Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

1990's "Undeclared War" is something of a take on "The Day of the Jackal," with the material exploring the ways of an assassin and his elusive presence on the international scene, inspiring law enforcement types to find him before he kills again. There's an opening for a political thriller, but director Ringo Lam doesn't have the patience for that, going after big action and short tempers with the endeavor. Guns blaze in "Undeclared War," which has a defined villain and a clear quest for its protagonist, and the violence of the feature is periodically thrilling, sold with attention to mayhem and bodily destruction. Dramatically, the effort lacks focus, dealing with cop cliches and a tangled sense of allegiances, with the central drive for a revenge story losing its potency as the movie makes its way through an overlong tale of rage and terrorism. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We all know the story. In 1975, "Jaws" was released, becoming a box office sensation, thrilling summer audiences with spills and chills, rich characterization, and a premise virtually guaranteeing a thrill ride at the theater. The movie helped to change the way Hollywood did business, and it introduced the world to the directorial mastery of Steven Spielberg. The classic's legacy carries on to this day, with rereleases common and merchandise plentiful, giving generational lift to the endeavor, which has been a popular, in-demand feature for nearly 50 years. Global film industries took notice, and they quickly began work on knockoffs, desperate to sweep up the coins Universal Pictures left behind when dealing with the unexpected explosion of "Jaws"-mania. 1979's "Crocodile" (a.k.a. "Crocodile Fangs") is a Korean-Thai production hoping to bring monster-from-the- deep energy to the screen once again, this time using a giant reptile juiced up on atomic radiation to bring horror to fishing communities. "Crocodile" has more in common with "Godzilla," but finding a specific moviemaking approach to this absolute mess of a picture is the real viewing challenge here, with the effort sloppily stitching together vague story ideas and not-really-special effects with hopes that something resembling a coherent product will materialize in the end. It doesn't. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

High school can be a special time for some students. It can be Hell on Earth for others. For creators Ethan Eng and Justin Morrice, life in Cawthra Secondary School is somewhere in the middle, with the teenagers looking to capture their final year of education and camaraderie by showcasing the "truth about high school," with "Therapy Dogs" sold to staff and students as a "senior video" project, allowing them to roam the halls with cameras. It's a simple idea, but a question of reality remains with the endeavor, which isn't a documentary and doesn't qualify as drama, with the feature primarily built out of horseplay and staged incidents. There's no profound understanding of adolescence, and artfulness is limited at best, with Eng and Morrice basically making a skateboard video with occasional breaks for honest observation, trying to sell a scattered, occasionally tedious study of low impulse control as an epic examination of what it's like to grow up, get real, and enjoy one last year of educational and social opportunities. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1980's "Motel Hell" entered the box office race at a special time in horror history, trying to find an audience for the Halloween holiday after "Friday the 13th" managed to dominate the early summer, inspiring studios to scramble for similar low-budget endeavors. Writers Robert and Steven-Charles Jaffe weren't looking to crank out yet another slasher offering with the picture, trying to infuse the material with as much humor as they could get away with, delivering a screen nightmare that's more about oddity than offing victims. Studio interests eventually tried to bend "Motel Hell" into a more generic direction, but the feature, while not really a laugh-out-loud viewing experience, is quite inventive in the ghoulishness department, representing a last gasp of storytelling eccentricity before the industry demanded nothing but "Friday the 13th" knockoffs. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jessie Ventura went from being a professional wrestling personality to being an actor, and during his transition phase, "The Body" managed to find himself acting alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. The pair made a fine mess of things in 1987's "Predator" and "The Running Man," and while Ventura was regulated to supporting roles, he managed to make an impression with his size and steely line delivery. Ventura's dramatic career didn't exactly take off, but he was offered a chance to follow in Schwarzenegger's footsteps, with 1990's "Abraxas: Guardian of the Universe" giving him a chance to play a "Terminator"-type, stepping into the role of an alien cop on the hunt for a villain looking for ultimate power in a tiny New York town during the Christmas season. Helping to reinforce the mood is the casting of Sven-Ole Thorsen as the villain, who also worked alongside Schwarzenegger (even doing time on "Predator" and "The Running Man"), giving the production a battle of size to go along with writer/director Damian Lee's vision for sci- fi/action entertainment. "Abraxas" is a little too knotted with terms and fantasy touches, especially when Lee barely has money to make the movie, but as an offering of bottom shelf entertainment, one could do worse than a weirdly detailed battle for the future highlighting bulky characters and their struggles with chases, showdowns, and enunciation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Always on the hunt for a trend to exploit, Hollywood producers found unusual inspiration in the ways of high school antics involving cheerleaders and their never-ending battle with lust, love, and rivals. 1973's "The Cheerleaders" made some money, and that's all the industry needs to chase moviegoing habits, with 1974's "The Swinging Cheerleaders" also providing hearty drive-in entertainment and sizable profit, keeping the brand name going. 1976's "Revenge of the Cheerleaders" is yet another attempt to capture viewer imagination with a fresh presentation of excitable girls, dim- witted boys, and a school staff trying to maintain some sense of order with oversexed teenagers. Director Richard Lerner doesn't have a major creative challenge on his hands with the project, mostly employed to contain the inherent chaos of the shoot. "Revenge of the Cheerleaders" is pure zaniness, eschewing the shaping of a story to deal mostly with mischief and non sequitur scenes, also paying close attention to the needs of audiences who've come to watch characters disrobe and enjoy tomfoolery. It's tough to say if this even qualifies as an actual film, but Lerner's permissiveness with it all does have a certain period charm, with the picture happy to go anywhere it pleases. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2000's "At Dawn They Sleep" intends to rethink the concept of a vampire movie. Writer/director/star Brian Paulin hopes to disrupt typical horror happenings with this shot-on-video endeavor, which doesn't showcase any heroes, just villains, engaged in a battle of Heaven and Hell, which somehow involves the process of feeding on flesh, car chases, and John Woo-style shootouts. Paulin inhales a great number of cinematic influences to help breathe life into the picture, which is a backyard production, but makes some effort to be a little bigger than the average SOV offering. "At Dawn They Sleep" is ambitious, which is nice to see, and the Fangoria generation is likely the target demographic for the feature, as it's filled with blood and guts, scored to death metal selections. Refined filmmaking and decent performances aren't invited to the party, but Paulin makes a noticeable effort to do something askew here, which makes a difference. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2002's "Funny Ha Ha" is a movie about the wandering ways of youth confronted by the troubling demands of adulthood. It's largely credited as the introduction to the "mumblecore" movement, where a small group of indie filmmakers elected to forgo scripted dialogue and refined performances to deliver observations of human behavior, supported by the lowest emotional stakes imaginable. The "mumblecore" label has never made sense, as mumbling isn't even a feature of these productions, with stammering more prominent, especially in "Funny Ha Ha," with writer/director Andrew Bujalski primarily turning on his camera and letting amateur actors feel around scenes, looking to achieve a sense of life while focusing on nothing in particular. There's ennui and there's inertia, with Bujalski's helming debut trying to study love and listlessness, making for a dry viewing experience with little dramatic reward. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The 1980s were a big time for action cinema, with the heroes of the screen getting physically larger and productions were going overboard trying to give viewers an explosive good time with broad entertainment. There was brawn, and in some cases, an appreciation of the veteran experience connected to the Vietnam War, adding some sense of respect and compassion to the usual package of R-rated violence and big screen spectacle. There was Chuck Norris in the "Missing in Action" series, and Sylvester Stallone dominated the box office with his numerous "Rambo" films. For 1991, writer/director James Glickenhaus has…Christopher Walken. "McBain" tries to find a different kind of screen savior with the lauded actor, who makes a rare appearance in an action event, taking on the part of a psychologically stained man processing his Vietnam horrors through an act of honor and revenge, bringing American freedoms to Columbia. "McBain" looks to Stallone-ify Walken, giving him a simple tale of mercenary might to manage, and he offers a range of blank, sometimes confused expressions while Glickenhaus tries to summon a thunderous war epic, investing in fireballs and firearms to create enough screen chaos to please genre fans. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1988's "Shame" has the vague appearance of an exploitation film, taking on the subject of sexual assault and the ways of fighting back, with its setting a rural Australian town filled with angry men. It's the stuff of B-movies, but the screenplay by Beverly Blankenship and Michael Brindley doesn't go in any grotesquely voyeuristic direction, electing to approach the topic of physical and psychological horror in a softer manner, getting to understand a situation of fear instead of celebrating it. It's a unique approach, and while the endeavor slightly veers into unwelcome broadness at times, "Shame" retains a decent sense of fury, with star Deborra Lee-Furnace delivering strong work as a sharp woman suddenly in the middle of a male behavior mess in the middle of nowhere. Bottom-shelf cinema training has one expecting guns and gore, but director Steve Jodrell doesn't take the bait, crafting a more sensitive understanding of corrupt power plays and intimidation, hoping to reach viewers instead of battering them. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Adam Rifkin is a cult film director who's been making movies for the last 30 years, perhaps best known as the helmer of 1991's "The Dark Backward," 1994's "The Chase," and 1999's wildly entertaining "Detroit Rock City." He's not someone who's experience tremendous success in Hollywood, but he's kept going, making odd pictures and surviving quickie shoots, doing the work to remain employable. It turns out, moviemaking was always in Rifkin's blood, with "The Adam Rifkin Film Festival" collecting short endeavors created during his formative years. The release is obviously odd, but it does offer those who enjoy Rifkin's creative voice a chance to see where his sense of humor and love of visual chaos came from, with 22 offerings detailing a profound love of mischief, parody, and animation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2003's "Graveyard Alive" is meant to be a light take on the zombie subgenre, with the consumption of flesh blended with a little sexual energy in this black and white understanding of jealousy and seduction. Co-writer/director Elsa Kephart has the right idea with the material, but execution doesn't support intended brightness, with the helmer noticeably struggling to do something fun and free with the potentially campy ways of the picture. "Graveyard Alive" is leaden and propped up by strange creative choices (including sloppy dubbing), and it lacks a sense of fun, especially when dealing with extreme behaviors and horror movie formula. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1980's "Effects" is an adaptation of a book, "Snuff," by William H. Mooney, but it also represents a sustained sense of collaboration from Pittsburgh filmmakers trying to show their stuff after George A. Romero managed to break through regional boundaries and score global hits. The production team sticks with genre entertainment, but "Effects" isn't a horror movie in the traditional sense. Sure, there's creative involvement from Tom Savini, which raises expectations, but the endeavor is more of a psychological chiller, almost connecting as a paranoid thriller of the 1970s, exploring rising anxiety when a seemingly normal situation of professionalism transforms into something darker in the middle of nowhere. The effort is as slow-burn as a feature gets, intentionally keeping away from cheap thrills to reach more sinister reveals. It's not a picture that necessarily rewards the patience it requires to sit through it, but there's interesting atmosphere, and the grimness of it all is compelling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Orson Oblowitz explores the ugliness of Los Angeles in 2017's "The Queen of Hollywood Blvd." It's a study of a woman who's spent too much time in the shadows, dealing with all the crime and perversion she can handle over the course of one special day. Oblowitz isn't exactly reaching for originality with the tale, as the seedy side of the city has been the focus of many productions, inspiring a push to make a more colorful and angry understanding of moral corruption and violence, hoping to wow viewers with bright colors and exaggerated performances while barely tending to storytelling needs. "The Queen of Hollywood Blvd." is all flash and little substance, and even the flash starts to wear thin in a hurry. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1969's "Prague Nights" is an anthology film, something like a "Tales from the Darkside" with a little sex comedy attitude. It's not out to frighten viewers, merely looking to beguile them with four stories of temptation gone wrong, each dipping into fantasy as a way to jazz up otherwise plodding morality tales. Directors Jiri Brdecka, Milos Makovec, and Evald Schrom attempt to conjure a magical mood for the picture, using all kinds of moviemaking tricks and artful heft to generate a surreal mood for the feature, which doesn't always win with storytelling intent, but remains fascinating with its impressive visuals. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Marital blues and relationship concerns are the focus of "Maybe I Do," which examines communication struggles between people trying to figure out what they want from life and love. Writer/director Michael Jacobs touches on universal feelings of uncertainty and fatigue, offering a dramedy that concentrates on the inner lives of characters and their stunted ways of self-expression. To help the cause, Jacobs has brought in a capable cast willing to explore the itchiness of such doubt, with leads Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, William H. Macy, and Diane Keaton offering committed performances to help Jacobs reach his larger points about the demands of trust. "Maybe I Do" is frequently supported by thespian strength, as Jacobs gets a little too windy with his dialogue exchanges, losing pace as he tries to make something meaningful while the natural flow of the material leads to a potentially farcical conclusion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1987's "Lust for Freedom" marks the directorial debut for Eric Louzil, a B-movie man who would go on to help stock video store shelves with "Fortress of Amerikkka," "Bikini Beach Race," and "Class of Nuke 'Em High Part II: Subhumanoid Meltdown." Louzil isn't one to pay close attention to the fine details of filmmaking, and he comes right out of the gate with a blunt instrument of entertainment with "Lust for Freedom." It's a women in prison picture, following a grand tradition of exploitation entertainment, only Louzil doesn't have a big imagination for revulsion and revenge. He mostly stumbles through this tedious endeavor, receiving help from Troma Entertainment, who worked to bring the effort up to a sellable run time, giving the feature plenty of padding, which does little to make an already listless production exciting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With "Altered Innocence: Vol. 2," the label once again aims to find a fresh audience for a collection of short films with LGBTQ+ themes and atmosphere, also dealing with endeavors exploring the growing pains of adolescence and the curious ways of mystery. These are 11 offerings that vary in tone and creative approach, and a few of them dip into more surreal, sexualized territory, also reflecting on the filmmaking experience. "Altered Innocence: Vol. 2" hopes to share underappreciated or forgotten shorts from a wide variety of moviemaking voices from around the globe. Some of these selections aim for laughs or tears, while a few gradually expose the horrors of life, but they all offer a distinct creative fingerprint, delivering cinematic stories from burgeoning talent. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A lot of strange creative choices went into the making of "Mafia Mamma," which attempts to offer viewers some big laughs and acts of shock value, trying to turn underworld life into a sandbox for star Toni Collette. She's in Goldie Hawn mode here, asked to carry a story of a personal awakening that also touches on criminal management and broad romantic activity. Collette is more than capable of playing daffy, but her choice of material is underwhelming, with screenwriters J. Michael Feldman and Debbie Jhoon unable to master a balance of light and dark "Mafia Mamma" requires. The picture is all over the place, but it's never funny, which appears to be the primary goal of the endeavor. Instead of laughs, the effort grows tiresome, which only inspires director Catherine Hardwicke to hit harder when it comes to wacky misadventures in organized crime. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writers Alison Brie and Jeff Baena previously collaborated on 2020's "Horse Girl." They share a fondness for bizarre material and deep character work, playing with tonality and comedy as they visit some shadowy psychological spaces. The duo returns with "Spin Me Round," which has the initial vibe of an upbeat workplace farce, but Baena (who directs) and Brie (who stars) aren't committed to a straightforward tale of everyday pressures and absurdities, committed to strangeness that's slowly massaged into the material. Much like "Horse Girl," "Spin Me Round" has moments of greatness, but the work eventually runs out of inspiration, getting grabby with silliness and sinister business in the second half, which doesn't line up with the breezy peculiarities of the first half. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com