DVD/Blu-ray Reviews

Dan Curtis is a relative god among men when it comes to producing and directing American horror television programs. From creating Dark Shadows to bringing life into investigative reporter Carl Kolchak in The Night Stalker, Curtis is often cited as the primary source of  ...

There is a moment in Insidious’ latest chapter that makes it all worthwhile. Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) is tiptoeing through the nooks and crannies of her own house following the oily footprints of a demon hell-bent in possessing the living. The suspense is palpable, as she seems ...

People are still talking about Hammer Films and for good reason.  We are referring to, after all, a bedrock of lavish horror films that have withstood time and changing tastes.  Uniquely antiquated in style and very, very British, this independent production company originally ...

Writer/director Guillermo del Toro returns to the gothic and raids it like an undiscovered goldmine in his latest film, Crimson PeakBe warned, though.This is not the horror film you are expecting as the trailers are a bit misleading.  This is horror by way of serious-minded novelists like  ...

There’s a lot to like in Steven Spielberg’s Cold War-era spy thriller Bridge of Spies: reliving memories of those old “duck and cover” educational films; fedora-clad G-men tracking shadowy figures who dart in and out of New York subway cars; clandestine prisoner swaps between  ...

Hilariously off-putting in its documenting of an anti-liberal, pro-Bush time period in American history, 2004’s Team America arrives on blu-ray this week from Warner Bros thanks to a newly minted distribution deal with Paramount. While the film’s creators have gone on the ...

There is an opportunity lost within The Last Witch Hunter, an opportunity to be much bigger in scope than it actually comes across as being.  You may enjoy the fantasy flick but you’ll have to sit through a lot of the humdrum before getting there.  This is slight entertainment  ...

Being the second holiday-themed adventure for the Toy Story gang, one could easily expect the celebrated spirit of movie one, two, and three to be a bit diminished.  That is, thankfully, not the case with The Toy Story That Time Forgot, last year’s offering on ABC to kickoff  ...

As if he were preaching to the choir with his latest film, director David Gordon Green tells us in Our Brand is Crisis that politics is a dirty business. And with a timely subject matter so ripe for sleazy material, the opportunities with which to entertain us are seemingly endless ...

Warner Home Video outdoes itself this Halloween season with the release of a 4-film Special Effects Collection on blu-ray.  The set includes Mighty Joe Young (1949), Son of Kong (1933), Them! (1954), and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953); all of which are new   ...

It is upon us. For, thankfully, a fourth time, Daniel Craig returns as James Bond and delivers yet another quality entry in his stint as the super spy bulldog with a taste for drink and dames.This time though, Skyfall’s director Sam Mendes - who also returns for a  ...

Visual artist Corin Hardy’s directorial debut is, indeed, something to see.  Opening this weekend here in Kansas City, the horror film grabs viewers with its sheer intensity and atmospheric effects.  It’s a hard one to immediately shake off which is why my rating easily gets rounded ...

Rated R due to the amount of bloodshed and on-screen violence, director Peter Jackson returns one final time (maybe) to the fields of Middle-Earth and delivers The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition. Available this week, the new cut features 20 minutes of unseen moments. ...

There are few things more unforgettable and terrifying in the cinematic annuals than Emil Jannings as Mephisto in F. W. Murnau's Faust. Who? That's your first response. I know, I know. Unfortunately, when it comes to horror, the entire silent era of filmmaking gets overlooked   ...

After the success of Rocky Balboa (both critically and commercially), if you’d have asked me should the character of Rocky return for yet another installment I would have said “no” and quite emphatically.  In fact, to my friends and family and any stranger who dared  ...