Scalpel

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Scalpel

#1 Post by Ribs » Tue Nov 28, 2017 1:17 pm

HE LOST THE FACE OF THE WOMAN HE LOVED… SO HE GAVE IT TO SOMEONE ELSE.

US television staple Robert Lansing (Star Trek, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone) stars as a deranged surgeon in this twisty-turny psychological thriller from Blood Rage director John Grissmer.

In Scalpel, Lansing plays Dr. Phillip Reynolds, a man whose daughter Heather (Judith Chapman, As the World Turns, General Hospital) has run away from home a year prior following the suspicious death of her boyfriend. When he happens across a young woman one night, her face beaten beyond recognition, the unhinged Reynolds sees his an opportunity to put his trusty scalpel to use - hatching a plan to “reconstruct” her face in the image of his missing daughter, and so claim her sizeable inheritance.

Photographed by celebrated cinematographer Edward Lachman, who would go on to serve as DP on the likes of Erin Brockovich and The Virgin Suicides, Scalpel is an exemplary slice of Southern-fried gothic, filled finally rescued from VHS obscurity in this revelatory new Blu-ray edition from Arrow Video.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

Brand new 2K restoration from original film elements
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original Uncompressed Mono Audio Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary by film historian Richard Harland Smith
Brand new crew interviews
Original Theatrical Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by The Twins of Evil
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet with new writing on the film by Bill Ackerman

Image

19 February

M Sanderson
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2016 3:43 am

Re: Scalpel

#2 Post by M Sanderson » Sat Dec 02, 2017 6:28 am

A lot of Arrow’s releases are worthy of inclusion in the American Horror Project, which has yet to get a second volume. Stephen Thrower, author of the brilliant Nightmare USA study, which is the genesis of the project, had planned a second volume with a feature on John Grissmer.

Grissmer obviously directed Blood Rage, released earlier by Arrow, a very subversive family horror of genuine artistic merit.

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Scalpel

#3 Post by Ribs » Sat Dec 02, 2017 10:12 am

I believe Fran Simeoni recently told someone at a convention or the like that they had hoped for AHP 2 to have come sooner, but they've carefully curated each set to fit well together and there's one problem holding up the restoration of one of the planned Volume 2 titles which has thrown the entire schedule out of order. I think they've also indicated they're greenlit a third volume as well.

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What A Disgrace
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:34 pm
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Re: Scalpel

#4 Post by What A Disgrace » Sat Dec 02, 2017 12:32 pm

I quite liked Blood Rage too, surprisingly, and that's why I have my eye on this.

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Cronenfly
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm

Re: Scalpel

#5 Post by Cronenfly » Thu Feb 15, 2018 4:00 pm

Just got this and a funny little icon plays over the top right of the screen throughout the movie. It’s small but annoying, and I’m pretty sure it’s not a problem with my player, as I’ve never had another disc do this.

David M.
Joined: Sat May 10, 2008 1:10 pm

Re: Scalpel

#6 Post by David M. » Thu Feb 15, 2018 4:40 pm

Cronenfly wrote:Just got this and a funny little icon plays over the top right of the screen throughout the movie. It’s small but annoying, and I’m pretty sure it’s not a problem with my player, as I’ve never had another disc do this.
We authored this as a multi-angle title to allow the user to switch back and forth between the two different grades on the fly (unlike DVD, on Blu-ray, this doesn't damage picture quality).

Some players' default configurations "helpfully" show an angle icon on screen to remind you constantly that you're watching multiangle content. Look for an option in your BD player menus to turn this "feature" off.

Just in case there are some poorly made players that don't allow this, we added a secret menu that lets you play the versions of the film in isolation. On the CHOOSE VERSION screen, go to the back arrow (third option) and press the right arrow three times. You'll then be able to play the versions separately without the multiangle feature. We put this there in the hope it would never have to be used and that no player manufacturer would be that stupid, but we'd love to know if that's not the case.

By the way, which player is this? Name and shame please :)

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Cronenfly
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm

Re: Scalpel

#7 Post by Cronenfly » Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:46 pm

Thanks for clarifying David. I have a Seiki player with seemingly no option to turn off the angle icon, so I appreciate the hidden menu option. It looked like a player generated icon, but never having watched any multi-angle content before I was unfamiliar with it. It’s usually a fine player, but it regrettably does have this quirk/issue.

David M.
Joined: Sat May 10, 2008 1:10 pm

Re: Scalpel

#8 Post by David M. » Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:56 pm

Ahhh, Seiki. I'm not sure what those are doing to the picture. I'd love to check one out because I hear a lot of people using them as region free players. Which model? Do you know where I can buy one for analysis?

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Cronenfly
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm

Re: Scalpel

#9 Post by Cronenfly » Tue Feb 20, 2018 12:21 am

My model number is SR4KP1, and I got mine from a local outdoors store. Other than that I’m not sure where to get one.

ianungstad
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:20 pm

Re: Scalpel

#10 Post by ianungstad » Tue Feb 20, 2018 1:39 am

Is this any good? There's not a lot of information about this film available on the web.

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Scalpel

#11 Post by Ribs » Sat Mar 03, 2018 1:28 pm


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Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Re: Scalpel

#12 Post by Murdoch » Sun Mar 11, 2018 12:34 am

Cronenfly wrote:My model number is SR4KP1, and I got mine from a local outdoors store. Other than that I’m not sure where to get one.
I just got mine from ABC Warehouse. That's the only place I've found it online, not even eBay had any.

Edit: It appears I got the last one online! Jeez, these things are hard to come by.

M Sanderson
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2016 3:43 am

Re: Scalpel

#13 Post by M Sanderson » Sat Apr 07, 2018 4:18 am

Stephen Thrower was going to write about this, and I believe Blood Rage, in his planned follow up to Nightmare USA.

I found Grissmer’s Blood Rage to be remarkable.

So, interesting that as with Thief, the film is presented with two different colour grades. The DoP wanted to give a feeling of Southern Gothic so used sickly yellows and greens? I didn’t know that these were the colours of Southern Gothic. Interesting that Tobe Hooper, in what I feel are some very undervalued late films in his career, used similar colour schemes.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Scalpel

#14 Post by zedz » Mon Jun 08, 2020 7:56 pm

One of the titles in my Arrow midden I'd been putting off watching on the assumption it would be terrible (and just consider what I have been watching!) But it's a terrific little film. Less trashy than conceptually perverse, with some nicely navigated twists and surprises along the way, and solid craft in front of and behind the camera. For what I assume was a low budget effort a lot of care and attention was put into the photography and effects.

One of the film's twists is unforgivably dumb, however:
SpoilerShow
When Daddy refashions Jane Doe as his substitute daughter, we assume that he had murdered his daughter, along with the various others who'd got in his way, and his scheme doesn't really work any other way. If he honestly has no idea where his daughter is and whether she's alive or dead, then his dastardly plan could be rumbled at any second just by the real daughter turning up. Which she does.

Bonus points, however, for the creepy incestuous implications of the get-rich-quick scheme turning out to be completely intentional all along!
The dual angle is a good solution for what looks like drastically revisionist colour grading by Ed Lachman. Everything in his grading has a golden glow (or piss-yellow tint, if you're uncharitable), which he claims is the look he was going for at the time. I didn't mind it as an artistic decision, but I expect some viewers would want a much more natural and neutral tone.

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:25 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: Scalpel

#15 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Mon Jun 08, 2020 9:13 pm

I have to echo zedz sentiments of what an excellent film this is. This film will forever be burned in my mind as it's actually the last film I saw in the theater before COVID-19 shut down all theaters in Los Angeles. The print I saw was far from piss-yellow and was as pink as they come, completely expected from a low budget genre film of the era. The credits were missing too as the first real jumped into the first scene. I would love to rewatch this just to see the accurate colors on the Arrow Blu-ray.

What makes this film so fun is the conscious perversity and humor it has, including a few deaths that are done with a knowing wink and nudge at their absurdity. But especially in uncomfortable sexual situations we endure that cause the entire audience I saw it with to groan. Robert Lansing is especially great at just playing an absolute dirtbag opportunist.

Well scripted and clever film that's the right amount of sleaze.

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