Disc Reviews

Star Vista and Time Life have put together another six-disc collection of hits from The Carol Burnett Show. It's called Carol's Crack-Ups, and it's another funny selection of episodes from the long-running variety show. While it seems a little like they're rationing these shows out in small sets, it's almost impossible to do it otherwise. After 11 seasons there are just hundreds of shows out there. With these sets, fans can look forward to seeing them again much like they did during the years the show ran.

It's hard to believe that CBS didn't want The Carol Burnett Show. Not only didn't they want it, but they fought hard to keep it from ever happening. It was the result of a five-year contract the actress had with the network. She had been a popular member of The Gary Moore Show, and they wanted to hold on to her services. So they made her an offer she just couldn't refuse. They gave her a not-so-standard five-year contract that gave her the right to activate a special clause at any time in the five years. The clause gave her the right to produce her own variety show, and the network would be obligated to air at least 31 episodes of the show. Carol activated the clause with just one week remaining to do so.

The summer camp horror genre seems to have been on the back burner for a while in my opinion.  Sleepaway Camp, Friday the 13^th, and The Burning are some of the classics I used to watch over and over when I was younger.  Camp Dread looks to revisit this old-school sub-genre and reboot it with a new twist; this time it’s using a backdrop of a reality show to get these unsuspecting campers together.  It’s not the most original approach to the genre, but what is most surprising is that Camp Dread actually holds up with the previous films and franchises I mentioned and could easily be seen as an unofficial sequel to any of them.

Julian Barrett (Eric Roberts) is looking to make a comeback.  It’s been years since he’s directed his hit summer camp horror trilogy, but now that the right investors have come along he plans to reboot the once successful franchise as well as his career, only this time he plans the film to work in a reality TV format.  To factor in another twist in the film, instead of using actors or people just looking to be famous, he instead casts a group of young adults who believe they are on their way to a camp for rehab in order to avoid jail time or being locked away in mental facility.  Is the plan exploitive? Of course, but Barrett promises that the cast member who plays by the rules and is the last survivor standing is the winner of a million dollars.

I Love Lucy changed the fledgling television industry in the 1950’s. This was a time when network television was less than a decade old. Most folks had never heard of television just 15 years earlier. I Love Lucy defined the concept of a sitcom. The show was driven by the very strong personalities of the cast. Desi Arnaz was considered a charismatic Latin lover by American women. Lucy played the perfect foil and found a mountain of gold to mine in strong physical comedy. So many modern shows owe their roots to this classic that it would be impossible to mention them all here. But television wasn't all that changed. The famous couple had a very public split, and Lucy continued to offer somewhat different versions of the wacky redhead she invented for I Love Lucy.

The first series was The Lucy Show. It was here that she would first team up with Gale Gordon in a series, and the two would share an almost instant chemistry. Lucy played a widowed mother who worked for Gordon's Mr. Mooney at the bank. After six years Desilu had been sold to Paramount, and Lucy found herself no longer owning the series she was in. The answer was simple. End The Lucy Show and slide directly into production on Here's Lucy.

On the heels of the reality TV Pentecostal preacher dying from a snakebite, Holy Ghost People delves into the dark side of religion and how those who believe can be corrupted and taken advantage of.  It’s not that the film is looking to exploit or demonize a religion or anyone’s beliefs, but instead it explores the people who have no problem using another’s beliefs and weaknesses to manipulate them.  Though the film takes place deep in the backwoods of the Appalachian mountains, it could just as easily be about a chapel just up the street; after all, faith and corruption are everywhere so long as there is someone eager to believe. Charlotte (Emma Greenwell) does what she can to make ends meet while working at a small town bar.  She’s been saving up all her money with the intention of finding her sister who has joined a community that calls itself the Church of One Accord.  With no way to get to the community she asks for help from a stranger, Wayne (Brendan M\cCarthy) whose wallet she finds after he gets beaten up outside her bar.  He offers to drive her up to a place called Sugar Mountain where the community is said to be.

The film wastes no time in getting us to the community and into the middle of one of the services.  The congregation sings along and cheers on Brother Billy (Joe Egender) as he reaches into a box with the word SATAN written on it, and from inside he removes a giant rattlesnake.  Brother Billy continues to tell the congregation it’s the power of the Holy Spirit that protects him. Charlotte and Wayne can see through the act, but for how long?

Ever watch one of those reality shows and wonder what would happen if someone got killed, or what if one of the cast members turned out to be a psycho ax murderer?  Well, I’m not ashamed to say the thought has crossed my mind from time to time in hopes that it would make the season of Survivor mean a whole new thing with the stakes raised, and instead of a vote off you were literally cut out of the show.  Well, HazMat tackles this very notion of a reality show breaking from the script (come on, we all know by now reality shows are scripted) after the show’s participant gets the thirst for blood.

Jacob (Norbert Velez) has this obsession with an old chemical plant where his father died.  It’s an obsession that is about to ruin his friendship with his best friend Adam (Reggie Peters), but Adam has a plan to fix that obsession.  He gets in touch with a reality show that specializes in being a prank show that terrifies its cast members.  Adam figures if he can get a good scare out of Jacob, and he comes to terms with the brief humiliation on national TV, that it’ll snap him back to reality.  Things clearly don’t go as planned after Jacob accidently kills one of the show’s cast members, and once he discovers the truth behind the TV series, well, let’s simply say Jacob does not enjoy being the butt of anyone’s joke.