Author: BO

1967's "The Unknown Man of Shandigor" is an incredibly strange take on the spy genre, with director Jean-Louis Roy harnessing the avant-garde power of the 1960s to examine the ways of the Cold War world. He merges elements of James Bond, "Dr. Strangelove," and New Wave efforts to generate an impressive study of danger involving an unhinged character who's discovered a "Canceler" formula, capable of disrupting atomic weapons. Naturally, world powers want to possess this information, inspiring various enemies to hunt for the prize, and Roy is ready to provide a wild ride of filmmaking imagination. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1996's "Sinistre" (R.I.P. spell check) ultimately arrives at a horror destination, dealing with spooky incidents and menace from beyond, but it commences as a sort of "Reservoir Dogs" riff highlighting bad guys dealing with big mistakes. Director Ronnie Sortor more interested in criminal activity at first, which gives "Sinistre" a bit more severity as a shot-on-video endeavor. However, it doesn't take long before genre demands take over the picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

People love "The Walking Dead." The comic book series and the long-running television series has done its part in bringing back a love of horror that involves a plague of zombies. The undead are big business, and the subgenre has inspired co-writers Manuel Urbaneck and Jan Bohlenschmidt to conjure their own backyard battlefield with slumping, growling enemies. It's the end of the world (yet again) in "Live or Let Die," which attempts to deliver gory, ugly violence while dealing with the same old business involving decaying enemies. Urbaneck and Bohlenschmidt have their fandom, and that's about it in this production, which doesn't bring anything new to the table, and often plays like a student production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If Lars Von Trier made "Groundhog Day," it would probably resemble much of "Koko-Di Koko-Da." It's a story about grief, focusing on the loss of a child, but writer/director Johannes Nyholm doesn't approach the topic head-on. He plays with ideas on suffering and communication blockage between a pained couple, using a time loop premise to generate a horror film to help keep viewers in a state of suspense while the writing explores emotional damage from a unique perspective. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2014's "The Midnight Swim" is a found footage production (or "POV cinema," as some like to refer to it these days) that tries to present more dramatic interests while still dealing with genre interests in the supernatural. Writer/director Sarah Adina Smith aims to move away from the norm when it comes to expectations for a chiller, eager to connect with audiences on a more emotional level, especially when handling a growing situation of unrest concerning three half-sisters and their shared interest in their late mother's life and strange death. "The Midnight Swim" isn't big on suspense, and that it tries to be unsettling at all seems like a misguided creative choice, as Smith has much more success with lived-in relationship issues. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1989's "Fortress of Amerikkka" initially presents itself as a considered understanding of divisiveness and American values, offering an introduction that details the central crisis between those who choose to live in the country and those who seek to control it under the guise of patriotism. There's a moment when the feature seems like a prescient look at the world we live in today, offering a brutal but accurate understanding of armed wackos and the hyper-masculine, Rambo-loving world they live in. Alas, this is a Troma Entertainment production, so hope for a nuanced understanding of militia activity and thinking isn't a priority. To loosely quote T'Challa, Troma "don't do that here." Instead of a blistering critique of American life, writer/director Eric Louzil ("Bikini Beach Race," "Class of Nuke 'Em High Part II: Subhumanoid Meltdown") is out to make an exploitation movie filled with dim-witted characters, loud gunplay, and topless women. That's the basic shape of "Fortress of Amerikkka," which vacillates between graphic, mean-spirited violence and goofball antics with broad performances. There's some entertainment value in the absurdity of Louzil's screenplay, but the endeavor falls short of its potential, missing a chance to give Troma a real politicized offering to help them break free of their low-budget formula. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It wasn't exactly a blockbuster, but 1981's "Quest for Fire" became a major hit against all odds. It offered a serious take on prehistoric adventuring, with director Jean-Jacques Annaud pushing to challenge audiences with a film that was rich with atmosphere and passed on English dialogue, laboring to immerse viewers into this world of danger and mystery. It wasn't exact science, but it provided a few dramatic jolts, and "Quest for Fire" was a strange enough offering to encourage ticket-buyers to take a chance on a rare storytelling leap of faith. The feature made money, inspiring others to attempt to recreate such an epic viewing experience, but on a much lower budget and without the polish of a refined helmer. 1983's "Master of the World" steps up as part of a new wave of "stone age" offerings, with the Italian production attempting to recreate the appeal of Annaud's endeavor. Writer/director Alberto Cavallone gets a bit gruesome with his version of early man rampaging, but there's a certain spark of insanity to the effort, which earnestly attempts to deliver event film majesty while dealing with B-movie interests. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1989's "Girlfriend from Hell" is a high camp take on multiple genres. Writer/director Daniel Peterson has a list of tones and acts of exaggeration he wants to cover, concocting a tale about a battle between good and evil that's being waged in the middle of a birthday party. There's religion, horror, action, comedy, and some sci-fi. Sex and violence are present, along with wildly broad performances. It's a bit of John Waters and a dash of Mel Brooks, but mostly remains an oddball collection of ideas in search of some level of restraint. "Girlfriend from Hell" doesn't become the romp Peterson envisions, but it certainly tries to be, presenting a hyperactive (at times) assortment of bigness that seems tailor-made to entertain attendees at high school drama department parties. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Making her feature-length directorial debut, Amalia Ulman presents "El Planeta," which is a vaguely biographical study of a young woman's experiences with love, life, and family while spending time in Spain. Also scripting the movie, Ulman doesn't reach for the stars with the endeavor, which remains small in scale and compellingly intimate, sharing acting duties with her real-life mother, Ale Ulman. "El Planeta" is something of a comedy, with touches of drama, landing somewhere between playful and lived-in, and it remains impressive work from Ulman, who offers assured work with the picture, establishing herself as a talent to watch. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1982's "The Slumber Party Massacre" has a cult following, but it's never been celebrated as a shining example of the slasher subgenre. It enjoyed popularity on home video (can't beat that title) and spawned a few sequels, but it failed to become an iconic offering of horror, mostly due to the limited artistic reach of the original movie. And now there's a remake, or a reimagining, with writer Suzanne Keilly ("Leprechaun Returns") working to bring fresh perspective to an old premise, turning the tables on the male gaze with "Slumber Party Massacre," which tries to provide a more female- centric take on the first film, which was already celebrated for delivering a smattering of feminist ideas. Unfortunately, the SyFy Original do-over is also decidedly comedic, with director Danishka Esterhazy ("The Banana Splits Movie") turning a horror concept into high camp, playing most of the picture as silliness, which instantly eliminates any potential fear factor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The world of nudie-cuties is highlighted in 1964's "The Monster of Camp Sunshine" (full title: "The Monster of Camp Sunshine or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Nature"), which provides the thinnest of plots to help reach its creative goal: the display of naked bodies. Added to the mix is a subplot concerning the eponymous threat, which introduces a horror element to a picture that's largely about getting female characters out of their clothes. It's a strange combo of easygoing nudism and madman terror, but that very oddness is what makes "The Monster of Camp Sunshine" a passably compelling sit, offering elements of the unexpected as a more pronounced mission of titillation is pursued. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Lynn Ramsay's "Morvern Callar" isn't a story of a young woman's mourning period, nor is it a tale of the pain that remains when a loved one dies. The film is more impressionistic than that, using environments and silent atmosphere to piece together a journey of self for the eponymous character as she evolves from a meek girlfriend and minimum-wage slave to a woman finding a life of her own. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com