I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses is a late 1970’s blend of courtroom drama, murder mystery, and soapy melodrama- with surprising touches of gore ‘n’ nudity- which landed the film on the UK’s video nasty list in the 1980s. This Canadian film is certainly one of the lesser-seen/ known titles on the video nasty list- so it’s nice to see region free Blu-Ray release- which is a two-disc set that pairs the film with the writers/ director’s previous film Recommendation for Mercy (1975) which is also a courtroom drama. Both films receive a new scan & a good selection of extras.

I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses (aka Left For Dead) is from the year 1978, and it was the fourth and final film from writer/ director Murray Markowitz. His other credits include the documentary More Than One (1970), Lesbian romantic drama August and July (1973), and Recommendation for Mercy- but more on that film later.

The film centres around the murder of Magdalene Kruschen- played by blond Berlin-born Elke Sommer- A Shot In Dark (1964), Baron Blood (1972), Carry On Behind (1975). She is the model wife of Charles (Donald Pilon) a respected businessman- who escaped from Poland during WWII- settling in Canada, and slowly but surely working his way up the ladder. The film blends together flashbacks, with courtroom footage.

After the credits we see Magdalene murder- she’s at home alone one night- hears a noise. Goes downstairs to be bludgeoned to death with a metal bar- with very bright red spurting & squishing blood appearing. As things unfold, we find out that both Magdalene and Charles are seeing other people on the sly, and the marriage is basically on its last legs.

As you’d expect with courtroom drama you keep being battered back & forth wondering if Charles is guilty, or if is it someone else- like a balding serial killer who recently started stalking the area, another love interest, or someone else.
 
The film runs at the one hour and twenty-seven minutes mark. And I guess it’s ok- if you enjoy courtroom drama/ murder mystery- with a soapy melodrama edge. As you’d expect with this type of thing it’s very darting/ shifting in its timeline- and at points, this makes it a rather confusing watch. Acting wise Sommer is good as the bitchy-to-seductive Magdalene, 
Pilon is passable- though does come off a little bland at points. The surrounding cast is just okay- but nothing to write home about.
 
Moving onto the more controversial side of the film- the gore & nudity. And really much of this is found in the latter part of the film, aside from the blood bludgeoned early on. On the gore side, we get the dead body stripped with its pulpy head, a woman is stabbed in the stomach- then raped, and a few other splashes of overly red blood. On the nudity side, this is all from Ms Sommer who appears topless on a few occasions.
 
All in all, I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses is a fairly standard courtroom/ murder mystery- with the gore & nudity being very jarring when it appears. I’m certainly glad to have finally seen this lesser-known Video nasty title- but I have to be honest, unless you’re a courtroom drama/mystery genre you won’t get much from this.
 
Extra wise on this first disc we get a commentary track from Canadian film historian Stephen Broomer- this is wonderfully researched, observed, and at points quite thought-provoking. He starts off talking about how the film is a mix of melodrama, thriller and puzzle. He briefly touches on the film's place in the video nasty list, and the titles it went under on said list Drop Dead Dearest & Left For Dead. He talks about the film's themes, the way the director tells its story with a mix of courtroom drama, flashback, and fantasy/ dreams, and its use of shifting perspective. We get a bio of Ms Sommer and talk about her character being both a victim & a villain. He gives a bio of director Murray Markowitz- briefly discussing each of his films. We find out the film was rough based on a 1974 case- though the names & some of the case details/outcomes had been changed for the film. He talks about how in places the films become dense, layered, and more than a little confused with it's shifting timelines/ flashbacks. Later on, he discusses how a few of this film's crew went on to work on David Cronenberg's films- most notably who made his soundtrack composer debut on this film. He touches on other notable Canadian true crime cases, and talks more in-depth about the film's entry of the video nasty list, and its VHS release. A most worthy track. Otherwise, we get the following Directing I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses (13.57) interview with director Markowitz. The True Nature Of Donald Pilon (13.34) interview with the film's lead actor. Crimes Of Dispassion (16.22) which finds film programmer Eric Peretti discussing the case the film was based on, and the film it’s self 
 
 

Over onto the second disc & we have what’s been sold as a ‘bonus’ film Recommendation for Mercy - but really it gets a similar treatment to the first film, with a commentary track, and a few other extras. The film appeared in 1975 – it got rather a rather bad taste/ unfitting US VHS title of Teenage Psycho Killer. And It’s a mix of true crime & courtroom drama, which is based on an actual case from 1959- and that’s as far as I go on the real events/ outcome of the case, as this film really is most effective when you don’t know the outcome- as throughout the film you're been pulled between guilty & not guilty, with along the way some rather troubling & unsettling imagery/ scenes. And to be fully honest this is the better of the two films here, aside from a few issues…but more on those later. 
 
The film starts off by introducing us to a group of teens- I’m guessing they are meant to range between the ages of 13 and 17. The lead character is John Robbinson( Andrew Skid) he is fifteen, into doing track at school, and (seemingly) a fairly moral/ sane/ good teen- as early on we see him saving his bespeckled & tubby buddy from getting a near-fatal beaten from an older/ more leery teen. 

Initially/ leading up to crime- we get a highly darting, and at points slightly confusing filming/ scene style looking at the lives of the teens but hang in there- as it does start to make sense, and you get to understand whose who too.

The crime when it occurs is initially a disappearance- as one of the teen girls, John is rather keen on goes missing- and seemingly he was the last to see her, leaving her near a main road to look at some ponies. Then she is found- raped, and dead- with John being brought in, and soon charged.

From this point on the film paints a troubling look at the teen's time locked up in an adult jail. First with his fear & loneliness seen by his parents & one of the janitors. Then physically, as we see him being exampled a few days after the attack with the doctor poking & describing the state of his genitals off camera.

As the build-up to the trial goes on, we get shown long-dwelling shots of the female teen victim, with her nether regions uncovered, and shirt knotted around her neck- these along with the earlier mentioned examination stand as the film's most troubling moments. 

Cast wise Skid is pretty good in the lead- sure at times he does ham it up/overact a bit, but you largely believe what he’s going through. The supporting teen cast is largely passable to good too. 
 
Aside from the slightly jarringly cut/confusing start- Recommendation for Mercy is an engaging, and at times troubling mix of crime/ courtroom drama. With some effective flashbacks in the latter part of the film, which along with some of John’s behaviour/ reaction gets you constantly switching sides between guilty/ not guilty- and I’m so glad Severin included it here.
 
On the extras side on this disc, we get two commentary tracks- one with Stephen Broomer, and the other with Film Writer Kier-La Janisse In Conversation With Director Murray Markowitz. I played the first of these, and once again Mr Broomer does a great/ in-depth job. He begins by stating he’s a long-term fan of the film- saying it’s one of the better examples of true crime cinema from this period. He comments on the themes of loss of innocence, and how these are illustrated with pre-credits cut between a teen boy & a hunter. He talks about how the film manages to be both an exploitation film & a serious doc-drama, and that there is a real feeling of menace to the hormonal teen violence. He talks about the film's effective use of red herrings, and the original case the films based on. He discusses the different cuts of the film, and how they vary. And the work of editor George Appleby in the film. We find out that 3000 teens auditioned for the lead role, that Skid had no previous acting experience, and how well he does in the role. Later on, he talks about when the death penalty was abolished in Canada, and a bit of its history. He compares the characters in the film to those in the real case. How the film was made fifteen years after the case, and how they had to change filming locations due to press/ public outcry. So another very worthy track. Otherwise, we have Tainted Love (12.10) Interview With Actress Michele Fansett who played the girl who was raped/ killed.

In finishing it’s great to see Severin carrying on with their releasing of definitive versions of films from the Video Nasty list. And while I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses is the lesser of the two films- it’s great to finally see it in this nice edition. All in all this release will appeal to either video nasty or true crime fans.