Product Description

Cinematic magician, legendary provocateur, author of the infamous HOLLYWOOD BABYLON books and creator of some of the most striking and beautiful works in the history of film, Kenneth Anger is a singular figure in post-war American culture.
A major influence on everything from the films of Martin Scorsese, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and David Lynch to the pop art of Andy Warhol to MTV, Anger's work serves as a talisman of universal symbols and personal obsessions, combining myth, artifice and ritual to render cinema with the power of a spell or incantation.
Covering the second half of Anger's career, from his legendary SCORPIO RISING to his breathtaking phantasmagoria LUCIFER RISING, Fantoma is very proud to complete the cycle with this long-awaited final volume of films by this revolutionary and groundbreaking maverick, painstakingly restored and presented on DVD for the first time anywhere in the world.

Contains the films:
Scorpio Rising (1964)
Kustom Kar Kommandos (1965)
Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969)
Rabbit's Moon (1979 version)
Lucifer Rising (1981)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19137 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-10-02
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 120 minutes

Amazon.com
Pleasure and terror commingle in this next collection of Kenneth Anger films gathered in Volume 2. Like those in The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume 1, these shorts illustrate Anger's occult concepts with adept, fetishized poeticism manifested formally through Anger's luscious color experiments, avant-garde soundtracks, and radically inventive editing. Volume 2 boasts Anger's later, darker films that were allegedly magick incarnate: "Scorpio Rising," "Invocation of My Demon Brother," and "Lucifer Rising." "Scorpio Rising," about a biker gang as a symbol of savage ritualism, contains truly scary footage of an actual death-by-motorcycle, and is the most brilliant example of proto-metal culture that has by now infiltrated America's mainstream. "Invocation of My Demon Brother" stars the infamous Bobby Beausoleil, and is a gorgeous psychedelic recap of a theatrical black magick ceremony performed on stage during Anger's Haight Ashbury days. It features a stunning noise piece played on a Moog by Mick Jagger. "Lucifer Rising," too, is an infamous film, as it was made as a tribute to Lucifer's rejuvenating forces. Each film turns the concept of evil inside out, leaving one with a more complex notion of why Anger considered the camera a "magical weapon." Volume 2 also contains the slick "Kustom Kar Kommandos," about car club culture mirroring sexual fetish, a shortened version of "Rabbit Moon," and the not-as-exciting 2002 film "The Man We Want to Hang," about Aleister Crowley's paintings. The commentaries on each film offer indispensable, eloquent insights into the visionary motifs inherent to each piece. Notably, the booklet in Volume 2 contains essays by Guy Maddin, Gus Van Sant, and Bobby Beausoleil, who recalls his association with Anger, and how he managed to finish the "Lucifer Rising" soundtrack in his prison cell. For Kenneth Wilbur Anglemeyer fans, these DVDs sets contain welcome blessings, or curses, or both. —Trinie Dalton

Customer Reviews

Highly Influential Avant Garde Masterwork
Kenneth Anger, Volume Two gathers together Kenneth Anger's work during his most influential period. "Scorpio Rising" is the standout, a homoerotic (daring by the standards of the day)semi-documentary (play the commentary) of gay bikers in Coney Island which through use of montage and then current pop songs, some sacreligious elements (a dated religious film is spliced in) and film footage of Hollywood movies (Marlon Brando in the "Wild One", James Dean)creates an avant masterwork, underground before the genre became tedious. Influential on John Waters Gus Van Sant but surprisingly an admitted influence on Martin Scorcese and many other mainstream film makers (the use of the song "Blue Velvet" in an out of context fashion may have been lifted by a certain film maker) and the use of pop songs in an ironic context was groundbreaking. The other films are less important ("Kustom Kar Kommandos" is a film fragment never completed, "Invocation of My Demon Brother" is dated (Mick Jagger unsuccesfully trying out the Moog, soundtrack, the appearence of Anton Levay), "Rabbit's Moon" is a shortened version of the far better version available on Volume I (which had a far more appropriate soundtrack) and "Lucifer Rising" has its moments and nice imagery but no more (the new film on Aleister Crowley "The Man We Want to Hang" is an interesting bonus but no surprise). So for overall content I'd give this 4 stars but "Scorpio Rising", plus the remastering of the films and soundtracks and the commentary take this up one full star and make this a neccessary purchase for all interested in film history.

Another superb DVD from Fantoma !!!
The Films of Kenneth Anger - Vol. 2 is another lovingly prepared DVD treasure from San Francisco based Fantoma Films. Superb restoration from high definition masters on all 5 classic films, plus a bonus short. Commentaries by Kenneth Anger himself are informative and tell us the little secrets that we want to know. The 48 page illustrated booklet is another well thought out piece. Scorpio Rising, Kustom Kar Kommandos, Invocation Of My Demon Brother, Rabbit's Moon and the long awaited Lucifer Rising have never looked or sounded so good. Buy this one and treasure it.

More than delivers the goods
Vol. II of Fantoma's Kenneth Anger collection is here, and it's as good or better than anything I could have hoped for. Anger's later films, from Scorpio Rising through Lucifer Rising (his 2002 film of Aleister Crowley's art is also included as an extra) are presented gloriously restored. If you grew up watching these on the UK import or Mystic Fire VHS editions (as I did), the sheer clarity and vibrance of the restored films will be enough to blow you away. Add to that the detailed and witty commentary from the auteur himself (the Scorpio comments are especially illuminating), and you have a package that no true fan of 60s-70s underground cinema could resist.