Kai-Ming (Ivan) Lai’s 1991 Hong Kong film The Blue Jean Monster is a strange amalgamation; inspired by Dead Heat, it takes a blue-jean clad detective (Fui-On Shing) and turns him into a zombie, only able to continue surviving by jumpstarting his heart with various electrical shocks throughout as his driving motivation is to see his baby born and take down the criminals who ended up murdering him in the first place. While primarily a comedy, the Lai incorporates a number of elements – gross-out humor, slapstick, action and choreography that Hong Kong films are known for, and an overall irreverent tone that plays up the decidedly zany approach to the subject matter.
Shing’s character Tsu Hsiang is the focal point and titular hero of The Blue Jean Monster, and he does a great job with the various undead antics throughout. The film is partially slice-of-life, and there are a number of scenes where the frenetic action takes a backseat to hone in on Hsiang’s strained relationship with his very pregnant wife in a number of wacky (mostly unbelievable) misunderstandings involving their roommate Power Steering (Wai-Kit Tse) and the criminals’ main target Gucci (Gloria Yip). The Blue Jean Monster is at its best when it’s alternating between its fight sequences and gross-out humor and bodily functions of the dead Hsiang, and so these quieter moments of character study and contextual humor do tend to stand out as somewhat unnecessary, providing a mixed amount of levity in a film that seems to want to end with a weightier theme.
This makes The Blue Jean Monster a mixed bag, and some audiences may find the film’s pacing too schizophrenic. However, at its undead heart is a unique take on the dead cop format, with a lot of cultural Hong Kong elements strewn in for effect. While some of the film ambles trying to find its plotting, the overall action is solid and the infusion of horror makes for an entertaining watch.
Blu-ray
88 Films has released The Blue Jean Monster on Blu-ray in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with a new 2K transfer from the original negative. Video quality looks quite good, with a medium grain body that does not become entirely chunky but is noticeably thick throughout. Overall definition is solid, and background details and textures are strong. There are a number of moments where the film suffers from a subtle degradation, possibly due to the various rotoscoping effects used throughout for electricity. However, these aren’t highly prevalent. Skin tones appear consistent and do a great job portraying the makeup effects as Hsiang begins to decay. There aren’t a lot of darker shadowy shots used, but they resolve well without any evident crush or lack of delineation. A 4K scan may have done the movie some good, but I believe viewers should be happy with the overall result here.
Audio is presented with an LPCM 2.o mono Cantonese track with default English subtitles; these can’t even be changed on the menu since there is no setup option present. The LPCM track sounds pretty good with some occasional distortion, but otherwise no noticeable issues here. Dialogue is strong and the catchy soundtrack is well-represented.
For extras, 88 Films has included a new interview with assistant director Sam Leong who speaks for about 20 minutes on his work with director Ivan Lai, providing some context of his filmography, and discussing the problematic shooting of the film’s climactic battle sequence. Also included is a Hong Kong trailer and still gallery.
Packaging includes a nice shiny double-walled slipcover, and a double-sided foldout poster is provided with both new and original artwork. This Blu-ray also has reversible cover artwork.
Extra Features
- NEW Double Walled O-Ring featuring artwork by James Neal
- NEW Double-sided foldout poster featuring new and Classic Poster Art
- NEW 2K Restoration in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio from the original negatives
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray™ presentation
- Original Cantonese Mono with English Subtitles
- NEW “Man Made Monster” – An Interview With Assistant Director Sam Leong (1080i; 20:27)
- Hong Kong Trailer (1080p; 2:57)
- Stills Gallery (no chapter breaks; 4:25)
- NEW Reversible cover with artwork by James Neal and original HK Poster Art
Verdict
The Blue Jean Monster is a zany action-comedy that is rife with comedic antics and some great choreography which should appeal to fans of RoboCop who thought that movie was a bit too serious. 88 Films’ Blu-ray boasts a great transfer from a 2K scan and bonus packaging that makes up for a relatively light amount of extras.
