Knight at HOME at the Movies
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A Month of Halloween Movie DVDs starts right now!
First up, naturally, the first "official" gay entry in the horror genre and two classics celebrating their 75th birthdays.
First up, naturally, the first "official" gay entry in the horror genre and two classics celebrating their 75th birthdays.
When Hellbent (out on DVD from Liberation Entertainment), the first gay slasher
picture, was shown in theatres last fall I admit I went a bit gaga over it. It wasn’t
just the cast of male hunkies (with a Big Daddy Shirtless Muscle Man topping the list
as the sickle wielding, masked killer), the atmospheric lighting, or the goth metal
soundtrack by a host of homocore bands. Nor was it the typical dumb dumb story.
Nope – what put me firmly in Hellbent’s corner was the fact that I – an avid fan of the
horror genre and a gay man to boot – could finally luxuriate in a film that combined
these two seemingly disparate elements.
While Hellbent may not have the high gore quotient so au courant at the moment, it
has more than enough for the squeamish (over here!). The DVD includes a 20
minute making of featurette that walks through the movie with the cast members,
producers and directors and then also provides background on the shoot itself. I
didn’t know until I watched this that former porn performer Colton Ford was even in
the movie and we still don’t find out what motivates the killer though writer-director
Paul Etheredge-Ouzts (who is gay, thank God) hints that it might have something to
do with his sexuality. I was a tad upset to learn that few in this all male cast are
actually queer (though they all play gay characters) but whatcha gonna do? I guess
what we’ve always done – keep projecting. Now where’s that sequel Mr. Etheredge-
Ouzts?!
In the spring of 2004 Universal released Legacy Collections of Dracula, Frankenstein
and The Wolf Man (these were later followed by Mummy, Creature of the Black
Lagoon and Invisible Man sets). These first three multi-discs sets were brought out
in conjunction with the theatrical release of the Hugh Jackman-Kate Beckinsale
vehicle, Van Helsing (all three monsters figured into the plot). Though the Jackman
film performed below expectations, it’s a meticulously designed film and isn’t half
bad (with the additional compensation of Jackman shirtless, naturally). If Van
Helsing wasn’t the greatest, the Legacy Collections were – all the classic (and not so
classic) films of each of the respective monsters and a wealth of special material
were included in each of the sets. Dracula even included the Spanish version – with
its more fluid camera work.
So now, just a little over two years later, why go out and buy the double disc 75th
anniversary editions of both Dracula and Frankenstein? First off, though both
sets contain much of the same special material there are new career overview
documentaries (each running over 30 minutes) on both Karloff and Lugosi as well as
one of those “pop up” on screen factoid feature for each of the movies. There’s
also a feature length 1998 documentary on both sets narrated by Kenneth Branagh
(in conjunction with his version of Frankenstein) that takes a close look at the roots of
Universal’s fascination and success with the monster genre and has a lot of rare film
clips and interviews.
But the real reason to rush out and buy these two sets is because neither Dracula nor
Frankenstein has ever looked or sounded quite so good before these editions.
Universal has worked hard to clean up the print on each and done what it can with
the muddy sound (they are from 1931, the dawn of the sound era after all) and the
results are striking. I’m hanging on to my Legacy Collection sets – but only until
Universal gives their other monster sequels this same meticulous restoration. One
can hope it will happen, at any rate -- maybe by next Halloween, say?
picture, was shown in theatres last fall I admit I went a bit gaga over it. It wasn’t
just the cast of male hunkies (with a Big Daddy Shirtless Muscle Man topping the list
as the sickle wielding, masked killer), the atmospheric lighting, or the goth metal
soundtrack by a host of homocore bands. Nor was it the typical dumb dumb story.
Nope – what put me firmly in Hellbent’s corner was the fact that I – an avid fan of the
horror genre and a gay man to boot – could finally luxuriate in a film that combined
these two seemingly disparate elements.
While Hellbent may not have the high gore quotient so au courant at the moment, it
has more than enough for the squeamish (over here!). The DVD includes a 20
minute making of featurette that walks through the movie with the cast members,
producers and directors and then also provides background on the shoot itself. I
didn’t know until I watched this that former porn performer Colton Ford was even in
the movie and we still don’t find out what motivates the killer though writer-director
Paul Etheredge-Ouzts (who is gay, thank God) hints that it might have something to
do with his sexuality. I was a tad upset to learn that few in this all male cast are
actually queer (though they all play gay characters) but whatcha gonna do? I guess
what we’ve always done – keep projecting. Now where’s that sequel Mr. Etheredge-
Ouzts?!
In the spring of 2004 Universal released Legacy Collections of Dracula, Frankenstein
and The Wolf Man (these were later followed by Mummy, Creature of the Black
Lagoon and Invisible Man sets). These first three multi-discs sets were brought out
in conjunction with the theatrical release of the Hugh Jackman-Kate Beckinsale
vehicle, Van Helsing (all three monsters figured into the plot). Though the Jackman
film performed below expectations, it’s a meticulously designed film and isn’t half
bad (with the additional compensation of Jackman shirtless, naturally). If Van
Helsing wasn’t the greatest, the Legacy Collections were – all the classic (and not so
classic) films of each of the respective monsters and a wealth of special material
were included in each of the sets. Dracula even included the Spanish version – with
its more fluid camera work.
So now, just a little over two years later, why go out and buy the double disc 75th
anniversary editions of both Dracula and Frankenstein? First off, though both
sets contain much of the same special material there are new career overview
documentaries (each running over 30 minutes) on both Karloff and Lugosi as well as
one of those “pop up” on screen factoid feature for each of the movies. There’s
also a feature length 1998 documentary on both sets narrated by Kenneth Branagh
(in conjunction with his version of Frankenstein) that takes a close look at the roots of
Universal’s fascination and success with the monster genre and has a lot of rare film
clips and interviews.
But the real reason to rush out and buy these two sets is because neither Dracula nor
Frankenstein has ever looked or sounded quite so good before these editions.
Universal has worked hard to clean up the print on each and done what it can with
the muddy sound (they are from 1931, the dawn of the sound era after all) and the
results are striking. I’m hanging on to my Legacy Collection sets – but only until
Universal gives their other monster sequels this same meticulous restoration. One
can hope it will happen, at any rate -- maybe by next Halloween, say?
