Let the Haunts Be Free: Clearcut

Sadly, we lost Graham Greene the other day.  He's one of the best - and most prominent! - Native American actors, period.  He really came to prominence in Dances With Wolves when he was nominated for an Oscar, though he'd been working for decades before that and has gone on to work constantly.  Even if you don't know who he is, you've seen him in everything from The Last Of Us to the MCU (he's Echo's grandfather).  And of course, he created the most beloved character in all of Canadian television.  So, when I heard about his passing, I thought I'd take a look at his overlooked but terrific horror outing: Clearcut from 1991.

I guess you could classify this as a supernatural slasher, though antagonist doesn't really do much slashing.  Based on the novel A Dream Like Mine by Canadian novelist MT Leroy, Clearcut tells the story of a white lawyer who takes up the side, rather unsuccessfully, of a native tribe feuding with a lumber mill.  He's taken on a dark kidnapping vision quest by Greene who may be the incarnation of a trickster spirit, or possibly just a local who's been pushed too far.  In the end, maybe it doesn't matter much anyway (from reviews I've read, apparently the novel takes at least as much of an ambiguous stance).  There's not a huge body count, the bulk of the running time is spent with just the three men (the third being Michael Hogan as the owner of the mill in a performance very reminiscent of Dabney Coleman in 9 To 5, but darker).  It's all pretty harsh and unflinching as this movie gets a lot of its strength from its anger.  And while everybody's good in this, Greene's shifty performance elevates the material, which might be a bit cliche or ham-fisted in certain aspects, to another level.

Severin gave us a pretty nice special edition BD of Clearcut as part of their celebrated 'All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror' boxed set in 2021.  But if you don't have a couple hundred dollars to lay down, don't worry, they released it as a separate, single disc edition in 2023.  Before that, this film had only ever been released as a barebones German DVD from Capitol Films and a triple-feature AAFES DVD from Spartan Home Entertainment in 2002.  If you're not familiar, AAFES discs are DVD made for and sold through the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which is basically the official tax-free department store of US military bases.  I have to admit, I'd be curious to check out this disc first-hand; but of course they don't sell these DVDs anymore.

Anyway, I'm sure they're the exact same discs.  But for the record, what I have here is the 2023 solo release.

2023 Severin BD.

The back of the case says this film is 2.35:1, but in fact it's even wider at 2.44:1.  Said case doesn't get into the source of this transfer, and this release doesn't come with a booklet... maybe the big 126-page book included with the boxed set spelled it out for us.  But it's pretty obvious that this is taken from a print, anyway, with it's high contrast and milky blacks.  Film grain is surprisingly light, too, when you can spot it at all.  This film has lots of nice landscapes and scenery, and a decent sense of style, which helps this film get away with looking as rough as it does.  I'd love to see it restored from the OCN some day, but I have a feeling we're lucky to have gotten what we've got.

Severin offers both a stereo (presumably the original) and 5.1 (surely a remix; a curious inclusion) track, both in DTS-HD with optional English subtitles.

They've also given this film a very satisfying special edition, which can't necessarily be said for every film in the Haunts set (which is perhaps why this film got a solo release, while a title like Robin Redbreast has not).  For starters, we have an audio interview with the director, which plays as a commentary over the film.  We also get a proper audio commentary, which is fairly insightful, by by scholar and anthropologist Shaawano Chad Uran.  The director also provides a video introduction, and then we get two excellent interviews, on by the composer and one, yes, by Greene himself.  As a whole package, I'd say these extras are very satisfying, answering most of the questions that come to mind when watching this film.

You Are On Indian Land

This disc also includes three short films (all in crisp HD), which is more a carry-over of this being part of the All the Haunts box, since they don't have anything to do with this movie or the people who made it, except for a general Native theme.  Two of them aren't even horror.  The first is a 1968 mini-doc called The Ballad Of Crowfoot.  In fact, it's more of an early music video for the folk song "The Ballad Of Crowfoot" by Willie Dunn, set to a collection of early photographs of indigenous people.  It also features optional audio commentary by Willie's son, Lawrence and co-producer Kevin Howes.  The best of these shorts is a 1969 documentary called You Are On Indian Land, filmed during a protest blocking a bridge between the US and Canada when the two governments tried to prohibit native trade (because it was crossing the border "off the books" by going through their reservation).  Finally, the last is a very low budget horror called Consume from 2017, about a troubled man plagued by visions of his disappointed ancestors.  It's interesting in concept, but has a very amateurish student film vibe, and it's all building up to the world's most obvious Tales From the Crypt-style twist ending.

So it's a great little horror flick that doesn't get enough attention, but thankfully still got a first class release.  And I'm glad it's been made accessible outside the pricey confines of the boxed set... though I have to say that box has a lot of other great stuff in it, too.  So if you can swing it, I'd recommend going all in.  But if not, at least be sure to pick up Clearcut.  And Eyes Of Fire.  And Viy.  And maybe some of those BFI DVDs.  Yeah, there's a lot you don't want to miss out on, including this.

RIP Graham Greene.

The Luxury Antiviral

With Brandon Cronenberg's more recent films getting lavished with all kinds of fancy, 4k editions, it's nice that Severin has seen fit to go back and give the same treatment to his 2012 debut, Antiviral, which I still hold this out as his best work  With it's creative and genuinely insightful science fiction take, and first class execution, it was the film that suggested this nepo baby might actually be the successor capable of picking up the ball his father had seemingly dropped when he moved into more milquetoast drama.  The concept, the look, the performances (Caleb Landry Jones really goes for it), the score... every element really comes together; it instantly turned by from a skeptic to a convert.  So a fancy, new 3-disc limited edition?  Hell yeah!

IFC originally released Antiviral as a new release on separate DVD and blu-ray releases in 2013.  They've been the sole, go-to discs in the US until now.  Severin has issued a new, limited edition 4k 3-disc set, consisting of a brand new 4k scan of a 35mm protection internegative on UHD, that same transfer on 1080p BD, and a second BD including an earlier cut from its Cannes premiere.  Cronenberg tells us in the intro to the Cannes cut that "it's not better version or the director's cut, but it is a part of the film's history that was lost until now."  It's mostly the same as the final theatrical cut, but with the deleted scenes back in, and a few other minor alterations, satisfactorily concluding a subplot for a secondary character.  A standard edition has already been announced for March, but it will just be a 2-disc set, without the Cannes cut.

a scene only in the Cannes cut

So this is an interesting one.  For starters, Antiviral was shot digitally in 2k, so why are we getting a 4k scan of a 35mm protection internegative?  Isn't that just going a generation further removed?  Fortunately Cronenberg and his DP, Karim Hussain, are on hand in the special features to explain.  And it basically boils down to the limits of the color timing at the time of release - particularly in the subtle variations of white - where they had to time it differently for DCP screenings and for film prints.  This new transfer's HDR allows them to essentially merge the best of both worlds.  But this should temper your expectations for any gains in resolution with the 4k.  And it should also be pointed out that the Cannes cut included on the 3rd disc utilizes the digital transfer for anyone who would still prefer that version over the new film scan.  So let's get into it.

1) 2013 IFC DVD; 2) 2013 IFC BD; 3) 2024 Severin BD;
4) 2024 Severin UHD; 5) 2024 Severin (Cannes cut) BD.

An unexpected change right off the bat, we've gone from the IFC discs being 1.85:1 to the Severin discs (all transfers) are now 1.78:1.  That sounds like a small step backwards, but seeing how heavily involved Cronenberg Hussain seem to have been with the new restoration, I guess 1.78 is how they prefer it.  The difference amounts to a little more picture along the top and bottom of the newer transfer rather than anything extra along the sides of the old ones.  And another surprise?  IFC's DVD is interlaced.  That's pretty unusual for an HD-concurrent release that modern.  Thankfully their BD is not similarly affected, but that means there's a bigger jump in quality between the two IFC discs besides the fundamental distinction between standard and high definition.

Severin's new transfer naturally adds a layer of grain to the image that the IFC discs lack, because it's the only one taken from film.  That grain is still surprisingly soft, even on the UHD, but I guess that's no great loss since it kinda doesn't belong there anyway.  Severin's Cannes cut, naturally, does not have this grain element, and some purists will be glad to have it for that reason.  Zooming in super close to all of these reveals practically no discernible distinction in actual detail from the original picture in any of these transfers (except, of course, in the DVD, which is naturally cloudier).  But it should be noted that the UHD is able to retain imagery that all the other discs crush out in the shadows, evident in the second set of shots.  In summary, I'd say the UHD does have the generally best transfer, but it's a distinction most viewers wouldn't even notice.  And some sticklers might still prefer the IFC blu for not adding the... not fake, but extraneous grain, and maybe even for keeping the traditional theatrical AR.

Antiviral started life with a 5.1 mix, and it's on every disc.  The DVD is lossy, whereas all the blus and UHD present the film in DTS-HD.  Severin also adds a stereo mix, also in DTS-HD.  Every release also includes optional English subtitles, with IFC also throwing in Spanish ones.

In terms of special features, IFC was already satisfactorily decked out.  It has a pretty great audio commentary by Cronenberg and Hussain, which occasionally gets a little silly and immature (I recommend switching it off before their original "I want to snort your nail clippings" song over the closing credits), but is 99% very illuminating.  And then there's a terrific, half-hour making of documentary, comprised of interviews with the cast and crew and on-set footage.  There's also just over five minutes of interesting deleted scenes, with optional commentary by Cronenberg.  And there are a handful of 2-3 minute featurettes, which are pretty skippable, since they're mostly cut from the same footage used in the doc.  There may be one or two brief soundbites that are unique to them, but it's not worth sifting through.  Finally, there's the trailer and a couple bonus trailers.  Oh, and some brief test footage from their infrared cameras, used in some background shots.

Broken Tulips

Severin carries all of that over, and they add some great new stuff.  There's a new on-camera interview with Cronenberg and Hussain, which is described as them discussing the new restoration.  And they do for the first couple minutes, but then they go on to talk about the film in plenty more retrospective aspects.  And they include the short film Cronenberg made to sell this film to investors called Broken Tulips (also in 1.78).  Cronenberg and Hussain have also recorded a new introduction for the Cannes cut, though that and the infrared test footage are only on the 3-disc version.  Also exclusive to the 3-disc set is the fancy slipcover, a 30-page booklet by author Claire Donner.

I called The Mask of Satan the gem of Severin's latest Black Friday releases, but that doesn't mean it's the only one worth getting.  This is a top shelf release of an underrated classic.  Although, with that said, anyone who doesn't consider themselves an extreme fan may be content with the original IFC release, since the new transfer and additional bells & whistles aren't that far beyond what we've already got.  This is the premium, luxury edition for those who've got to have the very best.  Everyone else may be happy to save a few - or more than a few - bucks and splurge elsewhere.

Demons Part VIY: The Mask Of Satan

Ooh, I've been waiting for this one!  And I don't just mean that it took Severin approximately two months to ship my Black Friday order. 😉  Lamberto Bava's Mask of Satan is a title I've been eager to own since the days of laserdisc, but it's never been released on any format.  The best I'd been able to manage was a bootleg DVDR I purchased at a horror convention years and years ago; and I was happy to get that.  So, while this may not be the single greatest I-horror title in the pantheon, I was thrilled when Severin announced it as a special edition blu-ray.  Curiously, they describe their release as "the first time ever in North America," which is typically a delicate way to hype a quasi-debut without mentioning the film's already been released in other parts of the world, sort of like saying a scan is from "original film elements" when a label can't find the original negatives.  But if there's another blu out there anywhere in the world - Japan, Italy, Spain, anywhere - I've never heard of it, and believe me, I've searched!  I would've bought it.  But if it is out there, I'm glad I never found it now, because I'd be double-dipping for this anyway.

Mask Of Satan has always struck me as the most Demons-like of all the unofficial Demons sequels (this one was known as Demons 5).  Ostensibly, of course, it's a remake of his father, Mario Bava's Mask of Satan, a.k.a. Black Sunday, where a woman is accused of witchcraft, killed by having a spiked mask hammered into her face, and resurrected a hundred or so years later to seek revenge.  But they immediately, with Barbara Steele and her zombified husband lurking around a mansion in the original, and a bunch of yuppies turning into monstrous maniacs in an ice cave here.  And hey, Demons also had a Black Sunday-inspired metal mask starting off the horror, worn by Michele Soavi, who also has a major role in this.  The only thing really separating this from the Demons franchise proper is the fact that the demonically possessed in this film spend most of their time behaving like rude pranksters rather than feral killers.

Rewatching this more recently, I was surprised to see Nikolay Gogol's name in the credits.  Indeed, both this and the original Mask of Satan claim to be remakes of his famous story Viy, famously adapted directly in 1967.  And sure, both films feature a resurrected witch, but otherwise Mario's Mask feels even more dissimilar to Viy than it does Demons.  However, watching Lamberto's Mask with Viy in mind, yeah, now I see it.  Sure, it's a modern updating that takes plenty of liberties, but there's definitely more Viy in here than Black Sunday or Demons, especially the climax, when our hero draws a protected ring around himself in the haunted church while various monsters and spirits fly circles around him.

Putting aside its associations to other films and stories, though, 1989's Mask of Satan is a good time in its own right.  Bava's pretty much got the band back together with some wild special effects by Sergio Stivaletti (one in particular really stands out!) and an lush score by Simon Boswell.  Everything takes place on one elaborate set, enhanced by one or two impressive outdoor locations, with the kind of colorful photography we've all come to love and expect in classic I-horror (for no reason at all, one nook in the ice cave emanates a bright green glow).  You do feel the lack of gore, which is probably an unavoidable consequence of this being a made-for-TV project.  I wouldn't hold this up as high as the official Demons movies, but it's a respectable runner up.

2024 Severin BD.

Presented in a pillarboxed 1.67:1, we're told Severin's blu is a 2k scan taken from the original negative and, in terms of colors, contrast, etc, it looks pretty great.  The film's grain is barely even hinted at, though, and I know 2k ain't 4k, but you'd never see a 2k scan on 1080p looking like this come out of Arrow.  It is a dual-layer disc, with the film taking up more than half the space itself, but I wouldn't be at all surprised this is a transfer Severin was just handed from an Italian lab.  Honestly, it's the kind of thing that will irritate the "pixel peepers" among us, but most viewers won't mind or even notice, because it's such an attractive transfer otherwise.  Talk about colors "popping," that one girl's ski jacket practically irradiates your living room with pinkness whenever it's in front of the camera.

Interestingly, there is no English dub, but besides the Italian, there is also a Spanish track, both of which are in DTS-HD.  And Severin has gone the extra mile to include two sets of English subtitles, one matching each dub.

Mary Sellers

Severin's blu isn't over-crowded with special features, but what it's got is excellent.  Basically, there are three on-camera interviews, and each one is a great addition.  First, Bava himself gives an enthusiastic and comprehensive overview (except he doesn't address the Demons connection at all), talking about everything from how this was originally planned as a six-part international film series of witchcraft to the fact that this film hasn't been available on disc until now is because the negatives were lost and just recently located.  Then we've got tighter interviews with two of the lead actresses: Mary Sellers and Debora Caprioglio, who talk about their experiences on this film and their careers in general.  Yes, Debora is asked and explains her relationship with Klaus Kinski.  Besides that, though, there's not much else.  But this does come in a super cool, embossed slipcover if you order it direct from the label.

So do I recommend this?  Heck yeah, I'm dancin' in the end zone!  Not that it's a classic, but it is good - it impresses a little more now, too, seeing it in full quality - and ticks a very long awaited title off of our lists.  This is a film fans have been pestering Anchor Bay and everybody else about for decades.

Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker

I remember first seeing 1982's Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker's iconic cover on the Pocket Books paperback as a kid and thinking this must be some wild Nightmare On Elm St. type story, with this astral gateway or whatever opening up out of the boy's chest revealing a giant evil eye floating inside.  Turns out it was just a bad drawing of a knife being held in front of the kids, with the killer's eye in the reflection, and this is a completely non-supernatural thriller.  And God only knows how the title's meant to connect to the story.  But, hey, it's still pretty interesting.

Update 4/16/19 - 8/24/24: As we bid adieu to Update Week 2024, it takes its bows with Severin's recent 4k upgrade of the off-kilter slasher Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker.  And if you want something a little more highbrow, we've also finally added the Kino Lorber DVD of Andrei Tarkovsky's Mirror.

I guess you'd say Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker, a.k.a. Night Warning - let's just call it Night Warning - is a character study/ slasher.  Billy Lynch is just a baby when his parents die in a spectacular car accident that was later ripped off in the Final Destination films.  So he's raised by his aunt (Susan Tyrrell, Academy Award nominee for Fat City), who's just a little too over-protective... to the point of homicidal psychosis.  Tyrrell is fascinating to watch, and as the film builds to its demented climax, it's a blast.  It's got a minimal, effective score.  The closing credits mention a proper theme song called "Little Billy Boy" with lyrics and everything, but we don't seem to ever hear it in the movie.

Unfortunately, the film putzes around a lot in the middle.  Bo Svenson's a police detective who's constantly barking up the wrong tree, including persecuting Billy's gay basketball coach.  This whole subplot stumbles clumsily over the line between preachy after-school special and offensively politically incorrect and barely has any connection to the central story either way.  You've got a pretty interesting supporting cast, though, including Julia Duffy from the Newhart show as the girlfriend and Bill Paxton in one of his earliest film roles as Billy's rival.  Horror fans will also immediately recognize Britt Leach, Mr. Sims from Silent Night Deadly Night, as a police officer with more of a clue.

No Code Red release felt more conspicuously absent from this site than this one.  Like Witchmaker, Night Warning had never been available on DVD until CR finally brought it home in 2013 (after having originally been announced back in 2007).  At the time, it was a DVD-only release with CR swearing up and down it would never be re-issued on BD, but we all knew they'd break down eventually.  And in 2017, they finally did, releasing it as a "Diabolik Exclusive Blu-Ray" (in quotes, because you could also get it from sites like Code Red's bigcartel and the Dark Forces Superstore 🤷).  And now the film's back, this time in Severin's hands, in a loaded 2-disc 4k set.

1) 2014 Code Red DVD; 2) 2017 Code Red BD;
3) 2024 Severin BD; 4) 2024 Severin UHD.

The DVD tells us its transfer comes from a "brand new HiDef master from the original camera negatives (that were reported lost by basement dwellers)."  And the blu-ray's transfer comes from a "brand new 2017 2k scan from the original camera negatives (the vault finally found it after misplacing it years ago!)."  And yes, this bears out, because the DVD transfer was a revelation compared to the previous VHS rips and junk fans had been living with for so many years.  The DVD case says it's 1.85:1, but it's actually 1.78.  Regardless, though, it looks great in a surprisingly clear anamorphic widescreen edition.  When the blu was finally announced, I didn't expect anything more than to have the same transfer slapped onto a higher resolution disc.  And I would've been fine with that, just tightening up some of the fuzzy compression of standard definition.  But no, we've got a fresh scan (also 1.78:1) which looks even better, revealing more picture along all four sides, with much sharper and cleaner detail, and even more notably, some very attractive color correction.  The colors weren't bad the first time around, but now this looks like the work of a major studio.

1) 2014 Code Red DVD; 2) 2017 Code Red BD;
3) 2024 Severin BD; 4) 2024 Severin UHD.

There wasn't much damage on the DVD, but even that has been cleaned up on the blu.  There's still a bit, but the film feels refreshingly clean now.

And Severin's new 4k scan?  Well, it actually is 1.85:1 this time.  It's not entirely free of damage, and it's different damage, but it's about comparable to the previous blu in that respect.  The biggest difference is probably the grain structure, which really comes through in this new 4k scan of the negative.  Even the 1080p blu looks much more filmic than Code Red's, which feels slightly out of focus by comparison, and then the UHD just takes it that much further.  And the colors look a little more subtle and authentic now.

Both Code Reds just feature the original mono track with no subtitle options.  It's bumped up to lossless DTS-HD on the blu, but it still has a core background hiss, with the occasional crack and pop.  Severin's DTS-HD track has a hiss to it, too, but it's less pervasive.  And they've added optional English subtitles for the first time.

Code Red's DVD is an impressively endowed special edition.  But if you only see one DVD extra in your life, and I mean on any DVD ever, you've got to watch Susan Tyrrell's on-camera interview.  She tells us right off the bat that she "hated every damn minute of it" and has "a lot of horrifying stories to tell."  It looks like she started out recording an audio commentary, but they wound up with just this perfect, eleven minute piece where she goes from "I'd fuck anybody to get out of this picture... except Bo" to "brilliant!  That's a great scene!"

And if you're disappointed to've missed out on a potential audio commentary, don't worry; we've got still got two.  One by Billy himself, Jimmy McNichol, and one by co-writers Steven Breimer (who also produced) and Alan Jay Glueckman.  We also get on-camera interviews with McNichol, Steve Eastman who played the coach, Breimer and effects artist Allan Apone, plus the original theatrical trailer.  Thankfully, the blu-ray carries over absolutely everything from the DVD and also has reversible cover art with the Night Warning artwork.

Thank goodness, Severin was able to include that Tyrrell interview, along with all the other Code Red extras.  They've come up with a bunch more stuff, too, including an audio commentary by producer Eugene Mazzola, moderated by Red Shirt's Michael Felsher.  It's one of those meandering ones that interviews him about his career more than this specific film, but it's still interesting.  We've also got some great, new on-camera interviews with Bo Svenson(!), director of photography Robbie Greenberg and editor Ted Nicolaou.  Yes, that Ted Nicolaou.  They've also dug up an additional TV spot.  The first pressing comes in a slipcover, and both pressings include reversible cover art.  None of the three art pieces they chose use the classic "evil eye" imagery, however.

I - as I'm sure many of you felt - was quite reluctant to double-dip on this title in 2017.  After all, most of us who bought the DVD edition in 2014 only did so after being flat-out guaranteed repeatedly that a blu-ray was impossible.  So seeing a replacement roll out after that felt a bit like being conned.  But considering the deluxe treatment Severin's giving it now, I feel much better about the triple-dip.  😎