Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

Drive-in sleaze from the 1970s gets a cold slap across the face in 1976's "Jackson County Jail," which presents a more sobering understanding of injustice in America's southland. Director Michael Miller ("Silent Rage," "National Lampoon's Class Reunion") and screenwriter Donald E. Stewart are faced with the demands of exploitation cinema, and try to deliver some awfulness to sufficiently rile up viewers. However, the ultimate aim of "Jackson County Jail" is to manufacture a more character-based survival story, delving into broken people as they come up against an unthinkable future while on the run from the law. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Every career has a beginning, and for the late Jonathan Demme, his start arrived with 1974's "Caged Heat." While producer Roger Corman had already exhausted his interests in women-in-prison pictures, Demme attempts to do something a little different with his take on bad ladies behind bars. Exploitation interests are met, but "Caged Heat" comes at the audience in a slightly different manner, with Demme upping some sense of humor and horror while introducing semi-documentary technique to the endeavor, making it far more interesting than it has any right to be. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Feeling the need to squeeze out one more horror adventure with Victor Frankenstein, Hammer Films offers "Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell" to the mid-1970s, with audiences largely interested in more demonic happenings at the local theater. A sequel to 1970's "The Horror of Frankenstein," "Monster from Hell" doesn't stray far from the "Frankenstein" formula, once again putting Victor in contact with scientific evildoing, only here he's joined by a fan and the monster is an ape-like creation who, true to the brand name, doesn't take kindly to the pains of life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"A Different Story" was originally released in 1978, a much different time in entertainment, with Hollywood trying to get their minds around the selling of stories about gay characters to the general public. Instead of aiming higher with ambition and respectfulness, writer Henry Olek and director Paul Aaron (who would go on to take his name off "Morgan Stewart's Coming Home") elect to make a drippy dramedy with "A Different Story," turning human emotion and sexuality into a pliable thing to fit the needs of a failed sitcom. It's not a hateful feature, just overly careful not to offend a largely heterosexual audience by changing the homosexual experience as the production sees fit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

All actors have to start somewhere, and before Melissa Leo grew into an in-demand performer, nominated for an Academy Award in 2009 and collecting Oscar gold in 2011 for her work in "The Fighter," she was eager to make her screen debut. Like many before her, Leo found her way to the Roger Corman factory, handed the starring role in 1985's "Streetwalkin'," which has her playing a teenage prostitute caught between the demands of life and the protection of her little brother as her raging pimp seeks revenge. As first movies go, it's not the classiest endeavor, playing into the trends of the day as certain audiences craved tales of bruised innocence and streetwise antagonisms. "Streetwalkin'" isn't a refined dramatic event, it's exploitation, with Leo doing what she can to provide some personality and emotional urgency in the midst of cliché, giving the grungy endeavor bits of life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Alice Lowe has amassed a substantial amount of credits as a character actress, making brief appearances in "The World's End," "Locke," and "Paddington." Her most substantial screen role was found in "Sightseers," a wonderful dark comedy from director Ben Wheatley, who showed uncharacteristic focus and made the most of Lowe's screen presence. Taking command of her professional future, Lowe makes her directorial debut with "Prevenge," also scripting herself a prime role in a slasher film that's more about the anxieties of motherhood than the piling of dead bodies. Crafted with wit, terrific performances, and some unexpected trips into the gore zone, "Prevenge" is striking work from Lowe, who not only understands the constant concerns that swirl around the journey of pregnancy, but she's good with violence as well, keeping the feature suspenseful when it isn't refreshingly insightful. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Zoey Deutch deserves a lot of credit for trying to do something with her acting career in recent years. She's worked in teen cinema and romantic comedies, but with last year's "Zombieland: Double Tap," Deutch went full-tilt silly, exposing impressive timing and a sense of adventure when it came time to bring weirdness to a somewhat stale feature. She's back in "Buffaloed," which supplies her with a true acting challenge, tasked with portraying an absolutely manic human being while also being attentive to the quirks of Brian Sacca's screenplay, which plays around in the sobering world of debt collection. "Buffaloed" is amusing, and director Tanya Wexler gives it an appealing velocity, rarely slowing down with skin-crawling displays of predatory criminal behavior. And she has Deutch, who gives the part her all, submitting her finest performance to date, keeping characterization compelling and mischief spinning at top speed as she endeavors to embody a modern take on the American Dream. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Filmmakers love to make movies about the history of the Bushrangers, and the saga of Ned Kelly is a particular favorite, with his story repeatedly brought to screens of all sizes, presenting different creative visions a chance to get to the core of Kelly's propensity for violence and bruised sense of honor. Talents from Mick Jagger (in 1970) to Heath Ledger (in 2003) have played the man, offering different takes on dangerous behavior, but it's George McKay (recently seen in "1917") who's permitted to go absolutely bonkers with the part. "True History of the Kelly Gang" isn't your average period outlaw experience, with director Justin Kurzel (2015's "Macbeth," "Assassin's Creed") looking to shake things up with his take on the Kelly Gang and their legendary days, blending in brash cinematic style and sneering punk rock attitude to fully realize the primal instinct found within the screenplay by Shaun Grant, who adapts a 2001 novel by Peter Carey. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Hoping to build on their success with 1982's "Creepshow," co-writer/producer George A. Romero and producer Richard Rubinstein brought their interests in small bites of horror to the small screen in "Tales from the Darkside," a syndicated series that began its four year run in 1984. The show was a minor hit with a loyal audience, and some willing to stay up very late to catch the program, where its twisted sense of terror was best appreciated. 90 episodes were completed before the itch to take the brand name to the big screen was scratched, resulting in the creation of 1990's "Tales from the Darkside: The Movie," an anthology feature that doesn't stray far from the essentials of the original show, offering more in the way of style and gore to help it compete with other cinematic nightmares filling the multiplex. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

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