The Pink Panther Masterpiece Collection 4K
One of the fun things about reviewing physical media is that it gives me a good excuse to go down all kinds of rabbit holes looking for trivia. The character of Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther films is a case in point. Most people only associate Peter Sellers with the role of the bumbling French detective. It might surprise you to learn that no fewer than three separate actors have played Inspector Clouseau. Four, if you count the Roger Moore cameo in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983).
In 2006 the series was revived, starring Steve Martin in The Pink Panther (2006), and was successful enough to get a 2009 sequel imaginatively titled Pink Panther 2. Steve Martin is a truly great comedian and I would argue there are some inspired bits in both films but they undeniably fall short of the brilliant earlier Clouseau films.
Also interesting to note is that even after Peter Sellers had launched the franchise with the very well-received The Pink Panther (1963) and A Shot in the Dark (1964) another actor was allowed to step into the role. Director Blake Edwards and Sellers turn down the third film so they could complete work on The Party (1968).
Instead, Alan Arkin was cast in Inspector Clouseau (1968). Again, Arkin was a comedic genius. Watch Little Murders (1971) or The In-Laws (1979) or Simon (1980). They will blow your mind. But despite some valiant effort, the actor is let down by everything else. Without that signature Mancini score and Blake Edwards' crisp direction, the film flopped and there wasn’t another Pink Panther film until Sellers stepped back into Inspector Clouseau’s shoes for The Return of the Pink Panther (1975).
There were also several Panther films shot after Sellers' untimely death in 1980. In Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), the inspector is remembered by those who knew him best when his flight to the scene of the crime disappears and a journalist interviews his friends and co-workers. Sellers' Clouseau is only present in the form of outtakes and clips from previous films. Critics hated it and time has been even less kind.
But it did well enough to encourage a sequel. Curse of the Pink Panther (1983) was an attempt to get the franchise back on firm ground with a new lead. Ted Wass starred as Clifton Sleigh, a bumbling American detective tasked with finding the still missing Clouseau. The idea of a franchise built around a missing character is a novel one but it’s largely wasted here. Both of these posthumous efforts had solid casts, Blake Edwards at the helm and Henry Mancini in charge of the music.
What was emerging was that despite all the effort, the late great Peter Sellers was clearly emerging as the only real Clouseau. One more interesting take was Son of the Pink Panther (1993). Edwards and Mancini were again present and accounted for. The wildly gifted Roberto Benigni was cast as Clouseau’s illegitimate and equally clumsy and dim-witted son, a local gendarme who becomes embroiled in yet another big case. You guessed it. This movie sank like a rock.
In upgrading from their former Clouseau box set Kino had to jettison Trail of the Pink Panther. I am guessing it was over a mix of rights issues and or the cost effectiveness of adding another 4K restoration and disc. It’s not a great loss. The films included here are The Pink Panther (1963), A Shot in the Dark, The Return of the Pink Panther, The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Revenge of the Pink Panther. The Pink Panther has an audio commentary with director Blake Edwards. Shot, Return and Strikes offer commentary from Jason Simos of the Peter Sellers Appreciation Society. Commentary for Revenge is by film historian William Patrick Maynard. Simos and Maynard co-wrote a piece for the enclosed booklet, Tales of the Pink Panther. There are also twelve featurettes and a documentary. This is a great improvement over the previous set which contained far fewer extras, though the extras it did have were substantial.
Deadly Blessing 4K
A 4K upgrade of a Wes Craven film? Yes please. And while I'm telling you about it, here’s a handy assessment of his works as well.
Every horror fan should have a favorite Wes Craven film. What’s yours? Last House on the Left (1972)? The Hills Have Eyes (1977)? A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)? The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)? The People Under The Stairs (1991)? Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)? Or Scream (1996)? With a body of work like this, choosing a favorite might be next to impossible for many. Top tier Craven includes some of the most influential and beloved horror classics in film history.
Deadly Blessing (1981), just released on 4K by Kino, is usually placed in the second tier of Craven’s output by many. I would say that’s about right if we want to say that second tier Craven is stuff like Swamp Thing (1982), Shocker (1989) and Red Eye (2005) (which I think might belong in top tier). The film has some very effective shock scenes, a menacing performance from a stern-faced Ernest Borgnine, and a plot rooted in the conflict between religious extremism and individuality.
It’s well known that Craven’s religious upbringing and college years fueled a lifelong fascination with spirituality and the social fabric it emerges from. In that regard Deadly Blessing is an especially interesting film in his body of work. The Academy Award-winning Ernest Borgnine (Best Actor for Marty, 1955) excels as Isaiah, the fanatical leader of an sect named the Hittites. A role that could have descended into cartoonish theatrics carries genuine menace. The story revolves around a young widow caught in the center of a series of violent, perhaps supernatural murders. Sharon Stone, in her first full feature role, is also an interesting element.
There are two audio commentaries, one featuring Craven and Sean Clark, the other Troy Howarth and Eugenio Ercolani. Extras also include interviews with cast members Michael Berryman, and Susan Buckner, with designer John Naulin and writers Glenn M. Benest and Matthew Barr.
The Bubble 3-D
This new release of The Bubble (1966) boasts a new restoration by the famed 3-D Film Archive, ports over almost all the extras from Kino’s previous excellent Blu-ray, and even adds a brand new 45-minute commentary by Matt Rovner and Mike Ballew. That would likely be enough reason for any 3-D fanatic to upgrade. Sealing the deal is the fact that this version is the never before released 112-minute roadshow cut, which is a full 21 minutes longer than the original. Picking this up is a no brainer for anyone with access to 3-D.
In The Bubble, a plane is forced to land in a small town.The passengers discover the locals have been reduced to mindless shuffling automatons. More bad news. An impenetrable energy dome has cut the town off from the rest of the world, making escape impossible. Soon they find themselves desperately searching for a way out before they too become stumbling mumbling townies.
The Bubble is a historically important film for many reasons. First, it was shot in a then brand new 3-D filming technique dubbed the Space-Vision 3-D System, which became the industry standard for the next three decades. Next, the film was written and directed by the father of modern 3-D, Arch Obler, whose film Bwana Devil (1952) kicked off the 50s 3-D craze.
Beyond 3-D, Obler was also recognized as a key figure in the development of radio drama. His worldwide influence was and is still felt throughout the entertainment industry; Rod Serling, François Truffaut and Don Coscarelli have all named Obler as a significant influence.
Unearthly Stranger
I confess to asking for a copy of this film precisely because I wanted to watch it and use it to recommend a whole group of films. In my opinion, Unearthly Stranger (1963) sits firmly within what I’ll call uncanny science fiction. Other films in that group would include The three Quatermass films, The Quatermass Experiment (1955) , Quatermass 2 (1957), and Quatermass and The Pit (1967).
To that list add, Four Sided Triangle (1953), The Final Programme (1973), Who? (1974) and any number of other 1960s and 1970s oddball science fiction films that concern science and human frailty set against cosmic horror. Once you start going down this road, I promise you’ll never run out of great movies to watch. I'm not suggesting this as a hard category, just a useful one for those who like a particular kind of movie experience.
A scientist has succeeded in developing a formula that will allow a man to project himself through time and space. His assassination signals dangers for others connected to the project. Bringing the plot to life, you have John Neville (star of The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen, 1988), one of the most prolific and respected British actors of his generation, supported by Phillip Stone (Grady in The Shining, 1980) Disquieting atmosphere makes this one of the most interesting science fiction films of its decade. There are two audio commentaries. One is by film historian Gary Gerani and the other is by film journalists Bryan Reesman and Max Evry.
Johnny Handsome 4K
This is a real treat for anyone who likes oddball neo-noir. Mickey Rourke plays a small time hood whose disfigurement has earned him the moniker of Johnny Handsome. Betrayed during a robbery he ends up in prison where he’s offered an experimental surgery that will give him a new face. Once out he’s unable to go straight opting instead for revenge on his old gang. Backing Rourke up is an unbelievable lineup that includes Ellen Barkin, Forest Whitaker, Scott Wilson, Lance Henriksen, Elizabeth McGovern and Morgan Freeman. Oh, and Johnny Handsome (1989) is directed by Walter Hill. The end result is a thriller that is never less than interesting. Johnny Handsome is also yet another reminder of how insanely talented Mickey Rourke was/is.
Two audio commentaries are included. One features filmmaker Edgar Pablos, Troy Howarth and Howard S. Berger, and another features noir experts James Ursini and Alain Silver. There are also interviews with Walter Hill, screenwriter Ken Friedman, makeup artist Michael Westmore, and stuntman Alan Graf.
Jesus Christ Superstar 4K
Religious culture (like every other) changes. What was once considered sacrilegious becomes acceptable, even preferred, over time.
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) came out the same year as Godspell (1973) and The Exorcist (1973). Those three films aren’t often mentioned in the same breath but their source material and cinematic adaptations had a collective impact on religious culture in America that is not widely acknowledged. And, the place that Jesus Christ Superstar holds in that trinity is decisively vital in understanding how today's Christian nationalists could grow from yesterday's self-proclaimed, long-haired, smiling Jesus Freaks.
Start with the understanding that none of these films were embraced by the church at large at the time of their release. They were considered vulgar, reductive and even heretical by many. They were largely adopted by younger people looking for signs of life in the faith they had been raised in or heard about. And so the question for those of a business mindset was, “How do you market Jesus?”
There’s a strong case to be made that these films, and books like The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey, which went on to become the best selling book of the 1970s, and early Satanic Panic material like The Satan Seller by Mike Warnke effectively melded the occult and Christian spirituality together in a way that the evangelical movement, at least, has never recovered from. For a growing number of people. Christianity became synonymous with controlling the culture.
Christians were said to be “spiritual warriors” who were “taking back the culture for Christ.” Prophecy, speaking in tongues, and testimonies of encounters with the demonic became commonplace and even expected as definitive signs of the presence of God. Thus, the notion of following the simple teachings of Jesus was replaced by exactly the kind of spectacle one encountered in musical theater, movies and experienced in ecstatic musical experiences like the kind offered by what had come to be called Christian Rock. For Christianity to be meaningful, it ultimately had to be seen as larger than life.
This isn’t to negate the genuine spiritual journey many found themselves on. A healthy number of those converts slowly grew suspicious of this approach and rejected a faith rooted in mere spectacle and cultural power grabs. even as Jesus Christ Superstar, The Exorcist, and Godspell came to be deeply appreciated as entertainments that attempt to offer some insight into the nature of faith, the context of Jesus' life and the meaning of his earthly ministry. Despite the misunderstanding surrounding their oversize operatic aesthetics, hippie-fide narrative updating and horrifying special effects, they were never intended as propaganda or evangelistic outreach.
Instead they used growing public tolerance for debate around theological claims to inspire, entertain and… make some people very, very wealthy. That’s what Broadway musicals and movies are supposed to do.
Jesus Christ Superstar is in this sense the the most compelling of the 1970s Jesus films in my view. It offered the grandest (almost operatic) and expansive cinematic vision of Jesus' earthly life. Based on the smash hit musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice, this film adaptation was directed by the legendary Norman Jewison. (In the Heat of the Night, 1967, Fiddler on the Roof, 1971, and Moonstruck, 1987.)
Kino's 4K disc offers three separate audio-commentaries: One with Jewison and star Ted Neeley, one with film historian/screenwriter Gary Gerani. and one with film critic and author Simon Abrams. Theres also an interview with lyricist Tim Rice and a new audio mix by legendary musician and engineer Brian Kehew (Sly Stone, Black Sabbath, Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, YES, Talking Heads and Madonna).
Hell’s Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films
It’s always fun to watch old commercials and educational shorts. Pregnant moms smoking! People drinking ALOT. Suave men. Idyllic children and spotless ranch style dwellings remind us of a world that never was. Before you can say “The End” you may well be shouting, “What were these people thinking!?”
Hell’s Highway (2002) is a documentary about educational short films guaranteed to leave your jaw on the floor. These films were produced between 1959-1979 and shown in high school classrooms all over the country. Who can forget such marvelously gory hits as Mechanized Death (1961), Wheels of Tragedy (1963) and let’s not forget Highway of Agony (1969), all of which are included here as extras.
The basic idea was to ingrain in the future drivers of America just what could happen to them if they didn’t practice safe driving. But the overall effect left something to be desired. Kids fainted, threw up. and even came to school with notes from home stating that they could skip the showings. It’s worth noting that the same people claiming that the communists were trying to hijack America's youth via sex drugs and rock 'n’roll are the ones who thought nothing of making sure this nightmare fuel got into the eyes of every kid they could find.
Adding to the fun here is an audio commentary from director Brent Wood, assorted excerpts from various shorts and even the unrestored original 2003 version of the film.