Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Caltiki, the Immortal Monster Blu-ray Movie Review

How do you say 'blob' in Italian?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 17, 2017

The Mayan civilization is one of the most fascinating in the entire history of Mankind, but one thing that has made it even more fascinating for some researchers is the somewhat mysterious circumstances that attended its decline, which happened in a number of “waves” over the course of several centuries. While there was a so-called Preclassic Maya Collapse in the second century, the really mysterious one came several hundred years later, with seemingly inexplicable dissolutions of major population centers throughout the eighth through the tenth centuries. All sorts of hypotheses have been proffered as to what caused this decline and fall, but perhaps none is more whimsical than the one put forth in Caltiki — The Immortal Monster, a kind of goofily engaging Italian science fiction horror hybrid from 1959 that has attained a certain cult status due to the involvement of Mario Bava (Blood and Black Lace, Diabolik). Caltiki — The Immortal Monster posits a (titular) Mayan Goddess who’s out for blood, or at least flesh, and who manifests as a rather amorphously gooey lump that may remind some viewers of another loopy 1950s horror opus, The Blob. While neither of the commentaries included on this new Blu-ray release mention any really overtly direct link between The Blob and Caltiki — The Immortal Monster, other than some obvious presentational similarities in terms of the films’ titular entities, it’s not hard to imagine that screenwriter Filippo Sanjust may have seen the 1958 film with Steve McQueen and decided that a “silly putty” monster might be effective in a different setting. That setting turns out to be Mexico, where a team of archaeologists unearth (actually un-submerge, but I digress) Caltiki from the depths of an immense pool found in an already underground cavern. Of course mayhem ensues and the film plies an often patently ridiculous and florid ambience that reeks of a low budget approach, an aspect which may actually only make the film more appealing to some viewers.

While Bava is credited with cinematography and special effects for Caltiki — The Immortal Monster, both commentators on the Blu-ray note that he actually ended up directing at least part of the film, sharing duties with Riccardo Freda, who apparently was none too happy with the way Bava had been treated on their previous collaboration, I Vampiri, which many experts consider the first horror film of the sound era in Italy’s film industry. (As some of the supplements included on this Blu-ray amply document, Italy didn’t really indulge in horror and science fiction films until a bit after Caltiki — The Immortal Monster came along in 1959.) Bava’s special effects work on the film is actually remarkably commendable, at least considering the miniscule budget with which he was evidently working, and the film begins in fact with a rather nicely done assemblage of matte and glass painting work that evocatively establishes a Mesoamerican locale where pyramids and other statues reside in a lushly forested scene where the foliage threatens to overtake the handiwork of the ancient Mayans.

A scientist named Nieto (Arturo Dominici) emerges from the morass of statuary and overgrowth and stumbles back to a camp, where he promptly collapses. He had been with another explorer, who has now disappeared, and expedition leader Dr. John Fielding (John Merivale) recruits a team to go hunt for the missing member. When Nieto mutters “Caltiki!” repeatedly in his seemingly delusional state, the team aims to discover what happened. After a kind of interesting interstitial development that finds the explorers finding lost "home movies" of a previous expedition that play out in a kind of quasi-found footage ambience that presages such later efforts as The Blair Witch Project, the explorers start poking around a cave that has a huge statue of the goddess, which in turn leads to the discovery of an underground pool, where a brave diver discovers the remains of several previous explorers at water’s bottom, along with a rather vast fortune in jewels and gold. With dreams of untold riches in his mind, the diver insists on going back below to gather more booty, which is when the real problems ensue, as a gigantic, well, blob emerges from the water (after having dispatched with the diver, of course), threatening the entire expedition.

The film subverts some horror tropes by seeming to indicate the monster is destroyed after this initial interchange, but of course that turns out not to be the case. The “science” supposedly underpinning the film involves that regular bugaboo of fifties’ film efforts, radiation, although in this instance that aspect also includes the appearance of a deadly comet. It’s all Grade A ridiculousness, of course, and builds to an appropriately squishy climax as the blob threatens Mrs. Fielding (Didi Perego, billed as Didi Sullivan). Sidebars include a number of weird elements, including a native fertility dance and, just for good measure, an expedition member named Max Gunther (Gerard Haerter) under the sway of the evil Goddess, whose girlfriend Linda (Daniela Rocco) also seems to be some kind of native.

While never all that scary, perhaps due to some not quite ready for prime time performances, the film is still quite effective in terms of some pretty gruesome special effects once it’s established that Caltiki is more or less a flesh eating bacterium (see screenshots 14 and 15 for two pretty grisly examples). The film doesn’t seem to have any cultural “subtext” going on like its American sibling The Blob, despite its international flavor, and while it’s no lost masterpiece, it’s consistently engaging in a typically silly fifties horror B-movie sort of way.

Caltiki, the Immortal Monster Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Caltiki — The Immortal Monster is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. Arrow's typically informative insert booklet provides the following information on the transfer:

Caltiki — The Immortal Monster was restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 with mono sound.

All restoration work was carried out at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. As the original camera negative for this film has been lost, an original 35mm combined dupe negative was deemed to be the best known element in existence. The material was scanned in 2K resolution on a pin-registered Arriscan with a wetgate and was graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master.

Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches were removed thorugh a combination of digital restoration tools. Overall image stability and instances of density fluctuation were also improved.

The original Italian mono soundtrack was transferred from the dupe negative using the Sondor OMA/E with COSP Xi2K technology to minimise optical noise and produce the highest quality results possible. There are times in which audio synchronization will appear slightly loose against the picture, due to the fact that the soundtracks were recorded entirely in post-production. This is correct as per the filmm's original theatrical release.

Considering this was sourced from a dupe negative and that as one of the commentaries mentions the film is often intentionally dark (perhaps to hide the low budget and help to buoy the special effects), the results here are largely very commendable. Contrast is generally excellent, offering a nice rendering of Bava's often quite evocative cinematography. Detail levels are at least decent, and at times very good, especially in some of the more brightly lit moments. Fine detail registers quite well in some close-ups, offering a nicely palpable look at Caltiki's leathery "skin". The darkness along with the duplicate source can offer a pretty gritty grain structure at times as well as at least slightly masking detail levels in the most shadowy sequences. Restoration efforts have delivered elements without any major age related damage issues.

Caltiki, the Immortal Monster Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Caltiki — The Immortal Monsteris presented with LPCM Mono tracks in both Italian and an English dub, though the English version comes with this warning:

The original audio elements for the English version of Caltiki are lost. As a result, this English track was assembled from numerous sources of varying quality. It is recommended that you watch the film in Italian for the optimal viewing experience.

That warning might have also included the fact that aside from the obvious splices and other source related issues on the English track, the English voice actors are almost hilariously hyperbolic a lot of the time, even when delivering supposedly mundane lines. The Italian track is therefore probably rightly recommended, though it's of course obvious that things were post looped and that several of the actors were speaking English during the shoot. Fidelity is okay, though some of the music cues can sound pretty boxy. Dialogue (such as it is) and effects are rendered generally cleanly, if without a lot of low end or ultimate force.

Caltiki, the Immortal Monster Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Tim Lucas


• Commentary by Troy Howarth


• From Quatermass to Caltiki (1080p; 18:13) features the typically engaging Kim Newman, who reviews the "evolution" of monster movies.


• Full Aperture Version (1080p; 1:16:54) contains the following text information as prelude:

  Caltiki — The Immortal Monster was designed to be exhibited in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, and is presented in this form on the default viewing option on this disc.
  
  However, an examination of the elements revealed that, while a significant amount of the film had been shot with an in camera hard matte, much of it — including most of the effects shot created by the film's uncredited seond director Mario Bava — was in fact shot with no in camera matte present. An open matte presentation therefore preserves more of Bava's remarkable effects work.
  
  In consultation with Bava historian Tim Lucas, a decision was made to also provide this alternative, full aperture viewing option, which presents the film as directly captured 35mm dupe negative and provides both an expanded view of the film's effects and a fascinating insight into its "mixed parentage".

  I've included screenshots in positions 16-19 for those interested in seeing what this version looks like. There are some recurrent issues on the right side of the frame which can be seen in some of the screenshots.


• Archival Features

  Riccardo Freda, Forgotten Master (1080i; 19:05) is actually called The Return of Caltiki and features analysis of the film as well as Freda's career.

  The Genesis of Caltiki (1080i; 21:33) features an extended interview with Luigi Cossi, who speaks to the film's place in Italian horror and science fiction history.

  Archival Introduction (1080i; 00:21) offers some brief comments from Stefano Della Casa.

  US Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:07)

  US Opening Titles (1080p; 2:24)

A nicely appointed insert booklet rounds out the supplements.

Caltiki, the Immortal Monster Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Caltiki — The Immortal Monster is a good deal of fun if approached with the right amount of (low?) expectations. Bava's cinematography and special effects are undoubtedly the chief allures of this feature, and as usual Arrow has offered a commendable technical presentation while also featuring some appealing supplements. Recommended.