Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

Box office reports are a little hazy with 1988's "Killer Klowns from Outer Space," but one source lists a $352 gross for the feature. And yet, while offered no opportunity to prove itself during its limited theatrical release, the picture has managed to build an incredible fan base thanks to early video offerings and cable showings. The brand weirdly keeps getting bigger as the years pass, with plenty of merchandise for sale to maintain "Klowns" visibility, and there's even a video game due for release in 2024, allowing the faithful to return to the source, offered a chance to go head-to-head with the multicolored menace. And why does this endeavor remain so beloved? The Chiodo Brothers. The creators of "Killer Klowns from Outer Space," the siblings display their technical expertise with special effects and show their love of B-movies with the effort, which offers a sometimes wonderful level of genre invention. And now, after many Blu-ray releases, the circus aliens with a wild sense of dark humor return to disc with a UHD presentation that's meant to bring out the best of this colorful, playful dosage of nightmare fuel. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There's an odd tonality to 1982's "Intimate Lessons." Director Phillip Marshak strives to make something of a comedy concerning a weekend sex education seminar, playing up the broadness of the instructor and his bizarre lessons. And there's a semi-darker side to the endeavor, which details games of manipulation and seduction among the guests and their hosts. It's certainly a bit different than the normal offering of adult entertainment, finding Marshak playing with the atmosphere of the movie, which results in an interesting collision of the psychological and the physical. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1994's "The Getaway" is the second adaptation of a 1958 Jim Thompson novel, with the material previously covered in a 1972 Sam Peckinpah film starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw. While both endeavors certainly lack the roughness of the source material, the 1994 effort definitely aims to turn up the heat with stars (and real-life married couple at the time) Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, who are tasked with amplifying the sex appeal of the crime story, while going deeper into the intimate issues facing the central characters. "The Getaway" is a pulpy ride of bad people doing horrible things, and director Roger Donaldson ("No Way Out," "Species") wisely keeps the action kinetic, with the remake at its most involving when following the central couple as they try to evade capture and deal with relationship concerns. The rest of the picture has more persistent pacing and performance issues, but nothing that derails an otherwise compelling study of trust and revenge. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Child endangerment is one of those manipulative moves from filmmakers who usually can't conjure screen tension any other way. They challenge innocence with violence, begging for a cheap reaction, as any sensible viewer will recoil from such ugliness. 2009's "Orphan" is a movie entirely built around the idea of kids in jeopardy, with screenwriter David Leslie Johnson (2018's "Aquaman" and its 2023 sequel) trying to craft a provocative story about a long game manipulation that turns an average household into a hellish pit of paranoia and hostility. It plays like a variation on "The Bad Seed" until the very moment it reveals it isn't "The Bad Seed," with Johnson looking to land a Big Twist that's ridiculous, stuck at the end of a feature that goes on for way too long, never scoring with points of suspense and mental illness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2019's "The Addams Family" wasn't a great financial risk for the producers, but it remained something of a creative gamble, working with source material that's been kicking around pop culture since 1938. Without a Pixar or DreamWorks Animation budget, "The Addams Family" invested in weirdness, trying to capture the dark tone of Charles Addams's original cartoon creation while amplifying broad antics for younger audiences of today. It did well with limited resources, brought to life with color, exaggerated character designs, and a committed voice cast who inhabited their creepy, kooky characters superbly. The picture found success at the box office, and the producers weren't going to sit on the possibility of a sequel, returning to screens just two years later with "The Addams Family 2," which tries to push the odd household dynamic into the everyday world, presenting a road trip premise that works well for these creations, combining interstate antics with weird science concerns. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There's been plenty of attempts to do something with the works of Charles Addams, who originally created "The Addams Family" in 1938, offering single-panel cartoons of amusing antics featuring a macabre family. T.V. programs, movies, musicals, and animated shows have endeavored to interpret Addams's imagination, and now the creepy clan graduate to a CGI-animated film, with "The Addams Family" hoping to muscle in on "Hotel Transylvania" territory, giving all-ages entertainment a boost of the bizarre. While the production lacks the budget to pull off an absolutely gorgeous representation of the source material, directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan try to make the effort as amusing and spirited as possible, respecting the dark elements of the original concept while delivering modern cartoon elasticity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the realm of family entertainment, 1986's "The Great Land of Small" is one of the stranger offerings. The Canadian production is listed as "Tales for All #5" in the series, with producer Rock Demers aiming to provide young viewers with some big screen magic. What's actually in "The Great Land of Small" is something more bizarre than simple escapism, with director Vojtech Jasny working with a painfully tight budget to realize an odyssey into a magic land inhabited by Cirque du Soleil and a Madball-like monster known as "Slimo." Creativity tries to break through monetary issues, but Jasny can't win this war, often resorting to padding to fill the run time, while the general atmosphere of the endeavor is reminiscent of an episode of "Barney & Friends." To generate the wonders of fantasy is the goal of the production, but what's here isn't enchanting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the supplementary materials on the "Quantum Cowboys" Blu-ray, co-writer/director Geoff Marslett shares word with screening audiences that they will most likely be confused while watching the movie. The helmer is after big ideas with a small budget, heading into the Old West to explore the nature of the future and multiple realities, doing so through a blend of animation and live-action activity. The fact that it all makes sense to Marslett provides some comfort, with the viewing experience more interesting as a cinematic exercise, finding storytelling and philosophy not as compelling as the visual descent into unreality. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Mom N Pop: The Indie Video Store Boom of the '80s/'90s" endeavors to take viewers back to a time when there was no streaming or even a connected world wide web. It was an era when entertainment was largely a communal experience, with movie theaters dominant, bringing in the masses to see the hits and the misses. And then the video revolution occurred, with these offerings suddenly available for home viewing via rentals at a video store. For some, this changed everything, putting Hollywood production within striking distance, allowing those able to make the journey to a local video store a chance to enjoy a new kind of viewing freedom. The sweet spot of availability and excitement lasted only a few decades, and director Bobby Canipe Jr. looks to celebrate such an age with "Mom N Pop," his valentine to the glory days of video store patronage. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director of "The Wild Boys" and "After Blue," Bertrand Mandico has a specific approach to his filmmaking endeavors. With "She Is Conann," Mandico takes on the character of Conan the Barbarian, created by Robert E. Howard, only this is no adaptation of the literary source. It's a very different tale of high adventure, with Mandico generating a surreal study of evolution and empowerment as various stages of the warrior's life are explored, often in graphic detail. Mandico stays close to his helming habits, employing muse Elina Lowensohn in a supporting role, sticking with set-bound visuals, and pumping in the glitter. "She Is Conan" is something to see, taking a big swing with all the artful oddity. It isn't particularly compelling as a story of reflection, but Mandico's not one to invest in drama. He's more turned on by visual intensity, and there's plenty of that here. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Hey Folks! It's Intermission Time" began life as a passion project in the 1990s for the late Mike Vraney. He wanted to celebrate his love for drive-in cinemas, scouring film and video sources to create his own compilation reel containing all kinds of forgotten snipes and advertisements. The idea was to share these reels of history with those who could appreciate it, and one release soon turned into six, generating hours of entertainment and nostalgic trips back in time to a simpler era of movie exhibition, when theater owners were absolutely determined to retain customers, making sure they had the finest in feature and concession options around. Vraney didn't have source material that was in the best shape, and the sets were prone to a little repetition, but the mastermind's love of the game is deeply felt, doing his part to preserve industry history at a time when it was being erased by corporate chains and the death of the drive-ins. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2003's "Severe Injuries" is a parody of slasher films, trying to bring some ZAZ-adjacent energy to the process of pantsing horror entertainment. The shot-on-video movie doesn't have a budget and it's mostly a backyard production, but director Amy Lynn Best and writer Mike Watt attempt to get something silly going with the feature. They avoid "Scream"-style self-consciousness, chasing a goofier offering of formula disruption with the story of a hapless killer trying to graduate to a genuine madman while targeting the inhabitants of a sorority house. Laughs are limited in "Severe Injuries," with comedy a little too slack to inspire anything more than appreciative smiles. However, there's intent here that's worth a look, watching the production scramble to make something wacky and a little gory, going against the usual SOV grind of ugliness to have fun. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"World War III" has a premise that seems like a sure fit for an absurdist comedy event. But whatever the opposite of lighthearted is, that's where co- writer/director Houman Seyyedi takes the picture. He oversees a study of desperation, with the Iranian feature examining the various ways of manipulation involving a number of characters, who all find themselves in an extraordinary situation of opportunity. Seyyedi keeps the film bleak but fascinating, determined to subvert expectations with this journey of insanity, which makes several detours into pure behavioral observation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Daniel Isn't Real" is probably the film 1991's "Drop Dead Fred" should've been. Instead of offering mind-numbing monkey business with the premise of an imaginary friend returning to the adult life of his inventor, "Daniel Isn't Real" goes pitch-black with the concept, treating the invisible partner as a driving force of encroaching madness. Co-writers Adam Egypt Mortimer (who also directs) and Brian DeLeeuw (adapting his 2009 novel) don't mess around with the story, transforming one young man's fight for sanity into a violent journey that crosses through mental illness, cosmic dangers, and destructive behavior. It's an unhinged endeavor at times, but a fascinating one, bravely avoiding cutesiness to remain in Hell, where Mortimer feels most comfortable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While writer/director Paul Schrader has collected the admiration of cineastes and movie journalists over the years, he's certainly not a consistent filmmaker. While interested in making intelligent pictures about difficult subjects, Schrader doesn't always show a command of storytelling and performance. 1997's "Touch" is a notable example of the helmer's unsteadiness when it comes to selling a tale of challenging tones, with Schrader trying his luck adapting a 1987 Elmore Leonard novel during a time in Hollywood when such a creative undertaking was all the rage ("Get Shorty," "Jackie Brown," "Out of Sight"). "Touch" is tricky, exploring the ways of love, religious zealotry, and exploitation, and Schrader can't manage the juggling act required to keep the feature interesting, fumbling the interests of multiple characters. There are a few provocative elements to the endeavor, but it's mostly clumsy and a bit of a chore to finish, with Schrader often unsure what he wants the effort to be. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

An Italian production, 1960's "The Playgirls and the Vampire" presents itself as a horror movie, but there's a more exploitative edge to the feature as it develops. The production is quite aware it isn't out to make art, more attentive to female characters in eveningwear, often exploring the halls and rooms of a spooky castle. There's a vampiric angle to the endeavor as well, but director Piero Regnoli doesn't pay too close attention to the fright factor of "The Playgirls and the Vampire," keeping up mild sexploitation touches and strange relationships in this passably engaging B-movie. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1979's "Daisy May" isn't a force of dramatic urgency. Actually, it's barely a movie, with director Fred J. Lincoln and writer Daniel Webster creating only a vaguely defined problem for the main characters to solve. The feature is more of an extended showcase for adult cinema highlights, with the cast put to work in various scenes of seduction, which take up most of the run time. There's something of a tale in the mix, and one about the crazy power of a special juice and its influence over rural characters, but offering a study of beverage authority isn't the goal here. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1978's "A Formal Faucett" is a very odd movie. Director Fred J. Lincoln is out to capture Farrah Fawcett mania with the picture, cooking up his own take on the actress's fame, including her association with the hit show, "Charlie's Angels." And yet, there's really nothing going on in the effort, which initially suggests a broader approach to comedy, only to supply extraordinarily little story, and star Dorothy LeMay doesn't even look like Fawcett. As humor in adult filmmaking goes, "A Formal Faucett" could use a lot more wackiness, with Lincoln lightly pawing the potential of the feature. Lincoln can't even get carnal activity going in a major way, leaving the viewing experience more about watching the production turn to lengthy stretches of padding to fill an already short (67 minutes) endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In one of those weird trends that developed marketplace power during the 1970s and '80s, revenge stories involving sexual assault became a thing for producers looking to make a quick buck by focusing on female suffering. It's an uncomfortable subgenre, with debatable empowerment claims, inspiring more than a few duds, but cash collected by movies such as "I Spit on Your Grave" and "Ms. 45" kept the pictures coming, including 1983's "Deep in the Heart" (a.k.a. "Handgun," which is the title on the Blu-ray presentation). Instead of going ugly with the endeavor, writer/director Tony Garnett approaches the horrors of violence from a different angle, and he's not exclusively interested in tormenting his lead character as she's emotionally and physically destroyed by a cruel male companion. "Deep in the Heart" has an appreciation of pain, but it's also interested in Texas culture as it deals with gun ownership, fragile masculinity, and the mental illness. It's fascinating feature for the most part, with Garnett genuinely doing something different with the material, creating a chilling snapshot of male insecurity and manipulation that remains frighteningly relevant today. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Insane Clown Posse. For outsiders, there are only a few things known about the rap group. They wear clown makeup everywhere they go, there's some type of obsession with a Detroit soda brand Faygo, and they have no idea how magnets work. 2021's "The United States of Insanity" isn't out to provide an extensive understanding of Insane Clown Posse and their inner workings, with directors Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez focusing on their legal entanglements. The documentary follows their fight to pull the fan nickname "Juggalo" off the FBI's list of dangerous gangs, with members Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope going apoplectic as they confront a serious challenge to their first amendment rights. "The United States of Insanity" explores the Juggalo way, identifying the very real people hurt by this designation, with many simply out to enjoy the horrorcore hip-hop group and the loyal community that's been created to celebrate all things Insane Clown Posse.

Sadly, the magnet question remains unanswered in the picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com