DVD Review: The Hills Run Red (2009)
The Hills Run Red (2009)
Production Company: Dark Castle Home Entertainment in association with Fever Dreams and Ludovico Technique
Executive Producers: Joel Silver, Steve Richards, Erik Olsen
Producers: Robert Meyer Burnett, Jonathan Tzachor, John Carchietta, Carl Morano, Roee Sharon Peled
Director: Dave Parker
Assistant Director/Unit Production Manager: Vessela Banzurkova
Production Supervisor: Jeff Shiffman
Teleplay: David J. Schow, based on the story by John Carchietta and the screenplay by John Dombrow,
Editor: Harold Parker
Director of Photography: Ilan Rosenberg
Music: Frederik Weidmann
Score Performed by: The Czech Film Orchestra, Jan Chalupecky, conductor.
Production Design: Antonello Rubino
Art Director: Ivan Rangelov
Special Effects: Monster FX: Mark Villalobos, Ron Karkoska
Visual Effects: Eran Barnea/Freestyle VFX
Conceptual Artist: Micheal Broom
Sound Effects/Sound Design: Steven Avila, Alexander Pugh
Title Design: Prologue
Costume Design: Jasmina Vasileva
Stunt Co-ordinator: Kaloyan Vodenicharov-Kalata
Locations: Sofia, Bulgaria
Running Time : 81 mins.
Cast: Sophie Monk (Alexa), Tad Hilgenbrinck (Tyler), William Sadler (Concannon), Janet Montgomery (Serina), Alex Wyndham (Lalo), Ewan Bailey (Sonny), Joy McBrinn (Belle), Raicho Vasilev (Babyface), Michael Straub (Gabe), Hristo Mitzkov (Jimbo), Georgi Dimitrov-Bomba (Lance), Ekaterina Temelkova (Sherri), Danko Jordanov (Actor Babyface), Ithai Dyakov (Teen Babyface), Petya Ivanova (Alexa, age 5), Elene Mshvidobadze (Alexa, Age 10).
Synopsis: Obsessed film geek Tyler is determined to track down film director Wilson Wyler Concannon, creator of the lost 80s slasher film The Hills Run Red. Enlisting the help of his friend Lalo, girlfriend Serina, and Concannon's daughter, Alexa, the group set off into the woods where the film was shot to make a documentary and track down the missing footage. Once inside, they discover there is more to the film, and its maker, than they could ever have dreamed.
William Sadler as Concannon, and Tad Hilgenbrinck as Tyler.
Directed by former Full Moon publicity head Dave Parker, who directed one pic for Charles Band's company (The Dead Hate the Living!), and made several behind-the-scenes docs for big budget films (X-Men 2, Spider-Man 2, Superman Returns), Hills began life as a low-budget ($350,000) project for production company Fever Dreams (Flesh for the Beast, Wicked Lake), but was picked up by Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis's Dark Castle Entertainment (Thir13en Ghosts, House of Wax), when Bryan Singer, who was present at the shooting of the Fever Dreams teaser, recommended going direct to Warners who had just inked a 10 picture direct-to-DVD deal with Dark Castle.
Parker engaged screenwriter and Fangoria contributor David J Schow (The Crow) to rewrite the original script, and filming took place in Bulgaria, with British-Australian pop singer-turned-actress Sophie Monk as the provocative Alexa, Tad Hildenbrinck (Lost Boys: The Tribe) as Tyler, and William Sadler (Die Hard 2, The Mist) as Concannon.
The result works hard to play with genre conventions and provide richer character development for its characters, but falls a little flat in its execution. The hook of the lost movie is an excellent motivating factor, and the fact that Tyler has to redeem Alexa in order for her to act as a guide, coupled (and explicitly intercut) with the fact that his girlfriend is being unfaithful with his best buddy, are unfortunately counter-balanced by some poorly handled set-pieces – a weak Indiana Jones reference being the biggest missed opportunity - and thin papering over of logic flaws - the explanation of Babyface's parentage is a hard-sell even for an actor of Sadler's standing.
That said, the film delivers on the requisite gore and nudity, delivers a couple of nice surprises I won't spoil here, and allows for some intellectualizing on the effects of horror films on those who view them (adults and children alike), as well as old-school thrills versus the recent trend for wince-inducing gross-outs – Concannon's complaints: "This is a torture show, where's the emotion?", and "You lowered the tone, this is an atrocity." speak for the audience, who might wish for more of the well-designed, albeit dumb-as-a-stump Babyface, and less of the ball gag and straight razors.
The film may overreach itself, and its brisk running time leaves the feeling that something is missing (a longer, more violent cut including the character of Concannons's wife may never see the light of day), but compared to, say, the remake of Friday the 13th, this is still head-and-shoulders above the majority of stalk-and-slash efforts we've endured recently.
Extras are limited to an audio commentary with director Parker, writer Schow, and producer Robert Meyer Burnett, and a 28-minute making-of featurette.
Sophie Monk (Alexa) wearing some clothes.
Box Office: Continuing Cloudy, Surrogates stalls
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs held on to the #1 spot this weekend, beating out new science fiction genre releases, but the one number we're really interested in is a no-show.
Cloudy dropped just 19% to take $24.60M for a two week total of $60.03M, against a budget of $100M. The poorly reviewed Surrogates, directed by Jonathon Mostow (Breakdown, Terminator 3), written by the team of Michael Ferris, and John D Brancato (Terminator 3, Terminator: Salvation), from Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele's graphic novel, and starring Bruce Willis, pulled in a disappointing (for an $80M movie) $15M to take second place, ahead of the Fame remake.
The Informant! also held well (down 34% with $6.91M, for a total of $20.99M, on a $22M budget), while Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself dropped another 52% to the #5 spot with $4.75M, leaving Pandorum as this week's real disappointment at #6, with $4.40M. Helmed by Christian Alvert, who previously directed the weighty serial killer drama Antobodies/Antijkörper (2005), the film suffers from a ho-hum plot (script by Travis Molloy), and one of the worst tag lines of all time, but has some effective moments and would work well in a direct-to-DVD, low expectation environment, but fails to live up to its $40M budget and the presence of Dennis Quaid and the always interesting Ben Foster (30 Day of Night, 3:10 to Yuma).
At #8, Jennifer's Body failed to revive in week two, dropping 49%, with $3.6M for a running total of $12.30M, still short of its $16M budget. 9 was also down $49% in week three, taking $2.83M, for a total of $27.10M, while Tarantino's Basterds now stands at $114.46M after six weeks, having taken another $2.72M.
The Final Destination ($1.38M/$64.60M), Sorority Row ($1.11M/$10.74M), District 9 ($1.089M/$113.52M), GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra ($682,000/$147.40M), Gamer ($520,000/$20.11M), The Time Traveler's Wife ($495,000/$61.68M), and Whiteout ($430,000/$9.83) all continued their downward trend, but the surprise was the no-show of Paranormal Activity, which according to Variety pulled in $80,000 from 24 late-night showings in 12 cities. This should have placed it around #24, ahead of Star Trek's $65,000 ($257.70M in its 21st week), but the film failed to show, presumably because these were single screening and don't count as a full release. Expect it to go wider next week and start pulling in real numbers – Paramount should bear in mind that the audience they're aiming to attract through Twitter and Facebook can smell a lack of authenticity from a mile off, and just release this before the backlash kicks in.
UPDATE: At 6:28pm an email was sent from the Paranormal Activity Website stating that, thanks to the sold-out weekend screenings, Paramount has agreed to expand the movie to 20 new cities, including Chicago, LA, Miami, New York, and San Francisco. Deatails on venue and showtimes will be released tomorrow.
Full list of cities is as follows: Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL, Dallas, TX; Washington DC/Baltimore, MD; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Miami, FL; Minneapolis, MN; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Sacramento, CA; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Tampa, FL.
Paranormal Activity (2009)
Country: USA
Length: 96 mins
Production Company: Blumhouse Productions
Executive Producer: Steven Schneider
Producers: Jason Blum, Oren Peli
Director/Writer/Cinematographer/Editor: Oren Peli
Special Makeup Effects: Crystal Cartwright
Sound Designer: Mark Binder
Budget: $15,000
Cast: Katie Featherston (Katie), Micah Sloat (Micah), Michael Baymouth (The Psychic), Amber Armstrong (Katie's Girlfriend).
Originally made in 2007, and picked up by Dreamworks at Slamdance in 2008 (apparently it scared Spielberg senseless), Oren Peli's $15,000 movie has been hyped by Paramount as the next Blair Witch Project, and marketed through Twitter (@tweetyourscream), Facebook, and at free midnight shows in college towns and film festivals. Initially targeted for a larger budget remake, test screenings aimed at identifying what should be changed, instead persuaded the suits to release the original, albeit with some re-editing.
The challenge - beyond our now in-built resistance to internet hype - is whether another micro-budget, video-perspective shocker has enough creativity, intelligence, and jump-out-your-seat scares to become a genuine phenomenon. Thankfully the answer in this case is a resounding "Hell, yeah".
Director/writer/cinematographer/editor Oren Peli's genius is to take the "throw the camera at the action" genre norm (seen in everything from Blair Witch to [Rec] and Cloverfield), and turn it on its head. For the most part – certainly for the most effective part – the camera becomes a static observer, from the corner of a bedroom at night, leaving the audience to search the frame for the slightest movement, and building a tangible sense of dread normally felt only in the second before you wake from a truly awful nightmare.
The patience required in the first third of the film is amply rewarded, as initial rumblings and strange noises gradually segue over several nights into strange activity and stranger, possibly dangerous, behavior. The film is not perfect, but Peli and his fine cast ratchet the tension to an almost unbearable degree, playing on the primal terror of sound, shadow, and the half-seen exploited by Val Lewton in the 40s, and exemplified in Lewton alumnus, Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963). One of the most chilling moments in horror history is Julie Harris's wide-eyed delivery of the line "God! God! Whose hand was I holding?" in Wise's masterpiece, and there are scenes that easily rival that here.
In a season when the biggest hit is a 3D sequel, studios think low budget horror films require hot chicks to sell tickets, and the grown-up material goes straight to DVD, it's a shot in the arm to experience an audience of 800+ (as I did last night in San Francisco's Castro Theater) experience a bite-your-knuckles, grab-your-partner, roller-coaster ride, and love every thrilling minute of it – it's been years since I heard so much spontaneous screaming and applause in a movie theater. Avoid the hype and see this with a close friend, on a big screen, as soon as possible. See the Website for theater listings, or to demand a showing in your area (US only).
Book Review: The New Horror Handbook
Author: AS Berman; Design: Pamela Norman. 2009, Bearmanor Media, $19.95.
Aaron Berman paid his dues writing and editing for USA Today, so a snappy style is a given, but what is unexpected - and delightful - about The New Horror Handbook is his deep love of horror films from the last 10 years, and a cogent defense of so-called torture porn movies like the Hostel and Saw series, as well as insights into several other R-Rated films. In short, you'll re-evaluate films and filmmakers you may have dismissed, and learn things you didn't know about films you love.
Berman's thesis is that there is a breed of new horror film that encompasses three tenets: "Aesthetic Appeal", no matter how shocking the images on display, they are shot with style and skill; "An Underlying Message", dig beneath the offal and interesting parallels can be found; and "Hidden Depths", repeat viewing uncovers further insights.
"Where do you go when planes are hitting new York skyscrapers and trains are blowing up in London? When street cleaners are bagging limbs and viscera in the capitals of the free world, Michael Myers is a cartoon and the living dead are quaint boogeymen for a quieter time." – "Horror: The Story So Far", page 6.
Expertly setting the post 9/11, PG-13 landscape that horror was occupying in 2001–02, Berman immediately grasps what is so intriguing about the arc the genre has taken in the last eight years – in late 2001, it seemed impossible that a plane would ever blow up, or that large scale destruction or violence against the human body would ever be depicted on screen again. And yet, mainly thanks to a group of US-based filmmakers raised on scratchy VHS copies of The Hills Have Eyes, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Last House on the Left, a new breed of French horror auteurs (a long way from Franju and Rollin), and a guy from Australia, the genre turned on its collective heel and pushed the boundaries of taste and acceptability further than ever before.
Featuring in-depth interviews with Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel), Greg McClean (Wolf Creek), Steve Niles (writer of 30 Days of Night), as well as box-out reviews of their work (often brutally honest), and sidebars that expand on certain themes in the text, the opening section "Got Guts" looks at some of the more extreme examples, while section two "Got Something You Want to Say?", looks at filmmakers and publishers seeking to give depth to horror, including Vincenzo Natali (Cube) John Fawcett and Karen Walton (Ginger Snaps), Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (Inside/À l'intérieur), Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II–IV, Repo! The Genetic Opera), and the writers and editors of Rue Morgue magazine. Finally, in "Tomorrow's Terrors", Berman looks to the future, in interviews with Emily Hagins (who wrote and directed Pathogen at the age of 12), Sean Clark (who creates "Horror's Hallowed Grounds" for Horrorhound magazine), and blind director Joe Monks (The Bunker).
It's to the author's credit that he expands beyond the expected director and writer interviews, to cover more fertile ground, like the "artist collective" behind Rue Morgue, and Sean Clark's obsessive hunt to catalog movie locations. And if he sometimes wavers from the premise laid out on the introduction, the rewards are great enough to forgive that, and the limitations of Lightning Source's print-on-demand technology, which occasionally do a disservice to Pamela Normans's gorgeous design.
What we're left with at the end of the book, is a genuine feeling of community behind this movement, a fact I was reminded of while following Twitter feeds from today's opening of Fantastic Fest in Austin TX. My own first taste of horror came at the age of 14, reading Denis Gifford's A Pictorial History of the Horror Film – a book that changed my life – and what Berman has done here is to capture that same sense of involvement and intrigue for the reader, – The New Horror Handbook is destined to inspire the next generation of fans to shudder, dream, and create. Buy it here.
New DVDs: Superbeasto and Book of Blood
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009) Rob Zombie channels Ralph Bakshi, in an effort to win back the fanboys he's shed since taking up the Halloween franchise, and word is it could be the best thing he's done yet. Millionaire masked wrestler El Superbeasto (Tom Papa, who co-wrote) loses his new love, Velvet von Black (Rosario Dawson) to the evil Dr Satan (Paul Giamatti), and aims to win her back with the help of is sister Suzi-X (Sheri Moon Zombie) and her robot aide Murray (Brian Posehn) – nudity, violence and gratuitous Nazis ensue. Animated by Film Roman Productions (The Simpsons, Family Guy), this is receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews, and also features the voices of Sid Haig, Ken Foree, Tura Satana, and Danny Trejo. Superbeasto delivers on Zombies' early promise, even if the extras are a bit thin. Watch the trailer here. (Anchor Bay Blu-ray/DVD)
Clive Barker's Book of Blood (2008) TV director ("Dune", "Tales from the Darkside" and Tales from the Darkside: The Movie), and writer ("Painkiller Jane", "Children of Dune") John Harrison helms this Scottish-set adaptation of the framing device from Barker's breakthrough short story collections, which included "The Midnight Meat Train", "The Yattering and Jack" (which appeared as an episode of "Darkside"), "Dread" (one of next year's 8 FIlms to Die For, with Twilight's Jackson Rathbone), "Rawhead Rex", "The Body Politic" (used in Mick Garris's 1997 film Quicksilver Highway), "The Forbidden" (adapted in 1992 as Candyman), and "The Last Illusion" (adapted by Barker in 1995 as Lord of Illusions). A psychic researcher (Sophie Ward), hires a fake medium (Jonas Armstrong, the BBC's "Robin Hood") to investigate a haunted house. After initially faking his visions, he is attacked by the spirits who inhabit the house, and words are carved into his flesh. Barker is one of the producers, but while the film suffers from an over-stretched premise, it has some memorable prosthetic effects from Chris Fitzgerald (Hellboy II: The Golden Army) and make-up from Tristan Versluis (Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd). Clive Russell (The 13th Warrior), and Doug Bradley (Hellraiser and sequels) co-star, and the extras are a 20-minute making of and trailers. (Lionsgate/Lightning Media Blu-ray/DVD)
Battle for Terra (2007) Shot flat and then re-engineered for the Real-D process, this missed the mark in theaters – debuting at #12 on May 1st this year, opposite X-Men Origins: Wolverine pulled in only $1.65M in its entire run and is due for re-evaluation on DVD. The alien attack scenario is neatly turned on its head, as the aliens in this case are us, with all the allegorical weight – and comparisons with the Iraq war – that implies. Check out the trailer here, and give this one a second chance. The ridiculously celeb-heavy voice cast includes Evan Rachel Wood, Brian Cox, Luke Wilson, David Cross, Justin Long, Amanda Peet, Dennis Quaid, Chris Evans, James Garner, Danny Glover, and Mark Hamill. Extras include an audio commentary with the director, digital artist Aristomenis Tsirbas, and writer Evan Spiliotopoulos; deleted scenes; a making of featurette; a storyboard to animation featurette; animatics; stills; and the trailer. (Lionsgate Blu-ray/DVD)
Albino Farm (2009) Joe Anderson and Sean McEwen wrote, produced, directed and raised the close-to $1M budget for this in-bred rednecks from the Ozark backwoods horror, based on a legend from Springfield, Missouri about a Civil War-era farm used as an internment camp for those born with birth defects. South African-born Australian actress Tammin Sursok ("Home and Away", voted "Sexiest Woman in the World" by Australian FHM), WWE veteran Chris Jericho, Sunkrish Bala ("Lie to Me"), Nick Richey ("Welcome to the Jungle"), Alicia Lagano (Rock Monster), Richard Christy ("The Howard Stern Show"), and Duane Whitaker (Feast), star, with make-up effects by Jason Barnett ("Babylon 5", The Grinch) and music by Queensryche drummer Scott Rockenfield. Extras include audio commentary from Anderson and McEwen; a making of featurette, and trailers. (MTI Home Video DVD)
Edges of Darkness (2009) Like Albino Farm, Edges has a brace of writer/directors and transcends its limited budget, this time with enough panache to gain a DVD release from Anchor Bay, ensuring good packaging and marketing, even if there are spelling and punctuation errors in the otherwise enticing trailer. Blaine Cade and Jason Horton's film tells the tale of three sets of survivors following a zombie apocalypse: a computer geek, his lonely wife, and the processor that turns against them; a pair of vampires and their food supply; and a female survivalist who protects the son of Satan from a group of priests eager to prevent his father's return. It's heady, ambitious stuff, that doesn't always work, but www.dreadcentral.com says: "Jason Horton and his crew created something that breathes life into a tired and clichéd subgenre." Starring Annemarie Pazmino, Shamika Ann Franklin, Alonzo F. Jones, and Michelle Rose — no extras (not even Spanish subtitles). (Anchor Bay DVD)
Autopsy of the Dead (2009) Director Jeff Carney's 144-minute documentary on the making of the original Night of the Living Dead (1968), with original cast and crew members including Charles Craig (newscaster/zombie), Bill Hinzman (Cemetery Zombie and assistant cameraman), Kyra Schon (zombie child Karen Cooper), and Gary Streiner (sound engineer) contribute. Extras are "Locations of the Dead" a visit to the original filming locations; a 1967 behind-the-scenes newsreel, "Profile: Rick Catizone", the end credit animator; "Archive of the Dead" a gallery of props and memorabilia; blooper reel; trailers, TV and radio spots; still gallery. Buy direct from the producer's Website here. (Zero Day Releasing DVD)
The Chosen One (2009) Writer/Director/Editor/Cinematographer Theodore Collatos stirred up a minor publicity coup on Channel 10 News in Albany, when local Christian groups objected to the film's title at its premiere in a local bowling alley. The film itself looks by turns atmospheric and hokey (trailer here) – a Lovecraftian period piece, shot in black and white, the budget was clearly not there to obscure its video origins. Stars Arthur Collins, Carolina Monnerat, Sam Porretta, and Jared Barron, the DVD includes a behind the scenes featurette, the Channel 10 Albany News story; a short film, Vampires Die; trailers; and a filmmaker Q&A from the Berkshire International Film Festival (DVD-only release by RSquared Films, who brought us last week's Silo Killer double feature)
The Pick Up: Media Pack (2009) Written and directed by John Carchietta, and Troma alumnus Carl Moran, who together produced the fairly awful Wicked Lake (2008), this New Jersey-shot, 28-minute short is a sequel to Terry West's blood and boobs opus Flesh for the Beast (2003) and stars Georgia Kate Haege as a mysterious woman, and Chris Cusano as the man who picks her up on a lonely road, and gets more than he bargained for when they stop at an isolated motel. With effects by Gerner and Spears (I Sell the Dead), you can see the trailer here. This paves the way for Flesh for the Beast 2, which hits next year. (Shriek Show/Media Blasters DVD)
Silence, Ca Tue! (Silence, We're Shooting, 2008) It seems this generation of low budget, shaky-cam film makers is setting about remaking the origins of the species, as Christophe Lamot plunders his country's contribution to the genre, Man Bites Dog/C'est arrivé près de chez vous (1992). The marketing proudly claims that this was banned in France and Belgium (which it was, following the murder of Theo van Gogh in 2004), but takes a more humorous approach than it's blunt, brutal forebear. Extras include an interview with "director" Ljo Menzow, a behind the scenes featurette and the trailer. (Brink DVD)
Box Office 9/21/09: Cloudy's Fine, Jennifer's Shoddy.
The success of an animated movie with a $100M budget, based on a well-loved childrens’ book, would not normally be a surprise, but in a week when all eyes where on Megan Fox, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs kind of snuck under the fence. The adaptation of Judi Barrett’s book, drops the charming illustration style of (former) husband Ron, in favor of generic-looking CGI, typical of Sony’s animation division (Open Season, 2006; Surf’s Up, 2007), but critical reaction was favorable and the weekend box office take of $30.30M in 3,119 theaters, with about half the take coming from those equipped with 3-D, and a little over $2.5M from 127 IMAX venues, strengthens their reputation.
Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant followed up in distant second place at $10.46M, Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself fell an expected 58% to come in third with $9.87M, and nobody will be shocked that the Jennifer Aniston rom-com Love Happens tanked at $8.05M (meaning, presumably, that there won't be a sequel entitled Shit Actually).
No doubt heads would be rolling at Fox Atomic if they hadn't already closed the division down, so the hand-wringing over the dismal $6.86M take of the ubiquitous Jennifer's Body will be left to the pundits, who will no doubt, as with Halloween II, conveniently overlook the trim budget (just $16M here), and declare this the end of Megan Fox and Diablo Cody. Irritated though we might be by all those pop-up Flash ads getting on the way of our Web experience, we should take a moment to grieve the failure of a genre film that is neither a remake, nor a sequel, nor is it based on a teen or graphic novel, or computer game, and pray this doesn't lead to a further rash of dismal remakes.
At #6, 9 drops 48% on an additional 399 screens, to take $5.56M, for a two week total of $22.92M, and at #7 Inglourious Basterds hits $110.11, with a weekend take of $3.81M, making it the highest grossing of Tarantino's movies, and also the one with the largest overseas earnings.
Last week's rom-com flop All About Steve took $3.4M at #8, leaving Sorority Row in the #9 position, with a predictable second week drop of 50% and a weekend take of $2.5M on a running gross of $8.9M – still well short of its $12.5M budget. The Final Destination, which is – God help us - looking so far like the horror hit of the fall, took $2.39M, for a total of $62.40M at #10, while Whiteout was obliterated at #11, with $2.13M, and a total of $8.55M – it's $35M budget now looking like a cert for a tax right-off.
Of the stragglers, District 9 is at #13, with $1.91M for the weekend and $111.68M total; Gamer took $1.41M for $18.99M after three weeks; GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra took $1.37M, bringing its seven week total to $146.19M; The Time Traveler's Wife still managed over $1M for a $60.82M total, not bad on a $29M budget; and Halloween II halved its screen count, and saw weekend earning of $751,894, for a total of $31.47M against its $15 budget.
TV on DVD: Nothing to Fear but "Fear Itself"
Fear Itself: The Complete First Season (2008) A series so unremittingly dull that, after its hiatus for the Olympics, it never returned (a horror show, in summer, how could that fail?). Created by Mick Garris, as a major network version of Masters of Horror, the series boasted some great directors, including Brad Anderson (Session 7), Ronny Yu (Bride with the White Hair) and John Landis (An American Werewolf in London) doing some of their worst work. Of those that aired, only Stuart Gordon's "Eater", and Larry Fessenden's "Skin and Bones" leave a lingering memory, though apparently John Dahl's "Chances" is worth a look. Several episodes are available online from Fearnet, so do yourself a favor and watch "Eater" (which stars Elizabeth Moss from "Mad Men") here, and use the 22 bucks to buy Grace or Deadgirl. (DVD)
Doctor Who: The Next Doctor (2008 Christmas Special) Highly entertaining one-off, and a high-point in the already staggeringly successful re-boot of the franchise, this adds David Morrissey (Basic Instinct 2) as a Victorian chap who thinks that he is the Doctor, and develops into a delicious steam-punk confection, with a female villain as despicable as any the Timelord has faced. The lone extra is "Doctor Who at the Proms" a concert of music from the Albert Hall in London. (DVD)
One Step Beyond: The Official First Season (1959) Released by CBS Entertainment after years in the public domain, this should restore some luster to the series' reputation, tarnished by all those scratchy 16mm transfers. Director/presenter John Newland was a former Emmy-nominated actor, who later directed episodes of "Star Trek", "The Man from UNCLE", "Night Gallery", "Wonder Woman" and "Fantasy Island". Extras include an extended version of the pilot "The Bride Possessed"; a Promo spot; the opening spot from sponsors Alcoa; main title sequence (1990s version); and an archival audio interview with writer Don M Mankiewicz. (DVD)
Primeval, Vol. 2 (Series 3) (2009) Unfortunately axed amid ITV's recent financial woes, "Primeval" was enjoyable, if not essential, viewing. This series adds Jason Flemyng (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) to the dinosaur-battling team of scientists. Extras include a 20-minute interview with actor Doug Henshall, and a "Genesis of a Creature" featurette. (DVD)
Sanctuary: The Complete First Season (2008) Created by Damian Kindler ("Stargate SG-1"), this SyFy Channel series began as a series of eight webisodes in 2007, and broke new ground (for TV at least) by shooting almost entirely against a green screen on the high-definition RED camera (used to lesser effect on the My Bloody Valentine remake). Starring Amanda Tapping ("Stargate SG-1"), Robin Dunne (Species III), and Emilie Ullerup, the series tells the story of Dr Helen Magnus (Tapping) and her group, as they track down, study, and provide a haven for the monsters that secretly live among us. Extras include cast and crew commentaries for all 13 episodes; three featurettes: "Welcome to Sanctuary", "Sanctuary Residents", and "Sanctuary Visual Effects"; "Sanctuary: The Original Webisodes"; bloopers; photo gallery, and a Season Two sneak peek. (DVD)
X-Men, Volume Three (1994) and Volume Four (1995). Regarded as one of the finest TV comic book adaptations, and one of the best animated TV series (multimedia review site ign.com recently voted it the 13th greatest animated show of all time, in their Top 100, just behind "The Ren and Stimpy Show"). Volumes One and Two were released back in April. (DVD)
Astro Boy, Vols. 1–5 (2003–04) Let the Astro-hype begin! Prior to the October 23rd release of the new movie version (trailer here), this is a timely release, but unfortunately not of the original TV series (available here) from the godfather of manga, Osamu Tezuka. The original was the first anime to be seen outside Japan, but this is a 2003 remake in 50 episodes (10 per disc), which premiered in Japan on April 7th, 2003, the birthday of the original character. Previously released as a box set, the discs are now available separately. (DVD)
Dark Shadows: The Vampire Curse (1966–71) Dan Curtis's "Dark Shadows" debuted in 1966, a unique proposition: a horror-themed daytime soap, it struggled to find an audience until the introduction of Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid), the vampire with a conscience. This selection of episodes from MPI, follows the Barnabas story arc. Bonus features include a recent interview with 81-year-old Jonathan Frid, and introductions by actress Kathryn Leigh Scott. With rumors flying that Johnny Depp is closing in on the remake rights, now's the time to acquaint yourself, if you haven't already. (DVD)
Dark Shadows: The Haunting of Collinwood (1966–71) MPI's second "Dark Shadows" disc of the week follows the story of the werewolf Quentin Collins (David Selby), and includes a new interview with Selby and introductions by Kathryn Leigh Scott. These two discs present a great opportunity to explore the most compelling areas of the "Dark Shadows" universe — "Shadows" is the only daytime soap to have all its episodes released on video, and that collection weighs in at a whopping 32 (mainly four-disc) sets, which will set you back about $2,000. (DVD)
Dragon Ball: Season One/Doragon Bōru (1986) The 31 episodes that started Toei Animation's "Dragon Ball" adaptations. Based on one of the most popular manga series, that continues in popularity despite the poor reception and box office for this year's Dragonball Evolution (DVD)
Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku Movie (aka Doragon Bōru Zetto Tatta Hitori no Saishū Kessen~Furīza ni Idonda Zetto Senshi Son Gokū no Chichi/Dragon Ball Z: A Lonesome, Final Battle - The Father of the Z Warrior Son Goku, who Challenged Freeza) (1990). The first Dragon Ball Z TV special, previously released on Blu-ray on a double bill with "Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks" (1993), and here available in its remastered form on a single feature, standard DVD. (DVD)
Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks (aka Doragon Bōru Zetto Zetsubō e no Hankō!! Nokosareta Chō-Senshi. Gohan to Torankusu) (1993) TV Special that explores an alternate future for the Dragon Ball Z universe. Previously released on Blu-ray on a Double bill with "Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku Movie" (1990), and here available in its remastered form on a single feature, standard DVD. (DVD)
Ghost Hunt: The Complete Series Box Set/Gōsuto Hanto (2006) Anime TV series from the JC Staff animation studio, tells the story of the disparate group that comprise the Shibuya Psychic Research team. The delightfully named Bamboo Dong at animenewsnetwork.com says: "Ghost Hunt is genuinely scary. Maybe it's because I generally tend to watch my anime late at night… but the show gives me the chills." (DVD)
Ghost Slayers Ayashi, Part 3 (Tenpō Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi) (2006) Written by Shō Aikawa and animated by studio Bones, (who together created the "Fullmetal Alchemist" series), an attack by ghouls, known as the Youi, causes chaos in 19th Century Japan, and the key to their defeat lies in the written word. (DVD)
Gigantor: The Collection Vol. 2 (1963) Second set of US adaptations of the Fuji TV series "Tetsujin 28-gō" ("Ironman 28") by producer Fred Ladd (who also brought "Astro Boy" to the US). Once described by those arbiters of taste Variety as a "loud, violent, tasteless and cheerless cartoon… strictly in the retarded babysitter class", but a huge hit with mid-60s kids who knew the theme tune by heart — it was later covered by The Dickies, and Helmet. (DVD)
Knights of Bloodsteel (2009) Dreadful SyFy Channel tosh from director Philip Spink (Kung Fu Killer), and Producer Robert Halmi Jr (where do I even start, okay The Curse of King Tut's Tomb), full of characters with names like Lord Splayven, Ber-Lak and Perfidia. Worse still, it's a two-part miniseries and therefore goes on, and on, and on. (DVD)
Legends of the Dark Kings: A Fist of the North Star Story/Ten no Haō - Hokuto no Ken Raō Gaiden (2008) 13-episode anime series, a prequel to the Fist of the North Star, directed by Masahi Abe. (DVD)
Monster Force, Vol. 1 (1994) The first seven episodes of Universal's cartoon series, set in 2020, when Dr Reed Crawley and his team (which includes Luke Talbot, a descendant of Larry; and the Frankenstein Monster) battle Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Im-Ho-Tep the Mummy, Bela the Werewolf, and the Bride of Frankenstein. (DVD)
Transformers: Season Two, Volume 1, 25th Anniversary Edition (1985) Four-disc, 28 episode set from Shout! Factory, that includes several fan-favorites such as "Dinobot Island" and "Megatron's Master Plan". (DVD)
DVD Re-Issues: Werewolves and Captive Wild Women
An American Werewolf in London: Full Moon Edition (Blu-ray) and Special Edition (DVD). Feature-rich digitally remastered, 5.1 DTS-HD audio release for John Landis's landmark 1981 horror comedy. Extras include "Beware The Moon", a new 97-minute documentary, well-received at Frightfest a couple of weeks ago; "I Walked With A Werewolf" a new eight-minute Rick Baker interview on his love of monster movies and his work on The Wolfman (2010); "Making An American Werewolf in London" a five-minute featurette seen on earlier DVD releases, as were the following: an 18-minute "Interview with John Landis"; a Rick Baker featurette; "Casting of the Hand", on creating David Naughton's hand make-up; outtakes; storyboards; photograph montage; feature commentary with actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne. Also includes a $5 Halloween candy coupon. (Blu-ray and DVD)
Army of Darkness: Screwhead Edition (1992). Umpteenth re-release for Sam Raimi's second Evil Dead sequel, but the first on Blu-ray. AoD has always had its detractors, but it's one of my personal favorites thanks to its over-the-top one liners ("Hail to the king, baby."), and campy tributes to Ray Harryhausen, the Three Stooges, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. The transfer is a marked improvement, even over the HD version (if a little over-sharpened), but the extras present nothing new, and include commentary with Raimi, star Bruce Campbell, and co-writer Ivan Raimi; deleted scenes; the alternate apocalyptic ending (which I seem to be alone in preferring); additional footage; a "Men Behind the Army" featurette; and a trailer. The Blu-ray release also includes additional production photos via Universal's U-Control mode (nothing of note here). One note: I hate to be churlish, but shouldn't that sub-title be "Primitive Screwhead Edition"? (Blu-ray and DVD)
Universal Horror: Classic Movie Archive: The Black Cat (1941), Man Made Monster (1941), Horror Island (1941), Night Monster (1942), Captive Wild Woman (1943). Previously available only as a Best Buy Exclusive, this box set features a mixed bunch of Universal features from the early 40s. The Black Cat has nothing to do with the 1934 Karloff/Lugosi classic, or Edgar Allan Poe, but is a tired old dark house comedy-thriller of the sort then recently re-popularized by Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard with The Cat and the Canary (1939), and The Ghost Breakers (1940). Broderick Crawford and Hugh Herbert star, investigating the murder of a wealthy widow, and proceedings are enlivened by the appearances of Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, Gale Sondergaard and Alan Ladd (who became a star the following year, in This Gun for Hire). Man Made Monster (UK title: The Electric Man) stars Lon Chaney Jr as 'Dynamo' Dan McCormick, transformed by Lionel Atwill's Dr Rigas into the titular amped-up assassin. Originally planned as a 1935 vehicle for Karloff and Lugosi, this is good fun, and launched Chaney Jr's horror career. Horror Island is, like Man Made Monster, directed by George Waggner, whose best film is The Wolf Man (1941), unfortunately this is a disappointing comedy thriller, lacking star power, that was produced in just 23 days as the supporting feature to Man Made Monster. Night Monster (UK title: House of Mystery) on the other hand, has Lugosi and Atwill (albeit in minor roles), and is expertly directed by Flash Gordon helmer Ford Beebe. Captive Wild Woman is the star of this bunch, directed by Edward Dmytryk, who went on to helm the classics Murder, My Sweet (1944) and The Caine Mutiny (1954), despite being hauled up as one of the Hollywood 10. Captive stars John Carradine as Dr Sigmund Walters, determined to turn a gorilla into sultry Acquanetta (an Arapaho Indian, marketed as the "Venezuelan Volcano") with injections of of sex hormones and a brain transplant. Unfortunately jealousy rears its head with unfortunate, if expected, consequences. There were two weak sequels, Jungle Woman and Jungle Captive (both 1944), not included here. (DVD, released on September 13th)
Blue Demon Destructor de Espías (Blue Demon, Destroyer of Spies, 1968)/Pasaporte a la Muerte (Passport to Death, 1968) A pair of luchador films from Lionsgate, starring Blue Demon (Alejandro Muñoz Moreno) who was groomed as a movie competitor/replacement for his old foe El Santo (Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta) by producer Enrique Vergara. In Destructor de Espías he takes on a criminal organization attempting to poison the world with a lethal gas. In Pasaporte, a mad scientist creates a mind-control machine, and only our hero can save the day. The Mexican wrestling films are generally most fun when the luchadores are pitted against traditional monsters (as in Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the Wolfman/Santo y Blue Demon contra Drácula y el Hombre Lobo, 1973), but this disc is well worth $7.98, when purchased direct from the lionsogateshop.com, which also has a few other Santo and Blue Demon titles. (DVD)
Child's Play (1988) Blu-ray release for Tom Holland's killer doll opus, which is nowhere near as good as you remember. Chris Sarandon and Catherine Hicks star, with Brad Dourif as the voice of Chucky. Extras include two commentaries, one with actors Hicks, Sarandon, and Alex Vincent, the other with screenwriter Don Mancini, and producer David Kirshner; scene specific Chucky Commentary, with Brad Dourif in character; "Evil Comes in Small Packages" making of featurette; "Chucky: Building a Nightmare", a featurette on the construction of the doll; "A Monster Convention" featurette with actors answering fan questions; "Introducing Chucky: The Making of Child's Play" vintage featurette; and a photo gallery. (Blu-ray)
Deep Impact (1998) Mimi Leder's more humanist take on the killer asteroid sub-genre was squashed by the same year's Armageddon, but remembered fondly by enough people to make the high-def release a reality. From a script by Bruce Joel Rubin (The Time Traveler's Wife) and Michael Tolkin (The Player), starring: Morgan Freeman, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, Robert Duvall, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximillian Schell, James Cromwell, Jon Favreau, Mary McCormack, and Leelee Sobieski. Extras include commentary by Leder and special effects supervisor Scott Farrar; four featurettes, a photo gallery; and trailers. (Blu-ray)
Destination: Outer Space; and Destination Earth: Alien Invaders. Two releases, with each disc containing 50 Science Fiction trailers and featurettes (DVD)
Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood, Deluxe Edition (1988) Or (as it's known by fans) Jason vs. Carrie, the one where Jason takes on a telekinetic teen. Extras include commentary with director John Carl Buechler and actors Lar Park Lincoln and Kane Hodder; "Jason's Destroyer: The Making of Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood"; "Slashed Scenes"; "Mind Over Matter: The Truth about Telekinesis"; and "Makeover by Maddy: Need a Little Touch-Up Work, My Ass". (DVD)
Friday the 13th, Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, Deluxe Edition (1998) Voted by Entertainment Weekly as the eighth worst sequel ever made, Paramount gave up on the franchise after this, and sold it to New Line. Extras include commentary with director Rob Hedden and actors Scott Reeves, Jensen Daggett and Kane Hodder; "New York Has A New Problem: The Making of Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan" featurette; a gag reel; and "Slashed Scenes". (DVD)
The Hannibal Lecter Anthology: Manhunter (1986), Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hannibal (2001). Good selection of the three best Hannibal Lecter (or Lektor, as he's called in Manhunter) films, rightly ignoring the Manhunter remake, Red Dragon (2002), and the truly awful Hannibal Rising (2007). (Blu-ray)
It's Alive Collection: It's Alive (1974); It Lives Again (1978); It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987) Larry Cohen oversaw the DVD transfers for his monster baby trilogy (the perfect companion to this weeks release of Grace), and provides commentary for each film. The only other extras provided are trailers (the It's Alive trailer negative apparently had to be purchased by Cohen from a collector), and the sound is the original mono, but this is worth it for the Cohen commentaries alone. The 2008 remake, directed by Josef Rusnak (The Thirteenth Floor) is released to DVD on October 6th. (DVD)
John Carpenter, Master of Fear: The Thing (1982), Prince of Darkness (1987), They Live (1988), and Village of the Damned (1995) Three of Carpenter's most enjoyable films, and Village of the Damned. No extras, but a good price at $14.99 from amazon.com. (DVD)
King Kong vs. Godzilla/Kingu Kongu Tai Gojira (1962/3) and King Kong Escapes/Kingu Kongu no Gyakushū (King Kong Counterattack) (1967) With Ishirō Honda in the director's chair, and Eiji Tsuburaya handling the effects, these are two enjoyable Toho kaiju eiga. By the time of King Kong Escapes, the series had become extremely juvenile – the film was co-produced with Rankin-Bass as a tie-in with their 1966 King Kong animated series – but King Kong vs Godzilla – which started out as a story outline from Willis O'Brien, the genius behind the original King Kong (1933) – holds the record for selling the most tickets of any Godzilla movie in its homeland, despite a truly awful Kong suit. Previously available as a two-pack, these are now available separately for $10.49, but with the two pack still available for $14.99 from amazon.com, and no discernible difference, go with the two pack (DVD)
The Lost Boys Collection: The Lost Boys (1987); Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008) Joel Schumacher's Santa Cruz, CA-shot vampire movie stands as one of his few enjoyable films, PJ Pesce (From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter), directed the belated sequel, which was Warner Premiere's biggest selling DVD in 2008 – a second sequel is on the way. (DVD)
Misery (1990) A bright new transfer for the Blu-ray release of Rob Reiner's classic. Extras are standard definition on Disc 2: a Widescreen anamorphic SD version of the film; Rob Reiner commentary; commentary by screenwriter William Goldman; "Misery Loves Company" 30-minute featurette; "Marc Shaiman's Musical Misery Tour", a 15-minute overview of the score; "Diagnosing Annie Wilkes"; "Advice for the Stalked"; "Profile of a Stalker"; "Celebrity Stalkers"; "Anti-Stalking Laws"; and trailers. Well worth $15 to see Caan and (particularly) Bates face off in perhaps the finest Stephen King adaptation. (Blu-ray/DVD)
Nude in Dracula's Castle: Amazing, Rare & Erotic 8mm Home Movies. Five hours of vintage erotica on two discs, with a booklet outlining the history of the form. (DVD)
Phantasm II (1988) Staggeringly late Region 1 DVD release – after years of legal right battles – for Don Coscarelli's sequel to the much-loved original. This is arguably the best in the series, with James Le Gros (Point Break) taking over the role of Mike, with Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm back as fan-favorites Reggie, and the Tall Man. Those hoping for all the extras available on Anchor Bay's R2 UK release (two hour documentary; "Angus Scrimm at Fangoria 1989" featurette; stills; art; TV spots; and trailer) will be disappointed as this Universal Studios release only includes the film and a trailer. (DVD)
Rest Stop The Collection: Rest Stop: Dead Ahead (2006) and Rest Stop: Don't Look Back (2008). Rest Stop was the first release from Warner Premiere's Raw Feed label (Alien Raiders), co-founder (along with Tony Krantz and Daniel Myrick) John Shiban (The X-Files) wrote and directed the first movie, which aimed to be Wolf Creek with a supernatural twist, but ends up confusing. Second Unit Director Shawn Papazian took over for the sequel, which at least attempts to explain some of the plot, but to no great effect. (DVD)
Silo Killer (2002); and Silo Killer 2: The Wrath of Kyle (2009) Bill Konig's micro-budget ($6,000 and $2,500 respectively) Arizona-shot-on-video opuses have much to recommend them, despite some unnerving shifts in tone. (DVD)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Collection: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Beginning (2006) Marcus Nispel's okay remake, and Jonathan Liebesman's crap sequel together on one disc. (DVD)
Van Helsing (2004) Stephen Sommers' (GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra) shockingly awful mash-up of Universal Monster movies, now in high definition for a clearer view of all that CGI. Extras include commentary by Sommers and Editor/Producer Bob Ducsay; commentary with actors Richard Roxburgh, Shuler Hensley and Will Kemp; "Van Helsing: The Story, The Life, The Legend" featurette; "Track the Adventure" on the set design; "Dracula's Lair is Transformed" time-lapse set construction and tear-down; "Bringing the Monsters to Life" effects featurette; "You Are in the Movie!" on-set featurette; "The Music of Van Helsing" interview with Alan Silvestri; "The Masquerade Ball Scene: Unmasked" featurette; "The Art of Van Helsing" featurette; Bloopers. (Blu-ray)
Wes Craven Collection: The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), Shocker (1989), The People Under the Stairs (1991) Three consecutive films from Craven's late 80s–early 90s oeuvre (skipping the entirely missable 1990 TV movie Night Visions). (DVD)
The Wolf Man: Special Edition (Universal Legacy Series) (1941) Another outing for George Waggner's classic, but one worth the purchase, even if (like me) you already own the green box Legacy set. The Special 75th Anniversary Editions of Frankenstein (1931) and Dracula (1931) both showed significant improvement over previous DVD releases, sharper, with better contrast, and a decrease in dust and scratches, so it's a good way to acquaint yourself with the original prior to the arrival of the remake next year. (DVD). Note, this release appears to be delayed.
Wrong Turn (2003) Rob Schmidt has so far failed to live up to the promise shown here – one "Masters of Horror", a "Fear Itself" episode, and the disappointing The Alphabet Killer (2008), but Wrong Turn itself is excellent fun, and a fine synthesis of the 70s-style backwoods inbred cannibal sub-genre. With Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Ted Clark, Jeremy Sisto, and Julian Richings. Standard definition extras include a commentary by Schmidt, Dushku, and Harrington; "Fresh Meat: The Wounds of Wrong Turn" featurette including Stan Winston; "Making of Wrong Turn" featurette; "Eliza Dushku: Babe in the Woods" featurette "Stan Winston" featurette, discussing his career; and deleted scenes. (Blu-ray)
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) First-time director and long-time horror fan Joe Lynch took the reigns for the sequel, and did better than we had any right to expect for a DTV sequel. Henry Rollins, Ken Kirzinger, and Erica Leerhsen star; extras for this Unrated Edition include commentary by Lynch and actors Leerhsen and Rollins; commentary by writers Turi Meyer and Al Septien "More Blood, More Guts: The Making of Wrong Turn 2"; "On Location with P-Nut" featurette; "Making Gore Look Good" featurette; "The Craft of the Crotch Hit" featurette; "M's Death Scene" featurette; and a trailer. Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead (trailer here) will hit DVD shelves on October 20th, and fans may want to hold off for the three-disc set that's released the same day. (Blu-ray)
