Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 26th, 2013
Welcome kids to another 31 Nights of Terror spectacular. This time, the legendary (in his own mind) Michael Durr has descended from the rafters to bring you another cult classic blu-ray presentation. This time we explore 1982 Wes Craven adaption of Swamp Thing. Shout Factory has produced an excellent blu-ray for us to watch. As with most of the Scream Factory work that Shout does, this should be quite the treat. Let us continue and go forth with one wicked green monster.
Not Long Ago in the Unexplored Reaches of an Unmapped Swamp, the Creative Genius of One Man Collided with an Other's Evil Dream and a Monster was Born. Too Powerful to be Destroyed, Too Intelligent to be Captured. This Being Still Pursues its Single Dream.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 7th, 2013
“This story is based on a remarkable but true incident that took place in Africa in 1913 before the Great War, when the world was very different.”
The moviemaking business was also drastically different in 1976, the year this British, pre-WWI romp was released. Today, the risk-averse film industry has made large-scale adventures like Shout at the Devil — starring big personalities trekking across even bigger locations — all but extinct. I get that greenscreens and CGI are more cost-effective. But a movie’s ability to transport its audience gets an extra jolt when we know we’re looking at the real thing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 4th, 2013
There's a saying that in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king. No one would have expected that a one-eyed man could become the king of 3D. But that's exactly what happened with House Of Wax. The film has become one of the definitive films in the 3D format. To look at it on Blu-ray now, it holds up quite nicely in a day where 3D has become almost passé. Still, it's hard to believe that Warner Brothers would choose a man with only one eye to shoot their 3D film. That man was Andre' De Toth, and he was at the forefront of 3D filmmaking. He had written a 1946 article on the potential of the format, and it's likely what got him the job. The result is a horror cinematic masterpiece.
Vincent Price plays Henry Jarrod, co-owner and the genius behind a small wax museum. His figures are so lifelike that patrons almost expect them to reach out and touch them. Unfortunately, the public mind has drifted to the macabre, and the museum is losing money. Jarrod considers the figures to be real enough that he has developed a fatherly love for them, particularly that of his Marie Antoinette. Business partner Matthew Burke (Roberts) has a different feeling for the museum pieces. They are worth more to him burned in a fire for the insurance money. Unable to convince Jarrod, he burns the museum down along with Jarrod.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 19th, 2013
My best work is often done behind a computer or somewhere where my face is not on display. I am not the most handsome guy despite the fact I have been described by those of the female persuasion as otherwise. But I have talent, loads of it and I am always waiting for the next moment to show it off. Perhaps I can take a cue from our movie today, The Idolmaker and use my talent to make others around me stars. Maybe I should just go shave instead.
New York City, 1959. Check out the black leather jacket, red pants, Cuban heels and pantyhose style socks. This is one Vincent Vacarri (played by Ray Sharkey). He passes by Tommy (played by Paul Land) who is running a street con game for some extra money. Tommy catches up with him and tells him about his band which has a new lead singer named Jimmy Ryan. Vinnie complains that the singer does not have the look and that his blond hair is never going to work.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 31st, 2013
In the 1950's and 1960's Hammer picked up where Universal had left off. They became the studio for the very best in horror films. With names like Lugosi, Karloff and Chaney finally reaching the end of their reign, Hammer offered up the likes of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. They resurrected all of the famous Universal monsters in their own image. Now we had a new cycle of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man and The Mummy. While the films were somewhat low-budget and released mostly through the drive-in circuit, these films made a bloody splash with horror fans all over the world. But by the time the 1970's had begun, the studio was falling behind in the horror genre. Anthony Hinds had left the studio, and with him went some of the passion for the horror films that made Hammer famous. The studio heads became more interested in other kinds of films, and the horror department languished for a time.
While the studio was still bringing back the monsters that had made it famous, there was a decided effort to return to their own roots with the psychological thriller, and one of the best turned out to be Hands Of The Ripper. Hammer was certainly in decline, but Hands Of The Ripper had the advantage of being shot at England's famous Pinewood Studios where other more illustrious films were also in production at the time. Sets were utilized from The Private Lives Of Sherlock Holmes and more notably James Bond. M's office would be completely recognizable here, complete with the padded door. These sets and production advantages allowed Hands Of The Ripper to go beyond the cost-cutting measures in place at Hammer during this time. It ends up being one of the studio's richest and most atmospheric films.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 16th, 2013
"The Earth. A world of water. Nearly three-quarters of our planet is covered in a massive blue patchwork of seas and oceans. What lies beneath the surface is an alien realm we've barely begun to explore. Within these depths mysterious and amazing life forms live in a beautiful but fragile world of immeasurable variety and environmental extremes. This is a journey into the Wild Deep."
Wild Deep is a seven-part nature series that takes us on a journey to the underwater worlds of each of the Earth's continents. While there is some coverage of the lands themselves, the focus here is what happens beneath the surface of those lands' oceans. The show ran on Animal Planet starting in January of 2013.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 3rd, 2013
“I’ve changed a lot. I’m not the same woman.”
Early on in Luis Buñuel’s surrealist gem, a mild-mannered older gentleman named Mathieu douses a beautiful, battered woman with a bucket of water as she desperately attempts to board the train he’s riding. His fellow passengers are stunned, but also understandably intrigued. What possible sequence of events could’ve led Mathieu to this cold and cartoonish gesture? It’s an irresistible hook, and Mathieu proceeds to regale the other travelers — and, by extension, the movie’s audience — with the tale of “the foulest woman who ever lived.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on August 29th, 2012
“We decided to tour round Serbia. We’ll go to villages. It will be interesting to see farmers’ reactions to our sexual provocations. Sexual education for Serbs. Widening the horizons. This is our guerilla mission.”
I like to think I am not a prude. My taste in film runs to the controversial, and I don’t shy away from extreme cinema. I think Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom and Caligula are masterpieces; A Serbian Film impressed and affected me, although I have no intention of watching it again. Even the brief inserts of hardcore porn in “mainstream” movies like Shortbus, Antichrist, Brown Bunny or the previously mentioned Caligula don’t offend me, but I must admit I found The Life and Death of a Porno Gang unpleasant and soulless.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 2nd, 2012
"It's one thing to see a great white shark on television or from the safe confines of a boat. It's another experience entirely to see the animals in their natural element. There simply is not a single creature on Earth that we're more afraid of."
Man’s always had a rather natural, and healthy, fear of sharks, but it was perhaps the 1975 film Jaws that brought all of those primordial fears bubbling to the surface of our pop culture. Since then sharks have taken an almost mythic position in our culture. They invade our fears, but more importantly they fascinate the heck out of us. Young or old, it doesn’t matter. Sharks are the new dinosaurs, and they aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Come face to face with some of the most dangerous creatures on the planet, with a level of clarity and detail that was once reserved only for those who shared their waters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 24th, 2012
"Satan has sent me Twins Of Evil."
Okay, it wasn't really Satan, at least I don't think it was. It was the folks over at Synapse who sent me the Blu-ray release for Hammer's Twins Of Evil, and I'm pretty glad that they did. If you're a horror fan of any worth and are old enough, you have some wonderfully frightful memories of Hammer's run of horror films starting in the late 1950's. Hammer pretty much began where Universal ended their celebrated cycle of horror films. Like Universal, the cycle produced a new generation of atmospheric horror films that included the classic creatures. Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy were all resurrected under the Hammer banner. The studio also delivered the next generation of classic horror actors led by Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. While it's true that changes of the guard at Hammer and a lean toward more exploitation cinema led to a decline by the 1970's, there continued to be some notable exceptions. Twins Of Evil was one such exception.
