THE EPITAPH VOL.12 - SCREAM! FACTORY EDITION
Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 87 Minutes
Audio: Russian, English Dub DTS-HD MA 2.0 , 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Svyatoslav Podgaevskiy
Cast: Viktoriya Agalakova, Efim Petrunin, Sofia Shidlovskaya, Nikita Elenev, Igor Khripunov, Cecile Plage
Synopsis: For years, she has lurked in the depths ... waiting. Once a young woman sent to a tragic and watery grave, she has since become something unholy. Cursed to swim the waters in which she met her untimely death, the mermaid has risen once again. This unspeakable wraith-like creature hungers for love — and has set her hook for Marina's fiancé, Roman. The bond between Marian and Roman is steadfast and true. But if you spurn the mermaid, she'll punish you and take from you that which you love most. Now locked in a desperate battle with pure, undying evil, Marina must overcome her fear of the dark water to save all that she holds dear from a terrifying fate.
In my opinion there are not enough movies about malevolent mermaids, it's an under explored sub-genre, so this indie horror film from absolutely Russia caught my attention. A film about a group of young people who fall prey to a curse placed upon a family, a member of said family belongs to this group of friends, and the water spirit begins to chip away at his sanity, edging him towards doom. As a Russian film that explores what looks to be a folk tale from that part of the world, the movie strayed pretty far from what I was expecting, the mermaid here is more of a water spirit than a fish-tailed woman, to me feeling more like a vengeful Japanese spirit along the lines of Ringu or The Grudge, but it has some good, creepy moments, but it also drags a bit in places. The film is handsomely shot and visually pleasing with some very well-executed moments but I couldn't help but be a bit disappointed that it wasn't the sort of mermaid film I was hoping for, coming off as more of a ghost story disguised as a mermaid film. The single-disc release includes a reversible wrap and a slipcover, both artwork looking very cool, the only extras on the disc is a trailer for the film.
SCREAMERS (1995)
Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Duration: 108 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Christian Duguay
Cast: Peter Weller, Roy Dupuis, Jennifer Rubin, Andrew Lauer
Synopsis: The year is 2078. The man is rebel Alliance Commander Col. Joseph Hendrickson (Peter Weller), assigned to protect the Sirius 6B outpost from ravage and plunder at the hands of the New Economic Bloc. His state-of-the-art weaponry are known as Screamers: man-made killing devices programmed to eliminate all enemy life forms. Screamers travel underground, their intent to kill announced by piercing shrieks. They dissect their victims with sushi precision, then eradicate all traces of the carnage. They are lethal. Effective. Tidy. And somehow, they are mutating – self-replicating into human form – and slaughtering every beating heart on the planet.
Straight-to Video sci-fi thriller Screamers is a bit of an underrated gem in my opinion, not unlike Of Unknown Origin (1993), also starring Peter Weller (Robocop), another gem recently brought to Blu-ray by Scream Factory. Based on a story by author Philip K. Dick the film concerns a mining outpost on a planet where dueling human factions are fighting one another, to that end the rebel Alliance develops a weapon called a "screamer", burrowing buzzsaw-bladed robots that are sort of like the spheres from the Phantasm films. The problem is that these robots begin to evolve and think for themselves, developing humanoid decoys aimed at killing all of the humans on the planet. Peter Weller is solid here as the hard-boiled Col. Joseph Hendrickson, a bad-ass with a few quirks, like a love of opera. The film is set in post-apocalyptic landscape on another planet, it's there's an impressive amount of world building happening in both big and small ways throughout the film, with lots of background stuff going on if you're paying attention. The film's major failing might be that it's a tad too long and it gets too muddled in the politics, but it's a fun watch and the screamers are awesome, with a decent amount of gore. The Blu-ray from Scream Factory presents the film in 1080p HD widescreen with English DTS-HD MA stereo with over an hour's worth of interviews from director Christian Duguay, Producer Tom Berry, Co-writer Miguel Tejada-Flores and Actress Jennifer Rubin, plus a sleeve of reversible artwork. More Peter Weller on Blu-ray is always a good thing, even this straight-to-video sci-fi entry offers plenty of entertainment value.
Special Features:
- NEW Northern Frights – An Interview With Director Christian Duguay (21 min)
- NEW Orchestrating The Future – An Interview With Producer Tom Berry (24 min)
- NEW More Screamer Than Human – An Interview With Co-writer Miguel Tejada-Flores (11 min)
- NEW From Runaway To Space – An Interview With Actress Jennifer Rubin (19 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
Label: Scream Factory/IFC Midnight
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 109 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0, 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Duncan Skiles
Cast: Dylan McDermott, Charlie Plummer, Samantha Mathis, Madisen Beaty
Synopsis: Tyler Burnside (Charlie Plummer, All The Money In The World) is a Boy Scout, a volunteer at his local church, and the dutiful son of an upstanding, community leader dad (Dylan McDermott, American Horror Story). Only one thing troubles the quiet Kentucky town he lives in: the unsolved murders — in which ten women were brutally tortured and killed by a psychopath known as Clovehitch — that rocked the community more than a decade ago. When Tyler discovers a cache of disturbing images in his father's possession, he begins to suspect that the man he trusts most in the world may be Clovehitch … and that his deadly rampage may not be over. With unrelenting tension, director Duncan Skiles crafts a picture-perfect vision of the American family … and then rips it to shreds.
This is a real gem of a serial killer film, dealing with an awkward teen boy who begins to suspect his seemingly all-American father, a boy scout leader, might just be a sadistic serial killer who has terrorized his town for years. Dylan McDermott is fantastic as the father, his son obsessing over the possibility of his father being a killer makes for an intriguing watch. Sure, his dad is strange guy but is he THAT strange? That's the question being investigated by his son, all of this being initiated by the discovery of an dirty image from a magazine in his father's truck while on a date with a local girl, which ruins the son already sketchy reputation at school. The teen is helped along by a new found friend, a young woman who has been touched by tragedy, who is obsessed with serial killers. This is a film that pulled me in right from the star and kept me glued right up until the rather disturbing finale, a film that is heavy with atmosphere, delivering an intense slow-burn that pays off with disturbing dividends. The single-disc releases includes a sleeve of reversible artwork and a slipcover, extras are slim but include a making-of and a trailer for the film. This one comes very highly recommended, an intelligent and dark film about the keeping and revealing of family secrets.
Special Features:
- Making-Of Featurette ( min)
- Theatrical Trailer
MAN'S BEST FRIEND (1993)
Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 87 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English ubtitles
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: John Lafia
Cast: Ally Sheedy, Lance Henriksen, Fredric Lehne, Robert Costanzo
Synopsis: Pulse-pounding action and spine-chilling thrills put the bite into this sci-fi shocker starring Ally Sheedy (X-Men: Apocalypse, The Breakfast Club) and Lance Henriksen (Pumpkinhead, Aliens). When an ambitious news journalist (Sheedy) breaks into a genetic research facility, she uncovers the biggest story of her career and unleashes the lab's most dangerous experiment: Max – a genetically enhanced guard dog with a vicious killer instinct. Superior sight, hearing, strength, and intelligence make him faster, stronger, and smarter than almost any other animal alive – and deadlier. Without the neuropathic drugs needed to curb his aggressive nature, his predatory urge runs out of control ... and once he tastes blood, nothing can stop him.
When we talk about underrated horror films from the 90's let me make clear that no one is talking about this film by any means whatsoever! That said, this cheesy film might certainly has it's charms, a blend of cheesy sci-fi and wanna-be Cujo dog-horror that feels more like a Turner & Hooch human-dog bonding comedy with corny Terminator wrinkle. The tone is so uneven, make it hard to tell what the director's true intentions were here, but if you like bad movies there's plenty here to love. Here we have intrepid TV reporter Lori Tanner (Ally Sheedy, Breakfast Club) investigating animal-cruelty at a local lab, which is run by Dr. Jarret (Lance Henriksen, Alien). A big dog named Max follows here home from the lab and begins to bond with her, much to the chagrin of her asshole boyfriend. As the film goes on we discover Max is a genetically engineered super-dog, capable of do a variety of strange things, like the ability chase a cat up a tree and swallow it whole, unleashing a stream of acidic dog piss, and using chameleon DNA to tun invisible.! This is a very silly film through and through, but everyone is playing it so straight, so it has a bonkers vibe that while not good is at least entertaining.
The film arrives on Blu-ray with a new 2K scan from Shout Factory, and it looks great, but the extras are slim. Apparently no one was in a hurry to talk about their time making this film, with the only real extra being a commentary with Writer/Director John Lafia, plus a some TV spots and trailers, and a sleeve of reversible artwork, both of which are rather hideous.
Special Features:
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Original Film Elements
- NEW Audio Commentary With Writer/Director John Lafia
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
- Teaser Trailer (1 min)
- TV Spots (1 min)
THE CRAFT (1996)
Collector's Edition
Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 101 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Andrew Flemming
Cast: Fairuza Balk, Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, Rachel True, Skeet Ulrich, Christine Taylor, Breckin Meyer
Synopsis: Sarah has always been different. So as the newcomer at St. Benedict's Academy, she immediately falls in with high school outsiders. But there's something different about her new friends, and it's not just that they won't settle for being a group of powerless misfits. They have discovered The Craft ... and they are going to use it.
The Craft is a fun teen angst ridden film of witchcraft, we have a new girl Sarah (Robin Tunney, Empire Records) arriving in L.A. attending high school and befriending a group of outsider teens who all share an interest in the occult. They identify Sarah as having some supernatural ability and are looking to form a proper witches coven to pool their witchy powers into something truly phenomenal. However, when coven leader Nancy (Fairuza Balk, The Island of Dr. Moreau) gets a taste of power she turns a bit nasty with the group turning against Sarah, and a lot of bitchy/witchy teen stuff happens. Made in '95 the film has some questionable digital FX work, but it holds up, but I can also see how this might not have quite as much appeal for a younger crowd, it's definitely a product of the 90's, but I can see this appealing to fans of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Charmed.
While branded as a Collectors Edition from Scream Factory this is not a new scan of the film, this is the same A/V presentation as the 2009 Blu-ray from Sony, which is good but dated, lacking the depth, clarity and vibrancy a new scan would have provided. We do however get about 50-minutes worth of new interviews with Director Andrew Fleming,
Producer Douglas Wick, Co-writer Peter Filardi and Makeup Effects Supervisor Tony Gardner, plus the stuff from the previous Blu-ray, including a commentary with the director deleted scenes, a trailer, and some vintage featurettes. There's also a sleeve of reversible artwork with a new illustration by artist Joel Robinson.
Special Features:
- NEW Directing The Craft – An Interview With Co-writer And Director Andrew Fleming (15 min)
- NEW Producing The Craft – An Interview With Producer Douglas Wick (13 min)
- NEW Writing The Craft – An Interview With Co-writer Peter Filardi (11 min)
- NEW Effecting The Craft – An Interview With Makeup Effects Supervisor Tony Gardner (11 min)
- Audio Commentary With Director Andrew Fleming
- Vintage Featurette – Conjuring The Craft (24 min)
- Vintage Featurette – The Making Of The Craft (6 min)
- Deleted Scenes With Optional Audio Commentary (7 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
BACKBEAT (1993)
Label: Shout Select
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 100 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Ian Softly
Cast: Sheryl Lee, Stephen Dorff, Ian Hart
Synopsis: Directed by Iain Softley (Hackers), Backbeat is an energetic, musical drama chronicling the pre-fame Beatles as they head to Hamburg in search of success. As they gain popularity, the "fifth Beatle," bass guitarist Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff), falls in love and ultimately must choose between his best friend John Lennon (Ian Hart), his new love Astrid (Sheryl Lee), and the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world.
I've always has a soft spot for this film about the early days of The Beatles as they earned their rock n' roll stripes in Hamburg, Germany. The story centers around the friendship of John Lennon (Ian Hart, TVs The Terror) and original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff, HBO's True Detective), with Sutcliffe struggling to maintain dedication to the band while wanting to express his art through abstract painting for which he has a natural talent. This divide is only widened when he meets a German photographer named Astrid Kirchherr (Sheryl Lee, TV's Twin Peaks) who encourages him to pursue his artistic side. The biopic also features the rest of the early incarnation of the band, including Paul McCartney (Gary Bakewell), George Harrison (Chris O'Neill), and Pete Best (Scot Williams). It's a pretty seedy look at the early days of the band, at times offering plenty of boozing, fighting and sex for the young men, plus a dozen or so raw rock and roll songs that the band used to cover back in the day, as the film uses absolutely no songs by The Beatles. When this movie first hit the cinema I was less intrigued about the film as I was about the all-star rock band producer Don Was assembled to record the songs, featuring Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum), Greg Dulli (The Afghan Whigs): , Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth, Don Fleming (Gumball, Mike Mills (R.E.M.) and
Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters), owning the soundtrack and CD-single with three exclusive tracks - including a wonderful version of Dizzy Miss Lizzy - long before I saw the film. Now having seen it it's a solid rock film with some good dramatic elements, with the bonus of getting Sheryl Lee from Twin Peaks in her 90s prime, I've always had such a crush on her. The single-disc release comes via Shout! Factory's Shout Select imprint, no new extras here, but they did license all the extras from the previous special edition DVD release and give it a 5.1 boost, which sounds terrific.
Special Features:
- A Conversation With Astrid Kirchherr (7 min)
- Deleted Scenes (3 min)
- Interview With Director Iain Softley And Actor Ian Hart (10 min)
- Iain Softley Interview For The Sundance Channel (28 min)
- Audio Commentary With Iain Softley, Ian Hart, And Stephen Dorff
- TV Featurette (12 min)
- Casting Session (7 min)
- Trailer (2 min)
Collector's Edition
Label: Shout Select
Region Code: A
Duration: 117/118 Minutes
Rating: R/Unrated
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Dominic Sena
Cast: Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny, Michelle Forbes
Synopsis: When urban intellectuals Brian (Duchovny) and Carrie (Forbes) set out on a cross-country trip to research a book about serial killers, they share the ride with a couple they barely know — Early Grayce (Pitt) and his girlfriend Adele (Lewis). Locked in a car hurtling westward, the four travelers struggle to find some common ground. But when they finally do connect, Early's violent nature abruptly emerges and the terrified Brian and Carrie realize that they don’t need to go very far to learn about ruthless killers ... because they are already face-to-face with one!
Grad student Brian (David Duchovny, X-Files) and his photographer girlfriend Carrie (Michelle Forbes, Swimming With Sharks) plan travel across the country and document locations where horrendous murders were committed by serial killers for a book he's working on. Problem is they don't have enough funds to make the trip, so they post a ride-share ad and end up with a pair takers, the menacing, yet charming Early Grayce (Brad Pitt, Se7en)and his girlfriend Adele (Juliette Lewis, Natural Born Killers). As they make their trip from Louisville to L.A. the men build a bond while, but Brian's girlfriend keeps warning him that there's something very off about this Early guy. Ironically Brian is writing a book about serial killers, but is completely clueless to the fact that he's had a serial killer sitting in his car for hundreds of miles. This is a bit of an minor 90's gem, I think it gets lost in the earlier filmography of superstar Brad Pitt, but this thriller is lots of fun, with a demented and violent turn from Pitt, who would later do more of this sort of thing in 12 Monkeys (1995). The 2-disc release from Shout Select offers both the r-rated and only slightly longer unrated cuts of the film on separate discs. Sadly the only new extras is a 21-min interview with the director, but we do get all the extras from the previous release and a sleeve of reversible artwork and a slip with a new illustration from Antonio Stella.
Special Features:
- NEW Interview With Director Dominic Sena (25 min)
- Includes Both The Theatrical Cut And The Unrated Cut
- Original Featurette (5 min)
- Cast Interviews (2 min)
- Trailers and TV Spots (6 min)
