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[Blu-ray Review] Burt Reynolds Raises Hell in ‘Malone’
During Orion’s heyday of the 80’s the production/distribution company released a number of films across a wide variety of genres. They had varying degrees of success with their action/thrillers, which included the likes of First Blood, Remo Williams and F/X. One of their lesser known action efforts was Malone, starring Burt Reynolds. On the surface Malone is like a number of action movies from the late 70’s and on into the mid to late 80’s, but it’s surprisingly relevant today.
Reynolds stars as Richard Malone, an ex-CIA agent who gets tired off life as a hired gun. On his latest assignment in Washington he decides to call it quits and heads off in his Mustang. Unfortunately Malone only makes it to rural Oregon before his car breaks down and he’s forced to push it to the nearest service station.
The station is owned and operated by Paul Barlow (Scott Wilson), with the assistance of his teenage daughter Jo (Cynthia Gibb). Paul takes a look at the car and determines the quickest way to fix it is have it towed 60 miles out to a larger service station with more parts on hand. In no rush, Malone decides he’ll wait a few days for the parts to be delivered to Paul’s shop. With no hotels in town, Paul offers up his spare bedroom for Malone to stay until they can get his car back on the road.
As Malone waits for the parts to come in he begins to survey the small Oregon town. What he discovers is that a man named Delaney (Cliff Robertson) seems to run things. Delaney is a rich man that uses his money to bully the town. His plan is to buy up as much of the town as he can, when people refuse to sell he sends over a couple of goons to terrorize them until they change their tune. Malone won’t stand for this and decides he’s going to help the town fight back against Delaney. Once Delaney catches wind of Malone, the two begin to go at each other leading to a final showdown.
The reason this film feels a bit relevant to me is because Delaney considers himself a patriot and he says he’s part of a larger group of like-minded patriots who are all incredibly wealthy. They’re using their wealth to buy up as much land as they can in rural areas. They’re doing this so they can control elections and elect Congressmen that will retake the country from “mongrels.” Doesn’t that sound a little familiar?
The movie does start off a little slow, but once it picks up it’s all awesome. This is basically everything I want in an action flick. You’ve got Burt, who is cooler than cool. You’ve got a baddie who is very easy to hate because he’s rich and who doesn’t hate the rich? And it’s really, really violent. Like once people start getting shot, they really get shot. Whoever did the squibs did a wonderful job.
The Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber isn’t exceptional by any means but it is very solid. The transfer has a few moments that are a bit heavy in grain and the colors are a bit muted at times, but overall it looks nice and has that film quality you always like to see. A trailer is included and that’s it as far as special features. This is basically your standard Blu-ray release. If you like a solid action movie with an army-of-one hero, you can do a lot worse than Malone.
Scream Factory brought Frank LaLoggia’s 1988 Halloween movie Lady in White to Blu-ray several years back, and now Vinegar Syndrome gives the film a 4K Ultra HD upgrade.
Vinegar Syndrome’s Lady in White 4K release is available now and shipping now!
Watch the trailer below and grab your copy from Vinegar Syndrome today.
This limited edition 4-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray x 3 set comes with a spot gloss hard slipcase + slipcover combo (designed by Dylan Haley), includes a 40-page perfect bound book and is limited to 8,000 units. It is only available on their website and at select indie retailers.
The full Special Features package includes…
- 4-disc Set: 1x 4K Ultra HD (High Bitrate BD100) / 3x Region A Blu-ray
- 4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range
- Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
- Presented in three versions: 126-min Pre-Release Director’s Cut (UHD+BD), the 118-min Extended Home Video Cut (BD), and the 113-min Theatrical Cut (BD)
- New group commentary track with writer/director Frank LaLoggia, alongside actors Lukas Haas, Joelle Jacobi, and Len Cariou for the Pre-Release Director’s Cut
- New commentary track with Frank LaLoggia, moderated by Scott Neumyer for the Extended Home Video Cut
- New commentary track with authors Emma Westwood and Stephen A. Russell for the Extended Home Video Cut
- Archival commentary track with Frank LaLoggia for the Extended Home Video Cut
- “Learning How to Fly” (10 min) – an interview with actress Karen Powell
- “A Snapshot in Time” (9 min) – an interview with actress Lisa Taylor
- “Human Touches” (6 min) – an interview with actress Lucy Lee Flippin
- “Still Relevant” (16 min) – an interview with actress Rose Weaver
- “75% Listening, 25% Editing” (9 min) – an interview with editor Steve Mann
- “Welcome to Willowpoint Falls” (6 min) – a location featurette hosted by Benjamin Scrivens, founder of Fright-Rags
- “Dream Talking: Looking Back” – a visual group commentary for the Pre-Release Director’s Cut with Frank LaLoggia, and actors Lukas Haas, Joelle Jacobi, and Len Cariou (103 min)
- Deleted Scenes with introduction and optional commentary by writer/director Frank LaLoggia (36 min)
- Behind-the-scenes footage with introduction and optional commentary by writer/director Frank LaLoggia (16 min)
- Extended behind-the-scenes footage (73 min)
- Introduction from the 20th anniversary dvd release
- Promotional ‘industry sales’ trailer (7 min)
- 40-page perfect bound book with essays by film historians Molly Henery, Mark H. Harris, and Heidi Honeycutt (limited edition only)
- Multiple radio spots
- Theatrical trailer
- Multiple TV spots
- Workprint trailers (7 min)
- Still gallery
- Reversible sleeve artwork
- English SDH subtitles
1962. Nine-year-old Frankie Scarlatti enjoys a homespun childhood in a rustic Western New York town. The entire community gets into the spirit of Halloween, but then two bullies prank Frankie by locking him in his school cloakroom, leaving him trapped for the night. Alone and afraid, his slumber is interrupted when the ghost of a little girl appears, and Frankie witnesses the specter of her murder by an unseen assailant. Later, while recovering at home, the girl’s ghost appears to him again. With help from his older brother, Frankie begins investigating the circumstances of her death. He soon discovers that her murder was one of several unsolved crimes connected to a local child-killer. As the town’s bucolic veneer fades and long-buried secrets and tensions bubble to the surface, all of the clues to the mystery seem to point towards a huge mansion inhabited by a reclusive woman known as “The Lady in White.”
A nostalgia-driven ghost story wrapped within an intricate murder mystery and coming-of-age drama, writer-director-composer Frank LaLoggia’s passion project Lady in White remains one of the most beautiful and original American horror films of the 1980s. Featuring acclaimed actors Alex Rocco (The Godfather), Len Cariou (Executive Decision), and Sydney Lassick (Carrie, The Unseen), it boasts the first starring role by Lukas Haas (Mars Attacks, Inception) as well as breathtaking photography by Academy Award® winner Russell Carpenter (True Lies, The Lawnmower Man). Vinegar Syndrome is honored to bring this genre masterpiece to 4K UHD, newly restored from its original 35mm camera negative and presented in three versions: its pre-release director’s cut, its extended home-video version, and its original theatrical version, along with an abundance of both new and archival extras.
Paul Lê wrote here on Bloody Disgusting back in 2023, “Over the years, fans have described this film as gateway horror, but they liken it more to The Watcher in the Woods than, say, Hocus Pocus or Casper. There are chilling moments that warrant its PG-13 rating.”
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