Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

1978 was a critical year in the career of Sylvester Stallone. In 1976, Stallone became a major Hollywood player with "Rocky," which he scripted, finding himself a primary participant in the highest-grossing film of year, which would go on to collect a Best Picture Oscar in 1977. Previously dealing with poverty and powerlessness in the business, Stallone could suddenly call his own shots, allowed to take his future wherever he wanted it to go. Two years after "Rocky," Stallone tried to tighten his dramatic chops in Norman Jewison's "F.I.S.T." — a pairing that didn't win over audiences. And then there was "Paradise Alley," which gifted the star a chance to command his own vision, making his directorial debut with the effort. Stallone's intent with the movie isn't difficult to decode, setting out to replicate a melodrama from the 1950s, but the shadow of "Rocky" remains on the endeavor, which labors to find a comfortable middle ground between underdog cinema manipulation and a gritty, unsentimental study of broken people and shattered dreams in the harsh reality of life in the big city. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A 1988 production from Canada, "The Brain" depicts a fantasy world where the population is controlled by a dangerous con man on television who wants to control the world via mental manipulation. Okay, maybe the premise isn't sci-fi at all, especially with today's glut of television programming, but "The Brain" does have a horror angle as it transforms into a monster movie, with the titular creature making multiple appearances to give the endeavor jolts of the macabre to keep it alert. Screenwriter Barry Pearson is on a mission to supply commentary on trash T.V., while director Ed Hunt labors to make the picture exciting, collaborating on a diverting B-movie that's competently assembled, finely shaded with humor, and gung-ho with creature feature exploitation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Gerard Butler hasn't enjoyed the most artistically satisfying career in recent years. In fact, he's toplined a lot of garbage, with such titles as "Gods of Egypt," "Geostorm," and "Hunter Killer" tarnishing what remains of his star power. He's never had the best taste in screenplays, but Butler finally locates material that fits him well in "The Vanishing," a Scottish dramatization of the Flannan Isles Mystery, where three lighthouse keepers vanished in 1900 during their six-week stint on the island. While Butler is asked to play up his natural burliness, there's also emotional darkness to manage, becoming part of a hauntingly performed psychological study. It's some of his best work, finally focusing on something more than Hollywood domination. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We've already dealt with the VOD filmmaking stylings of director Brian A. Miller this past year. His last picture, "Reprisal," was released back in August, adding another dud to his growing filmography of forgettable cinema, which includes "Vice," "The Outsider," and "The Prince." Keeping up his interests in B-movies with nondescript titles, Miller issues "Backtrace," which doesn't deviate at all from his formula of limited locations, amateur supporting actors, and enough money in the budget to entice one big star. Bruce Willis slept through "Reprisal," and now it's Sylvester Stallone's turn to pick up a paycheck, giving a few days out of his busy schedule to pretend to act interested in a dreary thriller concerning soggy memories and a stashed bag of cash. "Backtrace" has no creative fingerprints, with Miller rehashing all his low-budget helming tricks to arrange yet another tedious rodeo of cliches. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Looking to make their mark on the sci-fi genre, writer/directors Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl merge their original vision for "Prospect" with tributes to the features they admire. It's a striking endeavor finding ways to work with a low budget but not be restrained by one, delivering a futureworld vision for space travel and alien landscapes. The seams are difficult to find here, with the helmers paying close attention to frame details and design elements, working to make sure the film is as distinct as possible with the money available. Such a technical accomplishment is worthy of celebration. It's the rest of "Prospect" that's difficult to digest, as Caldwell and Zeek are often so wrapped up in positioning creative achievements, they forget to construct a more involving screenplay, which works very hard to create a language of professional and personal experience that's difficult to appreciate. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1980, director Ruggero Deodato created "Cannibal Holocaust," perhaps the most notorious offering in the cannibal subgenre, where real-world legal proceedings were summoned to deal with a highly fictitious film. However, before he took command of the cult classic, Deodato went through a rehearsal of sorts with 1977's "Jungle Holocaust" (titled "Last Cannibal World" on the Blu-ray), constructing a familiar descent into the unclaimed world, where the tribal locals don't take kindly to strangers, and Italian producers get off on animal cruelty. Art wasn't the primary focus of "Cannibal Holocaust," and it's even less of a concern for "Jungle Holocaust," which isn't burdened by the demands of storytelling, instead moving ahead as a grindhouse carnival ride of lurid scenes and bodily harm, tossing whatever it can at the screen to inspire a horrified reaction from the viewer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

On the cover of "Permanent Green Light" is press quote that claims the movie is "One of John Waters' Top Films of 2018." That's a fine stamp of approval from a cultured film scholar, but also acts as a bit of a warning to those coming in cold to the picture. Writer/directors Dennis Cooper and Zac Farley try to tap into teen angst with the material, taking such concern to France, following the journey of a boy who wants to die via a large explosion. "Permanent Green Light" plays fairly seriously, but there's evidence that perhaps it's meant to be taken as darkly comedic. Either way, the feature isn't something that necessarily commands attention, happy to exist in its own little realm of self-analysis and secret pain. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Hong Sang-soo returns to the world of infidelity for 2017's "The Day After," which is a common topic for his movies. He has considerable interest in the subject matter, and cuts a little deeper with the picture, endeavoring to make sense of a domestic mess and personal needs of the heart. The material is sold with his traditional dryness and low-tech beauty, giving the endeavor over to his actors, who are tasked with mastering balance on emotional waves as private desires and concerns are suddenly exposed to the light. 
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After tackling the nightmare of murder in a small-town house located near an orange grove in 1988's "Grandmother's House," producer Nico Mastorakis returns in 1989 with "Darkroom," which presents the horror of…murder in a small-town house located near an orange grove. I'll give Mastorakis this much: the man isn't afraid of repeating himself. Changing speeds from grandparent fears to photographic menace, Mastorakis and director Terrence O'Hara strive to make a proper slasher event with "Darkroom," unleashing various red herrings and exploring unusual personalities as they showcase a simple tale of serial killing, trying to remain with the basics to best survive the low-budget endeavor. There's blood and lust, death and betrayal, and if you happen to be a fan of California agriculture, the production has premiere orange grove action for all. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1973's "The Corruption of Chris Miller" is filled with illness, representing director Juan Antonio Bardem's creative odyssey into the world of giallo, cooking up (with screenwriter Santiago Moncada) a murder mystery where everyone could conceivably commit crimes. While it's positioned as a whodunit, "The Corruption of Chris Miller" is more satisfying as a study of moral disintegration and isolation, with Bardem pulling terrific performances out of his cast while bathing the production in style and unease, getting the project to the right level of distress. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Peter Rader is best known as one of the screenwriters of "Waterworld," imagining a futureworld of aquatic misery, where a man with gills saves the planet from grimy, smoking baddies tearing around on jet skis. His directorial debut is 1988's "Grandmother's House," introducing himself with a much smaller endeavor, keeping action confined to the limits of a rural Californian orange grove. Rader's just getting started with "Grandmother's House," joining screenwriter Peter Jensen for a horror show concerning the troubles with senior citizens, a mystery woman, and the courtship rituals of oversexed teenagers. Apocalyptic visions of melting polar ice caps and drinkable urine will come later, but for this effort, Rader sticks to the basics of genre moviemaking. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Directors Doron and Yaov Paz set out to create a slightly different haunting with "The Golem." Working through the history of Jewish mysticism, the siblings (along with screenwriter Ariel Cohen) come up with a different take on the average bloodbath, traveling back 400 years to make a period piece about revenge and empowerment. "The Golem" boasts some fine tech credits and a wonderful lead performance from Hani Furstenberg, who delivers powerful work for the helmers, who are always better with defined acts of frustration and rage, searching for subtle ways to provide agitation before the whole picture ends up in a mess of gore and fire. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Director Stewart Sparke and writer Paul Butler love horror movies from the 1980s. Such fandom inspires every frame of "Book of Monsters," which plays like a blend of John Carpenter and "Evil Dead," with the production attempting to whip up a genre mess that's wet with blood, littered with demons, and propelled by act of self-defense. Sparke doesn't have much money to realize his vision, so he keeps things scrappy, endeavoring to pay tribute to the helming gods and define his own sense of anarchy, which gets the picture on its feet, but doesn't take it far enough. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After dealing with zombies in his previous film, "The Dead Next Door," writer/director J.R. Bookwalter takes on the world of comic books in 1989's "Robot Ninja." Such a title promises an outrageous camp-fest, but Bookwalter isn't in any mood to screw around, getting past a case of the giggles in the first act of the movie, moving into fairly dire psychological areas as the story unfolds, ending up with an incredibly heavy endeavor about a costumed vigilante. There's tonal bravery and a desire to do something gritty with no-budget entertainment, but consistent tonality eludes the production, which does remarkably well with introductions, but soon doesn't have anywhere interesting to go. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1945's "The Body Snatcher" (based on an 1884 short story by Robert Louis Stevenson) is remarkable in many ways, offering a slow-burn but effective chiller concerning blackmail, dead bodies, and moral corruption. It's also an early offering from director Robert Wise, who would go on to helm many large-scale classics (including "The Sound of Music" and "West Side Story"), but here he's dealing only with paranoia and the singular force of star Boris Karloff, who delivers an absolutely sensational performance, portraying the key figure in a terrible scheme of medical experimentation and dormant secrets. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Gerard Damiano has long strived to bring some sense of artistry to his early adult entertainment, even testing the limits of darkness and sophisticated storytelling. With 1978's "Skin-Flicks," the helmer creates a commentary of sorts on the creation of erotica, writing a scattered but pointed assessment of life in the trenches of adult cinema, where psychological abysses are everywhere, money men remain in control, and a pure creative vision is impossible to achieve. "Skin-Flicks" isn't a cheery overview of the business, as Damiano purges a few demons with the work, which grows increasingly hostile as it goes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1989, writer/director Peter Weir made "Dead Poets Society" for Disney. A somewhat intense drama, the film was released during the summer season, with the company scrambling to find a way to get audiences to see it, focusing intently on the star power of Robin Williams, emphasizing his few comedic scenes in the picture. The actor's change of pace and pure, uncut word-of-mouth turned "Dead Poets Society" into a major hit (the 10th highest grossing movie of the year), giving Weir a chance to make whatever he wanted to. And he chose "Green Card" as the follow-up, returning to the comfort of Disney and their willingness to take a chance on the American screen debut of French actor Gerard Depardieu, giving him a shot to portray warmth and mischief in a romantic comedy. While a respected actor, Depardieu is not easily tamed, giving Weir the unenviable task of softening a hardened screen presence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

1986's "Robot Holocaust" is a B-movie that's not terribly concerned with protecting storytelling balance. The first half of the feature is one long exposition dump, with writer/director Tim Kincaid laboring to create a futureworld where the Earth is ruined, robots rule, and a new hope is offered with a band of warriors trying to defeat a series of villains. There's much world-building to sort through, necessitating a narrator to help with the heavy lifting, as Kincaid has no throttle when it comes to the speed of new information whipped at the viewer. The second half of the picture is almost completely devoid of storytelling, with the helmer trying to pay off patience with his extended identification game by issuing battle sequences and lengthy shots of travel around a single location. One side of "Robot Holocaust" has everything, the other has nothing. It's a bizarre effort to begin with, but such top-heavy filmmaking disrupts the obvious fun factor of the low-budget extravaganza. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Curse III: Blood Sacrifice" isn't really "Curse III: Blood Sacrifice." According to the main titles, the picture is actually called "Panga," with the whole "Curse" connection cooked up by shady producers looking for anything familiar to horror fans to help sell their dismal African monster movie. Those expecting a return to the world of "The Curse" are going to be disappointed in the second sequel, which joins the first sequel ("Curse II: The Bite") in a weird display of industry chicanery, where three features bearing the same title having nothing to do with one another. Such a situation of marketing three-card Monte would be more amusing if "Panga" was any good, but director Sean Barton (in his one and only helming gig) doesn't do much with the basics of supernatural and reptilian frights, assembling a largely uneventful chiller that sets some kind of record for most chases in a sugarcane field. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the grand scheme of biker cinema, 1970's "Angel Unchained" is one of the few to present the conflicted nature of a motorcycle-riding menace who finally, after years of troublemaking and violence, just wants to experience life as a hippie. It should be a complex characterization, following one man's desire to leave his past and embrace something of a future, and Jeffrey Alan Fiskin's screenplay almost gets there, helped along by an invested lead performance from Don Stroud. "Angel Unchained" doesn't stay within the boundaries of intense introspection for long enough, often distracted by the needs of the subgenre, which demands lots of roaring motorcycles, dangerous dudes in leather, and, for some reason, a healthy dose of destructive mischief. The picture could use stronger concentration on primary dramatic elements, but as steel westerns go, the effort has a fiery temper and a sense of tragedy, slipping in small offerings of horror between broad action and reactions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com