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“Killer Constable” * (1980, Arrow Video) A fortune in gold has been stolen from the Forbidden City, and the Dowager Empress knows who should retrieve it: court constable Leng Tian-Ying (Chen Kuan-tai), known by the title sobriquet for his murder-first-ask-questions-later approach to police work. Leng finds and brutally dispatches some of the culprits, but also discovers that a) his violent strategy isn’t favored by his downtrodden constituents (as an assistant constable learns the hard way), and b) he may be working for the real criminals. Grim, hard-bitten period swordplay action from the Shaw Brothers Studios and director Kuei Chih-hung, who divided his career between critiques of Hong Kong social and political inequalities and bizarre horror and exploitation titles (like the hard-to-believe “Boxer’s Omen”). “Constable” is firmly in the former camp, eschewing the flash and spectacle of wuxia films in favor of an almost noir-ish examination of reaping what one sows through scene after scene of merciless, unheroic violence, often photographed in darkness or ugly settings (lots of mud). The end result may be a downer for Shaw Bros fans hoping for pure swordplay, but may prove compelling for both casual viewers and serious Shaw scholars, who may also note, with no amusement, how Leng’s take-no-prisoners aesthetic is embraced by our current administration (see Representative Victoria Sparz’s recent comments on due process). Arrow’s Blu-ray, part of its colossal “ShawScope Vol. 3” collection, features a 2K remaster with Mandarin and English audio tracks, and three separate commentary tracks by historians/critics Tony Rayns, Frank Djeng, and Brian Bankston, as well as scenes from a South Korean version of the film (which is featured in its entirety on a bonus disc), alternate titles, and Chinese and English-language trailers.
“The Glass Web” (1953, Kino Lorber) Clever, underserved noir from Universal, made eminently more watchable by the 3-D process, which was restored for this disc by the 3-D Film Archive. John Forsythe and Edward G. Robinson are writer and fastidious researcher, respectively, for a live true crime TV series, but are further linked by predatory blonde Kathleen Hughes, who threatens Forsythe with blackmail for their previous affair while stringing along the sweaty, fumbling Robinson. It’s Forsythe’s turn to sweat when Hughes turns up dead (he was spotted near her digs before the murder), and even more so when Robinson decides to make her murder the focus of their show’s next episode. The pulpier elements of the premise from a novel by Max Erlich) are made palatable by the cast and direction by Jack Arnold, who, save for one sequence, uses the 3-D process for atmosphere (there’s a clever bit involving a sudden blackout) and fine detail, a notion central to the film itself and the solution of the mystery. With Richard Denning, who reunited with Arnold a year later for “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” and Rhubarb the Cat; Kino’s Blu-ray offers both the restored 3-D and 2-D versions of “Glass Web,” as well as commentary by Dr. Jason Ney, who provides production history and choice anecdotes on Robinson (who was in a career slump due to blacklisting) and unsavory details about Arnold; an audio interview with Hughes is also included on the track, as well as comments by 3D experts Mike Ballew and Greg Kintz, who detail the film’s restoration.
“Antiviral” * (2012, Severin Films) Gruesome meditation on celebrity obsession and concierge medicine taken to its most extreme forms, with Caleb Landry Jones as an employee of a company that sells viruses culled from famous figures to sell and inject into their most ardent fans. Jones, an enterprising hustler with a mile-wide amoral streak, reaps the financial benefits of stealing the viruses and selling them to a black market, but his method of smuggling the germs – injecting himself with the pathogens – hits a snag when the most popular item, a virus from top-tier starlet Sarah Gadon, appears to be lethal. Director Brandon Cronenberg has fashioned an icy, sterile world that compares favorably to those seen in the films of his father, director David Cronenberg, and further echoes those efforts by imaging a world hinged on an axis of science and obsession, where viruses are a commodity and sickness a method of transformation. Father and son also share an affection for icy reserve and copious gore that may repel as many viewers as it attracts, but hardy constitutions may also find “Antiviral” compelling and chilling, especially as one considers the current broken state of our science and health systems and fascination for valueless fame. Severin’s Limited Edition 3-disc 4k UHD/Blu-ray set includes both the theatrical and “Cannes” version of the films (with six minutes trimmed from the theatrical release), as well as commentary by Cronenberg and DP Karim Hussein, deleted scenes (with commentary), Cronenberg’s short film “Broken Tulips,” multiple making-of and EPK featurettes, and interviews with Jones, Gadon, and production designer Arvinder Greywal.
“Eighteen Years in Prison” * (1967, Radiance Films) Though ostensibly a Japanese gangster film, director Tai Kato uses the genre framework to address the larger concern of his country’s state after World War II and the moral crisis imposed upon its soldiers as they returned to civilian life. Former real-life yakuza Noburo Ando stars as a kamikaze captain who forms a black market business with fellow soldier Asao Koike to aid the families of military men killed in action. Their ultimate goal is to go legitimate, but the plan is upended when the pair is caught and Ando takes the fall for his partner. Prison proves even more formidable than the outside world thanks to a semi-fascist guard system (embodied by a brutal Tomisaburo Wakayama from the “Lone Wolf and Cub” films), but Ando finds motivation to survive when he learns that Koike has used his freedom to build a yakuza outfit that preys on the people they once swore to help. Starkly grim and violent but never excessively so, “Eighteen Years” saves its heat for a meditation on a traumatized country processing its grief by embracing or turning away from honor and tradition; as such,, it may prove less impactful than better-known Japanese gangster films, but remains compelling all the same. Radiance FIlms’ all-region Blu-ray includes visual essays on Kato and Ando’s film careers by Tony Rayns and on Japanese prison films by Tom Mes, who also pens the liner notes.
“Cop Killers” * (1973, MVD Classics) MVD’s packaging suggests that this grimy exploitation film takes place in New York City, but the action is set and photographed entirely in some of the dustier sections of Arizona; there, shaggy dealers Jason Williams and Bill Osco (the star and producer, respectively, of “Flesh Gordon”) make their connection for a cocaine sale, but as the title suggests, police intervene and come to regret it. What follows is a loosely constructed take on a violent crime spree that involves, at various times, a youthful hostage, an ice cream truck, and a hippie commune-cum-drug stash, which the pair address with all the subtlety and patience of a homeowner discovering a nest of ants under the sink. The end result of an attempt by the primary movers behind “Gordon” to shore up some fast money after the film was banned as obscene, “Cop Killers” has a ’70s adults-only aesthetic (Osco, director Walter R. Cichy, and producer Howard Ziehm all worked in that industry), and as such, may be easily dismissed by all but the grindhouse faithful; those willing to ride along with Williams and Osco may find the relentless nihilism amusing or exhausting, depending on their own emotional weather system. MVD Classics’ Blu-ray ports over a commentary track by and interview with Williams, along with the original trailer.
