Every since I saw Accione Mutante as a teenager I was a fan of Alex De La Iglesia. The problem has always been that his film’s have always been hard to come by. I saw Day of the Beast when I managed to oddly find a copy at a Blockbuster I worked at (which also strangely had a copy of House by the Cemetery as it’s token only good horror film). Needless to say Severin Films is doing quite the service getting Day of the Beast and Perdita Durango out uncut for audiences, and also in 4K UHD, which is perfect considering how the market is transitioning to the new format.
Perdita Durango I’ll admit I had yet to see. I do remember seeing the cover for “Dance of the Devil” in video stores in the 90’s, but the cover didn’t exactly bring me in, and I had zero idea it was De La Iglesia at the time. The film follows Perdita (Rosie Perez) after she meets “Sorcerer”/Criminal Romeo. The two get a gig transporting fetuses (Feti?) to Las Vegas, however they also perform Satanic rituals along the way that occasional involve cannibalism and human sacrifice. To this end they kidnap the whitest couple they could find Duane and Estelle to sacrifice and chow-down on, not declaring which is going to get it. Of course, it’s not that simple, and soon the DEA is on their trail and following them to Vegas. This causes shoot-outs, chases, and extreme acts of violence both sexual and other-wise that have to be seen to be believed.
Perdita Durango is batshit insane in the best-way possible. This film hits the ground running, and does not let up. The characters are Satanic and sleazy, and you have to love them for it! The film has an energy to it that is irresistible, and tone that mixes black comedy with top-shelf action and sexuality.
The other film in the pair of De La Iglegia’s and my favorite of his so far is “Day of the Beast”. The film follows Father Cura who discovers that the Antichrist is to be born on Christmas Eve (the next day), and decides to do all the sinful misdeeds he can so that he can summon Satan himself and put a stop to it. He knows he cannot to this himself, so he enlist an occult TV personality Cavan, and a heavy metal record store clerk Jose to help in the chaos.
Day of the Beast is the 2nd film by De La Iglesias, and it really ups the ante from Accion Mutante (which was totally wild already). This one is a black comedy through and through, and I still remember cracking up at the absurdity of the film on my initial VHS viewing and it still cracked me up now. The film is an effective blend of that black comedy with horror elements, and I have to admit the metalhead in me loved having a death metal worshipping record store clerk as a main character.
Severin Films presents both films in 2160p transfer with HDR Dolby Vision. Both look absolutely spectacular, and if this is how Severin debuts on this new format, and I can’t wait to see where they go from here! Everything here looks fantastic textures are excellent, colors pop, everything is film like and well detailed. Audio is handled with DTS-HD audio tracks Perdita has 3 a 5.1 English and 2.0 English and a 5.1 Spanish dub. Day of the Beast has a 5.1 Spanish and 2.0 English, all our well-balanced and come through clear and crisp. Extras for each include interviews, featurettes, trailers, Day of the Beast includes a feature length making of, and a short film by De La Iglesia.
These 2 releases really are a pair of must-owns for any cult home video collector and will certainly be highlights for the 2021 release year. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.