6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
A jazz singer is on the road when her car breaks down in an isolated spot. Unfortunately for her, the only place to turn for help is a lodge that is run by a former starlet and a homicial Elvis impersonator.
Starring: Shelley Winters, Ted Cassidy, Slim Pickens, Leslie Uggams, Michael ChristianHorror | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Leslie Uggams must have an incredible sense of humor. She managed to completely laugh off the viral video that showed her utterly forgetting the lyric to “June is Bustin’ Out All Over” at a July 4th Pops concert, devolving into a lame brained assemblage of nonsense syllables that presaged Serene Branson’s “migraine aura” viral video of recent vintage. Uggams’ video could have seriously derailed the singer’s career had it not been dealt with in such a self-deprecatingly facile way. And Uggams seems to have also reconciled herself to having starred in one of the most bizarre and unseemly films of all time, Poor Pretty Eddie, a 1975 opus that managed, like the cockroach, to survive well over a decade in a variety of edits and with a variety of titles, despite having been critically reviled from its first appearance. Like so many odd films, it somehow attained cult status through the years, most likely from a younger audience which was willing to look past its patently smarmy elements and simply enjoy it for the proto-camp experience it could be. A certain amount of “herbal enhancement” may have played into this latter day appreciation, for the film has a drug-imbued surreality that makes it one of the weirdest film experiences of all time, especially considering it features a fairly well known cast, including Uggams herself, Shelley Winters, Ted Cassidy (Lurch from The Addams Family), and great character actors Slim Pickens and Dub Taylor. This is a film which reeks of decay and decadence, and as Uggams herself avers in the nicely detailed notes accompanying this Blu-ray as a text extra on the disc itself, the making of Poor Pretty Eddie would probably make for a more entertaining feature than the actual film.
Yes, this transfer has digital noise reduction, so if you're a DNR-phobe, simply move on, as nothing I'm about to say will matter very much. Poor Pretty Eddie is another public domain feature restored for Blu-ray by HD Cinema Classics/Film Chest. Anyone who doubts any significant restoration beyond overly aggressive DNR was done on this title need only look at the restoration demo included on the disc. The 35mm print utilized for the master is literally littered with virtually nonstop vertical green scratches, most of which have been removed. Color doesn't seem to have been retimed, at least not significantly, and so things have a slightly ruddy cast some of the time. But let's face it. Though filmed in Technicolor (and mid-70s Technicolor was not the Technicolor of yore), this was never a big budget film, and that low budget indie ethos shines (if that's the right word) through virtually every frame of Poor Pretty Eddie. This was never a glossy, pretty film to begin with and it still isn't. The DNR applied means there's an overly smooth texture to this release, but it also means that we have a largely blemish free image. Color is certainly above average, if not mind blowingly robust, given the low budget confines of the original film. Contrast is on the low side, as it obviously has been from day one, and therefore detail tends to get lost in some of the darker interior scenes. The image is also very soft most of the time, but, again, that's how this film looked from day one. But overall, this is the second color film HD Cinema Classics/Film Chest has released in the last week or so (The Terror being the other), and the results, while not perfect, are not as hideously troublesome as those who want grain, and lots of it, seem to think.
Poor Pretty Eddie is granted only a standard Dolby Digital 2.0 mix on this Blu-ray, and the soundtrack itself, while not overtly damaged, suffers from an unpleasant narrowness and almost painful brightness on the high end at times. When you add in director Robinson's predilection for liking to add all sorts of hallucinogenic sound effects, things like slowed down screams, manic grunts and groans and the like, this becomes a bit of a chore to sit through. Dialogue is usually fairly crisp, though occasional moments are a bit hard to understand, probably due to the original recording and not enough time or money to effectively ADR loop afterwards. This is at a bare minimum a serviceable track, nothing more, nothing less. The good news is, you'll probably be so astounded by the imagery you won't be paying any attention to what anyone is saying anyway.
For the first time in the brief Blu-ray output from HD Cinema Classics/Film Chest, we get what I consider to be "real" supplements, ported over from their affiliate label Cultra's recent SE DVD release of Poor Pretty Eddie:
Poor, sweet Leslie Uggams. This gifted performer, who rose to fame on the Mitch Miller show and then won a Tony Award for Hallelujah, Baby! had the unpleasant task of replacing the Smothers Brothers when they were canned by CBS. Uggams' variety show sank like an anchor, and her film career never really took off, either, but she's still out there slugging and attempting to remember the lyric to "June is Bustin' Out All Over." She has the grace to laugh about Poor Pretty Eddie, so the rest of us probably should, too. This is a pretty smarmy little enterprise, however, and it will take a certain intestinal fortitude to make it through, even taken with a dose of salt or, indeed, "herbal enhancement." I can't outright recommend this film, but for a certain element who loves trashy cult films, you may have finally found your Holy Grail. It's wearing an Elvis costume.
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