Another month, another look at the glorious gems that our heroes at Vinegar Syndrome have excavated from the tombs.
This time we're checking out the brand new 4K restoration of Slava Tsukerman's punk-era avant-garde classic Liquid Sky, goofball Svengali film Lucifer's Women, and late '70s UK erotic sci-fi horror from the UK, Prey. Check out the details below
Slava Tsukerman's Liquid Sky is one weird movie. Directed by a Russian immigrant in 1982 and ostensibly about an alien that comes to Earth looking to feed off of the pleasure of Earthlings by murdering them while in the throes of passion, Liquid Sky is far more an exercise in art and artifice than any kind of coherent narrative story. Art designed to within an inch of its life, the film is an audio/visual experiment unlike many others that owes far more to the work of someone like Derek Jarman's avant garde expression than the gritty realism of a young Penelope Spheeris. It's a unique experience that most certainly won't be to everyone's tastes, but if those two filmmakers I mentioned above get your wheels spinning, you'll want to give Liquid Sky a shot.
Margaret (actress/writer/visionary Anne Carlisle) is a fashion model in a neon approximation of New York City in the early '80s. Jimmy (also Carlisle) is her abusive, uncaring, manipulative boyfriend. While they are busy attempting to make a life from a bunch of scraps, tiny aliens land on the roof of their building looking to suck the cuty dry for their own selfish needs. A German doctor attempts to thwart the invasion to little avail. All and sundry dress fancy, pose their asses off, and dance to bizarre proto-electronic beeps in some of the most out-there fashion you're likely to see for a long time.
Liquid Sky is almost two hours long, and I can't say that a whole lot of it makes narrative sense, but it's never visually or aurally boring and that goes a long way. It's definitely an experimental piece, akin to the more atonal and bizarre films of Jodorowsky or Kenneth Anger, but perhaps with less to actually say and more to show. I can't say loved it, but it's hard not to respect it.
The Disc
Vinegar Syndrome takes a stab at this long out of print title via an absolutely gorgeous new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative that makes it look as though the film was shot yesterday. The neon color palette pops, fine detail and delineation are jaw-dropping, and the film looks gorgeous in motion. The audio is also cleaned up and the track supports the stilted dialogue and oddball electronic soundtrack well. Even if you don't love the film, this would be an exceptional disc to throw on in the background at a party and just watch as your guests slow down and stop to gaze upon its bizarreness, one by one.
VS teams up with director Tsukerman and star Carlisle to provide hours of bonus material, making this the clearly definitive version of a cult classic that definitely deserved one. There is an audio commentary for the film featuring Tsukerman that is a bit sporadic, but informative. There is also a 50 minute making-of doc made by Tsukerman in 2017 that visits a lot of the surviving cast and crew as well as locations with plenty of tidbits about the film. There are separate interviews with Tsukerman and Carlisle, still fast friends after almost forty years, as well as a Q&A session from a 2017 screening of the film in New York. All of these features are joined by rehearsal footage, an alternate opening, trailers, outtakes, and an isolated soundtrack on the disc that means this release provides hours of context to help the viewer parse the film. Let me tell you, every bit of it helps.
Liquid Sky is a document of an artist and his muse in a unique time and place that couldn't be less commercial if it tried, but that's what makes the vision so compelling. This is one hell of a movie, and one hell of a disc.
So. Lucifer's Women. I did not enjoy this film.
Lucifer's Women is a mad cult (of the religious kind) film made in 1974, directed by Paul Aratow and recut into a version called Doctor Dracula by Al Adamson as an attempt to capitalize on the existing footage later.
John Wainright is an acclaimed author and mentalist. While on tour with his newest book, The Second Svengali, he and his publisher decide to test his powers of persuasion by convincing a burlesque dancer to submit to human sacrifice in the name of Satan and the black arts. While Wainright becomes less and less convinced that this is a good idea, his publisher, Sir Stephan beings to spiral and grows more and more convinced that it's essential. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the film is the fact that the Satanic rituals featured within were supervised by Anton LaVey, leader of the Satanic Church, in what seems to have been a small cottage industry for him at the time (The Devil's Rain, Rosemary's Baby, etc...), but it's not quite enough to make this a thrilling film.
Can't win 'em all.
The Disc
Lucifer's Women comes to us in a new 2K restoration from Vinegar Syndrome who bring their usual care and attention to detail to even the least thrilling of projects. The image isn't going to blow any minds, but it's a solid representation of the source material that I can't imagine looking any better than it does now. Colors appear accurate with little evidence of fading or shifting, and detail is as good as can be expected.
The disc also features a few solid extras which make it a lot more interesting than it is on its own. First and foremost is the restoration on an included DVD of the WTF version of the film recut by Al Adamson, Doctor Dracula. This version adds a bit more tension as well as exploitation check-casher extraordinaire, John Carradine. The DD version also features a commentary with producer Sam Sherman. Also included is a digital text-based essay from author Samm Deighan that I enjoyed, but would've enjoyed more in a booklet.
If you're going skip any film from this batch, I can safe recommend Lucifer's Women for that slot.
British director Norman J. Warren's (Inseminoid) Prey is a film that I'd never heard of prior to its landing on my doorstep and I feel like it should've been more available before now. Warren is fairly well known as one of the primary genre filmmakers of the late '70s-early '80s in the UK, but his films seem to have been used as bargain bin liner in the US for a lot of that time with very little breakout. Prey is an unusual film, years ahead of its time in terms of representation and even a bit outré even for a horror film. It's far from perfect, but it is a fascinating artifact that deserves rediscovery.
When an alien creature named Kator lands in the woods in rural England, the extraterrestrial immediately kills a pair of lovers and takes on the name and appearance of the man, Anders. Before long he stumbles upon lesbian couple Jessica (Gloria Annen) and Jo (Sally Faulkner) at their remote villa, who mistake Anders for an injured hiker and take him in. Before too long strange things begin to happen around the trio that not only strain the relationship between the women in ways they weren't prepared for, but it also threatens their lives.
Warren's film is not only a fascinating low budget science fiction oddity, it's also an unusually unsensationalistic look into a lesbian relationship way back in the mid-'70s before such a thing was common. Far from salacious and titillating, the relationship shown here is fraught with many of the same dangers, weaknesses, and jealousies as any other relationship, complicated by the fact that they've now been invaded by this mysterious stranger who threatens not only their happiness and certainty at their own futures, but also their lives.
Rather subdued for the most part, one might even deign to call Prey a contemplative treatment of sexuality and complex relationships and the small fissures that can become canyons separating a couple with only the slightest assistance. Don't worry, though, there's plenty of blood for everyone, and the film loses all sense of propriety as things go from fun to frightening in the final insane reel. Prey is a truly misunderstood and underappreciated gem, thankfully restored by Vinegar Syndrome for a new generation who may finally be ready for it.
The Disc
Vinegar Syndrome's new 2K restoration of Prey is as great as the rest of their work, making it the reference level material for this film. The image is sparkling, perhaps too sharp at time when the seams in the FX budget begin to show, however, it doesn't hurt the feel of the film one bit. The print is gorgeous and the colors, especially the '70s blood, pop like they probably never have before.
Prey is also supported by a number of informative and extensive bonus materials that help to contextualize the film and Warren's career. There is an audio commentary with Warren and his actress, Sally Faulkner, which is informative and the pair seem to still have a pretty good rapport. There are also separate interviews totaling about 50 minutes with Warren, who discusses the low budget/tight schedule of the film and the complexities of the FX, Faulkner, who talks more about her character and the challenges of interpretation, and producer Terry Marcel, who discusses the challenges of organizing the film as well as plans for the unmade sequel.
I was unaware of Warren as a filmmaker prior to seeing Prey on Blu-ray, but I can now say that I'm very interested in continuing to explore his work. Prey is a wonderful film that plays with convention in interesting ways and explores some territory that is fairly foreign for genre films of this time period. Definitely recommended.