Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

According to Cheech Marin, "Born in East L.A." was put together in a hurry to complete a 1985 Cheech & Chong album without Tommy Chong. The tune was a hit, thanks to a popular video that visually sold the story of a California man accidentally deported by steely immigration officers. And that MTV-staple video inspired a movie, with Marin breaking away from Chong to mastermind a cinematic elongation of his original idea, creating 1987's "Born in East L.A." That's quite a journey from initial inspiration to multiplexes, but Marin finds plenty of inspiration to fill up the run time, intending to blend commentary on immigration issues with broad bits of slapstick comedy, positioning himself as a Chaplin-type with this border-hopping adventure. Chong isn't missed here, as Marin has something of a vision for his helming debut, trying to find the funny as much as possible without slipping into preachiness or melodrama. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

It's not easy to make a movie that involves a killer animal. Certain viewers are quite sensitive to violence committed against creatures, forcing filmmakers to maintain concentration on a proper tone while exposing horrors to helpless animals. For 1993's "Man's Best Friend," writer/director John Lafia ("Child's Play 2") seems well-aware of the problems he's facing with the material, which pits a genetically modified Tibetan Mastiff vs. several people who choose abuse over care, triggering the dog's killer instinct. Instead of crafting a grim survey of pain, Lafia goes bright and somewhat silly with "Man's Best Friend," which emerges as an enjoyable genre exercise in good taste with problematic material. It's not exactly lighthearted, but the picture has a ripping pace and plenty of savage moments, with the helmer largely understanding when to play the severity of the moment or just give in to the absurdity of it all. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"The Earthling" is the penultimate film for actor William Holden, and in many ways, it's perhaps the proper capper on his amazing career. The 1980 picture offers Holden a chance to portray at character at the end of his life, facing his mortality and trying to do so with some dignity and a sense of closure. It's a role that demands introspection and silent reaction, and Holden is more than up for the challenge, paired with young Ricky Schroder for this survival drama, which brings the Americans to Australia, interacting with strange wildlife and challenging surroundings. "The Earthling" is severe at times, but also tries to be tender, with the leads managing surges of emotion as they inhabit opposites trying to conquer a dangerous situation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1998's "The Minion" attempts to cash-in on millennium fever, imagining a futureworld of 1999, where global temperatures are rising, unrest is taking over the world, and the countdown to the year 2000 begins. It's a tight timetable for the picture, which hopes to communicate an apocalyptic scenario a year before such an event is about to take place, but thinking ahead is not one of the feature's strengths. In fact, there are no strengths in "The Minion," with pits Dolph Lundgren against Wendigo, an evil force who's been locked up for centuries, itching to be released and bring utter destruction to Earth. While it sounds like a proper DTV romp, director Jean-Marc Piche doesn't have a vision for such low-budget combat, in charge of detailing a laborious script by Matt Roe and Ripley Highsmith, which drags along the ground, carrying heavy amounts of exposition, leaving little time to focus on the most important part of the package: Lundgren fighting monsters with a spiked glove. Such diversions are few and far between in this dud, which promises the end of the world, but doesn't have a plan to get there. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"The Favor" endured a rocky road to a theatrical release. It was filmed in 1990, willing to hire a young Brad Pitt for a supporting part as a hunky artist, just before his big break in "Thelma and Louise." However, due to bankruptcy issues with Orion Pictures, the feature actually crawled into theaters in 1994, where nobody made the trip to see it, despite the presence of Pitt, whose marquee value surged during the movie's lengthy time on the shelf. Watching the effort today, and even a 1990 production year seems too modern for the endeavor, as "The Favor" often resembles product from the mid-1980s, providing audiences with a moldy take on marital blues and escalating misunderstandings, with director Donald Petrie (then the helmer of "Mystic Pizza" and "Opportunity Knocks") trying to stitch together a proper farce with lackluster elements of comedy. It's halfhearted work at best, providing a vanilla viewing experience while downplaying edgier viewpoints on domestic satisfaction, secret desires, and an unplanned pregnancy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

In 1971, there was "Willard." It was a mildly unsettling film and surprisingly cheery, with the picture's marketing promising a raging horror experience, but the actual effort was actually more peaceful. Star Bruce Davison delivered a fine performance as a young man with problems who befriends household rats, and the feature as a whole was engaging, with a unique take on an animals attack premise. There was room for improvement and remake cinema took its time, with "Willard" resurfacing in 2003, offering acting duties to Crispin Glover, an inspired choice for the titular role, presenting director James Morgan with a full helping of behavioral weirdness to go along with the tale's intended rat-based freak-out. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There's no greater pairing than the edge of teen angst and the power of witchcraft, and co-writer/director Andrew Fleming has a fine vision for high school hellraising in 1996's "The Craft." Bringing along stars Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Rachel True, and Neve Campbell, Flemings taps into a primal need for magical control, exploring initial mischief from four teenagers looking to alter their lives through deals with the dark side, who soon come into contact with actual power to exact revenge on their hallway enemies and body issues. "The Craft" does a terrific job with introductions, offering a first half that details horrible behavior and physical pain attacked by rites and spellcasting, with Fleming playing up the demands of teen cinema while exposing a darker side to personal issues. "The Craft" is sharply observed and mindful of genre demands, also supplying lead performances that commit to the fantasy in full, with Balk especially crazed as the alpha witch gone bad. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The late Curtis Hanson ended up in a place of Hollywood regality, managing to secure his legacy through efforts such as "Wonder Boys," "8 Mile," and "L.A. Confidential," which won him an Academy Award. However, before his placement on the A-list, Hanson nurtured a career as a B-movie specialist, trying to build a reputation as a man capable of quality work while still following box office trends. In the 1980s, one of the hottest subgenres around was the teen horndog comedy, with the massive success of "Porky's" inspiring countless knockoffs, gifting desperate producers a chance to ride the turn in adolescent entertainment. The broadly titled "Losin' It" is Hanson's stab at capturing the troublemaking ways of young men desperate to lose their virginity, embarking on an odyssey into the craziness of Mexico to achieve their one and only goal. The helmer's mission is to create a pleasant ride of mischief, yet Hanson always seems a bit confused with his job, striving to position characterization in the middle of a weak farce, coming up with a feature that's not funny and never as deeply felt as Hanson would like it to be. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1943, Columbia Pictures wanted to revive the Dracula screen experience with the actor that brought it to life, reuniting Bela Lugosi with one of his most famous roles. However, Universal Pictures wasn't about celebrate the situation, using legal hustle to prevent Columbia from cashing in directly. Instead of engineering a sequel to 1931's "Dracula," the production comes up with "The Return of the Vampire," evading courtroom entanglements while giving audiences the bloodsucker event they demand. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Suppose they made a sequel to 1965's "She" and nobody knew? The Ursula Andress-starrer from Hammer Films managed to become a hit, using sex appeal and wild stretches of fantasy, taking inspiration from author H. Rider Haggard. However, Andress didn't want to return to duty, forcing Hammer to rethink the concept of a sequel, using 1968's "The Vengeance of She" as a way to semi-remake their original effort, replacing Andress with Olinka Berova, who certainly has the look for the part, but little thespian skill. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

1988's "Mutant War" is generally considered a sequel to 1985's "Battle for the Lost Planet," but writer/director Brett Piper doesn't entirely believe in the potential of a true continuation. While the lead character returns to duty, there's little else that syncs up with the previous endeavor, finding the helmer in rehash mode, only something is weirdly askew with follow-up. Piper has more money and filmmaking technology to give "Mutant War" proper thrust, but he's made a mostly lifeless picture that doesn't possess the same DIY vibe of special effects that kept "Battle for the Lost Planet" vaguely interesting. The fun has been drained out of the endeavor, watching as Piper labors on a needless do-over that plays considerably smaller than its predecessor, while the titular promise for sci-fi chaos isn't kept. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Paying tribute to the cinema of his youth, writer/director Brett Piper manufactures his own B-movie adventure with 1986's "Battle for the Lost Planet," which pairs sci-fi and post-apocalyptic survival for a low-budget brew of filmmaking achievements. One doesn't come to the feature looking for stunning dramatics, it's a production that's more about appreciating what Piper manages to pull off with limited coin, mounting a tale that travels from Earth to Mercury and back again, ending up with a war between alien invaders and human inhabitants struggling to retain the old way of life. It's not a refined picture, and its run time is downright punishing as the effort continues, but there's helming pluck presented here that's easy to admire, watching Piper try to figure out a vision for intergalactic hostilities and earthbound discoveries, working in monsters and mayhem to boost the bottom-shelf appeal of "Battle for the Lost Planet." Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1956's "The Mole People" is a little hesitant to make a swan dive into sci-fi/horror, opening with expert testimony from a USC English professor who sets the scene by sharing bits of foolish science concerning activity occurring at the center of the Earth. Such mistakes and myth are used to lubricate audience passage into the realm of "The Mole People," which is pure silliness, but the production seems very concerned with establishing some type of archaeological authenticity before it brings out a parade of whip-slinging albinos and the creatures from the depths they've enslaved. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's difficult to believe that co-writer/director Carter Stevens had a precise plan to expose the ugly underbelly of life in Hollywood with 1980's "Tinseltown," but he does a fairly good job summarizing the corruption of the industry. While it remains adult entertainment, the movie tries to capture the cruelties and surprises of the business, essentially calling out the casting system as a form of prostitution, where the willing aren't always rewarded for giving. Exploitation is the premise here, and Stevens manages an effective look at the painful realities of professional acting. While he tries to keep things light, the helmer has a hard time staying away from darkness, giving a minor feature of intended eroticism some archeological value for today's audiences. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A writer specializing in gritty inspections of hollowed out souls, Richard Price looks to lighten things up after spending his early years in the industry crafting pictures such as "The Color of Money" and "Sea of Love." 1993's "Mad Dog and Glory" isn't a knee-slapper in the usual sense, but for Price, who rarely passes on adrenalized masculinity, this endeavor is practically a Billy Wilder film, surveying the accidental collision of crime and justice, and the woman caught up in the war of discomfort. Director John McNaughton ("Wild Things") tries to preserve as much Price as possible, delivering an intermittently calloused tale of romantic awakening dimmed by criminal entanglements, and he has a fine cast to help achieve unsteady tonality, with Robert De Niro and Bill Murray playing against type, trying to manufacture a special dance of intimidation with darkly comic timing. When it connects, "Mad Dog and Glory" is very funny and loose, but McNaughton doesn't always nail the special mood of the endeavor, often in a hurry to wrap up a story that needs more time to marinate. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

While many pictures date quickly, 1988's "Party Line" will likely befuddle some younger viewers, taking them back to a time when people interested in random sexual experiences picked up a phone to discuss their desires with complete strangers. Perhaps not much has changed in the last 31 years, but there's an amusing retro appeal to the feature, with screenwriter Richard Brandes tapping into a then-current craze of pay-per-minute perversion, using the concept of a party line to fuel a slasher film that's always eager to go above and beyond its basic concept of seduction. "Party Line" has dead bodies and a supercop on the go, but there's plenty of kink and extreme psychological distress to butter up the viewing experience, which is breezier than expected. This is one seriously goofy movie, but director William Webb keeps an eye on pace and behavioral oddity, making sure to keep the low-budget endeavor enjoyable wacky. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Randa Haines earned accolades and awards for her sensitive treatment of sexual abuse and incest in the 1984 television film, "Something About Amelia." But her career truly took off with 1986's "Children of a Lesser God," which managed to collect a Best Actress Oscar for actress Marlee Matlin, while her co-star, William Hurt, enjoyed a nomination for his work in the lauded feature. It took some time for Haines to return to the screen, but in 1991, she delivered "The Doctor," reuniting with Hurt for a semi-charged look at the inner workings of health care in America, taking inspiration from the book "A Taste of My Own Medicine," written by Dr. Edward Rosenbaum. The topic of finding compassion in an inherently cold, unwelcoming medical system is a bit of gimme, but "The Doctor" finds a direct way to address the inadequacies of the system, following and tweaking Rosenbaum's odyssey as a surgeon forced to experience the trial of treatment once he's confronted with a cancer diagnosis. Haines can't completely get her hands around every subplot in the movie, but her dedication to the humanity of the piece is remarkable, crafting something approachable for the mass audience that still retains emotional nuance and provides a careful challenge of hospital practices. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Joining the early '80s craze to pants horror entertainment is director Greydon Clark, who gifts the world "Wacko," his version of a slasher parody. Perhaps slightly miffed to watch as a bunch of no-budget scary movies conquer the box office, Clark elects to take down the absurdities of the genre, arriving with screenplay credited to four people and a cast that's loaded with noted character actors, blended with younger talent from the day. The 1982 endeavor has no shortage of jokes, with Clark particularly attentive to the speed of the film, which carries on with rat-tat-tat timing, always on the hunt for cliches to spank and characters to mock. This is Clark competing in a post-"Airplane!" world, and it's a big swing and a miss for the man behind "Joysticks," "The Return," and "Uninvited." Instead of triggering laughs, "Wacko" mostly demands bewilderment, often coming at the audience with complete enthusiasm but no refinement or even simple punchline taste. It's a scattergun of lame gags and clownish performances that's periodically hard to watch, with Clark so caught up in the production effort, he misses a prime chance to dig into the goofy idiosyncrasies of slasher cinema. And yes, pies are flung during the run time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's easy why 1993's "The Real McCoy" was made. It's based on a novel Desmond Lowden and offers actors meaty parts concerning the anxieties of economic and criminal entanglements, unfolding with Georgian thickness as a battle of wits plays out during the preparation and execution of a bank robbery. It's also a heist movie, which are traditionally easy sells, gifting audiences a chance to spend time with master thieves as they figure out ways to separate piles of cash from their vault home. However, "The Real McCoy" doesn't have much in the way of dramatic firepower, handing the lead role to Kim Basinger, who's never been one to project on-screen authority, and the director is Russell Mulcahy, then a mere two years past his nearly career-ending work on "Highlander II: The Quickening." The puzzle makes sense, but the pieces don't fit in the picture, which spends more time laboring through tedious confrontations than it does with snappy acts of thievery. It's clear the feature is trying to do something with its collection of irritable characters and personal connections, but Mulcahy doesn't get the effort out of first gear, settling on flatness when the material deserves more excitement. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1994, "Four Weddings and a Funeral" wasn't meant to be much. It was a low-budget British production with a largely unknown cast, with Andie MacDowell offered up as the most defined star of the group, bringing a little bit of Hollywood to the effort. It was the second produced screenplay from Richard Curtis, who wasn't a brand name just yet, also providing work for director Mike Newell, who watched his 1992 feature, "Into the West," bomb at the box office. There wasn't a single distinguishing mark on the picture, and yet, through the miracle of word-of-mouth, the film managed to become one of the biggest sleeper hits of the 1990s, charming audiences with its offering of silliness and sincerity. Taking a long look at the rituals and camaraderie of social gatherings, Curtis strives to blend character-based shenanigans and longing with more chipper romantic comedy happenings, while Newell brings in Hugh Grant as his secret weapon, with the actor's charisma leading the charge, stammering his way into the hearts of millions. It's impossible to deny the hold "Four Weddings and a Funeral" had on audiences back in the day, managing to marinate in pop culture attention over the last 25 years. Is it a good movie? Yes and no, but in 2019, the endeavor's magic hasn't dissipated for many. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com