Author: BO

The 1980s supplied a weird range of teen entertainment, with the adventures of aggressively undersexed adolescents in the first half of the decade eventually replaced by slightly more meaningful offerings of emotional connection. The John Hughes-ing of material certainly made things more interesting for the subgenre, but 1987's "Summer School" is quite content to be a comedy with a slightly old-fashioned approach to funny business and characterizations. Director Carl Reiner was in his sixties when he helmed the feature, working to bring his sense of humor and timing to juvenile entertainment, offering a sunny day approach to the ways of unfocused students and the gym teacher assigned to smarten them up during the high school off-season. "Summer School" has its struggles in the editorial department, but the brightness of the endeavor is quite appealing, as Reiner simply aims for humor and performance with the production, bringing in a capable cast and a lively script by Jeff Franklin (who would go on to create "Full House") to make a reasonably good-natured distraction for the summer moviegoing season. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1988's "Dead Heat" is a film that wants to be many things to many audiences, putting director Mark Goldblatt (the celebrated editor of "The Terminator," making his helming debut) in a difficult position of juggling tonality. It's a buddy cop story that involves elements of horror and sci-fi, also taking time to launch a few action sequences, striving to be a celebration of cinematic possibility as many genres are visited. Goldblatt doesn't have a major budget to pull off a few of the wilder ideas included in Terry Black's screenplay, but the general nutso atmosphere of the picture is enough to get it past the finish line. Goldblatt invests in monsters, body horror, and gun play, working to keep "Dead Heat" exciting enough to help distract from its storytelling and thespian shortcomings, and he's mostly successful with screen energy, creating an appealing mess of ideas and moods in search of a more defined dramatic approach. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Everything changed for Troma Entertainment in 1984, with the release of "The Toxic Avenger" providing the company with a hit they could call their own, leading the way to a new direction in low-budget exploitation moviemaking, featuring strange monsters, gross-out comedy, and a whole lot of noise. Before Toxie, there was Troma Entertainment, creators of "sexy comedies," trying to make a small fortune with nudity-laden endeavors that cranked up wackiness to best attract ticket-buyers. 1983's "The First Turn-On" appears like a calculated move from Troma to ride the wave of teen horndog cinema, blending summer camp shenanigans with Penthouse Letter fantasies, looking to reach adolescent audiences without the use of slapstick comedy from the 1930s. It's not a creative leap forward for the company, but "The First Turn-On" is almost a complete idea from co-directors Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, and that's an impressive achievement for the duo. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Everything changed for Troma Entertainment in 1984, with the release of "The Toxic Avenger" providing the company with a hit they could call their own, leading the way to a new direction in low-budget exploitation moviemaking, featuring strange monsters, gross-out comedy, and a whole lot of noise. Before Toxie, there was Troma Entertainment, creators of "sexy comedies," trying to make a small fortune with nudity-laden endeavors that cranked up wackiness to best attract ticket-buyers. 1982's "Stuck on You" at least makes some effort to be about something more than a random assortment of jokes, taking on the world of palimony suits, recalling the decline of a relationship that was seemingly doomed from the start, with co- directors Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz laboring to blend legal world woes with a time-traveling tale. And there's plenty of time devoted to Troma's love of the absurd. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Everything changed for Troma Entertainment in 1984, with the release of "The Toxic Avenger" providing the company with a hit they could call their own, leading the way to a new direction in low-budget exploitation moviemaking, featuring strange monsters, gross-out comedy, and a whole lot of noise. Before Toxie, there was Troma Entertainment, creators of "sexy comedies," trying to make a small fortune with nudity-laden endeavors that cranked up wackiness to best attract ticket-buyers. For 1981's "Waitress," co-writer/directors Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman bring their scattergun creative approach to the world of restaurants and desperate women, trying to capture restless New York City energy for this take on chasing dreams and avoiding extreme kitchen messes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2016, director Thomas Edward Seymour ventured in the lost world of VHS nostalgia, joining his friends and fellow podcasters on a hunt to see what's going on in the world of video distribution and independent production. "VHS Massacre" only offered a few mild pleasures while connecting to the old ways of home entertainment, becoming more of a grab bag of ideas, going the disappointingly random route to provide an entertaining sit. "VHS Massacre Too" isn't really a sequel, with Seymour using some old footage and ideas to cover basically the same ground, with the emphasis here on distribution woes, bringing in filmmakers and commentators to examine the sorry state of low-budget moviemaking these days, where passion runs deep, but collecting money in the industry is next to impossible. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Hammer Films chases a different trend with 1963's "Paranoiac," which is an adaptation of the novel "Brat Farrar" by Josephine Tey, reworked to fit a defined "Psycho" mood. The prospect of following Hitchcock doesn't seem to bother director Freddie Francis, who puts in a tremendous effort to keep the feature stylish in its own way, while managing a slightly different concept of family issues from screenwriter Jimmy Sangster. "Paranoiac" isn't big on direct shots of suspense, as Francis hunts for a slightly more disturbing atmosphere for the endeavor, which isn't tightly paced, but offers effects moments of tension and eeriness, handing Hammer a creative success with material that could've easily tanked in lesser hands. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1982's "Pals" is a coming-of-age story that takes more than a few head-snapping turns during the run time. Co-written/directed by Eloy de la Iglesia, the feature offers a long look at the state of youth in Madrid, where employment opportunities are limited, video games have arrived, and relationships are tested. The picture is similar to "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" in many ways, with the production trying to analyze adolescent concerns with a darker sense of exploration, dealing with issues in a blunt manner, which helps the material achieve a level of behavioral authenticity as small offerings of melodrama compete for screen time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A darker Canadian way of life is replicated in 1967's "The Ernie Game," which follows the eponymous character (played by Alexis Kanner) as he moves out of a psychiatric hospital and attempts to survive in the city, managing the interests of Donna (Judith Gault) and Gail (Jackie Burroughs) while dealing with his tightly guarded issues. It's an offering of character and urban exploration from director Don Owen, who does away with traditional narrative interests, electing to make a character study with an elusive personality, highlighting all the behavioral choices involved in these struggling relationships. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After helming 1988's "Child's Play," director Tom Holland detoured into television for a few years, working on forgettable endeavors to sustain employability. 1993's "The Temp" was supposed to be his return to big screen mischief, this time examining the dangerous dealings of corporate life at a cookie company, where a new administrative assistant isn't quite as docile as she initially seems to be. Instead of delivering something wicked about the business world, Holland turns in an anemic effort with the feature, which was defanged in post-production and plays like a picture that was hastily rethought during a critical step in its creative journey. Still, all the reshoots and changed ideas can't quite cover for the movie's inherent shortcomings, with its original lean toward laughs presenting tonal management Holland isn't prepared for. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Erotic thrillers really hit their stride in the 1980s. Stripped of the grimier sensibilities of the 1970s, the subgenre found glossiness it could work with, dealing with charged stories of sex and murder through highly stylized directorial efforts, including the one of the biggest hits of the decade, 1987's "Fatal Attraction." As cable service and video stores spread across the U.S., the value of the erotic thriller changed, with audiences no longer required to visit the theater to enjoy some slightly embarrassing titillation, getting their kicks in the privacy of their own home with help from a collection of B- list actors more than willing to disarm and disrobe for these productions, which were cheap to produce. 1992's "Whispers in the Dark" wasn't cheap (reportedly costing $30 million dollars to make), and it was generally behind the times in content. Sure, coming out the same year as "Basic Instinct" didn't hurt, but the Paul Verhoeven event film was wickedly volatile, with heavy European sensibilities, and it was well-crafted. "Whispers in the Dark" is basically the opposite of "Basic Instinct," with writer/director Christopher Crowe ("Off Limits") hunting for a similar balance of kinkiness and violent activities, crafting a whodunit that tries to be more psychological in its approach, adding bits of carnal activities here and there. Crowe arrives with good intentions to generate twists and menace, but the final cut becomes completely ridiculous at times, especially when third act events arrive, which offer unintentional laughs, not satisfying closure. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Julia Ducournau made quite a stir with "Raw," her 2016 ode to the pleasures of the flesh. She created a film that disgusted quite a lot of people, making a name for herself as a genre moviemaker to watch. And there's been quite a wait for a follow-up, with "Titane" finally emerging as the new vision from Ducournau, who returns to the darkness for another story of corporeal corruption, this time mixing the limits of denial with a pregnancy story from another world, going high fantasy with the grimy particulars of "Titane." It's another rough one from the helmer, but she digs a little deeper into the psychological depths of her characters, constructing a compelling study of broken people mixed with Ducournau's love of extreme body horror. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com