DVD Collectors Online

The Adult Version of Jekyll & Hide, a review by Jimmy

Title: The Adult Version of Jekyll & Hide (1971)

Genre: Horror
Director: Lee Raymond
Rating: NR
Length: 1h31
Video: Full Frame
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
Laurie Rose
Jane Tsentas
John Barnum
Jude Farese
Rene Bond

Plot:
When slimy stud Dr. Chris Leeder (Jack Buddliner) takes possession of Dr. Jekyll's ancient notebook, he quickly becomes obsessed with the murderous sex crimes of the original Mr. Hyde. Ignoring the notebook's warning that the Jekyll and Hyde formula "makes people appear as they really are," the demented doc mixes the potion and promptly turns into... "Miss Hide" (Jane Tsentas), a sexy blonde in a mini-skirt who just happens to be a homicidal nymphomaniac!

After enjoying a lesbian romp with Leeder's secretary (legendary skinflick starlet Rene Bond), and the sadistic slaughter of a drunken sailor (ouch!), Miss Hide decides to pay a visit to Leeder's fiancee (Jennifer Brooks) and permanently cancel the wedding...

OK nobody would call this film a works of taste, common even Dave Friedman who picked up the movie said it's a piece of crap. But it's a fine movie for what it is, a drive-in sexploitation shocker. To be honest I sure prefer to watch an adaptation of Stevenson where the doctor turns as a sex crazed woman than a monkey like creature. The film, even if the effects are basic, is quite violent: the scene where Linda York is killed sure is. John Barnum (using the Jack Buddliner alias here) isn't that much of an actor and he sure isn't a sex symbol (he is the kind of guy you don't want to see naked, but you will...). But you get some decent acting from an underused Laurie Rose, the lovelly Rene Bond and, of course, Jude Farese who will appear regulary on TV series some years later untill 2007.

Not great not bad, but it delivers what you expect.

Evidently the trailer isn't on Youtube and I won't bother posting it since it had male nudity in it.
 
Rating :

(From Jimmy's - 2013 Ooctober Horror Marathon on October 2nd, 2013)

Kidnapped, a review by Achim

Title: Cani arrabbiati
Year: 1974
Director: Rabid Dogs, Mario Bava, Kidnapped, Mario Bava
Rating: NR
Length: 191 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: Italian: Dolby Digital Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Riccardo Cucciolla
Don Backy [Aldo Caponi]
Lea Lander
Maurice Poli

Plot:
It was to be the most startling film of Bava's entire career: After a botched payroll heist, a trio of vicious criminals take hostages in a desperate getaway that explodes with cruelty, degradation and shocking violence. But when the film's financier was killed during the last stages of production, his entire estate -- including the sole unfinished work print of RABID DOGS -- was seized and impounded by an Italian court. Mario Bava's final masterpiece -- one of the most intense EuroCrime thrillers of all time -- would remain locked away for nearly 23 years.

This presentation includes both the finished version known as KIDNAPPED featuring footage shot by producer Alfredo Leone and Mario's son and longtime assistant Lamberto Bava as well as RABID DOGS -- Bava's original unfinished film -- now with a newly created opening credit sequence.

Extras:
Scene Access
Trailers
Featurettes
Production Notes

After a successful robbery a group of four gangsters is on the run, with the police hot in pursuit. One gets shot They took three hostages, a young woman and a man with his sick son, who he wants to bring to the hospital for urgent surgery. Going around the police roadblocks the tension in the car rises, with the leader of the thugs being tough but calm headed and reasonable and the two younger ones getting more and more heated up.

Bava tells this simple story that concentrates on the different characters and their interactions. There is several scenes with high tension in which Bava builds up the suspense excellently. Camera work is great and on par with the best of Bava's other films. The good acting is here only hindered by the almost mediocre dub-work. Especially Maurice Poli as the leader of the gang nicknamed "Doc" shifts moods nicely. The car chase in the beginning is excellently done, funnily enough without any over-the-top action and rather at a more realistic "medium" speed.





My notes on Rabid Dogs:
While Kidnapped is the advertised feature here, I am not entirely sure why Anchor Bay chose this one over Rabid Dogs. Rabid Dogs, as seen in the cover text, is the film as Mario Bava intended it. There seems to be no content missing, so shooting had apparently wrapped, and we'll never know how far away Bava was from completing the film when it was ripped out of his hands. The transfer on the disc looks basically the same, only a few shots are obviously more heavily deteriorated; I assume they actually used the Kidnapped print, removed what shouldn't be there and then added only the needed shots from the work print. The music may have gotten some changes as well, we may never know. (Unless my guesses are actually clarified in the documentary I am about to watch .)

Rabid Dogs is only slightly different than Kidnapped. The opening credits are presented in a stylized fashion, much better than the simpler ones in Kidnapped. There is a two short scenes missing in the film, which hinted at the ending and were ultimately more irritating than they helped and the ending runs a little longer than Kidnapped, adding one more reveal at the end. While the changes don't necessarily make it a worse film, they are not Bava's choices and therefore simply shouldn't be there. Had I found that one discussion on IMDb earlier than I would have watched Rabid Dogs as the main attraction and Kidnapped as the special feature, not the other way around.

(From Mario Bava marathon on July 27th, 2009)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Adventures of Superman: Season One (1952/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Warner Home Video (United States) Length: 662 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

---

Plot:
The first superhero created for comic books, SUPERMAN leaped from radio to television when Adventures of Superman debuted in 1952. Produced by Robert J. Maxwell (who also produced the radio version) and Bernard Luber (a veteran of Hollywood serials), each First Season Episode screens like a classic crime movie, where danger and death lurk in the shadows. Working with some of the industry's best character actors, George Reeves plays the MAN OF STEEL with a genuineness that captivates viewers of all ages. Now, enjoy this legendary series as never before, digitally mastered from original film elements, in a soaring DELUXE 5-DISC SET WITH EXCITING EXTRAS.
- Allan Asherman, DC Comics Historian

The Adventures of Superman
1.01 Superman on Earth
Writer: Richard Fielding (Screenwriter)
Director: Tommy Carr
Cast: George Reeves (Superman/Clark Kent), Phyllis Coates (Lois Lane), Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen), John Hamilton (Perry White), Ross Elliott), Herbert Rawlinson), Stuart Randall), Aline Towne), Frances Morris), Dani Nolan)

A good first episode considering the age of the series. Strange is the beginning. Jor-El is introduced by the council elder to be a highly regarded scientist who was given the task to look into the seismic activity, but then was ridiculed when he presented his findings, which could easily been verified. And this shortly after the introduction of Krypton having an highly advanced race.
I didn't remember that the origin story was rather elaborate on this. We see Jor-El and the council on Krypton. Him and his wife putting the baby in the rocket. The Kents finding the rocket. And even scenes with Clark at age 12 and 25.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on March 25th, 2011)