Blu-ray Review: BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA (1973)

BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA
Directed by:  Eddie Romero
Distributed by Arrow Films / MVD Entertainment Group

 Arrow Films continues to keep putting out some of the greatest releases of classic horror, exploitation, and grindhouse flicks.   One of their latest releases is BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA, a great exploitation film from the early 70's.  Here is a synopsis of the film courtesy of the MVD website:

  Before her iconic turn in Coffy, Pam Grier starred alongside Margaret Markov in a grindhouse spin on Stanley Kramer's The Defiant Ones, fusing the Women in Prison film with the emerging Blaxploitation movement for a riotous romp of bullets, babes and blood! Lee (Grier), a tough prostitute and Karen (Markov), a revolutionary, are admitted to a tough women's prison where almost immediately (after some playful showering that prefigures Porky's) they clash. Packed off to a maximum security prison, their transport is ambushed by Karen's guerrilla friends and the two escape into the Filipino jungle. Chained together and with differing escape plans their clash intensifies as Lee wants to retrieve a stash of stolen cash to get her off the island and Karen wants to re-join her revolutionary group. Escape isn't easy as they come up against a series of obstacles including a corrupt cop, a bounty hunter, a sadistic Drug Lord and guerrillas who threaten to turn everything upside down. Chock full of girl fights, gun battles, nudity and humour, Black Mama White Mama, which was also known as Women in Chains and Hot, Hard and Mean, lives up to all its titles as well as featuring a brilliant Sid Haig (Spider Baby, House of 1000 Corpses) as a cowboy bounty hunter and Lynn Borden (Frogs, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry) as a lesbian guard from a script co-written by Jonathan Demme (Caged Heat) and a score sampled by Quentin Tarantino for Kill Bill.

 I have to admit I've always loved the women-in-prison films from the 70's and 80's.   This film is has many elements of that type of film, along with elements of the more extreme ILSA films of the 70's.  The film is also a revenge flick, and an action flick with tons of gun fights and explosions.  Part of this film reminded me of the old Charles Bronson DEATH WISH films.  Pam Grier was excellent as the no holds barred, strong leader of the women.  She never backed down from a fight with fellow prisoners or from the many people after her and her partner once they escaped.

  A special treat for horror fans will be the appearance of genre vet, Sid Haig.   A lot of horror fans these days might only know Haig from his more recent films like HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, and THE DEVIL'S REJECTS.   If that's how you know him, you will hardly recognize him as Rueben the bounty hunter in this film.  He is always a great actor and brings a certain charm to any character he portrays, and this is no different.

  While not a horror film by any means, it's an exploitation/sexsploitation film at it's finest.  I highly recommend this one to all genre fans!

  BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA is available now from Arrow Video and MVD Entertainment and contains the following special features:

*  High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
*  Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
*  Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
*  Commentary by filmmaker Andrew Leavold, director of The Search for Weng Weng
*  White Mama - An interview with star Margaret Markov
*  Sid’s Filipino Adventure - An interview with star Sid Haig
*  The Mad Director of Blood Island - A previously unseen archive interview with director Eddie Romero
*  Trailer
*  Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips


CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to purchase the Blu-ray

Blu-ray Review: SPIDER BABY (1967)

SPIDER BABY 
a.k.a. THE MADDEST STORY EVER TOLD
Written & Directed by Jack Hill
Distributed by Arrow Films / MVD Entertainment

  Wow!  How did I go this long without seeing this film?!   SPIDER BABY is one of those weird cult classics that I had always heard about, but had never seen.  In fact, I've had an earlier DVD release of this film in my collection for years, but had yet to watch it.   Well, that DVD is obsolete now thanks to the great folks over at Arrow Films.  Arrow continues to put out some of the nicest Blu-ray releases I have ever seen, and this one is no different.   Here is the synopsis of the film from the MVD website:

  The credits dub this "the maddest story ever told", a promise that's well on the way to being fulfilled in the opening scene alone, when Virginia traps and kills a hapless deliveryman in her makeshift web. She's one of three siblings who suffer from a unique genetic disorder that causes them to regress back to childhood, while retaining the physical strength and sexual maturity of adults. Lon Chaney Jr gave one of his most memorable late performances as Bruno, their guardian and protector, who has managed to cover up their crimes until two distant relatives lay claim to their house. When they insist on moving in, Bruno has to cross his fingers and hope that the 'children' behave towards their new guests... This was the first solo feature by Jack Hill, whom Quentin Tarantino dubbed "the Howard Hawks of exploitation filmmaking", and it remains one of his wildest and weirdest.

 This is definitely one of the weirdest and wildest films I have seen, and that is saying a lot!  I can't imagine how audiences reacted to this film back in the late 60's when it was originally released.  I am sure they had never seen anything like this before!
 
  While I sometimes shy away from older, black & white, horror films, I almost always end up really enjoying them.   The black & white is so nostalgic and it's a lot of fun coming across an old classic like this that I haven't seen before.   The picture quality looks amazing on this blu-ray.  Arrow always does a remarkable job with their blu-ray transfers, and this one is no different.

  I knew I was going to like this film from the opening credits, and the opening scene cemented this for me.  In the opening scene we see young Virginia lure a delivery man up to her house and to the window.  Little does the man know he is the 'bug' to Virginia's 'spider' in her sick and twisted game.   Once the 'spider' catches the 'bug', it's all over for poor Mr. delivery man.  Virginia, Elizabeth, and Ralph  (played by Sid Haig of THE DEVIL'S REJECTS) make up the trio of kids who do some awful things.  They are all mentally unstable and no one is safe when they are around! 

  This was such a fun, weird, creepy film.   This is one I will definitely be watching again in the near future.  I highly recommend this one.  If you have never seen SPIDER BABY, do yourself a favor and pick up this new Blu-ray release asap!

 SPIDER BABY is available now on blu-ray from Arrow Films.  It is being distributed here in the U.S. by MVD Entertainment.  Arrow films always contain tons of special features/extras, and this release is no different.  Special Features on SPIDER BABY include:

*  High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the main feature, available in the UK for the first time
*  Original 2.0 Mono Audio (Uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
*  High Definition transfer of the feature supervised and approved by director Jack Hill
*  English SDH subtitles for deaf and hearing impaired
*  Audio commentary featuring Jack Hill and star Sid Haig
*  Panel discussion from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences FILM-TO-FILM Festival, recorded September 2012, featuring Jack Hill and stars Quinn K. Redeker and Beverly Washburn
*  The Hatching of Spider Baby - Interviews with Jack Hill, Sid Haig, star Mary Mitchel, fan Joe Dante and more on the making of the film
*  Spider Stravinsky: The Cinema Sounds of Ronald Stein - The composer of 'The Terror' and 'Attack of the 50 Foot Woman' among others is remembered by Harlene Stein, Jack Hill, American Cinematheque's Chris D. and others
*  The Merrye House Revisited - Jack Hill revisits the original house that was used as the main location in the film
*  Alternate opening title sequence
*  Extended scene
*  Original Trailer
*  Gallery of behind-the-scenes images
*  The Host (1960) - Jack Hill's early short film featuring Sid Haig in his first starring role [30 mins]
*  Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
*  Collector's booklet featuring writing on the film by artist and writer Stephen R. Bissette, and an extensive article re-printed from FilmFax: The Magazine of Unusual Film and Television featuring interviews with the cast and crew, illustrated with origin


CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to purchase the blu-ray

 

 

DVD Review: TRAILERS FROM HELL VOL. 2 (2011)

TRAILERS FROM HELL VOL. 2
Distributed by Shout! Factory


 Back in August of 2010, I reviewed the first volume of TRAILERS FROM HELL (click here to see that review).  I love trailer compilation DVDs and these are some of the best.  Not only do you get some great old movie trailers, you get commentary and inside info about the films from some of film's great horror and b-movie directors.
Here is some basic info on the TFHV2 DVD from the Shout! Factory website:

The award-winning Trailers From Hell website is the brainchild of noted film director Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Howling) in which some of the best known names in the horror/sci-fi genre provide amusing commentary on rare vintage cult film trailers. (Viewers also have the choice of watching them without the critique as well.) Trailers From Hell! Vol. 1 (released last year) included most of this material but in Vol. 2, the trailers are only exclusively available in this DVD set. Entertaining coming attractions from long lost cult films including Donovan’s Brain, Little Shop of Horrors, The Invisible Ghost, Fire Maidens from Outer Space, Flesh Gordon, Deep Red, Gorgo!, Ski Troop Attack and many more! Includes commentary by Joe Dante, Mick Garris, Guillermo Del Toro, John Landis and Roger Corman.
This DVD also includes a bonus movie, one of Roger Corman’s first hits, Little Shop of Horrors! Featuring Jack Nicholson in one of his first roles, the film is seen for the first time in a new anamorphic widescreen transfer.


TRAILERS FROM HELL VOL. 2 is a great new addition to this franchise, and a must own since these trailers/commentary are exclusive to this DVD.   You will see some trailers for films you have seen, some for films you have heard about but have never seen, and then some you have never even heard of.    I especially liked seeing the trailer for a 1969 Jack Hill film called PIT STOP starring a very young Sid Haig.   I had never heard of PIT STOP, so it was very interesting to see the trailer and hear from director Jack Hill about the film. 

 Some of my favorite directors when it comes to these trailers are Guillermo del Toro and John Landis.  Both of these guys have great personalities and Landis especially always seems to be having a lot of fun and will make you laugh.   

 I like the variety of films that they have put together for this volume.    You get the classic oldies as you would expect, but they have also included some newer films like Troma's TERROR FIRMER with commentary from director Lloyd Kaufman! 

The DVD clocks in at  88 minutes and is fun way to see clips from a lot of cool movies.  Included as a bonus is Roger Corman's 1960 feature film,  THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS...and in Widescreen for the first time on DVD!

This is a must have for cinema fans like myself.  Get your copy today!!

 

CLICK HERE for a sample clip from TRAILERS FROM HELL VOL. 2
CLICK HERE to purchase the DVD