Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

1975's "Gina" offers marketing that suggests the feature is a hard-edged crime story featuring brutal acts of violence and cool-blooded characters. There's more to the picture than grindhouse interests, with respected director Denys Arcand ("Jesus of Montreal," "The Decline of the American Empire") trying to mix together various moods with the work, tempting viewers with rough business while actually delivering a fascinating study of corporate exploitation and working-class misery, also taking a long look at the strange ways of rural Canada. "Gina" isn't forceful, but it's a wild sit, with Arcand taking the material in all sorts of directions, occasionally finding his way back to criminal dealings. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Aleksandr Ptushko continues his exploration of fairy tales with 1966's "The Tale of Tsar Saltan," which is an adaptation of a poem by Alexander Pushkin. Once again, the helmer puts on a wholly impressive show of filmmaking force, creating a fantasy realm that deals with the demands of love, family, and heroism, with the Russian epic taking time to build a wild vision of unreality as the details of such cinematic embellishment are carefully handled by Ptushko and his marvelous adoration for moviemaking imagination. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2019's "At the Video Store" is a valentine to the way things were in the home video business, with director James Westby taking a nostalgic look at the experience of being inside a building dedicated to movie rentals, exploring walls covered with posters, aisles filled with different selections, and meeting patrons and employees who share a love of cinema, with this intensity varying greatly. It's a snapshot of an era when homegrown businesses could thrive, creating a deep connection between the owner and the customer, establishing a relationship that could carry on for years, possibly even generations. For those in a mood to simply bathe in the warm waters of memory, "At the Video Store" does the trick, with Westby providing a sense of time and place with the documentary, offering thoughts from a decent variety of people involved in the industry or simply in awe of it. Structure and depth is more elusive with the endeavor, as the helmer goes for more of a scattergun approach when it comes to telling this tale, with the film lacking depth and patience as it speeds from one moment to the next. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Something went wrong with whatever 1969's "Dracula (The Dirty Old Man)" was originally intended to be. Instead of pursuing a lost cause, the producers elected to beat critics to the punch, following in the footsteps of Woody Allen's "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" by dubbing over most of the feature with goofy comedic lines, turning a bad sexploitation effort into funny business. It's a salvage job for an already bizarre picture, and whatever writer/director William Edwards originally had in mind for this no-budget take on the world of vampires and servants has been hastily reworked in the pursuit of laughs and cheap titillation. Humor isn't labored over in "Dracula (The Dirty Old Man)," with the whole endeavor slapdash, with perhaps mere hours devoted to taking something monstrous and turning it into tomfoolery. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2002's "Irreversible" is specifically engineered to stress viewers out. This is the concept from writer/director Gaspar Noe, who looks to shake up the expectations of revenge cinema, using the gonzo attitude of youth and European sensibilities to fashion a brutal tale of vengeance that's told in reverse, working back from extreme violence into an extended understanding of relationships and discoveries. "Irreversible" is a difficult sit, requiring viewers to be fully aware of the hostility and viciousness Noe is eager to share, working to bring some sort of demented poetry to the viewing experience as the material bends over backwards to study the madness of humanity and life itself. It's bleak and punishing, but there's something wild about the feature that keeps it gripping, with the gimmick of it all actually connecting as intended, effectively disorienting viewers with shocking imagery and aural dread. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1974's "5 Women for the Killer" wins an award for "Most Unappealing Premise," asking viewers to embark on a tale about a serial killer who only targets pregnant women, mutilating their bodies in the process. It's not exactly a popcorn-munching type of story, and there's some relief that director Stelvio Massi ("Emergency Squad," "Hunted City") doesn't go crazy visualizing such horrors, keeping things relatively tasteful with this giallo production, which is more of a soap opera than a hard-driving chiller featuring the slaughter of innocents. It's not a riveting sit, but Massi captures some oddness well, and performances are committed, giving the picture something to connect to while a mystery is slowly tended to. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Third time isn't the charm for 1991's "Tiger Cage 3," which is another separate tale of underworld entanglement from director Woo-Ping Yuen, who returns to keep the brand name going for another chapter of violent entertainment. It's more cops vs. crooks activity in the second sequel, but the production isn't completely dedicated to the cause, softening the story with a talky tale of tragedy, revenge, and business dealings, limiting martial arts and gunplay to just a few extended sequences. "Tiger Cage 3" tries to deliver a human take on heroism and relationships, but it's more of a soap opera than an involving drama, delivering puzzling behaviors and plotting as it gives in to melodrama that's nowhere near as compelling as all the physical mayhem of the first two titles in this series. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When is a sequel not a sequel? When it's 1990's "Tiger Cage 2," which has nothing to do with the previous installment in terms of story or character. Instead, it's a reunion of sorts for the production team, with director Woo-ping Yuen overseeing another race across Hong Kong with star Donnie Yen, this time working on a more comedic take on violent happenings. The endeavor is attentive to action, keeping the characters on the move and constantly under threat, showcasing furious action choreography. However, "Tiger Cage 2" is also goofy, going broad with opposites attract antics that fully detract from the viewing experience. There's plenty of hostile encounters for fans of action cinema, but the not-a-sequel is also very attentive to levity, requiring viewing patience it doesn't earn. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1988's "Tiger Cage" looks to provide some voltage to viewers in the mood for supercop antics, this time focusing on the drug trade in Hong Kong, with a team of law enforcement types out to take down a defined enemy, encountering a far more insidious evil in the department itself. The picture is directed by genre legend Woo-Ping Yuen, best known to Western audiences as the action choreographer on "The Matrix" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." The helmer brings righteous intensity to the endeavor, making sure to keep the story running along with incident and set pieces, while the screenplay is attentive to a certain element of surprise without getting too deep in mystery, submitting a corrupt cop tale with some punch, literally and dramatically. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"The Civil Dead" is a different kind of ghost story. It's not about terror or tragedy, but loneliness, with the deceased figure offered here a man with nothing to do, clinging to the one person who's capable of seeing and interacting with him. It's more of a black comedy about stalking than a spooky movie, with co-writers Whitmer Thomas and Clay Tatum (who also directs) trying to find an offbeat way of exploring a spectral connection, and one that's entirely unwanted by at least one of the participants. "The Civil Dead" doesn't offer much in the way of sharp editing, but Thomas and Tatum have an idea worth exploring in this periodically amusing endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Alien invasion movies don't need an excessive amount of fine-tuning to succeed. Sure, the finest features in the subgenre put in the time and effort to give audiences a rowdy ride of chills and spills, but as long as aliens focus on their furious attacks and a collection of screamy humans are dutifully riled up and on the run to safety, basic entertainment requirements are taken care of. "Skyline" seeks to challenge that theory, taking an encouraging premise of intergalactic war around Los Angeles and reducing it to bits of dismal, deadening CGI-laden chaos sandwiched between lengthy stretches of tedious, amateurish dramatic filler. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Revenge is a dish best served with gorillas that know kung fu in 1977's "The Shaolin Invincibles." It's a martial arts epic from director Cheng Hou, who aims to blend hard-hitting, body-flipping, weapon-spinning acts of personal danger with a tale of vengeance involving the focus of two women looking to take down an evil emperor in an ancient land. The Taiwan production has a nice handle on physical altercations, and there's madness at times, including the aforementioned gorillas, who bring threat and pure goofiness to an entertaining sit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A hunt for a special diamond ring forms the plot of 1973's "Seven to One," but such focus on a heavily desired object doesn't really factor into the movie as much as it should. This is a martial arts actioner from Taiwan, and the production aims to deliver as much foot and fist combat as possible, filling the run time with showdowns between the heroes and villains. This concentration on martial arts intensity is welcome, but "Seven to One" grows repetitive in a hurry, doing little with dramatic potential while choreography gets same-y awfully quickly. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Miguel Coyula tries to detail the end of the world with 2003's "Red Cockroaches," and he's not willing to spend much money on his vision. It's a shot-on-video picture, which guarantees the helmer complete creative freedom to deliver his statement on the decline of humanity and the ruination of the world. It's difficult to achieve such a reach with next to no budget, broad visuals, and seasoned actors, but Coyula is determined to present something puzzling with "Red Cockroaches," which is a lousy title for an ambitious film that explores moral and mental decay, with the moviemaker endeavoring to craft something odd, restless, and pained. He comes up short in the drama department, but there's an effort here to do something different than the usual SOV routine, which is appreciable, even if the feature doesn't really come together in a complete way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Just when you thought it was safe to play with antique dolls, here comes 1990's "Vacation of Terror II," which returns viewers to the ways of demonic toys, finding hero Julio back on the case when evil returns to Mexico, armed with magic, attitude, and a most powerful mullet. Director Pedro Galindo III takes command of the sequel, which offers a tenuous connection to the original offering, going full-steam-ahead as a monster movie, with the central source of hellraising trying to destroy a Halloween birthday party on a movie studio lot. While "Vacation of Terror" was a haunted house experience trying to give viewers a case of the creeps, "Vacation of Terror II" is more of a supernatural actioner, keeping Galindo III busy as he cooks up some very strange events for the film, which isn't about making sense, simply out to provide a thrill ride of bizarre, magical sequences, and a performance from pop star Tatiana. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Rene Cardona III tries to keep his filmmaking family's legacy going with 1989's "Vacation of Terror," which mixes bits and pieces of "Poltergeist" and "Evil Dead" to inspire a new nightmare from the Mexican movie industry. It's a simple tale of malevolence in the form of a doll capable of making things horrible for a family trying to enjoy their summer home, and Cardona III endeavors to do something with his limited budget, laboring to add as much mayhem as possible without the cash to truly do something explosive. Even at 81 minutes, "Vacation of Terror" feels long, with the helmer slipping into repetition to fill the run time, but there are some neat stabs at genre chaos, and Cardona III certainly has a love of the game, pushing to make a little noise with his ode to haunted house cinema. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1946's "The Cat Creeps" is credited as one of the last releases from the grand horror cycle from Universal Pictures, who made a fortune trying to frighten audiences with monsters and murder. As with any production dangling at the end of a trend, "The Cat Creeps" doesn't have the benefit of time and money, with the "B" picture looking to slap together a short mystery for the masses, with genre elements muted at best. Director Erle C. Kenton ("The Ghost of Frankenstein," "House of Frankenstein") looks to keep things on the move, investing in snappy dialogue exchanges and a variety of tones, but as a chiller, this endeavor has no evil presence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Unicorn Wars" is a Spanish-French animated production about the eternal battle between teddy bears and their archenemies, unicorns. It sounds like a comedy, or perhaps a ready-made cult cinema title, but writer/director Alberto Vázquez takes the premise seriously, endeavoring to understand the price of war and the corruption of conflict with the picture, which is not intended for younger viewers. These teddy bears are ready to kill, amputate limps, expose their genitals, and curse, offering R-rated experiences for an audience ready to process the extremity found in the movie. "Unicorn Wars" isn't a particularly commanding viewing experience, but it does register with creative visuals, strong voice work, and commitment to the concept, with Vázquez marching forward with this decidedly violent and wholly bizarre feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Regional horror gets a hit of weirdness in 1988's "Curse of the Blue Lights," with co-writer/director John Henry Johnson trying to bring a monster mash to Pueblo, Colorado, cooking up a tale of ghouls looking to make a meal out of curious locals. Johnson is a little ambitious with his plot, but he's stuck with a small budget to help realize it, wisely investing in the wonders of makeup, with the production tightly focused on creating various enemies with grotesque appearances, including zombies and a malicious scarecrow. "Curse of the Blue Lights" doesn't win hearts and minds with pacing, as Johnson likes to keep the feature crawling along to best get the run time to a sellable 90 minutes. However, he occasionally scores with his B-movie moves, showcasing some amusing and periodically impressive creations from his crew, who really work hard to make sure the unreal side of the effort is memorable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The ancient art of ninjitsu comes to rural Missouri in 1985's "Justice Ninja Style." It's a shot-on-video endeavor from director Parvin Tramel and star Ron D. White, with the latter hoping to demonstrate his love of martial arts and ninja mystery with the production, which pits a figure of the shadows on the case of a wrongly accused man desperate for a protector. It's the stuff of network television (reminiscent of "The Master" with Lee Van Cleef), but it remains B-movie entertainment, with White aiming to showcase his physical skills while the story deals with corrupt cops and a man on the run. It's not high art, but the production is attentive to pace and action, going beyond typical SOV lethargy to deliver something exciting to help distract from obvious technical and thespian limitations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com