Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

1973’s “Charley One-Eye” is billed as a western, but it really resembles more of a play, focusing on an unusual relationship between an outlaw and a Native American stuck together in the middle of a Mexican desert. Screenwriter Keith Leonard isn’t reaching for much thematically or dramatically, preferring to remain on this developing partnership as it endures long stretches of travel and trust challenges. The features stays on the men as they work out communication, touching on elements of racism and denial along the way, but Leonard is in no hurry to introduce escalation to the endeavor, and it shows. “Charley One-Eye” is a bit of a patience-tester, as director Don Chaffey goes slow with the tale, which fails to build tension and personality as it goes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Rule of Jenny Pen” is an adaptation of a short story by author Owen Marshall, giving screenwriters Eli Kent and James Ashcroft (who also directs) a challenge to expand a tale that’s explored in a limited location, following a small number of characters. It’s a study of insanity in many ways, also taking on the indignity of aging, but Ashcroft is ultimately after something sinister in the material, which sinks into the muddiness of senior care nightmares. “The Rule of Jenny Pen” is a memorable offering of torment, watching the helmer work very hard to generate a visual experience with the film, exploring unreality and the confines of the central location. He’s blessed with a tremendous cast as well, as stars Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow absolutely sink their teeth into their roles, clearly embracing the wild sense of torture the material develops throughout. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Before they entered the “Scream” zone in 2022, making two sequels for the popular slasher franchise, director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (a.k.a. Radio Silence) scored a minor success with 2019’s “Ready or Not.” The bloody take on hide and seek was a creative highlight for the helmers, who offered a somewhat fast and funny study of survival. Instead of taking a creative step forward after spending years in Ghostface Country, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett are back with another small-scale battleground endeavor in “Abigail,” which, in many ways, resembles “Ready or Not.” Another offering of scary stuff and funny business, “Abigail” has more difficulty finding its tone, struggling with a weaker ensemble and editorial indecision, making for a longer sit with a fairly thin idea for a big screen bloodbath. It’s fun at times, with a charging opening act, but Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett don’t know when to quit with the effort, which slows down as it unfolds. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1971’s “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death” is an atmospheric horror film from co-writer/director John D. Hancock (“Bang the Drum Slowly,” “California Dreaming”), who’s searches for ways to keep the picture mysterious and spooky. It’s an admirable attempt to go for a different level of chills, working with technical elements and a semi-improvisational dramatic approach to keep things interesting in a genre that often struggles to provide originality. The actual fear factor of the effort is certainly up for debate, along with its storytelling choices, of which there are few to follow. “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death” (an eye-catching title for sure, but it doesn’t represent the actual tale being sold here) isn’t a commanding genre offering, going a bit more delicate with its understanding of mental illness, though Hancock isn’t completely committed to anything in this semi-tedious, passably interesting feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1988’s “Iron Angels II” tried to take the series into a more dramatic direction. The writing wanted tragic events and torturous betrayals, struggling to mix the inherent weirdness of the franchise with relationship darkness, aiming to become a more emotional viewing experience. With all of that out of writer/director Teresa Woo’s system, 1989’s “Iron Angels III” is out to retain a fun factor for the brand name, finding action the name of the game here, escalating conflicts and fight scenarios as Woo hopes to make her own James Bond movie with the offering. Storytelling has never been a priority for the producers, and the second sequel is perhaps the loosest installment in terms of plot and stakes, as the helmer submits a half-baked study of international terrorism to propel the mayhem, dealing with the broadness of screen villainy to successfully launch another adventure for the Angel Organization and their tireless fight to stop the spread of evil. “Iron Angels III” is very entertaining, with welcome emphasis on physical activity, but there’s not much more to the viewing experience than basic brawling and superspy feats of heroism. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When we last left the Angel Organization, they elected to declare war against criminal operation Golden Triangle, facing certain doom as the team battled their way to victory against a most determined opponent. All was well, but work in the superspy business is never truly completed, and the agents (well, most of them) are back in 1988’s “Iron Angels II,” which returns to the furious action ways of the franchise, only now there’s defined interest in pursuing a dramatic tone from co-director/writer Teresa Woo. The battle for justice takes a trip to Malaysia this time around, and the change in scenery helps the endeavor, adding bits of culture and a lot more jungle to the sequel, which trades drug world activity for political revolution. Woo gets somewhat ambitious with “Iron Angels II,” but doesn’t manage to craft an improvement on the 1997 movie, dialing down the general fury of the picture to invest in character. It’s a laudable effort, but it doesn’t always connect as intended. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1987’s “Iron Angels” doesn’t share lofty dramatic goals, served up as a “Charlie’s Angels” riff where action dominates as war is declared between organized crime and law enforcement officials. Credited to three directors, the picture isn’t entirely interested in selling a major study of heroism and conflict, adding just enough trouble for the characters to sustain the pursuit of their goals, sold with Hong Kong-style physical ferocity. “Iron Angels” does well with its straightforward take on good vs. evil, mostly of use to viewers who enjoy blasts of stunt work and askew character business, which gets a little dizzying at times in this enjoyable feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Films based on books from iconic author Stephen King inspired box office business in the 1980s, and grew into something more respectable in the 1990s, once Kathy Bates took home an Oscar for her role in 1990’s “Misery.” 1993’s “The Dark Half” is part of this second wave of interest in King’s output, putting writer/director George A. Romeo to work on a story about writer duality and danger, tasked with balancing the horror elements of the tale and its periodically intimate psychology. The picture has its grisly moments, but it mostly connects as a study of King’s own struggles as an author, playing with his pen name past and elements of the publishing world. Romero’s not known for nuance, but he does a respectable job with “The Dark Half,” at least during its opening half, which is more invested in a compelling mystery concerning an author’s break from reality. The rest of the offering isn’t as involving as Romero attempts to satisfy genre fans and find a way out of a complicated premise. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Kenneth Gordon Polsjek was a boy with a dream. He grew up in the “slums” of Montreal, handling poverty and an aborted education, forced into maturity to make a living at a young age. Kenneth was drawn to spectacle, and was soon reborn as “Ken Carter,” setting out to create a career on the daredevil circuit during the 1970s. He was a man driven to success and to entertain, embracing his growing status as a fearless star in the stunt world, always hunting for his next event. 1981’s “The Devil at Your Heels” is a documentary about Carter’s quest for the impossible, with director Robert Fortier following the “Mad Canadian” for five years, capturing the development of a mile-long jet car jump as its challenged by all kinds of setbacks and delays. Carter is a character, and “The Devil at Your Heels” is an interesting, but slowly paced understanding of his drive to find publicity and fame, taking his act to the extreme to secure his place as the number one stunt driver in the world. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We don’t see many of these anymore. Screenwriters Mike Benner, Jared Logan, and Charles A. Pieper look to raise a little hell with “Destroy All Neighbors,” which is a strange blast of violence and dark comedy, with heavy emphasis on madness and makeup effects. Director Josh Forbes (“Contracted: Phase II”) is in charge of this cinematic circus, and his job is to find some level of tonal stability to help viewers get into the mood of the endeavor, which isn’t afraid to go just about anywhere with its macabre visuals. “Destroy All Neighbors” is meant to be a roaring good time with practical effects and screen craziness, and it definitely has inspired moments of insanity. The picture as a whole is a little too much to endure at times, but creativity is plentiful and humor remains intact in this exploration of overkill. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A summer camp setting and horror. It’s a combination that’s created a lot of memorable genre entertainment over the last 45 years, inspiring filmmakers to keep returning to the blend of innocence and aggression to support their low-budget endeavors. Co-writers/co-directors Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk try their luck with slasher cinema in “Hell of a Summer,” bringing a new generation into the woods for a survival challenge, only this round is a bit more comedic than I’m sure many viewers will expect. In fact, cheekiness tends to dominate the offering, as Wolfhard and Bryk maintain a weird distance from frights in their scary movie, which is loosely scripted, not terribly interested in being anything more than a mild goof. “Hell of a Summer” (shot three years ago) has the ingredients for at least a passable slaughterama, but there’s no dominating nightmare to follow in the picture, which is inspired by serious horror features. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Spalding Gray wanted to be an actor. Jobs weren’t exactly plentiful, but he received an opportunity to be part of a prestige movie when he scored a small part in 1984’s “The Killing Fields,” a picture that detailed the grim experience of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia during the 1970s. The feature would go on to become a minor hit at the box office and win several awards at the 1985 Oscars. However, to Gray, it was a job, and one that took him across the world to Thailand for filming, placing the New Yorker in the middle of an alien environment that carried heavenly qualities, especially for those interested in hedonistic pursuits. Using the experience to fuel a stage event, Gray turned his time on “The Killing Fields” into a monologue, using “Swimming to Cambodia” to dramatically share pieces of his life and the depths of his brain, sold in a furious, colorful manner by director Jonathan Demme as stories and reflections pour out of the monologist for 80 minutes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The vastness of political conflict and terror is handed an intimate treatment in 2023’s “Lost Country.” Co-writer/director Vladimir Perisic returns viewers to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1996, examining the woes of the region during the government rule of Slobodan Milosevic and a key election that inspired the formation of revolution. Perisic doesn’t show much interest in the fine details of the unfolding situation, instead using such tension to power a study of a mother and her son, examining the pair as their once tight relationship is challenged by the reality of the world around them. “Lost Country” is committed to silent moments of reflection and visual communication, giving the feature an interesting presence as it burns quietly. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writers L.M. Kit Carson and Jim McBride (who also directs) endeavor to transform the ways of Jean-Luc Godard’s classic, “Breathless,” pulling it out of 1960 and into the 1980s with a rascally rock and roll spirit. The screenplay is after heat and impulsiveness, turning to the star of the year, Richard Gere (fresh off hits “American Gigolo” and “An Officer and a Gentleman”), to provide a nuclear-powered performance that captures pure recklessness and limited intellect, following the low impulse control of the main character as he seeks love and excitement. Gere is certainly invested in the part, presenting a wild take on sexiness that’s completely out of his range, but he commits, joining co-star Valerie Kaprisky on a screen adventure meant to drip with lust, danger, and fiery emotional entanglements. The concept of the updated “Breathless” is understood, but McBride’s execution is up for debate, mixing the rising threat of the story with two incredibly underwhelming performances that fail to support the electricity the helmer is attempting to conjure. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last summer, Osgood Perkins scored a surprise box office hit with “Longlegs.” The horror picture wasn’t much different from everything else he’s created, but marketplace magic was certainly on Perkins’s side, enticing people to spend time in a deadly serious world of mystery and evil. A year later, the writer/director is back with “The Monkey,” which is also a tale of mystery and evil, this time sourced from a short story by Stephen King. The iconic genre author required just under forty pages to deliver a strange journey into a cursed life, but Osgood isn’t fully committed to moodiness. Instead, the movie is a presentation of shock value that loses effectiveness the longer it lasts, as Perkins can’t extend King’s ideas for a feature-length offering. He goes spotty with a limp sense of dark humor and gory events, keeping “The Monkey” more about grisly visuals than an engrossing study of dread. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1985’s “St. Elmo’s Fire” is a divisive picture, but it does have a place in film history. It’s commonly regarded as the birth of the “Brat Pack” era, when young stars were taking over Hollywood, using their style and beauty to help mix personal and professional interests, which some viewed as too aggressive. It’s also the first major commercial and cultural hit for co-writer/director Joel Schumacher, who grew as a visual storyteller throughout the rest of the 1980s (including “The Lost Boys,” “Cousins,” and “Flatliners”). However, there are the characters in the feature that cause intense debate, as the script submits seven post-college people newly dealing with the demands of adulthood without a fully developed sense of maturity. It’s a tough sell for some, and while “St. Elmo’s Fire” makes curious creative choices, the offering actually manages to connect ideas concerning stunted emotional growth, fading friendships, and the troubling demands of life without a perceived safety net. That’s not to suggest it’s an intellectual exercise, but there’s more to the endeavor than the soap opera Schumacher occasionally wants to make. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Beverly Hills Cop” opened in theaters on December 7th, 1984. It topped the box office charts that weekend, and remained the number one movie in America for the next 12 weeks. After his previous triumphs in buddy comedies “48 Hrs.” and “Trading Places,” Eddie Murphy was suddenly the new king of Hollywood, handed a golden opportunity to do whatever he wanted. There was talk of a Murphy-assisted “Star Trek IV,” but the actor rested for a moment, building anticipation for his next move. And that career-defining choice was 1986’s “The Golden Child,” putting the young thespian in his own all-ages, PG-13 special effects vehicle, tasking him to carry a dark study of magic and demonic influence with his traditional fast-talking ways. Coming from “Cop,” “The Golden Child” is an extreme disappointment, watching Murphy visibly give up on the production as director Michael Ritchie (way outside of his comfort zone) tries to compete in a Spielberg/Lucas industry with a halfhearted, shockingly unfunny effort that battles to balance many tones as it slows to a crawl. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While enjoying a few career highlights in the 1980s (including 1983’s “Flashdance” and 1985’s “Jagged Edge”), screenwriter Joe Eszterhas enjoyed a very lucrative 1990s. 1992’s “Basic Instinct” transformed him into a major Hollywood entity, and all the studios wanted a piece of the action, paying millions to get their hands on his latest endeavors. 1995’s “Jade” is part of this gold rush, representing a portion of the mania that surrounded Eszterhas and also his downfall, as the box office failure of 1993’s “Sliver” and the bombing of 1995’s “Showgirls” helped to extinguish his once red- hot career. “Jade” is pretty much the final offering of indulgence when dealing with Eszterhas, who creates an erotic thriller that’s heavy on mystery and grim when it comes to sex. Director William Friedkin (no stranger to professional woes) steps in to make sense of the writing’s darkness, out to create his own version of an opera with the work, which enjoys wild swings of behavior and villainous reveals. The film is at least somewhat functional for its first two acts, watching Friedkin manage Eszterhas’s greasy imagination and clunky dialogue, pushing his actors to go bigger in an effort to merge behavioral broadness with sexual violence. The bizarre mix of detective activity and obsession doesn’t carry throughout the movie, but there’s enough here to embrace for those who enjoy lurid cinema. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1998’s “Dirty Work” was intended to bring the strange comedy of Norm Macdonald to the masses. The production followed the Adam Sandler path of dumb guy entertainment, sticking Macdonald’s subtle ways with a punchline into a vibrantly colored, happily crude endeavor, trusting viewers would accept the “Saturday Night Live” performer’s idiosyncratic ways. They didn’t (the film grossed less than “Air Bud: Golden Receiver”), but that didn’t stop the picture, which went on to achieve cult fandom through home video rentals and cable airings, giving the feature a second life. Looking to build on this reputation, Vinegar Syndrome attempts to deliver the goods for “Dirty Work,” giving the theatrical cut a fresh UHD scan, also going out of their way to restore a “Dirtier Cut” of the offering, which represents director Bob Saget’s original R-rated intent. There’s also an Assembly Cut for superfans, delivering a much longer version of the effort in workprint form. What a time to be alive. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“I Used to Be Funny” highlights the world of stand-up comedy, but doesn’t explore the dedication and attitude of the vocation. Instead, writer/director Ally Pankiw is more interested in making a mystery about a young woman’s emotional state, offering viewers a nonlinear journey into memory and reality as she endures all kinds of trauma over the course of two years. The material features jokes but doesn’t pursue laughs, working with the business to provide an askew characterization, getting into the folds of a person who’s used to weaponizing humor as she deals with events that are anything but funny. Pankiw maintains personality and performance in the endeavor, which always comes together when focusing on human moments between characters. “I Used to Be Funny” stumbles from time to time, but it’s a sincere study of depression and concern, giving star Rachel Sennott some room to explore her dramatic side as she blends her natural sardonic screen presence with something more human, delivering an interesting performance. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com