Archaeologists investigating some Mayan ruins come across a blob-like monster. They manage to destroy it with fire, but keep a sample. Meanwhile, a comet is due to pass close to the Earth - the same comet passed near the Earth at the time the Mayan civilization mysteriously collapsed. Coincidence?
As the story goes, director Riccardo Freda intentionally dropped out of the production early on in order to allow his cinematographer (Mario Bava) to take over and get the first film under his belt as director. Whether this is accurate is unknown, and ultimately neither of them ended up taking credit, the director being some pseudonym. What makes this historically important is that, of course, today Bava is celebrated and Freda is much lesser-known outside of hard-core movie geek circles. Though we have to credit Freda for "The Horrible Dr. Hichcock" (1962) and "The Ghost" (1963), both starring Barbara Steele, as well as the under-appreciated "Tragic Ceremony", it is Bava who is considered the father of Italian genre cinema.
Now, "Caltiki" is not a perfect film. Most noticeably, the film or camera used did not allow for a high amount of contrast. Some scenes, particularly the darker ones, make it hard to see exactly what it is we are supposed to be seeing. But this is made up for with the ingenuity of the slime monster. Even knowing that it is "tripe", it still has a very effective appearance and the growing / splitting movements are quite good. Comparisons to "The Blob" (1958) are inevitable, but this film and its effects are plenty strong enough to be more than a cheap knock-off. Even the makeup on Max (Gerard Herter in his debut) looks great, far better than Italian horror films are often given credit for.
As noted by others more knowledgeable than myself, "Caltiki" was given a successful run on a string of double and triple bills by Allied Artists in America, but has been largely elusive on TV and home video with only a couple of token VHS appearances in Europe. The first official DVD release came from NoShame as a Region 2 Italian release in 2007. Those of us in Region 1 territory had to settle for poor quality bootlegs from a mid-quality original.
The Arrow Video Blu-ray is packed tighter than a clown car, and is sure to be one of the most sought after releases of 2017. We have a new audio commentary by Bava expert Tim Lucas, as well as a new audio commentary by the other major Bava expert, Troy Howarth. One commentary probably would have sufficed, but we got the best of both worlds here.
And that is just the beginning. There is "From Quatermass to Caltiki", a new discussion with author and critic Kim Newman on the influence of classic monster movies on Caltiki. We get "Riccardo Freda, Forgotten Master", an archival interview with critic Stefano Della Casa and "The Genesis of Caltiki", an archival interview with filmmaker Luigi Cozzi. And, just to put the cherry on top, an archival introduction to the film by Stefano Della Casa.
Fellow reviewer Dan Day writes, "I have a feeling this Blu-ray is going to wind up on my annual top five list at the end of the year." I whole-heartedly concur. A Blu-ray of a little-known film from a beloved cult director packed with extras? No doubt this will be a must-have for many fantastic film buffs and may likely even get a Rondo nomination.
As the story goes, director Riccardo Freda intentionally dropped out of the production early on in order to allow his cinematographer (Mario Bava) to take over and get the first film under his belt as director. Whether this is accurate is unknown, and ultimately neither of them ended up taking credit, the director being some pseudonym. What makes this historically important is that, of course, today Bava is celebrated and Freda is much lesser-known outside of hard-core movie geek circles. Though we have to credit Freda for "The Horrible Dr. Hichcock" (1962) and "The Ghost" (1963), both starring Barbara Steele, as well as the under-appreciated "Tragic Ceremony", it is Bava who is considered the father of Italian genre cinema.
Now, "Caltiki" is not a perfect film. Most noticeably, the film or camera used did not allow for a high amount of contrast. Some scenes, particularly the darker ones, make it hard to see exactly what it is we are supposed to be seeing. But this is made up for with the ingenuity of the slime monster. Even knowing that it is "tripe", it still has a very effective appearance and the growing / splitting movements are quite good. Comparisons to "The Blob" (1958) are inevitable, but this film and its effects are plenty strong enough to be more than a cheap knock-off. Even the makeup on Max (Gerard Herter in his debut) looks great, far better than Italian horror films are often given credit for.
As noted by others more knowledgeable than myself, "Caltiki" was given a successful run on a string of double and triple bills by Allied Artists in America, but has been largely elusive on TV and home video with only a couple of token VHS appearances in Europe. The first official DVD release came from NoShame as a Region 2 Italian release in 2007. Those of us in Region 1 territory had to settle for poor quality bootlegs from a mid-quality original.
The Arrow Video Blu-ray is packed tighter than a clown car, and is sure to be one of the most sought after releases of 2017. We have a new audio commentary by Bava expert Tim Lucas, as well as a new audio commentary by the other major Bava expert, Troy Howarth. One commentary probably would have sufficed, but we got the best of both worlds here.
And that is just the beginning. There is "From Quatermass to Caltiki", a new discussion with author and critic Kim Newman on the influence of classic monster movies on Caltiki. We get "Riccardo Freda, Forgotten Master", an archival interview with critic Stefano Della Casa and "The Genesis of Caltiki", an archival interview with filmmaker Luigi Cozzi. And, just to put the cherry on top, an archival introduction to the film by Stefano Della Casa.
Fellow reviewer Dan Day writes, "I have a feeling this Blu-ray is going to wind up on my annual top five list at the end of the year." I whole-heartedly concur. A Blu-ray of a little-known film from a beloved cult director packed with extras? No doubt this will be a must-have for many fantastic film buffs and may likely even get a Rondo nomination.