Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Streets Of Death (Culture Shock Releasing) Blu-ray Review

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • Streets Of Death (Culture Shock Releasing) Blu-ray Review

    Click image for larger version  Name:	cover.jpg Views:	1 Size:	23.5 KB ID:	401519

    Released by: Culture Shock Releasing
    Released on: September 27th, 2022.
    Director: Jeff Hathcock
    Cast: Larry Thomas, Guy Ecker, Simon Di Soto, Tommy Kirk, Susanne Smith, Lawrence Scott
    Year: 1988
    Purchase From Amazon

    Streets Of Death – Movie Review:

    Directed by Jeff Hathcock two years after his first shot on video picture, Night Ripper, 1988’s Streets Of Death takes us to Los Angeles where someone is stalking the city and murdering hookers, leaving the bodies of these poor street walkers for the cops to deal with. The two detectives assigned to the case are Bernie Navarre (Simon de Soto) and Grant Jordan (Lawrence Scott), with some help from a foxy vice cop named Kelly Anderson (Susanne Smith) who, predictably, goes undercover as a hooker in an effort to draw the killer out of hiding so that the problem can be properly dealt with.

    What the cops don’t realize, at least initially, is that there are actually two killers working together here in the form of Artie Benson (Larry Thomas) and Lenny Miller (Guy Ecker). They’re quite easily able to lure their victims into the ideal locations to kill them by posing as documentary filmmakers trying to finish a piece on the state of prostitution in the City Of Angels, and most of the women they talk to are happy to share their stories with the men and their camera – until they aren’t. Eventually, Bernie’s former partner, Frank Phillips (Tommy Kirk), shows up on the scene and wants to help them whether they want him to or not, while Grant puzzlingly decides that it would be a good idea to try and woo Kelly all while everyone one what they can to put a stop to what is essentially a snuff film ring.

    There aren’t a lot of effective twists in the movie, we know pretty early on who is behind it all and what they’re up to, but Streets Of Death has an admirably scuzzy, DIY feel to it that goes a long way to making it as watchable as it is. The movie has some decent nudity and gore in it, highlighted by a grisly drilling scene, not shying away from the exploitative side of the story it tries to tell, and better than average production values for a lower budgeted, shot on video genre film from the eighties. The cinematography and location work is solid, giving the movie a ‘bigger’ look than you’d probably expect, with cinematographer Michael N. J. Wright using some interesting angles and creative camerawork to help keep things interesting.

    The performances are decent, if never amazing. De Soto and Scott are okay as the two tough guy cops trying to see that justice is served and Susanne Smith, who also worked on Night Ripper, is decent enough as the undercover cop. Larry Thomas, best known as The Soup Nazi on Seinfeld but who also appeared in Night Ripper, makes a good team with Guy Ecker, they’re well-cast as the killers and chew a little bit of scenery here and there to nice effect. It’s odd seeing child star Tommy Kirk, from The Mickey Mouse Club and The Hardy Boys, show up in the movie and his presence here is an odd casting choice but he’s entertaining enough to watch in his role.

    Overall, if the plot isn’t the most original or remarkable story to ever be told in a movie, it’s paced well and fans of low budget horror and SOV oddities will find much to enjoy here. Attempts to mix humor with the more serious side of the story don’t always work and there are some odd shifts in tone here for that reason, but overall, this is pretty entertaining.

    Streets Of Death – Blu-ray Review:

    Culture Shock Releasing brings Streets Of Death to Region Free Blu-ray famed at 1.33.1 fullframe and presented in AVC encoded 1080i high definition. Up-resed from the original master tape and using up 17GBs of space on a 25GB disc, this ninety-four minute feature looks as good as it probably can and it offers a more than watchable presentation given the film’s analog origins. Colors look surprisingly good for most of the movie, though shadow detail can get lost in some of the movie’s darker moments. Compression is pretty solid and the image is clean enough. No problems here, for an SOV movie this is a nice transfer.

    The only audio option for Streets Of Death is a 24-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Mono tracks in English. Optional English subtitles are provided. Audio quality mirrors the video quality, in that it isn’t reference quality but it is perfectly fine given the elements available to work with and the film’s origins. Dialogue is generally clean and clear and properly balanced, though things can be a little flat in spots and there are a few lines that are a bit muffled. The score sounds pretty good though.

    Extras start off with a commentary by the five members of the Movie Melt! Grindhouse And Exploitation Podcast that is loaded with samples, music clips and fake clapping along with a lot of goofy jokes and quips. There is some talk here about Jeff Hathcock's career and some of the film's he has made in addition to Streets Of Death, the shooting locations and casting decisions on display in the movie but most of it is the cast members laughing at giggling amongst themselves.

    A twenty minute interview with director Jeff Hathcock titled Jeff Hathcock: Director Of Death is much more interesting. He talks here about where he gets some of his ideas for his movies from, how as a director he tries to think his movies through in terms of visuals, what went into casting the movie and trying to avoid clichés in that regard, getting former Disney star Tommy Kirk in the movie and what he was like to work with, trying to keep things fun on set, memories of shooting some of the nastier scenes in the movie and how he feels about the movie in hindsight.

    A fifteen minute interview with actor Larry Thomas titled Larry Thomas And Snuff Comedy sees the actor talk about working with Hathcock again after Night Ripper, thoughts on his acting during this early period in his career, his thoughts on playing a villain in a horror movie, memories of working with some of his co-stars, what he learned about acting from these early projects, helping Hathcock cast a scene, the cult following that exists for Night Ripper and Streets Of Death and his thoughts on horror movies in general.

    We also get a twelve minute interview with cinematographer Michael N. J. Wright titled Michael N. J. Wright: Shots Of Death. He speaks here about how he got the job on the project after graduating from the American Film Institute, his film background and the learning curve that he had to deal with when shooting on video, what it was like working with Hathcock, his thoughts on the graphic content in the movie, influences on his work, having to work on a really low budget, having to shoot certain scenes guerilla style and how appreciative he was and still is to have had the opportunity to shoot the movie.

    Rounding out the extras on the disc are a still gallery, a selection of Culture Shock Releasing trailers (Death Collector, Girlfriend From Hell, Slash Dance and The Video Murders), menus and chapter selection options. We also get some nice reversible cover sleeve art with this release.

    Streets Of Death - The Final Word:

    Streets Of Death might be, tonally, very uneven but it’s a pretty ambitious SOV horror picture with some better than expected acting and production values to complement a few healthy doses of goofy, sleazy slasher movie shenanigans. The Blu-ray release from Culture Shock looks and sound as good as it probably can and includes some interesting interviews that do a good job of shedding some light on the movie’s history.


    Click on the images below, or right click and open in a new window, for full sized Streets Of Death Blu-ray screen caps!

    Click image for larger version  Name:	01.jpg Views:	1 Size:	163.1 KB ID:	401520

    Click image for larger version  Name:	02.jpg Views:	1 Size:	164.2 KB ID:	401521

    Click image for larger version  Name:	03.jpg Views:	1 Size:	180.5 KB ID:	401524

    Click image for larger version  Name:	04.jpg Views:	1 Size:	190.3 KB ID:	401523

    Click image for larger version  Name:	05.jpg Views:	1 Size:	199.4 KB ID:	401525

    Click image for larger version  Name:	06.jpg Views:	1 Size:	174.5 KB ID:	401522

    Click image for larger version  Name:	07.jpg Views:	1 Size:	185.6 KB ID:	401531

    Click image for larger version  Name:	08.jpg Views:	1 Size:	205.5 KB ID:	401532

    Click image for larger version  Name:	09.jpg Views:	1 Size:	164.9 KB ID:	401527

    Click image for larger version  Name:	10.jpg Views:	1 Size:	209.6 KB ID:	401533

    Click image for larger version  Name:	11.jpg Views:	1 Size:	150.9 KB ID:	401526

    Click image for larger version  Name:	12.jpg Views:	1 Size:	177.4 KB ID:	401530

    Click image for larger version  Name:	13.jpg Views:	1 Size:	157.3 KB ID:	401529

    Click image for larger version  Name:	14.jpg Views:	1 Size:	156.6 KB ID:	401528

    Click image for larger version  Name:	15.jpg Views:	1 Size:	200.8 KB ID:	401534
      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Severin Films
      Released on: April 30th, 2024.
      Director: Lee Frost
      Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
      Year: 1969
      Purchase From Amazon

      Hot Spur – Movie Review:

      Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
    • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mondo Macabro
      Released on: April 9th, 2024.
      Director: Max Pecas
      Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
      Year: 1985
      Purchase From Amazon

      Death Squad – Movie Review:

      Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
    • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Quality X
      Released on: February 28th, 2024.
      Director: Chuck Vincent
      Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
      Year: 1982
      Purchase From Amazon

      Roommates – Movie Review:

      Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
    • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Blue Underground
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Jess Franco
      Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
      Year: 1970
      Purchase From Amazon

      Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

      Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
    • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Saul Bass
      Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
      Year: 1974
      Purchase From Amazon

      Phase IV – Movie Review:

      Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
    • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Radiance Films
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
      Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
      Year: 1969-1972
      Purchase From Amazon

      The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

      Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
      ...
      03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
    Working...
    X