Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

It's no secret that producer Roger Corman likes to keep costs down on his productions. He's actually famous because of it, but 1966's "Queen of Blood" goes beyond his habitual frugality, working out a plan to transform two Russian movies into a sci-fi distraction for American audiences. Writer/director Curtis Harrington pulls off an impressive bit of editorial puzzling with "Queen of Blood," and while he can't completely hide the seams between Russian and American footage, he manages to overcome budgetary limitations with healthy amounts of style and an endearing commitment to genre highlights. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After wowing audiences with 1991's "Delicatessen," co-directors Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet revive their blazing idiosyncrasies with 1995's "The City of Los Children," which attempts to top their previous collaboration with a new wave of Terry Gilliam-inspired oddity and extremity that's meticulously designed, with the production absolutely determined to create a screen space crowded with nightmares and misadventures, tilted with defined French style. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The plot of 1948's "Pitfall" concerns a challenge to martial stability, with a bored man taking a chance on a dangerous woman, only to encounter unexpected repercussions. It's a tale that's not unfamiliar to the world of film noir, arriving with suitable levels of temptation, threat, and guilt, but director Andre De Toth handles routine with some imagination, keeping "Pitfall" low to the ground as it explores various levels of intimidation. This patience results in the more refined effort, but one that's not afraid to bloody its knuckles on occasion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1963's "A Child Is Waiting" has its heart in the right place. A drama concerning the efforts of teachers at a state institution dealing with special needs children and their confused, frightened parents, the picture seeks to destigmatize the mentally challenged, with director John Cassavetes striving to infuse a sense of realism into an otherwise formulaic but effective feature. "A Child Is Waiting" isn't profound, but for a film of its era, it challenges the viewer with unusual community spirit, while stars Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland (in one of her final performances) handle emotional throttling well, keeping the movie steely enough to avoid a few maudlin temptations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's widely noted that Nirvana's 1991 masterpiece, "Nevermind," was the album that killed off interest in hair metal. But maybe, just maybe, the release of "Shock 'Em Dead" that very same year also contributed to the cause. Horror meets killer licks in the genre extravaganza, which looks to dazzle viewers with driving music, topless women, and demonic acts of survival, riding a dying musical movement into Valhalla as it shares the pleasures of ornate guitars and towering hair. Admittedly, there's the distraction of Traci Lords to keep things interesting, but as goofy B-movies blasting past their expiration date go, "Shock 'Em Dead" is a surprisingly leaden effort, losing the war with coherence and passable acting as it fights to maintain utter absurdity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"The Mask" is an exercise in strangeness, but only in spurts. The 1961 Canadian production is a frustrating sit, alternating between static dramatic passages teeming with banal exposition and visits to a nightmare realm brought on by the wearing of a special cursed mask. Surreal horror meets television procedural in the mediocre feature, which carries an abundance of eeriness, encountered through the display of some truly unsettling visuals. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Catch My Soul" was originally conceived for the stage, where the spare qualities of a theater setting could emphasize the intimacy of this take on William Shakespeare's "Othello." At one point, Jerry Lee Lewis was part of the cast, securing a certain live energy that helps viewers work through the inherent sluggishness of modernized Shakespeare. In 1973, a film adaptation arrived, and one directed by Patrick McGoohan, making his feature-length helming debut after years of triumphant television work, including a lead role on "The Prisoner." Trading the stage for the expanse of New Mexico, a substantial amount of liveliness is lost in the open air, finding McGoohan struggling to keep this odd take on Othello and Iago's battle of manipulation alert enough to connect as a rock opera. Music is prominent, and there's plenty of passion to spread around, but "Catch My Soul" never ignites as intended, always just short of a good idea or a powerful performance. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1959's "The Devil's Disciple" is an adaptation of an 1897 play by George Bernard Shaw. The Guy Hamilton-directed feature respects its source material in many ways, but the effort primarily strives to be a cinematic experience, boating incredible star power with leads Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, and Laurence Olivier, who deliver exceptional work while the screenplay struggles to figure out the tone of the picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The 2014 South Korean thriller "A Hard Day" sets a goal for itself to be a relentless suspense machine, creating an irresistible snowballing effect where the main character, a corrupt cop (played masterfully by Sun-kyun Lee), is hit from all sides by enemies, bad luck, and awful timing. It's mostly successful with its driving pace, capturing utter distress with a darkly comic approach, managing a plot that's dense with developments, remaining just shy of fatigue. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The early career of Brooke Shields is proof that the 1970s weren't really a decade, but an extended stay inside an alternate dimension. How else does one explain global comfort with the profound sexualization of the young teenage actress, who built a career out of roles that dealt uncomfortably with her age and appeal to older men. Granted, Team Shields (including manager and mother Teri) was largely responsible for the tone of her fame, yet with films such as "Pretty Baby" and "The Blue Lagoon" (a 1980 production that plays very seventies), the public wasn't protesting, creating a lusty icon out of the child. 1979's "Wanda Nevada" is another example of Shields employed for her natural beauty, portraying a 13 year old who's turned into a commodity while bewitching every creeper she meets. Director Peter Fonda (who also stars) makes an attempt to transform "Wanda Nevada" into a sassy adventure through the southwest, with secret maps and Native American mysticism, but awkwardness remains, especially when the story actively pursues a romantic entanglement between a pubescent teen and her 39-year-old owner. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In slasher cinema, the public has been exposed to various weaponry over the years, including axes, knives, and chainsaws. 1987's "Killer Workout" takes a bold step and makes a giant safety pin the object of certain doom. The pin is one of many oddities that fill writer/director David A. Prior's picture (titled "Aerobicide" on the disc), which blends the horror of murder with the gyration of brightly clothed (and briefly unclothed) bodies, tapping into an exercise craze with a B-movie offering that's desperate to entertain. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A collection of experiences from the "Diaries, Notes, and Sketches" series, directed by Jonas Mekas, 1969's "Walden" is an offering of avant-garde filmmaking that defies most description, perhaps best left unexplained for those who prefer their cinema impenetrable. Mekas surveys the world as he sees it, wandering through years of observation and participation. The goal here isn't truth, but submersion, with the helmer using abrasive audio and visual methods to capture chaos as a way to express the circle of life. It's raw and, at three hours in length, demanding, but there are select moments of beauty that remain for those tough enough to endure an extended sensory assault. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If "Walden" was a Jonas Mekas picture dedicated to the movement of life, 1976's "Lost Lost Lost" is a confessional booth. The director takes a look at his Lithuanian immigrant roots with the three hour endeavor, piecing together images that explore his personal relationship with moviemaking and family, while maintaining an overview of social changes and unrest, observing growing awareness of America's entrance into the Atomic Age. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Before her career came to an inexplicable stop in the 1990s, actress Kelly McGillis had an interesting run. With "Top Gun" and "Witness," McGillis achieved tremendous box office awareness, and with "The Accused," critical raves followed. A few duds were encountered, including "Made in Heaven" and "Winter People," and there was 1988's "The House on Carroll Street," which offered McGillis a more action-oriented role in a throwback thriller. While a bit out of her league in the picture, the star manages the tepid twists and turns of the screenplay with some degree of grace, dutifully working through director Peter Yates's modest design for thrills and chills. "The House on Carroll Street" wasn't a hit back in the day (stiff competition included Richard Pryor's "Moving" and 11th week of "Good Morning, Vietnam"), and it's not especially interesting, but it remains a curiosity, reminding viewers of a time when Hollywood was investing in the Kelly McGillis brand name, trying to transform a character actress into a leading lady. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1974's "The Spikes Gang" is a bit of a roller coaster ride when it comes to tone. It's a western that charts the corruption of innocence, following three young men (Ron Howard, Charlie Martin Smith, and Gary Grimes) as they leave home to experience the world on their own terms, only to find bitter realities of poverty and desperation greeting them at every turn. Lee Marvin stars as the titular bandit out to gift the boys a bad education on bank robbing, but his presence isn't welcomed as salvation, but more of a warning, with the screenplay creating an interesting collision of youthful exuberance and seasoned menace. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While far from being the first disaster movie, 1937's "The Hurricane" is a great example of the subgenre's early years. Directed by John Ford, the feature is a slow build-up to spectacle, issuing a star-crossed lovers plot and vile villainy to work viewers up before slamming them back into their seats with a climatic storm. It's a colossal undertaking, and one that retains intimate encounters, capturing passions and catastrophe with equal concentration. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2015 is shaping up to be a big year for the "Back to the Future" franchise. Not only is the original film celebrating its 30th anniversary, but fans were recently treated to trilogy screenings around America theaters to help explore the wild future world of 2015, as created by 1989's "Back to the Future: Part II." Helping to goose excitement for the brand name is "Back in Time," a documentary directed by Jason Aron that sets out to understand the depth of love for the movie series, paying special attention to its influence on pop culture, collection, and engineering. It's an uneven ride, but Aron gets the basics right, diving into an abyssal corner of cinematic obsession to understand creative appeal and inspiration, managing major "gets" with an impressive roster of interviewees, most willing to share memories and impart wisdom concerning the construction and impact of the time-traveling comedies. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1988's "Heart of Midnight" aspires to be a David Lynch-style journey into the abyss of madness, ornamented with abstract and symbolic visuals, while performances generally float on impulse, not interested in dramatic distance. Writer/director Matthew Chapman is ambitious with the feature, slathering it with strange sights and violent sexuality, attempting to tap into something primal and surreal. However, to secure such a hazy environment, Chapman requires a precise understanding of story, and that's the one thing missing from the effort. All the weirdness and hostility in the world can't pull "Heart of Midnight" out of its slumber, with Chapman more connected to the execution of select scenes than the construction of a larger behavioral puzzle, providing more questions than answers in this frustrating picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Movie marketing is a tricky thing. Studios will often promise filmgoing experiences that sometimes do not exist, emphasizing exploitative elements that only factor into the feature for a few minutes at best. It's a game of deception that's common, with 1955's "A Bullet for Joey" a prime example of promotion that has little to do with the actual picture. Taglines scream "Loaded with Brute Force" and "Explodes with Violence," but no heated escalation is found in "A Bullet for Joey," which primarily concentrates on tightly suited men discussing crime with other tightly suited men. Shoot-outs and antagonisms merely make cameo appearances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Mad scientist cinema takes a sleeping pill with 1971's "The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant." The Anthony M. Lanza-directed feature has all the sleazy, sadistic intentions in the world to deliver a ripe B-movie extravaganza, but miscasting and a general sluggishness keeps the effort in stasis, never truly embracing its considerable oddity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com