Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

As a tale of temptation and survival, "Hansel & Gretel" has been adapted and reimagined countless times since its debut in 1812. The Brother Grimm fairy tale has been transformed into light and dark entertainment, most recently in 2013's "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters," which attempted to turn the storybook siblings into action heroes. For co-writer/director Oz Perkins, the original tale is an ideal fit for his helming interests, giving him another opportunity to explore slow-burn chills, only now he's handed a little more marketplace visibility with "Gretel & Hansel," which delves into Grimm Brother doom, but also keeps up genre trends set by Euro-flavored endeavors such as "The Witch" and "Hereditary." Perkins aims for cinematic creep with the progressively titled "Gretel & Hansel," and he's capable of constructing arresting imagery. It's storytelling stasis that often flattens the viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1981's "The House Where Death Lives" (a.k.a. "Delusion") is often listed as a slasher film, released during a time when every producer was looking for a way to cash-in on mass interest in horror entertainment. There is a killer on the loose, and characters are dispatched one-by-one, but the screenplay by Jack Viertel isn't fully committed to building a fright factory. He's much more interested in developing a psychological and borderline erotic thriller, toying with the ways of obsession as the lead character experiences a different kind of nightmare. Director Alan Beattie also plays the picture very carefully, concentrating on the development of personalities and relationships before murder business begins. "The House Where Death Lives" is competently made, with appreciable efforts in performance and cinematography, but it's a slow-burn thriller, and it's debatable if it ever really starts moving at all. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Wartime secrets are explored in "Brooklyn 45," which offers a single location and a cast of characters for a 90-minute examination of death, patriotism, and xenophobia. A supernatural element is included in the tale, which involves a particularly active séance, but writer/director Ted Geoghegan doesn't make a horror feature, going the psychological route with a real-time journey into suspicion. There's a lot to like about the endeavor, with Geoghegan challenged to create a suspenseful viewing experience while the story remains in one position. There's an interesting examination of World War II and all the pain involved with service and intimidation, which is just beginning to spill into civilian life for the players, and while it seems to be headed in an Agatha Christie-like direction in the opening act, "Brooklyn 45" shies away from mystery elements, as Geoghegan shows more interest in character wear and tear, not the capacity for murder. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"One Life" is based on the true story of "Nicky's Children," following the experiences of Nicholas Winton and his efforts to rescue Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia before the outbreak of World War II. Why this tale may be of some familiarity is due to the spread of a viral video on social media channels, which provided a clip from the British show "That's Life," where the real Nichloas Winton was surprised to find himself sitting in an audience mostly comprised of the now-grown children he helped to save. It's an emotional moment, perfect for bite-sized media consumption, and now it's a feature-length film. Director James Hawes and screenwriters Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake endeavor to inspect the tale in "One Life," looking to understand what drove Nicholas to commit his life to the quest, and how he deals with memories of the time, caught up in recollections of what occurred and could've been during a grim period in world history. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Joseph Sarno helped to launch the "Inside" series of movies, with each title exploring the lives and talents of specific adult film stars (e.g. "Inside Seka," "Inside Jennifer Welles"), giving fans extended time with their favorites. Dramatic depth wasn't pursued, but certain offerings went above and beyond, with 1981's "Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle" creating an unusual sense of intimacy between the actress and her fans, with Sprinkle offering biographical details from her upbringing, even encouraging viewers to write her, sharing their fantasies with a screen figure. 1984's "Inside Little Oral Annie" generally does away with this level of closeness, finding Sarno going the straightforward route with erotic encounters, focusing on various couplings and displays of physical talent from the star of the show, who's definitely not here to present her acting range. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The story behind the making of 1996's "The Island of Dr. Moreau" is much more interesting than the film itself. It was once intended to be a spooky take on the H.G. Wells novel (already explored across all forms of media) from director Richard Stanley, but troubles swarmed the production, turning it from an atmospheric chiller into blunt-edged weirdness from helmer John Frankenheimer, who was hired to complete the project, not necessarily clean up the mess. The moviemaking disaster was recounted in the 2014 documentary, "Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Dr. Moreau" (a fascinating watch), providing necessary backstory when viewing the Frankenheimer version of the picture. While it begins with some dramatic purpose, it doesn't take long for "The Island of Dr. Moreau" to veer into silliness and general storytelling confusion, openly reflecting a nightmarish shoot that lost its way in a most profound manner. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1989's "Lady Reporter" (a.k.a. "The Blonde Fury," "Righting Wrongs II: Blonde Fury") is another step in the Hong Kong cinema exploits of star Cynthia Rothrock. She returns to action duty in a role similar to others she's played, but, once again, her level of martial arts fury supports an otherwise unsteady endeavor that's never precise when it comes to storytelling or tone. Director Hoi Mang (who also co-stars in the feature) aims to turn the crime story into a comedy, while the producers desire something harder than laughs, creating a strange, reshoot-laden effort that does exceptionally well when it concentrates on physical confrontations. Attempts at humor nearly ruin the entire viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

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