Blu-Ray News #267: Night Tide (1961).

Written & Directed by Curtis Harrington
Starring Dennis Hopper, Linda Lawson, Luana Anders

The fine folks at Indicator have given the Cadillac treatment to another sub-compact movie, Curtis Harrington’s Night Tide (1961). And even by Indicator’s lofty standards, this one’s a real class act.

Dennis Hopper, in his first starring role, is a sailor on leave who meets a mysterious young woman who plays a mermaid at a seaside carnival — and who just might be a real, and murderous, one. This AIP horror picture is much more than a see-a-famous-actor’s-early-work curio. It’s dream-like, it’s dreamy and it’s one of those movies where you find something new every time you see it. Plus, it has Luana Anders in it (always a plus).

As usual, Indicator is offering up a stellar transfer and sweetening the deal with plenty of incredible supplements. A few highlights:
• Audio commentary with Curtis Harrington & Dennis Hopper
• Audio commentary with Tony Rayns
• Harrington On Harrington (archival interview)
• Image Gallery
• Limited Edition Second Disc: Dream Logic – The Short Films Of Curtis Harrington (Eight short films spanning Harrington’s seven decades as a filmmaker)

It’s easy to recommend Night Tide. And it’s just as easy to recommend what Indicator is doing with it. I can’t wait to see this thing.

Screening: Apocalypse Now (1979) At The Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Directed by Francis Coppola
Written by John Milius and Francis Coppola
Starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Frederick Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Larry Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford

I saw Apocalypse Now (1979) somewhere outside Philadelphia. (It was one of the prints with the credits appearing over the footage of Kurtz’s base being blown up.) It was a powerful experience, and I left the theater wrung-out and numb.

What really drove it all home was after the lights came up and we headed up the aisle, there were two men — obviously Viet Nam veterans, and looking a bit like Dennis Hopper did in the movie — in a tight hug, sobbing. That said a lot more about this film than any review anyone could ever write. Wish I’d had the guts to thank those men for their service, but I was 15 and stupid.

Apocalypse Now is being shown at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on August 1 as part of Cinespia’s outdoor film series. They say it’ll be the theatrical release version, and this is certainly a picture that needs to be seen on a large screen.

And to those two vets from that night in ’79, and to everyone else who served over there, thank you for your service.