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Wed
14
Sep

Synapse Films Puts Murder on the Curriculum with Massacre at Central High (Blu-ray)

Massacre at Central High

1976’s Massacre at Central High, directed by Rene Daalder, is a film that quite took me by surprise. While viewing it for the first time, expecting a typical high school slasher film, it was quite the opposite.

It starts out like any typical exploitation/revenge film of that era. David (Derrel Maury) is a new student at Central High and is mercilessly tormented by the “in crowd” bullies who rule the high school and harass anyone that comes along their path -- going as far as to cripple David by kicking out a jack stand from his car while he was working underneath, shattering his leg.

After healing up, David returns to the school to exact his revenge on the classmates who wronged him and put an end to the bullies’ reign of terror once and for all.

Sun
11
Sep

Violent, Depressing, Engrossing: 1883 Sets Foundation for Yellowstone

1883

Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone has been an unmitigated success with fans. And with that fandom eager for more content, Sheridan took one of the riskiest moves a franchise creator can ever take -- he produced a spinoff. Specifically, in this instance, a prequel.

Sun
28
Aug

Jurassic World Dominion Best Left Buried

Jurassic World Dominion

Can one dare to dream that JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION is the capstone to the franchise that began almost thirty years ago? From the unique conceit of cloning dinosaurs from genetic material extracted from mosquitos trapped in amber, we have ended with a world where dinosaurs are running about as part of everyday life, as evidenced by children playing with little lizards in the park to pteranodons nesting atop the Empire State Building.

Wed
17
Aug

Get Ready to Go Back to School with Arrow Video's HELL HIGH

Hell High

Grab your hall passes and get ready, because Arrow Video brings to Blu-ray the little known 1989 American slasher film HELL HIGH for the first time. Directed by Douglas Grossman, HELL HIGH brings a John Hughes twist to the horror movie genre by blending the ridiculous with the grotesque, and gives us a fun 84-minute ride into madness.

The story revolves around a young biology teacher named Brooke (played by Maureen Mooney) who witnesses a terrible tragedy as a child. She has suppressed those memories until a group of prankster high school kids take a joke too far and send Brooke over the breaking point.

Just the right mix of humor and horror, HELL HIGH delivers, making the whole movie an enjoyable watch for a first timer, or a good way to round out a High School Horror movie marathon with such titles as Slaughter High, Return to Horror High, and Student Bodies to bookend the theme.

 

Wed
20
Jul

Batwoman Swings Into Action for Last Time on Third and Final Season DVD

Batwoman Season 3

After three controversial seasons, CW's Batwoman has finally reached the end of her bat-rope. Having initially lost its leading actress after the first season, the show tried to move in a new direction by having the suit land in the lap of homeless Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie), who took over the duties of the hero while the mystery of what happened to original Batwoman, Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) played out. Later, through an improbably sequence of events, it was found that Ryan had been given up for adoption by her fabulously wealthy CEO mother, Jada Jet (Robin Givens), who went on to have another child, Marquis Jet (Nick Creegan). Suddeny, poor girl Ryan is in charge of Wayne Industries... at least, until she's not.

Mon
18
Jul

Get Pumped for Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder in Hell: Review and Giveaway

In 1994 Director Shinichi Fukazawa set out to make an homage film to one of his favorite horror movies, The Evil Dead, and emulate his favorite actor Bruce Campbell by doing the exact thing Sam Rami did way back in the day. Filming on weekends and on his days off from work, the film took over 15 years to complete, and now for the first time ever you can watch on Blu-ray in all it’d bloody glory.

Released in 2012 in Japan under the title of Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder in Hell, American audiences that were lucky enough to score a bootlegged VHS or burned DVD quickly gave the film its alternate title of The Japanese Evil Dead, due to the fact most of the story and plot resembles the first two films of Sam Raimi’s epic trilogy.

Mon
04
Jul

Celebs Line Up for Second Season of Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?

Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? Season 2

Scooby-Doo is an icon of animation that people just never tire of. The talking dog and his teenaged friends in Mystery, Inc. seem to always have a new series going, with older shows remaining in syndication.

Growing up, one of my favorite runs was The New Scooby-Doo Movies, because each episode would have a celebrity guest star -- many of whom I knew about -- which somehow made the cartoon just a bit more real to me, or at least made the Scoobyverse a bit broader. This tradition began anew when Hanna-Barbera and Warner Brothers delivered Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? which brought us a new stable of contemporary celebs and fictional characters ready to join in the mystery solving.

Thu
30
Jun

Arrow's The One-Armed Boxer Entertains with One Arm Tied Behind Its Back

The One-Armed Boxer

Arrow Video presents the first film from former Shaw Brothers executive, Raymond Chow. Chow founded rival studio, Golden Harvest, in 1970 with The One-Armed Boxer or (as it was originally released in the United States) The Chinese Professionals.

The film is written, directed, and starring former Shaw Brothers superstar “Jimmy” Wang Yu, who takes the helm and kicks off his version of martial art films with this first (and some may say best) film that came from the studio.

Mon
06
Jun

Make it a Game Night with Deadly Games, Now on Blu-ray from Arrow

Deadly Games

1982’s Deadly Games, written and directed by Scott Mansfield, is an early and unique entry into the start of the 80’s slasher film craze.  Recently restored from the original negatives, Deadly Games sets the standard for every stalker POV shot in all the horror films that came after it.

Mansfield’s vision of a masked slasher who chooses his victims by playing board games and rolling the dice is an odd choice but works exceedingly well with the stalking portions of the movie. Mixed with the strong character-driven scenes, it creates a nice balance that is an enjoyable watch which unfortunately loses most of its steam towards the final act.

Thu
26
May

Make a Date Night with Girls Nite Out, Now on Blu-ray from Arrow

Often unknown or overlooked, 1982’s Girls Nite Out is about as basic as you can get when it comes to slasher movies of that era. Mixing teen comedy with horror has always been a staple of these films, and this one does not disappoint. Going so far as to choose a giant bear school mascot costume as the killer’s choice of garb, the comedy feels forced at instances, and some of the better known actors of the film just phone in their performances throughout the duration of their screen time.

With horror icons Hal Holbrook (Creepshow), Rutanya Alda (Amityville II: The Possession), and comedy star Julia Montgomery (Revenge of the Nerds), Director Robert Deubel sets the stage for college campus hijinks and horror when a group of coeds are targeted by a crazy killer in a giant teddy bear suit during an all-night scavenger hunt.

Tue
24
May

Uncharted Goes Off Course from Goonies, Indiana Jones

Uncharted Blu-ray

When I sat down to watch Uncharted, it was without any expectations set by the video game franchise upon which the film is based. That is because I was unaware of this game franchise until after I watched the film and got into the special features. Thus unencumbered, I perhaps enjoyed the film a bit more than established fans may have, adaptations seemingly falling victim to perennial disappointment.

Tom Holland (Spider-Man: No Way Home) plays the role of Nathan Drake, a pickpocket with bartending skills right out of Cocktail. He's also a bit of a history buff, believing himself to be a descendent of the great explorer, Sir Francis Drake. He was told this at a young age by his brother, who was raised with him in an orphanage before escaping a police charge for a museum theft he and Nathan pulled as juveniles.

Mon
23
May

Infinite Melds Multiple SF Tropes Into Muddled Movie

Infinite on Blu-ray

Mark Wahlberg headlines this sci-fi outing that blends elements of Highlander with The Matrix and Inception, resulting in a story that seems to advance so that each scene can cover the plot hole of the previous one.

The title, Infinite, refers to the group of people who have endured multiple reincarnations, and having held on to all their memories of their past lives. Why this is happening to them is never explained, even though the question of it is what drives the movie forward. The one exception to the memory rule is Wahlberg's character, Evan McCauley. In his past lives he has gone by the name Treadway (played in flashback scenes by Dylan O'Brien). Due to some accident earlier in this life, Evan has lost the memories of his past lives while retaining the instincts and lessons, such as sword forging and martial arts.

Tue
10
May

More Kung Fu Than You Can Shake a Stick At: Arrow Video's The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter

8 Diagram Pole Fighter

Adding to the Shaw Scope box set that Arrow Video released earlier this year, 1984’s The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, previously left out of the collection, now gets its rightful spotlight with this deluxe standalone release.

The film is known for its outstanding spear fight sequences as well as the real-life tragedy of star Alexander Fu, who suffered a fatal car accident before the filming was completed. Honoring his memory, the script was only partially rewritten, and Fu's character does not appear in the final climatic showdown as originally planned.

Sun
08
May

Arrow Video Brings Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to Life on 4K

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

In 1994 director, Kenneth Branagh brought the most accurate telling of Mary Shelley’s classic novel, Frankenstein, to the big screen once again. But this time it was so faithful to the original story it turned off many casual horror fans and “normies” who were expecting a green, stitch-covered, nuts and bolts, flat top with huge boots zombie tale, who were instead given an intellectual, almost sympathetic at times, creature no one would recognize.

Mon
18
Apr

You Have the Right to Remain Entertained: Castellari’s Rogue Cops and Racketeers Come to Blu-ray

Rogue Cops and Racketeers

Italy is well known for Giallo horror thrillers and Poliziotteschi (Euro Crime) films of the late sixties and into the seventies -- and one of the most prolific directors of this era has to be Enzo G. Castellari.

Gritty action-packed police dramas of that time were all the rage, and Castellari was quick to monopolize and cash in on the Euro Crime film wave that was gaining popularity all over the world in that era.

In 1976’s The Big Racket, Inspector Nico Palmieri (Fabio Testi, What Have You Done to Solange?) is hot on the heels of a gang of ruthless racketeers. Realizing he’s not going to get anywhere within the confines of the law, Nico recruits a crack squad of civilians to dole out their own brand of justice.

Wed
13
Apr

No Lie: Arrow Video’s Collection of Claude Chabrol Films are Here

Lies & Deceit

Arrow Video has released five forgotten classic French noir films from the late director Claude Chabrol, now available for the first time on Blu-ray to the American viewing audience. Very underappreciated and often overlooked by film historians of today, Chabrol was a master of his craft, and this set, entitled Lies & Deceit, encompasses five of his standout directorial pieces of his era.

Largely inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, Chabrol relied heavily on making thriller films that appealed to the French moviegoing audience, and gave his wife, Stéphane Audran, a leading role in most of them.

Wed
13
Apr

Spider-Man: No Way Home Comes Home... to Blu-ray

Spider-Man: No Way Home on Blu-ray

The Marvel Cinematic Universe delivered top-notch fan excitement when it premiered Spider-Man: No Way Home in theaters last December. The conjunction of all the actors who portrayed Spider-Man on the big screen, coupled with all the villains we've seen, generated an excitement for Spidey fans the world over.

And now the spectacle of the Marvel multiverse comes home on Blu-ray, allowing fans to relive the adventure -- and to pore over scenes in high-definition pauses to seek out more hints and Easter eggs about the other aspects of the multiverse.

Mon
28
Mar

2021's Slumber Party Massacre Successfully Kills off 30-Year Franchise

Slumber Party Massacre 2021

Call it a sequel, a reboot, a remake, or a re-imagining of the cult favorite series SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE from the 80’ and 90’s, but this updated story to the series does not belong anywhere near those classic horror films on your movie collection shelves. Overly campy with forced humor and comedy, 90 percent of the jokes fall flat in this gender-bending tale that could have been a really good next installment of the series if they would have just stuck to the original premise of the film.

We meet the daughter of one of the original girls from the series, as she and her friends return to the cabin where her mother escaped the clutches of Russ Thorn to finally take him out and put an end to the horrors they had been living with their whole lives.

Fri
25
Mar

Wake Up to Arrow's 'To Sleep So As To Dream' on Blu-ray

To Sleep

Arrow Video Just released the directorial debut of Kaizo Hayashi (Circus Boys, Zipang) with his 1986 film To Sleep So as To Dream.

A love letter to the films he grew up on, Hayashi mashes as many genre’s as he is able to in this groundbreaking film that homages the films of the 1900’s thru 1950’s.

Harkening back to the serial detective stories, To Sleep So as To Dream begins when an elderly woman hires two fledgling detectives to help find a young actress from a forgotten film reel who appears to have been kidnapped by the movie company that made the film. Bungling their way thru leads that do not go anywhere, you get the feeling that this may not be a detective story after all, but a comedy in disguise when there hasn’t been any actual detective work during the whole first half of the film.

Sun
20
Mar

Sniffing Out "The Bloodhound" from Arrow Video, Now on Blu-ray

The Bloodhound

Arrow Video brings to Blu-ray THE BLOODHOUND,a thriller/mystery tale loosely re-imagined from Edgar Allen Poe's classic tale, FALL OF THE HOUSE OF THE USHER, written and directed by Patrick Picard in his feature-length directorial debut.

Francis (Liam Aiken) returns to the home of his long-time childhood friend, JP (Joe Adler), after hearing of JP’s waning health from an unknown affliction. Francis quickly begins to question this decision after seeing how JP has changed from when they were children. Living a life of seclusion off the family’s trust fund, JP and his twin sister Vivian (Annalise Basso), who is locked up in the basement of the home, set the stage for Francis’ downward spiral into the madness that overtakes him every minute he stays.

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