Posted in: Brain Blasters, News and Opinions by David Annandale on August 25th, 2006
You’re a fan of Eurohorror, especially the Italian variety. You’ve seen everything you can find from the masters: Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Riccardo Freda, Michele Soavi. You’ve exhausted the catalogue of less reliable but nonetheless important figures such as Lucio Fulci. You plunge deeper, sleazier, in the company of cannibal-meisters Ruggero Deodato and Umberto Lenzi. Ere long, you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel, tracking down the incompetent, boring, but at least gory work of the likes of Bruno Mattei ( and Night of the Zombies). And still you’re looking for more.
Might as well accept it. Sooner or later, the path will lead to Aristide Massaccesi, better known as Joe D’Amato. This is a man who considered himself a cinematographer first and foremost, and a director second, as a means to pay the bills between more artistically rewarding DP gigs. It’s just as well he didn’t look on his directorial efforts as high art. Consider the titles: Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (AKA Trap Them and Kill Them), Porno Holocaust, Erotic Nights of the Living Dead. You get the idea. D’Amato’s propensity to mix sex and horror in his sleaze might one in mind of Spanish director Jess Franco, previously discussed in this space. D’Amato’s visual work tends to be less sloppy than Franco’s, and is noticeably less reliant on the zoom lens. But with Franco, one always feels that one is watching the work of a man caught in a genuine obsession. D’Amato, on the other hand, doesn’t really seem to care.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on August 23rd, 2006
Power, Madden and a little Butterfly - Welcome to the series rehash with no new features and year old rosters known as Dare to Play the Game.
Posted in: New Release Tuesday, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on August 22nd, 2006
Hello, I'm your fill-in host for the week, mister Kedrix (your game columnist). Yes I'm back again, after I swore I wouldn't be. Call it an obligaton, call it a true pain in the... Anyhow, in this edition of the New Release Tuesday blog, we get a good look into this weeks top releases. Some good Criterion choices and some good HD/Blu-Ray for a change. Well,on to the lists…
Top Film Releases
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 21st, 2006
Highly Defined
How long until Madden comes out?
Posted in: Brain Blasters, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 18th, 2006
And so, after a long summer, it has finally come to this: Snakes on a Plane ceases to be a hot-weather fantasy and becomes a reality. Now we can all see whether this creature that became a cult before it was even finished can in any way live up (or down) to our expectations, hopes, and fears. Let us pause, then, and reflect on killer snake movies from the past.
The question as to whether Snakes on a Plane will be any good is completely irrelevant. A look back demonstrates that there has never ...eally been a snake movie that is... um... well... good. Plenty that have been entertaining. But good? Anaconda is probably as good as things get. As obvious as the CGI effects are, they aren’t as bad as those in many other recent releases, and the death scenes are so ludicrous as to be highly enjoyable (such as the moment where one victim is nabbed in mid-air). Watch the home video release carefully: in one scene, the waterfall is flowing upwards. Anacondas, meanwhile, falls down on the most important front: not enough snake action.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on August 16th, 2006
Condom Jokes, Gaining that Ground, and Spewing forth a collection for the masses - Welcome to the gym sock that you used to catch your deposits known as Dare to Play the Game.
Posted in: New Release Tuesday, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on August 15th, 2006
Hi, I'm your fill-in host for the week, mister Kedrix (your game columnist). You know, one would think I know nothing about dvds, except the fact I'm looking at 400 of them in my new revolvey case thing. Anyhow, in this edition of the New Release Tuesday blog, we get a good look into this weeks top releases. A good smattering of releases this week, particually in the TV department. Well,on to the lists…
Top Film Releases
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 14th, 2006
Where your trusty columnist has joined the ranks of the Xbox owners…
Things have moved along like people have figured in the next-gen DVD wars, which is to say, there isn’t a clear winner since the last time we talked. There is some news from Paramount, being that Mission: Impossible III will release SD, Blu and HD DVDs all on the day and date (10/30 for those who are curious). The HD release and extras will be duplicated from the Blu-Ray extras, with the exception of a picture-in-picture commentary ...ith director J.J. Abrams and Tom Cruise. Whether Tom tries to induct J.J. into Scientology during the commentary or not remains to be seen, but the commentary will be exclusive to HD-DVD.
Posted in: Brain Blasters, News and Opinions by David Annandale on August 11th, 2006
The work of H.P. Lovecraft has had a rather uneasy relationship with film adaptations. The attraction of his fiction for filmmakers is understandable: this is classic horror, and the cosmic evil on display can potentially lead to huge payoffs. Yet his prose style is very difficult, and most of the attempts at adaptation have been, at best, flawed. Stuart Gordon is the director who most consistently returns to his work, but he doesn’t really have the right touch. Re-Animator is a hell of a lot of fun, and it he...ps that the stories it is based on are Lovecraft being deliberately silly, but there is nothing very Lovecraftian about the result. The closest Gordon has come to getting it right is Dagon (which is actually his long-awaited adaptation of “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”).
Most of the other Lovecraft adaptations out on DVD aren’t really worth the effort to track down. There are a few that are rewarding. I’ll mention three. Two are mainstream releases. One will take a bit more effort (but not much) to obtain, and is more than worth it.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on August 9th, 2006
Keep on Rolling, A Jelly Bean is a terrible thing to waste, and WII Release Info? Welcome to the uncle you never want your kids to visit unattended known as Dare to Play the Game.
