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Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 29th, 2025.
Director: Russ Meyer
Cast: Raven De La Croix, Edward Schaaf, Robert McLane, Elaine Collins, Candy Samples
Year: 1976
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Up! – Movie Review:
“No fairy tale...this!”
A hyper-stylish mix of sex, violence, and absurdist comedy, Russ Meyer’s 1976 film, Up!, opens with a man named Adolf Schwartz (Edward Schaaf), who we are led to believe is Adolf Hitler, living in hiding in a secluded European-style mansion somewhere in a remote California forest. Here he’s participating in an orgy with The Headsperson (Candy Samples), The Ethiopian Chef (Elaine Collins), Limehouse (Su Ling) and a man named Paul (Robert McLane), but a short time later, he winds up dead when someone puts a piranha in the bathtub with him. His killer is a mysterious woman who sets off a chaotic chain of events in a small town nearby where the presence of the logging industry is surpassed only by the constant barrage of lust, secrets, and strange characters.
From here, the movie follows the shapely Margo Winchester (the beautiful Raven De La Croix), a gorgeous but elusive drifter who arrives in town unannounced and who soon finds herself entangled in the town’s web of sexual intrigue – it seems that everyone in this town is fucking! It isn’t long after her arrival that Margo crosses paths with a bizarre mix of the town’s populace, including a corrupt sheriff named Homer Johnson (Monty Bane) and Leonard Box (Larry Dean). The wealthy and sadistic son of lumber magnate who winds up raping her. Margo kills him in retaliation and although Homer sees it happens, he turns a blind eye to it, instead opting to use what he knows to coerce her into sleeping with him.
Soon enough, Margo is working at a diner owned by Sweet Li'l Alice (Janet Wood), who just so happens to be married to Paul, who was having sed at Hitler’s orgy in the opening sequence. Soon enough, all sorts of people are having all sorts of affairs and all sorts of sex and, of course being that this is a Russ Meyer movie, various extremely buxom nymphomaniacal women are involved! As all of this plays out, Margo’s real purpose in town soon becomes clear, leading to some truly Shakespearean twists and turns.
Narrated, tongue-in-cheek, by a Greek Chorus-style character (played a fully nude and soon to be Meyer favorite, Kitten Natividad, no less), the film benefits from that manic energy the director brought to his best projects, showcasing Meyer’s trademark visual style—fast cuts, buxom women, and absurdist humor. As the body count rises and Margo’s true motives are revealed, Up! becomes both a gleeful parody of exploitation cinema and, simultaneously, a fantastic example of it.
Unafraid to throw political correctness to the wind, Up! is ridiculously fast paced and a whole lot of fun. Trigger warning – there is a fair bit of sexual assault in this movie and it’s the only Meyer film to feature death by chainsaw – but it’s all played so broadly and so over the top that it’s impossible to take it all too seriously. All involved seem to be having a whole lot of fun making it and, as Meyer’s tongue was clearly placed firmly in cheek, it’s hard not to go along with the insane spirit of it all. The performances are over the top and the use of violence in the movie, stronger here than in a lot of the director’s other films, hits pretty hard while still retaining that over-the-top vibe that he was so clearly going for.
Up! – Blu-ray Review:
Severin brings Up! to UHD in an HEVC encoded 2160p transfer framed at 1.85.1 with HDR10 scanned in 4K from the original negative and restored Severin Films. Granted, the best versions we have to compare this to on home video are ancient PAL DVD editions or older laserdisc releases but the increase in picture quality and stability here is, like the earlier Severin/RM Films collaborations, very impressive. There’s no noticeable print damage here at all, but the natural film grain that should be there is perfectly preserved, always resolving properly and never getting clumpy or proving distracting. Colors look perfect, nice and natural throughout, while skin tones – important in a movie like this, and pretty much omnipresent throughout the duration of the film! – are appropriately fleshy in appearance, never too pink or to orange. Black levels are spot on, and the transfers shows no obvious issues with any noise reduction, crush or compression-related problems. There’s so much more depth, detail and texture here compared to past versions that it’s almost like seeing the movie again for the first time, the image is essentially flawless, and, once again, fans of Meyer’s work should be extremely happy with how this has turned out.
The only audio option for the feature is a 24-bit DTS-HD Mono track in the film’s original English language with closed captioning provided, also in English. Again, no problems to note here. The track is clean and nicely balanced, free of any hiss, distortion or sibilance and offering perfectly audible dialogue throughout the feature. For an older mono mix, there’s more depth here than you’d likely expect there to be, and Igo Kantor’s wonderfully quirky score sounds excellent here.
An audio Commentary with Film Historian Elizabeth Purchell starts off the extra features, and it covers why she's fascinated with the film and the influence that Meyer's work has had on her over the years, what sets the director's work apart from other exploitation filmmakers, why the film remains an underrated entry in his catalogue, the quality of the cinematography, the editing in the film, the influence of Al Capp's Lil' Abner comics on Meyer's work, the use of sexualized violence in the movie, where Meyer's life and career were at during this period in time, how the film was promoted, the director's relationship with the gay community, the portrayal of women in his films, how the locations used in the movie tie into its sex scenes, Meyer's relationship with his crew, details on the cast that he worked with on this film, thoughts on the characters in the movie and why, in a strange way, Purchell feels this is Meyer's sweetest films.
No Fairy Tale...This! is an interview with Actress Raven De La Croix that runs eighteen minutes. In this piece she talks about how she got discovered by the film's casting director while waiting for a salad, meeting Russ Meyer for the first time at twenty-six years old and not knowing who he was, her background as a nude dancer, what it was like on set, getting along with Uschi Digard, memories of shooting specifics scenes, some of the locations that were used for the shoot, thoughts on her co-stars, the physicality required for certain scenes, her thoughts on the script, Meyer's directorial style, touring for the film's release and plenty more.
The disc also includes a radio spot, as well as menus and chapter selection options.
This release also comes packaged with a nice matte-finish slipcover.
Up! - The Final Word:
Up! is definitely a highlight in the Meyer filmography, an absolutely bonkers mix of sex, sin and silliness presented as only Meyer could. The UHD/Blu-ray release from Severin Films could have used a few more extras but the commentary and featurette are both excellent and the presentation nothing short of beautiful. Highly recommended!
Click on the images below, or right click and open in a new window, for full sized Up! Blu-ray screen caps!
