Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

Looking to update the high school rebellion picture, director Allan Arkush tries his luck with punk rock, bringing in the Ramones for 1979's "Rock 'n' Roll High School." It's teen antics from executive producer Roger Corman, who gives Arkush and his screenwriters (Richard Whitley, Russ Dvonch, and Joseph McBride) a chance to go crazy with this semi-satire of the subgenre, with the production team packing in as many gags as possible as they send-up educational hell features. What the helmer really has here is a scrappy, lovable ode to the freedoms and curiosities of youth, while the Ramones deliver their signature sound to support the endeavor's sonic dominance. "Rock 'n' Roll High School" is a pure delight, partially because Arkush allows it to roam wherever it wants to, and his timing with the Ramones, then at their peak of their powers, couldn't have been better. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The good news is that one doesn't have to see 1974's "Beyond the Door" to fully understand anything in 1989's "Beyond the Door III." Producer Ovidio Assonitis is merely trying to cash-in on a brand name he helped to create, using the title to attract audiences to a production that could use all the marketplace help it can find. The original endeavor was an Italian "Exorcist" rip-off that managed to make some coin (and trigger a lawsuit from Warner Brothers), while the second sequel tries to continue a theme of demonic possession, this time finding a train in Yugoslavia trapped by an evil power. It doesn't get any sillier than that, but director Jeff Kwinty ("Iced," "Lightning in a Bottle") is trying to craft something approachable with "Beyond the Door III," turning to stunt work and runaway train suspense to add some excitement to yet another offering of cult influence in an isolated corner of the world. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"The Fan" was intended to be a calmer, more character-oriented endeavor at one point during its development. However, marketplace demands contributed to a tonal overhaul of the production, with producer Robert Stigwood interested in transforming a mild piece on the dangers of stalkers into a De Palma-esque freak-out featuring graphic violence, looking to attract more attention. Perhaps this is why "The Fan" plays so unevenly, as director Ed Bianchi has difficulty managing the extremes of the effort, with one side of the material dealing with sliced skin and vulgar threats, while the other explores the creation of a Broadway musical. It's a very strange picture, and not intentionally so, but outside of occasional ugliness, the film is reasonably entertaining, helped along by a supporting cast of acting veterans and the pressure point of obsession, which is always good for a few cheap thrills. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While Hammer Films has taken on the wrath of the Devil before, they go all-in on Satanic happenings in 1968's "The Devil Rides Out" (aka "The Devil's Bride"). Directed by Terence Fisher ("Frankenstein Created Woman," "The Hound of the Baskervilles"), the feature takes the world of black magic seriously, as the adaptation of a 1934 novel by Dennis Wheatley strives to build a world where such evil exists and remains determined to become the dominant force of the world. However, matters start small in the story, and Fisher does a fine job expanding early suspicions into all-out panic, joined by star Christopher Lee, who receives a rare shot at playing a hero of sorts, taking on darkness with a reliably focused performance in what turns out to be a surprisingly eventful picture from Hammer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Hamlet" is a 400-year-old play that's been interpreted in many ways, with some taking great liberties with the source material, working to reconsider writer William Shakespeare's original text and find ways to reach a different audience. That's the thinking behind "Ophelia," which revisits the events of "Hamlet," only here a key supporting part into turned into the lead role, with Ophelia's perspective intended to refocus concern on the female characters. It's not exactly a daring undertaking, but the screenplay by Semi Chellas is trying to do something very specific, keeping things involving by altering Shakespeare's plotting and sense of power in Elsinore Castle. "Ophelia" isn't the most dynamic feature to be made with the concept, but director Claire McCarthy isn't in this for the pace. She wants to make a beautiful picture about a misunderstood young woman, and with those goals in mind, the effort is satisfactory. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Red Joan" knows exactly how to play to its target audience. This is not a procedural spy thriller or a dissection of World War II political gamesmanship. There's nothing particularly edgy about the production. Instead, screenwriter Lindsay Shapero takes a more soap opera-ish approach to the subject, turning this tale of secrets and lies into acts of heartbreaking exposure to all-consuming love. For some, such mushiness is going to be a turn-off, with director Trevor Nunn (who hasn't helmed a big screen feature since 1986's "Lady Jane") creating a softer push of melodramatics to buffer a tale of treasonous behavior and patriotic confusion. For others, "Red Joan" will be cat nip, especially for older art-house crowds who enjoy their global conflict reduced to areas of romantic indecision, blended with some mild espionage action. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Michael Keaton broke big with 1982's "Night Shift," emerging as a fresh comic talent in need of suitable material. With 1983's "Mr. Mom," Keaton found himself with a real hit (starring in the 9th highest grossing feature of the year, besting "Risky Business" and "National Lampoon's Vacation"), becoming a hot commodity in Hollywood, but he couldn't capitalize on sudden fame, losing momentum with some efforts (including "Johnny Dangerously" and "Touch and Go") that couldn't do much with his unique screen presence. Part of the problem was 1987's "The Squeeze," which endeavored to stuff Keaton's jittery rhythms into a semi-noirish caper that tries to be twisty and mysterious, but also makes room for Keaton's on- brand tomfoolery. "The Squeeze" isn't a mess, but it doesn't feel complete, putting immense pressure on its leading man to cook up some sizable laughs while working on a production that's a bit more interested in noise than performance. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The director of "The Lords of Flatbush," Stephen Verona returns to the concerns of young men and their inherent impatience with 1987's "Talking Walls," which finds the helmer in charge of making horndog cinema, only to fight this reality every step of the way. While it's credited as an adaptation of a Mike McGrady novel (1977's "The Motel Tapes"), the picture certainly doesn't play like literary cinema, working between a comedic overview of voyeurism involving improvisational play from a collection of actors and a dull romance between the lead character and the French woman he can't seem to possess in full. I'm not sure what the production history is on "Talking Walls," but it plays like a feature that was second-guessed days into production, with Verona scrambling to make something sellable on the VHS market when his original dramatic vision was quickly exposed as pure tedium. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A celebrated author in her native New Zealand, Janet Frame decided she didn't want others to tell her own story, eventually issuing three autobiographies to sufficiently cover the extent of her experiences in her homeland and beyond. With the release of "To the Is-Land," "An Angel at My Table," and "The Envoy from Mirror City," Frame offered a full understanding of the horrors and personal awakenings she experienced as she became a woman, richly detailing her memories and the perceptions. For direction Jane Campion, the opportunity to dramatize these tales was irresistible. Working from a screenplay by Laura Jones, Campion creates a "trilogy" with "An Angel at My Table," which was originally created as a television mini- series, soon reworked into a chapter-based feature film, bringing the scope of Frame's life to the screen with the lengthy run time it deserves. Protective of the subject's work, Campion shows extreme care for Frame's journey, providing remarkable casting and locations for the story, while Jones has the decidedly more pressurized job of condensing such extraordinary turns of fate into a cohesive endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Framing John DeLorean" emphasizes early on that Hollywood has spent decades trying to figure out a way to bring the titular icon's story to the screen. And yet, with all these competing projects and various completed screenplays, nothing has come of it. Directors Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce ("Batman & Bill") step up to the plate with "Framing John DeLorean," but the duo isn't interested in a straightforward bio-pic of the automobile designer, electing to mix things up a bit by turning the production into a semi-documentary, blending informational stretches with dramatic recreations and behind-the-scenes activity during the shoot. It's a bizarre cocktail of perspectives and realities, but not an unappealing endeavor, with the helmers using such unconventional storytelling to showcase an unconventional man, finding a fresh way to chart the rise and fall of John DeLorean. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Hoping to participate in the supernatural horror craze of the late 1970s, co-writer/director Herb Freed delivers 1980's "Beyond Evil," which takes soul- possession horrors to the Philippines. However, such a location is the only exotic element of the production, which offers a fairly routine chiller about an evil spirit infiltrating a fresh body. Freed tries to fill the endeavor with some new age magic, but scares are limited here, as Freed often goes the pedestrian route when exploring a household haunting. Thankfully, there's a cast assembled here that works very hard to inject some life into the endeavor, but blandness tends to win out in the end, even with the presence of some slightly goofy B-movie violence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Tom Botchii Skowronski is aiming to put his own stamp on comic book cinema with "Artik," merging the brute force of a serial killer story with a fantasy face-off, only here the opposing forces are a murderer and a straight-edge soldier trying to do something right in his life. It's stylish picture, doing so much with very little in the budget department, and when approached in the right mood, "Artik" engages to certain extent, with Skowronski trying to remain creative and aggressive with the little room he's given himself to explore this showdown between light and dark. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director George Roy Hill was in a rare industry position in 1975. Two years earlier, he delivered "The Sting," which went on to collect a fortune at the box office (ending up the second highest-grossing feature of the year) and multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture of 1973. Hill could suddenly do whatever he wanted, and with the power of multiple hits (including 1969's "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"), he elected to bring a personal project to the screen, funneling his own experiences as a pilot into "The Great Waldo Pepper," his valentine to the world of early aviation, with all the dangers and glory it contained. It's inspired work from the helmer, who secures strong characterization from screenwriter William Goldman, but absolutely dives into aerial sequences, which provide the production with genuine moments of suspense and some jaw-dropping stunt work. "The Great Waldo Pepper" has some issues with pacing consistency, but Hill gives the effort a wonderful specificity, providing viewers with a peek into the psychology of daredevils gradually being denied the thrill of danger. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Fraternity life doesn't need much embellishment to become perfect fodder for horror entertainment, and screenwriter Joyce Snyder sets out to be as authentic as possible when exploring the humiliations of a New Jersey university's Hell Week in 1990's "Pledge Night." Snyder has divided the viewing experience into two parts, examining frat house rituals and a supernatural terror, working to blend the different tones into a one scary event, playing into genre expectations while adding enough realistic grotesqueries to unnerve viewers who may be only prepared for a traditional haunt. "Pledge Night" doesn't strive to upset expectations, but it's better film when exploring the reality of fraternity terrors, with Snyder's effort to transform the movie into a sequel-ready production getting in the way of some genuinely disgusting moments. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A Spanish production from director Ignacio F. Iquino, 1982's "Secta Siniestra" is the kind of picture that is so focused on what it wants to be, it forgets how to actually be. It's a clumsy endeavor with all kinds of technical sloppiness and an overall disregard for production polish, but the feature is determined to be a scary experience, and for some viewers, such magical filmmaking will just might be enough to pass. Approach it as refined cinema and "Secta Siniestra" is going to bring on a headache in the hurry. Enjoy it as B-movie nonsense, and there's some amusement to be had with Iquino's habitual refusal to acknowledge his creative limitations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

James Hong has enjoyed an incredible acting career dating back to the 1950s, playing a wide variety of characters in nearly every genre around. However, in 1989's "The Vineyard," Hong strikes gold as a wicked vintner who uses the blood of youth and the power of black magic to secure eternal life, which is not a character one comes around often enough. Co-directing (with William Rice) and co-writing the endeavor as well, Hong tries to do everything for "The Vineyard," which has its rough B-movie movements and iffy assembly, but also manages to be immensely entertaining, with moments of horror, sleaze, and flashes of camp helping to generate an amusing sit with an awfully strange endeavor. Hong understands what the work needs, and he gives it all he's got to secure cult appeal. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With a title like "Itsy Bitsy," there's a promise made for a lighthearted killer spider picture. It suggests something cheeky is on the way, with co- writer/director Micah Gallo chasing the gleeful mischief of 1990's "Arachnophobia," or perhaps trying to match the B-movie release of 2013's "Big Ass Spider." Gallo is in no mood for laughs with his feature-length helming debut, presenting a more sobering take on arachnid hellraising, coming close to making the starring spider more of a supporting part in the effort, which focuses instead on the ravages of addiction, the struggle of parenthood, and the chest-caving grief of loss. "Itsy Bitsy" is a bad title for the endeavor, as it offers no joyful horror release, remaining closer to the pains of the wounded heart than matinee thrills, trying to be a gritty, aching take on eight-legged intimidation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A few years ago, writer/director Nicolas Pesce made his filmmaking debut with "The Eyes of My Mother," which displayed the helmer's command of style and mood, along with his fascination with prolonged violent encounters. Instead of trying something different for his follow-up, Pesce returns to the land of grime and bloody with "Piercing," attempting to adapt a 2008 novel by Ryu Murakami. Once again, Pesce doesn't take it easy on his audience, delivering a picture that savors suffering and observes madness as its leaks out of the characters, often at the worst possible moments. "Piercing" boasts fine technical credits, but the feature's quest for atmosphere is often more interesting than the actual story unfolding in slow- motion, finding Pesce too wrapped up in the particulars of Murakami's world, keeping the viewing experience more about shiny surfaces and gaping wounds than macabre drama. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Asghar Farhadi is primarily known for his Iranian dramas, scoring major critical successes with efforts such as "The Salesman," "A Separation," and "About Elly." Ready for more global awareness, the helmer takes baby steps toward the mainstream with "Everybody Knows," which utilizes a sampling of star power to nab attention, finding Farhadi teaming with actors Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem to help carry a kidnapping mystery. However, "Everybody Knows" is not a nail-biter with chases and whiplash turns of fate. It remains in line with Farhadi's previous work, with primary attention placed on the internal churn of decision-making and the troubles that come with longtime relationships and secretive connections. Those expecting something more explosive from the filmmaker this time out might be disappointed, but slow-burn tension is there, realized through accomplished performances from the entire ensemble. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While finding his greatest career success in horror, helming 1980's "Friday the 13th," director Sean S. Cunningham wanted a break from the genre, returning to his comedy roots with 1983's "Spring Break," delivering a beach party raunchfest without actually providing any raunchy business. While the feature was another hit for Cunningham, the lure of fright films proved to be powerful, returning to suspense and violence with 1985's "The New Kids." This isn't a slasher picture with careful attention to the destruction of bodies, but a juvenile delinquent tale from the 1950s juiced up with era- specific aggression. Cunningham isn't big on style and doesn't really know how to measure performance, but the man knows his exploitation, clearly defining good vs. bad while utilizing an interesting setting for this gradual escalation of high school bullying. "The New Kids" is often ridiculous, but it's entertaining, with Cunningham keeping up pace and intensity as he tries to skate past absurdity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com