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Without Warning
R0 - America - Dark Sky Films/MPI Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (3rd April 2006). |
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The Film
 The Noir genre peaked in popularity in the late 1940’s to early 50’s and subsequently floundered a decade later when color films became all the rage. Films such as Laura (1944), Dillinger (1945) and The Asphalt Jungle (1950) were among the popular (and some of my personal favorites). Much like any popular flavor of the month, cheap copies or lesser quality versions are released to capitalize, Without Warning is in another line of those B-grade Noirs that were pushed out in the 1950’s. The film had a largely unknown cast, low production values that limits the film to several mundane locations and a story that feels more made-for-TV than a cinematic experience. Without Warning may not appear as a great film but it captures the Noir essence in just over an hour and manages to entertain but that’s really about all it manages to do. Without Warning tells the story of Carl Martin (Adam Williams), a recent widower, professional gardener and on the side serial killer with a taste for blonde bombshell women. When a series of murders are discovered, the L.A.P.D. detective Pete Hamilton (Ed Binns is on the case, and must stop this killer before he strikes again. Carl, eventually takes a liking to the garden supply shop owner’s daughter, Jane Saunders (Meg Randall) who just so happens to be a blonde. Queue suspenseful music. Without Warning is a competent thriller with an unsympathetic killer and a bevy of blonde girls that all seem too old for the parts they’re playing. Let’s start with Carl, the serial killer, he’s largely unsympathetic because he kills without reasons and the filmmakers do not allow the time for the audience to understand his motives, as they are largely unexplained. We are given little time with the antagonist and know virtually nothing of his personality or life, aside form the fact his wife died and he is a gardener by trade. On the flip side the same can be said about his victims, we know nothing of them especially Jane, who we as the audience should feel something towards her character as she is set up as the eventual ‘ultimate kill’ for Carl. However, throughout her ordeal I didn’t really care whether she lived or died. There seems to be an overall sense of detachment with all the characters, in fact the only character we really get to know are the detectives hunting this killer and they end up being cliché cardboard cutout characters that we’ve seen in numerous television shows and movies over the years. Without Warning has nothing special going about it and plays out like a Television episode of whatever cop show was popular in that time. It manages to capture the Noir feel and that’s commendable but a few added minutes of character development was sorely needed and would have made this a much better film.
Video
Presented in the film’s original theatrical ratio of 1.33:1 this full screen image isn’t the best but it does present this film adequately. Film grain is evident on this print as are several forms of damage that crop up every now and then. Sparkle is the most common problem, there are some scenes that are plagued with white speckles, scratches and hairline marks also appear but the worst bit of damage occurs later in the film and a huge dark gash scrolls across the screen. Otherwise the image is relatively sharp and contrast between black and white is consistent.
Audio
Only one soundtrack is included the film’s original English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track. I found this track rather clean, dialogue is distortion free, there was no hiss, pops, crackle or drop-outs that are normally exhibited in films of this age. Dark Sky has done a reasonable clean-up job on this track. Unfortunately this film does not include any subtitles.
Extras
I assume that this film’s theatrical trailer is nowhere to be found, which should explain its omission from this DVD release, considering this is part of dark Sky Film’s lost noir line some information on the film would have been nice, perhaps in the way of liner notes? Unfortunately all we get is a gallery which can be cycled through in less than 30 seconds.
Overall
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