Author: BO

While the summer of 1983 was always going to be dominated by the release of "Return of the Jedi," it's fascinating to note that Universal Pictures really thought they had something special with "Doctor Detroit," which was issued a few weeks before the "Star Wars" sequel. Strange comedies were certainly welcomed by adventurous audiences, but here was a movie that offered a lighthearted take on prostitution and, in a way, gang violence, putting emphasis entirely on star Dan Aykroyd, who was making his debut as a leading man after teaming with friend John Belushi on numerous projects. No matter how one considers the endeavor, "Doctor Detroit" is a very weird feature, and while it didn't end up doing much business during its initial theatrical release, the film remains an amusing curiosity, recalling a time when a major movie studio though they had R-rated gold with difficult material, trying to bypass inherent darkness with musical numbers, cartoon-style silliness, and Aykroyd's natural comedic extremity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

As the story goes, director Norman J. Warren caught a showing of "Suspiria" and was greatly impressed with the stylistic choices made by filmmaker Dario Argento, also respecting his general disregard of a traditional narrative to live in the moment with abstract wonders. Warren, born and bred in the U.K., decided to try to replicate a slice of Italian cinema in his homeland, with 1978's "Terror" a hodgepodge of giallo craftsmanship and horror freak-out obsessions. The helmer of "Prey" and "Satan's Slave," Warren already knew a thing or two about freaking out audiences, but with "Terror," he strives for mimicry, and as plenty of other challengers already understand, it's hard to do what Argento does, especially during the "Suspiria" years. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

The title "Seven" is most associated with the chilling 1995 David Fincher hit, which provided a depressing reminder of the world's cruelties and capacity for evil. Director Andy Sidaris actually used the title earlier, and I think most people would rather live in his world. 1979's "Seven" is a secret agent actioner from Sidaris, who's best known for movies such as "Hard Ticket to Hawaii," "Savage Beach," and "Malibu Express," creating a career that often highlights pretty people engaging in ultraviolence, always in a warm, tropical setting. He's a master in the "girls with guns" subgenre, and "Seven" is his second pass at establishing exploitation career interests, this time taking the mayhem to Hawaii, where the battle begins between wicked men and the select few hired by the government to assassinate them. Sidaris is known for one thing, and he does it relatively well in the picture, which understands ridiculousness, but remains focused enough to supply a fun ride of chases, bikinis, and extreme concentration on villain routines. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Horror hits the bait shop in 1987's "Blood Hook," which provides a most unusual setting for its unfolding nightmare: the North Woods of Wisconsin. The contrast of nature's serenity and sliced and dice gore is the driving force behind the picture, which is something of a spoof of slasher cinema, but not really, with director Jim Mallon playing most of this cheerily but not jokingly. It's not a movie that's concerned with providing scares, having more fun working out the details of the kills and it remains utterly devoted to characterization, with a host of personalities competing for screen time. In fact, the most chilling aspect of the effort is its run time of 111 minutes, which is far too long for something this light, but the trade-off is vivid comprehension of emotional concerns and regional oddity, with Mallon making sure everyone who shows up for the slaughter gets a moment or five to detail their troubled existence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

As an actress, Hedy Lamarr was defined by her beauty, using good looks to support a Hollywood career that included turns in films such as "White Cargo," "The Conspirators," and "Her Highness and the Bellboy." During her heyday, she created a stir wherever she went, wowing the public with extraordinary glamour. "Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story" endeavors to find the woman underneath the attractiveness, identifying the star as a brilliant mind interested in the mastering of inventions, with a strong pull toward science, reaching a specific breakthrough during World War II that's largely responsible for the world of wi-fi that we know today. "Bombshell" has the benefit of shock value, with director Alexandra Dean selecting an extraordinary topic for documentary dissection, working to redefine Lamarr's legacy as a figure of allure to one of unheralded brilliance. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Following their work on "The Dogfather," DePatie-Freleng elected to try their luck again in the world of movie parodies, unleashing 1976's "Misterjaw" on audiences still fired up over "Jaws" mania from the previous summer. There's not much here that delivers on Spielbergian monkey business, with the production keeping to the basics with this mild Looney Tunes riff, creating a Road Runner vs. Coyote dynamic for the titular character and a tiny fish he's determined to consume, despite getting smashed, crashed, and humiliated along the way. In the overall DePatie-Freleng oeuvre, "Misterjaw" ranks fairly low, as repetition and a general absence of thought over to what to do with a comedic shark makes 34 episodes of this series wearying at times. There's a sound-alike "Jaws" theme that opens every short, but overall, the material tends to be more about physical comedy and chases than a robust pantsing of a movie phenomenon.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Hunting for material to keep their empire of animation rumbling along, DePatie-Freleng elected to take inspiration from the movies during the 1970s, adding to their cinema-inspired arsenal that began with work on the "The Pink Panther" films. While Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" seems like an unlikely influence for any family-friendly cartoon endeavor, the creative forces at DePatie-Freleng weren't intimidated by the feature's R-rated interests, creating 1974's "The Dogfather," a canine-led spoof that largely did away with sex and violence, replacing the raw stuff with silliness. Exploring the daily life of the titular don and his league of nitwit enforcers, "The Dogfather" is largely traditional mischief from the company, who enjoy the challenge of creating wild antics for as cheaply as possible, giving the material some appealing speed and absurdity as it tries to make something as heavy as "The Godfather" into 17 shorts of extreme goofiness.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

By the mid-1990s, Antonio Banderas was a highly respected actor in his native Spain, having built his reputation working with esteemed directors such as Pedro Almodovar. However, an itch to join the Hollywood elite proved impossible to ignore, with Banderas trying to make his mark on bigger projects, including "The Mambo Kings," "Philadelphia," and "Interview with the Vampire." 1995's "Two Much" represents a bridge built between his previous achievements in European cinema and his California dreaming, putting the actor in the middle of a semi-farce with two actresses clearly unfit for the thespian challenge. Banderas isn't to blame for the general lethargy of "Two Much," as he gives an engaged performance. However, director Fernando Trueba doesn't know exactly what he wants from the PG-13 picture, which doesn't offer much more than tedious antics, dreary line-readings, and a distinct lack of heat between the star and his leading ladies. It's all meant to be a rollicking good time, but the feature doesn't have the refinement to become anything more than a chore to watch. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Slasher cinema comes to a screeching halt with 1989's "Offerings," which has all the ingredients to bake a perfectly acceptable nightmare, but writer/director Christopher Reynolds becomes a little too caught up in his desire to remake "Halloween" to notice that general momentum is lacking. It's a no-budget affair, putting a shadowy madman on a quest to murder those who made his already problematic childhood hell, and Reynolds has trouble coming up with reasons to remain with it to the very end, which, at times, feels like it may never arrive. While trying to keep in step with genre trends of the day, Reynolds doesn't summon enough originality to inspire thrills, sticking to a basic stalk-and-kill formula that's not boosted by bright characters or any discernable suspense. "Offerings" is assembly line moviemaking, and while it might provide a nostalgic kick for a simpler time in horror entertainment, the picture just doesn't get the job done, watching Reynolds spin his wheels with dull scenes, bland personalities, and distracting technical limitations, ultimately hoping enough John Carpenter references might be enough to cover for a distinct lack of his own ideas. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

There was a moment in the mid-1990s where basketball pictures were all the rage (likely ignited by the sleeper success of 1992's "White Men Can't Jump"), with Disney especially determined to create their own comedy blockbuster with help from college and professional basketball. There was "Eddie" and "Celtic Pride," but the worst of the bunch was 1997's "The 6th Man," a film that has the bright idea to merge comedy and death, trying to create laughs in the shadow of some rather mean-spirited behavior and brutal reminders of mortality. "The 6th Man" is clueless, but it does have confidence, with director Randall Miller (who recently served time in prison due to his participation in the death of camera assistant Sarah Jones) committing to everything the screenplay by Christopher Reed and Cynthia Carle dreams up, failing to recognize that the material is largely devoid of appeal, sensitivity, and laughs. But there's plenty of basketball and NCAA atmosphere, with the production trying to work itself into a sports movie lather as it deals with DOA material.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com