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Review
by
Nick Coccellato
Film:5
:
DVD:6
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| In
the 1700s an evil witch terrorized a small community in the Transylvanian
hills. To stop her, the citizens formed a mob and exorcised her
in a local lake with what is sure to be the most impractical dunking
device conceived by man. However, they botched the exorcism and
the witch put a curse on their land and its descendants. I hate
it when that happens. |
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Centuries
later, in the 1960s, a young English couple (Barbara Steele of
Black
Sunday and Witchfinder
General's Ian Ogilvy) visits the same area to enjoy a
nice honeymoon in a local hotel. (A honeymoon behind the Iron
Curtain at the height of the Cold War? Hmmm...) However, the manager
(Mel Welles) is a communist perv who scares them out, leading
to a car crash that lands the couple in the same lake that the
witch was exorcised in all those years ago. Can you see where
this is going? |
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Now
the wife is possessed by that horrible witch unless her husband
and Count Von Helsing (John Karlsen) — the great grandson of Professor
Van Helsing — can get her back to the lake and perform
the exorcism correctly. Good luck! |
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The
melodrama is so over the top that every set-piece becomes unintentionally
goofy, if not outright hilarious. There is one intentional moment
of humor that works very well: The witch-wife attacks one victim
with a sickle which gets knocked out of her hand and lands on
top of a hammer, poking fun at the iconic 'workers unite' symbol
of communism. |
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The
She-Beast,
AKA Revenge of the Blood Beast, is one of those movies
that wouldn't be out of place on Mystery Science Theater 3000
back in the show's '90s heyday. The film is bad but not uninteresting,
and there is a lot of the fun to be had in simply watching it
unfurl with its lousy acting and overwrought direction (Michael
Reeves' first feature, mind you). I suggest getting a couple of
friends together, popping open a keg of beer (drink responsibly)
and have a fun time laughing and throwing stuff at the screen. |
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| Dark
Sky did a fine job with this title, which has seen previous DVD
releases via numerous crappy-looking bargain bin editions. The
anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen transfer (from a 35mm print) is surprisingly
sharp for such a low budget feature, though there are moments
when the film image is marred by dust or scratches. The contrast
in some scenes, namely the opening day-for-night shots, leaves
something to be desired. A relatively clean Dolby 2.0 mono soundtrack
serves the audio well. |
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The
only special features are an image gallery and an audio commentary
by producer Paul Maslansky and actors Ogilvy and Steele; one wishes
they had added the theatrical trailer. The gallery has some neat
production stills, but when it gets into the press kit the tiny
print becomes very hard to read. The commentary is full of high
spirits as the producer and stars reminisce about how young they
were and how they couldn't decide whether they were making "a
horror film, a romance, or just a plain comedy."
6/05/10 |
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