The return of a film junkie's first world problems. Here are another five films that need to be rescued from red tape limbo and into our loving blu-ray players:
Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932)
It boggles the mind that She-Freak, a 1967 semi-obscurity can get a beautiful blu-ray transfer from the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA), while the very film that inspired it, and a multitude of other carnival based horror for that matter, Freaks, languishes unwanted. Tod Browning's classic is still considered shocking to this day by some individuals, which makes it all the more remarkable considering it's now ninety years old. So why then, does a film of this historical significance seem cursed like Olga Baclanova's Cleopatra?
The Devils (Ken Russell, 1971)
If ever a film has fallen victim to censorship by its own studio, it's Ken Russell's The Devils, a progenitor to the wave of depraved nunsploitation films which ran rampant in the seventies. Prayers seemed to be answered in 2012, when the BFI announced a lavish release through Warner Bros. It turned out to be a case of the monkey's paw, however, since not only were fans of the film denied a high definition print, but it was still a censored cut version. Regarded amongst film critics as on of the greatest British films, it's tragic that the only way to watch a complete version of The Devils is via a bootleg copy. It's farcical how a film which is half a century old, still receives this much contempt from its studio owner.
From Beyond the Grave (Kevin Connor, 1974)
It really ought to be a punishable offence whenever From Beyond the Grave gets relegated by brainlets as one of the lesser Amicus portmanteaus. Not only is it factually incorrect, but it's probably one of the strongest entries from Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg's legendary production studio. Blessed by a killer wraparound with Peter Cushing as the creepy owner of Temptations Ltd, an antique shop where any rotten sort who tries to rob or con his way to obtain its wares gets their just desserts. These stories include: "The Gate Crasher", with the recently passed away David Warner, enslaved to a ghastly apparition in a mirror; "An Act of Kindness", where Ian Bannen befriends an ex-serviceman matchbox seller played by Donald Pleasence; "The Elemental", the weakest and tonally inconsistent story in the film; and, "The Door", which serves as a portal to a mysterious blue room. The film is spellbinding throughout, and much like The Devils, it has fallen under a similar fate by Warner Bros. A bare bones release made its way under the Warner Archive umbrella. A film of this wonderful calibre really does deserve some beauty treatment akin to what the label Second Sight has done in recent years with other Amicus horror anthologies; namely The House that Dripped Blood (1971), and Asylum (1972).
Braindead (Peter Jackson, 1992)
Remember when Peter Jackson made great movies back in the day? This blogger does. The Antipodean yo-yo dieter helmed three fantastically grotesque films at the start of his directorial career, before he got too serious for my liking. Braindead, his third film is easily his magnum opus to splatterfest comedy. It's shameful how this film that celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this year hasn't received the beauty treatment it deserves by any of the boutique labels around. Obviously, it's not their fault, since the film has been caught up with licensing issues. Like Positive K, I'm not trying to hear that, see! Braindead was one of the shining lights during the decade that saw the horror genre go largely underground, and therefore deserves an unabashed loving high definition release today.
The Night Comes for Us (Timo Tjahjanto, 2018)
If history has taught us anything, it's that we're doomed to repeat the same mistakes again and again. Film normies unaware of the The Raid franchise, and its impact on gruesomely kinetic fight choreography echoed the West's tradition of blissfully ignoring the heroic bloodshed movies from yesteryear. To Netflix's credit, it managed to tap into the modern rise of Indonesian action films, with the savagely gory The Night Comes for Us. Alas, Netflix having a mostly shite library of films doesn't justify a monthly subscription, from yours truly. So why then, do films exclusive to the streaming site like Uncut Gems (2019), The Irishman (2019) and the highly overrated Roma (2018) get home format physical releases by a hipster label like Criterion, whilst this powerhouse of bonecrunching visceral entertainment remain ignored?
Ought to add here that at the time of writing Freaks got a placeholder announcment via Warner Archive (gutted!), therefore a possible release might be on the cards this year. Also, my original fifth choice - Christos Nikou's Apples (2021) is getting a proper release today! Today! Unbelievable!
4 comments:
Caught From Beyond The Grave on Talking Pictures or the Horror Channel a couple of years ago. So good.
In one of his books, Kermode talks about how one of his proudest moments was showing the fully restored cut of The Devils at the BFI cinema.
Agreed. From Beyond the Grave ticks all the requirements in a dope horror flick for me. Even if The Elemental is the weakest link, it's still one of my favourite horror anthologies.
Would definitely brave going south of the river to see The Devils if it were ever screened again.
Speaking of Kermode and the BFI, I ended up copping Celia over the weekend after his recent video of it.
Never heard of that. Any good?
BTW, the blue looks kinda sick 🤩
Not seen it yet. Didn't even know it existed it last year. Kermode's praisewrothy video reminded me of it again, so I copped it. I'll probably watch it as soon as I get the chance.
Cheers, had to change the link colours to blue because it didn't match the Messiah of Evil banner photo.
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