Godzilla

Posted January 28th, 2012 in Blu-ray, Essential Blu-ray, Film | article by
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Much more than just another monster movie, Godzilla is a spectacular public exorcism of the specters of World War II, and the tumultuous, emotional expression of a nation’s struggle to come to terms with its history as both a perpetrator and victim of incalculable wartime devastation.

Godzilla King of the Monsters!

Posted January 28th, 2012 in Essential Blu-ray, Film | article by
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Ships are disappearing off the Japanese coast, their survivors recounting stories of boiling seas and brilliant light. Officials are at a loss for why until an investigation reveals the terrifying truth: Godzilla, a monster right out of prehistory, has been torn from its undersea niche by H-bomb testing and is making a bee-line for the Japanese capital.

Sennentuntschi

Posted January 27th, 2012 in The Horror!? | article by
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Just after a small village in the Swiss Alps has buried its sacristan after his suicide, a bloody and battered young woman appears in town. The woman doesn’t seem to be able to speak, and is clearly either heavily traumatized or mentally ill, but the villagers at once blame her for the sacristan’s death.

The Roots of Heaven

Posted January 23rd, 2012 in Blu-ray, Film | article by
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Follows the Sisyphean efforts of expat Englishman Morel, whose imaginings of the free-roaming herds of Africa helped to see him through his stint in a Nazi POW camp, to abolish the wholesale slaughter of elephants by the ivory trade as well as their trapping by the callous providers of zoo specimens and circus attractions.

Mr Wrong

Posted January 20th, 2012 in The Horror!? | article by
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Meg has left her country home for the big city, where she works in an antiquities store. To make it easier to visit her parents over the weekends – and probably as a symbol of her freshly won independence – the young woman buys a used Jaguar.

Picnic

Posted January 19th, 2012 in Blu-ray, Film | article by
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Logan took his production on location in Kansas to secure the necessary middle-American atmosphere, and his effort pays off wonderfully – there’s a distinct believability to Picnic’s fictional heartland community, despite all the big-name talent occupied there.

Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan

Posted January 17th, 2012 in Film | article by
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Katsuko Wakasugi lends her role a necessary frailty, seeming a truly helpless victim until the truth of things is revealed to her. From that moment her characterization changes into that of a driven monstrosity, the inhumanity pitted against her giving rise to a suitably inhuman instrument of vengeance.

Étoile

Posted January 13th, 2012 in The Horror!? | article by
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It’s difficult to ignore the influence Hitchcock – especially Vertigo – seems to have had on Del Monte’s movie. Watching the film, I was frequently reminded of a less hysterical twin to Brian De Palma’s Hitchcock-influenced phase, an impression that certainly did not decrease through the themes and visual cues these films share.

Production and Decay of Strange Particles

Posted January 12th, 2012 in The Outer Limits | article by
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Covers its budgetary shortcomings with lots of flash and reams of pseudo-scientific exposition. It’s impossible to really understand what’s being said here even if you can parse out the legitimate science in the rough, but Stevens’ direction ensures that it all at least sounds important.

The Duplicate Man

Posted January 10th, 2012 in The Outer Limits | article by
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There’s a lot wrong with The Duplicate Man, which too often undermines its big-idea aspirations with silly pulp trappings, but it certainly strives to be better than it is. All in all it’s one of the last really interesting things to come out of The Outer Limits before ABC kicked it off the air.

Older Posts

The Children of Spider County
published January 9th, 2012 in The Outer Limits | article by

A potentially promising concept lost in fifty-one minutes of dense and clumsy exposition and shoddy monster-on-the-loose action. Even the creature design seems rushed and bland, memorable though the sight of that monstrous head poking out of a smart business suit may be.

Grave Encounters
published January 6th, 2012 in The Horror!? | article by

(Don’t) stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The footage Grave Encounters consists of is purportedly edited down from footage shot by the team of the ghost hunting TV show “Grave Encounters” during the filming of their rather fatal sixth episode…

A Scent of New-Mown Hay
published January 6th, 2012 in Books | article by

John Blackburn’s freshman work is a science fiction thriller with overtones of apocalyptic horror and in principle just the sort of book I should have loved. And though I devoured it in scarcely an afternoon, I found the expected love rather difficult to come by.

No Blade of Grass
published January 4th, 2012 in DVD, Film | article by

…wouldn’t be such a memorable experience were it not so incongruous, motorcycle Huns, ham-fisted eco-rhetoric, bombastic score and all, and in retrospect I’d never have wanted Wilde to make it any other way. Its more shocking moments have lost none of their gruesome efficacy in the 40-plus years since it was made.

Ninja Warriors
published December 31st, 2011 in Film | article by

The holidays are winding down here in Wtf-Film-land, the jollity of days past reduced to little more than a slowly deteriorating refrigerated turkey and a few uncollected scraps of wrapping paper scattered about the floor. But much as I would like to look forward to the year ahead there’s just one more bit of holiday business to attend to: the first annual M.O.S.S. Secret Santa assignment…

Fright Night
published December 13th, 2011 in Twilight Time Blu-ray | article by

Dandridge – who eschews the traditional cape for snazzy cable knit sweaters and has a taste for fresh fruit just as strong as his taste for the supple necks of prostitutes – is every bit a product of the decade in which the film was made, an upper crust yuppie bloodsucker with a penchant for remodeling homes and antiquing.

Rapture
published December 12th, 2011 in Twilight Time Blu-ray | article by

Meticulously photographed in black and white CinemaScope and related in an intense, personal manner, this is about as far removed from director Guillermin’s big-money spectacles as I’d imagine possible. Rapture practically oozes art-house appeal, and Twilight Time have finally granted it the quality presentation that has so long eluded it.

Magic of the Universe
published December 9th, 2011 in The Horror!? | article by

Stage magician Professor – we never learn Professor of what, though I do suspect trundling through the jungle to be his main area of expertise – Jamir loses his little daughter Freza when he’s doing a standard disappearing act. The little girl disappears well enough but she doesn’t reappear again when she should…

The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly
published December 2nd, 2011 in The Horror!? | article by

A strange and increasingly violent series of burglaries and murders shakes Japan. The murder victims are usually found stabbed in the back, and killed in tightly controlled or completely locked places. Additionally, nobody ever sees or hears any sign of the perpetrator or perpetrators. Why, you could think the killer is invisible!

Shadow of the Colossus
published December 1st, 2011 in World of Wander | article by

A potent mix of thrills, aesthetic wonder and humanity that balances its intense action set pieces and grimmer subject matter with breathtaking environmental design. The simplicity of its premise belies the supreme artistry with which it is related, and the sum experience of it is unlike anything else.

Mysterious Island
published November 15th, 2011 in Essential Blu-ray | article by

Fantastic, beautiful stuff buoyed by the descending bass and percussive clash of one of Bernard Herrmann’s finest fantasy scores. Mysterious Island is a pitch-perfect example of the lost art of fantasy filmmaking as it once was.

Island of the Living Dead
published November 12th, 2011 in The Horror!? | article by

After a pause of half a decade, Italian movie god Bruno Mattei resumed his work of blowing minds and keeping under budget with the beginning of the 21st century, shooting as many movies until his death in 2007 as the direct to DVD market would allow.

Next week’s notable releases – Bruce Dern, Santa Claus, and Evil Dead too!
published November 10th, 2011 in Wtf-Film News | article by

Buy them you fools!

Horror Express
published November 5th, 2011 in Severin Films Blu-ray | article by

Excellent casting and a proclivity for the humorously bizarre make all the difference here. As a film about an eye-boiling brain-stealing alien intelligence loosed upon long-distance rail travelers it remains the best, and only, of its kind.

The Incite Mill
published November 4th, 2011 in The Horror!? | article by

Looking at the career of director Hideo Nakata, I can’t avoid the impression he had his difficulties recovering from the catastrophe that was The Ring 2, possibly because being responsible for that one is a shame someone with even a little bit of pride in his work would have a hard time living down…

Dead Alive
published November 2nd, 2011 in Lionsgate Blu-ray | article by

Those attempting to find logic or reason in Dead Alive’s zombie hordes are out of luck as common sense falls victim to the all-important gag. It’s a welcome change in a subgenre that enjoys strangling itself in rules and regulations – “aim for the brain” isn’t such a helpful piece of advice when the critter creeping your way has a lawn gnome for a head!

Horror Express, MST3K, and Mysterious Island on the big screen!
published November 2nd, 2011 in Wtf-Film News | article by

It’s news!

Heavy Metal
published October 30th, 2011 in Essential Blu-ray | article by

Flirts with a variety of styles and genres, with little but an overriding sense of adolescent glee holding it all together. It’s an out and out celebration of whooshing rockets, spurting blood, and bouncing bare breasts – the very staples of the young male imagination brought to life in vivid, living color.

The Power
published October 28th, 2011 in The Horror!? | article by

The effects in the film’s grand finale are its weakest, with some very cartoony animation, a rotating skeleton and George Hamilton’s floating head standing in for a mental duel that would have worked better if the actors had just stared at each other while Miklós Rózsa’s dramatic music played. In The Power’s case, we call them “special” effects for a reason.

Cannibal Girls
published October 25th, 2011 in O Canada... | article by

Never quite decides whether it wants to be outright exploitation or a spoof of the same, but it works well enough on both levels to keep this reviewer happy. Schlock aficionados, trash connoisseurs, and fans of the generally bizarre owe it to themselves to give this oddball genre flunky a run – they just might like it.

Heroic Trio
published October 21st, 2011 in The Horror!? | article by

An invisible villain is stealing babies from their cribs and out of hospitals! The evildoer even mocks the police by announcing her victims beforehand. Not even the son of Hong Kong’s chief of police is safe, as hard as the policeman responsible for the case is trying…

Things to Come
published October 18th, 2011 in Legend Films Blu-ray | article by

The futuristic rebuilding of Everytown, in which massive excavators hollow out a cavernous expanse that swiftly develops into a vast antiseptic city of porcelain and glass, is perhaps the mother of all science fiction montages. Even the substantively embarrassing Space Gun, the film’s one absolute piece of scientific bunk, is of impressive construction and imposing scale.

The Thing
published October 15th, 2011 in That's no dog! | article by

A prequel that repurposes so much of the narrative arc of the film that it purportedly precedes that it actually becomes a remake of it as well. The Thing eventually comes full circle and becomes an allegory for itself – a hollow cinematic monstrosity that tries very hard to convince audiences it’s something that it isn’t.

Color Me Blood Red
published October 14th, 2011 in Something Weird | article by

Two Thousand Maniacs may be this disc’s low water mark with regards to its technical deficiencies, but Color Me Blood Red is easily its lowest in terms of entertainment value. The bland A Bucket of Blood-inspired narrative is pumped so full of dull youth filler that its few high points are easily lost in the shuffle.

Miami Golem
published October 14th, 2011 in The Horror!? | article by

The film’s first fifty minutes consist of bad science, Atlantis, telepathy, telekinesis and people talking in that lovely Italian dub job manner that makes everyone sound as if they had learned cursing by watching Ed Wood movies. After those first fifty minutes are over, though, Miami Golem gets really weird.

Two Thousand Maniacs
published October 13th, 2011 in Something Weird | article by

There’s a carnival atmosphere that pervades throughout, with the residents of Pleasant Valley perpetually singing and dancing and waving their commemorative Confederate flags. It’s all quite charming in a subversive sort of way, like a Gone With the Wind for exploitation devotees.

Herschell Gordon Lewis Edition
published October 12th, 2011 in A Preview of Coming Attractions | article by

Full of the gushy crimson excesses the films themselves are infamous for, these tiny morsels of exploitation gold could be argued – most successfully in the case of 1965′s lackluster Color Me Blood Red – to be better than the actual films.

The Colossus of New York
published October 7th, 2011 in The Horror!? | article by

Schnee’s script is a very interesting effort, managing to surround the silly parts and the plot holes you’d expect of a film like this with more complex characters than you’d generally find in a 50s SF/horror film and some pretty poignant scenes concerning the most dysfunctional family I’ve seen in a genre movie from the 50s.

Blood Feast
published October 3rd, 2011 in Something Weird | article by

Here it is, folks, the film that single-handedly revolutionized the relationship between exploitation filmmaking and gooey, graphic violence. Sure it’s silly and stupid and about as scary as a pair of wool socks, but it’s also a blast to watch – grand guignol has rarely been such good clean fun.

The Dead Don’t Die
published September 30th, 2011 in The Horror!? | article by

…feels like a film noir’s themes had stumbled into an RKO horror movie that for its part has found itself inexplicably entwined with the visual and emotional world of the melodrama. It all adds up to one of the best voodoo zombie movies of the 70s.

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