Plot: What’s it about?
Arrow Video always surprises me with their label’s choices. Over the years they have released an incredible amount of hard-to-find cult films into the high definition format. Some of these releases are incredibly divisive titles and some show director’s as they worked to hone their craft. Some of these titles are well regarded classics. It is all over the board, but their dedication to making each release the best it could possibly be is the defining characteristic that these releases share. Their most recent release Schlock is the first film by director John Landis. It is admittedly not great, but the story behind the film itself is pretty fascinating.
Schlock begins with a news reporter talking about the strange series of murders that have taken place in town from “the Banana Killer.” The body count has been in the hundreds. As the film progresses it is discovered that the killer is the missing link between man and ape (played by John Landis himself.)
Schlock is a satire of a movie John Landis saw called Trog which was the last movie that Joan Crawford made and is considered to be absolutely terrible. Landis used that film as a starting point to make his first film on a budget of $60,000. The film is pretty pedestrian and not all that great, but it does have some moments that made me giggle along the way. Honestly, the film itself is more of a curiosity than a legitimate film.
This film can be thanked for launching the careers of two people: John Landis and Rick Baker. John Landis had basically been screwed out of a directing job by the Director’s Guild and this was his way of getting back at them. John discovered Rick Baker at his house and hired him with a budget of $10,000. Amazingly enough, Rick Baker’s work on the film still looks impressive forty-five years later. John Landis had to direct the film over the eleven-day shoot in his makeup and ape suit in incredibly hot weather. The entire story can be found in the interview with Landis on this disk.
In essence, this movie is not all that great, even Landis says that it is pretty bad, but the story behind it is pretty great.
Video: How’s it look?
This new transfer from Arrow Video uses an MPEG-4 AVC encoding of the film in 1.85:1. This is an excellent example of a low-budget film given a very high quality transfer. The film was very low budget so temper your expectations to fit the original quality of the film but the actual transfer maintains a truly impressive amount of detail. While the movie won’t win any awards for its cinematography or how the film looks, the transfer will please any and all fans of the film. I don’t think it would be possible to make the film look better.
Audio: How’s it sound?
Arrow Video have provided a good quality LPCM Mono track. As per usual, Arrow have done a commendable job of removing hiss from the track and allowing dialogue to be audible throughout the film. This movie is pretty zany and the sound design reflects that with occasionally loud moments from the score. I didn’t hear anything that put me off.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Interview – cinematographer Robert E. Collins. He discusses working with Rick Baker and a director in a money suit. He passed away in 2008.
- Birth of a Schlock! – this interview with John Landis is the main reason to check out this release. The story of how he funded this film, landed Rick Baker, and received distribution is well worth your time and is actually a much better use of time than the actual movie. This is an absolutely excellent interview. This interview was originally for the Turbine release.
- Schlock Defrosted – a new interview with film critic Kim Newman. I enjoyed this interview’s discussion of the filmmakers that fit the same mold as Landis despite drawing a couple conclusions differently. Worthwhile if not entirely convincing.
- Audio Commentary – John Landis and Rick Baker – a great commentary track that was recorded for the Anchor Bay release a few years back. Good stuff.
- Promotional Material – 1972,1979, 1982 “Banana Monster” trailers and radio spots.
The Bottom Line
Schlock is a midnight movie that has its moments but survives more as a curiosity for launching the careers of John Landis and Rick Baker. The movie itself is pretty bad but it isn’t completely awful. Arrow Video has done a superb job on the transfer of the film, so fans should be delighted with the results. For myself, I found that the special features were far better than the film itself. The extended interview with Landis where he discusses how this film came about is the real meat and potatoes on this disk.
