Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

1999's "A Man Called Hero" is an adaptation of a comic book series, exploring the dramatic highs and lows of a kindly warrior and his battles with tragedy and magically powered enemies. It's wuxia entertainment from Hong Kong, offering an ambitious mix of martial arts action and soap opera- style dramatic entanglements. The idea here is to excite audiences and also bring them to tears at times with its story of longing and loss, but the execution is a little lethargic from director Andrew Lau, who puts on a big show with the production's epic intent, but can't spark the picture's sensitivities to life in a more meaningful manner. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1998's "Lost in Space" is primarily known for two reasons, with the first being its status as a big-budget adaptation of a popular Irwin Allen television show from the 1960s that ran for three seasons, collecting a sizable cult following after its cancelation. The second concerns the incredible run 1997's "Titanic" had at the box office, dominating the top spot for 15 weeks, drowning all the competition. The streak eventually ended, with "Lost in Space" finally dethroning the disaster film, offering ticket-buyers a high-tech sci-fi/fantasy presentation of escapism, and, for one weekend, it was the most popular release in America. It's a good piece of movie trivia, but it's not always the most engaging blockbuster. Director Stephen Hopkins certainly puts in an effort to make the endeavor shiny and splashy, giving it a good gallop at times, even with the defined limits of CGI artistry. It's screenwriter Akiva Goldsman who holds the whole thing back, with the man behind "Batman & Robin" and "A Beautiful Mind" trying to be quippy and mind-bending with the roller coaster ride, which is often bogged down by the weight of a needlessly elaborate story. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Dean Martin was the entertainer. The man of the Rat Pack and musical delights maintained a steady acting career throughout the 1960s, often returning to the comfort of western entertainment. The genre provided Martin with a chance to inhabit hard men and sly dogs, with 1968's "5 Card Stud" playing to his strengths as a screen presence, returning the actor to the Old West for another round of intimidation games. Screenwriter Marguerite Roberts adapts a novel by Ray Gaulden, creating a detective story of sorts for director Henry Hathaway, who reunites with Martin after their collaboration on 1965's "The Sons of Katie Elder." "5 Card Stud" is an unusual feature in some ways, with sleuthing and itchy interactions prioritized here. Genre highlights are limited in the endeavor, which is greatly supported by the cast, who try to liven up a somewhat lumbering offering of criminal investigation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Fred Olen Ray (billed here as "Ed Raymond") has over 150 directorial credits during his career, and 2001's "Venomous" is…one of the them. Scripted by Dan Golden and Sean McGinly, the feature endeavors to recreate the experience of watching 1995's "Outbreak" without having to pay for blockbuster production demands, including locations and A-list actors. It's marketed as an animal attack picture, but the material is more about a viral spread, allowing Ray to work with budgetary limitations and keep rattlesnake action to a minimum. "Venomous" is B-movie entertainment, and it finds something interesting to do with initial scenes of spreading illness and community confusion. Unfortunately, the material quickly graduates to absurdity to help fill 97 minutes of screen time, and the wilder the effort becomes the more tedious it grows. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1982's "Roommates" is an oddity in the adult film industry. The feature isn't out to titillate, going a more dramatic route with its study of three women battling all kinds of demons and disappointments in their lives. It's a tale of New York City struggling from director Chuck Vincent and screenwriter Rick Marx, who place their focus on personal problems and horrific situations of survival. It's a bleak movie, going against expectations for X-rated entertainment, and such severity keeps it interesting, even while storytelling turns are a little too rough to ride at times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In Hollywood history, Saul Bass is a legend. A graphic designer of immense talent, Bass created striking marketing imagery and main title sequences, evolving into a visual consultant, including iconic work on Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho." As a feature-length filmmaker, Bass's career only lasted for a short amount of time. 1974's "Phase IV" represents his one and only big screen endeavor, working with screenwriter Mayo Simon on a picture that combines the terror of an animal attack effort with the nebulous sci-fi touches of Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." "Phase IV" is a stunning visual experience, filled with all sorts of Bass-isms and intense insect cinematography (by Ken Middleham). As a story filled with dread and mystery, the movie is much less successful, with Bass's slow-burn approach to a rising threat of unknown intent failing to generate much in the way of suspense or even horror. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1978's "Goin' South" represents the last gasp of the 1970s for Jack Nicholson. It was a decade that solidified his reputation as a quality actor and electrifying screen presence, building a resume with achievements such as "The Last Detail," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," and "Chinatown." Nicholson was riding high, using his industry reputation to mount another directorial offering, following up his time on 1971's "Drive, He Said." "Goin' South" returns Nicholson to the realm of western entertainment, recently participating in a genre outing in 1976's "The Missouri Breaks." He takes control of the endeavor, working with four screenwriters (including Charles Shyer, who contributed to "Smokey and the Bandit" and would go on to make audience-pleasers with his then-wife, Nancy Meyers) to explore some relationship messiness in the Old West. The feature is often indescribable, supplying such a slack screen energy, it also seems like Nicholson just filmed rehearsals and moved on. Elements of story do occasionally surface, and the cast is strong, with everyone seemingly on their own to generate a little chaos for Nicholson. It's a playtime movie for the professionals, but only offers limited satisfaction for viewers, tasked with making sense of the writing's many moods and short attention span. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

My first exposure to 1988's "The Last Slumber Party" was ten years ago, when the team at Rifftrax added the feature to their catalog of comedy. The movie was a perfect fit for mockery, finding director Stephen Tyler's general inability to assemble a film inspiring perhaps one of the most consistently hilarious offerings in the company's history. And now, in 2024, a rewatch "The Last Slumber Party" has to happen, only this time without jesting, facing the goofiness and technical limitations of the endeavor sans help from trained riff professionals. With this picture, all the extra goofing around helps, as Tyler looks to add to the tradition of slasher cinema, only he can't master any of the technical challenges facing him. It's a long 72 minutes with unlikable characters and production blunders, while suspense is not present in this amateurish genre exercise. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We don't get many stone age stories on screen these days, giving "Out of Darkness" a bit of distinction as the production examines struggles from long ago, back when the Earth carried tremendous mystery and its inhabitants were fighting to understand their place in the world order. Though listed as a horror film, the endeavor isn't really built to generate scares. Director Andrew Cumming goes intensely atmospheric instead, attempting to put the audience in the middle of a tribal fight for survival, where the characters are surrounded by pure darkness and unknown predators. "Out of Darkness" isn't a thrilling sit, as Cumming takes his time with the effort, occasionally getting lost in his own moviemaking vision. But there are layers of storytelling in Ruth Greenberg's screenplay that hold attention, creating a suspenseful study of feral behavior and survival. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Who knows what would've happened to 1994's "The Crow" if there wasn't controversy and tragedy attached to it. The feature was a success, largely driven by ticket-buyers curious to see Brandon Lee in his final film role and how the production was going to deal with such a loss, especially when the material remains inherently violent and grim. "The Crow" worked as a stylish offering of doom and revenge, and Lee was incredible in it, but instead of walking away from a horrible situation, producers made the decision to keep going, with plenty of money still to be collected from the brand name. 2000's "The Crow: Salvation" is the third installment of the series, coming after 1996's "The Crow: City of Angels" (a sequel that has its fans, but I'm not one of them) and "The Crow: Stairway to Heaven," a television series that elected to develop the events of the 1994 offering. At this point, there was little left to say when it comes to all things "Crow," but try telling that to the moneymen, who attempt to sustain the "love is forever" theme for a picture that has no energy and personality, merely existing to keep an I.P. alive with a thoroughly uninspired endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1991's "Black Cat" was a Hong Kong production looking to replicate the plot and action intensity of Luc Besson's "La Femme Nikita." 1992's "Black Cat 2" gives up on that plan, instead aiming to be more of a "Terminator" riff as the eponymous character returns to duty, this time implanted with a different chip offering upgraded technology. Director Stephen Shin also comes back to helm the feature, once again more consumed with cooking up wild stunt sequences than dealing with the basics in storytelling. "Black Cat 2" is a step down in quality for the series, but it's not without some charms, including a little enjoyable brutality found during the run time, and the final minutes of the picture are positively bonkers. It's not always a complete endeavor, but it still packs a punch for what appears to be a quickie production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1990, Luc Besson's "La Femme Nikita" managed to bewitch an international audience with its outstanding mix of deep feelings and furious action. The movie successfully refreshed the ways of assassin cinema, resulting in Besson's finest picture, which launched many copycats and a few remakes (including 1993's "Point of No Return" with Bridget Fonda). "Black Cat" is an unofficial do-over, with the Hong Kong production helping itself to the basics of Besson's endeavor, focusing on stunt activity as star Jade Leung delivers a monumentally physical performance. Director Stephen Shin attempts emotionality, but that's not the ultimate point of "Black Cat," which often resembles a theme park stunt show, with the production making sure the feature is on the move for most of its run time, inflicting all kinds of damage on the lead character as she develops into a highly trained killer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A directing duo, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were once Belgium-born filmmakers making small movies for local audiences. They were eventually brought to Hollywood, tasked to do something with "Bad Boys for Life" after the troubled production had difficulty getting off the ground. The pair created a hit, and the industry asked for more, with El Arbi and Fallah soon put in charge of the superhero picture, "Batgirl," which was eventually shelved due to reasons that will probably never be crystal clear. The helmers are back in business with another "Bad Boys" sequel for this summer, but before they return to big-budget extravaganzas, they revive their indie spirit with "Rebel." Taking on the psychological and physical destruction of Syrian warfare, El Arbi and Fallah (who also co-script with Kevin Meul and Jan van Dyck) make a deeply personal feature that explores the horrors of Islamic State and the influence of radicalization in Europe, mixing raw emotions with unexpected blasts of artful expression that keeps viewers invested in material that would otherwise be extraordinarily difficult to watch. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Robin Spry attempts to combine the needs of thriller cinema with his own creative interests in documentaries and social issues. 1977's "One Man" is a Canadian production that's after a little more than simple jolts, with Spry entering a marketplace loaded with films about conspiracies and paranoia, looking to compete with his own take on suspense. The feature certainly has its limitations, but the helmer crafts an involving study of corruption in many forms, locating ways to tend to character and plot while keeping the picture on its feet for the most part, infusing the work with a little verite voltage. "One Man" has moments of unique power and involving points of pressure, with Spry handling a difficult tonal mix with some care, creating a gripping viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1989's "Blind Faith" has the initial appearance of an erotic thriller from the era, watching a cop and his partner engage in rough sex after dabbling in drugs, putting on a display of disease that's meant to disturb and titillate. And then writer/director Dean Wilson moves away from such atmosphere, replacing exploitation interests with a psychology game, and a talky one at that. "Blind Faith" is basically a filmed play, with Wilson using his run time to study the levels of irritability and monologuing skills of the characters, who are dealing with murder, manipulation, and intimidation, but the feature would rather remain static. The helmer is attempting to create something uneasy with unsavory turns of plot, but he doesn't earn viewer interest with this glacial examination of police interrogation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Michael Mann hasn't made a film since 2015's "Blackhat," a misguided and unexciting feature that represented a late career pull towards mediocrity for the helmer, who also suffered through some creative constipation in 2009's "Public Enemies." Going smaller and simpler, Mann returns with "Ferrari," which isn't a bio-pic of automobile titan Enzo Ferrari, but a moment in time with the man as he struggles with business and family, finding his renown focus starting to fail him as he begins to feel the weight of the world. There's plenty of racing in the picture, but Mann and screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin (who passed away in 2009) hope to find a human experience as Enzo's mistakes and gambles collide over the course of one important year. "Ferrari" isn't Mann in epic mode, but he captures excitement on the track and pain in the heart. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite has tried to forge an unusual career, dealing with oceanic creature concerns in "Blackfish," exploring the war experience in "Megan Leavey," and examining intimate relationships in "Our Friend." Now she heads to the stars with her latest endeavor, which details rising tensions between Americans and Russians on a space station when the world below erupts into nuclear war. "I.S.S." is written by Nick Shafir, who cooks up a promising tale of paranoia and close-quarters tension, using the space station setting to play with games of trust and escalating violence, with Cowperthwaite in charge of finding a visual and dramatic rhythm to the feature. "I.S.S." struggles to match the potential of its premise, but the helmer extracts some decent performances and captures compelling visuals with this mostly talky survival film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1987's "Redneck Zombies" is an exercise in excess from director Pericles Lewnes, who looks to combine the broadest of comedy with the grossest of splatter cinema. It's a promise he intends to keep, presenting a feature that has little interest in pulling back when it comes to extended scenes of extremity. Outrageousness appears to be the end game for the no-budget, shot-on-video endeavor, and such a tone works for a few stretches of the film. As an overall viewing experience, "Redneck Zombies" is more punishing than amusing, with Lewnes lacking a basic sense of pace and restraint when approaching the intended obnoxiousness of the effort. He prefers to go all-in on overkill, making for a very long sit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The video store. For some, it's a source of tremendous nostalgia, recalling a time when communities gathered to rent movies, often hunting for titles in a sea of options. There was candy, video games, and walls covered in posters and advertisements. There was physical contact with product, increasing excitement as film-watching risks were taken. For others, the video store is the place your parents occasionally talk about while failing to find anything on a streaming channel. "Everything to Entertain You" is a short documentary about Video Headquarters, perhaps the most popular video store in New Hampshire, which kept its doors opened for 32 years, enduring all kinds of financial and business attacks until it finally closed in 2015. Director Brantley C. Palmer was part of the Video Headquarters experience and he was there when it all came to a close, picking up a camera to document such an event. "Everything to Entertain You" provides a history of Video Headquarters and its employees, but it's also a mild offering of remembrance, gifting viewers a time machine to an era when the world of home video was something thrilling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1993's "Age of Demons" endeavors to explore the end of the world, with mischievous sorceresses aiming to resurrect evil through magic and murder, attempting to trigger some type of apocalypse. It's the stuff of epic filmmaking, but writer/director/star Damon Foster doesn't have the resources to really capture exciting visuals. Instead, he goes the shot-on-video route, and he's very interested in turning the picture into a farce, using every opportunity he can find to add jokes and silliness to the offering. While it initially seems like a horror movie, "Age of Demons" quickly labors to be as wacky as possible, with Foster attempting all kinds of comedy, eventually turning the effort into an homage to Japanese kid show entertainment. The feature is definitely out there, but not in an inviting way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com