Retro-active: The Best from the Cinema Retro Archive

By Todd Garbarini 

Swamp Thing (1982) is a peculiar entry in the Wes Craven canon.  For a director who cut his teeth in porn (most directors began their careers as editors in this field in the early 1970s) and directed such fare as The Last House on the Left (1972) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977), Swamp Thing is a much gentler film.  One of the few PG-rated entries to his credit, it was made just a few years prior to his very own A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), the movie that turned the horror film industry on its ear with the introduction of Fred Krueger and which spawned one of the most successful franchises in the genre. 

Released on Friday, February 19, 1982 by the late Joseph E. Levine’s long-defunct Embassy Pictures, Swamp Thing is a film version of the DC Comic that was created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. Set in the swamps of Louisiana (though filmed in South Carolina), brother and sister scientists Alec and Linda Holland (Ray Wise and Nannette Brown) are hard at work on an experiment that is designed to create a plant and animal hybrid that can withstand the extreme temperatures of various environments. Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau) works for the government and makes a trip to the lab to see how things are coming along. Just as it appears that the government has spent its money well, the henchmen of one sinister Dr. Anton Arcane (Louis Jourdan), headed by the late cinema baddy David Hess, attempt to steal the written magic formula and the serum from the clutches of its rightful owner. Linda is killed, and Alec gets doused with the new concoction, ends up on fire (yes, that is stunt man Anthony Cecere running outside engulfed in flames, a feat he would repeat in A Nightmare on Elm Street) and jumps into the swamp, reemerging as the titular creature who is henceforth played by Dick Durock. Dr. Arcane believes that this serum will make him immortal and he will therefore stop at nothing to make sure that he gets his hands on the complete formula. Alice begins to fall for Alec/Swamp Thing as she is eluding Dr. Arcane's machine gun-toting minions. Mr. Hess, who appeared in the aforementioned Last House, plays the usual crazy, bullying nut job that he did so well in Hitch Hike (1977) and House on the Edge of the Park (1980), and the supporting cast that surrounds him are a terrific group of menaces. Reggie Batts nearly steals the film in his turn as Judd, a young store proprietor who does everything he can to help Alice avoid capture. There are various animated wipes, dissolves, and visual transitions/segues that take you from one piece of action to the next in an effort to emulate the look of a comic book. For the most part, the film succeeds.

Swamp Thing was originally available on home video on capacitance electronic disc (CED), laserdisc (LD), and the ubiquitous VHS cassette. Although it made its DVD debut in 2000, the discs were pulled from the shelves when it was discovered that the DVD was sourced from the international print which ran 93 minutes in length and contained an additional two minutes of nudity that was not seen in the original 91-minute PG-rated 1982 domestic theatrical exhibition. Bowing to some consumer complaints, MGM reissued the movie on DVD in 2005 in its original version, minus the nudity. It is this version that appears on both the new DVD and Blu-ray. It would have been nice if the missing footage had been included as an extra (if it is here as an Easter egg, kudos to those of you who can find it!).

The transfer of the film is excellent; there are a few spots and very small scratches here and there but nothing to distract from your pleasure of watching the image. Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, is to be commended for continually putting out our favorite genre films in these new versions with top-notch extras. Best of all, this is a DVD/Blu-ray combo. I don't know what the criteria is (or who the decision maker is) when it comes to deciding to release a title in separate formats or as a combo, but I sincerely wish that all of Scream Factory's titles were sold as combos forthwith. That being said, both formats boast excellent transfers, with Blu-ray obviously being the sharper and clearer of the two.

There are some really nice extras on the discs (which are presented equally on both formats). The movie contains two separate full-length commentaries. The first is with writer/director Wes Craven and it is moderated by Sean Clark of Horrors Hallowed Grounds. Mr. Clark is a walking/talking encyclopedia and asks Mr. Craven lots of interesting and intelligent questions about the production and the people involved.

The second commentary is with makeup effects artist William Munns, moderated by Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures. This track is an absolute joy to listen to as Mr. Munns remembers a great deal about the making of the film. Growing up in Studio City, CA, he speaks quite eloquently about his experience in the film business prior to Swamp Thing, in addition to the issues that began to flourish when the film was green-lighted. He recalls having to wait a long time as the financing was secured, and even went to work on a film initially called Witch (later released as Superstition) in the interim. Since the sex of the Swamp Thing was an issue, he had to work around the anatomically correct creature and his recollections are humorous in how this was handled (he says that the film needed a PG-13 rating, however Swamp Thing was shot in the summer of 1981 and this rating was not used until 1984 with the release of John Milius’ Red Dawn). He talks about fitting the suit, discusses how the makeup crew became the scapegoat when filming came to a crawl due to the other departments that were behind, the dangers of wearing the Swamp Thing suit, the stunts that needed to be done, and how he took over as Swamp Thing when Mr. Durock could no longer perform.

The bonus features consist of:

Tales from the Swamp is an interview with Adrienne Barbeau. The segment runs 16:56 and Ms. Barbeau is a delight to listen to. Jovial and funny, she recalls the time that she spent on the film and talks about the bacteria and parasites in the water, the long hours on the set while they were in South Carolina, and the challenging elements around them. The original script that was given to her by Wes Craven was far more audacious than what ended up on screen. Unfortunately, just as the film went before the cameras, the production company began to chip away the film's budget, necessitating constant rewriting during the course of shooting and many concessions needed to be made. Ms. Barbeau is rather candid and pulls no punches in explaining her disappointment with the final product at the time, however she has developed an appreciation of the film in the years since its release.

Hey, Jude is the name of the second segment, and this is a fun and entertaining interview with actor Reggie Batts who plays Jude (hence the name!). It runs 14:30. Mr. Batts explains how he got the role in the film and was a fan of DC comics. Following the release of Swamp Thing, he also appeared in the North and South (1985) miniseries on television.

The last segment is titled That Swamp Thing, and it’s a look back with creator Len Wein who explains how he came up with the name for the creature and how he got his start as an animator. The segment runs 13:19.

The original theatrical trailer is also included, and this is in excellent condition, not the usual scratch-ridden mess that we’re used to seeing.

The photo galleries consist of posters and lobby cards; photos from the film; William Munn’s behind-the-scenes photos; and behind-the-scenes photos by Geoffrey Rayle.

As an added bonus, the DVD/Blu-ray sleeve is reversible and has the French poster artwork under the title of La Creature Du Marais, which translates to “The Creature of the Swamp”.

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“REVISITING THE COMEDY OF MENACE”

By Raymond Benson

Harold Pinter was one of the groundbreaking playwrights that emerged out of the 1950s, along with Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, and a handful of others. They changed the landscape of what audiences could expect on the stage. Pinter’s first decade of remarkable plays (and a few screenplays) fall into a category dubbed by critics as “comedies of menace.” They feature (usually) working-class Britons in situations in which an ambiguous threat lies underneath the surface of an otherwise mundane existence. The subtext is everything in a Pinter play. Known for the pauses in dialogue (specifically designated in the scripts), Pinter was able to pack weighty meaning in what is not said, more so than perhaps any other modern playwright.

The Birthday Party was his first full-length play (written in 1957, premiered in 1958) and is one of his most-produced and well-known works—although probably not so much by anyone who isn’t an aficionado of the theatre. You’re not going to see a production of The Birthday Party at your local high school. The Homecoming (1967) won Pinter the Tony Award, and, for my money, is his greatest work (it was brilliantly filmed by Peter Hall in 1973 for the American Film Theatre experiment). As a screenwriter, Pinter’s work on The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981) and Betrayal (1983) received Oscar nominations, and he received the Nobel Prize shortly before his death.

Young filmmaker William Friedkin, who had yet to make The French Connection and The Exorcist, had seen a production of The Birthday Party in England in the early 60s and, by his account, was knocked out by it. He personally met with Pinter to convince the elusive playwright to allow him to adapt the play into a film. It took some doing, but finally Pinter relented and wrote the screenplay himself. The picture was produced on a shoestring budget, but Friedkin managed to employ several outstanding British actors—many of whom were already a part of Pinter’s unofficial “repertory company.”

For those familiar with Pinter, the results are outstanding. For everyone else—The Birthday Party could very well be a bewildering experience.

Robert Shaw stars as Stanley, a nervous boarder in a seaside village rooming house run by Meg (Dandy Nichols) and Petey (Moultrie Kelsall). It may—or may not be!—Stanley’s birthday. Enter two mysterious new boarders, Goldberg (Sydney Tafler) and McCann (Patrick Magee), whom we know have an agenda with Stanley but we’re never sure what it really is. We just know it’s a threat, and they make things very uncomfortable for him… and the audience. Shaw and Magee, especially, deliver riveting performances.

To say more would be a disservice to the viewer and to Pinter, for much of the power of The Birthday Party is its mystery and ambiguity. Just know that by embarking on this journey you will be entering a heightened realism in which characters never say what they mean and what they don’t say means more. As an adaptation of Pinter’s play, Friedkin’s The Birthday Party is quite faithful and potent.

Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray presents a 1080p transfer that looks fair enough for its age and intentionally drab cinematography and setting. The nearly half-hour supplemental interview with director Friedkin is fascinating—he relates the entire history of how he got involved with Pinter and the film, and he throws in anecdotes about the playwright and a few other characters (like Joseph Losey). Theatrical trailers for this and other Kino Lorber releases—many related to Pinter—are also included.

The Birthday Party will certainly be appreciated by those of us who were theatre majors many years ago, and by the art house cinema crowd. For others, the picture might be an acquired taste.

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Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

BY MARK CERULLI

There’s a new Tomb Raider in town and she’s not… well… she’s not your older brother’s Tomb Raider. Gone is the statuesque, pistol-packing Angelina Jolie of the iconic video game character’s first movie incarnation. Alicia Vikander’s Lara Croft is pared down to the essentials - a dangerous tomboy who is smart, feisty and tough as nails.

When we meet this Lara Croft she’s broke, toiling as a London bicycle messenger, getting her ass kicked in MMA training and still reeling from the disappearance of her father (Dominic West) seven years ago. He had vanished exploring a mysterious island off the coast of Japan. When she discovers the key to his hidden workroom, she becomes hooked on his quest and decides to follow his trail all the way to the jungle tomb he was desperately trying to keep from ever being opened.

Directed by the aptly named Finnish director, Roar Uthaug, the film starts off at a breakneck pace and rarely slows. The action moves like a bullet train from a bike chase in Central London to a Hong Kong dock melee and then on to a remote island as forbidding and dangerous as the one King Kong calls home. There, Croft encounters her father’s nemesis – a shadowy organization called Trinity which is laser-focused on finding the final resting place of an ancient Queen known as “The Mother of Death.” Their archaeological dig is run by a psychotic thug played with real verve by Walton Goggins (Justified), who could clearly give Hannibal Lecter a run for his money. When he steals Croft’s father’s journal, the path to the tomb and its hideous contents is revealed and the final battle begins.

Vikander is fit and relentless, yet vulnerable for an action hero – when she takes a beating, you feel it. The amount of training Ms. Vikander had to endure for the role must have been epic. As the New York Times’ review pithily noted, she has “a washboard stomach you could play the blues on.” (Sorry, that was too sweet not to reuse!) Cinematographer George Richmond makes great use of the lush South African scenery, and his zooming camerawork flies through jungle canopies and ancient tombs with equal finesse.

While Vikander’s Lara Croft isn’t as snide or as sexualized as her predecessor, hers is a strong debut and like Daniel Craig’s Bond, she’ll make this iconic character her own.

TOMB RAIDER  is released by Warner Bros. and MGM. The film makes its North American debut on Friday, March 16.

“ANNIE HALL REDUX?”

By Raymond Benson

In hindsight, the most enjoyable thing about Manhattan Murder Mystery was Diane Keaton’s return to co-star with Woody Allen in what will most likely be their last screen appearance together. Released in 1993, Murder Mystery was Allen’s obvious attempt to regain public favor after an acrimonious split with Mia Farrow and the surrounding uproar of allegations and custody battles. Keaton’s presence served to remind us that the old chemistry between the two actors could still generate sparks, and it did.

Many critics at the time commented that the pair could have been playing the characters of Annie and Alvy (from Annie Hall) sixteen years later, now settled in an imperfect, but comfortable, marriage. In fact, much of the plot of Manhattan Murder Mystery was originally a part of Annie Hall! That 1977 classic, co-written by Allen and Marshall Brickman, contained not only the Annie/Alvy love story but also a murder mystery the couple attempts to solve. Eventually that was all thrown out of Annie Hall (thank goodness!). Years later, Allen and Brickman decided to resurrect the discarded plot elements and fashion a brand-new script in which a couple like Annie and Alvy—now middle-aged—get themselves embroiled in comic sleuthing.

Larry (Allen) and Carol (Keaton) live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (where else?) and meet their apartment building neighbors, Paul (Jerry Adler) and Lillian (Lynn Cohen). The next day, Lillian has died of a heart attack. Larry and Carol notice that Paul doesn’t seem too broken up about it. Furthermore, Carol discovers an urn full of ashes in Paul’s kitchen, even after Paul has said that Lillian was buried in their “twin cemetery plots.” Enter Larry and Carol’s friend Ted (Alan Alda), who encourages Carol’s imaginative speculation that Paul murdered his wife. Larry’s client, Marcia (Anjelica Huston), gets into the act as well, and the foursome embark on exposing Paul’s nefarious scheme that involves a series of lies, a mistress, and his wife’s twin sister.

The plot is far-fetched, but Allen treats the material as a farce anyway. It works well enough. Much of the fun of the picture is watching Allen and Keaton as their characters do astonishingly stupid things, such as when Carol, thinking Paul is out of the building for a while, sneaks into his apartment to snoop. Of course, Paul returns, forcing her to hide under the bed and lose her glasses at the same time.

Allen has included references to cinema history that are a lot of fun—clips from Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity (1944) and Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai (1947)—inform the story with thematic and visual motifs. There are laughs, to be sure, but Manhattan Murder Mystery does not rank among Allen’s best comedies. It’s enjoyable fluff, and perhaps that was all it was meant to be.

Twilight Time’s limited-edition Blu-ray (only 3000 units) looks very nice in its 1080p High Definition transfer, showing off Carlo Di Palma’s colorful cinematography and New York City landmarks that are always a treat in a Woody Allen film. The audio is 1.0 DTS-HD MA, with an isolated score and effects track. The theatrical trailer is the only supplement.

Good for a lightweight romp around the Big Apple, Manhattan Murder Mystery will please fans of Allen and, especially, Diane Keaton.

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“YOWZA, YOWZA, YOWZA!”

By Raymond Benson

This was the film that convinced audiences and critics alike that Jane Fonda could act. After appearing throughout the Sixties in glamour-girl and comic roles (Cat Ballou, Barbarella) that barely scratched the surface of what this talented actress could do, along came They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, which featured a tough, cynical, mean-spirited, and take-no-prisoners Jane Fonda as Gloria, a down-on-her-luck contestant in a Depression-era marathon dance contest. The showy role resulted in her first Best Actress Oscar nomination.

The picture also awarded Sydney Pollack his first Directing nomination; in fact, the film received a total of nine Oscar nominations, including Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actress (Susannah York), and Supporting Actor (Gig Young, who won); but it did not, curiously, land a Best Picture nod. It deserved it.

The dance marathon contests in the early 1930s were an American display of spectacle and madness. On the one hand, they provided cheap entertainment for audiences who wanted to watch the progression of misery as dancers remained on their feet (aside from occasional ten-minute breaks for food and very rare longer breaks) for hours, days, weeks… until one couple was left standing. On the other hand, it provided some kind hope for the contestants themselves, as the payout was a whopping $1500—a big chunk of change in Depression-stricken America.

Gloria (Fonda) matches up with Robert (Michael Sarrazin) by default. There’s also Alice (York), a Jean Harlow wannabe, aging former Navy man Harry (Red Buttons), and married couple James and pregnant Ruby (Bruce Dern and Bonnie Bedelia). The proceedings are MC’d with ringmaster showmanship and a canny sense of sardonicism by Rocky (Young, who is marvelous in his award-winning role). “Yowza, yowza, yowza!” he calls into the microphone, as the contestants go through hell in the guise of showbiz.

When the picture was released in 1969, it provided a social commentary that was a metaphor for life itself—that we’re competing in a never-ending marathon of hardship until you either drop out, drop dead, or win the big prize. The final irony is that the big prize isn’t such a big prize after all. Not a feel-good movie, to be sure, but certainly a thoughtful statement on the human condition. Pollack’s direction is superb, an early indication of the long career he would have in Hollywood.

“ART IMITATES LIFE?”

By Raymond Benson

Oh boy. This one’s difficult.

When Husbands and Wives was released in September 1992, the news was full of the Woody Allen/Mia Farrow/Soon-Yi Previn scandal, which had recently broken. The studio, Tri-Star, seemingly rushed the release of the film to capitalize on the gossip, and, as a result, the picture did pretty good box office (better than Allen’s previous two films). Although the public found out about Allen’s dalliance with Farrow’s adopted daughter a little later, Farrow discovered it at some point during the filming of Husbands and Wives. Talk about what must have been a tense set...!

Okay, so this is a case in which a reviewer can’t look at a movie without the real-life baggage encroaching on the evaluation. In fact, I’ll argue that it’s impossible not to do so.

That said, Husbands and Wives is one of Woody Allen’s greatest—albeit darkest—works. It might be his most insightful, honest, and disturbingly analytical treatise on affairs of the heart, especially as they apply to American—and specifically New York City—upper and upper-middle-class men and women.

There’s a “reality TV” approach to the way it’s shot and directed, with hand-held cameras and a narrator/interviewer (the voice of Jeffrey Kurland, the costume designer of the film!), who elicits commentary from the characters outside the main action of the story. This was a revelation at the time, since the concept of reality television had been only teased on MTV during the 1980s and had not fully developed as a primetime phenomenon. Allen’s regular director of photography, Carlo Di Palma, provides a gritty, jerky, documentary feel to the proceedings, and it works beautifully.

Gabe (Allen) and Judy (Farrow) are married with no children. He’s a college professor in literature. Their best friends Jack (Sydney Pollack) and Sally (Judy Davis) are a couple that announces at the beginning of the film that they are getting divorced. They’re both ostensibly okay with that, but Judy and Gabe are shocked and upset. Jack and Sally, throughout the film, begin to date others. Jack sees Sam (Lysette Anthony), a much younger aerobics teacher who is intellectually incompatible with him. Judy matches Sally with Michael (Liam Neeson), although Judy has the hots for Michael herself. Sally is too neurotic and so-not-ready for dating again that it doesn’t work out with Michael. Meanwhile, Gabe becomes infatuated with a very young college student, Rain (Juliette Lewis), who has a history of dating older men.

Is this a film fraught with art-imitating-life syndrome, or what? Without revealing how these romantic and not-romantic liaisons work out, let’s just say that Allen consistently shows us ugly truths about lies, trust, and compromise. Is it a comedy? Yes and no. There are laughs, but mostly this is a biting, dark satire that is more akin to the works of, say, Jules Feiffer, than Woody Allen. There are moments of sheer brilliance, and others that are too close to the headlines for comfort.

Perhaps the most revelatory statement in Husbands and Wives is that Gabe, Allen’s character, refuses to take his involvement with student Rain any further after one kiss (that she asks for on her birthday) because it’s “not right.” It’s amazing that Allen’s character performs with wiser moral integrity than Allen himself did in his personal life, considering that the movie was written and made while he was courting a much younger woman. Ironic, if anything.

Judy Davis received a much-deserved Academy Award nomination for Supporting Actress for her performance. Pollack (director of such works as Tootsie and Out of Africa), too, is exceptional, and it’s a wonder why he never got more recognition for his occasional acting stints. Jack and Sally’s story is the most engaging piece of the film. Allen’s script, a striking piece of work, was nominated for Original Screenplay.

Twilight Time’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds exemplary, with its 1080p High Definition transfer and 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. The only supplements are the theatrical trailer and an isolated music and effects track. The essay in the booklet is by critic Julie Kirbo.

Limited to only 3000 units, Husbands and Wives is a collectors’ item that explores the hurricane that can exist within a relationship, and one that blew up in the tabloids.

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