|
|
 |
Vengeance of the Zombies AKA La Rebelión de las muertas (1973) - Special Edition
R0 - America - BCI/Deimos Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Jari Kovalainen (12th August 2007). |
|
The Film
 US-based “Deimos Entertainment” has launched their “The Spanish Horror Collection”-line with the long-awaited films by writer/actor Jacinto Molina - better know as “Paul Naschy” (e.g. in this film, screenwriting credits are under the name “Molina” and the acting credits under the name “Naschy”). Naschy’s long list of portraying movie monsters (the most famous one being the “werewolf count” Waldemar Daninsky) will have a couple of new additions in “Vengeance of the Zombies AKA La Rebelión de Las Muertas”. The film opens with a gloomy scene from the cemetery, where a pair of local grave robbers will meet their ghastly faith; They’re suddenly locked at the scene of the crime in the crypt, while the strange masked man (with a cloth) will perform some kind of voodoo-ritual outside. Alas, the dead woman Gloria (Norma Kastel - as Norma Kastell) rises from the dead, killing both of the robbers. From this dark and bloody scene we’ll move to the groovy and lively London, where the Hindu fakir/guru Krisna (Paul Naschy) is presiding over a purification session for his followers. Among the guests are Krisna’s friend Elvire Irving (Romy - as Rommy) and Doctor Lawrence Redgrave (Víctor Barrera - as Vic Winner, e.g. from “Hunchback of the Morgue AKA El Jorobado de la Morgue (1973)”), known psychiatrist and the scholar in the occult and black magic. Elvire will learn that Krisna is moving to the small town in Llangwell to meditate and meet his visitors there. After the sudden and horrible death of her father (which happens during the strange, hallucinative nightmare), Elvire decides to follow Krisna. It’s also evident that the dead (now resurrected!) girl Gloria was her cousin and dear friend, so Elvire needs some time to heal from the loss. After arriving to Llangwell, Elvire hears that Krisna has bought the “devil’s house” that has been considered as cursed. There Krisna lives among a few of his closest allies, including Kala (Mirta Miller - e.g. “Dr. Jekyll vs. the Werewolf AKA Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo (1972)”), who has the love interest for his master. Elvire soon dreams again, this time about the Satan himself (again Paul Naschy) and at the same time the “masked killer” will strike again elsewhere, claiming more bodies. Now the Scotland Yard back in London is interested in these strange murders and asks guidance from Doctor Redgrave. It seems that someone is murdering people, then stealing the bodies (!) and then resurrecting them back to life (!!) – In order to create zombie followers (!!!). Is it already too late for Elvire, who has found herself in the middle of the profound evil? “Vengeance of the Zombies” by director León Klimovsky (who directed several films for Naschy) is a odd hybrid of Giallo (masked killer stalking), a zombie film (not anywhere near to Romero and his like, though), voodoo (dolls set on fire) and the 1970s “trippy” psychedelia. While it’s not entirely a very good film - as in horror wise, it’s rather well structured visually, not rushed or sloppily put together. Many compositions and editing decisions feel well planned and the low budget-values are not always that visible (minor slow motion is put to good use, together with wide angle shots). The pace of the narrative is another story, however since the bodies are popping back to life from time to time and the blood will spill from the knife or in the soda can (yep, first time I’ve seen someone killed by the soda can), the “horror” is often missing. It’s replaced by the scenes that are part hallucinations, part dreams and part reality. Some of the Giallo-type of murders are quite effective, but the zombies pretty much lack anything that I could consider “scary” (they’re mainly women with faces painted in grey). While these similar “un-dead” women often work well in the Jean Rollin-movie, they’re not that effective mixed together with Giallo and psychedelic elements. I also have to wonder that who made the faithful decision to include the almost on-going “jazz-groovy” theme in the film by composer Juan Carlos Calderón? In another film (Italian Polizia-genre perhaps) the music would’ve been suitable, but not in this one. To make things even worse, it’s added to the scenes that should have focused on “horror” and tension, but it’s hard to take anything very seriously when you feel more like dancing than watching the film. Granted, the tone of the film is partly “hippy and trippy”, but next time; leave it out of the horror-sequences. There are also scenes that are too long and rather meaningless, and it seems like since they’ve shot some material in London, they wanted to use it all (Krisna visiting back in London later on in the film particularly comes to mind). One scene involving what I assume is a real chicken is not particularly pleasant, so the faint hearted might want to close their eyes for that one. “Vengeance of the Zombies” is an interesting film, which rarely feels truly “bad” or too low budget. It has some sections that work, but then some that doesn’t fair that well. It’s a production from its era and it shows, but it displays solid filmmaking and well worth to seeing for fans of “Euro horror”. There’s probably more to the film than meets the eye the first time around.
Video
“Vengeance of the Zombies” is restored from the film’s original elements (including the English credits) and it shows. The colors are often saturated and vivid, while the black levels are deep. Sharpness level is also solid and the transfer is generally very clean. The film includes some rather dark scenes, but you can still find some detail, thanks to a quality source. It’s still rare that you could create a “perfect” transfer for the low budget film like this one, so the small details on the print can get a bit restless, minor ghosting raises its head and grain is more prominent in some scenes than in others. Some of the skin tones didn’t always look fully natural, but that probably just originates from the film elements. Overall it’s a quite satisfying job all around. The film is presented in “Open matte” 4:3 and while one could argue about that decision (the film has been shown at least in 1.66.1 on the big screen, perhaps even 1.85:1), it’s perfectly suitable way to see the film. Based on “Deimos”, some problems occurred when converting the 4:3-source to anamorphic widescreen, so eventually they decided to release the film in 4:3. The cover advertises that the film is “mastered in High Definition”, which could be a bit misleading to some. The transfer is indeed taken from the new HD-master (the company has hinted that the HD-version could arrive in the future), but obviously the DVD is mastered in 480 (NTSC) standard definition. Do note that the transfer includes the “International version” of the film, with a few scenes of minor nudity intact; the “Spanish version” includes “clothes scenes” instead. “Dual layer” disc is coded “R0” and runs 88:52 minutes (NTSC). There are 16 chapters.
Audio
The film includes three audio options; Castilian Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono and quite surprisingly also English Dolby Digital 5.1. Optional English subtitles are included and they’re not “dub-titles”. Although all are dubs, I preferred the Spanish track (even when Naschy sadly didn’t dub his own voice), which has some hiss in the background, but which is still a quite decent Mono-track. English Mono sounds a bit clearer and fuller, in case you want to choose that. The dialogue has some minor distortion, so it’s not perfect either. English 5.1-track is loud and might work with that notorious musical score, but sadly the dialogue is mixed to all channels, which makes the whole track sound artificial and unpleasant (as we know, the right place for the basic dialogue is mainly that “front center” channel in the 5.1-track). Since the track also some sync-issues (it’s slightly “more” out of sync than the other dubs), 5.1-tracks feels like a missed opportunity. The company has informed that the decision to add the weak 5.1-track was made by the authoring house, which is one more reason to stick with the Mono-tracks. Do note that with both of the English tracks, one short scene (63:39 - 63:53 min) is in Spanish only, so you have to turn the subs manually “on”.
Extras
If you don’t count the stylish menu-structure, the first extra comes right before the film, in the form of “Introduction by actor/writer Paul Naschy” -featurette, running 1:42 minutes (in Spanish, with “forced” English subtitles). -US theatrical trailer runs 2:24 minutes and you can choose from both the English and Castilian audio via your remote (credits are in English). -Alternate Spanish credit sequences runs 4:44 minutes, including both the opening and end credits in Spanish. The audio track is still in English. -Five alternate scenes run for 3:12 minutes. Some of the sequences for the film were shot twice, “nude” or “clothed”. Since the “nude”-scenes were the ones used in the “International version” of the film (included in this DVD), the alternate “clothed”-versions of those scenes are included here in the extras (they were originally included in the “Spanish version” of the film). Audio is in Castilian, with optional English subtitles: 1 - Olivia (Aurora de Alba) and Absalon (Alfonso de la Vega) meet in secrecy in “Kadogan´s Meat Industry”. Now Olivia is in her underwear (not that bad option either, I would say). 2 - Aftermath of the same scene. 3 - One more shot from that scene (before the guard storms in). 4 - Kala (Mirta Miller) and Krisna (Paul Naschy) having a brief intimate moment. This time the Kala´s dress won’t be lowered very much. 5 - After the “chicken scene”, the zombies will rise from the coffins. Their “see-through”-dresses are replaced by something less revealing. -2 Photo galleries are included: *”Film gallery” includes 14 images from the film. *”Poster and lobby card gallery” includes 48 photos (posters, art material, press book-material and lobby cards). 6-page booklet includes liner notes by the “Naschy expert” Marek Lipinski (he also maintains the “The Mark of Naschy” web site). He has been an important contributor in creating these Naschy-DVDs. Keep case comes with cardboard Slip case.
Overall
Paul Naschy-titles have been one of the sought for DVD-releases among the “Euro horror”-fans and now “Deimos” is finally delivering the goods. While “Vengeance of the Zombies” is not an instant classic of the genre, it’s definitely recommended film for the more open-minded and curious horror-fans. DVD-presentation is 4:3, but this is clearly the best presentation of the film in home video. Dig in! For more info, please visit the homepage of Deimos Entertainment.
|
|||||
|