Ethan Riley
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- Oct 12, 2005
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- Ethan Riley
We haven't really done an all-encompassing "Obscure Films" thread in a while, so I thought it would be time to start fresh. This time, we can focus on movies that were perhaps big in their day but are now sadly forgotten. Or movies that were obscure in their day but easily became favorites of yours. The chances of any of these kinds of films actually making it to blu are probably slim, but you never know--surprises happen every month. Here's just three films to start us off with. These films that aren't exactly unknown, but deserve far more home video attention than they've gotten: HOMEBODIES (1974) Frances Fuller leads a troupe of seniors about to be unfairly evicted from their boarding house. In true black comedy style, the seniors start to take matters into their own withered hands and murder and mayhem ensue. Hardly a work of art, and nowhere near as funny or memorable as its closest antecedent (Arsenic and Old Lace) but it still retains some delicious, devilish charm. This one came out on a (now rare) vhs nearly 20 years ago; never made it dvd as far as I know. This is one of those delightful, otherwise unknown films that played and played on HBO way back in the day. THE CHANGELING (1979) No, this has nothing to do with Angelina Jolie and her missing son! This one stars George C. Scott as a widower who moves into a spooky mansion with a spooky ghost. This is one of those rare believable "haunted house" movies that does away with over-the-top special effects, demonic possession and so on. Despite its supernatural subject matter, it remains rooted in reality (as far as a ghost movie can, that is). The ghostly happenings aren't nearly as interesting, however, as Scott's detective work--trying to solve the mystery of who is haunting his house and why. The results are satisfying and memorable. This had a cheapy dvd about 10 years ago; the transfer wasn't very good IMO so an upgrade might be in order. FROM NOON TILL THREE (1976) Western starring Charles Bronson, slightly breaking his own mold as he dips into comedy/drama for a brief change. Outlaw Bronson briefly hides out in widow Jill Ireland's isolated mansion where within the course of three short hours, they begin and end an epic romance. And that's the first half. The second half shatters all expectations from the first half, defies romantic convention and challenges the Aristotelian unities. I can't believe this film is so little known--it bears closer scrutiny, I think. Maybe it's because the ending is kind of a downer, but it does, I believe--make an interesting statement. This films was on vhs, LD (I think) and it popped up recently for download at amazon, (proving that there's interest), but no physical copy. There is an Asian dvd version floating around, which I think was an illegal port from a LD. Even if the film is slightly tough to take, it deserves a better home video version simply for the amazing Elmer Bernstein score--one of his best. Please add in countless lists of your favorites! For this thread, try to point out their merits as films worthy of further attention. If you can, research their past home video woes, in order to justify an upgrade, as we all know that thousands of films deserve a home video upgrade. I think the worst they've had it on home video justifies an upgrade all the way to blu--because we're in the blu age, and just putting out obscure films on dvd isn't going to cut it, because then we'll say, 'that was nice, but now I want it on blu!' And don't leave out all those amazing films that have never been on home video at all...!