Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

Director Carlos Tobalina endeavors to make a private detective tale with 1983’s “Las Vegas Girls,” but he doesn’t seem to have enough story or even footage to complete it. But hey, that’s not going to stop the helmer, who tries to slap together a semi-coherent tale of a runaway in Sin City, and the two professionals hired to find her and bring her back to her guardians. There could be suspense, maybe drama or light comedy, but Tobalina ends up with a mess that doesn’t seem to have any idea what it wants to be. Even for adult cinema, “Las Vegas Girls” is fairly slapdash, wandering around from scene to scene without much in the way of focus. There are plenty of erotic detours, as to be expected, but it’s strange to watch Tobalina basically give up on the offering at the halfway mark after establishing a case with some potential in the screenplay. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1982’s “Oriental Hawaii” doesn’t spend much time outdoors. It certainly looks like the production spent a few days on the islands, but director Carlos Tobalina isn’t too committed to using such natural splendor to his advantage. He has an adult film to tend to, and one that makes a few curious creative decisions. While it initially appears to be a study of early ’80s financial desperation during a brutal recession period, the endeavor (scripted by Leslie Norton) quickly turns into a series of seduction sequences, with several involving incestuous appetites. “Oriental Hawaii” is very blunt, as Tobalina doesn’t have interest in messing around with characters and location, focused on extended sequences of erotic adventure, throwing a family into the mix with a pair of comely borders to see what happens during a single day of intense boundary exploration. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When you think major onscreen matchups, there’s “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” “Freddy vs. Jason,” and “Aliens vs. Predator.” Perhaps even “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” The adult film business has their titans as well, with director Carlos Tobalina daring to bring to the screen the match up of the century…well, maybe just 1982, in “Mai Lin vs. Serena,” which puts the performers on a quest to prove their worth as they make a wager to see who can score a top role in a new X-rated endeavor. The production certainly doesn’t get ambitious with the idea, primarily sticking with extended carnal encounters featuring the stars and their adventures around various businesses and living spaces, putting its faith into the appeal of Serena and Mai Lin as they explore their appetites and compete for big money and an employment opportunity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1994’s “Madness” (a.k.a. “Eyes Without a Face”) has a premise of some potential, tracking the growing horror around a comic strip writer and the copycat killer using inspiration from the creator to torment the woman as lives are taken around town. Screenwriter Lorenzo De Luca is challenged to create a viable mystery out of a horrific situation, generating a traditional thriller structure with a defined giallo approach. Director Bruno Mattei is tasked with creating an exciting chiller filled with red herrings and surges of brutality involving victim suffering, including the killer’s love of eye removal. Both men fail “Massacre,” which isn’t too energized to do much of anything with its idea, remaining a mostly snoozy viewing experience that struggles to build suspense, and a lack of style doesn’t help the cause. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1994’s “Bugie Rosse” looks to join the erotic thriller gold rush of the decade. However, instead of making another “Basic Instinct,” writer/director Pierfrancesco Campanella is out to generate another “Cruising,” taking viewers into a world of obsession, temptation, and murder involving a journalist and the exploration of his own sexuality. “Bugie Rosse” has plenty of heated encounters, and a few disturbing ones too, but Campanella comes up short when it comes to suspense in the picture. Thrills and chills aren’t found in the offering, finding the helmer laboring to find his way through an uninspired screenplay, unsure what he really wants from an endeavor that’s tonally all over the place. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1992’s “Murder in Blue Light” is billed as a thriller, and it involves the actions of a serial killer on the loose in New York City, targeting people for death while decorating crime scenes with grenades. It’s an invitation to suspense and the basics in detective cinema, but viewers are offered more of a fetish film with the endeavor, which spends a large portion of its screen time on the experiences of a prostitute and all the men (and their fantasies) she encounters. “Murder in Blue Light” isn’t chilling in the least, and it’s not a tightly scripted effort, but for fans of oddball Italian offerings with a light coating of sleaziness, it could be entertaining. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Sam Hayes investigates the troubled heart of a wayward college student in “Pools,” which represents his feature-length filmmaking debut. He’s not breaking new ground with the endeavor, following the low impulse control of a young woman going through plenty of things as she seeks to cool off during an impossibly hot day without access to air conditioning, seeking relief for more than just heat-related issues. The material is something of a “Breakfast Club” riff in the way it investigates a group dynamic of characters attempting to communicate with one another, but Hayes remains a tad livelier with the offering, which utilizes snappy moviemaking and an occasionally broad sense of humor. “Pools” isn’t profound, but it sustains interest in emotional lives and strange encounters, and Hayes mostly keeps the picture moving as he looks to depict the frustration of a person who feels trapped in their own life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Arco” represents the feature-length directorial debut for Ugo Bienvenu, also co-scripting the offering with Felix de Givry. The pair take on a science fiction tale of time travel, but they don’t obsess over the fine details of such adventuring, preferring to examine a more human response to unexpected friendship, and all the support it entails. It’s an animated picture working with a limited budget, but the production puts in great care when it comes to beautiful imagery and mysterious happenings, keeping viewers of all ages engaged while following the troubles facing a young boy from the future and the girl he befriends in a city of tomorrow. “Arco” is wonderful work from Bienvenu, who puts real care into the production, offering a tender understanding of emotional states and strong future world imagination. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2003, Andy Baio, a young man from Portland, went to the internet to learn more about the new online discoveries of the day. Instead of news or information, Andy found a video featuring a teenage boy taking a minute to try out some fight choreography with a golf ball retriever acting as a double-bladed lightsaber. His moves were unpolished and the moment unguarded, but the tape was soon discovered by classmates, who decided to isolate the clip and post it online, presumably to humiliate the young man. Andy loved the clip, quickly remixing it and renaming it “Star Wars Kid,” putting it on his blog, where the video went viral in a hurry. Ghyslain Reza’s life was forever altered afterwards. “Star Wars Kid: The Rise of the Digital Shadows” examines the return of Reza to public view, with director Mathieu Fournier following the subject as he reconnects with his “Star Wars Kid” past, emerging as an older, wiser man who wants to share parts of his story with the public, interested in teaching others about his horrible experience with viral video exposure, also exploring the damaging ways of social media as it stands today. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2017, I reviewed a film titled “B.C. Butcher.” It was the directorial debut for Kansas Bowling, a teenager who pulled together a tiny budget and called on the thespian power of Kato Kaelin to help to bring to life a tribute to juvenile and monster cinema of the 1950s and ’60s. Bowling kept the endeavor short (52 minutes) and campy, out to create a fun time for those brave enough to sit through it. 2022’s “Cuddly Toys” brings Bowling back to screens, only any sense of humor has been fully removed from her filmmaking interests. Instead of another goof, the helmer gets sobering with “Cuddly Toys,” which tries to revive underground cinema interests as Bowling turns her attention to the mistreatment of women and the predatory ways of men. She has a Big Idea to inspect here, but Bowling delivers a meandering, intentionally abrasive viewing experience, severely limiting the impact of whatever message she’s trying to offer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1983’s “Let’s Talk Sex” returns viewers to the days of telecommunication magic, where lonely people and the adventurous elected to take their carnal desires to the phone, working out whatever pleasures they were pursuing. Co-writer/director Paul Vatelli escalates the phone sex business in the picture, aiming to bring to life special erotic appetites featuring a large cast and a varied sense of bedroom experiences. “Let’s Talk Sex” has its odd ways, but the episodic approach generally works in Vatelli’s favor, giving him an opportunity to keep the endeavor compelling, examining different situations of seductions while having some fun with the phone-based storytelling approach. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Most adult films are created to offer an escape. It’s usually fantasy put on screen for audience enjoyment, delivering a heightened sense of carnality for cheap thrills and to reach deeper desires. 1982’s “Nasty Nurses” has a title typical of the industry, offering a blunt name for what’s intended to be erotic entertainment. However, co-writer/director Paul Vatelli is dealing with a recession-era America at the time of production, and he’s not in the mood for fun and games. He aims for a touch of reality to the endeavor, bringing viewers into a hospital that’s struggling with financial issues and staffing, unsure if there’s even going to be a medical center around as funding woes increase. “Nasty Nurses” isn’t a cold slap viewing experience, but it tries to be more dramatic than expected, poking around relationship and business woes while Vatelli delivers the usual stops in adult cinema highlights. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Cirio H. Santiago (“Death Force,” “Equalizer 2000,” and “Dune Warriors”) typically doesn’t make films with much care. He’s a B-movie machine, cranking out low-budget titles for tiny profits, spending a little time with producer Roger Corman along the way. Part of this era includes 1987’s “Demon in Paradise,” with screenwriters Frederick Bailey and C.J. Santiago trying to update monster movies from the 1950s for a more contemporary audience, but doing so without changing much in the way of formula or production polish. Instead of coming up with something even just a tad inventive, the helmer remains with the usual in “Demon of Paradise,” which tests patience as it delivers no frights and little drama while it tries to assume the position of a terrifying genre offering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Back in 2007, Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol joined forces to make a web series, with “Nirvanna the Band the Show” managing to delight viewers during its initial three year run. The creators returned to the idea for another few seasons of “Nirvanna the Band the Show” in 2017 for cable broadcast, giving the central idea of two friends and their dream to play a show at Toronto’s Rivoli performance space a little extra production polish. Johnson and McCarrol aren’t done with the brand just yet, co-scripting “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie,” which brings the stars to the big screen for some additional tomfoolery, with this round involving a time travel nightmare that challenges friendships and career ambition, once again taking to the streets of Toronto for comedic mischief. And what a joyful viewing experience this is, as “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” delivers consistent laughs and craziness that should play well with fans, but remains accessible to all as Johnson (who also directs) and McCarrol get creative and downright crazy with this consistently surprising feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Screenwriter David Koepp (“Jurassic Park,” “Spider-Man,” “Mission: Impossible”) takes on adaptation duties on “Cold Storage,” which is based on his 2019 book. Why Koepp isn’t directing the picture as well is a bit of a mystery, handing the reins over to television helmer Jonny Campbell, who’s attempting to make a horror comedy with the material, which involves a vicious fungal breakout at a storage facility, putting those new to such biological horrors and those familiar with the devastation on the hunt for a way to prevent any spread of the nightmare. “Cold Storage” (which was shot three years ago) tries to play the central idea of the feature as loosely as possible, but Koepp doesn’t aim for a rollicking viewing experience, electing to slow down trouble, leaving Campbell to handle gory encounters, which the film could use more of. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When he was a teenager in South Dakota, Roland Loomis discovered something about himself. He turned to photography to help understand a fascination with bondage, and as he matured, the focus turned to body modification, taking him into physical and spiritual realms unlike anything he experienced before. “A Body to Live In” is a documentary about Loomis’s transformation into Fakir Musafar, and his position as one of the founders of the “modern primitive” movement, building a subculture to follow and sometimes lead as he went on a personal voyage to better understand his consciousness, often through dimensions of pain. Director Angelo Madsen attempts to treat the subject with complete respect, offering viewers a journey into body play and the creation of community, with Loomis/Musafar developing confidence and control over decades of experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The success of 1983’s “Deathstalker” proved to producer Roger Corman that the world needed more sword and sorcery entertainment during a time when the subgenre was red hot. And at the cheapest price imaginable. Enter 1984’s “The Warrior and the Sorceress,” which is shot on sets used in other features, while the screenplay lifts from the 1961 Akira Kurosawa film, “Yojimbo.” Effort and clarity aren’t invited to this party, with co- writer/director John C. Broderick merely hoping to survive the low-budget experience, slapping together something of a story while playing up Corman’s love of exploitation elements. “The Warrior and the Sorceress” has the dramatic guide rails to deliver at least some passable suspense, but Broderick isn’t too bold with the endeavor, keeping the tale surprisingly sedate while star David Carradine is tasked with portraying an antihero with no discernable personality or mighty action presence, shuffling through this tired take on fantasy conflict. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

During the summer of 1992, directors Carol Weaks Cassidy and Ruth Leitman set out to document the experience of Wildwood, New Jersey, a vacation destination for thousands of visitors looking to escape everyday life by spending a little time at the beach or boardwalk. For the moviemakers, a chance to really understand the tourists arrived, putting the pair out into the wild to find interviewees willing to discuss their lives for the camera. Instead of documenting recreation, taking in the sights and sounds of distractions, Cassidy and Leitman found their way into a study of the female experience. “Wildwood, New Jersey” is a slight endeavor, but an interesting one, permitting young women to share their opinions when it comes to life and love in 1992, giving them a voice during a time of change and possibility. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For this UHD release, the film is titled “Escape from Death.” The cover art features a deadly weapon, a character with their face bloodied, and a seductively posed woman. There’s a promise of mysterious, violent escapism to come with this Italian production, but the viewing experience quickly reveals extraordinarily little screen activity is actually involved in the production. Co-writer/director Enzo Milioni has an idea for a mystery involving a missing man, a lot of money, and a possible killer on the loose, but there’s no pursuit of thrills in the endeavor, which remains frustratingly talky as it tries to present itself as a study of suspects and potential madness. “Escape from Death” is a real bore that only gets something going in its final ten minutes, with the rest of the movie trapped in stillness with strangely defined characters and clunky, uninspired screenwriting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1990, writer/director Mike Figgis had something he would only encounter one other time during his lengthy career: a hit film. “Internal Affairs” was a creepy, sinister thriller starring Richard Gere and Andy Garcia, dumped into theaters with a January release date. And yet, something about the endeavor tempted a decent number of ticket-buyers, giving Figgis a chance to sample success with a major studio release. He elected to follow up the picture with 1991’s “Liebestraum,” which didn’t offer major stars, and largely pursued film noir influences, mixed with plenty of dream logic. Figgis visits David Lynch country with the movie, huffing “Twin Peaks” fumes with this attempt to deliver a mystery with touches of eroticism and emotional ruin. “Liebestraum” isn’t a riveting feature, but Figgis is working hard to turn a lot of nothing into something stylish and powerful. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com