Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

1980's "When Time Ran Out" is largely credited as the final nail in the coffin of disaster movie mania. The subgenre had been on a downward trend throughout the late-1970s, but here was producer Irwin Allen trying to maintain his fortune by spending a fortune on a volcano eruption picture that cashed in a handful of contractual obligations, including star Paul Newman, who never once, not for a minute, seems interested in participating in the project. Catastrophe hits Hawaii in the feature, which intends to put on a major show of force featuring an exploding mountain, lava flow, and multiple survival challenges once again facing a collection of characters. What "When Time Ran Out" mostly comes up with is a botched final edit and cheapy special effects, with director James Goldstone ("Rollercoaster," "Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story") working hard to make an attractive looking film, but he shows less interest in creating an even remotely suspenseful one. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1979's "Hanging by a Thread" finds producer Irwin Allen in a creative drought when it comes to picking disaster movie topics for television audiences. He goes the miniseries route with the effort, with writer Adrian Spies handed two nights of T.V. to come up with a riveting sense of danger and a deep feel for the characters. It's a big swing and a miss for "Hanging by a Thread," which is more of an extremely labored soap opera than a thriller, putting director Georg Fenady in a position to make something inherently inert at least passably exciting. Viewers are presented with 196 minutes of relationship woes and occasional elements of danger, but as a true disaster endeavor, the film can't escape its incredible dullness and, at times, painful silliness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1977's "Fire" is a second made-for-television movie from producer Irwin Allen during his most fertile creative period. Looking to bring big screen mayhem to the small screen, Allen goes from the water threat of 1976's "Flood" to a forest inferno, following his formula by mixing scenes of survival with the emotional and physical concerns of a collection of characters. Director Earl Bellamy (returning to duty after "Flood") and writers Norman Katkov and Arthur Weiss aren't trying to make high art with "Fire," simply assembling a functional disaster film for a wide audience, showing more aggressive interest in the central threat than previous endeavors, making for a more active viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Feeling indestructible after scoring major theatrical hits in 1972's "The Poseidon Adventure" and 1974's "The Towering Inferno," producer Irwin Allen brings his disaster movie formula to television for 1976's "Flood," hoping to give home audiences more of his special ways with pandemonium. Of course, with T.V. comes limited money, but director Earl Bellamy and screenwriter Don Ingalls do their best to secure some panic and personal issues facing a large community of characters. The pressure point here is a breaking dam, with "Flood" looking to juggle the needs of the subgenre and the personalities of the characters. The production is far from remarkable, but the feature gets the job done thanks to a committed cast and some interestingly low-fi ways to sell aquatic horror. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1986's "Cat City" is a Hungarian production, with director Bela Ternovszky overseeing a study of feline crime and rodent adventuring, playing up a Ralph Bakshi-ish vibe with the picture. It's an animated exploration of heroes and villains, only Ternovszky isn't quite sure what side of the saga he wants to remain on, presenting a feature with charming visuals but limited storytelling power, with the main character becoming a supporting player, while the bad cats prove to be far more interesting to the helmer than anything else in this riff on superspy cinema, which enjoys plenty of cartoon energy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

David Depesseville offers a tale of extreme woe in "Astrakan," a French production that follows the days of a young, unwanted boy gradually losing control of himself due to deep emotional issues. The director goes the cinematic realism route for the endeavor, looking to capture behavior and reflection as the main character experiences a range of horrors, coping to the best of his ability. "Astrakan" provides a powerful study of adolescence and the stockpiling of pain, and Depesseville finds his way through most of the effort, capturing raw experiences and authentic performances before getting a little too drastic in the final act. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A holiday celebration is cut short in 1993's "Halloween Horrors," with director Gary Whitson and his W.A.V.E. production company trying to bring some extra kink to the night of terror. There's no monster mash here, just a custom video quickie from Whitson, who slaps together a loose study of a father dealing with the kidnapping of his two daughters, with the women sent into a basement to endure captivity as they wait for dad to cough up a hefty ransom payment. "Halloween Horrors" isn't really much of anything, but as W.A.V.E. endeavors go, it offers brevity and some restraint when it comes to the inherent ickiness of the company's business plan, supplying only mild kicks as the helmer oversees a fresh offering of bound women and their whimpering contest. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2001's "Hayride Slaughter" contains very little in the way of murder and even hayrides, with director Gary Whitson investing more in a ridiculous amount of padding to help the feature reach an 85-minute-long run time. Quite literally, a third of the picture is devoted to the mundane details of a magic act and people casually conversing in a motel room. Cinema! Whitson and his W.A.V.E. Productions largely avoid the pervy route with "Hayride Slaughter," as the helmer seems to be questing to make a legitimate chiller/thriller with the endeavor, straining to cook up a serial killer story with some red herrings and a law enforcement component. W.A.V.E. movies aren't built for excitement, but a loss of fetish interests and surge of meandering screen activity tanks the viewing experience here, making for an excruciating sit at times, especially when it's clear Whitson is just making it up as he goes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Frank Vitale looks to get ugly with 1976's "East End Hustle," which is his take on the sordid ways of Canadian crime and punishment. It's a rough study of characters hunting for some type of liberation, focusing on the actions of prostitutes who've had enough of their abusive pimp, looking to make a break to preserve what's left of their sanity. Vitale and co-writer/actor Allan Moyle (who would go on to direct "Pump Up the Volume" and "Empire Records") has something sleazy in mind with "East End Hustle," but they don't have the instincts for exploitation cinema, remaining static with material that should always be on the move, and vicious activity is mostly dispiriting when the production is clearly aiming to provide something more thrilling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2001's "Knight Chills" hunts to find the horror in the world of role-playing games. Unfortunately, such genre intent is only part of the viewing experience, with the screenplay by Jeff Kennedy, Juanita Kennedy, and D.J. Perry more interested in the ways of romantic obsession and police nonsense, limiting the fantasy aspects of the picture. "Knight Chills" hopes to be something of a valentine to gaming, offering time with a group of friends and their Saturday evenings of "Dungeons & Dragons"-style imagination adventuring, sharing such concentration with viewers. The rest of the shot-on-video endeavor isn't quite as lively, with director Katherine Hicks unable to merge elements of fright and insanity into a more compelling feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1991's "Bloodfeast! The Adventures of Sgt. Lunch" is a goof. It was made as a distraction while director David Palamaro and his friends were involved with the military, using their base as a studio of sorts, giving them room to explore what's intended to be a supercop cinema parody, attempting to go silly with a shot-on-video endeavor. There's certainly the central idea of a heroic law enforcement officer on the hunt for crime, dealing with despicable villains and a killing machine. The humor of it all is up for debate, as Palamaro basically uses "Sgt. Lunch" (which doesn't even have an IMDB entry) as his film school, learning about the ways of timing and execution as he screws around with his buddies and their plastic guns. They're clearly having a ball making the picture, but it's not quite as fun to sit through it. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A Czechoslovakian and Yugoslavian co-production from animator Dusan Vukotic, 1981's "Visitors from the Arkana Galaxy" is a live-action cartoon from the helmer. It's a take on the creative process, exploring the runaway imagination of a writer coming into contact with his own creation, experiencing all the curiosity and madness such a meeting involves. It's a wild comedy from Vukotic, who eventually allows the film to spin out of his control, but the set-up is involving, dealing with sci-fi examination, mild eroticism, and domestic pressures, generating a unique atmosphere of exploration as matters grow stranger by the minute. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1982's "Ghost Nursing" sends an anti-"Ghostbusters" message, with the characters actually calling the ghosts when there's something strange in the neighborhood. It's a Hong Kong production from director Wilson Tong, who offers a heroic commitment to the wild and weird with the picture, showing little restraint when it comes to bizarre happenings involving supernatural and spiritual matters. The story follows a woman who's down on her luck, introduced to the ways of ghost child adoption to solve her problems, keeping up with blood offerings to stabilize her seemingly ruinous life. The tale is out there, but Tong supports such extremity with a lively viewing experience, filling the run time with macabre events and bewildering battles between good and evil. "Ghost Mother" is a real ride, shedding concern for logic as it hits highlights of genre filmmaking. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1984's "Evil Judgment" is occasionally described as a giallo, as it features a black-gloved killer coming after terrified victims while a mystery of sorts fights for screen time. Missing is a sense of style, with co-writer/director Claudio Castravelli basically holding on for dear life with the slasher movie, in charge of making sense of an eye-crossing plot, overseeing a cast of hazily defined characters, and stitching together two filming periods (one in 1981, the other in 1983) into one passably coherent picture. "Evil Judgment" has its violence and exploitation interests, but the Canadian production doesn't catch fire as a thriller, often caught struggling with the details of the crime and forward momentum of the story, emerging as a chiller with limited moments of screen tension. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2018's "Puzzle," director Marc Turtletaub worked to create a special atmosphere of humanity with a story that's usually fodder for clichéd entertainment. The film explored the quirky world of competitive puzzling, and while the premise invited a shallow sense of personality, Turtletaub handled it carefully, making for a sensitive picture. "Jules" is about an alien visitation in a rural, older Pennsylvania town, and it's another tale that seems like a launching point for silly business, or perhaps something along the lines of 1985's "Cocoon." Once again, Turtletaub generally avoids the obvious, with "Jules" a deeper examination of aging and loneliness, and it just so happens to have a little blue creature in it. Screenwriter Gavin Steckler pairs real characters with an extraordinary situation, emerging with a thoughtful understanding of needs, blended with some mild comedic beats that connect as intended, sold with terrific performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1989's "Coming Out" is a historic film, widely identified as the last feature to be released by East Germany before reunification efforts began in the country. It's also a rare study of the gay experience from the era, with director Heiner Carow overseeing a tender but turbulent story of self- acceptance. In many ways, "Coming Out" has the touch of a television movie, but there's something deeper about the material (written by Erika Richter and Wolfram Witt), which takes its time to understand brewing emotional issues and the pain of mistakes, and lead actor Matthias Freihof provides a powerful performance, capturing the internal churn of a man who can't find comfort, dealing with the mighty weight of his own shame. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1984's "La Garce" looks to be a Hitchcockian mystery about sexual obsession and criminal activity, but it mostly registers a B-movie from Verhoeven. Co-writer/director Christine Pascal looks to challenge viewers with an uncomfortable understanding of manipulation and poor impulse control, offering an unseemly tale of a bad cop who can't shake a terrible woman out of his system. It's a classic understanding of temptation given a distinct French spin by Pascal, who delivers ideal strangeness with "La Garce," but comes up short when it comes to a more fulfilling study of corrupt behavior. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Actress Julie Berto makes her directorial debut with 1981's "Neige," sharing helming duties with Jean-Henri Roger. They seek to present nights of desperation in Pigalle, an area of Paris where sin and commerce collide, following characters as they try to create some balance to the chaos of their lives. The picture isn't too concerned with dramatic movement, electing a more observational approach, presenting an understanding of the community and those trying to survive within it. "Neige" is a film that sneaks up on the viewer, turning a casual understanding of pain into something more interesting as focus starts to appear for all involved. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1985's "Amazon Jail" is an exploitation film, there's no doubt about it. The primary goal of the Brazilian production is to showcase as many nude ladies as possible, playing to expectations for a women-in-prison picture. This aspect of the feature is certainly prominent during the run time, with the production happy to follow as many unclothed characters as possible. The actual entertainment value of "Amazon Jail" is up for debate, as co- writer/director Oswaldo de Oliveira shows little interest in storytelling with this endeavor, fumbling around with the plot and characters as he tries to provide the vague shape of a prison escape movie without actually putting in the effort to sharpen excitement or define characters. It's always strange to watch something that's meant to disturb and titillate become rather dull. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Eager to horrify audiences with all new depths of depravity, Troma Entertainment reaches, quite intentionally, a specific low point with 2000's "Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV," their final installment in the weirdly enduring franchise. Director/co-writer Lloyd Kaufman throws everything he can into this sequel, working up a sweat to transform the picture into the most offensive movie in the history of the company, swerving wildly as the production makes fun of school shootings, the developmentally disabled, lynching, and abortion. Granted, Troma isn't one to play nice, always begging for attention, but there are limits to how much odious behavior one can take from a helmer who can't even conquer basic camera focus issues. At 109 minutes, "Citizen Toxie" feels like it runs an entire decade, with grotesque shenanigans and strident performances losing their appeal after 109 seconds. The Superhero from New Jersey is back for his fourth adventure, but perhaps three of these things were enough. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com