Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Supercock Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 25, 2019

Gus Trikonis' "Supercock" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Garagehouse Pictures. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive new audio commentary by director/producer Fred Olen Ray; archival audio interview with actor Ross Hagan; and a gallery of trailers. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The American

It is not a coincidence that virtually all of the truly wild and crazy films from the ‘70s were made in the Philippines. The place was cheap, full of ready-and-willing talent, and eager to do business with America so that the shaky regime there can strengthen its image. The Philippines was the dream Mecca for visionary businessmen like Roger Corman and they took full advantage of it.

Gus Trikonis’ Supercock is one of those so-wild-it-is-hard-to-believe-it-exists ‘70s projects that was made entirely on location in the Philippines. However, what makes this particular film memorable isn’t the presence of loony content, rather it is the odd concept behind it. Indeed, its narrative incorporates cockfighting, the Philippines’ national ‘sport’ and obsession, in pretty much the same fashion that Bloodsport and its various sequels embrace boxing. Needless to say, the film offers a very, very different type of entertainment.

Some of the more uneven sequences and editing choices make it clear that Trikonis wasn’t given a big budget to work with, but the raw appearance of the visuals actually helps his film look strangely authentic. Well, not in the same way that an exotic documentary does, but there is something about the crowds in and an around the cockfighting arena for instance that feels entirely legit.

The action begins immediately after the opening credits disappear. Somewhere in the slums of Manilla a group of shady characters corner a thief who has stolen a young bird from the Nono brothers -- Heeno, Seeno, and Speeno (Louie Florentino, Subas Herrero, Joonee Gamboa) -- who control the local cockfighting business. (A big deal). After the thief is taught a painful lesson, one of the brothers orders his trusted assistant Yuki Chan (Nancy Kwan) to check again that all of the participants in the highly-anticipated international cockfighting tournament that they are sponsoring are on their way and then gather additional information about the American. When Yuki befriends the American, it turns out that he is a Texas cowboy named Seth Calhoun (pitch-perfect Ross Hagen) who has never been in this part of the world but plans to win the tournament’s top prize with his cock Friendly so that he can retire in style. However, as far as the Nono brothers are concerned a foreign cock winning on their turf is a big no-no, so they quickly make arrangements to ensure that Calhoun and his champion are separated and therefore unable to participate in the tournament. As the Nono brothers open their bag of dirty tricks, Calhoun hires a local fixer with a serious drinking problem (Tony Lorea) to help him avoid trouble and get him and Friendly to the arena.

The type of contrasts that give Supercock its identity actually have quite a bit in common with the ones that make John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy fascinating to behold. Obviously, Schlesinger is a far superior craftsman than Trikonis, but Calhoun and his fixer for instance have the same bizarre triumphs and failures that Joe Buck and Ratso have in the Big Apple, with the only notable exception being that later into the film Yuki joins them as an interesting x-factor. Even the unfiltered sense of humor freshens up the duo’s adventures in Manila in pretty mush the same fashion. (Do you remember how Buck often misinterprets what is said to him once he goes hustling? Calhoun quite a few such moments as well).

The ‘different’ entertainment is in the final third of the film where the cockfights are. This is the type of material that is almost certainly impossible to shoot now because it will get filmmakers and producers in a lot of trouble -- it is long and some of it is graphic. However, it is not any different than what can be seen and shot on the bullrings across Spain.

*Another very interesting and much better-known film that covers the same subject is Monte Hellman’s Cockfighter, starring Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton.

Supercock Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Gus Trikonis' Supercock arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Garagehouse Pictures.

The release is sourced from a brand new remaster that was struck from the only known surviving 35mm elements, which were acquired from Ross Hagan's estate. Understandably, delineation, clarity and depth are not optimal. Also, density levels are not optimal, and there are some color balance and saturation inconsistencies as well. This being said, the current presentation has the type of organic appearance that one would expect from an aged 35mm print, which means that plenty of proper filmic qualities have been retained. As our screencaptures reveal, close-ups and wider panoramic shots still boast good delineation and in fact routinely convey decent nuances; in some areas even shadow definition is quite pleasing (see screencaptures #3 and 19). The color grading is also convincing for this type of presentation, though as mentioned earlier ideally balance and saturation should be superior. As far as I am concerned the best news here is that no attempts have been made to 'improve' the dated appearance of the film, and this makes all the difference. Yes, the 35mm elements have limitations, but when they are the only ones available this is the right type of organic presentation they should deliver. Well done, Garagehouse Pictures. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Supercock Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

Clarity and sharpness are good, but there are a few areas where some minor unevenness exist. It is pretty obvious that it is how the footage was shot, though, so without a major remastering work it would not have been possible to do any meaningful rebalancing. I was able to follow the dialog without a problem, but optional English SDH should have been included for folks that might need them. There are no distracting distortions or audio dropouts to report.

Supercock Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - a collection of trailers for various Garagehouse Pictures releases.

• Mike Malloy Interviews Ross Hagan - this is a very interesting archival phone interview with the late Ross Hagan in which recalls how Supercock was conceived and shot in the Philippines. One bit from the interview that I found very interesting is Mr. Hagan's claim that James Leo Herlihy was apparently the main catalyst behind Cockfighter, because there are quite a few very intriguing similarities between the film and Midnight Cowboy. The interview was conducted on January 15, 2007. In English, not subtitled. (11 min, 1080i).

• Commentary - this audio commentary was recorded by director/producer Fred Olen Ray (Bikini Drive-In,Sorceress) who admits that he had never seen the film and then veers off in all kinds of different directions, discussing the film business climate in the Philippines during the '70s, Ross Hagen's body of work and personality, different projects that they did together, some shady business practices that some of their colleagues were known for, etc. It is yet another unmissable commentary from the cult director, which was recorded exclusively for Garagehouse Pictures.

• poster - a mini-poster with vintage art.

Supercock Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was pretty sure that a film about gangsters and cockfighting in Manila with Ross Hagen would not disappoint, so when this new release from Garagehouse Pictures arrived in the mail I could not wait to pop the Blu-ray disc into my player. I was right, and Supercock is even wilder than I expected. It is like a low-budget film noir shot in color and gone so bad that even Bogie stopped by to check out the mayhem. (When you see Tony Lorea's fixer, you will know exactly what I mean). Garagehouse Pictures' release is sourced from the only surviving 35mm elements, and I think that the end result is quite nice. Also, the release has a very interesting archival interview with Hagen as well as yet another classic commentary by Fred Olen Ray. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.