5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Schlock, a prehistoric apeman who falls in love with a teenage blind beauty and terrorizes her Southern California suburb. Schlock is no ordinary simian; he possesses some very unusual skills. Among other things, he plays the piano and gives TV interviews. In this hysterical spoof of early monster movies and missing-link science fiction films, John Landis pays homage to the monster movies of the past with irreverent humor and wacky hijinks.
Starring: John Landis, Saul Kahan, Eliza Roberts, Walter Levine, Harriet MedinComedy | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
John Landis is just one of many talking heads offering bouquets to Larry Cohen in the recently reviewed King Cohen, a review where I had the temerity to suggest that at least some of Cohen’s cinematic output was “undeniably schlocky”. As if to underline that point, next up in my review queue came Landis’ premiere big screen achievement, Schlock, a kind of daffy send up of the already gonzo Trog (a film which kind of surprisingly still seems to be lacking a domestic Blu-ray release). Schlock may not have the (questionable?) blandishments of a star like Joan Crawford, but it’s goofily entertaining in its own small scale way as it documents the adventures of prehistoric apeman Schlock (John Landis himself in some early makeup by Rick Baker). Landis and Baker contribute a highly enjoyable commentary (ported over from the Anchor Bay DVD release) that in its own way echoes some of Larry Cohen's comments about low budget filmmaking in King Cohen, and in fact both Landis and Baker repeatedly joke about having nothing to do with the finished film they're commenting on, as if to suggest they don't want anyone taking anything about Schlock even slightly seriously.
Schlock is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following brief verbiage about the transfer:
Schlock is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with 1.0 mono sound. The newly restored 4K master was provided by Turbine Media Group.The back cover of this release gives a little further information, stating that the 4K restoration was culled from the original camera negative. (I'm assuming this must be from the same master that Turbine itself released for the German market last year.) With an understanding and appreciation for the less than stellar budget and shooting conditions for the film, this is a generally great looking transfer, with some nicely vivid blues especially in the (many) outside scenes, and with consistently good detail levels providing precise looks at things like Schlock's unkempt fur. There are some minor variances in color temperature and densities (including in some of the outdoor scenes, as can be seen in the some of the screenshots accompanying this review), and grain structure is just a tad uneven at times, though resolves naturally throughout the presentation. While there's no mention of the typical damage elimination efforts made in most restorations, I noticed no really major signs of age related wear and tear.
Schlock features an LPCM Mono track which suffices perfectly well for the film's limited sonics. While David Gibson's score does provide a few moments of energy, a lot of the film is given over to completely lunatic dialogue, and the LPCM track renders that without any issues. While it's not mentioned in the insert booklet, I'm wondering if at least some of the outside material may have been post dubbed, since sync appeared just a bit loose on a couple of occasions. Otherwise, though, this is a problem free track that may not provide a lot of "wow" factor, but which similarly has no problems to report.
- 1972 Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:34)
- 1979 Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:38)
- 1982 "Banana Monster" Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:31)
- Radio Spots (2:19)
If you're on the hunt for high-falutin' intellectualizin' entertainment, you'd best keep looking, for huge swaths of Schlock are pretty juvenile, though commendably also completely self aware about how unrepentantly stupid some of the humor is. I personally was laughing out loud at several junctures in Schlock, and my hunch is those who like other early Landis films like The Kentucky Fried Movie will find a lot to like in this one as well. This release sports solid technical merits and comes with some appealing supplements. Recommended.
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