DERANGED

DERANGED

(A.k.a. DERANGED: CONFESSIONS OF A NECROPHILE)

I apologise for this review. It is not going to be impartial and is most definitely prone to an unhealthy amount of bias. You see, I love DERANGED. It is, for me, one of the best horror films of the 1970s - something I can put on and watch at almost any time.

So, do I ramble on with a detailed synopsis? I hardly feel the need, as I assume folk who visit a site called Sex Gore Mutants know all about this one already. They should do.

If not, here's the gist:

We open on a snowy morning in a small Texan town. A news reporter steps into frame and introduces us to the disturbing world of sheltered local man Ezra Cobb (Roberts Blossom). Ezra lives on a farmhouse with his ailing mother (Cosette Lee) - a hard woman who, even in her twilight moments, rules over her middle-aged son and constantly reminds him of the evil to be found in women.

When she dies, loner Ezra is understandably lost and confused. His kindly neighbours try to lend a helping hand, but to Ezra only one thing makes sense - digging up his momma's corpse and taking her back home where he can continue caring for her.

This keeps him happy for a short while - but then Ezra starts to think his mother may be getting lonely. She needs companions...

In such a small community, local disappearances are bound to be obvious. But Ezra manages to fool everyone, thanks to his naivety (when his neighbour mentions a missing girl, Ezra very honestly reveals she's at his place - only to be met with laughter) and reputation as a harmless simpleton.

When Ezra decides he's lonely too, he chooses to attempt a date with the only woman his mother ever trusted - a spiritualist who she describes as a "heifer". That doesn't go well. So, it's back to his lonely home he goes - and back to abducted local ladies, with the intention of eventually adding their bludgeoned corpses to the macabre dinner party mock-up in his kitchen...

Blossom is perfect in the lead role. His steely stare is undeniably creepy, and yet subtle enough to make his existence among this unwitting small community completely credible. A simple man, his Ezra is just as capable of eliciting audience sympathy as he is at instilling fear into viewers. He’s occasionally funny too, but always with an underlying sense of tragedy about him. It’s a fascinating turn from the veteran actor (SGM readers will also know him from John Carpenter’s CHRISTINE), creating one of the most memorable and well-rounded killers that horror cinema has ever seen.

But a single great performance does not singlehandedly make a film a classic. Fortunately DERANGED is full of quirky characters and quietly nuanced acting, ensuring that even the most peripheral characters register with some emotional impact.

Co-directors Jeff Gillen and Alan Ormsby may confuse some viewers during the film’s first half with their strange mix of mockumentary, black comedy and insidiously creepy horror. But once things get going proper, there is no let-up in terms of tension and superbly orchestrated, immaculately designed terror. The interiors and chilling dead-skin décor truly are frightening, evoking a wonderfully nightmarish atmosphere that I imagine was quite spooky to work amongst.

Every scene is like its own set-piece: little vignettes that work perfectly in isolation (the doomed date; the dinner with the local waitress; shopping for bullets at the local store, etc) and cumulatively build towards making DERANGED an all-round pleasure.

Though never unnecessarily gory, the film is punctuated by a couple of scenes of deftly handled violence. They come so quickly, so unexpectedly, that they manage to shock on repeat viewings. The FX work is primitive – this was Tom Savini’s second job as effects artist – but fit perfectly into this ragged-round-the-edges, low budget fright show.

Released in 1974, the same year as THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, DERANGED shares with Tobe Hooper’s film its inspiration in real-life Wisconsin killer Ed Gein. But whereas Hooper took a couple of minor details - dead skin masks; furniture made of body parts - from the police reports, Ormsby’s script emerges as the most accurate and faithful nod to Gein that the genre has made (PSYCHO and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS are two more horror films inspired by the man).

Arrow Films Video bring DERANGED to UK blu-ray in a stunning 1080p HD presentation. Housed on a 50GB dual layer disc as a healthily sized MPEG4-AVC file, the film looks superb with a fine layer of natural grain and strong detail throughout. The natural filmic transfer allows for a strong colour patina and deep, deep blacks. Compared against the special edition German DVD release from a few years back, the upgrade is instantly noticeable.

And, yes, the film is uncut. Those familiar with the film will remember that the US Moore Video VHS release from the early 1990s was uncut but rather ropy-looking, while Exploited’s UK counterpart a couple of years later fell foul of the BBFC and consequently had its climactic murder scene cut. When the film finally surfaced on US DVD, as part of MGM’s Midnite Movies range as one half of a double bill alongside MOTEL HELL, that scene was intact but a rarely seen ‘brain scooping’ scene (inserted into both video releases) was not. The aforementioned German DVD release from Universum did offer an uncut, composite print – but the scooping footage was of a vastly inferior standard to the rest of the film. Here, everything is present and correct, and although there is a slight dip in image quality during the scooping act, it looks a whole lot better here than it ever did before – this is, I have no doubt, the best DERANGED is ever going to look. Happy days.

English 2.0 audio is provided in a problem-free, clean and clear lossless Master HD mix. Optional English subtitles are well-written and easy to read.

The disc opens to an animated main menu page. From there, a pop-up scene-selection menu allows access to the film via 12 chapters.

Bonus features kick off with a typically lively, highly listenable audio commentary track from Savini. Moderator Waddell prompts where needs be, but Savini doesn’t much encouragement – he’s as enthusiastic as ever as he speaks about working with the small crew, creating FX on a shoestring budget, working in icily cold conditions, the horror of a suggested DERANGED remake and so on. This is one of the most entertaining commentary tracks to have come my way in some time.

"Ed Gein: From Murderer to Movies" finds HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 actor Laurence Harvey speaking knowledgably about the killer, and his place in the pantheon of horror cinema. This 15-minute featurette is presented in HD.

As are the film's original 2-minute theatrical trailer, a 10-minute chat with Scott Spiegel about Blossom's charms, and a 12-minute featurette entitled "The Wages of Sin" - which utilises archive behind-the-scenes footage (which you'll have seen on the Exploited tape/Universum DVD) and an old Ormsby interview alongside new HD clips from the film and an informative narration from Eamon Lee.

The only SD extra is an alternate trailer featuring unwanted commentary from Adam Rifkin. Still, he does reinforce the point that Harvey Keitel allegedly auditioned for the role of Ezra. The mind boggles...

Finishing off this set but unavailable for review purposes are a collector’s booklet containing notes by Stephen Thrower and an archive interview with Ormsby and Gillen affiliate Bob Clark, plus double-sided reversible cover art (the reverse being the iconic white poster art of old).

A brilliant film has been given a sterling treatment. In my opinion, an absolute must-have disc.

Review by Stuart Willis


 
Released by Arrow Video
Region B
Rated 18
Extras :
see main review
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