Kino Lorber’s latest volume of golden-age exploitation schlock, aptly titled Forbidden Fruit, arrives with a double feature of The Pace That Kills and its sound remake, re-titled The Cocaine Fiends, with new remastered versions and insightful commentaries.
The Production: 2/5
“Senses drowned in forbidden pleasure”
The Pace That Kills is the title of both a 1928 silent film, as well as its 1935 sound remake, retitled The Cocaine Fiends upon reissue. It’s your usual sort of sordid story where a girl falls in love with a guy, who gets her hooked on “headache powder.” This leads to horrific nights of partying, loose morals, and getting your brother hooked onto the old nose candy. Throw in a little gangster action, prostitution, and drinking (prohibition was still going on for at least the silent film). The silent film at least has some quite lovely lighting (lensed by Ernest Laszlo), but both are stinkers. The sound film throws in some filler like semi-vaudeville acts that seem to be excuses for the audience to take a toilet or cigarette break.
You may be asking, why even bother with these films? As a long-time fan of the show Mystery Science Theater 3000, I grew to enjoy both the best and worst cinema has to offer. Even if films are themselves bad, they’re still a document of a time and place. And why not have a little fun with the less shining examples of cinema? Kino Lorber and producer Bret Wood have spent the last few years mining the vaults for these golden-age exploitation films – mostly from the 30s and early 40s. That includes the more well-known and seen titles like Reefer Madness, Mom and Dad, Sex Madness, and Child Bride. The topics more often than not center around drug use and sex hygiene, but also dipped into nudism, burlesque, birth control, and sadomasochism. You know, exactly what makes good rock music.
For once, it was at least interesting to see a “drug” film like The Cocaine Fiends actually display somewhat believable conduct. Or so I’m led to believe. I can at least attest to the effects of marijuana use in films like Reefer Madness and Marihuana: Weed That Burns in Hell aren’t exactly accurate (again, so I’m told). I think what makes Kino Lorber’s Forbidden Fruit series special is that these relics are presented in the best quality they have ever been available in (often from original prints or even negatives) and presented with scholarly, as well as entertaining commentaries. My recommendation is to not be as concerned about the quality of the films.
For once, I highly recommend viewing both The Pace That Kills and The Cocaine Fiends with the accompanying commentary tracks for a more fun experience. This is the sixteenth installment of the Forbidden Fruit series on Blu-ray, with more on the way.
Video: 4/5
3D Rating: NA
The Pace That Kills (1928 silent) is presented in 1.33:1 from an original 35mm print that has experienced some nitrate decomposition. While the image has been stabilized, it seems that only a light touch of cleanup have been applied. Kino Lorber has graciously avoided using filtering and noise reduction, but rather present the film as one would experience from a projected print. Grayscale is usually quite nice, damage isn’t too obtrusive outside of the nitrate decomposition. I’d give the silent film around 2.5/5 for image quality.
The Cocaine Fiends (1935) is presented in 1.37:1 and fares much better, taken from what appears to be a mix of camera negative, print, and other elements. Most of the film looks surprisingly great. Again, only light cleanup has been applied, as well as stabilization. I did notice some odd artifacts in highlights at time, which I assume is also nitrate decomposition to a much lesser degree than the silent film. 4/5 for image quality.
Both films feature excellent AVC encodes with an average bitrate of 38mbps. Kudos to Kino Lorber for maxing out the bitrates on the main features, as well as using a BD-50. They could have used a BD-25 without any real quality loss, but I admire their willingness to go the extra mile for even niche films.
Audio: 3.5/5
The Pace That Kills features a brand new piano score by Meg Morley, presented in DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo. Morley’s score is both appropriate and well-matched to the film.
The Cocaine Fiends has a monaural track, also presented in DTS-HD MA 2.0. Fidelity is somewhat limited, likely from the low budget production, but the audio is clear enough. It’s worth noting that there is a stretch of the film near the middle that is presented as audio-only, due to missing footage.
Optional English subtitles are included for The Cocaine Fiends (The Pace That Kills features its original English intertitles).
Special Features: 4/5
Audio commentary on The Cocaine Fiends by exploitation film historian Eric Schaffer. An entertaining track that goes into the the film’s place in exploitation history, as well as background on the cast and crew involved.
Audio commentary on The Pace That Kills by silent film historian Anthony Slide. This is the third commentary by Slide that I’ve had the chance to listen to and he’s quickly becoming one of my favorites. Anything but a dry track, I found watching this with his commentary more entertaining than the heavy-handed film itself. He’s often quite funny with comments on the often dumb plotting and even breaks into a song once.
New Line Cinema re-issue introduction (1:39, HD) – A lengthy text prologue for a 70s reissue that even includes a battered New Line Cinema logo.
Theatrical Trailer (1:47, HD) – from the 70s New Line Cinema reissue
Additional Trailers (all HD):
Marihuana (2:52)
Narcotic (2:30)
Reefer Madness (2:02)
Hopped-Up (2:53)
Overall: 3.5/5
Okay, so these aren’t exactly masterpieces, but The Cocaine Fiends would be a fun movie to watch with friends (perhaps with some chemical assistance). Anthony Slide’s excellent commentary for The Pace That Kills greatly enhanced my viewing of an otherwise unremarkable film.
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