Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

"Zone Troopers" is an imaginative idea in search of a proper budget. It's a B-movie from 1985 (co-produced by Charles Band), telling the story of an alien invasion during World War II, but instead of expanse, battling ships, and masses of military men charging into battle, the feature is mostly contained to modest forest settings, working with only a handful of cast members. Co-writer/director Danny Bilson is skilled enough to secure a few highlights along the journey, playing enthusiastically with war film formula and archetype, but he doesn't have enough money to bring his eerie vision to life. Instead of non-stop thrills and chills, "Zone Troopers" is deliberate, often static, trying to milk its inviting premise as much as it can before the audience gradually becomes aware that instead of unleashing sci-fi mayhem, the feature is primarily contained to crusty banter and periodic action. The effort certainly isn't "War of the Worlds." Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1972's "Prime Cut" is an efficient actioner with enough surges in oddity to keep it compelling. The feature is directed by Michael Ritchie and was released mere weeks after his breakthrough work on "The Candidate," displaying the helmer's gift with realism and satire, and his way with armed men and personal vendettas. I'm not convinced that "Prime Cut" is a lost classic, but it does reach a higher consciousness than most bruisers, investing in unsettling behavior to keep its routine plot interesting. It also helps to have leading actors in Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman, who trade death stares and punches as the big city goes up against the heartland in this periodically surprising exercise in distanced exploitation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It doesn't take a detective to figure out which decade gave birth to "Cherry 2000." It's a film about the hunt for a replacement sex robot, offering a post-apocalyptic setting that favors pastel outfits, RPGs and Uzis, and displays futuristic cars that drive on three wheels. The feature doesn't hide its production era very well, but it remains an engaging romp around the shattered society formula, with director Steve De Jarnatt ("Miracle Mile") using imaginative designs and a taste for stuntwork to bring "Cherry 2000" to life, despite an iffy premise that doesn't initially suggest a slam-bang actioner to come. There's encouraging personality to the movie, which isn't encumbered by a minimal budget, working out its own version of mayhem in the Nevada desert, with enough chases, shoot-outs, and explosions to keep the effort alert and, at times, wildly entertaining. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Two goofy actors such as James Belushi and John Ritter seem like a natural fit for a buddy comedy. 1987's "Real Men" pairs the men as opposites on the run, giving them time to create idiosyncratic character business and engage in physical antics that play to their individual strengths, creating a playground for silly business to take shape. Writer/director Dennis Feldman (who scripted "Species" and "The Golden Child") has rough ideas for humor, action, and oddity, but no real game plan to pull anything off. "Real Men" is an awkward misfire that's determined to be entertaining, but frequently carries on with its shoelaces tied together, wasting time on deadly banter and scripted inanity while Belushi and Ritter struggle to locate consistent performances. It's loud and madcap, but the feature is weirdly sloppy, resembling a movie that was torn apart and built up again in the editing room, leaving only remnants of ideas, not entire scenes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Cover art for 1955's "Big House, U.S.A." displays five prison tough guys, with stars Broderick Crawford, Ralph Meeker, and Charles Bronson captured in menacing poses to sell the feature as a hardened prison drama. And yet, the titular location is only a minor part of the overall narrative, with John C. Higgins's screenplay establishing a wider scope of crime and intimidation. Surprisingly, "Big House U.S.A." is a kidnapping saga that winds through multiple locations as it details the saga of Jerry "Iceman" Barker (Meeker), an unrepentant ghoul responsible for the missing child of a wealthy businessman. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Although it isn't a comedy, 1974's "Madhouse" does show surprising life as a satire of film industry cruelty and genre expectation, employing stars Vincent Price and Peter Cushing to play around with their legacies in horror entertainment. Perhaps a more skilled take on insanity and insecurity was meant for "Madhouse," with the picture coming up short in terms of dramatic potential and chills. However, for those in the mood to watch icons interact with their professional past, the feature is satisfying and well performed. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1955's "Storm Fear" is introduced as a tale of isolation, but soon surveys unusual intimacies. Scripted by Horton Foote (adapting a book by Clinton Seeley) and directed by Cornel Wilde, the feature holds attention through tremendous characterization, working through the paranoia and neuroses of a tattered family as they're forced to survive together in a remote location. It's a classic setting for domestic hostilities, but the production manages to unearth intriguing areas of discomfort, allowing "Storm Fear" to overcome its slightly hammy execution and land a few emotional punches. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1970's "Monte Walsh" is a special creation that surveys the end of the west, and how such a gradual event influenced a generation of men raised on the back of a horse. Starring Lee Marvin and Jack Palance, the picture represents the directorial debut for William A. Fraker, the gifted cinematographer who visually defined such efforts as "Rosemary's Baby" and "1941." In "Monte Walsh," Fraker looks to prove himself as a storyteller, and his handle on the roller coaster tone of the feature shows immediate skill, while his time with the actors delivers unusual emotional depth for the traditionally leathered genre. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's hard to imagine the topic of Ayn Rand being explored without alienating most of the viewing public. A controversial figure, the best-selling author and philosopher carries an enormous amount of political baggage, making any production interested in covering her life immediately suspect. 1997's "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life" lives up to its title, delivering a moderately in-depth discussion of the writer's life and times, with emphasis on her psychological make-up as she set out to change the world with her unique perspective on individualism. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1974's "Spasmo" is a film about madness, and it successfully makes the viewer feel insane while watching it. Directed by Umberto Lenzi, the feature delves into acts murder and paranoia, with lines of reality blurred in a manner that reflects the characters and their concerns, and also the era in which the movie was made, finding sexuality head-spinningly random and motivations more of a puzzle than just pure cinematic escalation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"The Unwanted" is inspired by "Carmilla," an 1872 Irish novella about vampirism that predated Bram Stoker's "Dracula." A brew of lesbianism and domestic dysfunction, the picture is certainly ambitious, with director Bret Wood cranking up the Southern Gothic atmosphere to the best of his ability, filling the feature with smoke, shadows, and bloodletting. Unfortunately, "The Unwanted" can't shed its amateurish execution, with stiff performances trying to make sense of a confused screenplay, while editing woes and budgetary restraints tend to muzzle anything of worth in the effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While writer/director/star Mel Brooks achieved his greatest career successes in the world of genre spoofs, he initially made his mark with original ideas and adaptations, including "The Producers" and "The Twelve Chairs." With efforts such as "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein" cementing his name as the go-to guy for cinematic replication with a side of silliness, Brooks returned to his first love with 1991's "Life Stinks," his first new idea after two decades of box office successes. Perhaps the vacation should've lasted longer. Although designed with Brooks's usual manic spirit and timing, "Life Stinks" is a feature that just doesn't work, no matter how hard it emphasizes punchlines or slaps around actors. It's an unpleasant, unfunny comedy that attempts to make light of the dire subject of homelessness, with Brooks somehow believing that gags concerning alcoholism and mental illness are enough to generate a level of social awareness that could justify the wince-inducing screenplay. Brooks has made his share of stinkers, but this picture is his worst, dragged to a full stop by uncharacteristic lifelessness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In America during the 1950s, serial killer Ed Gein became nightmare fuel for the nation when his horrific crimes were discovered. A seemingly mild man who murdered and skinned his victims, often wearing the peeled flesh, Gein's abominable acts of brutality launched a fascination with such severe mental disorder, inspiring numerous books and articles on the man, while his legacy was reshaped to fit the needs of the film industry, with productions such as "Psycho" and "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" taking beats from the criminal's life to inspire cinematic extremes. 1974's "Deranged" is one of the first features to really examine Gein's disease and simple-minded butchery. While it's hardly a thoughtful psychological examination looking to uncover the fiend's motivations, it does manage to convey the intensity of his existence, with star Roberts Blossom contributing fine work as the Gein stand-in, grounding the horror with unexpected dramatic sincerity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1972, Isaac Hayes won an Academy Award for best song with "Theme from 'Shaft'" — a significant achievement for the artist and a breakthrough for the blacksploitation genre. With such a massive success carrying him to new heights of fame, it was time for Hayes to take command of his own starring vehicle. Borrowing the "Shaft" formula and reviving its sound for a new character, 1974's "Truck Turner" endeavored to build a bigger, broader hero with Hayes at the helm, sent into the thick of trouble as a bounty hunter in deep with a nation of furious pimps. Featuring big action and hard dialogue, the movie is an ideal fit for Hayes's inexperience as a leading man, often urging the performer into physical altercations instead of dramatic ones, slowly figuring out the extent of his big screen persona as director Jonathan Kaplan arranges a surprising amount of chaos to help mask any thespian limitations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1968's "The Crimson Cult" invests in a psychedelic atmosphere to help its rather routine story achieve a cinematic identity. Venturing into dreamscape encounters and kaleidoscopic visuals, the feature gets by on oddity and a striking use of color. "The Crimson Cult" also boasts a cast capable to attracting any horror fan's attention, with Christopher Lee sharing the screen with genre legend Boris Karloff, in one of the final screen appearances. While the overall effort doesn't exactly thrill, there's enough artistry and personality collected here to make it worth a look. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The hard, unforgiving streets of New York City receive frightening attention in 1975's "Report to the Commissioner," which plays like a hybrid of "Law & Order" and "Training Day." Procedural in tone, but prone to chaotic bursts of emotion and action, the feature manages dysfunction and paranoia satisfactorily, with director Milton Katselas ("Butterflies Are Free") developing an atmosphere of hostility that's pinched by police duty. Adapted from a novel, "Report to the Commissioner" plays like one, investigating unhinged people embarking on dangerous missions that push them to the limit and blur the lines of duty. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Released 42 years ago, "Cops and Robbers" is just as relevant today as was back then. A tale of class envy wrapped up in a heist film, the feature has a hunger to explore the disparity between the haves and have-nots, setting out to address the drudgery of middle-class stasis with a mildly humorous script that emphasizes the thrill of robbery as it absorbs the sting of need. Leads Joseph Bologna and Cliff Gorman are pitch-perfect in their roles as exasperated cops looking for easy money on the wrong side of the law, but the true star of "Cops and Robbers" is director Aram Avakian, who displays a gift for timing and streetwise intensity that conjures a perfect motivation for the lead characters. It's funny work, but the movie is more persuasive as an examination of desperation tied to limited incomes, big dreams, and observation of an unfair world. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In February, there was "Focus." Starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie, "Focus" endeavored to tell the story of a team of pickpockets coming up against the law, one another, and sexual temptation. Turns out, the picture was a little late to the party, with 1973's "Harry in Your Pocket" essentially covering the same dramatic terrain. Interestingly, both efforts are similarly flattened in the characterization department, trying to find sympathy with sincerely unpleasant people. "Harry in Your Pocket" is the stranger of the two features, attempting a melodramatic approach to the art of the steal, working to build a framework of personal tensions while still indulging a jaunty look at the methods of thievery, scored spiritedly by Lalo Schifrin. What should be lively fun is instead something of a drag, finding the screenplay cutting corners with personalities and the direction more invested in quick hands than lasting impressions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Located off the coast of Australia, The Great Barrier Reef has been referred to as one of the natural wonders of the world, with its enormous size and fragility home to an array of creatures that help support a colossal tourism industry. The Reef is also a place to study man's impact on the Earth, with teams of scientists and nature workers laboring to discover inhabitants great and small, with hopes to understand migration and mating patterns. "Life on the Reef" is a three-part series that showcases daily activity around the Reef, and how such a place of beauty has changed over the years. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Aleksey German passed away in 2013, just as he was putting the finishing touches on "Hard to Be a God." Illness shadowed his life in later years, with the filmmaker funneling what was left of his energy into an adaptation of a complex Russian novel, which took six years to shoot and another six to finish. A herculean effort has been put into the creation of "Hard to Be a God," and artful passion shines throughout this bewildering, intoxicating picture, which provides a unique test of viewer endurance for those interested in a challenge. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com