Archive for Horror Movies
Inferno – Blu-ray Review – Arrow Video
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Inferno
Director: Dario Argento
Cast: Leigh McCloskey, Irene Miracle, Eleonora Giorgi
Review by Brian M. Sammons
This isn’t my favorite Argento film. In fact, it’s not even my favorite “Three Mothers” film by Argento. But just like something else that’s wonderful and Italian, namely pizza, there is really no such thing as awful Argento because even when he’s not great he’s still pretty damn good. Such is the case here. But wait, could it be that you don’t know what Argento’s Three Mothers trilogy is? Well let’s get to that.
Back in 1977 Dario gave the world a true macabre, nightmarish masterpiece with his film, Suspira. It was giallo, black-glove fun mixed with images right out of a techno colored fever dream, with black magic aplenty and one hell of an evil witch called The Mother of Sorrow. What we all soon learned after watching that movie, other than Argento was a true maestro of horror, was that this was only the beginning of the haunting trilogy of three mothers of evil.
In 1980 Argento returned to give his evil mothers some love with Inferno. This time the story was set in New York and revolved around the youngest, but most wicked mother/sister/witch/whatever; the Mother of Darkness. However beyond that I can’t say much. I do so not only in an attempt to avoid spoilers, but also because the story was an odd combination of confusing and boring. I say boring because the story moves at a leisurely pace at best while there’s confusion mostly in the motivation of the various characters. People come to the large apartment building the evil mother is hiding in, either by accident or actively looking for the witch, and then one by one they get bumped off in creative, sometimes hilarious ways. My favorite is a woman who gets pelted with lots of real, live, angry cats, like a scene out of Hitchcock’s The Birds, except with felines. Here’s hoping they were at least declawed.
Yet as weird and slow moving as the story is, Argento’s style is in top form. The man’s use of colors, lighting, and other visual candy is simply beautiful and has to be seen to believe. In this day of directors all aping the hyper kinetic thirty-cuts-a-minuet MTV music video style of movie making, it’s nice to see a movie where the director has actual talent and tons of skill. The old phrase of “they just don’t make them like that any more” has never been clearer. That alone makes this movie mandatory viewing.
Luckily for new fright fans and old terror film lovers alike, the good people at Arrow Video in the UK have put out a truly amazing looking Blu-ray edition of this movie that really showcases Argento’s style. In addition to looking great, they add a bunch of neat-o extras to the disc. There’s a 20 minute interview with actress and screenwriter Daria Nicolodi who co-wrote Suspiria and acted in Inferno. There’s the basic 15 minute making of featurette, a 30 minute question and answer session about the movie, and the oddest, and most interesting bit; a 15 minute documentary on a movie called The Black Cat that was made in 1989 and was an “unofficial” end to the Three Mothers trilogy by another director, Luigi Cozzi. I had never heard of this film so it was nice to learn about it.
Like all Arrow Video BDs and DVDs I’ve ever seen, this one is great. Its top of the line quality with plenty of extras tossed in. There is simply nothing better out there. If you are an Argento fan then this is the Blu-ray of Inferno to get.
Brothel – Psychological Ghost Story
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Mystic Pictures in association with Vanguard Cinema has announced the North American DVD release of the supernatural erotic thriller Brothel starring Serena Scott Thomas (The World is Not Enough), Grace Zabriskie (Big Love), Brett Cullen (Ghost Rider), Bruce Payne (Warlock III) and Timothy V Murphy (National Treasure: Book of Secrets).
Description: In an attempt to stay close to the love of her life, recently passed, Julianne (Serena Scott Thomas) chooses to become the mistress of death …
Brothel is a psychological ghost story about a woman who flees her life in the city after a tragic loss. In an old mining town stands an abandoned brothel from the turn of the century. Julianne purchases the brothel to turn it into a hotel, but as she begins its restoration, her shattered psyche takes on the personas of the four prostitutes and their Madam (Grace Zabriskie) who once inhabited the hotel. The harder they push her to face her past, the faster she runs away from reality toward the land of ghosts.
Brothel will be released on September 28, 2010 and is available to pre-order from all major retailers and rental outlets.
Survival Of The Dead – DVD Review
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Survival Of The Dead
Director: George A. Romero
Cast: Alan Van Spang, Kenneth Welsh, Kathleen Munroe
Review by Brian M. Sammons
This is a review that I really don’t want to write. Why? Because I am a George Romero fan, and a zombie movie fan, but especially a Romero zombie movie fan. At least I was, but ever since he finished his original …Of The Dead trilogy, the quality of Romero’s cavorting corpse cinema has been in steady decline. Yet while both land and Diary Of The Dead had some good things to balance out the bad, Survival is an unredeemable disaster from start to finish. I never thought I’d say that about any Romero movie, other than Bruiser, and especially not one of his zombie flicks, but that is the long and short of it. However if you want some reasons as to why this movie makes me so sad, read on.
The story, such as it is, is about a small island off the coast of Pennsylvania oddly populated by a bunch of Irish people living the simple country life when the undead plague hits. Half the residents of the island belong to one clan who want to do the sensible thing and kill the zombies as they pop up. The other half, also belong to a single clan, want to keep the zombies locked up, or chained up doing really stupid stuff like delivering the mail, mowing the lawn, and chopping wood (yeah, great idea, give the zombie an axe), until a cure can be discovered. This leads to a civil war of sorts between the living. Into this clan war comes a group of soldiers, the same soldiers last seen robbing the “heroes” of Diary Of The Dead. Now all this, while a bit silly, doesn’t sound all that bad, so why do I cry every time I think of this movie? Wow, where to begin?
The acting is atrocious. Not one actor looks like they have any business being in front of a camera, or hell even on the stage of the local community college. I’m not just trying to be snarky, but I cannot stress enough how bad the acting is. Yet I can’t blame these hapless thespians for ruining this movie alone, I can’t even place all the blame on them for the incredibly cheesy characters they are portraying. No, sadly the script has a lot to do with that too. The dialog is laughably bad, the situations thoroughly unbelievable, and worst of all, the zombie gags fall completely flat.
What’s a “zombie gag?” That’s a memorable bit of gory good fun where a zombie either kills someone, or is killed, in a spectacular way. Previous Romero zombie movies had tons of these, but Survival has not a single one. Oh, you will remember plenty of gore scenes from this movie, but for all the wrong reasons. Namely the special effects are HORRIBLE! The makeup, what little is used, looks like what you would see in your neighborhood haunted house at Halloween, but the biggest offender is the completely phony looking CGI effects. There are not words enough to describe how bad the Grade-Z computer effects look, so I’m not going to even try.
Ha, who am I kidding?
I live to piss all over bad CGI, so let me say that the computer animation in The Last Starfighter looked more believable than the splat effects in Survival, and have you seen that 1984 classic recently? Yeah, that looks better than what they’ve got here. And hey, did I mention the zombie chick riding a horse? Yes, you read that right, there’s a horse riding zombie. Man the questions that brings up are legion. How does the zombie girl get up on the horse? Does she just stay up there forever? Did she die on the horse? Why does the horse allow some rotting dead thing to ride it all around? Most importantly, who the hell thought it was a good idea to have a zombie on horseback in this movie?
Now despite this deeply flawed film, Magnolia Home Entertainment did a good job bring this move out on disc. There are three options to choose from, a rather bare bones DVD, a two disc Ultimate Edition DVD loaded with extras, and a nice looking Blu-ray with even more goodies. But does it really matter what extras a specific edition has when the movie they’re all about is this bad? No, it doesn’t so moving on…
I can not recommend this movie, not even a little bit. It is the one Romero zombie movie I will not be keeping in my movie library and honestly, I’m going to try like hell to forget that I ever saw this movie. I never thought I’d say this, but I do hope that George never makes another zombie movie, because if the declining quality trend continues, I can’t even begin to image how bad the next …Of The Dead movie will be. Whatever, consider this movie thoroughly drenched in Skip It sauce.
Small Budget Production Bucks Studios
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Enemy Mind, a science fiction-style film written, produced and directed by an upstart cast and crew, is now available on DVD. The film was shot on location in the Salton Sea area of Southern California’s Imperial Valley in early 2010, and completed on a shoestring budget.
“I still can’t believe we did this with only $9,000,” marvels Xu Razer, who plays an accused futuristic terrorist in the film. “More than two-thirds of that money was spent to hire Academy Award Winning Actor Ernest Borgnine, who provides the voice for a key character in the film. I don’t know of anyone who has ever pulled off something like this on such a small budget, and we are extremely proud of the accomplishment.”
Borgnine will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 17th annual SAG Awards Jan 30 2011 to be broadcast on TNT and TBS.
The action takes place in the year 3074 A.D. when a prison transport ship carrying some of the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals has crash-landed on a remote planet. Only two people survive the wreck: a terrorist accused of a bombing a spacecraft and a soldier ordered to ensure the accused prisoner stands trial for his crime. Each becomes determined to control the other in the name of conviction and faith.
“We wanted so badly to make a movie that would test the boundaries of perception, reality, and ideology,” explains Razer. “The fantastic public reception of the movie has been invigorating considering all the hurdles we had to clear to finish Enemy Mind.” The 2011 Athens Sci Fi & Fantasy Film Fest held annually in Greece was very excited about making the film an official selection and LIVE magazine called it “one of the best indie sci fi movies of the year.”
Written and directed by Brennan Reed, Enemy Mind is now available for VOD and indieflix.com and on DVD at Amazon.com and at select Video Depot locations in Southern California.
For more information visit: Enemy Mind
Dexter: The Fourth Season – DVD and Blu-ray Review
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Dexter: The Fourth Season
Cast: Michael C. Hall, Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter, John Lithgow
Review by Brian M. Sammons
Dexter, come on, if you haven’t seen this amazing show by now then shame, shame, shame and a healthy dose of “where the hell have you been?” tossed on top for good measure. But just in case you’re waking up from a four-year-long comma today, here’s the nickel tour. Dexter is a serial killer, but one who stalks and kills other murderers. In addition to that twist, he works for the Miami Police Department as a blood splatter analyst and in between killing and forensics he has to balance friends, family, and a new baby. All the seasons of Dexter have had great stories and excellent acting, but this season took the series to a whole new level, and that’s not just the usual hyper critic hyperbole.
Season four begins with newlywed Dex trying his best to play the caring family man, not an easy task for a sociopath with almost zero human feelings and interpersonal skills, when all too soon he’s plunged into the warped world of the Trinity Killer. This new psychotic adversary is the most successful serial killer of all time and is played to creepy, truly frightening perfection by John Lithgow. The usual cat and mouse game is ratcheted up further when Dexter finds his quarry, but instead of ending things right away, tries to befriend Trinity to learn his secrets on how he’s been so successful for so long. So begins a taut deadly dance that lasts for 12 episodes and culminates with one of the best season endings in TV history.
However as great as this show, and specifically this season is, the DVD and BD package that houses it is sorely lacking. I mean everything looks and sounds great, and that’s the most important thing, but there are no special features to be found here that’s worth mentioning. Sure there are a few brief interviews with the cast, and then there are some … oh wait, that’s it. That’s all the extra goodies on Dexter you will find on these discs but hey, there are a few episodes of SHOWTIMES’ other less popular shows on here. Yay for them pimping their other TV shows and trying to pass the hour long commercials off as “bonus features”.
Dexter is so amazingly good, but these DVDs and BDs are so Plain Jane bad, so can I recommend them? Yeah, I kind of have to as the show is just too awesome to miss and these bare bones discs are the only game in town. I’m guessing SHOWTIME knows this too and therefore they don’t see the need to jazz up their flagship show, but hey, a little something extra for the fans would be a nice treat. Oh well, maybe next time. Regardless of these no thrills discs, this set is a must have for Dexter fans. As for those looking to jump into the show, this would be a great place to start.
The Evil Dead – Blu-ray Review
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The Evil Dead
Director: Sam Raimi
Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Hal Delrich, Betsy Baker, Sarah York
Review by: Brian M. Sammons
Has there ever been a movie release more often to DVD than this movie? Ok, maybe the other two films in the series could give this one a run for its money as the most re-re-re-re-released movie of all time. I myself own three copies of this seminal, and insanely influential fright flick. I got the one that came in the big collector’s tin, and naturally the ubercool Book of the Dead edition, and now I have this on the new Blu-ray format. The funny (or perhaps sad) thing is that I’ll keep all three versions of this movie for various reasons that will only make sense to fellow horrorheads out there. But if you’re not a big horror nerd like I am, you just might be wondering if getting this movie on Blu-ray is worth it when chances are you already own it on DVD, perhaps two or three times over. Well let me explain what’s new and I’ll let you decide.
But first, do I really need to explain the plot of Evil Dead. I mean, come on, it is one of the must see films of the horror genre. If you haven’t see it yet, you really have no business being here reading this. Seriously, you just don’t know horror if you’ve never seen this movie, so do yourself a favor and watch it already.
So ok, what makes this Blu-ray of this movie worth getting? First off, it looks great. Yes there’s still some film grain, but honestly I kind of like that. What’s really good is how sharp things look. While watching this movie for the 1000th time I noticed details in the background that I had never seen before. Also, it’s nice to see that the square mat box around the moon used in the outdoor shots has been removed or covered up. Furthermore, there are two ways to watch this film. You can see it in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio or the new enhanced 1.85:1. As for sounds, it’s got the usual bells and whistles, but it also has an all new audio commentary track with director Sam Raimi, actor Bruce Campbell, and producer Robert Tapert. While this commentary is perfectly fine, and offers a candid snapshot of the business side of how this movie came out, it was simply not as fun, or as funny, as previous commentaries by these same people. I do wish Anchor Bay, the folks behind this disc, also included those audio tracks on this BD.
Since we’re talking about commentaries, I might as well list all the other extras that can be found here. How many, you may ask? Well a whole DVD’s worth. That’s right, this Blu-ray comes with a whole extra DVD packed with goodies. And when I say packed, I mean it. So many that I’m not going to go into them all, but I will give you the Cliff Notes version. There are nine new featurettes with topics ranging from the usual making of retrospective, conventions, drive-ins, deleted scenes, the Evil Dead reunion, the ladies of the film, special effects make up, and one that a big old nerd like me thought was really cool; a quickie about the other pages in the Necronomicon that weren’t shown in the movie. There are also the obligatory trailers, TV spots, and photo galleries. The only thing missing from this edition is the infamous short “Within the Woods” that we always get promised, but never actually get. For those who don’t know, that was the short photo-version of The Evil Dead that Raimi and Co did to show investors that they could actually make a movie. Maybe someday we’ll get that Holy Grail of horror, but not today.
If you can’t tell by now, I love this movie, and I’m very happy with this Blu-ray release. If you are a fan of The Evil Dead then this is a must get for you. If you’ve never seen this complete and utter horror classic then you are way past due, and this BD is a great way to do it.
Hatchet – Blu-ray Review
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Hatchet
Director: Adam Green
Cast: Joel David Moore, Tamara Feldman, Mercedes McNab, Kane Hodder
Review by Brian M. Sammons
Very few movies in recent history are as divisive as this one. Some people love it, others hate it. Me, I fall mostly into the first camp. Now that might shock some horror fans out there as I am keenly aware how cool and hip it is to rag on this little flick and while part of me understands the reasons for that, the larger part of me just doesn’t get it. First, let’s hit the reasons while some may hate this film.
I think the main reason this movie gets so dumped on is because it was built up like few movies before it. Hatchet was “coming soon” for a long, long, long time and all you heard for years was just how cool and badass it was going to be. Nothing on earth could have live up to that much hype. Worse yet, there were some in the horror community that got early access to the movie and then lauded it all to hell and gone, again raising expectations to dizzying heights. Then there were the critic quote whores who really didn’t help matters. Calling this movie, “The holy grail of slasher films” might get you on the DVD case, but despite being chock full of hyperbole, you’re practically issuing a challenge to horrorheads, daring them to hate this movie. So with all that going against it, I can understand why some walked away from Hatchet saying, “you know what, that movie wasn’t all that,” which in time turned into “that movie sucked” once their opinions started bouncing around in the echo chamber that is the internet.
And yet, is this movie really all that bad?
Hell no. It’s got tons of practical gore. That is, real honest to goodness fake blood and latex guts instead of the cheaper, and very much cheaper looking, CGI gore effects that far too many horror movies utilize. That alone gets this movie huge points from me. But hey, that’s not all. What’s a slasher flick without nudie shots aplenty? In this case, as an extra bonus for Buffy The Vampire Slayer fans like me, we are treated to repeated shots of Mercedes McNab’s lovely lady lumps. Want more? Well then how about the best maniac to ever put one Jason’s hockey mask, Kane Hodder, as the hulking, deformed killer, Victor Crowley. Still not enough? Ok there are cameos by Robert Englund and Tony Todd, lots of smartass, snarky humor that actually works, a memorable movie maniac, and a classic slasher back-story of a mean spirited prank gone horribly wrong that gives birth to an undying psycho looking for vengeance. Oh and did I mention the truly awe inspiring gore gags? Well they bear repeating. Guys get hacked in half in full view of the camera, a woman gets her head ripped off at the jaw line, and heads get twisted 360 degrees until they erupt into blood geysers, belt sanders on faces, and so much more. A line in Scream 2 sums it up best; “Carnage candy.”
Just in time for the sequel, Anchor Bay has put out one fine Blu-ray for this movie. The picture looks markedly better than the DVD edition and all the features from that previous version have been transferred to the BD. They include a highly entertaining audio commentary with the writer/director Adam Green, the cinematographer, and most of the cast. There’s a making of featurette, another all about killer Victor, two on different aspects of he gore effects, one about how Adam Green and glam metal legend Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame met and became friends, a gag reel, and trailers. Plus, new to this Blu-ray, is a commentary with Adam Green and fan favorite Kane Hodder.
I highly enjoy this movie. It’s bloody, sexy, and funny entertainment and I really don’t know how a fan of slasher flicks could not like it. If you’ve never seen this movie, then do so now, and this BD is the best way to do that. If you’ve seen Hatchet already and loved it, then getting this disc is a no brainer. If you saw it and hated it, then you honestly need to give it another shot, even if it’s not the cool thing to do. Consider this one recommended.
