Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

1994's "Savage Harvest" is a shot-on-video feature from writer/director Eric Stanze, who works to bring his love of horror cinema to the screen with his own take on a demonic uprising story. The picture was shot in rural Missouri with an amateur cast, with Stanze trying to make the most of a difficult situation, straining to make his own "Evil Dead" without help from production polish and talented actors. The helmer eventually delivers bloodshed and physical threats, but "Savage Harvest" takes a long time to get to the good stuff, finding Stanze way too committed to the negligible details of his story, hammering the endeavor with eternal stretches of exposition before he finally unleashes his version of hell. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Being Natural" is a Japanese production that has a secret. Such a reveal is saved for the last moments of the picture, and it transforms a rather sedate endeavor into something wild. However, to reach an oddball display of physical transformation, one is expected to remain with the slow-burn approach of the feature, which invests in character-driven frustrations and atmospheric stops. "Being Natural" is a comedy that's not especially funny, but the screenplay almost delights in such dryness, having fun arranging itchy relationships and unexpected confrontations that, for some viewers, will resemble certain social and political experiences in Japan. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Detention" is based on a video game, but it's not traditional gamer cinema. The material examines the horrors of Taiwan during the "White Terror" period, blending points of painful history with a ghost story of sorts. "Detention" isn't blessed with a sharpest of technical achievements, but the main push to address stains of the past in a different way is interesting, while the gaming aspects are respected, following the characters in exploration mode as the screenplay tries to tell a more intimate story of love and loss. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2014's "Norway" is a vampire movie, but it lacks a whole "creatures of the night" atmosphere. It's a Greek production from writer/director Yannis Veslemes (making his feature-length helming debut), who tries to do something different when it comes to the appetites of a bloodsucker on the prowl. "Norway" is short (75 minutes), but there's not a lot of content in the picture to begin with, as Veslemes trusts in the power of atmosphere to carry the viewing experience, bathing the endeavor in big colors, heavy sounds, and strange encounters, offering a film that's not especially rattling overall, but works in small moments of weirdness and pure cinematic power. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Malaise is poured on thick in 1992's "Rebels of the Neon God," which charts the slow decline of characters stuck without a future, or at least the motivation to achieve one. It's a Taiwanese production from writer/director Ming-liang Tsai, who's out to communicate a sense of confusion with the work, looking to understand the wayward ways of young adults who no longer have the protection of adolescence, forced to deal with their own problems for the first time in their lives, and they just don't have interest in doing so. "Rebels of the Neon God" is deliberately paced and performed, but the production captures a level of behavioral authenticity that's fascinating to watch at times, observing acts of self-sabotage and perceived freedom that fail to provide necessary emotional rewards for the characters. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Assholes" is not a movie for everyone. The title alone is a strange, exhibition-killing move from writer/director Peter Vack, and he's intent on making a film that's only for viewers into extremity, going wild with grotesque imagery to fuel a comedy about life, love, horniness, and poppers. There's so much going on in the effort, yet nothing really happens in "Assholes," which emerges as an experiment in charged imagery and New York City neuroses – a kind of Woody Allen riff, if the helmer decided to make a feature for Troma Entertainment. The endeavor is certainly memorable, which presents a creative victory for Vack, but his determination to chase every whim quickly grows tiring, even for a picture that's barely 70 minutes long. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Cheryl Dunn takes a look at the whirlwind life of artist Dashiell Alexander Whitney Snow in "Moments Like This Never Last," remaining curious about a man who was born into privilege, only to break away from expectation, living a life that rejected "laws" and the "system." Snow died of a heroin overdose in 2009, leaving behind a strange life and legacy that's of interest to Dunn, who gathers pictures, video footage, and interviewees to help examine the life and times of Snow, attempting to preserve his position in the art world with her documentary. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's easy to forget all these years later, but in 1994, Jim Carrey went from being a comedian doing consistent work on a Fox television show to become the biggest and most bankable star in Hollywood. This special year gifted "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," "The Mask," and "Dumb and Dumber" to the world, with Carrey showcasing his considerable gifts with chaotic funny business, becoming a household name in the process. 1995 continued the party, as Carrey stole "Batman Forever" and suited up for sequel duty with "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls." With 1996's "The Cable Guy," Carrey took a chance on darker material, which didn't connect in full with his audience, making 1997's "Liar Liar" a careful realignment of his known comedic fury, offering the actor a chance to revive his tornado-like screen presence with a slightly softer offering of sentimental hokum, teasing newfound dramatic interests from the star. It's the Carrey of old meeting the Carrey of tomorrow, and while "Liar Liar" fails to be meaningful, it does offer some wonderfully unhinged work from the actor, who works at top speed and volume to make a big studio smash out of simple high concept comedy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1964's "Lady in a Cage" is a take-no-prisoners kind of movie, with Paramount Pictures trying to shake up the norm in thriller cinema with this offering of nastiness. They're successful with shock value, and director Walter Grauman is completely committed to creating a jolting viewing event featuring a cast of characters who lack all sense of decency and restraint. "Lady in a Cage" eventually reaches an obnoxious level of hysteria, but the ride to overkill is something to see, with the material making room for awful things to happen to awful people, bravely creating a home invasion tale where there's nobody to root for. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Repeated throughout the supplementary material on "The Vampire Lovers" Blu-ray is the strange state of Hammer Films entertainment as the 1960s came to a close. The studio once trusted in the power of gothic storytelling with emphasis on monster mayhem, but audiences were growing bored of the routine, demanding something different from a company that thrived on repetition. With adjustments made to the "X certificate" in 1970, Hammer was allowed to pursue some more adult avenues of escapism, with "The Vampire Lovers" merging genre interests with pronounced eroticism, delivering something a bit more risqué than previous productions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1974's "Madeline: Anatomy of a Nightmare" presents actress Camille Keaton with an acting challenge, tasked with portraying an emotionally scarred woman dealing with the melting of her own mind and various lovers than come into her life. Writer/director Roberto Mauri attempts to mix real-world trauma with erotic cinema in the endeavor, which never quite connects as intended, but offers some reasonable areas of behavior and abstract moviemaking to keep it compelling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1973's "Sex of the Witch" has a decent set-up for a giallo-style thriller. We meet a family patriarch on his deathbed, hearing his final thoughts about his gathered family, also sharing something about a secret only he and one other person knows about. The man dies, and his will offers his estate to his relatives, who now have an incentive to kill off one another to claim more of the old man's fortune. There's a sluggish but passably enticing first act that's basically discarded as the film unfolds, as director Angelo Pannaccio is more interested in making a softcore experience than a proper thriller. What a shame. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I'm sure there was a game plan for 1972's "Tragic Ceremony," but the final cut of the picture plays like a handful of different ideas competing for screen time. The production aims to be a chiller, dealing with satanic power and mass death, but the film is mostly about The Hang, spending extended time with the characters as they deal with interpersonal issues, with violence occasionally breaking out. "Tragic Ceremony" isn't an offering of slow-burn suspense. The feature simply parks for long stretches of screen time, occasionally working up the energy to deliver bits of chaos. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1979's "Arrebato" is written and directed by Ivan Zulueta, and he's interested in taking viewers on a journey few will fully understand. It's a feature about drugs, movies, and sleep, and it doesn't form a traditional narrative approach, preferring to slosh around the muddiness of interpretative cinema. Zulueta enjoys getting lost with the audience, creating a picture that's primarily a Lynch-ian study of textures and behaviors, embracing a different kind of power that comes from inscrutable filmmaking. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To many, Alan Moore is a legend in the comic book business. He's been the driving force behind such famous works as "Watchmen," "Batman: The Killing Joke," and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." His contributions to the art form and his deconstruction of the superhero experience has inspired generations of artists, but he's been very outspoken about the movies adapted from his own material. Critical of "Watchmen" and "V for Vendetta," Moore is more than happy to share his opinion about way the film industry treats his material, but "The Show" provides a rare opportunity to watch him manufacture an original tale for the big screen. Moore isn't straying far from what he knows about corrupt and troubled human beings, but he also doesn't have the budget to do much of anything with "The Show," which is basically a T.V. pilot for an English version of "Twin Peaks," dealing with eccentrics, lunatics, and the puzzling ways of dreamscapes. Moore is no David Lynch, leaving the picture quite an endurance test for those who don't worship the comics industry deity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The co-writers/co-directors of "The Dorm That Dripped Blood" and "The Power," Stephen Carpenter and Jeffrey Obrow, make a third attempt to do something vicious and mysterious in the horror genre with 1987's "The Kindred." They go the monster movie route, creating a bizarre but compelling tale of genetic experimentation and scientific mistakes, aiming to pull viewers in with elements of exploration before unleashing their true creature feature intent. "The Kindred" doesn't have the sharpest acting or screenwriting, but it does make a noticeable effort to deliver gruesome encounters with the central monstrosity, and the helmers are committed to a brisk pace for the endeavor, giving it speed when overall polish sometimes eludes them. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If you were a certain age at a certain time, there were two VHS boxes at the local video store that stood out from the pack. The first was "Frankenhooker," which featured a sound button that chirped "Wanna date?" when firmly pressed. It was fun. The film was not. 1989's "The Dead Pit" also successfully worked a bottom shelf gimmick, offering a button that activated flashing green eyes on the cover's lead zombie, attracting attention to an otherwise forgettable release. The green lights aren't around anymore, but "The Dead Pit" has remained, with co-writer/director Brett Leonard ("The Lawnmower Man," "Virtuosity") trying to make the most of his helming debut, looking to use some Romero-esque undead action to fuel an extremely low-budget genre offering of terror. There's gore and panic, but Leonard isn't committed to a tighter edit of the endeavor, allowing padding to become the star of the show, not frightening situations of survival. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1977, director John G. Avildsen was experiencing a major career triumph, soaking up the success of 1976's "Rocky," which became a box office success and an Oscar-winning film, with Avildsen picking up a trophy for his work. He had his pick of projects after the boxing blockbuster, but strange creative instability, which led him to being fired from the making of "Saturday Night Fever," recovering with 1978's "Slow Dancing in the Big City," which doesn't stray far from the "Rocky" formula. Avildsen plays it safe with the picture, making a bland endeavor that's not strong enough to carry its romantic or dramatic intentions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There's not a lot of room to do something different with the found footage subgenre. These films basically share the same moves, working to create some level of realism while teasing elements of horror or mystery before being whipped into a frenzy for the finale. 2016's "1974: La Posesion de Altair" is no different, with writer/director Victor Dryere taking his tale to the decade of 8mm home movies, tracking the decline of a young woman in touch with dark forces, while her husband captures her grim awakening with his new camera. Dryere has some atmosphere and a dramatic destination he wants to reach, but there's not a lot of suspense in "1974," which sticks close to the found footage playbook. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Shot in 1999, "The Collingswood Story" takes credit as the first "screenlife" feature, with writer/director Michael Costanza inventing a type of dial-up phone cam connection between two characters, who spend their time discussing separate lives and dealing with the Other Side as a mystery involving cult happenings in New Jersey develops. The gimmick is well-executed for a no-budget feature, but it's difficult to generate much enthusiasm for a project that clearly should've been a short film. Costanza doesn't have enough dramatic material to carry 82 minutes of screentime, and while there's fine idea for internet-age chills in play, "The Collingswood Story" doesn't get wild enough to rattle the senses. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com