1982's "Xtro" is just one of those genre movies that benefited from the VHS boom of the 1980s. It offered provocative box art and provided a gruesome ride, with co-writer/director Harry Bromley Davenport ignoring good taste to deliver something nasty and sellable, trying to make his mark. It's not a memorable feature, but it did inspire ire from the likes of Roger Ebert, who described the film as "one of the most mean-spirited and ugly thrillers I've seen in a long time." Whatever it was to fans and detractors, it was a meal ticket for Davenport, who returned to the saga with 1990's "Xtro II: The Second Encounter," trying to restart the brand name. In 1995, he finally cried uncle with "Xtro 3: Watch the Skies," which hoped to offer the faithful more creature anarchy, only here Davenport tries to go all "Aliens" with the project, bringing in big guns, explosions, and Hanks. Well, Jim Hanks. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1999's "Terror Firmer" is often sold by Troma Entertainment as a satire of their usual production mayhem, with co-writers Patrick Cassidy and Douglas Buck using parts of director Lloyd Kauffman's book, "All I Need to Know About Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger" (sharing authorship duties with James Gunn), as a starting point for the company's usual outrageousness, this time focusing on the chaos of no-budget moviemaking. It's not easy to identify the cleverness of such a creative attempt, because all Troma really does is provide noise, and their runaway train sense of humor frequently destroys anything imaginative about "Terror Firmer," which could be an illuminating study of Kaufman's lifelong pursuit of independent freedom in the film world, but it mostly wants to be a grotesque serial killer endeavor with a wafer-thin plot and boundless appreciation for all things disgusting. It's certainly one of the more extreme efforts from Troma, and one of their most disappointing, with sections of satiric clarity quickly clouded by every single bodily fluid imaginable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There are no major displays of dramatic firepower in "The Parts You Lose," and the plot is simple, dealing with issues facing the main characters, without going beyond the core dynamic to pad the runtime. Writer Darren Lemke doesn't go for flash with his screenplay, trying to land more of a literary atmosphere to the feature, which often resembles an adaptation of a young adult novel. "The Parts You Lose" may not have a fireworks display, but there's consistency to the picture, providing a full sense of character and heart. The modest nature of the production isn't a problem, as director Christopher Cantwell creates an inviting sense of tension and interaction, always preserving the human side of the story to best retain viewer attention. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It doesn't come as a tremendous surprise to learn that "Luz" is actually a thesis film from writer/director Tilman Singer. The German production doesn't aim to go big with its tale of possession and obsession, preferring to play everything with a slow-burn study of performance as tensions rise in small rooms. It's largely inexplicable, with Singer playing homage to Euro cinema brain-bleeders of the 1980s with the picture trying to reach a specific audience with its avant-garde antics. It's all a great big question mark of behavior, history, and domination, and while "Luz" has something, it visibly struggles to fill a scant 65-minute-long run time, with Singer clearly trying to taffy-pull a minor idea into something major, leaning into the stillness of the effort instead of developing its level of dread. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Directorial careers can be very strange, with most helmers struggling to find work, jumping from project to project just to maintain a living. James Frawley (who passed away in 2019) is in possession of that kind of wild resume, primarily working in television, laboring to make lackluster shows presentable. And then, in 1979, Frawley was offered a shot to guide "The Muppet Movie," allowing Jim Henson a chance to focus on performance and puppet work while someone else managed day-to-day business. Frawley ended up with one of the best films of the year and arguably the finest Muppet cinematic endeavor of all time. However, he couldn't get anything going with such a credit, returning to television, with his next theatrical offering being 1985's "Fraternity Vacation," taking command of a teen horndog production meant to be made as cheaply and quickly as possible to compete with the rising tide of R-rated comedies that delivered juvenile antics and naked bodies. It's difficult to understand what Frawley was thinking when he accepted the job, besides collecting a paycheck, suddenly in charge of realizing a simplistic screenplay (by Lindsay Harrison) and supporting limited actors, stuck with pure formula to make multiplex (and VHS) fodder. Where's Kermit when you need him? Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Alice Waddington makes her feature-length directorial debut with "Paradise Hills," and it's a stunner in many ways. She's created a fantasy world of re- education with screenwriters Nacho Vigalondo and Brian DeLeeuw, finding a way to deal with gender submission troubles while creating a futureworld environment of hostility thinly veiled by hospitality. The production has its storytelling issues, happy to throw everything at the screen without explaining a great deal of it, but Waddington also strives for a visual experience, offering terrific design elements throughout. "Paradise Hills" has something to say about the state of oppressed females, heading into a sci-fi direction to explore a survival tale that's loaded with screen detail and summons the eternal burn of frustration as it transforms into revolution. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Henri Pachard aims to skewer politics with 1983's "Public Affairs." He's not exactly remaking "The Candidate," but Pachard has distinct ideas to share when exploring the absurdity of politicians and their behavior on and off the stage. Being an adult movie, there's time set aside for all sorts of couplings and randy behavior, but "Public Affairs" is a cynical picture, often using its offerings of sex to help define corrupt behavior and examine the gamesmanship involved when manipulations come for the press and the people of America. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Taking the essential elements of "The Legend of the White Snake," a Chinese fable (inspiring many interpretations, including Tsui Hark's "Green Snake"), directors Amp Wong and Ji Zhao try to create an animated epic with "White Snake." The picture delivers a lush realm of visual possibilities, dealing with towering offerings of fantasy and intimate moments of romance. "White Snake" is striking, but it's always more impressive as spectacle, unable to connect on an emotional level. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

An adaptation of a Stephen King novel, 1989's "Pet Sematary" (scripted by the author) had a defined beginning, middle, and end. There was little room for a sequel, but the movie ended up a surprise hit for Paramount Picture, who craved a return to Ludlow, Maine, hoping to scoop up some easy sequel bucks. 1992's "Pet Sematary Two" (identified as "Pet Sematary II" in the film) isn't blessed with the return of King to help keep the story on track. Actually, King took is name off the feature, and it's easy to understand why, with returning helmer Mary Lambert trying to make her own bloody mess with the brand name, eschewing franchise intensity to fool around with a semi-comedic tone for a premise that doesn't trigger many laughs. Lambert doesn't really have a creative direction with "Pet Sematary Two," showing little control over tone, performance, and message as she tanks the sequel, almost on purpose. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's Hippies vs. Bikers for 1971's "The Peace Killers," with director Douglas Schwartz and screenwriter Michael Berk (the pair would go on to co-create "Baywatch") trying to locate some sense of moral and philosophical foundation as they detail all sorts of behavioral awfulness. It's heavy-handed all the way, but interestingly ambitious, watching the production attempt to comment on the futility of violence while indulging it for the drive-in crowds. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Jennifer Kent made a dynamic impression with her feature-length filmmaking debut, 2014's "The Babadook." It was a masterful picture, marrying the extremes of horror and parenthood into a suffocating, frightening viewing experience, presenting Kent as a major talent to watch. It's unfair to pin expectations to Kent's follow-up, but it's impossible to escape the efficiency of "The Babadook" while watching "The Nightingale," which retains the helmer's fondness for suffering, but also remains an overlong, somewhat repetitive effort, trying to master period Australian ruin without tight editing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1982's "A Thousand and One Erotic Nights" makes a valiant attempt to be a respectable, borderline epic adult movie, and one that tries to treat its source material with some degree of respect. Writer/director Edwin Brown sets out to do something saucy with "One Thousand and One Nights," a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales that doesn't immediately translate to sexual interplay, but the production puts in the effort to create something entertaining, varied, and, whenever possible, technically proficient, with Brown hoping to elevate his endeavor with cinematic emphasis wherever he can get away with it. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com