I sort-of recall watching PROPHECY (102 mins., 1979, PG; Kino Lorber) on network TV in the early ’80s, and getting quite upset that Talia Shire’s unborn baby could be a mutated, one-eyed monster — the kind of thing you might expect from a tired grade-schooler who probably shouldn’t have been staying up to watch this movie to begin with. Years later when I finally rewatched the movie on DVD, I was reawakened to the charms of this 1979 John Frankenheimer genre fiasco, coming away believing that a) giant mutated bear movies are cool, and b) even though “Prophecy” is far from a good movie, they really don’t make silly horror films the way they used to back in the late ’70s and early ’80s.
Written by “Omen” scribe David Seltzer, “Prophecy” attempts to seriously preach about the environment at the same time it serves up a monster-on-the-rampage epic a la “Jaws,” except with a giant, bloody mutated bear wreaking havoc in the Maine woods instead of Bruce the Mechanical Shark.
Robert Foxworth stars as a righteous EPA employee who ventures up north to attempt to settle a land dispute between the local Native Americans (lead, inappropriately enough, by Armand Assante, he of Irish-Italian descent) and the giant paper mill, run by Richard Dysart. They’re cutting down trees, while the Indians continue to stammer and fall down — not because of alcoholism, according to Assante, but because something in the water is contaminating the system.
Of course, that’s not all: salmon are growing to shark-like proportions, while Foxworth and pregnant wife Talia Shire (top-billed in a thankless role she took while taking a break from the “Rocky” series) find a mutated baby bear that they attempt to bring back home to prove that mercury run-off from the paper bill is responsible for ruining the environment.
Unfortunately, after arguing over the legalities of population growth and the housing shortage worldwide, the ‘lil mutant bites Shire in the neck as the group attempts to flee from the giant monster bear, which has already disposed of a family of campers (including a teenager who memorably attempts to escape in his sleeping bag).
“Prophecy” has all the makings of a good “bad” movie, and unsurprisingly, it delivers: Seltzer’s script enlightens about the plight of urban decay, over-population, and environmental contamination, while presenting more contextually sound arguments about the natives’ concerns over the destruction of their land and the paper mill owner’s arguments about how much paper Foxworth is going to take to write up his report (which is going to be quite a lot, judging from his continual ranting about the evils of having a child in today’s world).
But after all of the build-up, what we have here is a very, very silly monster movie, with the man-in-the-suit bear running through the woods, ripping the heads off its victims in a fashion that still managed to attain a PG rating, and a hilarious ending where the monster destroys a log cabin situated in the middle of a lake. Fortunately, Assante’s bow-and-arrow comes in quite handy, and there’s a doozy of a final shot that will leave you in stitches – all of it matched to an over-the-top score by none other than Leonard Rosenman.
While “Prophecy” has gained fame in everything from the “Golden Turkey Awards” to its distinction as being one of Frankenheimer’s worst films, it’s still compulsively watchable. The Panavision cinematography by Harry Stradling, Jr. is often breathtaking (at least the scenes that weren’t shot on a backlot stage), and you get an educational tour of a real-life paper mill at work, that kind that would almost make “Prophecy” a decent “Read More About It” book project for grade-school students.
While the movie is laugh-out-loud funny at certain spots, Frankenheimer still manages to make a scene where the characters hide in an underground tunnel from the giant bear creature quite unnerving and effective. Alas, scenes like that are few and far between, with the regulatory “Jaws”-inspired shocks comprising the rest of the action, and the director using herky-jerky camera work to draw attention away from the ridiculous-looking monster.
Kino Lorber’s premiere 4K UHD of “Prophecy” offers a new Dolby Vision HDR (2.35) transfer on UHD, derived from a new 4K scan of the 35mm OCN; the outdoor shots looked excellent in Paramount’s previous HD master and they’re just as impressive here with a touch of added detail thrown into the mix. The early Dolby Stereo (2.0) DTS MA soundtrack is fine though the 5.1 DTS MA mix here is even better, offering substantially more low end.
Kino Lorber added their own commentary by critics Bryan Reesman and Max Evry but mostly has carried over copious extras from preceding label releases. These include an interview with David Seltzer, who’s honest enough to hammer Frankenheimer’s lackluster direction. Seltzer bemoans the director’s approach to the film and the fact his complaints over the poor special effects fell on deaf ears, making for a funny and candid talk. Lengthy but less frank conversations are also included with Talia Shire and Robert Foxworth, who praise the film’s ecological concerns, along wth FX artists Tom Burman, Allan Apone and Tom McLoughlin. The trailer and radio spots are also included for a prime “Guilty Pleasure” pick for genre fans.
Also included among Kino Lorber’s latest releases is a 4K UHD of VICE SQUAD (97 mins., 1982, R; Kino Lorber), a cable cult-favorite restored here in a 4K scan of original film elements. I had never seen “Vice Squad” before Shout’s Blu-Ray, which makes it hard to fully gauge the movie’s initial impact – these days this film plays like a grittier episode of “Law & Order: SVU,” but back in the early ‘80s, the picture’s frank depiction of Hollywood street walkers, pimps and assorted lowlifes had to have been far more shocking.
Season Hubley stars as a hooker whose pimp (Wings Hauser) is a psychotic who brutally assaults one of his “girls” early on; determined cop Gary Swanson is on the case, trying to stop the physically imposing “Ramrod” from causing further damage, but as Hubley tells him in the movie’s concluding moments, cleaning up the streets is a pointless endeavor.
Gary Sherman helmed this Sandy Howard production, which Howard co-wrote with Kenneth Peters and Robert Vincent O’Neil. The performances are all convincing and the mood is mostly humorless (save for two of Swanson’s fellow cops being beaten up by an elderly Asian man), making “Vice Squad” a particularly glum, downbeat affair. This isn’t an exploitation cheapie with unintentional humor (think “Savage Streets”), but rather the kind of hard-edged B-movie that relies on sexual frankness and violence for its overall impact.
Though I found the film somewhat off-putting and slow-going, fans of “Vice Squad” should still appreciate Kino’s new 4K UHD master (SDR, 1.85) from Studio Canal featuring mono sound. The UHD more capably captures all the nuances of John Alcott’s cinematography (yes, Stanley Kubrick’s Oscar-winning cinematographer who was relegated to pictures like this once he worked in the U.S.) with extras including a fresh commentary with Steve Mitchell and assorted supplements reprieved from the Shout Blu-Ray. These include a commentary by Sherman and producer Brian Frankish; interviews with Swanson, fellow actors Pepe Serna, Beverly Todd and Michael Ensign, plus Sherman (a lengthy, hour-plus talk) and Frankish; trailers, TV spots, and a locations featurette. A Blu-Ray is also included.
KINGPIN 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (114 mins., 1996, PG-13; Kino Lorber): The Farrelly Brothers’ 1996 comedy has a modest cult following these days, but truthfully, this is a mixed outing from the duo that failed to match the commercial heights of “Dumb & Dumber.” Woody Harrelson plays a former bowling champ who recognizes big potential in a big Amish guy (Randy Quaid) and hits the road with him for a wacky series of misadventures. Vanessa Angel and a barely-advertised Bill Murray (his under-the-title credit must’ve been part of his contract) co-star in a film that just doesn’t consistently hit the laugh quotient of the Farrellys’ best work, and drags on for nearly two full hours. Kino Lorber’s UHD includes a new Dolby Vision HDR (1.85) master of the PG-13 theatrical cut, while the 117-minute, R rated extended cut is on-hand in a Blu-Ray presentation. Extras include a featurette, trailer/TV spots, and commentaries by the Farrellys on the R-rated cut and Bryan Reesman and Max Evry on the theatrical version.
THE AMOROUS ADVENTURES OF MOLL FLANDERS Blu-Ray (131 mins., 1965; Kino Lorber): One of the many “bawdy period adventures” that followed in the wake of “Tom Jones,” this all-star cast adaptation of Daniel Defoe’s book sports Kim Novak as Moll, the ever-scheming, 18th century independent British heroine whose trials and tribulations are heavily sanitized in Denis Cannan and Roland Kibbee’s script. That said, Terence Young’s film (he went from “Thunderball” to this) was still the subject of extensive cuts in the U.S., making Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray the first-ever North American release of its unexpurgated 131 minute version. The 2.35 transfer (a 4K scan of the 35mm OCN) is terrific and so is the supporting cast – Angela Lansbury, Leo McKern, George Sanders, Richard Johnson, Vittorio DeSica – but “Moll Flanders” certainly isn’t “Tom Jones” from a dramatic perspective, with the movie coming off as rather shrill, one-note and bombastic throughout (the same goes for John Addison’s score, which is not helped by a limited mono soundtrack). A commentary from David Del Valle and Daniel Kremer is included here plus the trailer.
AUDIE MURPHY COLLECTION IV Blu-Ray (Kino Lorber): A trio of Universal-produced, Technicolor westerns starring prolific genre hero Audie Murphy reach Blu-Ray in Kino Lorber’s latest box-set. In THE KID FROM TEXAS (78 mins., 1950), Murphy plays Billy the Kid, who gets himself into trouble during the infamous Lincoln County land wars with Sheriff Pat Garrett eventually put on his tail. Murphy worked with western great Budd Boetticher for what was the director’s first color foray in the genre, THE CIMARRON KID (84 mins., 1952), with the star essaying a bad guy trying to go straight following the break-up of the Dalton gang. Finally, DRUMS ACROSS THE RIVER (78 mins., 1954) finds Murphy in the midst of a squabble between desperate miners digging in Indian land and the natives protecting their turf. Nathan Juran directed with Walter Brennan co-starring.
All three pictures (1,.37, “Drums” in 2:1) are included here in their own individual Blu-Ray cases with trailers and extras including commentaries by Gary Gerani on “The Kid From Texas” and C. Courtney Joyner and Henry Parke on the other two pictures.
New From Shout! Factory
SCENT OF A WOMAN 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (157 mins., 1992, R; Shout!): Brilliantly acted showcase for Al Pacino, who deservedly copped an Oscar for his role of a blind, bitter army colonel who hires a prep school student (Chris O’Donnell) to cart him around New York City, nets a most welcome 4K remaster courtesy of Shout!
Martin Brest’s acclaimed film allows Pacino to open up with one of his most memorable performances, perfectly balancing the comedic and dramatic requirements of Bo Goldman’s terrific script. Even the formulaic “court room” finale works splendidly, with Pacino taking on the administration of the stuffy “Baa-rd School.” Strong support is also turned in by James Rebhorn (the stuffy school principal), a young Philip Seymour Hoffman as one of O’Donnell’s snobby classmates, and, of course, the lovely Gabrielle Anwar as the latest muse for Pacino in his escapades.
Though a box-office hit and Oscar winner for its star, “Scent of a Woman” has never enjoyed a bona-fide Special Edition release until now. Shout’s 4K UHD (1.85) not only includes a highly attractive new Dolby Vision HDR presentation but also a pair of welcome interviews with both director Martin Brest, recounting the production of the film, as well as editor Michael Tronick. On the audio side, the original Dolby Stereo (2.0 DTS MA) track comes off much better than a comparatively subdued 5.1 mix, providing a more robust blend of dialogue and Thomas Newman’s lovely score.
“Scent of a Woman” is a great movie, a splendid coming-of-age tale and vehicle for Pacino all at the same time, making this new UHD an easy recommend.
Severin New Releases
TOTAL EXTERMINATION: THE PETER CUSHING DOCTOR WHO COLLECTION 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (Severin): Though not beloved necessarily by Dr. Who purists, there’s still an inherent nostalgia built into Peter Cushing’s two feature outings as the Timelord, DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS (83 mins., 1965) as well as its sequel DALEKS’ INVASION EARTH 2050 A.D. (84 mins., 1966). These are low-budget but breezy, “condensed” versions of story cycles from the Terry Nation-authored BBC series from Amicus’ Milton Subotsky and Max J. Rosenberg, both directed by Gordon Flemyng with clearly economical budgets – even with the wide Techniscope (2.35) frame employed in both movies. Yet the “Saturday Matinee” feel gives these colorful fantasies a lasting, mid ’60s appeal, perfectly captured here in Studiocanal-licensed 4K UHD restorations with Dolby Vision HDR that have been brought over in a UHD/Blu-Ray combo pack from Severin.
Now shipping from Severin’s website and available later in June from traditional retailers, the “Total Extermination” double-pack includes both UHD and BD’s and loads of extras. On “Dr. Who and the Daleks,” that means three commentaries: one featuring Barry Forshaw, Stephen Jones and Kim Newman, with two other tracks sporting co-stars Jennie Linden, Roberta Tobey and moderator Jonathan Sothcott, and a reprise of Kino Lorber’s commentary with Newman, actor Mark Gatiss and screenwriter/historian Robert Shearman. We also get a 1992 interview with director Gordon Flemyng; interviews with Milton Subotsky, Dr. Who expert Kara Dennison, historian Gareth Owen, a 1995 “Dalekmania” documentary, “The Dalek Legacy: Destination Skaro” crew featurette, the trailer, and a still galleries. The Dolby Vision HDR is solid and the mono sound is clear.
For “Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.,” another new commentary with Forshaw, Jones and Newman is on-hand, plus an older track with Newman, Shearman and Gatiss. There are also interviews with historian Stephen Thrower, producer Milton Subotsky, actor Bernard Cribbins, Gareth Owen, the doc “The Dalek Legacy: Invasion Earth,” plus featurette “Restoring Dr. Who in 4K,” the trailer and a still gallery. The comic strip action is nicely rendered again in a Dolby Vision HDR (2.35) UHD with mono sound, and Severin’s 4K UHD/BD combo includes a collectible slipcover as well.
HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN VOL. 2 Blu-Ray (Severin): Second box-set from Severin continues producer Kier-La Janisse’s curated tour of world cinema titles centering around seemingly fractured female protagonists in a variety of settings.
Amanda Plummer, who’s essayed more than one “psychotic woman” in her on-screen performances, kicks things off with director Michael Winterbottom’s BUTTERFLY KISS (88 mins., 1994). The Czech melodrama MORGIANA (101 mins., 1972) is next, with Iva Janzurova playing dual roles. Ben Maddow, Sidney Meyers and Joseph Strick’s quasi-doc THE SAVAGE EYE (67 mins., 1959) features Barbara Baxley as a divorcee in L.A.’s underbelly, before things finish up with Carmen Sevilla headlining Eloy de la Iglesia’s THE GLASS CEILING (95 mins., 1971).
Each of the four films was newly scanned from the OCN in 1.85 (except for “Morgiana”s 1.37) and debut on Blu for the first time ever here. An insightful array of supplements include introductions from Janisse, commentaries from the likes of Kat Ellinger, Briony Kidd & Cerise Howard, Elizabeth Purchell, and Shelagh Rowan-Legg & Alexandra West; interviews with Michael Winterbottom, Amanda Plummer, Saskia Reeves, Julie Baines and Seamus McGarvey (Butterfly Kiss); Iva Janzurova (Morgiana); Joseph Strick (The Savage Eye, archival); and Patty Shepard (The Glass Ceiling). A number of additional features are also on-hand including Rachel Amodeo’s “Rest in Peace” and Juraj Herz’ vampire “rock musical” “Nightmares” plus deleted TV scenes from “The Glass Ceiling” and much more.
Available separately – though not at all out of place in a discussion with the “House of Psychotic Women” set – is Marina De Van’s IN MY SKIN (93 mins., 2002; Severin),a controversial, disturbing look at a Parisian woman (also De Van) who psychologically breaks down and self-mutilates herself after suffering a minor injury. Severin’s 4K UHD presentation offers two commentaries: one with De Van and another featuring critic Justine Smith; a “Faculty of Horror” episode on the production; an introduction from Kier-La Janisse; interviews with De Van and author Barbara Creed; a video essay from Alexandra Heller-Nicholas; and trailers. A number of De Van’s student shorts are included plus two bonus short films from other directors, along with a 4K UHD (1.85) Dolby Vision remastering, in French (5.1/2.0) with English subtitles.
Finally, ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE (94 mins., 1970), the British black cult comedy hit from author Joe Orton, as adapted by writer Clive Exton and director Douglas Hickox, debuts on Blu-Ray in a new remastered edition from Severin. Beryl Reid and Harry Andrews are the siblings stirred up by the arrival of Peter McEnery’s title drifter in a scandalously biting character study that receives a new 2K scan (1.85, mono) from Severin on Blu-Ray with extras including a commentary with Nathaniel Thompson and Dr. Emma Parker; an archival interview with McEnery; “All My Sloanes,” a 60-year retrospective of the film featuring interviewees like Malcolm McDowell and Maxwell Caulfield; an interview with Joe Orton biographer John Lahr; an archival interview with Leonie Orton remembering her brother; a talk with screenwriter David McGillivray on Orton’s legacy; Rosie White on Reid; an archival locations featurette with Richard Dacre; a video essay from Elissa Rose and the trailer round out Severin’s new BD.
Also New & Noteworthy
FALLING IN LOVE Blu-Ray (106 mins., 1984, R; Fun City Editions): There’s not a lot of dramatic urgency in this Christmas ‘84 Paramount release, yet movie buffs who fondly recall the days when studios would turn out star-powered “adult dramas” like “Falling in Love” should find much to enjoy within it.
The original script from Michael Cristofer (“The Witches of Eastwick”) finds unhappily married Meryl Streep and equally bored Robert DeNiro venturing out of their respective marriages after they meet, and mix up, books at NYC’s Rizzoli Bookstore one Christmas. A tentative affair follows and there isn’t much more, narratively speaking, to Ulu Grosbard’s film – a reunion between the director and DeNiro after 1981’s “True Confessions.”
While the latter was critically praised, that wasn’t the case with “Falling in Love,” which admittedly I initially confused with another “unhappy Meryl Streep marriage film,” “Heartburn,” produced at Paramount a short time later. In fact, I’m not sure I had ever seen this picture before, and while the picture’s one-note story didn’t pull me in, the technical component of the picture does: Grosbard’s assured, leisurely direction soaks up the atmosphere of New York City in the early ‘80s and it’s beautifully shot by Peter Suschitzky (“Empire Strikes Back”).
Even better is Fun City’s Blu-Ray transfer, a 4K scan of the 35mm OCN (1.85), which is as wonderfully detailed and natural as FCE’s prior releases, with the movie serving as a memorable, welcome trip back to another time and place – a time when a movie like this could be released nationwide by a major studio, appealing to a demographic older than today’s target of “Minecraft”-playing teenagers.
FCE’s Blu also contains a clear mono soundtrack sporting a lively Dave Grusin score, an image gallery, and a commentary by Jim Hemphill.
THE COLORS WITHIN Blu-Ray (101 mins., 2024; Gkids/Shout): Lovely coming-of-age anime from director Naoko Yamada looks at a young woman who is able to see auras around people – except herself. Things change when she finds herself growing closer to a theremin-playing classmate, with the group about to form a unique band in an offbeat animated feature sporting music by Kensuke Ushio. The short “Garden of Remembrance” is included in Shout’s Blu-Ray (1.85, 5.1 DTS MA in Japanese or English) with numerous additional featurettes and interviews with both Yamada and Ushio.
STEPPENWOLF Blu-Ray (102/93 mins., 2024; Arrow): Arrow brings viewers a Special Edition of Adikhan Yerzhanov’s “Steppenwolf,” a 2024 drama about a young woman who teams up with a no-nonsense, brutal former cop (Berik Atizhanov) in order to find her son in a ravaged town beset by violence. Highly stylized, Yerzhanov’s picture was well-received on the festival circuit last year, and comes to Blu-Ray from Arrow alongside the director’s 2022 feature “Goliath,” available in the U.S. for the first time. Extras include a new commentary by historian David Flint; a visual essay by Lee Broughton that details American/Italian western tropes that influenced the picture; a 15-minute Making Of; an illustrated collector’s booklet and reversible sleeve artwork. The 1080p (1.78, 5.1 DTS MA) transfer is fine with English subtitles on-hand for the original Kazakhstan/Russian soundtracks.
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