Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 30th, 2011
"Angry souls will do just about anything to escape their tortured purgatories. That's why they say no rest for the wicked."
And there's no rest for Bloody Mary. That's a good thing for us. We get treated to a rather sweet little bloody film from the folks at Lionsgate called Blood Night. It's a better film than you might think on first look. It never betrays its independent spirit, but that doesn't mean it has to sacrifice a good look and entertaining romp. The acting is all above average for a budget bloodbath. It's a little Lizzy Borden mixed with some familiar elements from other recent horror films to create a bit of horror comfort food. It might not be good for you, and it certainly isn't going to claim any position as a classic. But it goes down nice and easy and leaves you feeling a little satisfied when it's all over.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 14th, 2011
If you are a fan of the original Kolchak: The Night Stalker, you were more than likely disappointed in the remake a couple of years ago on ABC. Your hope is now once again restored. Supernatural is the closest thing I’ve ever seen to The Night Stalker. Like Kolchak, the Winchester brothers are faced with weekly incarnations of evil. They’re forced to research these legends and figure out a way to stop them. As Kolchak discovered, it’s a thankless job. Sure, Supernatural is populated with all sorts of beasties and nasties, but it also manages to hold on to a sense of humor that rounds out these adventures to make this one of the most entertaining shows around. When UPN and WB merged, I was a little worried about Supernatural. You do the math (that was another review). Two networks worth of shows, one network worth of programming time. Half of the shows needed to vanish, and I was concerned Supernatural would be one, if history of respect for genre shows was any indication. Fortunately for us, the show has not only survived, but it has thrived, looking to be around for quite a while yet.
In season 1 Sam Winchester (Padalecki) was in college. His fiancée was attacked by a creature that had once also taken his mother. Enter brother Dean (Ackles) who arrives to take the mourning Sam on a cross-country search for their missing father. It turns out that Daddy Winchester has been on a self-imposed crusade to find the monster that took his wife and any other demon or creature he might be able to hunt along the way. We also find out he’s trained the boys to be quite capable monster hunters themselves. Most of the first year dealt with the brothers fighting their way to their dad. It ended in a hell of a cliffhanger. Season 2 didn’t waste anytime picking up the action. The action picks up the moment we were left waiting last May. If the first year gave the boys their mission, the second is about consequences. All of the expected monsters are there for the hunt, and year two turned out twice as good as the first. If you didn’t think that was possible, check out this second-year DVD set.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 6th, 2011
A mother locks her child in a closet so she can have an uninterrupted tryst with her lover. But the couple is rudely interrupted after all, as they are bludgeoned to death. Ten years later, a group of friends arrive at the deserted house to party down. After doing so for a fair bit of running time, they then fall prey to a hulking masked maniac, who not only has the titular hammer, but also has all sorts of supernatural powers.
This is, according to the box, “the first shot-on-tape slasher movie for the home video market.” This is a warning as much as anything else: don't be expecting John Carpenter or Dario Argento behind the camera. That the film is amateurish goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. Viewers should be prepared, then, for lots of padding (a slow-motion scene of a couple walking that goes on for minutes), bland camera set-ups, ropey script (let's have a complete food fight sequence!) and whipped-up-in-the-kitchen gore. On the upside, once the supernatural kicks in, logic goes out the window, and all sorts of strange things start happening with no explanation whatsoever, resulting in a rather charming sort of dime store surrealism. This isn't a good film, but it is a likable one.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2011
Did you ever see a movie that might have been pretty good, but it reminded you so much of other things that you just couldn't keep your concentration on the film at hand? That was my experience with the After Dark original film Seconds Apart. At almost every turn I couldn't help thinking of other films. Often times it was such a distraction that I'm afraid I never fully appreciated the one I was watching. And, there is a lot to like about Seconds Apart.
The story is pretty simple. Jonah and Seth, played by real-life twins Edmund and Gary Entin, are not your normal twins. They share more than an uncanny fraternal link. Together they can enter inside of a person's mind and cause them to do all sorts of nasty things that usually end in the victim's death. The hold hands to focus the power. It might just be me showing my age here, but I couldn't stop thinking about the 1970's Saturday morning cartoon, The Super Friends. The show featured the powerhouse members of the DC comics universe along with a boy and girl known as The Wonder Twins. One could take the shape of anything made out of water, while the other could become any animal. Every time these guys held hands to perform their evil deeds in someone's mind, I couldn't get that Wonder Twins image out of my head, and I kept expecting them to chant: "Wonder Twins power activate". Silly, I know and it's entirely possible that no one connected with the film was even aware of the image. So the fault is entirely mine, to a degree.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2011
"From cradle to grave."
Lionsgate is really starting to crank out some original horror films under the After Dark label, and if this is any indication of what's in store for us down the road, I'm eager to see a few more of these titles hit the shelves. The films are direct-to-video low-budget films that have a more independent feel. While I wouldn't call the film terribly original, it does offer a slightly fresh face on the haunted house theme. The movie carries a sub-theme of family secrets and histories. Talk about your skeletons in the closet.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2011
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, release the one ignored by Heaven. 8, 9, 10 now run and hide or join her at the Devil's side. 11 comes the clocks will chime, forgotten souls erased by time. Midnight comes, it's not too late. So kill the ghost and seal your fate."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 21st, 2011
"Do you believe in Sin?"
The Exorcist was one of the most chilling films ever made. William Friedkin used subliminal images as well as those quite famous scenes of Linda Blair being taken over by Satan himself. Ever since that time filmmakers have been trying to cash in on the phenomenon. Exorcism movies have become almost a sub-genre in the horror field. There have been everything from no-budget to mega-budget attempts. There have been both sequels and prequels to the original film. Some of these efforts have been truly worthy films with effective moments and compelling plots and performances. None have come close to the original film. The Rite is another attempt to create a modern version of The Exorcist. It's not a bad film at all, but it's not even close.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 18th, 2011
"The two most infamous mass murderers battle for the top spot."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 17th, 2011
In 1972 he made us an offer we couldn't refuse. A couple of years later he followed it up with one of the finest sequels in Hollywood's history. Of course, I'm talking about Francis Ford Coppola. His movies are often considered epics. When Coppola paints, he tends to paint big. But it wasn't always like that for the once young director. He learned his trade, oddly enough, from the master of the B movie, Roger Corman. It was there that he learned to do more with less. It was there under the tutelage of Corman that Coppola and Jack Hill gave us one of the most atmospheric films to come out of the B movie machine: Dementia 13. It was another one of Corman's attempts to squeeze everything he could out of his resources. Coppola was working, mostly as a sound designer, on Corman's The Wild Racers. He offered Coppola the remaining resources to crank out one of his quick specials. Coppola put together a quick script that was intended to capitalize on the Psycho craze of the time. The result was a creepy film that might have been better than the feature the funds came from, at least horror fans think so.
Louise (Haloran) is arguing with her husband in a row boat when he has an inconvenient heart attack and dies. The inconvenience for him is quite obvious. For Louise it means she won't be getting her hands on any of his family's money when Mother (Dunne) finally kicks the bucket. So Louise develops a quick plan. She dumps hubby in the lake and arranges things so it looks like he had to leave suddenly for business in New York. Meanwhile, she'll stay with his family at their castle and estate in Ireland. But, things don't go as planned. The family is still mourning the death of Kathleen (Dowling) many years ago in a drowning incident. Each year they have a private little ceremony, and the event has shaped their very existence at Castle Haloran. There's also someone with an axe to grind, preferably in the heads of unlucky victims. Good old family Dr. Caleb (Magee) plays detective and has the pond where Kathleen died drained, revealing an even deeper mystery. Who killed Kathleen and now members of the Haloran clan and anyone else unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on May 11th, 2011
Lesser know than the Loch Ness Monster, Chupacabra and many other crypotzoilogical monsters is the Mongolian Death Worm. This SyFy production gives the mythological beast the Tremors “graboid” treatment and makes them desert prowling beasts with extending tongues/second mouths. Being compared to Tremors is a high summit to reach., as this film is outclassed by that film in all aspects.
Things are shaky right off the hop. The opening title has the same size and font as the text used to detail the characters' location, making it seem as if Mongolian Death Worm is the name of the setting. Such things are not monumental problems, but there are enough of these lofty mistake to mark sloppy composition and lack of care by the filmmakers.
![Supernatural: The Complete Second Season [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/supernatural-the-complete-second-s-large.jpg)
