Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Dangerous Cargo Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 9, 2020

Kostas Karagiannis's "Dangerous Cargo" (1977) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro. There are no supplemental features on the disc. In Greek, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free..

The girlfriend

How did former Miss Virginia and Miss USA winner Debbie Shelton land a part in this ultra-obscure Greek thriller? Well, it is hard to tell, but there has to be a very interesting story that explains the connection between Shelton and director Kostas Karagiannis. I don’t think that they just happened to be at the same party and while having drinks Karagiannis sold her the character he wanted her to play in his film. How do I know this? Well, let’s just say that this character has to do a few ‘difficult’ scenes that have to be explained in great detail so that later on there isn’t any drama. Or could it be that Karagiannis did sell her a different character? They discussed the film and when later on went to work the character quickly ‘evolved’ and eventually she did what he really wanted her to do. It is not an improbable scenario because at the time Shelton was very young and very ambitious, so more than likely she did not want to earn a reputation as a ‘difficult’ girl that could cause issues on the set. Of course, it could very well be that Karagiannis was entirely honest with Shelton and she agreed to do the part precisely as he had envisioned it. She wanted to get her foot in the door, he offered her a chance, and she took it. (Before her collaboration with Karagiannis, Shelton had appeared in a couple of other low-budget films directed by Greek filmmakers, so she was already making some progress).

The reason I wanted to offer a few speculations about Shelton’s involvement with Dangerous Cargo is this: the entire film feels like a strange extension of a bigger story which must have started when Karagiannis established contact with Shelton, or vice versa. Why? Because without Shelton this film is essentially worthless. It feels like she has a secondary part, but her presence makes the film look coherent and ultimately somewhat attractive. The rest, which is everything from the quality of the script to the performances of the Greek actors to Karagiannis’ direction, is instantly forgettable.

Virtually the entire film is set on a giant Greek ship that is targeted by a small gang of well-connected international scammers. Its captain (Nikos Verlekis), who has brought his girlfriend (Shelton) with him, is completely unaware that the scammers have planted a mole (Kostas Karagiorgis) in his crew and when later on one of his men (Giorgos Hristodoulou) attempts to warn him that something bad is about to happen, he foolishly attempts to punish him. (Of course, it just so happens that this guy is also the former boyfriend of the captain’s girl, so there is plenty of other drama as well). Eventually, the mole convinces the crew to turn against the captain and takes over the radio so that he can receive instructions from his bosses back in America, and as the ship gets closer to Sudan, together they prepare to transfer its illegal cargo to some local buyers. But the mole grows cocky, and after he repeatedly abuses the captain’s girl, at the right time she decides to destroy him.

The production values are modest at best, and it easily shows. The sailors are mostly non-professional actors who try to do what is required of them, but the action and even their exchanges are pretty rough. Karagiannis tries to impress with material where initially Shelton’s character makes love to the captain and her former boyfriend -- though only in his memories -- and then gets abused by the mole. When the mole becomes an animal the camera stays with him a few minutes longer than it should, which is likely the reason why the film has been described as an exploitation thriller.

*Mondo Macabro’s release is sourced from a handsome new master, which was apparently struck from the film’s original camera negative.

Dangerous Cargo Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in aspect ratio of 1.41:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Dangerous Cargo arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro.

The release is sourced from a recent master that is good but a bit uneven. Indeed, excluding a few small color fluctuations, the bulk of the daylight footage looks quite nice. It boasts good clarity and pleasing fluidity, plus some sequences also have very pleasing fluidity. The darker and indoor footage, however, often conveys black crush, which tends to collapse finer nuances. It appears that the grading job was more aggressive than it should have been, but excluding the stronger blacks the produce the crush the overall color balance is actually quite nice. Also, the film looks clean and stable. All in all, despite the minor inconsistencies this is still a very nice technical presentation that makes it easy to enjoy the film. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to access its content regardless of your geographical location).

Dangerous Cargo Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Greek Dolby Digital 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossy track is so good that I am not at all convinced that a lossless track would have made much of a difference. Why? Because the original soundtrack is actually quite fluid, with plenty of organic sounds and noises that enter it as freely as possible. Perhaps there are a few areas where dynamic activity would be expanded with a lossless encode, but I don't think that the difference would be significant. The English translation is very good.

Dangerous Cargo Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - a compilation of trailers for other titles from Mondo Macabro's catalog.

Dangerous Cargo Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dangerous Cargo is a small film that should be of interest only to hardcore fans of Debbie Shelton. It is promoted as an exploitation thriller, and to a certain extent perhaps rightfully so, but I am not convinced that it has the type of material to impress the folks that enjoy exotic/rougher films. I would have loved to see a vintage interview with Shelton in which she explains how she met director Kostas Karagiannis and decided to contribute to his film, but there are no bonus features on the release. If you decide to give Dangerous Cargo a shot, I think that you will enjoy the technial presentation quite a bit because Mondo Macabro's release is sourced from a good recent remaster.