HARLEQUIN (1980) Blu-ray
Director: Simon Wincer
88 Films

88 Films brings Ozploitation to its Vault series with their Blu-ray of HARLEQUIN.

When Deputy Governor Eli Steele (Jack Ferrari) goes spearfishing and never resurfaces, Senator Nick Rast (David Hemmings, DEEP RED) is not only being groomed as his replacement, but also possibly next in line for governor with his superior in the hospital. The same night he receives this news, Rast's leukemic son Alex (Mark Spain, MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME) suddenly takes a turn for the worst and his doctor (Neville Teede) insists to Rast and his desperate wife Sandra (Carmen Duncan, TURKEY SHOOT) that any further treatment would just prolong his agony .When Alex is on his deathbed, faith healer Gregory Wolfe (Robert Powell, JESUS OF NAZARETH) manages to penetrate Rast's security system and seemingly cure young Alex with a touch of his hand. Despite the doctor's insistence that Alex's hair growing back and his ability to walk, eat, and play is just a temporary remission, Sandra insists that Gregory become a part of their household. Rast reluctantly agrees, and Wolfe seems to take his place as Sandra's companion as well since Rast has his own mistress in press secretary Zoe (Mary Simpson). Wolfe's extraordinary parlor tricks are entertaining diversions, and his influence on Alex is disturbing but seemingly for the better; however, his intimations to Rast that there are greater magicians working behind the scenes to his own political career, even going so far as assassination, have Rast's chief advisor Doc Wheelan (Broderick Crawford, TERROR IN THE WAX MUSEUM) and his men first attempting to discredit him (and his cure) and then to put a hit on him when he might turn out to be more influential on Rast than they.

A modern-day retelling of the Rasputin story, HARLQUEIN seemed when I first saw it to be the lesser of producer Anthony I. Ginnane's run of Ozploitation horror hits in the late 1970s and early eighties, even comparing poorly to SNAPSHOT; however, looking at it again, its atypical qualities are what makes it a standout from the more conventional genre efforts of PATRICK, THIRST, STRANGE BEHAVIOR, or even TURKEY SHOOT .Shot in Perth, Australia but set in a place that is vaguely American (going by the accents), the film evinces sci-fi aspects not in technology but in plotting. Rast is chosen by computer as a candidate, paired with Sandra for an "expeditiously convenient" marriage, and even their decision to have a child is determined by computer (one even wonders if his leukemia was engineered by persons unknown for the benefit of Rast's career) .Rast is presented not as corrupt but merely weak, while Sandra surmises that Wolfe's purpose in life is to push people beyond their limitations. He ends up opening Rast's eyes to the machinations behind the scenes of his political ascension, but Rast may be mired too deeply. Powell has the more showy role – aided as much by alternately dodgy and ambitious optical effects as well as some sleight of hand editing as his own vocal delivery – and Duncan is decked out in furs, but Hemmings is actually quite sympathetic, communicating much of his weakness through his eyes. Crawford proves to be more than the washed-up American name presence, coming across as both corrupt and callous while local Gus Mercurio (THE BLUE LAGOON) does not have as much to do but makes an impression as Rast's chief of security. Simpson's mistress character seems to have been left largely on the cutting room floor while Alyson Best (PACIFIC BANANA) provides some skin as the housemaid who pays a grisly price for allowing herself to be used to implicate Wolfe .If it is not entirely successful, it is pleasingly unconventional. While Ginnane regular Brian May (ROAD GAMES) contributes a rich Bernard Herrmann-esque orchestral score (with some electronic effects) as usual, cinematographer Vincent Monton (THIRST) was here replaced by Gary Hansen (NEXT OF KIN) whose Panavision photography as a different textural feel, but what really stands out are the number of masterful match dissolve transitions on display. Hemmings would step behind the camera as director for his next collaboration with Ginnane in the James Herbert adaptation THE SURVIVOR starring Powell.

Released theatrically in the United States by New Image as DARK FORCES and Media Home Entertainment in a panned-and-scanned transfer, HARLEQUIN was released on DVD under its American title first by Elite Entertainment in 2004 and then reissued in an identical version by Synapse in 2008, both featuring an anamorphic transfer, commentary, and isolated score. Those extras were ported over by Scorpion Releasing for their limited Blu-ray in 2013 along with a fun facts featurette by Katarina Leigh Waters .88 Films' all-region 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen Blu-ray appears to come from the same master. The film has always had a rather inconsistent look with Hansen favoring extremely shallow focus close-ups while day and night exteriors look crisp. The sequences utilizing optical printer effects are a generation removed, contrastier, and grainier. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track delivers clear dialogue, some adventurous sound design within the limitations of mono, and gives some weight to May's scoring. Optional English HoH subtitles are included.

While the previous Britfilms UK DVD was barebones, 88 have ported over the commentary track and included some new extras. On the commentary, Ginnane and Wincer discuss the period of production, their training at Crawford Productions television in working quickly on a low budget, anecdotes about wanting David Bowie for Wolfe, Hemmings' drinking and womanizing, as well as Crawford's drinking, drying up, and an accident with a collapsible chair. They also discuss the contributions of Everett de Roche (LONG WEEKEND), May – with mention of the isolated score track that has not been carried over to the Blu-ray – effects supervisor Conrad Rothmann (PATRICK) as well as the optical printer effects which draw attention to themselves, and editor Adrian Carr who worked with Wincer on the television series HOMICIDE and would work on a number of his subsequent Australian films. A lot of their stories are carried over to the cast and crew interviews from the outtakes of Mark Hartley's NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD along with contributions from screenwriter de Roche, and Gus Mercurio (49:59). De Roche recalls researching Rasputin and coming up with a script initially called THE MINISTER'S MAGICIAN and recalling that he and Ginnane would go through Roget's Thesaurus whenever the producer determined that a title needed to be changed. He does note that Ginnane went to international film markets and did his research on what would work internationally, and that the film was the first of theirs that was intended to be set somewhere else whereas their earlier films tried to downplay the Australian setting .Mercurio recalls working with Hemmings and Crawford – even being put "in charge" of Crawford and watering down his drinks – as well as some embarrassing anecdotes, as well as an unnamed actress who tried to start a mutiny among the cast.

"Destruction from Down Under: An Oxploitation Retrospective" (15:33) is a piece by Kim Newman who recalls the Ozploitaiton boom in Britain as an outgrowth from the artier new Australian cinema of Peter Weir (PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK), Bruce Beresford (BREAKER MORANT), and Fred Schepisi (THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKFOOT), both sides of which traded moving from the idea of Australia as a magic land to depicting a more suburban Australia. He describes HARLEQUIN as a mix of Rasputin and ALL THE KING'S MEN, while its quasi-American setting is more akin for him to Canadian productions of this era than Australian. An archival interview with David Hemmings and Robert Powell (5:41) is a TV clip in which Hemmings and Powell discuss their characters and filming in Australia (this may be an excerpt from the same archival TV material seen on the Severin Blu-ray of THE SURVIVOR). The film's theatrical trailer (1:38) is also included. The cover is reversible while the first print run includes an eight-page booklet by Callum Waddel and a slipcover. (Eric Cotenas)

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