Review: Crimson
DVD: Crimson (AKA The Man with the Severed Head) (1976)
When the greed of a gang member trips an alarm in the middle of a robbery, the resulting chaos sees Jack (the gang leader, played by Paul Naschy) shot in the head. Desperate to save his life, the gang force a surgeon and his wife to perform a risky brain transplant to try and save him. Targeting their worst enemy (not so subtly called ‘The Sadist’), they decapitate him using a high speed train, because…why not!? Then, in a twist that could be seen coming as soon as you hear “let’s put our worst enemies brain into our bosses head“, the brains former owner begins to take control of the body.
With a plot device that has been used numerous times both previously and after the release of Crimson, there are no real surprises in store except for the usual ‘who will survive and who will die’ guessing game. Director Juan Fortuny does a perfunctory job behind the camera and the acting is never going to win any awards in these movies. There is of course the gratuitous nudity that pops up at regular intervals and it struck me that EVERY female character in this movie is subjected to a sex scene, usually against the characters will. These scenes are shot in a distinctly non-erotic way…unless the blurry site of indistinct writhing flesh is your ‘thing’.
Paul Naschy is criminally (see what I did there!?) underused and spends the majority of the movie unconscious with a bandage on his head, while his remaining scenes has him lumbering around like a lobotomised Michael Myers. The rest of the cast fare little better, though the 1970’s fashion and set design always has me chuckling.
Having said all of the above, you may well think that I disliked Crimson, but there was a certain charm to it that never had me bored or looking at how much time was left. Also, having previously reviewed some of these titles from Screenbound Entertainment via an online streaming link, I have to admit that the retail package certainly adds much more to the overall experience. Released with numbered spines (something which always catches the interest of collectors such as myself), they also have reversible sleeves, 3 collectable high quality postcard sized art cards, the choice of original language with subtitles or dubbed, along with trailers for additional movies in the series. There was one extra on the DVD sleeve; ‘Alternative clothed scenes’ which I couldn’t find on the disc via the menu system! Is it a hidden easter egg on the menu (remember when those were popular on DVD’s?) or is it an omission during the mastering of the discs? Either way, that’s just a small gripe for what is overall a very nice package indeed.
If you’re a fan of Eurosleaze, low budget crime drama or a Paul Naschy completist, then this release of Crimson won’t let you down. However, if your main diet of movies is the latest big budget action spectacular or superhero CGI driven blockbuster, then it may be best to move along.
Review by Dave (host of 60 Minutes With) from a retail disc kindly supplied by Aim Publicity.
