“OCTAV”

30 Years in the Making

Amos Lassen

Director Serge Ioan Celebidachi actually began writing the screenplay for “Octav” some thirty years ago. The film actually looks like a movie of people who have gone through life and have now reached a point where they are trying to understand where they came from. It’s full of nostalgia and memories yet there are no regrets. We see a combination of past and present, real and imaginary.

There are many pieces of Octav’s life that we do not know and we do not get to know why he is now alone It seems that nothing happened between  childhood and the present moment but we lose that sense of insignificance as the movie moves forward.  

There are many metaphors and a lot of philosophy and while it may seem like a lot we realize that whatever happens on the screen is just convention

Marcel Iureș is Octav. He came to Romania to recovers his nationalized house that he decides to sell it. He struggled for so many years to recover his home but then unloaded it. He meets Spiridon (Victor Rebengiuc), an old friend who is almost completely absent from the entire second act of the film, only returning to the end.

This film has won an astonishing 104 prizes yet I am not sure how. Watching this was at times a delight and at other times, a struggle. There must be more to it than what I saw.

“THE DEAD CENTER”

Arising from the Dead

Amos Lassen

When a dead suicide victim (Jeremy Childs) disappears from the morgue, a chain of events begins that has the power to destroy everything, and everyone, it touches. 

Troubled psychiatrist Daniel Forrester (Shane Carruth) helps a mysterious patient who is brought to the emergency psych ward in a catatonic state. Forrester tries to break through to his mysterious patient. When a string of mysterious deaths shake the ward patient ward than he had thought. As he comes to realize what he’s let loose, a race against the forces of evil threatens to destroy him. 

“The Dead Center” is a supernatural thriller that looks at the demons that live inside all of us.  With this film, writer/director Billy Senese, has been regarded as a powerful new voice in terror . 

Senese establishes a hero who fits squarely within another, older horror tradition: the dedicated man of science who struggles to hold onto his own sanity when dealing with the boundaries of his  own world view.

Dr Forrester has been through troubles of his own but remains devoted to his patients. He’s used to coping with odd situations so when a confused man  who is seemingly unable to remember anything, he takes his aside, calms him down and  begins a conversation that might help him arrive at a diagnosis. What he doesn’t know is that just a few hours ago this particular patient was pronounced dead in another part of the hospital after being admitted as a suicide victim, and that another doctor is frantically searching for him. What he can’t understand  is that this John Doe has actually been dead more than once and that something has come back with him from the other side.

At first, this seems to be seem like just another horror film about possession or a zombie but it has a lot more going on both narratively and thematically. The slow bill might be disconcerting to some audiences, I see this as an intelligent act of filmmaking that demonstrates an understanding of horrors that are present in the world. There are several surprises coming at you so be prepared that all is not as it seems.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

  High Definition (1080p) Blu-rayTM presentation

  5.1 DTS-HD master audio and lossless stereo audio

  Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

  Commentary with writer-director Billy Senese, producer-actor Shane Carruth and co-star Jeremy Childs

  Commentary with writer-director Billy Senese, producers Denis Deck and Jonathan Rogers, and cinematographer Andy Duensing

  A Walk Through The Dead Center, an in-depth making-of documentary featuring new interviews with writer-director Billy Senese, producer-actor Shane Carruth, cinematographer Andy Duensing, and many others revisiting the locations and discussing the production

  Nine deleted scenes, including an alternate ending

  On-set interviews with actors Shane Carruth and Poorna Jagannathan

  Head-Casting with Jeremy Childs, a brief look at the creation of the make-up effects seen in the climax of the film

  Intruder, a short film from 2011 directed by Billy Senese and starring Jeremy Childs

  The Suicide Tapes, the original short film from 2010 directed by Senese and starring Childs that later inspired The Dead Center

  Midnight Radio Theater, six chilling radio plays ( Insomnia , The Long Weekend , Disposable Life , The Suicide Tapes , The Woman In The Basement , Blood Oath , Flu ) written, produced and directed by Billy Senese

  Theatrical trailer and teasers

  Image gallery

  Reversible sleeve featuring new and original artwork

  FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jamie Graham

“MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES”

Cagney as Chaney

Amos Lassen

James Cagney, a legend in his own right pays homage to legend Lon Chaney in “Man of a Thousand Faces”. Cagney gives a multifaceted portrayal of silent cinema legend Lon Chaney. Chaney captivated audiences with early horror classics such as “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “The Phantom of The Opera”. He gave vivid personifications of grotesque and afflicted characters. His extraordinary make-up skills, and miraculous ability to completely transform earned him international acclaim and the famous nickname of the title of this film.

Chaney led a life plagued by hardship and heartache. This insightful bio-pic traces the arc of the actor’s career from impoverished vaudeville clown to Hollywood stardom. It also captures  the drama of his private life. For the first time, the film is presented in High Definition, with revealing extras.

The film is an almost completely fictionalized telling of the story of Lon Chaney. It captures some of the flavor of silent Hollywood while at the same time misrepresents Chaney’s career and is really a showcase vehicle for the estimable talents of James Cagney, who takes the movie and runs with it proving that historical accuracy isn’t essential for great entertainment.

Vaudeville clown Lon Chaney (James Cagney) has career problems when his wife and stage partner Cleva Creighton Chaney (Dorothy Malone) is said to be a liability to his act. Cleva loses all interest in her marriage and her new baby when she discovers that Lon’s parents can neither hear nor speak. She strikes out on her own and becomes unfaithful. When Lon retaliates by getting her fired from an important singing engagement, Cleva takes poison, ruins her voice and disappears. With the help of agent and sympathetic showgirl Hazel Bennett (Jane Greer), Lon restarts his career as an extra at Universal and works overtime to win custody of his young son Creighton from the courts. That doesn’t happen until his career takes off playing characters with bizarre infirmities and frightening faces, all having come out of his seemingly magical makeup kit.

We see Lon Chaney as a dedicated, warm-hearted and supremely talented trouper  who deals with prejudice, hardship and heartbreak. Chaney’s problems are the kind that would make a lesser man bitter and hurt.

Cagney’s winning personality colors everything here. Prejudices against hereditary handicaps were so strong in earlier eras that Cleva’s fears are entirely understandable. Chaney selfishly hides the information from her and immediately resents her lack of compassion. We are not surprised that she turns against their relationship. His later grudge against Cleva is the only hint in the movie of the real Chaney’s reported unforgiving nature.

It is Cagney’s magnetic presence makes this great entertainment. Dorothy Malone has one of her best roles as the misunderstood Cleva, while the dreamy Jane Greer is extremely patient as the woman waiting to catch Chaney when he’s free. Jim Backus is charming as the agent, dispensing details about the silent film period’s relationship to vaudeville.

Director Joseph Pevney’s 1957 look at Hollywood history is a very good biopic of silent star Lon Chaney even if it is not true.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

  Brand new restoration from the original negative by Arrow Films

  High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation

  Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio soundtrack

  Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

  New audio commentary by film scholar Tim Lucas

  The Man Behind a Thousand Faces, a newly filmed look at Lon Chaney and his legacy by the critic Kim Newman 

  Image gallery

  Original trailer

  Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys

  FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Fully Illustrated booklet with a newly commissioned essay by Vic Pratt of the BFI

“AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON”

Laughter and Terror

Amos Lassen

David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are American tourists who are attacked by an unidentified vicious animal whilst hiking on the Yorkshire Moors. David wakes up in a London hospital where he learns that Jack is friend dead and his life is in quite a mess. When he leaves the hospital he goes a beautiful nurse’s (Jenny Agutter) home to recuperate but he soon experiences changes to his mind and body and undergoes a full-moon transformation that will unleash terror on the streets of the capital.

“An American Werewolf in London”
David Naughton
1981 Universal Pictures
© 1981 Bob Willoughby

Jim Landis, the director, has insisted that this is not a comedy even though it had audiences howling with laughter. Audiences also  recoiled in terror. The film has become one of the most important horror films of its decade and praised its masterful set-pieces, unsettling atmosphere and Rick Bakers ground-breaking, Oscar-winning special makeup effects. Now restored in 4K and on Blu ray, and presented with an abundance of extra features, we can see his film as never before…

However, “An American Werewolf in London” seems curiously unfinished. There are sequences that are spellbinding as well as long stretches when no one seems sure what’s going on. Then there are times when the special effects almost wipe the characters off the screen. This is, quite simply, a weird film.

David wakes up naked in the zoo in an exhibit of wolves,  with no memory as to how he got there. He has visions of his buddy Jack who tells him that they weren’t attacked by an ordinary wolf – it was a werewolf that killed him and now David has become one himself. He is also being haunted by the ghosts of his victims who are urging him to kill himself. David is, of course, reluctant to do so. After all, he and Alex have fallen deeply in love and he has a lot to live for but his new condition could endanger the life of the woman he loves.

The film is terrifying throughout and even though Landis keeps a light touch, there is always an air of terror,  fear and impending tragedy hanging over the entire film.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

  New 2018 4K restoration from the original camera negative supervised by John Landis

  High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation

  Original uncompressed 1.0 mono and optional 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio

  Optional subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

  New audio commentary by Beware the Moon filmmaker Paul Davis

  Audio commentary by actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne

  Mark of The Beast: The Legacy of the Universal Werewolf, newly produced, feature-length documentary by filmmaker Daniel Griffith, featuring interviews with John Landis, David Naughton, Joe Dante and more

  An American Filmmaker in London, a newly filmed interview with John Landis in which he reflects on British cinema and his time working in Britain

  I Think He’s a Jew: The Werewolf’s Secret, new video essay by filmmaker Jon Spira (Elstree 1976) about how Landis film explores Jewish identity

  The Werewolf s Call, Corin Hardy, director of The Nun, chats with writer Simon Ward about their formative experiences with Landis film

  Wares of the Wolf, new featurette in which SFX artist Dan Martin and Tim Lawes of The Prop Store look at some of the original costumes and special effects artefacts from the film

  Beware the Moon, Paul Davis acclaimed, feature-length exploration of Landis film which boasts extensive cast and crew interviews

  Making An American Werewolf in London, a short archival featurette on the film s production

  An Interview with John Landis, a lengthy archival interview with the director about the film

  Makeup Artist Rick Baker on An American Werewolf in London, the legendary make-up artist discusses his work on the film

  I Walked with a Werewolf, an archival interview with the make-up artist about Universal horror and its legacy of Wolfman films

  Casting of the Hand, archival footage from Rick Baker’s workshop as they cast David Naughton’s hand

  Outtakes

  Original trailers, teasers and radio spots

  Extensive image gallery featuring over 200 stills, posters and other ephemera

  Reversible sleeve featuring original poster art and artwork by Graham Humphreys

  Double-sided fold-out poster

  Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproductions

  Limited 60-page booklet featuring new writing by Travis Crawford and more

Flowers In The Attic

Visiting Grandma

Amos Lassen

When her husband dies in a tragic accident, Corrine Dollanganger (Victoria Tennant) takes her four children to the family home that she had run away from so you could marry the man she loved of whom her parents did not approve of. Now, her puritanical grandmother (Louise Fletcher) has locked the children in the attic and becomes the job of older brother and sister Chris (Jeb Stuart Adams) and Cathy (Kristy Swanson) to care for their two younger siblings. Their mother becomes more and more distant and erratic. This is a dark and chilling Gothic suspense thriller in the tradition of the classics.

As the kinds are locked up and only receive visits from their mother and their grandmother, no one is bothered that their health is failing them. Their “loving” mother seems to have done an about face and is only concerned about herself and the inheritance she plans to win back from her dying father.

Louise Fletcher is ideal as the bitch grandmother and I feel sorry for her in that she will be remembered for her two starring roles as mean and hateful. I do not want to ruin the plot by talking about it but I can say that I was mesmerized as I watched. For those who read the book, you might be surprised at how the film is so cleaned up.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

  High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation

  Original lossless 2.0 stereo audio

  Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

  New audio commentary by Kat Ellinger, author and editor-in-chief of Diabolique Magazine

  Home Sweet Home: Filming Flowers in the Attic, a new interview with cinematographer Frank Byers

  Fear & Wonder: Designing Flowers in the Attic, a new interview with production designer John Muto

  The Devil s Spawn: Playing Flowers in the Attic, a new interview with actor Jeb Stuart Adams

  Shattered Innocence: Composing Flowers in the Attic, a new interview with composer Christopher Young

  Production gallery of behind-the-scenes images, illustrations and storyboards

  The original, studio-vetoed ending

  The revised ending with commentary by replacement director Tony Kayden

  Original theatrical trailer

  Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Haunt Love