Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

When a small collection of indie filmmakers started making hits in the early 1990s, it created a gold rush for small-time producers hoping to bring oddball projects to the screen. The success of Quentin Tarantino and the Miramax Films team is clearly evident in 1996's "The Grave," with co-writers Josh and Jonas Pate (who also directs) cooking up a twisty, violent, and loquacious thriller that's also greatly influenced by the Coen Brothers and their particular way of bringing low-key insanity to a seemingly simple situation. The Pates pay careful attention to character and language with their endeavor, their first moviemaking opportunity, and that hunger to impress is the most memorable element in an otherwise adequate picture that's almost undone by obvious casting and one too many turns after a decent first act of intriguing introductions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Scooter McCrae has some big ideas to help fill his filmmaking debut, 1994's "Shatter Dead," and he keeps all of them to himself. This is McCrae's take on the zombie genre, only instead of flesh-munching monsters, the undead are basically the same as before, scattered across rural New York like homeless people, trying to live their best life without actually living. It's a concept with promise, but McCrae is too busy trying to impress viewers with his Euro-cinema influences, going abstract with his collection of visuals and scenes. The movie opens with a bewildering moment that has nothing to do with the rest of the endeavor, and "Shatter Dead" doesn't really improve from there. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Censor" brings viewers to a time when the British Board of Film Classification went to war with "Video Nasties," or graphic genre offerings that were subjected to intense scrutiny, edits, and even rejection. Co-writer/director Prano Bailey-Bond has something original and wonderfully specific with this idea, but she's not interested in pursuing the numbing experiences of a censor, aiming to make a horror movie with the premise, which isn't nearly as compelling as a study of a moral high ground and extreme filmmaking content. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To help boost box office potential for 1988's "Too Beautiful to Die," the feature was marketed as a sequel to 1985's "Nothing Underneath." While both endeavors explore the world of modeling and all the horrors it contains, "Too Beautiful to Die" isn't a follow-up, offering its own journey into darkness of human behavior. The first film was a Brian De Palma tribute, and the second one becomes more of a Dario Argento experience, with heaping helpings of Alfred Hitchcock tributes added for flavor. It's also more of a giallo, tracking a crisis involving the well-being of professionally pretty people and the black-gloved killer trying to do them all harm with a comically exaggerated weapon. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Repeated throughout the supplementary features on the "Nothing Underneath" Blu-ray is the production's quest to replicate Brian De Palma's 1984 thriller, "Body Double." Director Carlo Vanzina isn't messing around with this tribute to the filmmaker paying tribute to Alfred Hitchcock, hiring "Body Double" composer Pino Donaggio to replicate his score, going the sound-alike route to maximize the mood, and harsh violence is awfully familiar, slipping into Dario Argento territory. 1985's "Nothing Underneath" is an adaptation of a book by Marco Parma, but it's not big on originality, trying to deliver expected acts of horror and seduction to best capture audience interest. Vanzina isn't De Palma, but he assembles a functional chiller with the déjà vu endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1989's "The Laughing Dead" wasn't exactly created by amateurs, but the production comes close. Involving numerous first-time filmmakers and a cast of acting novices, the picture looks to generate a decent screen nightmare involving dreamscape horrors, Aztec brutality, and demonic visitation. Writer/director Somtow Sucharitkul has something big in mind with his helming debut, but he's not big on tight pacing, allowing "The Laughing Deal" to stand around for about 40 minutes before it gets something going with gruesome events. It's a patience-tester, but the endeavor finally gets around to conjuring some blood-and-guts mayhem, creating a climax that's almost worth the long journey there. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A $55,000 budget doesn't buy much, and such financial limitations are on display in 1982's "Trick or Treats," which is writer/director Gary Graver's chance to participate in and lampoon the horror gold rush of the decade. It's a cheap chiller from the Orson Welles collaborator/adult film helmer, who's basically trying to slap together a simple slasher offering for the masses, putting very little thought into the details of the production. "Trick or Treats" isn't scary, but it's not always trying to creep viewers out, remaining in a weird holding pattern around potential areas of entertainment, determined to be about nothing when more ambitious writing could make something out of this weirdly inert endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Shit & Champagne" originated on stage, with writer/director/star D'Arcy Drollinger hoping to offer audiences a wild ride with a drag-themed superspy parody that took on corporate culture and weird relationships. Feeling ambitious, Drollinger takes his writing to the big screen with a slicker version of "Shit & Champagne," offering a cinematic take on an unfortunate title and big comedy energy, securing a significant amount of broadness to best support this exhaustively silly endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Raya Martin tries to reconnect with his past in "Death of Nintendo." It's a coming-of-age dramedy, and a particularly soft one at that, with Martin and screenwriter Valerie Castillo Martinez delivering a minor adventure through adolescence with characters craving different experiences. The gaming of the title is present for the '90s time period, giving viewers a few chances to fondly recall lost afternoons of console competition, but "Death of Nintendo" aims to be as human as possible when dealing with the tender emotions and universal experiences of childhood. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Warner Brothers went hunting for another kooky, crazy horror-esque comedy with 1991's "Nothing but Trouble," hoping to deliver another "Beetlejuice" with its blend of nightmarish imagery and slapstick encounters. The studio gave writer/director Dan Aykroyd a lot of money to bring his vision to life, entrusting the "Ghostbusters" architect to create an approachable viewing experience for a wide audience, believing in his bottomless imagination for the bizarre. What eventually made its way to theaters is a feature that's certainly out of its mind, with Aykroyd manufacturing a bizarre endeavor that revels in weirdness, offering unsettling extremity with what appears to be the helmer's idea of a live-action cartoon. "Nothing but Trouble" ultimately bombed at the box office, but the movie remains a highly curious blend of wacky creative decisions and lumpy funny business. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1973's "Flesh for Frankenstein" offers writer/director Paul Morrissey an opportunity to play with genre elements and wiggle out of past collaborator Andy Warhol's shadow, turning this take on Mary Shelley's original novel into a slightly campy, mostly sexualized celebration of gore and broad acting. A battle is being waged between seriousness and silliness during the run time, with Morrissey enjoying the messiness of it all, looking to provoke viewers with a presentation of artful madness that's incredibly well-constructed, with outstanding technical achievements helping to support unsteady storytelling and performances. It doesn't always connect, but "Flesh for Frankenstein" is certainly memorable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director John Wintergate had a dream, looking to join the horror movie gold rush of the early 1980s with his own take on bodily destruction. The problem was, Wintergate didn't have money for film, electing to use video equipment instead, taking advantage of new leaps in technology. The result is 1983's "Boardinghouse," which has branded itself the first theatrical feature to be shot on video and released on 35mm, hoping to give audiences a decidedly muddy looking ride into the powers of telekinesis and the "Amityville Horror"-ish activity of a cursed house hungry for new victims to slaughter. Wintergate has all the ambition in the world, even starring in the endeavor, alongside his wife, Kalassu, but his aspiration doesn't translate to a riveting effort filled with style and cleverness. "Boardinghouse" is junky and often irritatingly random, with Wintergate trying to make sense of his own footage at times, putting his faith in creepy events and bloodshed to help viewers work through often incomprehensible creative decisions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Quentin Dupieux was recently seen on American screens with "Deerskin," his ode to strange masculinity, insanity, and filmmaking. It was another creative success for the helmer, who enjoys the playfulness of absurdity, asking viewers to hang tight as he creates unusual dark comedies with deliberate pacing and plenty of surprises. Produced before "Deerskin," "Keep an Eye Out" is a Dupieux offering finally making its way to the U.S., giving fans a chance to catch up with the creator's oeuvre as he pursues a consistent moviemaking rhythm (his latest, "Mandibles," was released in the U.S. last summer). "Keep an Eye Out" is perhaps his most contained endeavor, largely taking place inside a police station, but it retains all the delightful mischief Dupieux is known for. He masterminds an especially long night of interrogation for a cop and a suspect, working with a limited space and budget superbly, conjuring a fascinating game of panic that triggers big laughs and a few gasps along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

My first exposure to the ways of W.A.V.E. Productions was found in "Mail Order Murder," a documentary detailing the artistic vision of a company dedicated to the creation of extreme fetish videos for fans who often submitted their own requests, specifying their turn-ons. It wasn't cutesy stuff either, with the videos often including hardcore violence against women, feeding imaginations best left starved. "Mail Order Murder" was an eye- opening viewing experience and a well-done documentary, but now W.A.V.E. releases are coming to Blu-ray, with 1994's "Sorority Slaughter" testing the waters to see if VHS-shot obsessions from nearly 30 years ago can find an audience today. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With "The Fred Halsted Collection," Altered Innocence strives to bring the deep cult appeal of the filmmaker to a wider audience. It's a noble endeavor, distributing three shorts from the helmer, including "L.A. Plays Itself" (55:17), "Sextool" (61:06), and "The Sex Garage" (35:09), with each of the offerings highlighting Halstead's interest in experimental imagery and hardcore scenarios, working to bring a level of artfulness to underground cinema while preserving his fascination with titillation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Potsy Ponciroli has a specific western tale to share with "Old Henry" that's wrapped in layers of enigmatic behaviors and obscured personal history. The story concerns a farmer in a precarious situation with a trio of outsiders, and it lines up perfectly with classic cowboy tales of outlaws and lawmen, and seems tailor-made for an aging Clint Eastwood, as it plays to the icon's sense of stillness and ways with glaring. However, Eastwood wasn't recruited for the part, finding Tim Blake Nelson claiming the role of an aging father fighting the ways of his past. Nelson's already played his fair share of southern characters. In fact, that's pretty much all the Oklahoma native plays, but he's skilled at bringing these personalities to life, and "Old Henry" fits the star like a glove. Nelson is exceptional here, bringing pure grit to the production, helping to escalate a slow-burn endeavor from Ponciroli. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The early 1990s brought the work of writer/director Mel Brooks to a new audience, and the audience wasn't exactly thrilled to see Mel Brooks. There was 1991's "Life Stinks," which was entirely sold as a Mel Brooks experience, dying a quick death at the box office. And his return to parody cinema, 1993's "Robin Hood: Men in Tights," managed to collect cult appreciation over time, but not initial multiplex interest. 1995's "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" was intended to be Brooks's grand return to the pantsing of horror movies, connected to 1974's "Young Frankenstein," one of his highest grossing endeavors and most beloved creative efforts. It was an uphill battle for the helmer, who attempts to have fun with vampire fever conjured by Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and the endurance of the 1931 Bela Lugosi chiller, adding his increasingly tired Brooks-isms along the way. "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" might've been more energized if it was produced in the 1970s, but over two decades after "Young Frankenstein," the whole thing just lays there on the screen, fighting for funny business that never arrives. The Brooks touch is gone from this one, though he certainly tries to revive long dormant genre magic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Charlton Heston portraying an aging NFL quarterback is pretty fantastic casting, with the intense actor a perfect fit for a hotheaded character getting too old for the game. Heston is terrific in 1969's "Number One," which offers him an interesting dramatic challenge, tasked with bringing to life a fairly unpleasant human being going through a universal psychological experience, portraying a football hero facing the end of his career, his marriage, and possibly his male appeal. The screenplay (by David Moessinger) tries to work into the folds of such self-esteem issues, and director Tom Gries doesn't avoid a few painful behavioral realities involved in this position of doubt. "Number One" could use a tighter edit, but it offers some interesting ideas on denial and fear, with Heston trying to give the part some real grittiness while fighting a few melodramatic elements in the material. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director William Malone was ordered to create a knock-off of "Alien" with 1985's "Creature," and that's exactly what he delivers with the horror picture. However, he's not permitted a sizable budget, going the Roger Corman route of tight spaces and limited locations with the endeavor. Malone doesn't have the resources to generate something extraordinary, but he manages to manufacture a reasonably compelling monster movie with "Creature," which provides impressive set design and performances for such a small-scale production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Dario Argento delivered fantastic horror and mystery movies in the 1970s and '80s, but the 1990s were tough on the director. 1993's "Trauma" is arguably where his creative decline began, trying to get something disturbing going with a chiller concerning a black gloved killer using a garroting machine to help collect heads for a mysterious reason, co-writing a screenplay that's searching for ways to be an odd whodunit. There's a large number of ideas and different tones swirling around "Trauma," but Argento's instincts aren't sharp this time around, coming off unsure with what he wants to do with the endeavor, which has the capacity to be unspeakably brutal or uncomfortably romantic, but remains mostly muddled. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com