6 | / 10 |
Users | 2.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.3 |
Madam Lilithand her luscious cohorts run a most unusual bordello on the edge of town. They don't just take your money for services rendered - they bleed their customers dry! But wisecracking private eye Rafe Guttman is on the case, and soon he must battle not only a den of scantily clad vampiresses, but also the Reverend Jimmy Current a slick televangelist with an all-powerful talisman.
Starring: Dennis Miller, Erika Eleniak, Angie Everhart, Chris Sarandon, Corey FeldmanHorror | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
In the “sometimes the supplements are more entertaining than the actual film” department, ladies and germs, submitted for your approval (and/or disapproval, as the case may be) Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood. Among other moments of either intentional or unintentional hilarity in a rather in depth making of featurette included on this Blu-ray disc as a supplemental feature, co-scenarist A.L. Katz frankly admits he’s embarrassed by the film and can’t stand to watch it (though he evidently swallowed his pride and/or shame, since he’s one of the people on the disc’s commentary track). Not to be topped by that revelation, the inimitable Corey Feldman complains that this was the only set he ever worked on where he didn’t make friends with any of the cast, and where evidently Dennis Miller was more than a bit of a boor. The whole project seemed to be star crossed from the get go, a veritable phoenix risen from the ashes of a long ago proposed student film that had the imprimatur of Robert Zemeckis, who had in fact years before been one of those very aforementioned students with an idea for a movie. As is kind of jokingly referred to in that making of bonus feature, a “little” entity known as DreamWorks SKG came along in 1994, and Zemeckis found himself being courted to join the ranks there. That put Zemeckis’ home studio Universal into something of a panic, and they were eager to make any deal that would keep Zemeckis cranking out hits for them, and as a result rather interestingly Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood found itself greenlit, despite the fact that evidently very few people associated with the project actually wanted to make it. That evidently included star Dennis Miller, who it is alleged in the featurette attempted to say "no" by requesting an unheard of (at least in terms of Dennis Miller's cinema career) million dollar payday, which was readily agreed to because Joel Silver (one of a gaggle of co-producers) wanted him, even though several other people were opposed to him being in the film.
Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an
AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. While there are some variabilities at play in this presentation, my hunch is many fans of the film will be
generally well pleased with the overall detail levels on display, as well as what is a mostly nicely saturated palette. There are some fluctuations,
however, with what I'm assuming were old style composited effects often looking a bit gritty and less vivid, and even with some non-effects moments
taking momentary downturns in terms of densities and suffusion. Detail levels are rather good for the most part, and unlike many early Universal
efforts, there's grain in abundance, as can clearly be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review. There is a kind of harsh digital quality
at times to this presentation, as can also probably be gleaned from some of the screenshots. My score is 3.25.
Note: I did encounter a couple of anomalies with this disc which I am chalking up some wonky authoring. First of all, aside from chapter
skipping within the feature itself, no chapter skips are available for things like supplements (including the Image Gallery, which comically begins with
instructions to chapter skip through the images). Neither the Main Menu nor the Pop Up Menu buttons work consistently, either (meaning if you want to
exit to the main menu at any time, you need to fast forward through whatever you're watching). Also, in the truly bizarre category, one of
the times I was watching the film (yes, I watched it more than once) the green "Play Film" option from the Main Menu suddenly appeared and would not
go away. Since neither the Main Menu nor the Pop Up Menu buttons did anything, I had to chapter skip (at least that worked) through to the
end of the film and start over, and that time there was no issue.
Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood offers DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 tracks. I toggled between them and didn't notice any huge differences in amplitude, but the surround mix definitely opens things up, especially in both effects sequences, but also in some of the "group action", as in the wild parties at the bordello. There isn't the same sort of consistent surround engagement that some other effects laden Zemeckis offerings have had over the years, but the track is often quite a bit of fun. The 2.0 track does offer good separation and some surprising spaciousness, and the narrower mix may actually improve the prominence of the dialogue in noisier moments. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, and optional English subtitles are available.
Even for those who consider Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood a definite "meh", the making of featurette may prove to be surprisingly entertaining. Fans of the film should be generally well pleased with the technical merits of this release.
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Collector's Edition
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Standard Edition
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Les lèvres rouges | Remastered Special Edition | 4K Restoration
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