Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 22nd, 2016
The third release of the Vestron Video Collector’s Series that Lionsgate has decided to put out isn’t just one film but two, Waxwork and its sequel Waxwork 2: Lost in Time. If you think just because it’s a two-for-one release that they may have taken the lazy route on handling the transfers and features, well, I can happily say that you’d be wrong. If you like campy horror, especially the kind that existed during the late 80’s on into the early 90’s, then this is the kind of double-feature set you’ll have a blast with. It doesn’t hurt, either, that it’s being released just in time to be enjoyed for those of you looking to put together some horror movie marathons during the Halloween season.
Waxwork
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 21st, 2016
You know, I miss James Gandolfini. I know that HBO misses him as well. When The Sopranos finished, Gandolfini signed a development deal with HBO. He would not only work in front of the camera but help find and produce material for the network. We all know what happened next. Gandolfini passed suddenly, just when it seems he was breaking out of his Tony Soprano typecast, and one gets the feeling that he was going to do great things. One solid indication of that promise comes in the HBO series The Night Of... which was one of those passion projects that the man never got to see through. It's one of the best things to come out of HBO in a few years, and that is saying something when you consider the strong programming that can be found there now. Game Of Thrones is a great show. The Night Of..., well... that's something special all to its own.
It all starts out with our introduction to Nasir "Naz" Kahn, played by Riz Ahmed. He's a straight-A college student from a solid working class Pakistani family. His family is Muslim and very conservative. He tutors basketball players but otherwise keeps to himself. He doesn't date, do drugs, or pretty much anything else fun. That is until he's invited to a team party and he wants to let loose just a little bit. He sneaks out of the house and borrows the taxi that his father owns with two other partners when he's stood up by his friend for a ride. The problem is that he does not know how to turn off the "On Duty" sign, and a young, troubled girl gets into his back seat. Andrea, played by Sofia Black-D'Elia, strikes a chord with Naz, and instead of making her leave the cab he drives her around and finally takes her home. What starts as a bizarre encounter ends up changing his life forever. Naz wakes to find that Andrea has been murdered savagely in her bed. What he does next is begin a chain of events that will ultimately lead to him virtually framing himself for her murder.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 21st, 2016
Most villains on earth are those who believe that they are the good guys. She Who Must Burn proves that in spades when a local preacher wages war against a woman’s counselor for Planned Parenthood (not called that during the film, but that is the best way to describe it). This is another welcomed addition to the 31 Nights of Terror, again featuring human evil rather than supernatural evil, which in my opinion makes it even more terrifying, because it could easily go from a fiction to reality.
In a mining town plagued by stillborn children and cancer, Angela is a women’s counselor for a local clinic. In wake of the murder of two doctors at the clinic she works at by a religious fanatic, the state decides to stop funding for the facility. Angela decides to remain in the town in spite of the decision, in order to help those in need. She is met with contempt from many of the townsfolk who view her profession as a sin and want to drive her out of town.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 21st, 2016
"The universe, a vast expanse of space and matter. It includes all that we see and all that we know. Since the beginning of time, we have wondered how it all came to be. A gloriously orchestrated plan? A chance series of events? Or something much, much dumber?"
Space really is the final frontier. It's where they send tired franchises to die. They sent Jason and Pinhead to space. They sent the Three Stooges into orbit. Abbott & Costello ended up in space. They even sent Machete into space. It's the filmatic version of jumping the shark. In Ice Age: Collision Course they send lovable Scrat into space. Maybe it's time to put this beloved animated franchise on ice for a little while. It's clear they've pretty much run out of ideas, and the box office is the proof in the pudding. What the heck does that mean, anyway? And this is from a reviewer who has been rather fond and kind to the Ice Age films up to this point. Need more proof for that pudding? Bang it Here for past Ice Age reviews.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 19th, 2016
I can’t be the only one who misses seeing Mel Gibson in a tent pole movie for the studio every year. Sure, he said some rotten things, but does it matter what he does in his personal life? The man still is a great actor and an even better director. Hollywood has always been forgiving of its talent; it’s a system that seems to enjoy seeing talent make a comeback and do some amazing work. What it seems is that sometimes we forget that these icons on the screen are human, and they make mistakes and do stupid things and they have to own these experiences for the rest of their lives in the spotlight. I bring this up simply because when you look back at Mel Gibson and his downfall, Blood Father seems in many ways a reflection of the past decade for Gibson, minus the body count, of course. Rather than just roll over and phone in some roles like many of his contemporaries have, Gibson has been finding roles that continue to remind me why audiences connected so much to his work.
John Link (Gibson) is an ex-con and also a recovering alcoholic who struggles every day to make up for his past mistakes. He’s lost his wife and hasn’t seen his kid in years; he manages to get by running a tattoo shop out of the trailer he also lives in. He’s living on hard times but owns up to his mistakes and is working towards the day he can be forgiven for those mistakes. His sponsor, Kirby (William H. Macy), is pretty much his only friend and does what he can to keep John on the right path, but things get more than a little complicated when John hears from his daughter, and she is asking for help.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 19th, 2016
Growing up one of coolest jobs I thought was out there was undercover work. Not to diminish all the threats to one’s well-being associated with that profession, but come on, who didn’t want the opportunity to reinvent themselves as someone else entirely. Undercover affords that opportunity. That said, it does not come without a cost, and that cost is explored thoroughly in The Infiltrator, a based on a true story tale about a U.S. Customs agent who infiltrates the most successful and equally dangerous drug cartel led by the one and only Pablo Escobar. An interesting little tidbit that I was unaware of before the opening credits was that this film was shot right here in the Tampa area, which provided recognizable environment and a chance to pick out familiar territory.
The Infiltrator follows Robert Mazur (Bryan Cranston), a seasoned agent with the United States Customs Service with a talent for undercover work. After successfully completing an operation, he finds himself thrown back into the mix for possibly the biggest operation he has ever every undertaken: infiltrating the money laundering operation used to clean the proceeds for the Medellin Cartel, led by Pablo Escobar.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 19th, 2016
I’ve always been a fan of Tarzan; I loved the old series and the films basically because I just dug how he was this fearless character who lived in the jungles who fought the bad guys and a few wild animals as well. As I got older that was when I discovered the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and I just had a blast with all these pulp tales about the civilized Wildman and the beautiful Jane. I even remember how excited I was about seeing Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan as a kid; even though this screen adaption bored me to tears, it was still exciting to see the character up on the screen. Now it’s 2016, and the character is swinging into action on the big screen again, and with a large budget to back it up. The trailers had me excited; everything seemed to look how I always hoped a Tarzan movie should be. Did the film manage to meet my expectations? Well, it came close, and the result is a film that shows how the wrong director can ruin a great story.
The casting of Alexander Skarsgard is just about as good as you can hope for in casting the role of Tarzan/ John Clayton. It’s absolutely vital how important it is to get the physical look of the character and make it believable that he can be stealthy, as well as a brute force who can fight giant apes and crocodiles but still look the part of a British lord. Sure, many audience-goers will enjoy the numerous shirtless scenes the film offers, but it makes it all the more believable when we see the character pull off some superhero-like scenes. When it comes to the casting of Margot Robbie as Jane, she is a knockout here. She plays this damsel (not so) in distress in such a charming loveable way that it’s clear that by the end of summer following the release of Suicide Squad she will be the A-list actress off Hollywood. She brings so much life to Jane that you can understand why Tarzan will do just about anything for this woman, and when they are together it’s a chemistry that has me hoping so much that we’ll get more adventures of Tarzan and Jane.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on October 19th, 2016
Shirley MacLaine and Jessica Lange are two great women of American film, and living legends. It is always a pleasure to see them work. They both have won shelves of awards including Best Actress Oscars. But they both have also been in bad movies. The process of being a creative artist is always a journey where you take a leap through a hoop with the hopes of doing good work. It also becomes difficult for actresses, even for living legends, to get good work as they grow older. But films about older people are important too. All movies can’t be about young attractive new faces being forced on you with little understanding of who they are. We all know who Shirley MacLaine and Jessica Lange are. They are part of our collective history. They are like our family. It makes us feel good when they keep going and do good work. Lange especially has been hitting career highs with her recent work on multiple seasons of American Horror Story. Lange has won numerous awards for that alone. But eventually it is time to move on to new risks. I forgot to mention that Demi Moore is also in this movie.
Wild Oats is a movie that premiered on the Lifetime network. That can be perceived as a bad sign, but it doesn’t necessarily have to, in a case like this. In this case, it is an opportunity to showcase a type of film that doesn’t get made much anymore; films that celebrate old age. It is also a film that went through numerous difficulties getting made. It had so many difficulties getting made that Shirley MacLaine wrote a book about it. It’s called Above the Line and is the latest in a long line of bestsellers written by MacLaine.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on October 18th, 2016
Vampyres (2015) is a remake of Vampyres (1974). It is important to note that right here at the start. They have a strong similarity, and the latter film is clearly a homage and loving duplication. It should be stated that the new version is not better, but the two films have identical essential elements. That would be naked lesbian flesh-eating, blood-obsessed predators. The original was fairly groundbreaking in its almost fetishistic content. This version has more nudity and sex scenes. I would safely say that if you like naked blood-soaked sex scenes, you will enjoy it, but aficionados of horror classics will likely be pickier. The initial problems have to do with the writing and acting which is not Oscar caliber. I can get to that later. This is basically an English-language Spanish production. The biggest difference maybe the landscape of the Spanish countryside is not as evocative and lush as the original English location.
May Heatherly and Caroline Munro are two classic horror actresses who show up but with very little effect to the story. Colin Arthur is an established makeup artist and was involved with the original production.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 17th, 2016
When it comes to director Jeff Prugh and his new film The Caretaker, he shows that you don’t need a big budget or grand effects to deliver a horror film. In the case of The Caretaker, filming on a modest budget may have presented the director with the challenge to lean more towards atmosphere and technique rather than fall back on special effects and gore. This isn’t a film that is going to get a wide release in theaters across the US, so it’s going to have to rely on receiving word of mouth to be seen. With there being so many options to choose from, what makes The Caretaker stand out from the pack? Well, if I’m being honest, it’s because I find the film charming in a way. Not exactly what a horror film would want to have said about it, but this is one of those little films where you can actually feel the labor and passion put into this.
Mallorie (Meegan Warner) is called upon to take care of her ailing grandmother; her boyfriend August (Sean Martini) tags along, and it’s not too long before things start to get a little weird. The grandmother, Birdie (Sondra Blake), seems to have a deep attachment towards her home. Most with grandparents are familiar with the type that want to remain independent and not be locked away and forgotten in a home. At first glance Birdie is a very familiar figure and we can understand the need for someone to look after her with her health in decline, but the film doesn’t waste time in giving us the impression something just isn’t right with old grandma Birdie.
