Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

1987's "Obsession: A Taste for Fear" takes viewers into the future. The actual year isn't shared by the movie, but it's a tomorrow that offers video production, laser guns, go-kart-like cars, and, well, rotary phones. The details of this vision aren't exactly worked out by director Piccio Raffanini, but the helmer is absolutely committed to style, trying to transform this murder mystery into a highly visual picture that's loaded with lighting, color, and characters in various stages of undress. "Obsession: A Taste for Fear" lives up to its title, as so much of the screenplay is devoted to people who simply can't stop fixating on one another, and Raffanini is dedicated to selling the erotic possibilities of the endeavor. The film doesn't contain much suspense, lacking a tighter grip on tension as a killer is on the loose, best left for those solely interested in low-budget cinematic achievements sold with noticeable technical effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1987's "Sweets from a Stranger" intends to be a thriller, but the screenwriting often neglects to add murder and mystery to the endeavor. There are really two movies competing for screen time in the offering, which follows the organization efforts of Italian prostitutes as they face the deadly wrath of a serial killer looking to eliminate them. It's a union picture in a strange way, adding an interesting empowerment angle to the feature, but director Franco Ferrini doesn't go far enough with the idea, merely returning to it on occasion as he faces feeble dramatics and a story of threat that contains little to no intimidation factor. "Sweets from a Stranger" possesses a lot of potential, but next to nothing emerges with authority, watching tension dwindle and relationships blur as Ferrini attempts to figure out what kind of story he wants to tell. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Carole Bouquet received a major career boost after appearing in 1981's "For Your Eyes Only," joining the James Bond franchise during its Roger Moore heyday. She became part of film history, but, as with so many "Bond Women," chasing that professional high isn't easy. She returns to screens in 1983's "Mystere" (a.k.a. "Dagger Eyes"), which is kinda, sorta a 007-like cinematic experience from director Carlo Vanzina, who looks to the thrills of secret assassins, chases, and brief globetrotting to bring this tale to life. And it almost works, at least for the first hour, which focuses on Bouquet's screen presence and evildoing, making for a decently nasty thriller. Once Vanzina tries to take the feature elsewhere in the final act, all the intense staring from Bouquet can't keep the movie from basically falling apart. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The "V/H/S" series previously petered out after three installments a decade ago. Revived in 2021, the franchise has enjoyed real momentum this time around, with "V/H/S/Beyond" the fourth chapter of the reboot saga (and seventh overall). As with many horror series, quality ranges, but the concept and execution of it all stays relatively steady in "V/H/S/Beyond," with general fright interests paired with sci-fi touches. Aliens are primarily the focus of the offering, with another batch of filmmakers using small budgets and big imaginations to generate horrific meetings with the unknown and the unexpectedly threatening. The segments vary in quality and intensity, but the latest adventure in fears and dangerous situations scores more than it misses, with a few chapters displaying some terrific skill and vision when detailing close encounters of the bloody kind. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the late 1960s and early '70s, Robert De Niro was like many actors in the game. He was hungry, eager to prove himself, hunting for any job he could get to add to his resume, allowing him to maintain momentum in the industry. 1973 was the year when everything changed for De Niro, breaking through big time with his turn in Martin Scorsese's "Mean Streets," detailing a tough side to the talent, backed by an exceptional filmmaker. There was also "Bang the Drum Slowly," giving De Niro an opportunity to showcase his range, portraying a dying baseball player handling a friendship with his teammate. Director John Hancock oversees this tender study of partnership and trust, which is an adaptation of a book by Mark Harris (who also scripts), challenged to find the softness in male bonding and sporting achievements. "Bang the Drum Slowly" is a quiet picture with a love for character that sometimes derails its pacing, but the central relationship is compelling, watching two men deal with their emotions and the reality of mortality while handling the ups and downs of a baseball season. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Keanu & Co." is the official title of this Blu-ray release, but Keanu Reeves is barely featured. The once and future Ted Logan plays only a small part in the Canadian shorts collected here, as the spotlight is actually trained on director Robert Fortier, who worked throughout the 1980s to bring social and emotional issues to viewers through the "Family Crisis Series" and assorted offerings. The idea is to present moments of strife and confusion, highlighting the troubles of others plowing through their issues, with hopes that perhaps seeing such difficulties will help illuminate viewers. Three shorts are presented as the main program the disc, with 1986's "Out of a Job," 1985's "One Step Away," and 1985's "Running Scared" supplying a range of Fortier's work during the decade. Fans of Reeves aren't left with much beyond "One Step Away," which represents the star's debut lead role, giving the set a little spark while the offerings delve into tumultuous feelings and strained relationships. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Experimental filmmaker Guy Maddin has spent his career creating peculiar movies for art-house audiences. He's in love with the dreamlike possibilities of cinema, maintaining a sense of humor and bold visuals to bring his creations to life. He's been away from screens for quite some time (2017's "The Green Fog" was his last project), and he returns with perhaps his most accessible undertaking yet in "Rumours," examining the strangeness of an apocalyptic event occurring during the G7 gathering of world leaders. Maddin doesn't come alone, joined by collaborators Evan and Galen Johnson, and the trio is out to craft a disorienting journey into ego, power, and panic with the effort, which also aims to be a comedy, at least for the most part. "Rumours" is a little bit of everything, and while it does get a tad fatigued, it remains a periodically hilarious and fantastically performed offering of oddity from a helmer who just loves the stuff. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"The Return" is a retelling of Homer's "Odyssey," only the "epic poem" has been whittled down to a more manageable size by the production, which isn't out to fully explore the fantastical elements of the story. Instead, writers John Collee, Edward Bond, and Uberto Pasolini (who also directs) search for a character-based understanding of Odysseus and his special battle against the memories of war and the ache of reunion. It's a prime opportunity to do something deep with personality, getting into the dark corners of the players as they figure out an extended game of power, but Pasolini isn't too concerned with summoning thunder for the endeavor. "The Return" doesn't take advantage of the cast or the emotional journey, remaining largely motionless for a great deal of the run time. The helmer mistakes stillness for profundity, dialing down pacing to a crawl, which doesn't help the feature reach the few moments of fury it cares to deliver along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Family ties are thoroughly knotted in 2023's "Endless Summer Syndrome." It's a French production from co-writer/director Kaveh Daneshmand, and he makes his feature-length helming debut with a specific tonal challenge, following an accusation of incest as it invades what's meant to be a bittersweet vacation for a family of four. "Endless Summer Syndrome" is provocative and somewhat mysterious, but Daneshmand doesn't turn it into exploitation. He remains committed to character and mood, maintaining elements of paranoia and resentment to make an engrossing drama with pieces of a detective story, and one offering an unusual crime up for investigation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Evil Spirits? A suicide epidemic? Haunted beepers? Surely 2000's "Dial D for Demons" is a horror film, but director Billy Tang has other ideas for the screenplay (credited to Kai Cheung Chung), intending to offer a roller coaster ride of emotions, reactions, and enemies as the story details a deadly night for five characters trying to enjoy time inside a Hong Kong vacation house. Mayhem is meant to break out in the endeavor, but such wonderful chaos doesn't arrive, as most of the feature attempts to transform a lukewarm mystery into something suspenseful, while the personalities involved are mostly generic, missing definition to help viewers get involved in the developing nightmare. Comedic touches are also difficult to digest, as the helmer isn't entirely sure what tone to go with in the picture, preferring to follow every whim. "Dial D for Demons" is more a drag than a thrilling fright film, unable to achieve much in the way of tension and characterization before unleashing a last act expositional dump that's too much for the effort to handle. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The complications of relationships and unsatisfied people are explored in 1999's oddly titled "Dogs in Quicksand." Writer/director Mike Trippiedi goes the multi-character route for the endeavor, assembling an assortment of emotionally unstable people experiencing tremendous upheaval in their lives, trying to make sense of their own desires and attraction to others. The helmer creates a cat's cradle of personalities to inspect for the run time, as each participant is facing trouble they can't process in a healthy manner, leading to a series of strange connections and desires, dusted with a little violence to help add tension to the picture. "Dogs in Quicksand" is meant to be a dark comedy, as bad things happen to bad people, and Trippiedi attempts to play the whole production with a certain snappiness, investing in dialogue and broad performances to help the offering reach a semi- farcical speed. It's a laudable effort, but Trippiedi doesn't know when to quit, pushing the feature into tedium as it tries to add turns to turns already in the plot. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1995's "Fatal Delusion" is a sensitive study of wartime PTSD and the corrosive nature of violence as it penetrates mind and body, sending a simple man to extremes as he processes his time in the military. Just kidding. This is a W.A.V.E., shot-on-video production from creators Gary Whitson and Ray Longo, who use the cruelties of battle to launch another fetish video for the company, quickly returning to their love of restraint, bathing, and unspeakable violence committed against women. A serial killer story is offered in "Fatal Delusion," as Longo scripts himself a starring role as a madman with a military past, taking out his "rage" on females who vaguely resemble part of his nightmare experience in Vietnam. Perhaps there's something to follow in such a tale of insanity, but W.A.V.E. doesn't roll that way, merely using the fiendish inspiration to maintain a steady view of kinks for their customers, paying minimal attention to the basics in dramatic intensity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Exploitation cinema should offer a little screen energy. After all, this kind of entertainment usually deals with dangerous situations and general human ugliness, giving filmmakers opportunities to deliver at least some form of excitement to keep viewers interested. 1986's "Abducted" (loosely inspired by a true story) initially appears to follow the norm in B-movie distractions, pitting a helpless victim against her kidnapper in the middle of nowhere, creating opportunities for visceral interactions to occur. Writer/director Boon Collins weirdly walks away from such potential in the endeavor, preferring to craft a more talkative and travelogue-y take on the central crisis, which really isn't a crisis at all. "Abducted" has a charged title and gets right to the point after five minutes of screentime, only to end up a bizarrely inert study of relationships and nature, as Collins has no imagination for active horror and desperation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The war for control of Hong Kong breaks out in 1990's "An Eye for an Eye." Director O Sing-Pui endeavors to bring a little mayhem to the clash, going into overkill mode as gun battles and chases commence in the feature, which isn't short on furious violence. However, personal relationships, unrequited love, and Triad power plays are favored in the screenplay, with melodrama tending to dominate the viewing experience. "An Eye for an Eye" remains mildly entertaining and always bizarre in its depiction of human and inhuman behavior, but it stays a little too distant from more physical activities, which end up a periodic event in this film. The production is certainly ready to rumble, yet the story's take on anguished hearts is oddly prioritized, making for an uneven effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When it comes to shot-on-video productions, style isn't expected. Heck, it's amazing some of these filmmakers even know how to maintain focus, leaving actual camerawork and editing something of a miracle when technical achievements manage to survive subgenre mediocrity. 1998's "Gut Pile" is mostly notable due to its restlessness and interest in trying to bring cinematic moves to SOV storytelling. Sure, it's derivative work, as writer/director Jerry O'Sullivan is attempting to pull off an "Evil Dead" viewing experience, paying tribute to Sam Raimi with this study of malevolent spirits and growing insanity found within the woods. We've seen this before, but O'Sullivan offers a loving replication of deadite fury in "Gut Pile," which isn't a feature-length experiment in terror (running 53 minutes), but strives to contribute moments of excitement with a simplistic tale of torment. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1982's "The Dark Crystal," co-director Jim Henson took a chance on fantasy storytelling, going somewhat severe in a masterfully crafted endeavor that brought out the best in his puppeteering vision. A more lighthearted take on unreality is ordered for 1986's "Labyrinth," which carries an inviting mood of adventuring and relationships to help welcome audiences to another stunning display of creature design and puppetry. The humans aren't bad either, as star Jennifer Connelly offers an earnest take on teenage combustion, while David Bowie goes all sinister and uncomfortably seductive as Jareth, a most determined Goblin King. Henson creates a musical and an odyssey, aiming for brightness in the feature, achieving such creative goals with exemplary technical credits. Perhaps "Labyrinth" isn't as commanding as "The Dark Crystal," but themes resonate and a sense of humor is welcome, turning the picture into a highly amusing viewing experience. It also provides another reminder of Henson's special brilliance. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1996's "Scream" changed everything for producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein. They released the movie as Christmas season counterprogramming, hoping to attract an audience looking to avoid the usual in family fare and Oscar bait, delivering a winky slasher film starring a young cast, keeping things aimed at the teen demographic. A holiday miracle occurred when "Scream" actually caught on with viewers, growing beyond its original marketplace purpose to become a major hit, and for Christmas 1997, a sequel was quickly slapped together using the same creative ingredients, resulting in another smash release for Dimension Films. A formula for genre entertainment was discovered, and the Weinsteins never turned their back on a chance to cash in on a fad, swiftly cooking up various endeavors that paired horror happenings with young thespians (using the to-do list on teen comedies as well), and "The Faculty" was soon manufactured for 1998. "Scream" screenwriter Kevin Williamson is brought in to sprinkle his creative magic(?) on the project, which reimagines "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "The Thing" as teen terror, following a collection of students as they battle an alien invasion occurring around their high school. Director Robert Rodriguez, fresh off the moderate success of "Desperado" and "From Dusk Till Dawn," is hired to bring a bit of snap to the picture, but something is off about "The Faculty." A slam-dunk premise is left dangling by a limited cast and general sluggishness from the usually excitable helmer (who also edits the effort), who never gets the feature up to speed as a chiller or thriller, taking his time with material that's best played as fast as possible. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Joseph Cates is primarily known for two things: being the father of actress Phoebe Cates and maintaining a steady career in television, largely focused on game and variety shows. Cates offers a dramatic detour in 1965's "Who Killed Teddy Bear," which explores the roughness of a mind destroyed by trauma and the woman caught in the violence of obsession. The screenplay by Leon Tokatyan and Arnold Drake tries to push the material as far as possible for the decade, getting into the burning ways of fixation and the pressures of paranoia. It's a noir-ish take on all kinds of dangers and troubles, finding Cates trying to bring moments of style and restless energy to the feature, which works best when handling unhinged characters unable to cope with the world around them. "Who Killed Teddy Bear" has its shortcomings when it comes to editorial tightness, and the conclusion of the endeavor is too clunky, but the picture is memorable in the way in handles unsavory material, watching Cates lean into sexuality while still organizing a chiller of sorts. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Movie trailers. They used to be a special thing. While I risk coming off as a grumpy old man by criticizing the state of film marketing these days, it's hard to ignore the past, when studios would often go to great effort to craft a preview that successfully sold the title to the public, but also delivered its own magic. We're talking idiosyncratic clips, wildly entertaining "special shoot" announcements, and epic overviews of sometimes disappointing pictures. It's not all gone now, but movie trailers have mostly lost their edge, diminished by annoying trends and suits who are terrified to put a feature out in the wild that maintains the slightest bit of mystery. Perhaps I'm ready for my ice floe, but the folks at the American Genre Film Archive aren't going down without a fight, assembling "The Cult of AGFA Trailer Show," which offers a "mixtape" presentation of previews and theater commercials that have been lost to time. Some of the viewing experience is devoted to deep dive titles few are probably even aware of, while the rest is an entertaining reminder of marketing oddity and enthusiasm. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While firmly committed to taking fat paychecks to star in mediocre thrillers and actioners, Liam Neeson has recently detoured into more interesting work, portraying a conflicted assassin in the Irish film, "In the Land of Saints and Sinners." The picture presented his best performance in years, offering Neeson a chance to do something a bit different in a more character-based part. He continues this thespian journey in "Absolution," which reunites Neeson with his "Cold Pursuit" director, Hans Petter Moland, tasked with portraying an aging enforcer suffering from a brain injury confronted by all the mistakes in his life, attempting to find a way to do some good again. "Absolution" has a few moments of violent confrontations, but it's mostly about a psychological and emotional odyssey, giving Neeson room to feel out all the pain and confusion in screenwriter Tony Gayton's flawed but reasonably detailed study of regret. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com