Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

1989's "Grave Robbers" is a Mexican production from director Ruben Galindo, Jr., and the helmer loves to stage scenes of panic. Most of the feature is made up of characters in various stages of distress, trying to avoid certain doom from an undead executioner, and while the story begins with some sense of exploratory peace, the whole thing becomes a screaming competition in its second half. Ear fatigue is a very real thing with "Grave Robbers," but Galindo, Jr. is driven to compete with similar productions, trying to keep his picture alert with lots of gory imagery and evil events. With earplugs, there's an appealing genre offering to be found here, with the production ready to deliver gushy wounds and deadly encounters. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The works of Studio Ghibli appear to be a major influence on "The Wonderland," which is an adaptation of a 1988 book, "Strange Journey from the Basement." Director Keiichi Hara ("Crayon Shin-chan") tries to make the material his own, aiming to deliver an epic tale of a fantasy world under siege, with one young girl the key to its survival. Hara certainly focuses on the beauty of the endeavor, overseeing artful, colorful animation, and the visual experience is enough to support a viewing, with the cluttered story tending to get in the way of such big screen exploration. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1999's "Being John Malkovich" turned everything around for screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Struggling to define his career in comedy and sitcoms, the feature managed to replicate his odd sense of humor and interest in strangeness. Mischievous director Spike Jonze was an ideal match for Kaufman's dented imagination, with the pair finding unexpected box office and awards show success with the endeavor, inspiring them to move forward with a second collaboration. 2002's "Adaptation" sheds some of the obvious oddity of "Being John Malkovich" to provide a more internalized take on Kaufman's specialized brain, trying a little harder to blend mind-bending storytelling with the writer's love of idiosyncrasy. Jonze calms himself down for the job, submitting his best work in "Adaptation," managing to protect the screenplay's leaps of time and perspective while securing its dark humor and puzzling pathos. He also makes Kaufman approachable, a rare feat, smoothing out incessant quirk to deliver a picture that revels in the writer's experience as it goes from impishness to alarm. 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

"Spellcaster" endured a long road to release, with the film shot in 1986 but only received home video distribution in 1992, caught up in producer bankruptcy issues. While it might've been a little out of date when it was finally gifted to viewers, the picture is now a terrific time capsule of MTV-led culture of the 1980s, with the production trying to tap into the pop culture frenzy of the channel, attempting to hip up an Agatha Christie-style story with monster movie trimmings. "Spellcaster" doesn't quite have enough gas to get it past the finish line, but early energy of the feature is impressive, collecting a spunky cast and a fun premise for a spooky tour of murder and panic, topped off with a little black magic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While I've covered films before that have multiple titles for worldwide distribution or simple marketplace shenanigans, I've never encountered a picture where there's no real defined choice in a name. 1987's "Killing Birds" is sometimes called "Talons," or "Zombie 5." It's even titled "Zombie 5: Killing Birds" in some places, risking great confusion for those curious about the endeavor but have no clue which version to watch. The good news is that there's only one "Killing Birds," which is the title I'm settling on here, even though the movie only features a few scenes of antagonistic feathered friends. The bad news is that all this work to identify the production is wasted on a mediocre picture from director Claudio Lattanzi, who appears to have some ambition to craft a horror experience with whimpering victims and lumbering zombies, but provides very little style and incident for this type of entertainment. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2001's "Teknolust" returns viewers to the days of internet growth and experimentation, with creators trying to pull users in deeper with increasingly intimate relationship between humankind and the digital realm. Writer/director Lynn Hershman-Leeson aims to understand this strange connection, creating an exploration into obsession, sex, identity, and crime with the screenplay, which offers a loose appreciation for story as it dives into the deep end of performance art. "Teknolust" is an unusual feature, with Hershman-Leeson pursuing a few prescient ideas on internet control, but she's also attentive to quirk, which runs a little less steady in the final cut. Some elements don't connect, but there's an appealing early-2000 indie vibe to the picture, and there's something special for fans of Tilda Swinton, who dominates the endeavor as she inhabits four roles in full. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Baba Yaga is commonly identified as a Slavic witch determined to haunt those daring to cross its path. The creature has been utilized as a threat in numerous features and makes a return to levels of menace with the Russian production, "Baba Yaga: Terror of the Dark Forest." Director Svyatoslav Podgaevskiy ("Mermaid: Lake of the Dead") appears eager to provide a scary movie, keeping the endeavor stylish and loaded with shadowy encounters. However, it's difficult to tell just what demographic he's looking to horrify, as the film follows the adventures of pre-teens, making "Baba Yaga: Terror of the Dark Forest" perhaps too graphic for young audiences, while older viewers will likely be left completely underwhelmed by the formulaic effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the years following the successful release of "First Blood," the world demanded a new generation of action heroes. Men of honor. Men of muscles. Men of limited dramatic ability. Co-writer/director David Fisher ("Liar's Moon") skips these requirements for 1984's "Toy Soldiers," bringing in 45-year-old Jason Miller to portray a tough, seasoned war veteran capable of taking on an entire Central America rebel army. In short shorts and a Rambo bandana. Miller's a fantastic actor, and he's trying to get something started for Fisher, teamed with a cast of young actors who don't really understand what they're doing in this supremely goofy actioner. While he doesn't have the physical presence of a powerhouse hero, Miller commits to the endeavor, giving "Toy Soldiers" some needed thespian emphasis while Fisher struggles to sell the central idea of kids saving kids in the middle of a dangerous foreign land. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There was once a time when Jake Kasdan was a very promising director. 1998's "Zero Effect" was a marvelous debut, defining Kasdan's love for strange characters and sly comedy, doing a terrific job reworking the detective movie. Kasdan would go on to oversee painful stuff like "Bad Teacher" and "Sex Tape," and he hit the box office jackpot with "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" and "Jumanji: The Next Level," but, in the mid-2000s, a Jake Kasdan offering was a welcome proposition, including 2006's "The T.V. Set." Channeling all his frustrations and experience in the television industry, Kasdan crafts a simple but effective overview of the hellacious creative process required to make a pilot, pulling back on outright farce to linger on the misery of frustration as a single idea for a show is sent through a system designed to ruin everything interesting about it. The lived-in quality of "The T.V. Set" is remarkable, allowing Kasdan to deliver a therapeutic endeavor with some decent laughs and an engrossing understanding of industry ego and stupidity. It's a clear vision for satire, only there appears to be extraordinarily little exaggeration in play, making the picture wonderfully direct in its honesty. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While a respected filmmaker, Nicolas Roeg certainly struggled in the 1980s and '90s to match his impressive run of features in the 1970s. There was "Walkabout," "Don't Look Now," and "The Man Who Fell to Earth." These were challenging, enigmatic pictures that cemented his reputation as a helmer searching for artful ways to explore the human condition. A year after his unlikely employment at the director of "The Witches," Roeg tries to reconnect with his heyday for 1991's "Cold Heaven." An adaptation of a novel by Brian Moore, Roeg returns to the mysterious ways of life and death, reviving "Don't Look Now" ideas to keep viewers unsettled as he mounts a mix of horror and religion. Well past his prime, the blend of Christian suffering and mystery eludes Roeg's control this time around, as "Cold Heaven" doesn't connect in any profound way, often caught struggling to sell its elusiveness without providing a proper reward for such attention. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Left with a usable set and some additional Edgar Allan Poe inspiration, director Alan Birkinshaw and screenwriter Michael J. Murray move from 1989's "The House of Usher" to "The Masque of the Red Death," hoping to squeeze a second picture out of the deal. Instead of going gothic with a faithful retelling of the original Poe story, the team elects to create a modern house party murder game with the elements, keeping the budget low and casting awkward as they attempt to execute a blunt slasher movie with little inspiration. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Def-Con 4" is not a remarkable film, but it remains memorable due to its home video history. There wasn't a video store around in 1985/86 that didn't have a poster for the feature displayed prominently, and what tremendous artwork New World Pictures commissioned for the release. There was the image of a giant spaceship loaded with bombs, a city in ruins in the background, and the gruesome appearance of a skeleton inside an astronaut suit. If you happened to be a kid during these years, it was the stuff of nightmares, and if you happened to be old enough to rent movies, it was a likely choice for a potentially spooky weekend viewing. Of course, the actual "Def-Con 4" isn't anything near what's promised on the one-sheet, with the small-time, low-budget Canadian production a happy recipient of the Roger Corman Special: suck them in with glorious art, deal with disappointment later. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The frolicking and playful mischief of a traditional beach party movie isn't going to fly in the 1970s, inspiring writer Ned Wynn (who appeared in several Annette Funicello/Frankie Avalon pictures) to attempt something with a little more dramatic substance for 1978's "California Dreaming." At least for a little while. Trying to offer audiences more in the way of character development and feeling while still indulging adolescent shenanigans, the feature has something of a personality, dealing with self-destructive behaviors and challenging relationships, also bringing in a cast eager to offer more than just a basic routine of teen lust and cartoon antagonism. "California Dreaming" ultimately gets too heavy for its own good, but the first two acts manage to avoid a few expectations, with Wynn interested in generating a community atmosphere filled with odd people either hoping to achieve or actively deny their dreams. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Britt Allcroft struck gold when she figured out a way to translate the works of author Wilbert Awdry into "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends," a British television show that began life in 1984. What started as a small offering of children's entertainment grew into a phenomenon, enjoying huge ratings, a massively successful merchandise push, and an American transition in "Shining Time Station," bringing Thomas fever overseas. Allcroft eventually set her sights on the big screen, combining worlds for 2000's "Thomas and the Magic Railroad," taking command of the production as a co-writer/director, attempting to add to the realms of Sodor and Shining Time with a more sophisticated adventure for human and trains. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As a comedic force of nature, there are few industry professionals working today as talented as Martin Short. He's a legend in the business, skilled with silliness, but also a fiercely gifted actor with a proven resume on television and on the stage. It's his movie career that's been a strange ride for the star, finding the demands of film production often unable to bring out his best, muting his sharp wit and endless interest in mischief. In 1990, Short had minor successes and positive notices in a handful of disparate offerings ("Three Fugitives," "Three Amigos," and "Innerspace"), but "Clifford" was meant to really play to his strengths, gifting him a chance to portray a devilish 10-year-old boy, despite being 40 years of age at the time. It's certainly not the strangest idea to come out of Hollywood, but "Clifford" is out there, asking viewers to go along with a visual concept that's bizarre from any angle, while the story itself mostly involves aggressive interplay between Short and his co-star, Charles Grodin. There are plenty of laughs here, and Short is clearly having a ball portraying a Damien-like kid, but the picture is an acquired taste, built for those who enjoy their slapstick seasoned with a little anger and volume. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2018's "B: The Beginning" is hoping to distinguish itself in the crowded world of Japanese animation by offering fans of the subgenre a byzantine story to follow. What appears to begin as a police thriller about a vigilante serial killer soon spins off into a hundred different directions, covering myth, sci- fi, fantasy, kink, and action. There's a lot on the show's plate, and the production team isn't completely interested in untangling many of its plot threads. "B: The Beginning" is artfully made and impressively expansive, but such ambition doesn't result in a clear, concise understanding of the characters and their goals, which would be of great assistance to those untrained in the anime way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1974's "Death Wish" was a big deal in the careers of actor Charles Bronson and director Michael Winner. It not only gave them a big hit to sustain their careers, it delivered a vivid portrayal of vigilante violence that spawned numerous imitators, endeavoring to supply an imagined sense of emotional realism when dealing with exploitation cinema. While a singular viewing experience, the feature inspired a sequel in 1982, with Cannon Films sensing a future in the brand name, putting Winner and Bronson back to work with an unnecessary continuation that began to bend the franchise into absurdity while trying to remain serious about acts of revenge. For 1985's "Death Wish 3," there was nothing left in the creative tank, giving Winner a chance to run wild with the one-man-army concept, pitting Bronson against a street gang in an NYC brawl, offering no social commentary or interesting psychological analysis. It's just an over-the-top battle royal with mindless violence, thinly sketched characters, and a single city block to destroy. And that's exactly what makes "Death Wish 3" so compulsively watchable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With 2002's "Ghost Ship," Dark Castle Entertainment attempted something original after managing two William Castle remakes with "House on Haunted Hill" and "Thirteen Ghosts." Well, perhaps not truly original (1980's "Death Ship" is clearly an influence on the production), but definitely not Castle, with the production company trying to cement their position as a Halloween machine, churning out fright films on a yearly basis. Trouble is, "Ghost Ship" isn't a very scary movie, with screenwriters Mark Hanlon and John Pogue missing spectral menace in their offering of boat-bound terror, leaving the feature slack and tedious as they focus on characters who aren't very interesting, trapped in a nightmare that's not particularly horrifying. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Becky" is being sold as the dramatic debut for comedian Kevin James. I'm not sure if that's accurate, as I saw "Grown Ups 2" on opening night in a half-full auditorium, and nobody was laughing. But who am I to get in the way of marketing? The great news is that James tries to be steely and humorless here, and he does a fantastic job playing a menacing character. Even better, "Becky" is an absolute blood-drenched joyride of a film; a revenge picture that's lean, mean, and unexpectedly interested in the bodily harm a 13-year-old kid can inflict on the Nazi goons looking to destroy everything she holds dear. Directors Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion don't pull any punches with their endeavor, offering a nightmarishly graphic descent into feral outbreaks of grief, going wild with B-movie bedlam from an unlikely source of rage. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com