A monster of rotting tripe to counter the Neo-Realism of post war Italian cinema
What They Say:
Arrow Video presents a collaboration between two giants of Italian cult cinema Riccardo Freda (The Vampires, The Horrible Dr Hichcock) and Mario Bava (5 Dolls for an August Moon, Blood and Black Lace)!
A team of archaeologists led by Dr John Fielding (John Merivale, Circus of Horrors) descends on the ruins of an ancient Mayan city to investigate the mysterious disappearance of its inhabitants. However, the luckless explorers get more than they bargained for when their investigation of a sacrificial pool awakens the monster that dwells beneath its waters the fearsome and malevolent god Caltiki.
Though Riccardo Freda received sole directing credit, a significant portion of the film was in fact the work of Mario Bava, who also served as its cinematographer and was responsible its striking special effects. Drawing on a diverse array of influences, from The Quatermass Experiment to the works of HP Lovecraft, Caltiki the Immortal Monster is a unique and unforgettable sci-fi chiller which showcases these two legendary filmmakers at their most inventive. Presented here for the first time in a newly restored high definition transfer, Caltiki shines and terrifies! like never before.
The Review:
Audio:
Italian LPCM 1.0 encoded at 48kHz/ 24bit, English LPCM Mono at 48kHz/ 24bit, and commentaries encoded in DD 2.0 at 48kHz at 192 Kbps. The film sounds clear with that great vintage vibe. Commentaries and interviews sound very good with properly mixed audio that doesn’t create any dissonance.
Video:
The Blu-ray offers both the theatrical 1.66:1 version and a full aperture version that shows more of Mario Bava’s effects. Video looks clean with a good amount of film grain present.
Packaging:
Review copy contained no packaging.
Menu:
Menu screens cycle through short segments of scenes from the film. Selections are located on the left side of the screen in easy to read font. Once selected, a submenu opens in the center of the screen in high contrast gray font that highlights to white.
Extras:
Commentary by Tim Lucas, author of Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark
Lucas delivers an encyclopedic commentary providing information about Freda, Bava, and most of the main actors. His delivery is scripted and measured, but at no point does it feel irrelevant or uninteresting. When paired with the extended Stefano Della Casa interview, viewers have a well rounded understanding of the film makers and the circumstances of both the production of Caltiki as well as insight on who Freda and Bava were as people. In the tradition of good commentary tracks, he points out many of the structural motifs used in the creation of the film.
“Riccardo Freda, Forgotten Master,” an archival interview with critic Stefano Della Casa
This interview gave a much more profound sense of Freda as a person as he moved through his career. Some of the information seems not to have been included in either critical commentary tracks or possibly contradicted some of the perspectives of the American critics. While reading the subtitles may take some effort, due to the speaker’s conversational pace, his information adds layers of motives.
“From Quatermass to Caltiki,” a new discussion with author and critic Kim Newman on the influence of classic monster movies on Caltiki
Newman often appears in documentary segments of special features. Here, he discusses the historical place of of Caltiki in international genre, so those familiar with his broader work will know what to expect. For everyone else, he creates a context of horror and science fiction and situates the film in that cinema history.
The Blu-ray also includes:
Commentary by Troy Howarth, author of The Haunted World of Mario Bava and So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films
“The Genesis of Caltiki,” an archival interview with filmmaker Luigi Cozzi
Archival introduction to the film by Stefano Della Casa
Alternate opening titles for the US version
When beginning the opening sequence to the film, one feels not overly disconnected from the later Universal monster films. The setting has elements of a Gothic moor and of the isolation of a dark lagoon, home to some unseen threat. But that similarity quickly dissolves into a fever dream of native dances, an upper class family on the brink, and an enemy that not only threatens the planet but perverts the already slimy mind of a man devolved to action without reason.
Caltiki is a simple film with some very complex gears driving it. On the surface, we have the usual jungle horror opening. In a primordial landscape, a group of scientists find a ritual lake where people covered with jewels have been sacrificed. A member of the party goes to the bottom of the lake and grabs gold from a skeleton. Once he comes up, he must go back for more. Suddenly, he is attacked by a blob. This is where the film departs from the traditional model and begins to craft its own space. The characters leave for civilization and a narrative of repressed emotions begins.
Before explaining anything else, I want to point out the emotional element driving the horror begins before the party leaves the jungle. A domestic dispute breaks out in the tent of Dr. Fielding and his wife, Ellen. Ever the opportunistic playboy, fellow explorer Max decides to make a move on Ellen as she stands outside her tent in a rather revealing blouse. Later, as they try to save the diver, Max is attacked by Caltiki.
There seems to be a break in the action as we are reintroduced to the doctor and his wife at their gated home. Their interactions are formal or simply cold. They haven’t worked out their differences, but there is no time—nor need—to worry about building their relationship or characters. This break in character development seems to be a thorn to those doing commentary because there seems to be nothing realistic about the relationship nor any chemistry between the doctor and his wife. Their jungle fight is unresolved, the dialog is stilted, and the action is pleasantly uneventful. The characterization seems to be the opposite of that in the neo-realist cinema that both Freda and Bava denounced. I almost feel that instead of taking on the tropes of Italian cinema, they combined the American action/horror model with the class conscious British Cinema to create a superficial facade for an upper class couple putting on a performance of “normalcy.” At home the Fieldings are medicated puppets, yet outside their barred gate, they become highly emotional.
The middle act sets up the ending. There are scenes of exposition as the characters try to reason what Caltiki really is and how to stop its threat. Even though this seems like a horrible lull, it sets up a climax. Dr. Fielding must try to determine how to stop the threat. Unlike most American science fiction films, the threat was not caused by the scientists. They found the threat and even have a short time to figure out how to remove the threat before it destroys the world. With laboratory scenes and simple pseudo-scientific conversations, the narrative focuses on benign exposition, giving a false sense of everything being under control.
This all changes in the final act. We have a very soft, human portrayal as Ellen comforts her daughter who has been frightened by a mean man in her bedroom. The scene glows in warm light, as Ellen speaks softly to the girl. Suddenly, the romantic lighting and gentle interactions get offset by Max, who has come for Ellen. Even though Max survives his encounter with Caltiki with only an arm injury, he becomes paranoid and devolves to a primal, mental state of survival and reproduction. Not only does he murder a nurse and later his lover, he seems intent on having Ellen. Their early interaction creates an explosive ratcheting of emotion and suspense when he breaks into the Fieldings’ home. This signals the climax, and both Max and Caltiki threaten to destroy the family unit.
It should be noted that Dr. Fielding never enters the house on his return. He almost morphs into a Tarzan type of character as he struggles to save his wife and child. As Caltiki grows, we wait to see if the military can save the world.
Oh, and there is gore. Long before Herschell Gordon Lewis was making gore a genre of horror, Bava was making this audience recoil from melted flesh peeled away from arm bones like mozzarella from a pizza Margherita. Even though the budget was super low, some effects, including human remains, had a ghastly gore quality. Bava’s special effects really do make this film work. From creating painted glass settings to covering a poor special effects guy in rotting tripe (beef innards), the low budget never completely destroys the film. Even though some of the miniature work and fire effects seem obviously faked, this isn’t a bad film. It does its job to create a sense of dread, revulsion, and catharsis. It does this because those involved had vision, talent and imagination.
In Summary:
This film may never be respected as much as other influential horror and sci-fi movies, but it earns a place in cinema history for the brilliant low budget effects and the sincere desire of Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava to break away from Italian standards. This film offers more substance than I think it has been given credit. It takes off and uses many international conventions to create a simple story of man against fate. Fans looking for a film in the Hollywood tradition will be unfulfilled as the directors broke with that tradition. If viewers expect a complement to Quatermass, they will miss the cultural subtext ingrained in the relationships. The film may not be great in most traditional critical lenses, but it offers an example of a work that revolts against and transcends the limitations of the international cinema of 1959. It is flawed, but it can teach us how innovators create.
Features:
Italian and English LPCM audio, English SDH, Commentaries, Interviews, and Trailers
Content Grade: B-
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade: A
Packaging Grade: NA
Menu Grade: A
Extras Grade: A+
Released By: Arrow Films
Release Date: April 25th, 2017
MSRP: $39.95
Running Time: 76 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Review Equipment:
Samsung KU6300 50” 4K UHD TV, Sony BDP-S3500 Blu-ray player connected via HDMI, Onkyo TX-SR444 Receiver with NHT SuperOne front channels and NHT SuperZero 2.1 rear channel speakers.
