ROGER CORMAN PUTS THE PEDAL TO THE METAL

Shout! Factory has unleashed an invasion of Roger Corman Cult Classic titles this month, many appearing on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time and loaded with all-new bonus features. Corman built his career directing 50 films and producing over 350 on the foundation of truly independent filmmaking, sidestepping the restrictions of Hollywood's studio system to promote the creative talents of many leading directors, actors and writers. Making the most out of low-budget sensational films spanning a wide array of action-packed, titillating genres and concepts, Corman and his legacy of talented proteges made an indelible mark on filmmaking history of the latter 20th century and continue blazing trails today.

The latest library of Roger Corman Cult Classics include six new DVD/Blu-ray titles which fans of indie cinema and rare releases will definitely want to add to their collection.

Buckle up for two times the Corman-produced high-octane thrills in the DEATHSPORT/BATTLETRUCK DVD Double Feature, finally driving 1978's DEATHSPORT to home video in a widescreen edition and making the long-awaited arrival of 1982's BATTLETRUCK on DVD for the first time ever.

Following close in the tire tracks of the gear-grinding 1975 hit DEATH RACE 2000, Corman produced a thematic but not direct sequel in DEATHSPORT with returning star David Carradine in the lead role of Kaz Oshay, a notorious and lethal Ranger of the post-apocalyptic wastelands after the Great Neutron Wars. The ruthless but cowardly Lord Zirpola (David McLean) rules an isolated city-state, forcing his enslaved captives and enemies to fight to their deaths for entertainment, and Oshay now faces this same fate. Imprisoned with another Ranger, Deneer (1970 Playmate Claudia Jennings), Oshay must survive a squad of motorcycle-riding executioners to escape, which of course they do using their superhuman Ranger fighting skills and strength. So begins a lengthy chase led by iconic B-movie villain Richard Lynch and his bike-riding lieutenant Jesse Vint. The finale duel between Carradine and Lynch is sparsely staged atop rolling hills, but develops into a lethally close-quarters battle in an oddly poetic style.

DEATHSPORT borrows many action elements from Roman gladiator competition to wheelie-popping Motocross racing, mixed with the martial arts mysticism of Kung Fu plus medieval swordplay. Plenty of violence spills the requisite blood for such an action flick, and awkwardly forced scenes of skin-exploiting titillation are among the clumsiest and least erotic in the Corman canon. David Carradine and Richard Lynch give it an earnest shot, but the thin script barely props up the extended, seemingly endless chase sequences which often creak under the weight of their illogical battles. It's more of the same following DEATH RACE 2000, but without even that film's chutzpah and panache for delivering violent, cheap thrills on wheels.

Created in the same genre-following exploitation post follow MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR and made in New Zealand under director Harley Cokeliss, BATTLETRUCK was acquired by Roger Corman, renamed WARLORDS OF THE 21ST CENTURY and released in the U.S. in 1982. Benefitting from a more serious dramatic approach and a higher budget, the film bears little resemblance to typical Corman titles beyond its general theme of a dangerous, nomadic world after the collapse of human civilization. It retains the indie film feel of its apocalyptic frontier concept, but lacks the much of the exploitational elements which Corman employed to give his films a crowd-drawing edge at box offices.

Michael Beck is Hunter, a lone, legendary biker roaming the wastelands and delivering justice upon gear-grinding thieves, abductors and murderers who prey on the innocent and isolated survivors. Reluctantly he becomes involved with a woman (Annie McEnroe) he rescues from the evil clutches of the marauding Colonel Straker (James Wainwright). Watch for John Ratzenberger in a supporting role as a mechanical genius helping keep his small, nearly defenseless community alive on the frontier. While it lacks the bold visual stylings and semi-comedic tone of THE ROAD WARRIOR, cinematographer Chris Menges (Oscar-winner for THE KILLING FIELDS and THE MISSION) and director Cokeliss delivers a solid, rather worthwhile knock-off in BATTLETRUCK, where there's plenty of battling with Straker's heavily-armed truck — think of it as JAWS with twelve wheels and .50-cal machine guns. Similar but different, this film makes an interesting acquisition to Corman's collection and a worthwhile contrast to add variety to your cult viewing pleasure.

Packed together in this Double Feature disc presentation, DEATHSPORT and BATTLETRUCK make obvious partners in the ongoing Roger Corman Cult Classics release schedule on DVD (sorry, these two don't get the Blu-ray upgrade from Shout! Factory but the former film does boast a new 1.78:1 widescreen transfer). Given both films' rarity on home video over the past two-plus decades plus audio commentary tracks by the filmmakers discussing their cult favorites, FilmEdge rates this Roger Corman Cult Classic double feature DEATHSPORT/BATTLETRUCK: 3 STARS.

RETURN TO THE ROGER CORMAN CULT CLASSICS MAIN MENU FOR MORE REVIEWS