Morning has been rather obviously shoehorned in. It's also why Jason Miller is in here as well, apparently, as originally all the Gemini's scenes were played by Brad Dourif (and very good he is too).

Arrow's two disc set kicks off with a UHD that features a 4K UHD presentation of a 2K restoration of EXORCIST III. There's a new commentary from academics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson, an audio interview with Blatty, and a massive making of that at 104 minutes is nearly as long as the film itself.  There is also a stack of archival interviews with Blatty, Scott, Miller and others, a new interview with special effects artist Randy Moore, five minutes of bloopers and deleted scenes, a vintage making of and image galleries.

Disc two is a Blu-ray presentation of the original Blatty cut entitled LEGION, which was put together by the director and released under that title in 2016. This combines footage from the film with inserts from VHS tape, and has a different opening and ending. Unfortunately this was not provided for review but it does include a commentary track from Mark Kermode and Kim Newman.

THE EXORCIST III is out in a two disc UHD / Blu-ray combo pack from Arrow on Monday 7th October 2024

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

"Excellent Presentation of a Unique Sequel"

Fans of John Boorman's sequel to William Friedkin's original THE EXORCIST have a treat in store as Arrow releases a two disc Blu-ray set of both the original 118 minute US version and the shorter, re-edited 103 minute international cut.

It's four years since Regan MacNeil's possession by the demon Pazuzu and her subsequent exorcism by Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow), who died in the process. Now the Catholic church, represented by Paul Henreid's Cardinal, have decided to recruit Father Lamont (Richard Burton) to investigate the case and find out if some of Merrin's wilder claims were true.

Meanwhile Regan (Linda Blair) is undergoing hypnotherapy by Dr Gene Tuskin (Louise Fletcher) and her flashing light box. These therapies are conducted in the least confidential clinic room ever, where all the walls are made of glass and the many children that are presumably also Dr Tuskin's patients can see in when they're not being distracting by pushing large plush toys around or wheeling what looks like a huge soft sponge hexagon nut. 

Father Lamont straps on one of Dr Tuskin's leather headbands and joins in because Dr Tuskin doesn't seem to be too worried about medical ethics either. Soon he's seeing visions of locusts, Africa, and James Earl Jones. It seems Pazuzu is still 'deep within' Regan and that's because she is one of a number of people who have been born as 'forces for good'. This is explained in more detail using locusts as an analogy. Yes it is. Eventually Lamont and Regan end up back at the house from the first EXORCIST where we are treated to a climax of locusts as the building falls apart and it takes the surrounding neighbourhood ages to notice.

I can imagine back in 1977 Twentieth Century Fox arranging a screening of EXORCIST II for Mike Hodges, Stanley Mann, and other personnel and saying 'This is not how we want OMEN II to turn out - understand?' In fact it's a bit of a mystery why Warners thought they were onto a winner with this one (it received a massive release in the US) as, rather than John Boorman's proposed meditation on the power of good, EXORCIST II is a mess of incoherence, stultifying dullness, and laugh out loud Bad Film moments. Richard Burton looks understandably bewildered throughout, while Ennio Morricone's main theme is beautiful but doesn't fit with anything it's used to underscore. In fact Quentin Tarantino put it to better use in his 2015 THE HATEFUL EIGHT. What you do get is something fascinating to film students but perplexing and ultimately unsatisfying to the mainstream audience it was intended for.

Arrow's Blu-ray set brings us the full 118 minute version on disc one, with no fewer than four (!) commentary tracks. One is archival from John Boorman and the other three are academic - an archival one from Scott Michael Bosco and two new ones from Paul Kittredge and the late Lee Gambin, and Kelly Goodner and Jim Hemphill. The Boorman is best if you want explanations about why he made it, while the others all touch on different aspects of the film, with Kittredge and Gambin to be congratulated on their effusive enthusiasm while the Goodner and Hemphill is just as good if rather more restrained. Other extras include two archival interviews from 2018's Shout Factory release with Linda Blair (20 minute) and editor Tom Priestley (7 minutes).

Disc two has the international cut and a commentary track from Mike White who very helpfully points out the differences, although no-one will need any help spotting the cobbled together opening. Add in trailers and image galleries and it's quite the exhaustive (and exhausting) package.

John Boorman's EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC is out in a two disc Blu-ray set from Arrow on Monday 7th October 2024

The Antichrist (1974)

 

Following on from Frightfest's 50th anniversary screening of THE EXORCIST, it's really only natural that Albert De Martino's L'ANTICRISTO, aka THE ANTICHRIST aka THE TEMPTER, the first Italian ripoff of Friedkin's film to make it out of the gate back in the day, should get a Blu-ray release (from Studio Canal) this year as well. 

When she was a child Ippolita Oderisi (Carla Gravina) was in a car accident that rendered her unable to walk properly. Italian exploitation doctors have diagnosed her problem as psychological, and true to the spirit of the genre she's also sexually frustrated as well.

Her father (Mel Ferrer) decides that the best treatment for this is to take her to a religious ceremony where she sees a man vomiting green bile throw himself from a great height. After that they try hypnosis, but all that does is release suppressed memories from a past life when she was burnt at the stake for being a witch. After all that it's not surprising that poor old Ippolita should agree to being possessed by the devil.

Once she's possessed she vomits, swears, levitates, and does pretty much everything De Martino and his screenwriters scribbled down from their trip to see THE EXORCIST. Arthur Kennedy, fresh from playing the swearing and hippy-accosting police inspector in Jorge Grau's superior LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE, plays a priest but he's not up to exorcising Ippolita - that job goes to dubbed George Coulouris playing Father Mittner (and definitely not Merrin) during a welter of early 1970s Italian special effects.

THE ANTICHRIST isn't a great film. It's not even that good, but it is a fascinating snapshot of the Italian film industry of the period and of what stars who had been in much bigger and better things ended up working in during the 1970s. Full marks go to Ms Gravina who really gets put through being soaked, thrown around and having to behave like a wild thing for half the film (she's very good at it). Film score fans will delight to the music by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai, and one of the extras on here, Raising Hell, will tell you who scored which bit.

Other extras include the audio recollections of De Martino from an interview conducted with Eugenio Ercolani back in 2012, opening credits for THE TEMPTER and a 30 second TV spot. The set also comes with four art cards. Finally you get a commentary track from Lee Gambin and Sally Christie which is vigorous and lively but takes a while to get going with gaps big enough at the start that you may be checking to make such you haven't inadvertently switched audio channels. 

Alberto De Martino's THE ANTICHRIST is out on Blu-ray from Studio Canal on Monday 11th September 2023 

Demonic (2021)

"Oh Neill, What Have You Done This Time?"

The new film from director Neill Blomkamp (DISTRICT 9, CHAPPIE and...er...ELYSIUM) gets a UK cinema and digital release, to be followed by Blu-ray and DVD, after premiering as the opening film at 2021's Frightfest film festival.

Carly (Carly Pope) is troubled by dreams of her mother Angela (Nathalie Boltt) who she hasn't seen for many years. She's contacted by Martin (Chris William Martin) who tells Carly that Angela is now in a coma. Carly visits her mother in hospital to be told the coma was due to a self-induced blow to the head, the latest in a series of self-mutilations her mother subjected herself to while in prison.

Despite being in a coma Angela is apparently able to communicate through a virtual reality program the hospital's research team has been developing. They encourage Carly to enter her mother's virtual space where she finds her mother may have been possessed by a crow-headed demon.

DEMONIC has a great central idea and a great monster. Unfortunately the film itself isn't executed very well at all, with uninvolving storytelling that leaves you with the odd sense that someone lost all the good footage and it had to be replaced by people sitting in armchairs talking about it instead. The concept of an army of Catholic priests kitted out like the NRA's version of GHOSTBUSTERS pops up at one point but it's too little too late. 

It's another career mis-step for Blomkamp who seems to be suffering from M Night Shyamalan's problem of being a one-hit wonder with the quite excellent DISTRICT 9 (2009) but who in the subsequent 12 years following that has failed to come up with anything worth shouting about. It's sad to report that DEMONIC feels very much like a first effort by someone with a couple of interesting ideas but little talent or expertise to carry them through. Frightfest has something of a tradition of their festival opening films being extremely variable in quality and it saddens me to report that Neill Blomkamp's DEMONIC is one of the crappy ones. Here's the trailer if you fancy a look:

Neill Blomkamp's DEMONIC is out in UK cinemas and on premium digital from Friday 27th August 2021 and on Blu-ray and DVD from Monday 25th October 2021 

The Unholy (1988)

"Steady There, Father Michael."

Oh yes, if classic sitcom FATHER TED was a mediocre horror film, it would probably be a bit like THE UNHOLY. And now you have the chance to decide for yourself as Camilo Vila's sluggish, semi-coherent, occasionally blood-spattered late 1980s devil movie is gets the Blu-ray treatment as part of the Vestron Collection from Lionsgate.

"Down with this sort of thing!"

Father Michael / Dougal (Ben Cross) miraculously survives a fifty foot plunge from a building where he's trying to talk down a suicide, Archbishop Mosely / Ted (Hal Holbrook) and Father Silva / Jack (Trevor Howard) suspect he might be the Chosen One - God's representative on earth to fight demons. 

The forces of darkness certainly had an effect on Mrs Doyle

They send him off to the parish of St Agnes, where Father Dennis and Father Someone Else Before the Film Started have had their throats ripped out by a lady demon wearing (or rather not wearing) clothes probably designed by Jean Rollin. That doesn't stop Father Dennis from ringing Father Michael up, mind, just to remind him that he's waiting for him in hell.

"I...love...my...brick"

Somehow the church 'hushed up' the priests' deaths, although police office Lt Stern (Ned Beatty) is around to give us some back story. He also never gets the chance to go to the toilet throughout the entire film which is a shame as from his constant uneasy movements he obviously desperately needs to.

A rare shot of Craggy Island in the summertime

An hour in and so far we've been graced with dull direction, some very silly dialogue and plot jumps that have all the grace of someone desperately trying to do a salvage job in the editing room. The climax involves vast amounts of vomited blood, a Bob Keen-designed monster and Ben Cross bellowing at it when he should have been saying 'Careful, now.'

"Careful, now!"

Oh yes, THE UNHOLY really isn't very good, but if you want a good example of late 1980s trash this will remind you (if you needed reminding) that there was a lot of rubbish out there at the end of the decade.

"Will ye no have a cup of tea, Father?"

That hasn't stopped Lionsgate from doing their usual fantastic job packing this latest Vestron Collector's Edition with extras. These include an audio commentary from the director, an isolated score track & audio interview with composer Roger Bellon (who also did the music to WAXWORK), an audio interview with co-writer and production designer Fernando Fonseca with isolated sections from his unused music score, an interview with star Ben Cross, and the original ending (because it had to be reshot with a better monster) with an audio commentary from producer Mathew Hayden. You also get a trailer, TV spots, radio spots, stills and a storyboard gallery.

Camilo Vila's THE UNHOLY is coming out on Blu-ray as part of Lionsgate's Vestron Collector's Series on Monday 25th February 2019