Laserblast: Thief of Bagdad, The Invaders, Another Corman Collection, & More
As far as cinefantastiquegoes, this week seems to be filled with home video releases of classic and cult titles: there is no new theatrical blockbuster hitting store shelves, but there are lots of familiar titles showing up. Chief among these is Alexander Korda’s classic 1941 film THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, which is commonly regarded as one of the great classics of fantasy cinema. The story follows a prince (John Justin) exiled by an evil wizard (Conrad Veidt, of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI), who joins forces with a thief (Sabu) and eventually uncorks a geni from a bottle (Rex Ingram). The Criterion Collection Double-Disc DVD set features a newly restored digital transfer and numerous bonus features: two audio commentaries (one by Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese, one by film historian Bruce Eder); new interviews with special effects experts Ray Harryhausen, Dennis Muren, and Craig Barron, who offer an appreciation of the film’s technical wizardry; “The Lion Has Wings,” Korda’s propaganda film for the English War effort (shot during THIEF OF BAGDAD); excerpts from co-director Michael Powell’s audio dictations for his autobiography; selections of Miklos Rozsa’s score that did not make it into the final cut; a stills gallery; a theatrical trailer; anda booklet featuring new essays by critics Andrew Moore and Ian Christie.
The good news for fans of classic TV science fiction is the DVD release of THE INVADERS - THE FIRST SEASON. This series from 1967 featured Roy Thinnes as “architect David Vincent,” who takes a wrong turn on a lonely road one night and ends up witnessing the landing of a flying saucer - vanguard of an alien invasion by stealth. The rest of the series follows Vincent’s attempts to track down the aliens and find enough proof convince the rest of the world that he is not a lunatic. The show is filled with the cliches of its era, in particular a desire to emulate the structure of THE FUGITIVE (in which a loner hero wandered into a new town - with a new cast of supporting characters - each week): Even though Vincent convinces one or two people in each episode, next week features him alone again, instead of leading an organized band of followers. Also, there seemed to be some doubt that the paranoid sci-fi invasion storyline would hold viewer interest, so each episode features at least one fight scene, usually a shoot-out, and often a car crash and/or explosion. Fortunately, this all becomes part of the charm. The five-disc set includes all the episodes from Season One, with new introductions by Thinnes. In addition, Disc Five includes an extended version of the pilot episode, a new video interview with the star, and promo spots from the show’s original airing.
For those brave, unfortunate souls who purchased HD DVD players, there is some good news: despite the format’s inevitable demise, there are still some titles being released on High-Def discs. This week there is TWISTER, which recently got the Blu-ray treatment.
Lovecraft fans, take note: A company called Microcinema is re-releasing a series of budget DVDs ($19.95 list price, marked down to $13.99 on Amazon) based on the Rhode Island writer’s horrifying tales. Volumes 1 through 4 are available (COOL AIR, DRAMS OF CTHULHU, OUT OF MIND, PICKMAN’S MODEL). These titles, which date from 2004-2005, were previously available from Lurker films, which still offer them for sale on their website (plus Volume 5, which features STRANGE AEONS, an adaptation of “The Thing on the Doorstep”). Also worth noting: almost a year ago exactly, Microcinema released a silent movie adaptation of CALL OF CTHULHU (pictured), the pivotal tale in the Lovecraft canon.
Last week, we mentioned a box set titled “Directed by Roger Corman,” which featured a half-dozen early black-and-white horror and sci-fi pics directed by the veteran low-budget filmmaker. Well, Corman was always one to maximize his profits: this week sees the release of ”Advantage: The Cult Films of Roger Corman,” and guess what? Many of the same titles are included: THE TERROR, CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA, THE WASP WOMAN, THE LAST WOMAN ON EARTH, SKI TROOP ATTACK, and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. If you were patient enough to avoid buying last week’s collection, you can pick up this ten-title offering instead, which also includes A BUCKET OF BLOOD, ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES, NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST, and SHE GODS OF SHARK REEF.
Back in March, we mentioned the release of the Dario Argento Box Set, but Amazon.com insists it is coming out this week. The set includes DO YOU LIKE HITCHCOCK, PHENOMENA, TENEBRE, THE CARD PLAYER, and TRAUMA. TENEBRE and PHENOMENA are also available separately.
Finally, it seems that budget discount re-release days are upon us this week. A fistful of familiar titles are being re-released on disc, all with a $12.99 price tag. Interestingly, in many cases, the old DVD versions of these titles are still available at the old price ($19.99 or thereabouts), so these new discs are undercutting sales of their predecessors. Fortunately, this is a case in which the buyer receives the advantage, so why complain? The re-releases include THE TREMORS trilogy, LAND OF THE DEAD, WHITE NOISE, SERENITY, PITCH BLACK, and the CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK.
The question I have that this review doesn’t address is what is the quality of the public domain titles on the ADVANTAGE: THE CULT FILMS OF ROGER CORMAN collection. Many of these titles have been available for years in eyesore editions–are the transfers in this release any better? Certainly the quality is very high on THE ROGER CORMAN COLLECTION released by MGM, which is the only source for his film THE YOUNG RACERS, while including out-of-print titles such as THE TRIP and X.
Sorrry, a screener copy of ADVANTAGE: THE CULT FILMS OF ROGER CORMAN was not available, so we cannot report on the quality of the transfers.