D V D s


Chen clan since time immemo­ rial. Attempting to warn Callum and Mullin just as the evil tykes awaken, Alley races to the base­ ment, only to discover she’s too late: the children have attacked. Her friends, however, along with Shepard and Dana (Denise Young), a young woman pre­ sumed dead, are holed-up in a locked room, as the demonic tykes prepare to mount yet an­ other siege. It’s a rare film indeed that


possesses the chutzpah to place a monster poodle, complete with pink ribbon, at the center of its advertising scheme and to cast Diller and Fell, not just in cameo appearances but in major sup­ porting roles. Imagine our sur­ prise upon discovering that THE BONEYARD—despite a few near- fatal flaws in the last quarter—is one of only a few genre pictures of the past decade we’d consider mentioning in the same para­ graph as Sam Raimi’s THE EVIL DEAD (1982) and Stuart Gor­don’s RE-ANIMATOR (1985). Moving along at a brisk clip, it offers a creepy setting, plenty of autumnal atmosphere and an original, mood-setting score by Katherine Anne Porter and John Whitener which sounds as if it were lifted from a classier, more costly production. Writer/director James Cummins’ script, popu­ lated with believable characters enmeshed in a nightmarish premise, eventually abandons its scariest element—a trio of blind, demonic, flesh-eating children (amazingly well-realized by Back- wood Film Effects and based on designs created by Cummins and Bill Corso)—in favor of thrills and chills of a far campier and co­ medic bent. The juxtaposition is made all the more jarring by BFE’s inability, based on obvious budget restrictions, to create


58


believable animatronic effects for an increasingly preposterous ros­ ter of beasties. Regardless, Cummins’ success at placing believable human characters at the core of his story offsets his apparent need to create bigger, sillier creatures at every turn, and the performances he culls from his cast are, by and large, re­ markable for this type of film. Though Diller pretty much plays herself (and relies on her trade­ mark cackle perhaps one time too many), Nelson, Fell, Euster- mann and Young offer sincere, believable portrayals, while Deborah Rose steals the show in a role that must have been mentally and physically exhaust­ ing. It is refreshing to see a middle-aged, overweight actress cast in a part which, these days, would automatically be assigned to a much younger, slimmer and glamorous woman. In fact, most of the lead players are well be­ yond their prime, yielding a film that seems aimed squarely at adults despite its increasing, animatronic silliness. In these days of banal, teen-oriented, cin­ ematic terror, this actually counts for a good deal. This is also per­ haps the only American produc­ tion to date to latch onto the Chinese myth of the Keung Si, the vampiric undead haunting such films as the MR. VAMPIRE series, and it uses the mythol­ ogy to good effect. Power Program have deliv­


ered perhaps their finest disc to date in a “Lucky 13” series of “Cult Collectible” DVDs includ­ ing, among other dubious titles, Rick Roessler’s 1987 slasher saga SLAUGHTERHOUSE [VW 70:64], Mark Lester’s ode to the Nixon years, WHITE HOUSE MADNESS (1975) and, last and possibly least, Dean Tschetter’s BLOODSUCKING PHARAOHS


IN PITTSBURGH (1991). To be blunt, we were singularly im­ pressed by the presentation af­ forded here. The full screen image, sharp and colorful (with some artifacting evident in darker scenes), loses nothing compo- sitionally and the stereo sound is noise-free and occasionally quite boisterous. As with their other titles, Program Power have gone out of their way to offer a plethora of supplements which greatly enhance the value of their product. These alone are worth the price of the DVD and include: a theatrical trailer, an exhaustive gallery of creature effects, a pub­ licity photo collection, Cast and Crew biographies, pre-produc­ tion drawings of various ghouls, galleries featuring poster, press kit, newspaper and ad campaign artwork, an invigorating, informa­ tive and occasionally amusing audio commentary with Cum­ mins and film producer Richard F. Brophy, and delightful, stimu­ lating interviews with Diller, Cummins and Brophy which should be seen by fledgling film­ makers everywhere. Some of these extras (including the en­ tire screenplay) are only avail­ able via personal computer, making this one of the few discs around which is as fun to watch on your PC as in your living room. —Scott Grantham


THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE


Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie 1972, Criterion WIS610, DD-1.0 and 2.0/LB/16:9/ST/+, $39.95, 101m 7s, DVD-1


No plot summary can do jus­


tice to the peculiar narrative of Luís Buhuel’s comic masterpiece about the travails of a group of effete bourgeoisie attempting to

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