Matinee: Collector's Edition - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Matinee: Collector's Edition

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Before the time of the 1980s slasher, 1990s monster movies, and 2000 era torture films, there was an era where horror movies really were not common place. All of these decades, and all of these flavors of ooey gooey goodness were born on the backs of those who came before it. It was a little before my time, but I can still hear my father reminisce about going to the theater in the 50s and early 60s to go watch The Nuclear Man or The Creature from the Black Lagoon while tightly gripping the sides of his chair in sheer terror. It’s a long time past that horror fans have been scared by a movie, but barely 50 years ago movies about Atomic energy mutating people into monsters was enough to scare more than a few people. Couple that with the discomfort and nervousness that was the Cuban Missile Crisis, and it was a hot bed for schlock movie makers to ply their trade. Joe Dante’s Matinee is a loving homage to those days of old, and Shout Factory has given us a fantastic release as the latest in their list of Shout Select premium lineup. Chock full of extras and a great looking remaster, the film is the best it has ever looked, and will please collectors everywhere, in my humble opinion.

It’s 1962, and tensions are running high. JFK has just announced the beginnings of what was known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, and families everywhere were living in fear that the entire world would be obliterated by nuclear war. This was the days of the “duck and cover” commercials (even though ducking and covering would do jack in the even a nuclear device was detonated in the area), and it was a time of unease and high alert levels. William Castle-esque film producer Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman) has taken advantage of that underlying fear and unrest, by plying his film trade upon varying towns. Falling upon Key Largo, Florida, he plans to open his new monster film, Mant, upon the citizens of fair Key Largo, and with it his new audience scaring techniques. Anything can happen in the theaters, and Woolsey is there to provide the citizens of Key Largo a premiere that they won’t soon forget.

Matinee is much less a dramatic story, as much as it is a loving homage to a more innocent (and ludicrous) time in cinematic history. Today we are so used to CGI and digital trickery, that the old days of practical effects and use of theater enhancements to provide ambiance are almost a distant memory. The 1960s were a time when everyone was coming up with their own gimmick to differentiate themselves, such as cinemascope, buzzing seats, wind tunnels in the theater, and the first use of 3D to get the audience more actively engaged in the viewing experience. Matinee just revels in that fun little time period, lovingly crafting a film that is both a teenage drama, as well as a definite love letter to the times of old when movie making was much more simple, yet ever so complex.

Matinee sadly wasn’t a wild hit back in 1993 (and I barely remember the film being only about 15 at the time), but as I get older I appreciate the nostalgia and loving recreation of those early days of horror filming even more. The movie is impeccably done, with John Goodman hamming it up as the William Castle (Rosemary’s Baby, House on Haunted Hill, Homicidal ) inspired film maker. There’s almost a gleeful hint of Ed Wood thrown in for good measure, and you can visibly seem Goodman having a ball with the role. The young cast of teenagers does an amazing job allowing the audience to truly FEEL like we’re watching a film FROM the 60s. The use of heavy grained 35mm film and extensive color grading brings it even deeper into the past, and Shout Factory’s encode is absolutely superb.




Rating:

Rated PG for language, and for mild violence and sensuality




Video:

I can’t tell if Shout Factory is using the same new master that Arrow was given, but it looks REALLY nice nonetheless. The film was shot using classic 35mm stock and you can tell that the movie appears to have been left fairly unmolested as the grain structure is amazingly accurate and clean. The film was heavily graded by Dante and crew, giving burnished looks to faces, with ruddy tones all around (there’s an opening shot where Gene and his little brother are walking back to the base where it is BATHED in orange), with overly saturated colors to imitate the look of those 1960s “converted to color” movies of old. Details are excellent, with the hot colored theater seats looking amazingly revealing, and facial textures impressive to the eye. Black levels are good, and there doesn’t seem to be much (if any) sharpening or smoothing done to the heavily grainy films. If anything, it is a wildly impressive encode that really does earn the title of “Collector’s edition”.





Audio:

Matinee was originally recorded in Dolby Stereo Spectral recording, and then matrixed up to a 5.1 track for home release, with Shout Factory giving us the original 2.0 track as well the 5.1 home video mix in DTS-HD MA. While technically I should give the nod to the original mix, the 5.1 one is done so well that I really have to say that this is my recommendation. The film has a nice ambiance to it, with the sounds of crackling electricity in the surrounds, with the screaming audience giving a heavy sense of immersion. Certain portions of the film are definitely front heavy, with lots and lots of dialog, but the film’s mix is well done and adds some nice LFE during the couple of “nuclear explosion” moments.






Extras:

• NEW "Master of the Matinee" – interview with director Joe Dante
• NEW "The Leading Lady" – an interview with Cathy Moriarty
• NEW "MANTastic!" The Making of a Mant
• NEW "Out of the Bunker" – an interview with actress Lisa Jakub
• NEW "Making a Monster Theatre" – an interview with production designer Steven Legler
• NEW "The Monster Mix" - an interview with editor Marshall Harvey
• NEW"Lights! Camera! Reunion!" – an interview with director of photography John Hora
• "Paranoia in Ant Vision" – Joe Dante discusses the making of the film
• MANT! – the full length version of the film with introduction by Joe Dante
• Vintage Making of Featurette
• Behind the Scenes footage courtesy of Joe Dante
• Deleted and extended scenes sourced from Joe Dante's Workprint
• Still Galleries
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score: ​

Matinee is a charming little film that acts as a loving tribute to a time long gone, and is a perfect homage to the horror movies that started the whole craze. The joy of being scared has spanned ¾ths of a decade, and it is given just the right amount of loving care and devotion in Joe Dante’s tribute to it. Shout Factory’s collector’s edition is simply superb, with amazing video, great audio, and a whole plethora of extras to joy (along with a neat slipcover and reversible cover art). Fans of the movie will be ecstatic with the presentation on disc here, and if you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommended it. Definitely a great buy.





Technical Specifications:

Starring: John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton
Directed by: Joe Dante
Written by: Jerico, Charles S. Haas
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: PG
Runtime: 99 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: January 16th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Great Buy

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I never saw this one before. Will check it out.