There are movies that achieve a cult status among collectors
and fans that go from worthy to unworthy to what the heck are people thinking.
It’s not the movie itself that is good or bad but the value placed on it by the
fans of the film. So when you see a particular release come out and watch it
only to be disappointed keep in mind that somewhere, someone is more likely
enjoying that same film in spite of its flaws. Like this one.
The movie focuses on two characters. The first is Mark Trax
(John Weiner), a psychopath locked up long ago who escapes from the mental
institute during the opening sequence. He gets away leaving bloodied bodies
behind, gets a lift hitchhiking, kills the driver and makes off with his
vehicle. Finding another ride he leaves that driver behind as well,
incinerating the car with the body inside to make everyone believe he’s dead.
The second character is Mickey McCardle (J. Christian
Ingvordsen). Mickey is the cop who captured Trax when he was younger but during
the arrest accidentally killed his partner as well. Plagued to this day by his
actions at the time no one wants to team with him but he’s still on the force
promoted to detective now.
Trax returns to his boyhood home and mother where he finds
the tools of his trade still there in his room. Various medieval looking
weapons are on hand and Trax soon delves off into the fantasy land in his own
mind where he’s facing off in Conan garb against a demon inspired opponent
dressed the same. This sets him back on his quest for body parts in this
battle.
Trax begins to rack up a body count and the first victim, an
obnoxious club owner, has his eyes and removed and is decapitated. When Mickey
hears about this he knows this is the killer he once caught back on the loose
and beginning a new reign of terror. But his boss and those above him aren’t
convinced and tell him to stick with the job he has now and leave homicide to
those detectives.
Mickey continues to pursue Trax and dig for clues. One of
those leads to a young female photographer named Tiffany (Garland Hunter) who
took Trax’ picture at the club the night of the first murder. A rock fan and
drug user she at first butts heads with Mickey but eventually is won over to
his side and attempts to help him find Trax.
The pair are fighting an uphill battle as Trax continues his
rampage. To make matters worse the bureaucrats above Mickey seem more concerned
with his methods than they are at finding the killer. It isn’t long before
Mickey and Tiffany are on their own with no one else helping them find Trax.
In reading my description here the movie actually sounds
better than it is. Much of that is due to the fact that the budget on the film
is miniscule at best and the acting ranges from fantastic to terrible. The bad
part is that the good acting seems to come from those with the smallest roles,
in particular Tony Kruk as Mickey’s direct supervisor. Ingvordsen also turns in
a decent job but for the most part feels like his performance is a roller
coaster with highs and lows on display.
The film is co-directed by Ingvordsen and Danny Kuchuck who
both seem to have been influenced by Abel Ferarra. Not being a fan of anything
I’ve seen by Ferarra that’s not a compliment. Like his films this one offers a
glimpse into the seedier side of NYC with spray pained buildings, trash covered
streets and rusted out car yards and factories. The characters on the sidelines
are always trashy looking and seem to have no redeeming value. It doesn’t paint
a picture of the city that makes it shine. Then again perhaps that’s why the
police department doesn’t take as keen an interest in catching the killer as
Mickey does, relegating these place and people to nothing more than statistics
when it comes to being killed. Still, it doesn’t make for an entertaining film.
And yet the film does have its fans. It has developed a cult
following over the years. And those fans have clamored for a decent copy of the
film to enjoy. The folks at Vinegar Syndrome are providing that for the first
time with this release. This release is the first time the movie has appeared
on blu-ray with a 2k restoration from the original 35mm negative. The end
results is a less washed out better picture than the film has seen since it was
originally released on screens back in 1989.
If just having the best looking version of the film weren’t
enough, Vinegar Syndrome has pulled together and impressive number of extras
for fans to enjoy as well. Included in the extras are a commentary track with Ingvordsen,
a commentary track with Weiner, MAKING OF BLUE VENGEANCE a making of
featurette, ON BLUE VENGEANCE a conversation with Ingvordsen, reversible cover
artwork and THE FIRST MAN an unreleased movie from 1996 by co-writer/director
Danny Kuchuck that stars Lesley Ann Warren, Heather Graham and Ted Raimi.
As I said the movie may not be for everyone. But slasher
flick fans, die-hard anything horror fans, fans of Abel Ferrara, fans of low
budget film making and fans of the film will want to add this one to their
collection. They might also want to sing the praises of Vinegar Syndrome for
making the effort to save and restore films like this.
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