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Assignment Terror – Scorpion Releasing (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Spain/West Germany/Italy, 1970
Directors: Tulio Demicheli, Hugo Fregonese, Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi, Eberhard Meichsner
Writer: Paul Naschy
Cast: Michael Rennie, Karin Dor, Craig Hill, Patty Shepard, Ángel del Pozo, Paul Naschy, Manuel de Blas

Release Date: November 26th, 2019
Approximate Running Time: 86 Minutes 52 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Spanish, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $34.99

"Earth is under siege from an invading squad of aliens who have a diabolical plan to conquer mankind with a mummy, a vampire, Frankenstein's monster, and a werewolf. With abducted women as their assistants, the aliens use a traveling circus for cover, but their supernatural plan could have some monstrous consequences. The second film in the hugely popular Spanish horror series starring cult film star Paul Naschy as the legendary Waldemar Daninsky." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.75/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "HD world premiere".

Assignment Terror comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 23.1 GB

Feature: 22.1 GB

Though the source used for this transfer is in good shape. There’s no denying there are many limitations that are source related. There appears too be some digital filtering that makes the image look softer than it should. That said, colors and black levels fare well.

Audio: 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono Spanish), 3/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Spanish and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. Though both audio mixes sound clean, fidelity wise the Spanish audio mix sounds noticeably fuller than the English audio mix. That said, dialog comes through clearly and ambient sounds are well represented. Included with this release are removable English subtitles for the Spanish language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a slipcover, liner notes (located on the inside cover) written by Mirek Lipinski, an extensive image gallery, two trailers Assignment Terror (2 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish, no subtitles & 2 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo German, no subtitles), trailers for The Mummy’s Revenge (2 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), The Fury of the Wolfman (3 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and The Hanging Woman (1 minute 7 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), alternate opening German, UK & US (4 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo) and an audio commentary with film historian Troy Howarth.

Summary:

All monsters attack! What do you get when you take universal classic monsters and throw in aliens for good measure? You get a kitchen sink horror/sci-fi hybrid film like Assignment Terror.

Though Assignment Terror has many of the elements that would become staples of Paul Naschy’s most celebrated films. The result is a melting pot film that never fully commits to a cohesive direction. Reportedly, there were four directors who worked on Assignment Terror.

Where most of the films that Paul Naschy appeared in the 1970’s were star vehicles. Assignment Terror is an ensemble cast and Paul Naschy’s participation is not much more than a cameo. That said, the screenplay was Paul Naschy’s most significant contribution to Assignment Terror.

Assignment Terror has many of the hallmarks of cinema that’s so bad it's good. It’s absurd premise, aliens who resurrect monsters to take over the Earth ensures there’s never a shortage of outlandish moments. Unfortunately, far too much time gets spent on mundane moments with the aliens, instead of scenes with the monsters destroying everyone and everything that crosses their paths.

Assignment Terror makes its way to Blu-ray via a strong release from Scorpion Releasing that comes with a pair of insightful extras, recommended.