Extras: Behind-the-scenes, Photo Gallery, Trailer, Interviews, Production
Notes
Director:
Brian Yuzna
(Beyond Re-Animator, Bride of Re-Animator, The Dentist 1 & 2, Faust: Love of the Damned, Progeny, Return of the Living Dead Part 3, Society)
Producers:
Julio Fernandez and Brian Yuzna
Screenplay:
David Quinn
Music:
Xavier Capellas
Cast:
John: Mark Frost
Jade de Camp: Isabel Brook
Lt Dan Margolies: Jeffrey Combs
Claire: Monica Van Campen
Blue: Jennifer Rope
Newscaster: Leslie Charles
M: Andrew Divoff
John Jaspers - nutty psycho or just a misunderstood guy?
Could be either but he doesn't have a very good start when his girlfriend
is sadistically killed right in front of him and he's promised the chance to
get revenge when he meet the non-Bond M (Andrew Divoff), who provides
John with long silver blades that shoot out from his wrists, rather like
Wolverine in
X-Men with which
to strike back.
Not everyone understands him though and the mental and physical torture that
ensues includes being locked in a mental asylum under the investigation of
psychiatrist Jade de Camp (Isabel Brook), but also being buried alive
by M and having to fight your way out. What follows is far from original as
John, now known as Faust, believes he has sold his soul to M in return for his
new persona, behaves like some kind of superhero doing all the things that a
superhero does such as saving the pretty maiden psychiatrist when she gets
into a scrape. Yes, it's a "Beauty and the Beast" situation.
There's also many a scene that doesn't make a massive amount of
sense but then they're not really meant to, as well as plenty of gore including
one kinky sex scene that goes far beyond what you'd even expect from a
Michael Hutchence home movie.
Also along for the ride and on John's trail is Lt Dan Margolies played by
Jeffrey Combs who at times appears rather like an older Jim Carrey
and just as manic. Most recently he has been seen in the UK in Peter Jackson's
fantastic
The Frighteners
alongside Michael J. Fox. Andrew Divoff makes for an intriguing
and self-indulgent bad guy.
Highly-recommended stuff for the schlock-horror lovers who don't hanker for
complete originality but love what they are given done very well.
John goes for a double-header.
Both the sound and picture on this disc are absolutely first-rate. The film
is framed in the original 16:9 and is anamorphic. Inventive use of special FX
as the director teams up again with Screaming Mad George, the print is
free of any defects and crisp and clear. The print has an intentionally slick
look to it and the blood flows a glorious shade of red.
The sound is in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is well-used throughout the film. Whereas
most movies would only go to town on the odd occasion in the sonic department,
this one throws in sharp cutting noises to striking effect most of the time
while creating soft, subtle and subdued scenes at others, the use of the
DD5.1 soundtrack in those circumstances creating a delightful and enveloping
sense of surround sound which slightly deafens as it pleases.
Jordan's plastic surgery goes one step too far.
The extras begin with a 2-minute Trailer and a 4½-minute
Behind-the-scenes featurette, but all the latter is is some of the
filming on set mixed in with the respective film clips and nothing more.
The Interviews last barely six minutes and feature the director plus
Mark Frost and Isabel Brook. All of this footage is in anamorphic 16:9.
There are 12 pics in the Photo Gallery and Production Notes
on the cast and crew, the special effects, a comment from the director and
Fantastic Factory for whom this was their first film.
As for chaptering, there's not many with only 15. All the menus are static
and only the main one features sound. There are no subtitles unfortunately.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
