Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

The director of "I Dismember Mama" and "Ape," Paul Leder tries to make something of a statement with 1986's "The Eleventh Commandment." It's a story that doesn't feature a protagonist, tracking two characters engaged in their own levels of evil. One is a ruthless businessman who's not shy when it comes to lying, cheating, and stealing. Murder isn't an issue either. The other personality is a mentally ill man who's channeled his clouded ways into the priesthood, setting out to protect innocence by going on a killing spree. Leder is challenging viewers to take sides with the screenplay, but those who sit down with "The Eleventh Commandment" may start to wonder why the movie isn't more extreme after the first 30 minutes, with Leder settling into a strangely tasteful assessment of bodily harm and sexual gamesmanship. There's a welcome mat laid down for exploitation elements, but the production plays it relatively calm, refusing to indulge wild antics with deranged people, which results in a frustratingly tepid viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Sir Burton (Richard Greene) is a man concerned for two friends who've disappeared, electing to travel to the castle of Count Von Bruno (Stephen McNally) to investigate what happened. Encountering the villainous Von Bruno, Sir Burton focuses on the man's wife, Countess Elga (Rita Corday), looking to protect her when she begins to expose her husband's dangerous ways, also encountering Dr. Meissen (Boris Karloff), who's sympathetic to Sir Burton's cause, and Gargon (Lon Chaney, Jr.), the master's top brute. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Taking in the Asian sights before they return home at the end of World War II, six American officers elect to pursue a wild rumor and visit the secret temple of the Lamian cult, which worship a cobra goddess. The men enter as observers but leave the temple destroyed, with a death curse placed on the intruders. Returning to America to resume their lives, the men are suddenly visited by Lisa (Faith Domergue), a mysterious woman who appears at the same time the veterans are killed off one-by-one by strange cobra attacks in the big city. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In rural America, Jessica (Carolyn Kearney) is a young woman with psychic powers, using her gifts to find water on her Aunt Flavia's (Peggy Converse) farm. During her routine, Jessica discovers a box that's been buried for nearly 400 years, with Flavia believing she's found a fortune. The box actually contains the head of Gideon (Robin Hughes), a warlock who's ready to hypnotize the locals, hoping to be reunited with his buried body and return to full Satanic power. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After masterminding the murder of a wealthy old woman, her husband, Walter (Andre Morell), has plans to claim her entire fortune, sharing the loot with his accomplices. Unfortunately for the spouse, the house cat, Tabitha, witnessed the crime, and she's hungry for revenge, taking out the mansion crew one-by-one while Walter frantically tries to hide evidence of his wrongdoing from the dead woman's niece, Beth (Barbara Shelley). Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Attempting to pull off a monster movie with 1982's "Q: The Winged Serpent," writer/director Larry Cohen clearly didn't want to mount another horror event with a large cast, returning to the basics of low-budget filmmaking with 1984's "Perfect Strangers" (titled "Blind Alley" on the disc). Instead of skyscrapers and creatures, Cohen's follow-up deals with apartments and New York City street tours, imagining a scrappy tale of murder and attraction that occasionally switches over to thriller mode. Cohen's after something more human with the endeavor, and his interest in characterization is laudable, aiming to subvert expectations and dig into troubled people. It's the lack of cash that ultimately holds the picture back, with the scrappy, urban look of the feature diminishing any potential intimacy, keeping the effort cold to the touch. The blunt edges of Cohen's screenwriting also don't help the cause, but for those willing to work a little harder to find meaningfulness here, "Perfect Strangers" has some mildly interesting ideas on love and self-preservation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Mel Gibson likes violence. It's mother's milk to him, especially with most of his directorial choices. There was 1995's "Braveheart," which hid tremendous bodily harm behind a traditional historical drama, also testing rear-ends with a three-hour run time. Gibson was rewarded with big box office and Oscar gold, empowering him to go deeper into the darkness of human behavior with 2004's "The Passion of the Christ," where he tried to visualize biblical suffering by showcasing all manner of torture and death. Gibson was once again rewarded with huge box office, with most of the bucks going directly to him after a self-financing leap of faith paid off enormously. Trying his luck once again with history and horror, Gibson captures Mayan mayhem with 2006's "Apocalypto," looking to mix cultural imagery with a B-movie-style survival/revenge picture, keeping up his interests in screen pain with another marathon of men facing certain doom from the ruling class. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1976's "A Small Town in Texas" is often listed as an action film, but director Jack Starrett only really gets to the heat of the moment on a few occasions. The feature is more of a southern melodrama with a few flashes of suspense, offering viewers a more character-based understanding of community upheaval and shady law enforcement business. Excitement is limited in "A Small Town in Texas," which comes alive when arranging car chases, but falls a little flatter when attempting to conjure a battle of wills. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1975's "The Naughty Victorians" is an adaptation of the 1908 novel, "The Way of a Man with a Maid." The book detailed the appetites of a gentleman named Jack who lured female victims into a private room known as "The Snuggery," exposing panicked ladies to all sorts of bondage devices while raping them. Why this material needed to be turned into a movie is a question for writer/director Robert Sickinger, who chases the porno chic movement of the decade with "The Naughty Victorians," trying to deliver a regal atmosphere of pained seduction, complete with broad acting and Gilbert and Sullivan on the soundtrack. I'm not convinced the feature is the refined erotic experience Sickinger imagines it to be, but he deserves some credit for his attempt to soften the hard edges of the source material, turning a parade of humiliation into a revenge film of sorts. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After scoring a significant success in 1989 with "Pet Sematary," Paramount understandably wanted to remain in the Stephen King business. "Graveyard Shift" was the next slice of horror to be served to audiences, only this picture was an adaptation of a 1970 short story, challenging screenwriter John Esposito to expand on a brief tale of a subterranean nightmare involving the discovery of mutated rats. Lacking significant source material to truly inspire a layered genre experience, "Graveyard Shift" works as an entertaining creature feature, though one where monstrous happenings are surprisingly less interesting than workplace intimidation. The film crawls to a close, but director Ralph S. Singleton provides a compelling first half, allowing strange performances and grimy sets to carry the viewing experience before wicked things with wings arrive to supply a more traditional gore fest. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Torment" is a mostly engaging, slightly unnerving suspense offering for about half of its run time. If one were to stop watching midway through, a positive impression is made, with co-writer/directors Samson Aslanian and John Hopkins ("The Dorm That Dripped Blood") managing to get a very low budget chiller up on its feet with a disturbing antagonist and a plot that sets up a somewhat unique cat and mouse game. "Torment" doesn't have enough creative gas (or budgetary coin) to go the distance, but there's a promising beginning, and that's nearly enough to support the entire endeavor, which finds a way to a few Hitchcockian highs before losing interest in a distinct battle between a criminal and the cop on his trail. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Returning to Gaston Leroux's original 1910 novel, Hammer Films tries to put their stamp on "The Phantom of the Opera," looking to compete with previous adaptations, including a 1925 silent picture starring Lon Chaney, Sr. For the 1962 version, Hammer hires Herbert Lom to become the titular character, and he does a terrific job in the part, gamely following the screenplay's interest in darkness, losing some of the romantic, obsessive aspects of the source material. Director Terence Fisher can't redefine the work to inspire a new classic, but he gets surprisingly far with his vision, which merges Hammer's gothic horror interests with little elements of Hitchcockian suspense, delivering a movie that's lovely to look at and retains a good amount of dramatic tension as it labors to find new ways to deal with old business. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Trying to keep a good thing going after finding success with 1984's "Missing in Action" and its 1985 prequel, Cannon Films returns to war with 1986's "P.O.W.: The Escape," replacing the world-saving ways of Chuck Norris with the pale heroism of David Carradine. The decline in star power is noticeable, finding Carradine barely committing to a lackluster screenplay, unwilling to put in his best effort to help director Gideon Amir, who comes armed with all the blanks and explosions an action movie helmer could ask for, somehow forgetting to put just as much labor into characterization, making "P.O.W.: The Escape" nothing more than a theme park stunt show. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1969's "The Cycle Savages" tries to tap into an industry trend, presenting the exploits of a biker gang on the loose, causing some amount of trouble wherever they go. Those accustomed to more forceful acts of intimidation and violence might want to take a pass on this film, which focuses on a mad dog gang leader's tireless quest to…break an artist's hands. Yeah, that's it for viciousness in "The Cycle Savages," which seems to be under the impression that slight bodily injury is the key to anarchic horror. The subgenre needs a little more awfulness to truly scratch that exploitation itch. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Best Friends" has the appearance of exploitation cinema, but somebody forgot to inform co-writer/director Noel Nosseck that his movie should be a little sleazier, or least more suspenseful. The 1975 release tends to go for the heart instead of cheap thrills, following one man's desire to retain the experience of youth while he marches into adulthood. Post-Vietnam War PTSD issues and homoeroticism are a few possible dramatic avenues for Nosseck to explore, but he mostly sticks with a slightly agitated relationship story, which is never memorable enough to leave a lasting impression. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Stories concerning the events of World War II are catnip to film producers, gifting them a chance to explore a seemingly simpler time of heroism and villainy, while most of the features pay careful attention to gritty tales of sacrifice during a period of unimaginable violence. For "Resistance," the saga of Marcel Marceau is examined, with the man who became world famous due to his mastery of mime once a French resistance soldier who had a hand in saving a large number of Jewish children during horrific years of Nazi occupation. Writer/director Jonathan Jakubowicz ("Hands of Stone") certainly has a take on WWII challenges and suffering, and while it's unclear just how accurate "Resistance" is, it does offer an unexpected source of conflict, depicting Marceau as a man of honor and creativity looking for safety in war and art. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Swallow" appears intended to be a major showcase for the acting skills of Haley Bennett, who takes a producing role on the picture, gifting herself a little more control over the final product. It's been a rocky road for the talent, who failed to breakout in efforts such as "The Girl on the Train" and "The Magnificent Seven," with "Swallow" delivering a juicy leading part that's completely focused on her abilities, offering a tonal challenge with strange material that deals uncomfortably with obsessive compulsive disorder and depression. The good news about the movie is that it truly makes the most of Bennett's screen appeal, and she delivers refreshingly alert work for director Carlo Mirabella-Davis, skillfully reaching some interesting psychological spaces as the feature conjures plenty of compelling darkness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After scoring a slight box office success with 1999's "House on Haunted Hill," Dark Castle Entertainment returned to the William Castle well for 2001's "Thirteen Ghosts." The original 1960 picture is best known for its gimmick, with "Illusion-O" offering moviegoers a chance to "choose" whether or not they wanted to see poltergeists through a special 3D "ghost viewer." "Thirteen Ghosts" isn't nearly that innocent, trying to pummel its audience with sustained graphic violence and aggressive sound and visual design achievements. It's an R-rated update of enjoyable nonsense, with Dark Castle trying to keep matters deadly serious as they present their take on Castle's creation, making something gruesome and noisy to reach demanding audiences of the era. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Old Dracula" (which is the North American title, released elsewhere as "Vampira") is Britain's answer to "Young Frankenstein," with director Clive Donner aiming to pants the vampire genre with a mild comedy starring David Niven. While it seems like a farce, and initially plays like one, the production elects to mute its silliness with a semi-horror take on bloodsucker business, trying to be a little bit scary while maintaining gentle yuks. It's an oddly restrained offering, with Donner perhaps unprepared to take the material where it needs to go, while the whole endeavor seems a little out of time, dealing with swinging sixties playful in 1974. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While a respected filmmaker during the course of his career, 1997's "Taste of Cherry" brought Abbas Kiarostami's work to a worldwide audience, collecting awards and rave reviews for his mediation on life and death. Never one to conjure a volcanic viewing experience, the helmer remains within his creative boundaries for the endeavor, which provides a minimalist moviemaking effort, while the story touches on the depths of experience, existentialism, and resiliency. There's an emotional side to "Taste of Cherry," but Kiarostami elects to head into a more reflective place of thought, delivering an intriguing portrait of a man experiencing life for perhaps the first time as he orchestrates his own demise. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com