DVD/Blu-ray Reviews

As much as I admire Anthony Perkins’ acting chops, Psycho IV: The Beginning is really only for those desperate to complete the full Norman Bates saga. It tries to do double duty—acting as both a prequel and a third sequel—but that’s about as ambitious as it gets. Beyond the novelty of seeing young Norman  ...

I sometimes wonder if there’s anything more terrifying for a filmmaker than being handed the keys to a beloved classic more than two decades after the original—especially when that classic happens to be Psycho. It’s the sort of assignment that could get a person laughed out of the room or institutionalized  ...

“Sometimes to love someone, you got to be a stranger.” The screen opens on a valley of ash, gray and lifeless; it’s like God forgot to pay the color bill. Hope? None. Joy? Dead. It’s the cinematic equivalent of a hangover at 7 a.m. Enter K (Ryan Gosling), trudging into a protein farm to retire a ...

The beloved Naked Gun franchise awakens from its 30-year retirement and straps on the ol’ sidearm with yet another comedic take on police procedurals that brings both nostalgic laughs and modern sensibilities to an old gag  ...

"I'm a goddamn marvel of modern science." You know the scene that really sets the tone in director Milos Forman’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest? McMurphy strolling into the ward like he owns the place—grinning, cracking jokes, instantly poking at Nurse Ratched’s perfectly ...

Filmmaker Francis Lawrence has built a career making kids suffer for our entertainment (The Hunger Games films, anyone?), and with The Long Walk he may have found his bleak masterpiece. Adapted from Stephen King’s first novel, this is a story where endurance isn’t  ...

I sometimes wonder if there’s anything more terrifying for a filmmaker than being handed the keys to a beloved classic more than two decades after the original—especially when that classic happens to be Psycho. It’s the sort of assignment that could get a person laughed out of the room or institutionalized  ...

You know that scene—I mean, you really know that scene—where Eric Draven stumbles back into what’s left of his apartment? Rain’s pouring in like the weather’s got a grudge, and The Cure’s “Burn” starts up, all moody and electric. The room’s trashed, heartbreak is everywhere, and Brandon Lee  ...

“They’re here.” That one line still sends chills down the spine. Suburbia is supposed to be safe, but when your dream home is built on a cemetery where only the headstones were moved… well, welcome to hell. At 4267 Roxbury Street in Simi Valley, the Freeling family—Steve ...

We all know the scene: Jason wakes up on a spaceship, stomps around like he’s confused about missing his shift at Crystal Lake, and then gets absolutely wrecked by Kay‑Em, the android. She unloads on him like she’s auditioning for The Matrix, blasting holes in his chest, kicking him across the  ...

Let’s start with the obvious: the scene in the house. You know the one. Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) is trying to act like she’s just a polite visitor in Bodega Bay, maybe sip her tea, maybe enjoy a quiet afternoon—and then the birds show up. And not politely. They’re at the windows, on the  ...

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C‑beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain. Time to die.” Blade Runner does not get any better than with this release ...

Can I keep you?” Cue the collective sigh of every ‘90s tween who didn’t know whether to swoon or cringe. Back in ’95, I was already deep in adulting—paying bills, juggling work, and side-eyeing anything labeled “family entertainment” like it was trying to sell me a Happy Meal. So when Casper hit  ...

There are few moments in the 1980’s output of horror titles as effective as the opening minutes of Tom Holland’s Child’s Play.  Serial-killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), wearing a righteous brown trench coat, is being chased through the dingy streets of south Chicago by homicide detective  ...

It’s hard to believe but it’s been forty years since Marty McFly drove 88 miles per hour into our collective minds and hearts and started down the road to an amazing time at the movies. Back to the Future and its sequels are indelible crowd pleasers, almost universally loved and for good reason. With the  ...