Caltiki, The Immortal Monster (Blu-ray/DVD)
Starring John Merivale, Gerard Herter, Didi Sullivan, Giacomo Rossi Stuart
Directed by Riccardo Freda, Mario Bava
Distributed by Arrow Video
The legendary Mario Bava is known for dabbling in a number of genres – slasher, sword-and-sandal, western – but ‘50s B-movie monsters were never really his thing. And for good reason because the one film he did in that genre is far from thrilling, saved only by his strong cinematography and the period-specific camp factor. Co-directed by Riccardo Freda, Caltiki, The Immortal Monster (1959) is actually less a creature feature and more of a Mayan mystery, with the majority of the menace coming from a shady figure who was disfigured and transformed after coming into contact with the titular beast. And oh, what a beast it is… Films from this era often get a free pass on poor FX work because, well, it was the ‘50s and movies like this were made on the cheap and sold with a flashy poster and a marquee-value title. But it is likely viewers will come away from Caltiki with only one memory planted firmly in mind: wet rags.
A group of explorers, led by Dr. John Fielding (John Merivale), are surveying the ruins of a Mayan temple, camped just outside its proximity, when one of their own stumbles back to the campsite delirious from an encounter with… something. The men rally together and enter the temple, searching for a lost explorer as well as whatever scared their colleague half to death. Within, they find an underground lake and an ancient statue of the goddess Caltiki, a Mayan deity who required human sacrifice for appeasement. One of the men decides to scour the lake for artifacts, and he does find a king’s ransom of treasure on the lake bed, but his meddling also awakens a creature lurking in the depths. The men above notice the melee down below and pull up the man only to find he has been reduced to a skeleton. Soon after, an amorphous blob emerges from the lake and attacks the men, killing some and wounding Max (Gerard Herter). It is eventually destroyed after being hit by a tanker full of gasoline.
Back in civilization at a hospital in Mexico City, Max is being treated for his wounds with doctors removing a piece of the creature from his arm and noticing there is still cellular life present. Max begins to change due to his interaction with the blob, taking on a darker and more threatening persona. The piece of blob that came with him is also changing, possibly due to the appearance of a comet that brings with it increased radiation. As Dr. Fielding surmises, the creature may somehow “feed” off this radiation; the comet like a celestial mate of the terrestrial creature. Max, now fully deranged, escapes the hospital and triggers a citywide manhunt. Meanwhile, a piece of the monster begins to expand and multiply, leading to an outbreak of blobs that could take over the world! Or, at least Mexico City.
What begins as an intriguing rumble in the jungle eventually turns into a less exciting man-on-the-loose story, with the Mayan jungle setting jettisoned for the nondescript streets of Mexico. Bava was still in his nascent days as a director, and though he doesn’t jazz up the story much his eye for photography at the very least makes this one of the better lensed pictures of this era. For instance, the opening shots of the Mayan temple and jungle are nicely handled. Footage of the creatures attacking is shot in a tight, claustrophobic way, heightening the minor tension.
Let’s talk about those creatures… This is one area where the film falls flat. The variable gelatinous goobers that grow and attack look exactly like a pile of wet rags. There appears to have been no effort made whatsoever to conceal this, and so any sense of menace is usually replaced with humor because, well, everyone is scrambling to get away from a giant wet dishcloth. Hardly the stuff of nightmares, unless you’re an overworked housewife or something. Given Bava’s creative abilities, I have to wonder if this was simply a budget issue or maybe he wasn’t given any say in the matter. Either way, there have probably been less convincing creatures put to film but I am hard pressed to name another more poorly conceived than this.
The black-and-white picture is presented with a 1.66:1 1080p image culled from a new 2K restoration of a 35mm combined dupe negative. Contrast is the most necessary good quality for any B&W picture and the job done here perfectly reproduced Bava’s moody photography. Much of the film takes place under a cloak of darkness, with few scenes in outdoor bright light, and the image here ably handles every dim moment by keeping shadow detail evident and minimizing film grain. The print used here was cleaned up considerably, leaving the picture bathed in that nostalgic ‘50s imagery without any of the noisy grain, print damage, or excessive dirt.
Audio is presented in either Italian or English, with a LPCM 1.0 mono track delivering the goods. I tend toward dubs for these old schlocky features, although if you are a true purist the Italian audio sounds the most cohesive of the two tracks. Oftentimes actor would be speaking more than one language on set, so there is still some ADR work present on the original track. It really comes down to personal preference. Subtitles are included in English.
There are two audio commentary tracks included; the first with author Tim Lucas, while the second features author Troy Howarth. Both are scholarly and offer up a wealth of information on the production.
“From Quatermass to Caltiki” is a featurette with critic Kim Newman, who discusses how monster movies evolved during this period of cinema.
A “Full Aperture Version” of the film is included, which allows for viewing of additional information on the top and bottom of the frame. Portions of Caltiki were shot with no matte in place, and while the preferred aspect ratio is the one present on this disc, this curiosity has been included so that fans can see more of Bava’s FX work without the matte present.
A number of “Archival Features” have also been included: “Riccardo Freda: Forgotten Master”, “The Genesis of Caltiki”, “Archival introduction”, “U.S. theatrical trailer”, and “U.S. opening titles”.
Furthermore, Arrow Video has also included another one of their informative collectible booklets, featuring writing on the film, photos, and technical specs for the disc.
Special Features:
- Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
- Original mono Italian and English soundtracks (lossless on the Blu-ray Disc)
- Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
- New audio commentary by Tim Lucas, author of Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark
- New audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of The Haunted World of Mario Bava and So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films
- From Quatermass to Caltiki, a new discussion with author and critic Kim Newman on the influence of classic monster movies on Caltiki
- Riccardo Freda, Forgotten Master, an archival interview with critic Stefano Della Casa
- 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
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Kat Ellinger and Roberto Curti
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Caltiki, the Immortal Monster
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Special Features
Categorized:Reviews
