I've been visiting the UK for the last couple of weeks, specifically on the search for more Franco and Rollin flicks that might not be available in the region 1 area. I couldn't believe it when I came across Anchor Bay UK's eight-disc Franco box set in HMV for £15 - I nearly died. Of the eight discs, I actually didn't own any previously, the set included Blue Rita, Ilsa the Wicked Warden, Barbed Wire Dolls, Love Camp, Sexy Sisters, Jack the Ripper (with Kinski) -- utterly rad. Speaking of Kinski, both of the Anchor Bay (UK) Herzog and Herzog/Kinski box sets were also around £15. With the currently high Canadian dollar, that's about $23.00 -- and the tax is included in those prices, so there's no additional charge. I also saw tons of Italian, Spanish, Japanese, R1 Criterion and 
exploitation DVDs (region 2, mind you) for £5 to £10, £10 to £20 for the box sets. I started to wonder yesterday if we were completely getting screwed over through retail pricing in Canada. I've paid well over $25 for several of those titles from Blue Underground and Shriek Show. Ah, well, what's done is done, and I have eight new Franco flicks to play with now. On top of that, I've been on the hunt for Blu-rays unavailable in our home region, as well -- and I did find a few, including the previously-reviewed "Welcome to the Jungle". Purchasing this little gem, it got me thinking about the counter-Hollywood style of the film's writing and execution (by Die Hard 3 scripter & Punisher writer/directer Jonathan Hensleigh). A hell of a lot of chatter and getting-to-know-you intermittent with some building suspense up to a gory, bloody third act. Much in the style of the Italian cannibal-horror sub genre, with films like Cannibal Holocaust and Man from Deep River (to name only a slight few). In addition, this got me thinking that Tarantino's own Death Proof more closely followed this writing format, and I actually consider it now closer to the Italian Cannibal genre as opposed to 
the Tarantino-described slasher genre (Tarantino even credits Dario Argento at the end of Grindhouse -- maybe it should have been Umberto Lenzi). Yes, I'm comfortable with viewing Kurt Russel's death proof machine as an allegory for a tribe of Cannibalistic mountain natives, the sets of girls only lost wanderers in the jungle. Regardless, when I get back to Canada, it's going to be all Wicked Wardens and London rippers for this kid. Eight discs is a thick stack to conquer. But first, I must visit Bloodbuster in Milan as the travels and the search for more Euro treasures continue.-V.
1 comment:
Unfortunately, even the little you paid for those Anchor Bay Franco releases may be too much--they were chopped to pieces by the BBFC. Don't feel too bad about those retail prices at home--those BU and Shriek Show discs that cost more are at least intact, content-wise.
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