DVD/Blu-ray Reviews

Motorcycles and gas-gobbling b-grade movies go hand in hand. These are the high-octane flicks that cost little to make, yet remain unforgettable. Slap their images on the larger than life drive-in screen and walk away and producers can count their dollar bills all the way to ...

Released by RKO Radio Pictures in 1933, director Felix E. Feist’s Deluge, a super-soaker of a destruction film, was long thought lost due to neglect. It was almost as if the film never existed. For the longest time, it seemed that only a ragged Italian print remained of this special  ...

The British go prehistoric with this wild adventure.  One Million Years B.C. is a special effects bonanza with a variety of creatures created by the famed Ray Harryhausen himself.  Of course, none of that matters in this film because all eyes are on the amazing special effects  ...

With stunning landscapes and a healthy dose of gore, Stake Land 2 stands tall right next to its heavily praised first outing.  Not much has changed in the landscape, but the delivery is a bit more charged.  In my review of the first film, I described the Stake Land atmosphere ...

Nipple inpalements, even in a movie, are just too painful to watch.  Bloody Moon is probably director Jesús Franco’s most accessible movie.  I’m not saying it is his best movie, mind you, but – considering the unique weirdness of his vast body of work – it is a relative straight shooter ...

“She’s not crazy, she’s being chased by a cheetah!” And in this way, Italian filmmaker Franco Prosperi brings animal attraction to a whole new level. Having broken free of the mondo documentaries he is partially responsible for, he went feral with his first horror film. Now ...

The Survivor has finally made its landing on blu-ray.  Never heard of it, eh?  Honestly, I’m not surprised as it is an interesting experiement in horror that doesn't always do what it needs to do in order to be successful.  British author James Herbert’s novel might have been ...

Ah, the 1970s! There are few things more terrifying than cinematic vanity projects – especially when the results are far from fantastic. Vinegar Syndrome – now diving into Crown International’s backlog of obscure titles – presents two of actor Peter Carpenter’s more ...

There’s a solar eclipse this Friday.  There’s also a visible green comet streaking across the skies.  It will, in addition, also be a full moon that night.  If you are a teacher, get a substitute.  If you are elsewhere in the public sphere, know that the only safe place will be under ...

We’re baaaack!!!! Poltergeist III is a better idea than it is a movie. Maybe it should never have been connected to the franchise at all. But it was and – due to the sudden death of Heather O’Rourke – it became something everyone but the studio wanted to write off....

Written, directed and produced by Ken Russell, The Lair of the White Worm remains a phallic-obsessed journey through an endless barrage of serpent double-entendres by way of Bram Stoker. Russell would have it no other way either. He was, after all, a self-confessed ...

It is a dark night.  The sky is pregnant with distant stars.  A lone fire lights the desert canyon wall.  Two Native Americans sit next to it.  There is chanting.  Soon, spirits are inhaled.  If the opening to Poltergeist II: The Other Side throws you for a loop, know that you aren’t ...

Exploitation filmmaking rarely gets ANY trashier than with 1980’s Don’t Answer the Phone.  Shot in and around Los Angeles, it is definitely one of the scuzziest flicks produced during the beginning of that century, yet it somehow left its mark on people and, however surprisingly ...

From the brassy swing of the Perez Prado mambo to the hot pink splash of the movie’s title against the front of an Oldsmobile, the opening to director Bob Balaban’s Parents suggests this horror film is not like the others.  Parents, with its witty dialogue, its critical lens, and ...

Japanese film director and screenwriter Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale) has certainly left his mark on filmmaking.  Notable for his extensive use of shaky camera techniques in the 1970s, his influences on film spread worldwide over his lifetime with his final film being  ...