{"id":29699,"date":"2024-10-02T01:30:46","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T08:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=29699"},"modified":"2024-10-02T01:30:46","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T08:30:46","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-the-creature-1977","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=29699","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: THE CREATURE (1977)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cSpecial Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Severin Films is\ncurrently available for purchase.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Very recently, Severin Films released the chilling Spanish\npolitical thriller, A Dog Named\u2026 Vengeance<\/em>, which followed an\nunstoppable German shepherd hunting down an escaped political prison during a\nfascist dictatorship. But that wasn\u2019t the only title about a dog that appeared\nin Spanish cinemas in 1977. There was another drama with activist overtones and,\nwell, a decidedly odder take on canines.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Severin Films is now releasing this title on Blu-ray. The\nCreature<\/em> aka La Criatura<\/em> is from Eloy de la Iglesia, a noted\nmoviemaker in his homeland who also pushed boundaries. In fact, his 1980s\ntitles about youngsters dealing with drug addiction and life on the streets\nhave been hugely influential in Spain and are highly regarded. While he is best\nknown in this part of the world for the graphic but effective 1972 shocker The\nCannibal Man<\/em> aka La Semana del Asesino<\/em>, this picture had a much more\ndifficult time finding audiences abroad. And it isn\u2019t difficult to see why.\nEven though the movie isn\u2019t graphic, its story elements, including that of a\npossible love affair between human and animal, are certainly out there. Severin\nFilms is now presenting the movie on disc scanned in 2K from the original\nnegative.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the story involves popular television show host Marcos\n(Juan Diego) and his wife Cristina (Ana Belen). The marriage is in a terrible\nplace due to issues with fertility. As a result, the workaholic media\npersonality appears to be ignoring his spouse in order to schmooze with an\nextreme right wing political group (who are essentially new stand-ins for\nFrancisco Franco). It\u2019s clear that Marcos is an opportunist ready to acquire\nmore wealth and power by supporting and even becoming a member of the fascist party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When Cristina discovers that she is pregnant, there is some\nreconciliation between them. Sadly, a miscarriage that may or may not have been\ncaused from an interaction with a German shepherd results in more issues.\nMarcos takes Cristina on a beach vacation to recover. While there, a different\nGerman shepherd begins following them around. Cristina asks that they take the\ndog, and Marcos reluctantly agrees. She calls the pet Bruno, and as their\nrelationship suffers more setbacks, Cristina gets closer and closer to the\nanimal while Marcos finds himself on the outs with every being in the home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As mentioned previously, the dynamic between the woman and\ndog does seem unhealthy and downright weird. However, and I can\u2019t believe that\nI have to write this, there is nothing explicit that occurs between the wife\nand her pet. There are certainly allusions to the lady becoming far too close\nto Bruno, as well as an odd dream sequence that depicts Cristina\u2019s jealousy\nwhen Marcos has the dog removed from the home. Still, this is a melodrama that,\nin a rather oddball way, may just be suggesting that Marcos isn\u2019t much\ndifferent from a dog. And at least Bruno really does care for\nCristina.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The political backdrop, including Marcos trying to\ningratiate himself into the fascist party at the expense of all those around\nhim, are effectively relayed. The husband also goes to the Catholic Church for\nadvice about the unwanted pet, and they show themselves to be deeply flawed as\nwell. There are plenty of tense and creepy moments as Marcos deals with a\npotentially violent Bruno. And Marcos doesn\u2019t respond well to stress either,\neventually trying to embark on an affair with co-host Vicky (Claudia Gravi).\nWhen she changes her mind, he gets drunk and rapes Cristina. The spouse does\nhave one good idea in regards to the pet, which involves purchasing a female\ndog for the home to distract Bruno. The jealous Cristina does not respond well\nto this, and the new arrival mysteriously dies only a handful of days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, there is some interesting political material and a\ngrimly amusing war of wills between the nasty TV host and Bruno. It\u2019s\nbeautifully shot as well, although the subject matter doesn\u2019t exactly make the\nmovie light or easy viewing. Cristina isn\u2019t the most relatable character\neither, and some of her actions make her difficult to root for as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, of course, there are a few amusingly out-of-date\ncomments. When Cristina visits a doctor, she\u2019s advised to try and keep her\nsmoking down to less than 9 or 10 cigarettes a day (for the sake of her unborn\nchild). It certainly was a different era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, this is a very strange movie and one that was\nnever destined to reach a large audience. For me, it didn\u2019t have the same kind\nof compelling effect as A Dog Called\u2026 Vengeance<\/em>, but it is an\ninteresting curiosity that takes viewers down a deeply strange\npath.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Despite the fact that the disc presents a 2K picture scan\nfrom a negative, the movie looks terrific. The beachside photography is\nincredibly clean and gorgeous on this release (which was played back\nupconverted on a 4K Ultra HD player). The coast of, presumably, the\nMediterranean Sea is lovely to behold and the TV studio and political rally\nscenes also pop off of the screen. Even the loud blue tiles and cabinets in the\nkitchen of Marcos\u2019 and Christina\u2019s condo are striking. This is a very\nimpressive transfer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disc also comes with a few notable extras. The first is\nan introduction to the movie with director Gaspar Noe (Irreversible, Enter\nthe Void<\/em>) that was recorded at a festival screening of the film in France.\nHe tries to explain to the audience what they are about to witness and notes\nsome of the film\u2019s unusual elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, there is an extended interview with Noe about\nhow he discovered the films of Eloy de la Iglesia. Like most people, he first\nwatched some of the moviemaker\u2019s more readily available titles, like The\nCannibal Man<\/em>, and then tried to hunt down other titles. Noe eventually did\nfind them, but it took lengthy searches on Ebay and other sites for rare discs\nand VHS tapes. The director also read a book on the director, which served as a\ngreat help in, to some degree, understanding the man who made these odd\npictures and just what they all mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a discussion with assistant director Alejo\nLoren, who shares stories of working on the set. It\u2019s an interesting discussion\nthat doesn\u2019t shy away from some of Eloy de la Iglesia\u2019s own issues and\nproblematic impulses and addictions. According to him, the filmmaker could be\nquite temperamental, but notes that they became friends anyway. He also\nmentions spending time with the filmmaker fighting for gay causes, and noting\nthe influence it had on his creative work. Loren mentions that the fall of the\nfascist regime allowed the director to use his newfound freedom. This meant\ndealing with sexuality, drug use (in other films) and occasionally violence in\na direct and explicit manner. He notes the time was right for these kinds of\nmovies after the fall of Franco, since after 40-ish years of censorship,\naudiences were willing to see boundaries pushed and broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In fact, the subject matter of this movie didn\u2019t even\ngenerate controversy during its original run in Spain. I\u2019ll be frank and admit\nthat The Creature<\/em> isn\u2019t necessarily something that speaks to me. But it\nis a very well-made movie, and the disc delivers a great image and some\nenlightening bonuses. If you\u2019re a fan of the filmmaker, you\u2019ll likely be\nimpressed with this Blu-ray.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cSpecial Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Severin Films is currently available for purchase. Very recently, Severin Films released the chilling Spanish political thriller, A Dog Named\u2026 Vengeance, which followed an unstoppable German shepherd hunting down an escaped political prison during a fascist dictatorship. But that wasn\u2019t the only title about a dog that appeared in Spanish […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":29706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[108,2923,2928,2965,5999,6251,8219,11988,13672,18083,18788,20362,20364,20365],"class_list":["post-29699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-108","tag-blasts-from-the-past","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review","tag-blasts-from-the-past-the-creature","tag-dog","tag-drama","tag-german-shepherd","tag-la-ciatrura","tag-melodrama","tag-severin-films","tag-spain","tag-the-creature","tag-the-creature-blu-ray-review","tag-the-creature-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}