Criterion Collection: The Graduate
There are no words to describe the mastery of filmmaking that is The Graduate. There are few films that I count as being ‘Perfect Films’, films where everything, direction, writing, acting, editing, sound, lighting, absolutely everything are utterly flawless. Many of its scenes and quotes have become legendary in their own right, but the total film is a stunning study on the uncertainty of entering an adult world and navigating the future. You should really already own a copy and are only reading this to be reassured that you need to buy it again in the Criterion Collection.
Quite simply, you need to own this version. First off, there is the new 4K restoration that is incredibly sharp. The rich colors are crisp and the film grain is there but not overwhelming; this film has never looked better and that would be worth the price all on its own. Second, Criterion has shoved a truly astounding amount of material onto this disc; multiple commentaries and interviews, multiple documentaries and featurettes, and the ubiquitous Criterion essay included in the case.
Scream Factory Double Feature – The Curse/Curse II: The Bite
The Curse
Curse is an adaptation of an HP Lovecraft story about a meteorite that crashes on a farm and dissolves into the groundwater. It poisons the crops and animals and starts to drive the family mad; eventually turning them into monsters. The film itself is a fairly unexceptional 1980’s Italian/American monster horror coproduction; far more interesting is the truly bizarre collection of players involved. The Curse is written by David Chaskin (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Feddy’s Revenge), directed by David Keith (an actor I remember best as the guy who hung himself in An Officer and a Gentleman), starring Wil Wheaton (Pre-Star Trek and they decided to add another L to his name), and co-produced by the great Lucio Fulci (The Beyond). Fulci is rumored to have worked on the gore effects which are a stand out element in the film. The disc only includes the trailer for extras.
Curse II: The Bite
This film is so utterly unrelated to The Curse that the word Curse isn’t even in the film credits, it’s just called The Bite. The plot is a ludicrous story about a man who is bitten by a radioactive snake. Like the world’s worst superhero, he grows a snake for a hand that attacks people with its super tongue and super venom-spitting action. Also, he’s now somehow filled with snakes (!) Watch at your own peril, though it’s bizarre enough to be some fun. There’s a note before the film that they had to make the HD transfer from a positive print and it’s a shaky, ‘crushed blacks’ subpar image. No extras are included for The Bite
Scream Factory Double Feature – Millennium/R.O.T.O.R
Millennium
Millennium is a pretty awesome old school, sci-fi, time travel mystery. Even at the time of its release it was something of an anachronism, a throwback to the days of Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. Kris Kristofferson is NTSB investigator Bill Smith, sent to the site of a 747 plane crash. A black box recording from the flight crew says that somehow the passengers were already dead before the plane hit the ground. Soon after, Bill finds a strange device in the wreckage that stuns him and draws the beautiful time traveler Louise (Cheryl Ladd) back to collect it. This bizarre turn sets Bill down the path to find out what’s happening with these plane wrecks and how are the people from the future are involved.
Millennium is directed by Michael Anderson of Logan’s Run fame and he brings a lot of that epic sci fi storytelling and stylistic flair into this film. It’s full of twists and surprises that keep it fresh and Kristofferson and Ladd have great onscreen chemistry. It is one of those great cult gems that has just never gotten enough attention. The disc includes the theatrical trailer as well as the alternate ending only seen in international release.
R.O.T.O.R
This is a kind of a horror Robocop/Terminator rip-off Hybrid. A prototype police robot gets accidently turned on and goes on a killing spree. I first saw this film when it was a Rifftrax release and it’s otherwise completely unwatchable; poor production values and even worse plot and acting. Buy this disc for Millennium and leave this one alone. The theatrical trailer is included as an extra.
Adam Ruhl is a writer and life long Cinephile. He is the Executive
Cinema Editor of Pop Culture Beast’s Austin branch; covering festivals,
conventions, and new releases. When not filing reports, Adam can be
found stalking Alamo Drafthouse Programmers for leads on upcoming
DrafthouseFilms titles. Adam once blocked Harry Knowles entrance to a
theater until he was given extra tickets to a Roman Polanski movie.