6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 5.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
Jack Chandler is a private eye tracking down Samantha the runaway. In his travels, he comes across a gang of chainsaw weilding prostitutes that like to carve people up for their cult.
Starring: Gunnar Hansen, Linnea Quigley, John Henry Richardson, Dawn Wildsmith, Michelle BauerHorror | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
None
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Fred Olen Ray's "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers" (1988) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors 88 Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new audio commentary by Fred Olen Ray and cult filmmaker David Decoteau; exclusive new audio commentary by genre expert Callum Wadell and author Justin Kerswell; making of documentary; Hal Kennedy's film "Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout Video" (1990); and more. The release also arrives with a leaflet featuring an interview with actor Gunnar Hansen conducted by Calum Waddell. In English, without optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
"You construction workers really turn me on..."
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Fred Olen Ray's Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors 88 Films.
The technical presentation is somewhat inconsistent, but the producers of the disc should not be blamed for the obvious fluctuations -- or at least not for the most obvious fluctuations. Indeed, a long time ago, HBO apparently borrowed the negative for Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers to make their own transfer. When eventually they sent it back, reel #1 was missing. The first seven minutes of the film were then reconstructed from an answer print, but scratches, density and some minor stability issues remained (see screencaptures #1 and 6). The current transfer has been sourced from a recent master struck from a 2K scan. It is quite good, but it has been sharpened (see screencapture #8). Detail is pleasing, but it is obvious that without the sharpening the film could have had a much more convincing organic appearance. Colors are stable and well saturated. There are no large debris, cuts, or stains, but a few tiny specks occasionally pop up here and there and a couple of vertical lines remain. (The vertical lines seen early into the film are inherited from the answer print; some additional small imperfections remain as well). Finally, while there are no major encoding anomalies, some light compression artifacts occasionally can be spotted (see the upper right side of screencapture #10). All in all, the technical presentation is a bit uneven, but for the most part the issues addressed above are quite easy to tolerate. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free Blu-ray player in order to access its content).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.
I viewed the film with the 2.0 track. Clarity and depth are mostly good, but some extremely light background hiss occasionally makes its presence felt (see the footage around 00:08:22). There is some general unevenness as well -- the narration and the dialog could be better balanced in different parts of the film. Still, these are not issues that will affect negatively your viewing experience. There are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.
Fred Olen Ray's Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers is a trashy slasher that could be a lot of fun if seen late at night with the right group of friends. The folks over at Maxim Magazine apparently liked it quite a lot because they voted it "the 4th greatest B-movie of all time". British distributors 88 Films have produced a very nice Blu-ray release of Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers with plenty of excellent supplemental features. If you like the film, pick up a copy for your collection and make sure to spend some time with the two audio commentaries. RECOMMENDED.
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