changes. Lustig holds the produc- ers responsible for the quality of what resulted, but Cohen does fi- nally admit “I hope I’m not to blame, but it’s possible I have a significant share of it.” The pair went on to make the sorry UNCLE SAM (1996; VW 116:16), a lazy, cynically conceived rehash of the
Maniac Cop formula that ended up being even less satisfying than
this patchwork disappointment. Each of the releases are all-re- gion, but Blue Underground’s Blu- rays (which also come packaged with a DVD edition of the film and embossed slipcovers) are geared particularly towards capturing a worldwide market, offering addi- tional subtitle tracks in several lan- guages. They are also enhanced for D-Box Motion Control Systems.
NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR
1985, Vinegar Syndrome, 92m 54s, $24.98, BD-0+DVD-0 By John Charles
We reviewed the Simitar DVD release of this bizarre anthology thriller in VW 52:63, but Vinegar
Syndrome’s new presentation (a 2K scan from original release print elements in 1080p 1.85:1) represents a notable improve- ment. Given the project’s low-bud- get, patchwork nature and the fact that the negative apparently no longer exists, it will likely never be entirely pristine (some wear can be detected at the reel change points), but the presentation looks consistent and better than view- ers familiar with the picture might expect. There is some crackle, hiss, and distortion apparent in the audio, but nothing overly distracting.
Two commentary tracks are offered. Co-director Jay Schloss- berg-Cohen (who helmed the wraparound segments used to bridge the three films from which this “anthology” picture was de- rived) discusses how he got his start in theater and moved into low-budget filmmaking as part of a small team based in Salt Lake City under the auspices of vet- eran screenwriter/producer Philip Yordan. Among other topics, Schlossberg-Cohen states that none of the donor movies was
complete at the time he joined up with Yordan (GRETTA and THE NIGHTMARE NEVER ENDS soon were and came out on video, while “The Case of Harry Billings” [filmed as simply HARRY] even- tually appeared in two extremely different edits, SCREAM YOUR HEAD OFF [VW 58:5] and the much tamer, embarrassingly bad MARILYN ALIVE AND BEHIND BARS) and that the MPAA origi- nally gave NIGHT TRAIN TO TER- ROR an “X” rating (after an edited version received the desired “R,” the distributor shipped the picture to theaters uncut bearing the more lenient classification). The talk is not scene-specific and Schlossberg- Cohen does not even get to NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR until almost the half hour mark, but he relates some good stories about Yordan and pro- ducer/editor Gene Ruggiero, the often less-than-honest behind- the-scenes goings on, and how the disastrously poor special ef- fects came about. Track #2 fea- tures the members of THE HYSTERIA CONTINUES podcast providing factoids and MST3K-style riffing. The latter falls flat, but the trio
One of the sub-par stop-motion beasties whipped up after the fact for NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR.
55
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94
