After years of B-movies and supporting roles, Burt Reynolds finally achieved global stardom in the 1970s with beloved efforts such as "Smokey and the Bandit." The 1980s, at least the latter half of the decade, were less kind to the actor. Struggling to sustain his box office dominance, Reynolds elected to replace his mischievous screen presence with a harder, unflinching action hero pose, working through enforcer/authority pictures such as "Heat" and "Stick." 1987's "Malone" is a prime example of the career fatigue that shadowed Reynolds, participating in a formulaic revenge movie that preserves heavy western influences. While initial moments promise a capable but predictable thriller, "Malone" doesn't maintain appeal for very long, quickly dissolving into stupidity as director Harley Cokliss and screenwriter Christopher Frank shave down the source material (The novel "Shotgun," by William P. Wingate) to a series of violent encounters featuring thinly-sketched personalities. It's all about Reynolds here, and if you look close enough, you can see the thin little toothpicks propping his eyes open as he sleepwalks through the adventure. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Like thousands of movie maniacs, I came across 1966's "Manos: The Hands of Fate" when it appeared on brilliant television series, "Mystery Science Theater 3000," where writer/director/star Harold P. Warren's tattered vision for an exploitation endeavor provided ideal fodder for comic riffing, instantly making it one of their finest episodes. However, jokes are no longer attached to the new Blu-ray edition of "Manos," which presents the effort in its initial state, trying to reclaim the no-budget charms of the production on its own terms, without ace comedians making the viewing experience passable. It's a dangerous, sobering proposition, but there's something intriguing about the distraction-free picture, revealing Warren's ambition to make junk food cinema through hasty experimentation. This very well may be one of the worst movies ever made, but here, on the Blu-ray, the viewer is now free to study what was originally intended and, in some cases, actually achieved. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In its tireless quest to find a suitable replacement for "Downton Abbey" (now entering its final season), British television comes up with "Indian Summers," which touches on a similar situation of class divide and familial disruption. It's simplistic to dismiss the program for its similarities to the Julian Fellowes juggernaut, but it's hard to ignore how carefully the show walks in established footprints (also mirroring 1984's "The Jewel in the Crown"). Fans of historical dramas will likely find much to love about this ten-episode overview of the waning days of British rule in India, but there's also another, more soap opera-esque side to the program that's not nearly as appealing as the production would like to think. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Doing his part to revive the giant bug subgenre of the 1950s, co-writer/director Gary Jones submits 1995's "Mosquito" for approval, giving nature's most diligent pest its time in the monster movie sun. While armed with a limited budget, Jones generally makes the most of what he's got for the feature, which offers a healthy amount of gore and humor as it details the wrath of mutant insects. The basics are covered here, making for an entertaining sit, though, as with most of these productions, a little goes a long way when it comes to broad characterizations, finding the effort's addiction to padding throttling the celebration of B-movie hysterics Jones is aiming to provide. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Alan Parker enjoyed a tremendous directorial career during his time behind the camera, handling difficult projects such as "Pink Floyd: The Wall," "Evita," and "Fame" with proper verve, while guiding more sensitive movies like "Shoot the Moon" and "The Commitments" with a secure vision. It's a shame that his final film would be 2003's "The Life of David Gale," a bafflingly mishandled take on capital punishment, housed in a dim thriller that nurtures melodramatic performances to communicate its general silliness. The material contains murder, intrigue, and feverish journalism, but Parker doesn't trust subtlety, going full throttle on this bizarre valentine to liberal extremism. Instead of spinning death penalty horrors, "The Life of David Gale" mostly encourages exhaustion with its topsy-turvy take on sacrifice. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In one of his first forays into feature filmmaking, writer/director Peter Hyams ("Outland," "Capricorn One," "2010") takes the hard-charging heroism of the supercop subgenre and dips it in boiling acid for 1974's "Busting." While not the first force of cynicism concerning the futility of police work to emerge from Hollywood, it's one of the most pronounced, containing an almost punishing level of bitterness to accompany an organized crime takedown plot. Hyams keeps the material on edge, managing the roller coaster ride of frustration that informs nearly every scene, creating a few surges in straightforward action to bait the viewer into a feeling of progress before lowering the hammer once again. "Busting" is raw and inventive, but a little of the picture goes a long way, especially with Elliott Gould and Robert Blake in the lead roles, delivering polar opposite performances that often distract from the theme at hand. It's a powerful film, but it only achieves greatness in periodic bursts. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While "Savage Weekend" is often left out of any conversation concerning slasher cinema, it holds a unique position in the subgenre, offering horror entertainment that concerns the killing spree of a disguised killer, with the production dating back to 1976 (the film was ultimately released in 1980). Pieced together before "Halloween" spawned hundreds of imitators, "Savage Weekend" is somewhat ahead of its time, with writer/director David Paulsen managing a deadly journey into rural America, where a pack of sex-crazed adults engage in secretive couplings as a murderer in a clown mask emerges from the shadows. It's not rocket science, but Paulsen doesn't always know what type of movie he's making, caught between bloodletting duty and his interest in nudity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1990's "Lisa" is an attempt to build a thriller based on the desires and fears of a 14-year-old girl. It's pulled off with a certain degree of good taste, with co-writer/director Gary Sherman ("Dead & Buried," "Poltergeist III," "Wanted: Dead or Alive") genuinely interested in creating a three-dimensional character out of the titular teen, and not just another screamy, dim-bulb focal point for the slasher routine. "Lisa" isn't a sustained ride of suspense, but the details do count, with Sherman taking time to develop complex emotions to go along with his scares. It's an interesting movie with a creepy vibe, capturing the lure of troublemaking and the stress of broken family life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Robert Mitchum wasn't necessarily feeling the grandeur of Hollywood while shooting "Young Billy Young," participating in a straightforward western that wasn't exactly going to challenge his dramatic abilities. Reportedly, Mitchum was ready to retire after the feature's release, only to be coaxed back into the limelight with the 1970 David Lean epic, "Ryan's Daughter." While it's true that "Young Billy Young" isn't inventive cinema, it remains quite engaging, thanks in no small part to Mitchum's steely lead performance and nimble way with the effort's chewy dialogue. He's great in a picture that needs his help, carrying the cowboy way for yet another Wild West adventure, with this round of revenge boosted by some credible motivation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Returning to Edgar Allen Poe for creative inspiration, star Vincent Price is once again the best match for the author's reserved intensity. 1969's "The Oblong Box" returns Poe to the screen, this time with a tale of body-switching, voodoo, and sibling guilt, teaming Price with Christopher Lee to goose the horror legends atmosphere. Suspense is teased throughout "The Oblong Box," but never achieved in full, leaving the bulk of the feature to the actors, who do a fine job snapping the effort out of its periodic slumber. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com