Bikini Frankenstein (4½ Stars)

Just over a month ago (28th November, to be precise) Fred Olen Ray announced that he was going to release "Bikini Frankenstein" and "Twilight Vamps" on Blu-ray. This knocked me off my chair (figuratively speaking). They're films I've always wanted to own on Blu-ray, but I've never dared to ask, because I assumed the answer would be No. In the following conversation with Fred on his Facebook page, he said that he would continue to release his Medina films on Blu-ray as long as they sell. That's fair enough. He's in business for the money. He teased me by hinting that he intends to release "Haunting Desires" and "Voodoo Dollz" on Blu-ray in the near future. I didn't press him any further, because it was obvious that if he wanted to say more he would have done so already.

Two weeks of nail-biting. Then he announced that the Blu-ray was on sale, not from Amazon (unfortunately), but from a company called Makeflix. I ordered it immediately. Yesterday evening it arrived. I was too busy with household chores to watch it immediately, but just after midnight I sat down to watch it.

The quality is incredible, compared with the DVD that I've owned for years. The improvement in the facial textures is overwhelming. The first thing I noticed is that I could see every wrinkle on Ted Newsom's forehead. (Or maybe he doesn't want that?) The improvement in the appearance of the girls in the film, especially Jayden Cole (shown above) also knocked me out. There were a few details that I couldn't remember being in the film. I compared the versions on two screens side by side, and yes, the details were in the DVD version, but they'd never been apparent to me because I'd missed them at the lower resolution.

This morning I sent Fred a message, thanking him for the terrific release and asking if the other 30 films in the collection could be easily transferred to Blu-ray without remastering. He told me that the first half of the films had been filmed in SD, but he's already upgraded "Teenage Cavegirl" and "Tarzeena" to HD, and he claims that while not perfect the improvement in quality should be enough to satisfy fans.

Incidentally, the original Medina films all cost about $12 each from Amazon. This release as a double feature cost me $18.99. That means that the Blu-ray release is cheaper than the original DVD release!

I'm hoping that Fred's fans will snap up all the Blu-rays as soon as they're released. That way Fred will be encouraged to keep releasing them in swift succession. I want to complete my collection as soon as possible.

For anyone who doesn't know, this is the complete Medina collection. Maybe I should add "Tomb of the Werewolf" to the list. Fred released it using his own name, but it stars the same actors as the Medina films. It was probably made between "Bikini Airways" and "Haunting Desires", even though the release date is 2004.

1. Thirteen Erotic Ghosts (2002)
2. Bikini Airways (2003)
3. Haunting Desires (2003)
4. Curse of the Erotic Tiki (2003)
5. Bikini Carwash Academy (2004)
6. Erotic Dreams of Jeannie (2004)
7. Teenage Cavegirl (2004)
8. The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful (2005)
9. Bikini Chain Gang (2005)
10. Ghost in a Teeny Bikini (2006)
11. Bikini Girls from the Lost Planet (2006)
12. Harlots of the Caribbean (2006)
13. Girl with the Sex-Ray Eyes (2006)
14. Bewitched Housewives (2006)
15. The Girl from BIKINI (2006)
16. Super Ninja Doll (2007)
17. Tarzeena (2007)
18. Voodoo Dollz (2008)
19. Bikini Royale (2008)
20. Bikini Frankenstein (2009)
21. Twilight Vamps (2009)
22. Bikini Royale 2 (2009)
23. Bikini Jones and the Temple of Eros (2009)
24. Housewives from Another World (2010)
25. Lady Chatterley's Ghost (2010)
26. Bikini Time Machine (2010)
27. Sexual Witchcraft (2010)
28. Bikini Warriors (2010)
29. The Teenie Weenie Bikini Squad (2011)
30. Dirty Blondes from Beyond (2012)
31. Busty Housewives of Beverly Hills (2012)
32. Baby Dolls Behind Bars (2012)