Written by: Michael Den Boer on November 23rd, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: Japan, 2005
Director: Yûji Tajiri
Writer: Fumio Moriya
Cast: Rinako Hirasawa, Mutsuo Yoshioka, Minami Aiyama, Akino Hirasawa, Takeshi Ito, Setchin Kawaya, Setsuhiko Kobayashi, Yûya Matsuura, Kazuhiro Sano
DVD released: November 18th, 2008
Approximate running time: 109 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1:33:1 Full Frame, Letterboxed Widescreen & 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo English
Subtitles: N/A
DVD Release: Salvation Films
Region Coding: Region 0 NTSC
Retail Price: $19.95
The Nuns began as a Punk Rock/New Wave band in the late 1970’s. Over the years there have been numerous line changes. The Nuns musical style has changed through the years with the latest incarnation of the band dabbling in the Gothic Rock genre. Since the beginning there has been one constant that has remained and that is the band’s lead singer Jennifer Miro.
“The Nuns: New York Vampires” is collection of live performances and interviews that showcase the current incarnation of The Nuns. The contents on this DVD are broken down into three sections. The first section is titled Videos and the contents are as follows a video introduction with Jennifer Miro (7:43). She discusses how The Nuns and this project came to be. Up next is Live at the Limelight NYC: Short Film “a Message to Nigel” (33:55), Live at the Marquee, London (13:02), Live at Black Mass, London (9:49). These three live performances do a superb job showcasing the bands baroque visual style. These live performances are followed by a Short Film titled “Drusilla Darling” (12:21). This is an odd tale about a vampire that leans more towards campy than scary. The next features on this DVD are two un-aired episodes New York Vampires Episode 1 (30:58) and New York Vampires Episode 2 (27:55), for a purposed TV series about The Nuns and their lives. The remaining contents the section titled Videos is a music video for the song “White Slave” (4:26), A Note from Jennifer (6:00) which is essentially a text bio for Jennifer Miro and the Original Promo Trailer for “The Nuns: New York Vampires” (1:50).
The last two sections are titled History (5:10) which includes a image gallery with music playing in the background and Visuals which includes an assortment of image galleries, Erotic Performance Cards (1:10), Gig Photos (42 seconds), Posters and Advertisements (2:21), Erotic Photos (52 seconds), Jennifer 2007 (2:25) and Jennifer 2008 (1:00). These image galleries also have music playing in the background. Tragically since this collection has been release one of the bands lead singer’s Mistress Kris was murdered in a NYC hotel. Ultimately if you are fan of Gothic music laced with erotica than you are sure to get a kick out of The Nuns: New York Vampires.
The DVD:
All the contents include on this DVD are presented in their original aspect ratio. The image quality fares well throughout with the various segments being shot at different times and under different circumstances. The majority of the content has also been flagged for progressive playback with only a few segments that are interlaced. The image for all of the segments remains stable and there are no problems with ghosting or blurring.
This release comes with one audio option a Dolby Digital stereo mix in English. The audio sounds clean, clear, evenly balanced and at times robust. Overall The Nuns: New York Vampires gets a solid DVD release from Redemption Films.