Zaat Blu-ray

Zaat

 (1971)

Zaat Blu-ray offers decent video and audio, but overall it's a poor Blu-ray release
A mad scientist (and apparent former Nazi) unleashes his master plan: to transform himself into a mutated walking catfish, gain revenge on those who have spurned him, and kidnap nubile young women to similarly transform so that he can breed. Or something like that.

For more about Zaat and the Zaat Blu-ray release, see the Zaat Blu-ray Review

Starring: Marshall Grauer, Wade Popwell, Paul Galloway
Directors: Don Barton, Arnold Stevens

Zaat Blu-ray Review

Creature from the Black Buffoon.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, February 26, 2012

By some cruel twist of fate, review copies of both Zaat and Plan 9 From Outer Space arrived the same day to my home, certainly a sign as ominous as any Mayan calendar that the world is nearing some sort of Apocalyptic fury. Plan 9 From Outer Space is often saddled with the soubriquet "Worst Film of All Time", which certainly seems hyperbolic, especially considering the fact that time hasn't ended yet (it's not December 21, is it?) and the concomitant fact that Tyler Perry is still making films. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) But in terms of those films that have already been made, Zaat more than gives Plan 9 From Outer Space a run for its "Worst Film of All Time" money. This spectacularly awful quasi-revision of The Creature From the Black Lagoon features a laugh out loud horrible monster, equally hideous "acting", and a sort of cut rate ethos that makes the oeuvre of Ed Wood, Jr. seem positively glamorous by comparison. Zaat was the "brainchild" of one Don Barton, a Florida filmmaker whose IMDb biography is a glowing testimonial co-written by one of the participants in the commentary on this Blu-ray, the rather strangely capitalized ED Tucker, who shall remain "Ed" for the purposes of this review lest anyone feel we're talking about a symptom a "little blue pill" can cure. Barton's bio lists a handful of documentary features and insists that the entrepreneur has a long and varied background in film, but according to IMDb so far his only feature film is Zaat. (In what must be unintended irony, his bio states that he's working on a spoof of Zaat, which of course completely misses the point that Zaat is hilarious enough in and of itself that it really doesn't require spoofing.)



Looking for any name stars in Zaat? Surely you jest. This ultra-low budget feature was shot in and around Jacksonville, Florida in 1970 or 1971 (online sources differ about this important historical fact) and features a lot of Floridian "talent". Zaat proudly trumpets its "achievement" of being the only monster movie ever filmed in Jacksonville, which may indeed be true but which nonetheless seems like an awfully odd peg to hang a film's reputation on. Zaat "stars" (for a moment, anyway) one Marshall Grauer as mad scientist (and evident ex-Nazi) Dr. Kurt Leopold, who lopes weirdly about the Florida backwoods in the film's opening sequence while his voiceover details his mad (mad, I tell you!) plan to create a catfish-human hybrid (I kid you not) which will help in his devious master plan to horribly pollute the (begin gasping now, please) entire planet! Grauer disappears after this opening sequence, when he injects himself with radioactive liquid, and douses himself in a big tank, after which he morphs into the "Zaat Monster", one of the most delightfully outré costume creations in the history of bad science fiction films, one inhabited by the late Wade Popwell, who struggles under the outfit's 120 pound weight and can be seen several times throughout the film tripping and slipping as a result of his efforts.

The rest of Zaat has the creature traipsing around various Florida locales attempting to pick up scantily clad women in an effort to transform a female so that he can mate. He also (in one of the film's best comedic elements, obviously intentional) carries around a little plant "spritzer", with which he is going to pollute the (gasp again, please) entire planet, one tiny spritz at a time. The creature ultimately ends up kidnapping a local marine biologist (or something like that), whose partner then sets out to rescue her, all to uproarious effect. There's also a completely bizarre sidebar featuring the town's hippies (this was the early seventies, after all), who sit around a campfire singing folk songs (written by one of the film's composers, who also performs them onscreen, Jamie DeFrates), until the local sheriff locks them up "for their own good" (not to mention ours).

Zaat probably would have disappeared into the dustbin of history had not those excellent farceurs at Mystery Science Theater 3000 found it and put it through their wisecracking mill in a still very well remembered episode. It's rather daunting to realize that Zaat, per the comment above with regard to the proposed "spoof", really doesn't even need the commentary of the MST3K guys to make it funny. With risible dialogue, inept staging, "special" effects that need to be seen to be believed, and a just plain out there ambience from start to finish, this is the sort of film Ed Wood, Jr. might have made—on a bad day. The fact that Zaat is firmly lodged in the bottommost reaches of IMDb's Worst Films database is testament to how "fondly" trashy film lovers remember this odd little item. Jacksonville, for better or worse, has found its filmic claim to fame.

Zaat Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

Zaat is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Chest and Cultra with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This has evidently been sourced from a 35mm print that was in acceptable condition, but which had faded considerably and showed signs of damage. The restoration featurette included on the Blu-ray demonstrates quite good color correction, as well as some digital sharpening and (bugaboo alert) some digital noise reduction. Even DNR doesn't affect the stock footage here in any great degree, and it still looks rather grainy and fuzzy. Colors pop quite well on this release, though reds especially tend to bloom slightly from time to time. The entire film has a sort of garish look that was probably inherent in the original theatrical exhibition. Fine detail isn't superb here, but it suffices most of the time, especially with regard to the unbelievable monster costume, whose frilly boa neck trim must be seen to be believed. Considering the shape of the elements used to make this high definition presentation, things look really rather surprisingly good, but those who are expecting state of the art HD imagery had best keep looking.

Zaat Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

Film Chest and Cultra haven't quite stepped up to the high definition audio plate and Zaat follows their custom of only having a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. That said, it's hard to say what lossless audio might have added to this release. The first half hour or so of the film is filled only with patently silly voice over narration and some actually kind of appealing sound effects, and then when there is dialogue, you kind of wish there wasn't. Fidelity isn't great here, with a somewhat boxy sound that is clipped at the extreme high and low ends of the spectrum, but which still maintains acceptable fullness in the midrange. The track shows no overt signs of damage but it's very sonically limited.

Zaat Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

• Audio Commentary with Don Barton, Ron Kivett, Paul Galloway and Ed Tucker. The participants obviously have a lot of love for this project, and for Jacksonville itself, but this commentary is marred by some of the most atrocious audio quality in recent memory. This sounds like it was phoned in from a land line—in about 1942. One is almost tempted to assume that this was done on purpose to match the similarly lo-fi feel of the rest of Zaat, but that may be giving whoever recorded this too much credit.


• Original Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:34)


• Television Spots (SD; 1:15)


• Outtakes (SD; 3:53)


• Photo Gallery/Slideshow (HD; 8:10)


• Radio Interview with Wade Popwell and Ed Tucker (10:42)


• Before and After Restoration Demo (HD; 1:06)

Zaat Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

Zaat has seen the light of day under a number of different titles, including The Blood Waters of Doctor Z (its title for the MST3K outing), Hydra and Attack of the Swamp Creatures. Whatever you may choose to call it, Zaat is a steaming pile of film detritus that is so awful it of course has become a classic of sorts. Lovers of fantastically bad films rate Zaat one of the worst, and demand for this title was so pent up that Amazon evidently went through their initial allotment in record time. With a properly cynical, jaded attitude, certain audiences will most definitely love Zaat. Anyone expecting anything approaching a traditional monster- horror feature will in fact be horrified, though not for the reasons they expect. This release offers pretty good looking video (albeit with that typical bugaboo, DNR) and acceptable audio, and it also has some appealing supplements. Fans of the film will probably be well pleased with this release, certainly one of the finalists for a Niche Title of the Year Award.

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Recently restored, Don Barton's Zaat (also known as The Blood Waters of Dr. Z) (1971) will be released as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack via Film Chest on the CULTRA and HD Cinema Classics labels. The preliminary street date set by the labels is February 21.

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