SCHLOCK (John Landis, 1973) -- Arrow Video, October 16th, 2018

[bruce holecheck]

Due 10/16.

A LOVE STRANGER THAN KING KONG!

From writer/director John Landis, the mind behind The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London, comes a love story that transcends the boundaries of nature and good taste – the one and only Schlock!

Carnage! Terror! Banana skins! The mighty prehistoric ape Schlocktropus has emerged from hiding to embark on a full-scale rampage across a quiet Southern Californian suburb. The police are baffled. The army is powerless. The body count is rising. But when Schlocktropus encounters a kindly blind woman (Eliza Garrett, National Lampoon’s Animal House) who sees beyond his grotesque visage, the homicidal simian is presented with a chance at redemption…

Shot over twelve days on a micro-budget, Schlock launched the careers of both Landis and legendary effects makeup artist Rick Baker (Videodrome). An uproarious pastiche of monster movies, packed to the gills with irreverent humour and biting satire, Schlock serves as the outrageous missing link between the creature features of yesteryear and its creators’ subsequent varied and celebrated careers.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
• 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original lossless mono soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by writer/director John Landis and makeup artist Rick Baker
• New video interview with author and critic Kim Newman
• Birth of a Schlock, a 2017 video interview with John Landis
• Archival video interview with cinematographer Bob Collins
• 1972, 1979 and 1982 US theatrical trailers
• US radio spots
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Joe Bob Briggs

SCHLOCK - Original Trailer - YouTube

[The Great Owl]

I remember seeing this on a late night channel during childhood, except that it was simply called The Banana Monster on that channel.

[stobbart]

Glad I have the German release, much prefer that artwork and packaging.

[gobad2003]

Nice, I almost bought the German mediabook of this, Glad I waited

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by stobbart

Glad I have the German release, much prefer that artwork and packaging.

Have to disagree. The artwork here is MUCH better than the German one. The cover here really covers the tone of the film more accurately despite it not being the original poster.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by stobbart

Glad I have the German release, much prefer that artwork and packaging.

You're probably unaware, but Arrow does original poster art on the reverse, and the same cover from the German release will be on the other side of this one.

[TheHutt]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

You're probably unaware, but Arrow does original poster art on the reverse, and the same cover from the German release will be on the other side of this one.

True. But the German also has the old German poster in the booklet which is way more revealing.

[TheHutt]

Well, the German one is still the first one around. Plus, Arrow will use Turbine's 4K restoration for their picture master, as well as the new Landis interview.

As for the bonus materials: both releases are actually fluffed with material not related to the original filmmakers: Turbine has a German video comentary by some film videobloggers whereas Arrow has some "retrospective" interview with a "film historian". Other than that, they seem identical in that area. Except for Turbine's hilarious intro by Landis, obviously missing from Arrow.

The booklet of the German release (I think 40 pages, one half English, one half German) is also quite a nice read with some production photos. I doubt the Arrow one will be as informative (they usually go for the 'essay' format instead).

[TravelNurseRN]

What region? A or free I hope.

[babybreese]

A/B on this one.

[oikophobia]

Awesome.

[thecooldud]

Another one I've never heard of but looks fun!
Oh, my poor bank balance...

[MikeyMicrowave]

Oddly enough my copy came with the original artwork on the front side and the newly commissioned artwork on the reverse. It's not even the same art that we've seen posted most places, albeit the differences are minor. Just a different colour scheme/description on the front...

[Show spoiler]

[Member-222782]

Thank goodness for trailers. Now I KNOW I don't want this. What are they supposed to be making fun of? Planet of the Apes? Bigfoot movies?

[GasmaskAvenger]

More like a parody of 50s monster mashes.

I'm game, as it looks like good ol' fashioned dumb fun.

[DukeTogo84]

Haven't seen this one, but looks good. I'm a fan of early Landis.

[MikeyMicrowave]

Watched it last night and LOVED it. Don't bother purchasing if you hate fun. Highly highly recommended!

[DukeTogo84]

Just watched this. Fun film and holy crap. Can't believe how good this movie looks. Great restoration job on this one.

[hockeyshark91]

I'm just finding out now that the movie was released by Arrow. I just received my French Carlotta Films version from France. Seems to be the same disc, and it has a nice slipcase. So I guess no double dipping for this title.

[bagdul]

What a nice surprise. Reminds me of that hilarious Lost Skeleton of Cadavra movie from 10 years back.