Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

1973’s “The Exorcist” was a greatly influential film, inspiring producers to try to repeat its success, especially in the realm of low-budget cinema. 1977’s “Ruby” doesn’t seem like an obvious knockoff at first, initially spending time as a mild tale of menace involving the vengeful spirit of a slain gangster and his fixation on the drunken gun moll who betrayed him, but the feature eventually reaches a point of demonic possession. Director Curtis Harrington doesn’t seem particularly interested in defining anything about the movie, while the screenplay (by George Edwards, Steve Krantz, and Barry Schneider) has its own identity crisis to work through, trying to pull together various subplots and characters into a single cohesive film. “Ruby” is messy and, at times, unforgivably dull, with Harrington putting a lot of faith into his cast to carry the viewing experience when it could use a lot more fury when it comes to genre elements. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Adult film actress Jennifer Welles amassed a significant fan base during her stint in the industry, and she was looking for a way to go out on top. 1977’s “Inside Jennifer Welles” is the performer’s swan song, committing herself to an “autobiographical” tale of experiences collected during her years in New York City, recreating random encounters that helped to bring a certain thrill to her life. Welles is listed as the director as well (an uncredited Joseph W. Sarno called the shots), helping to sell the feature as a personal diary of sorts, complete with narration from Welles that reaches Penthouse Letter-like cartoon intimacy. “Inside Jennifer Welles” isn’t big on story, but it retains plenty of carnal events that keep the star front and center, maintaining some sense of humor while delivering all the heat Welles is known for. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Before he was the mastermind of “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” before he scored a major hit with “Scream,” before he tried to do something different for a change in “Music of the Heart,” Wes Craven was…well, just trying to find a gig. 1975’s “The Fireworks Woman” is an adult movie from the helmer, who pivoted to the ways of obsession after disturbing viewers (and even himself) with 1972’s “The Last House on the Left.” While newly tasked to deliver a more sexual viewing experience, Craven’s interests in dark tales and disturbed people remain in play in “The Fireworks Woman,” which hopes to offer a bit of titillation as carnal events are created. However, the picture is more invested in alarming the raincoat crowd with its surreal understanding of submission and punishment, testing patience with its crude filmmaking and general ickiness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s important to take Guillermo del Toro’s executive producer credit seriously, as “Mama” bears all the signs of his previous work. It’s a ghost tale with an almost storybook atmosphere, despite its search for forbidding areas of confrontation between the unaware and the undead. It’s spooky and weird enough to work, with a knockout resolution that maintains the story’s integrity — the cinematic equivalent of finding a four-leaf clover, especially in horror entertainment. Sure, flaws are readily apparent and length is an issue, but “Mama” is after an atmosphere of spookiness, trusting in the art of unease. It’s skillfully made and manages to provide the willies with only a few cheap shocks, making the movie something of an anomaly in a genre that routinely amplifies its scares and pulls its punches. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Joe Bob Briggs is a respected writer and media personality, best known for his work on cable television, developing a cult following during his stint as the host of “Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater” (which ran for a decade). Briggs is a genre admirer with an encyclopedic brain for all things horror, walking viewers through the oddities of the films he covers, making sure his audience walks away with a new appreciation for the pictures featured on the show. This commitment continued to TNT’s “MonsterVision,” which ran for four years, returning Briggs to his natural place of authority when it comes to fright films. When that gig eventually ended, Briggs was away from the small screen for quite some time, eventually called back into service for streaming service Shudder, reemerging with “The Last Drive-In” in 2018. The show was initially an experiment, with executives putting a little Joe Bob out there to see if people were still interested. And they were, inspiring a return to duty for Briggs, joined by his co-host, Darcy, the Mail Girl (Diana Prince), launching a fresh wave of hosting achievements, interviews, and general monologuing, often about the strangest topics. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/directors Cazzie David and Elisa Kalani look to explore the struggles of the Gen Z dating experience with “I Love You Forever,” which is a darker take on romantic comedy happenings. The pair hope to pull off a bit of a switcheroo, initially tempting viewers with the usual in sassy dialogue and quirky characters before gradually reducing lightheartedness as elements of abuse and obsession take over the viewing experience. David and Kalani aren’t polished filmmakers (they make their feature-length helming debut here), and there’s an overall clunkiness to the picture that’s difficult to ignore. However, they aim to explore a certain reality facing many young people dealing with the world of toxic relationships and dating woes, trying to reach the target demographic with a more honest understanding of the dangers out there. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Drug-O-Rama Video Party” is an offering from the American Genre Film Archive, who seek to preserve the work of Something Weird Video and the company’s quest to find and preserve the strangest offerings of cinema around. For this release, the focus is on “drug-and-sex-crazed” releases from the 1960s, when counterculture pursuits began to take national attention, bringing fear and disgust to the establishment. Included here are “The Hard Road,” “Alice in Acidland,” “Help Wanted Female,” and “Hedonistic Pleasures,” and while the title of the collection emphasizes mind-bending chemical adventures, focus actually favors carnal experiences, finding sexploitation dominating the viewing experience, which isn’t nearly as bizarre as tales of addiction and dangerous experimentation, viewed through a conservative lens. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Troma Entertainment doing a Shakespeare adaptation? Again? Well, not really, but screenwriter Brandon Bassham is trying to do something with The Bard in “Shakespeare’s Shitstorm,” which uses “The Tempest” as inspiration for…well, that thing Troma always does. Director Lloyd Kaufman hopes to conjure absolute madness for the endeavor, which combines a light appreciation for iambic pentameter and floods of fecal matter for this examination of revenge. Perhaps there’s an audience for “Shakespeare’s Shitstorm,” but that doesn’t make the feature magically appealing, watching Kaufman try to merge his tired sense of humor with feeble commentary on the state of the social justice world in 2018. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Martial arts activity hits the streets of Manila in 1975’s “The Black Panther of Shaolin” (also known as “Bamboo Trap,” which is the title on the print). The Philippines-based production is directed by Ernesto Ventura, who seeks to compete with all the action films of the era, mounting his own take on heroes and villains in the feature, looking to cash in on the frenzy for martial arts movies after the rise of Bruce Lee. “The Black Panther of Shaolin” intends to be a kidnapping drama of some sort, but Ventura isn’t that committed to storytelling, launching a somewhat baffling tale of escalation between the bad guys and the men hired to save the day, also working in a couple of cultural ceremonies, big turns of character, and oddball editing to bring the picture to life. It’s not a terribly exciting movie, and incoherence is a major issue, but as an offering of violence from the Philippines, the endeavor has select moments of excitement. Just not enough of them. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1974’s “The Black Six” certainly appears to be a movie set up for great success. It has a heck of a casting hook, bringing in six NFL players to populate a Blaxploitation picture, giving the endeavor interesting marquee value, just not thespian might. It’s a biker movie concerning the exploits of black Vietnam vets trying to distance themselves from their pasts, running into trouble in rural California, or “cracker country,” when a death goes without investigation, putting the gang on the hunt for the killer. It’s a low-budget endeavor, but one with great potential, using the football stars to offer an unusual level of screen intimidation and camaraderie, and for about 15 minutes, it works. It’s the rest of “The Black Six” that carries tremendous disappointment, watching director Matt Cimber and screenwriter George Theakos fumble (heh) the basics of investigation and revenge, going as slow as humanly possible with material that’s bizarrely uneventful. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Manny Coto, best know as the director of 1992’s “Dr. Giggles,” makes his helming debut with 1989’s “Playroom” (a.k.a. “Schizo”), establishing his love of horror with a story about a man confronting his past while reuniting with his insanity during an archaeological expedition in Yugoslavia. Coto and screenwriter Keaton Jones (the once and future Kelly Leak, Jackie Earle Haley, takes a story credit) arrange a small-scale inspection of an unraveling, keeping their budget low with a semi-slasher that struggles with psychological elements and basic suspense needs. While it has a cast who appear committed to the cause, “Playroom” just isn’t very thrilling, eventually settling on a few creative choices that border on the bewildering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Screenwriter Justic Piasecki makes his feature-length debut with “Relay,” and he offers a very interesting idea about a relationship the develops between two people involved in a whistleblower event gone horribly wrong. It’s a fascinating story that blends procedural action with deep characterization, at times recalling some of the better paranoia thrillers of the 1970s. Director David Mackenzie (who hit a career high with 2016’s “Hell or High Water,” only to come back down to Earth in 2018’s mediocre “Outlaw King”) is tasked with maintaining steady pressure on the audience, creating unusual tension from scenes of communication and surveillance. For the first two acts, “Relay” is excellent, hitting a few logic gaps while generating an impressive amount of suspense, promising a great conclusion to come. A satisfying ending doesn’t arrive, but Mackenzie and Piasecki get most of the way there, handling the nail-biting needs of the tale and its unique study of planning and pursuit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The writer of “Stakeout” (and, well, “Another Stakeout”), Jim Kouf, tries his luck with a twisty tale of crime and paranoia in 1997’s “Gang Related.” Primarily known as the last film rapper Tupac Shakur worked on before his death, the picture tries to fit in as many tributes to the co-star as possible, even using his music on the soundtrack. However, Shakur is arguably the least compelling element in this examination of police corruption, with James Belushi enjoying the meatier part as things go from bad to worse for his character. “Gang Related” has a little trouble with its resolution, but overall escalation is terrific in this darkly comedic thriller, with Kouf clearly having fun arranging difficulties and inventing mistakes for his characters. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Strange Affair” is an adaptation of a novel by Bernard Toms, and it certainly plays out like paging through a book. The picture explores corruption in many forms, and it follows a large community of characters in the process, with the screenplay trying to braid multiple subplots into a single understanding of ruination. The 1968 feature is a little wobbly as it attempts to juggle motivations and mistakes, but director David Greene (“Godspell,” “I Start Counting”) maintains a steely view of bizarre developments in the tale, and he has an incredible cast to help bring such oddity to life, selling the emotional moods of the endeavor. “The Strange Affair” remains a compelling sit as it details crooked behavior and bad decisions, managing to maintain focus on the basics of desperation as it works its way to an ice cold conclusion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Life of Chuck” is based on a Stephen King novella from 2020, and we’ve been here before. Works from the iconic author, especially shorter ones, have inspired a few of the finest King adaptations around, including 1994’s “The Shawshank Redemption” and 1986’s “Stand by Me.” That same level of cinematic magic isn’t quite present in the new picture, but writer/director Mike Flanagan (a King Country vet with work on “Gerald’s Game” and “Doctor Sleep”) remains ambitious with the effort, out to scramble minds and soothe souls with the movie, which looks to fold time and space in an attempt to address the human condition. “The Life of Chuck” is all over the place, and Flanagan’s lyrical approach to the endeavor might feel like itching powder to some viewers. It’s a deeply flawed offering of mystery, but the helmer fully commits to the strangeness of it all, which is impressive, clearly out to deliver an inscrutable feature that’s meant to connect in a heartfelt manner. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Victor Danell is part of a filmmaking collective known as “Crazy Pictures.” “Watch the Skies” is their second feature (after 2018’s “The Unthinkable”), with Danell (and co-writer Jimmy Nivren Olsson) attempting to launch an alien conspiracy thriller for a family audience, going a bit softer with the material’s depiction of paranoia and pursuit. Released in Sweden three years ago, “Watch the Skies” attempts to crack the North American market with its presentation of emotional wounds and physical endangerment, using a special A.I. program to help match lips to the English dub, hoping to attract more than the usual specialty cinema crowd. It’s a lively endeavor, and one that benefits greatly from its engaged acting, which lifts an occasionally familiar screenplay that’s often trying to replicate the Spielberg Experience without a truly inspired story. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Darkness isn’t immediately apparent in 1999’s “The Woman Chaser,” but it arrives eventually in the feature, which is an adaptation of a Charles Willeford novel. It’s a slice of noir-ish cinema from co-writer/director Robinson Devor, who’s tasked with creating an odyssey into filmmaking and madness, managing a darkly comedic tone that’s accentuated by the casting of Patrick Warburton in the lead role, then fresh off his career-defining turn as David Puddy in “Seinfeld.” “The Woman Chaser” offers a strange look into the mind of a driven man, playing with masculine fantasies and Hollywood dreams, and the picture connects for the most part, finding Devor achieving a sense of style with a very limited budget. The last act isn’t quite as confident, but there’s interesting psychology on display in the offering, and odd behaviors to study. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2018’s “Commando Ninja” was an amusing riff on action cinema of the 1980s. The French production was looking to have some fun with the cartoon nature of the genre, with director Benjamin Combes inhaling Schwarzenegger and Stallone fumes to launch his own butt-kicking adventure featuring crazy characters and their quest for heroism. It was 68 minutes of passable fun, with Combes seemingly understanding the expiration date for this type of goofiness. “Commando Ninja II: Invasion America” runs 148 minutes (that’s not a typo), finding Combes intentionally ignoring the power of editing to offer a horrifically overlong sequel that’s basically out to make the same jokes, same references, and offer the same low-budget insanity as before, only it now takes what feels like a calendar year to finish the film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Paul Morrissey, the director of “Flesh for Frankenstein” and “Blood for Dracula” looks to understand the strange community of Alphabet City in “Mixed Blood,” taking viewers back to a much different time in New York City. The 1984 release follows rising violence between two gangs, tracking the concerns of their leaders and personal relationships as turf conflicts and all kinds of trouble come for the characters during a particularly heated season. “Mixed Blood” is all about locations, with Morrissey trying to remain as authentic to the situation as possible, delivering a sobering examination of urban decay and destruction. The movie has atmosphere. What it doesn’t have is a sense of thespian polish, as the helmer hopes to get raw with a mostly amateur cast, ending up with an ensemble where most of the performers can’t act, while the rest struggle to make sense of Morrissey’s semi-ridiculous screenplay. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1966’s “Castle of Evil” is written by Charles A. Wallace, who looks to pair the suspense of a spooky castle movie with a whodunit of sorts. The tale explores a group gathering inside a remote dwelling, with the visitors confronted by evil events, giving Wallace enough room to develop specific personalities and build a sense of the unknown as danger begins to take shape. Horror seems to be on the menu for the picture, but the material doesn’t make a defined pursuit of terror. Instead, “Castle of Evil” is more conversational, almost registering as a play when handling the private lives and desires of the characters. Director Francis D. Lyon has the oddness of the premise to work with, and there’s effort made to liven up the offering through lighting and performance choices. Highlights remain in the endeavor, but it’s not something that speeds along, determined to sell macabre touches. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com