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Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: January 15th, 2019.
Director: Lee Frost (as F.C. Perl)
Cast: I. William Quinn, Starlyn Simone, Betty Childs, Cindy Taylor, Uschi Digard, Wes Bishop, Bob Cresse, Angela Carnon
Year: 1975
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A Climax Of Blue Power - Movie Review:
Directed by Lee Frost (under the alias of F.C. Perl), A Climax Of Blue Power opens with a scene where a man in an L.A.P.D. uniform sits in his cop car and watches a prostitute go off with a john. When he drives her back and lets her out of the car, the cop grabs her and throws her in the back of his cruiser. He takes her out in to the woods and makes it clear that if she gives him a blowjob, he'll let her go. She obliges, but it's soon apparent that he wants more than that. After having his way with her he sends her out naked into the muddy woods and, at gun point, orders her to roll around in the mud and play with herself while he watches.
It turns out that this cop is no cop at all. He is, in fact, a security guard named Eddie (I. William Quinn of Love Me Deadly and The Black Gestapo, credited here as Jason Carns). He applied to the police academy some time ago, but they weren't interested. Now, Eddie gets off on playing dress up, wandering around Los Angeles in a cop uniform and driving around in a car with lights on the top and insignias on the side impersonating and officer of the law and abusing women.
Eddie's life gets complicated when, while wandering the beach one night, he hears an argument from a nearby house and witnesses a woman (Angela Carnon of Psycho From Texas, Alice Goodbody and The Dirty Mind Of Young Sally) shoot her husband. Although it was a clear case of self-defense, Eddie figures he can get something out of this. Before he does that, however, he visits a massage parlor (the guy who runs it is played by frequent Frost co-conspirator Bob Cresse of Love Camp 7 and The Pick-Up) where he chats up some of the girls (one of whom is Uschi Digard) and then has a three-way with two of them before going home and watching a dirty stag film. After that, he lets his obsessions get the best of him as he proceeds to track down the murderess and take her as his hostage, submitting her to all manner of degradation and even dressing up in drag before assaulting her.
Eddie always wanted to be a cop, but after repeated rejection from the police academy he finds himself able to be employed only as a night watchman. However, unwilling to give up his dream of being a 'man in blue,' Eddie outfits his car to look like a squad car and begins wearing an LAPD uniform, using his power to assault and abuse prostitutes. But when he stumbles upon what he believes to be a murder, and discovers that the assailant might get away with it, his mind cracks and Eddie decides that the killer deserves his special brand of sadistic justice…
Pretty strong stuff even by today's standards, A Climax Of Blue Power is well-made and disturbing. The performances here are quite good. In fact, leading man Quinn does a remarkably good job as Eddie. On the outside he's seemingly quite normal, handsome even. But when he dons that cop uniform and decides to enforce his own kind of law it's clear that he's nuts. Quinn's work here is believable. He really does feel unhinged at times, delivering a rather bold turn in front of the camera and creating a convincing and unsettling character. Angela Carnon as his victim is also very good (though it sure looks like a body double was used for her in parts of the movie). She's able to effectively convey fear and confusion in her scenes with Quinn. Though she was likely cast more for her good looks than for her acting ability, she really does do a good job here. Also look for small parts for Frost regular Wes Bishop (of Race With The Devil and The Thing With Two Heads) as an actual cop, adult actress Starlyn Simone and of course, Ms. Digard as a massage parlor employee (who, surprisingly, keeps her clothe on).
The film was clearly made with a modest budget but Frost keeps the pacing tight, giving us the right mix of story and sex for all of this to work. Production values are a little rough in spots but the Los Angeles locations used early in the film add some welcome atmosphere to the picture while the interiors have enough garish seventies décor going on to keep them visually interesting as well (check out that shag carpeting and the Godspell soundtrack LP!). The movie features a seriously great score and hey, we even get a well-shot car chase later in the picture.
A Climax Of Blue Power - Blu-ray Review:
The AVC encoded 1080p high definition presentation for A Climax Of Blue Power is framed at 1.85.1 and presented 'newly scanned & restored in 2k from 35mm archival elements.' A disclaimer before the movie starts notes that the print used for this release is worn, and that's pretty obvious in the opening few minutes of the movie. Thankfully, things clean up considerably after that and the presentation turns out to be completely watchable if not as squeaky clean as a lot of Vinegar Syndrome's restorations are. You'll notice a bit more damage around the reel changes, which isn't completely shocking, but by and large the image is stable enough and, if you've seen this one prior, you'll definitely appreciate what is actually a pretty massive upgrade over what we've seen before. The easiest way to see this feature before this release was by way of the Alpha Blue Archives DVD which was taken from a tape source that featured tracking lines and other related analogue anomalies. Compared to that release, Vinegar Syndrome's Blu-ray looks much, much better. Some scenes show some color fading and again, there's damage, but the transfer looks like film. It's well-authored, there are no noticeable problems with compression artifacts, edge enhancement or noise reduction. Clearly this was a case of doing the best with what was available, and while the elements were obviously less than ideal, the end result is still head and shoulders above what we've seen before.
The only audio option offered on the disc is an English language DTS-HD Mono track. Optional subtitles are provided in English only. Like the video, the audio is less than perfect but the track gets the job done even if there is some occasional hiss and background noise. Levels are properly balanced throughout and the film's admittedly very cool soundtrack plays through rather nicely.
Extras are limited to a trailer, a still gallery, menus and chapter selection. As this is a combo pack release, we also get a DVD version of the movie taken from the same restoration. Additionally, Vinegar Syndrome includes some cool reversible cover sleeve art with this release.
A Climax Of Blue Power - The Final Word:
A Climax Of Blue Power works surprisingly well. It's gritty, rough and meanspirited but it's also well-directed and features some solid acting. The movie won't be to all tastes, of course, but those who can appreciate the darker side of vintage adult pictures should enjoy this one and Vinegar Syndrome's Blu-ray/DVD combo pack release offers the best option around to do just that.
