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Released By: Code Red
Released On: 08/16/2011
Director: Joaquin Romero Marchent, Larry Spangler
Cast: Fred Williamson, Claudio Undari, Isela Vega
The Film:
With the grindhouse theatres of yester-year essentially dead and gone, those of us who missed that wondrous era can thank companies like Code Red for keeping the memory alive. The Lawless Land Double Feature brings the cult classic Cut-Throats Nine and blaxploitation flick Joshua to DVD the way they were meant to be seen; with a little grit and a lot of blood, interspersed with some classic trailers.
The best way to view this disc is to set aside a few hours and choose the “Grindhouse Experience†option from the menu, which spins up the trailers from “Detective Belli†and “Brute Corpsâ€, before launching into the first feature, Joaquin Romero Marchent's Cut-Throats Nine. Set in a snowy mountain range during the time of the Civil War, Sergeant Brown and his lovely daughter escort seven chained and murderous fellows on a wagon ride to Fort Green. Unfortunately for Brown, the wagon is met en route by a gang of mountain dwellers on the hunt for gold, and the armed soldiers accompanying them are killed. Brown carries on with his mission of getting the soldiers to the fort, but the elements and journey prove to be a bit much for his companions, who are actively looking for a way to escape When they find out that the heavy chain shackling them together is actually made out of gold, it's every man for himself as they begin to turn on each other, and ultimately, their host and his daughter.
Cut-Throats Nine was released in 1972, and has stood the test of time for a number of reasons. For one, the cast is very compelling, and the viewer forgets that the actors are not actually dirty murdering scoundrels. A good chunk of the originality of the film can also be attributed to its Spanish influences, with Director Marchent's shooting style utilizing dream-like, slow-motion flashbacks and score similar to Dario Argento's modus operandi in films like Deep Red. But the bottom line is that Cut-Throats is just a flat-out solid film with good direction and character interaction that keeps the story moving along.
If you chose the Grindhouse Experience viewing option, the credits of Cut-Throats Nine run into two more trailers; one for “They're The Ghetto Warriors (Black Gestapo)†and “Cut-Throats Nineâ€.
Following the trailers is the next feature, Larry Spangler's blaxploitation letdown, Joshua. Fred Williamson plays the title role of Joshua, a black soldier from the Civil War who arrives back in town a little too late to reunite with his mother. Unfortunately for Joshua, his mother has been gunned down by roaming outlaws while trying to protect the mail-order bride of the man she's been working for. After being pointed in the right direction by Sam, the wounded owner of the house, Joshua rides…and rides…and rides…and rides…and rides. Along the way, he does some killin', and sort of hooks up with Isela Vega…and then rides some more.
In case you didn't get the point, there's not a whole lot that happens in Joshua. Most of the running time is taken up by Williamson shoddily riding a horse across the landscape in pursuit of the men who killed his mama. The outlaws themselves are about as stereotypical as they get, Williamson comes off as wooden, and pretty much nothing goes on until the end of the film. It's as if Spangler shot a few sequences of Williamson crossing the plains, and then recycled them; and the same few pieces of music used over and over and over, constantly in play and segueing into one another doesn't help. The lack of excitement isn't surprising given the PG rating, but one gets the feeling that Spangler and Co. could've tried harder.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Both Cut-Throats Nine and Joshua are presented in their original aspect ratios of 1.78:1 and 2.35:1 respectively. The films are both a little rough around the edges (certainly not as dirty and scratched as the Tarantino/Rodriguez Grindhouse experience) but perfectly viewable with some nice detail. Cut-Throats Nine looks much better than Joshua, which comes off as rather flat due to the red/brown landscape, but all in all, not a bad job in the least. The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio tracks won't blow anyone's minds, but are clear with minimal noise, and a decent balance of dialogue, sound effects, and score.
Aside from an option to view the Trailers mentioned separately, the disc is barebones…but with two features and 4 trailers, that's not enough of a deterrent to avoid the disc.
The Final Word:
With no chance to sit in a dirty, stained theatre seat on 42nd Street these days, Code Red's Lawless Land Double Feature might be the closest you get to the grindhouse experience. Joshua is somewhat lacking, but the presentation of Cut-Throats Nine and the novelty of the included trailers make this a worthwhile purchase.
