Anchor Bay

Satan’s Playground

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 14th, 2006

Synopsis

A dysfunctional family unit (single mother and infant, her sister and loutish husband, their autistic teen) are travelling through rural New Jersey when their car gets stuck. One after another, they head off to seek help, only to knock on the door of the sinister Mrs. Leeds and her homicidally retarded crew. And if that weren’t bad enough, there’s some kind of monster flapping through the woods.

Writer/director Dante Tomaselli has assembled a mixture of The Texas Chainsaw Massac…
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The Sisters (2005)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 6th, 2006

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OK, so I’ve gotta admit that I’m a little bit of an uncultured boob who is not that familiar with the writings of Russian Anton Chekhov. In fact I know a little bit more about Andrei Tarkovsky (Solaris) then anything else, and that Chekhov was (and still is) an influential force in dramatic works today. Well, he has to be if his work “The Three Sisters” gets adapted into a play by Richard Alfieri, then into a film starring a capable and recognizable cast, right?
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Time Bandits

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 5th, 2006

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Synopsis

Well, a Terry Gilliam children’s film might seem like a bit of an oxymoron, however writing a film with fellow Monty Python alum Michael Palin actually resulted in a funny, and even philosophical film, reflecting on themes of good and evil.

In a futuristic, technological world of the early 1980s, young Kevin (Craig Warnock) sees a medieval knight and horse burst from his wardrobe closet and run into the woods. The next night he prepares for something similar, but instead meets a gr…
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Dawn of the Dead (1979)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 4th, 2005

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Synopsis

Anchor Bay, holding all (or most) of the keys in George Romero’s zombie film trilogy, released a four disc Ultimate Edition to capitalize on the theatrical release of the remake, done in grainy, handheld, 28 Days Later style by director Zack Snyder. There isn’t too much here plotwise that you need to be aware of. 4 people decide to seek shelter at an abandoned mall, a continuation of Romero’s first film Night of the Living Dead. I don’t really know of an underlying moral tale in this…
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Greatest American Hero – The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 25th, 2005

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Every now and again a show comes along that on the surface probably isn’t that great. Still, something about it endears itself to you, and you might never completely understand it yourself. The Greatest American Hero is one of those shows. Created by the same man who created James Rockford, Stephen Cannell, The Greatest American Hero was a welcome change to the run of hero shows that preceded it. Robert Culp is pure genius as “by the book” FBI agent Bill Maxwell. Connie Sellecca delivers a little more than scenery or…
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Xena: Warrior Princess – Season Three

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 29th, 2004

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Synopsis

If you’re watching the third season, you presumably know where you’re at with our heroine,and you don’t need this synopsis. If you’re not a fan, then this is even more pointless. For whatit’s worth, this season’s major narrative arc concerns Gabrielle’s impending motherhood, and theterrible secrets that come to the surface along with her child, ironically named Hope.

Audio

The score is wonderfully thunderous, suitably stirring in 5.1. there are some s…
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Halloween – 25th Anniversary Edition

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 15th, 2003

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Synopsis

In 1963, little Michael Meyers stabs his sister to death (the scene shown in a justly famouscontinuous POV shot). Fifteen years later, Michael escapes from the asylum and returns to hishome town of Haddonfield. On Halloween night, he stalks Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) andher friends, while being pursued himself by Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence). The first and stillthe best of modern masked slasher films, Halloween towers above its imitators. Stylish,smart, restra…
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Hatred of a Minute

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 11th, 2003

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Synopsis

Writer/director Michael Kallio stars as Eric Seaver, autopsy report transcriber and serialkiller. In the present, he drives through the night, a terrified woman trussed up in the back of hiscar. As he talks to her, we see his life unfold in flashback. He was twisted by the relentless abusedished out by his stepfather (erstwhile Leatherface Gunnar Hansen), and the rage he held withinfinally explodes at his mother’s funeral. So begins his spiral into madness. Made on a shoestri…
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Day of the Dead

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 21st, 2003

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Decades before The Blair Witch Project drew attention to the small independent filmmaker, George Romero and a small band of Pittsburgh natives took the horror genre by surprise with the stunning and atmospheric Night of the Living Dead. Day of the Dead was the third and (so far) final entry into the Romero zombie trilogy. Romero admits that this is the least acclaimed film in the series while professing that it is his own favorite. There is absolutely no question that makeup magician Tom Savini did some of his greatest work in this film.
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Death to Smoochy

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 1st, 2003

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Synopsis

Kiddie-show host Rainbow Randloph (Robin Williams), up to his armpits in graft, is nailedby the FBI and turfed from his slot. Replacing him is Smoochy the Rhino (Edward Norton), arelentlessly nice and upstanding individual. Being so nice makes the target not just of theobsessive and psychotic Randolph, but also of the mob (headed, in a brilliant piece of casting, byHarvey Fierstein). Almost everyone in the film is a nasty piece of work, which makes the blackhumour all the m…
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Highlander Season One

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 19th, 2003

Synopsis

First there was Highlander, a with a Frenchman playing a Scot, and a Scot playing aSpaniard. The concept was as loopy as the casting, but the movie was exciting and looked damngood. Nobody went to see the sequels, but the premise was revived on TV, and met with greatersuccess, greatly elaborating the basic mythology of the race of Immortals at war with each other,whacking off each other’s heads in the quest for the great gift of The Quickening.

Audio

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Handgun

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2003

Synopsis

Karen Young (turning in a remarkable performance) is a sweet, somewhat insecure schoolteacher who is date-raped by attorney Clayton Day. The law is no help. This being Texas, thereare plenty of opportunities for her to learn how to use a gun, and she proceeds to do so. Thoughinteresting, the film is divided against itself. On the one hand, it sets out to criticize Americangun culture. On the other, it encourages us to root for Young as she transforms into an avengingwarrior…
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Lavender Hill Mob, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2003

Synopsis

Alec Guinness plays a man who appears to be a nobody, and that is just what he wants you tothink. He has worked to establish his reputation as the most unassuming, yet reliable, employeethe Bank of England has. His goal: to rob the bank of a vast amount of gold bullion. His plancomes together when he joins forces with Stanley Holloway, Sidney James and Alfie Bass. Theheist itself is, naturally, only the beginning of the zaniness.

Audio

As with the o…
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Man in the White Suit, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2003

Synopsis

Alec Guinness quietly invents a fabric that is indestructible and never gets dirty. You’d thinkpeople would be happy. Not if they have anything to do with the fabric industry, they’re not. Bigindustry and big labour all get it in the neck in this hilarious film. The cast is top-notch(Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Ernest Thesiger, Michael Gough) and clearly having a great time.Not to be missed.

Audio

As with the other films in this series, the sound is t…
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Kind Hearts and Coronets

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 8th, 2003

Synopsis

Dennis Price (icy in his perfectly correct heartlessness) is the son of a disowned member ofthe D’Ascoyne family. Determined to rectify this slight, and incidentally become Duke, Price setsout to cooly murder the eight D’Ascoynes who stand in his way. All eight, including LadyAgatha, are played by Alec Guinness. Price is utterly amoral, but he is such a charming narratorthat we root for him, and chuckle warmly over each demise. The script is supremely smart. Thisisn’t knock…
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Curse of the Devil

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2003

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Synopsis

Centuries after his ancestor wipes out a devil-worshipping cult, Waldemar Daninsky feelsthat cult’s revenge. A woman he tries to help curses him with lycanthropy. He tears around thecountryside ripping people to shreds. Will the woman he loves be able to help him? A welcomerelease for Eurohorror fans (and uncut for the first time on these shores), Curse of the Devil’sslow pace and wooden performances mean it will have limited appeal to viewers outside theserious fans. If yo…
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Captain’s Paradise, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2003

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Synopsis

Alec Guinness is a ferryboat captain who runs back and forth every other day betweenGibraltar and Morocco. He has a wife in each port: the domestic Celia Johnson and the fieryYvonne DeCarlo. This state of affairs cannot continue indefinitely, of course. A fun battle-of-the-sexes story, very much of its time (1953). While not quite up to the Ealing films, The Captain’sParadise does have some extremely funny moments courtesy Guinness and co-star CharlesGoldner.

A…
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Business is Business

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 10th, 2001

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Intro

Here’s a unique opportunity: the chance to see director Paul Verhoeven’s very first theatrical release. We’re a long, long way from Total Recall and Starship Troopers here, but perhaps not so far from Showgirls, at least as far as subject matter is concerned.

Synopsis

This film has a plot only in the loosest sense of the term. This is really a series of short comic vignettes set in Amsterdam’s red light district, centering around a no-nonsense prostitute named Blonde Greet. Event…
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