Blu-ray Review: Mother's Day

MOTHER'S DAY (2010)

Label: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 112 mins
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (2:40:1)
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Cast: Shawn Ashmore, Lyriq Bent, Patrick John Flueger, Frank Grillo, Jaime King, Warren Kole, Lisa Marcos, Kandyse McClure, Rebecca De Mornay, Tony Nappo, Matt O'Leary, Deborah Ann Woll Darren Lynn Bousman's remake of the Charles Kaufman's Troma classic Mother's Day (1980) makes it's way to Blu-ray after languishing for some time on a shelf having been deprived of a theatrical release. I should mention that I watched this without the benefit of having seen the Troma exploitation original but hopefully we'll be seeing a Blu-ray of that feature in the very near future, it having been delayed numerous times not unlike the remake. Beth (Jamie King) and Daniel Sohapi (Frank Grillo) are young couple just having moved into a new home following a family tragedy. The night they host a birthday party attended by several friends the party is crashed by the Koffin Brothers, a trio of sadistic bank robbers. We have Izaac (Patrick John Flueger), Addley (Warren Cole) and the youngest of the bunch Johnny (Matt O'Leary) who suffers a  nasty gunshot to the chest after a double-cross during the robbery. The trio arrive at the house under the assumption that the home belongs to their mother, not realizing it was recently foreclosed on and is now home to the young couple. Taken by surprise the party goers are forced to remain in the basement at gunpoint while one of the guests, a doctor (Shawn Ashmore) tends as best he can to the gravely injured Johnny. It's not long before mommy dearest (the awesome Rebecca De Mornay) and daughter Lydia, the gorgeous ginger-haired Deborah Ann Woll of HBO's True Blood, arrive on the scene and mom takes over. De Mornay as the steely-eyed patriarch is quite the chilling character; a strict punishment minded momma who is the scary embodiment of every quietly seething mother who's ever uttered the phrase "come here, I just wanna talk, I'm not gonna hurt you" right before she snags you by the ear and whips the snot outta ya. Only De Mornay's momma is more likely to have one of her sadistic sons poor liquor on your head and set it on fire rather than grabbing a handful of earlobe, she's a scary intense piece of work. We haven't seen the actress this scary since the thriller The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and even still that's nowhere near what we have here. There's quite a few torturous moments on display here, it's a real nail-biter. Not a splatterfest by any means but there's definitely some decent moments of gore including a couple of sweet shotgun blast to the skull. It's disturbing stuff as the twisted family pit the party guests against each other taking delight in their misery. There's a matter of missing money that fuels the horrific events throughout the film and I think it's mighty successful.I don't count myself as a fan of the few Darren Lynn Bouseman films I've seen including Saw II and Repo! The Genetic Opera but this I truly love. It's a sickening nailbiter that's pretty twisted and it's a damn shame it didn't get a wide theatrical run.  4 outta 5

Blu-ray Review: 42ND STREET FOREVER: THE BLU-RAY EDITION (2012)

42nd Street Forever: The Blu-ray Edition [Blu-ray]

Label: Synapse Films 

Region: All Regions (ABC)
Rating: Unrated 

Duration: 225 minutes

Audio: DTS-HD MA English 2.0 Mono

Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.78:1)

Director: Various

Cast: Various


Synopsis: Synapse Films’ best-selling 42ND STREET FOREVER DVD series has been a favorite of grindhouse and exploitation fans around the world. Presented here for the first time on Blu-ray, this colossal “best of” collection combines a selection of vintage theatrical trailers from the first two DVD volumes of the series, and mixes them up with some all-new selections! Remastered in true 1080p high definition, this mind-numbing dose of classic original coming attractions will have your Blu-ray player exploding with more than three and a half hours of sex, exploitation, action, horror and science-fiction advertisements from around the world! Can your brain take all this sleaze in one sitting? A collection so huge, we can’t even list them all on the Blu-ray packaging!

The Film: What we have here is a "best of" collection of trailers culled from Synapse Films much beloved 42nd Street Forever trailer compilations. Some of you out there might be thinking what's so great about a compilation of film trailers but let me tell you - it's a pretty fantastic watch. As someone who loves not just a well executed trailer but owns a pretty large collection of mp3 "radio spots" for  grindhouse/horror films this set is pure gold from the get-go with an arsenal of action, blaxploitation, sexploitation, rape-revenge, kung-fu, horror and smut, it's just a terribly good watch.


We get some b-movie cheese sandwiched between slices of fried gold, and even the cheese is so godawful terrible that it's not just bad cinema it's awesome. I'm maybe not the world's biggest connoisseur of blaxploitation but if the trailer for The Guy from Harlem (1977) from the director of the black exorcist film Abby (1974) doesn't make you weep for joy the reel for the crazy weird revenge tale Welcome Home Brother Charles (1975) surely will, especially with that junk cutting scene, ouch. Not doing it for you, how about the mighty Boss Nigger (1975) or the urban voodoo zombie flick Sugar Hill (1974) both of which I haven't seen but if these trailers are to be believed they're must-see trash films.


Now I have seen a lot of obscure cult films but I've only seen maybe 1/3 of the treasures on display here. There's several trailers that left me scratching my head and wondering aloud "Why the fuck have I not seen these!?!". Three that particularly struck me were the William Devane action-revenger Rolling Thunder (1975), Abel Ferrara's rape-revenger Ms. 45 (1981) and They Call Her One Eye (1974) starring Christina Lindberg - Oh My Lord do  these look fucking awesome.


Trashy sexploitation is well represented by the trashy women in prison epic Chained Heat (1983) starring Linda Blair. The film is part of Impulse Pictures Women in Prison Triple Feature, get that shit quick! Sleazy fun with Ginger (1971), The Teacher (1974) and Delinquent Schoolgirls (1975). Need a little sci-fi with your softcore well how about Flesh Gordon (1974),  havent' seen it? Me neither but now I think need to.


Creature features are well represented with the slimy 80's awesomeness of The Deadly Spawn (1983), The Green Slime (1968)  (available on DVD on Demand from the Warner Archive) and the killer mushroom feature Matango (1968) - yeah that's right, killer 'shrooms.


Now if you own the first two DVD volumes of the series don't go trading 'em in just yet for there are over 3 dozen trailers from those set not carried over here, remember this is a best of with some new selections thrown in.


Blu-ray: The nearly four hours of trailers are presented in 1080p and look like what you would expect from a collection of grindhouse trailers. The source material can be mighty suspect at times but the grit and grime are part and parcel of the grindhouse experience. This distinct patina of the non-pristine is much sought after and when you think of recent films like Grindhouse (2007), Hobo with a Shotgun (2011) and Astron-6's Father's Day (2011) this is exactly the atheistic they're trying to capture to varying degrees of success. Likewise the audio is not pristine with pops and audio imperfections but it's all part of the charm and I wouldn't have it any other way.


Special Features:
- Audio commentary with AVManiancs.com's Edwin Samuelson, Fangoria Magazine's Michael Gingold and Temple of Schlock's Chris Poggiali


Verdict: 42nd Street Forever Blu-ray Edition gets a high recommend from me. It's a great night of beer drinking and skipping through to the goodies and enjoying the awesomeness and crappulence of 70's and 80's  grindhouse cinema. I couldn't take it all in one sitting, that would have been brain-melting but every night after work I would  sit on the couch with a Guinness and a plate of bleu cheese curds and delve into the awesomeness for an hour or so  and it was awesome. Much like viewings Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation (2008) and Machete Maiden Unleashed (2010) I sat with pencil ion hand scribbling down names of films that i just needed to see, great stuff. This is definitely a Blu-ray I'll be handing out as gifts this Christmas. Here's hoping a second volume is in the works... 4.5 outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: KILLER NUN (1979)

KILLER NUN (1979)

Label: Blue Underground
Region Code: All
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 88 mins
Video: 16:9 Widescreen  (1.85:1)
Audio: English, Italian DTS-HD Mono
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, English for Italian Version
Director: Giulio Berruti
Cast: Anita Ekberg, Joe Dallesandro, Lou Castel, Alida Valli, Paola Morra


Synopsis: Legendary Swedish sex bomb Anita Ekberg (La Dolce Vita) stars as Sister Gertrude, a cruel nun who discovers depraved pleasure in a frenzy of drug addiction, sexual degradation and sadistic murder. Joe Dallesandro (Flesh for Frankenstein), Lou Castel (A Bullet for the General), Alida Valli (Suspiria) and the luscious Paola Morra (Behind Convent Walls) co-star in this notorious 'Nunsploitation' based on actual events that took place in a Central European country not many years ago!


The Film: Could it be that this is my first entry into the nunsploitation sub-genre? I think it is. Killer Nun is a title I've long heard of and now being able to sit down and watch the damn thing I think it may have been a case of expecting maybe a bit too much. A weird little film starring one-time sex goddess Anita Ekberg as Sister Gertrude - a nun slash nurse at a psychiatric center who is none-too-slowly becoming unhinged from reality as she spirals down a path of morphine addiction, seduction and murder. Director Berruti doesn't seem to really know what kind of film he's looking to make, there's the exploitative elements one would assume with nunsploitation but it's never quite sleazy enough with only hints at lesbianism - I wanted more - I'm a perv what can I say? Ekberg while a bit older here is still a striking woman from the top down if you know what I mean but she just doesn't commit to the full-on sleaziness this role demands, what she does do quite excellently is portray the madness of Sister Gertrude when given the opportunity, she's got some serious problems. I would have liked to see the film be more of a character study such as William Lustig's Maniac but like I say the film tries to be too much at once and yet not enough ever. We get the sleazy but not sleazy enough nunsploitation, a bit of character study and even some Italian-style Giallo murder-mystery but like everything else it's not fine pointed enough to be successful at any of 'em in my opinion.


Don't get me wrong the film is pretty entertaining all around, visually it's attractively shot  and it's difficult to not enjoy Ekberg's performance as an morphine-addicted nun unraveling before your very eyes but it lacks a certain something. The are gruesome, there's some nice atmosphere and thankfully gorgeous co-star Paolo Morra disrobes several times throughout the film much to my delight. The drug-induced hallucinations are fantastic and when Ekberg loses her shit and stomps a patients dentures into oblivion I laughed my ass off, that was a bit over-the-top but you gotta love it. 


Blu-ray: Blue Underground presents the film newly remastered from the original negative fully restored in high definition. It's a very nice transfer from a near flawless print. The natural grain is lovingly intact and the image has some nice depth to it at times. Black levels are decent and the 1080p is pleasingly crisp and detailed. Likewise the DTS-HD MA Italian and English audio tracks are crisp and clear if not particularly dynamic, a very nice presentation from Blue Underground.


Special features include a poster and still gallery, theatrical trailer and a fourteen minute interview with director Giulio Berruti conducted in Italian with English subtitles. It's a great watch as he recounts working with Ekberg and filming in an actual monastery while trying to hide the true nature of the film from the priests, fun stuff.


Special Features:
From the Secret Files of the Vatican (13:41) 16:9
Theatrical Trailer (2:56) 16:9
Poster and Still Gallery


Verdict: As an exploitation film I don't think Killer Nun (1979) quite lives up to it's legend, it's a bit middle of the road and doesn't define itself enough for my taste. If it had gone more in the direction of out n' out sleazy nunspoitation I would be ecstatic or if it had gone the way of a full tilt character study of a drug-addicted nun spiraling out of control but as it stands its still a nice slice of sleazy exploitation with some nice kills, depraved visuals, sexy women and some arty leanings but its just a bit too tame for my tastes. Not a great film, it's a renter and maybe a buy for the more determined Italian exploitation nut.  
3.5 outta 5 

DVD Review: THE BURNING MOON (1997)

THE BURNING MOON (1997)

Label: Intervision Picture Corp
Duration: 98 mins
Video: Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Audio: German Dolby Digital with English subtitles
Director: Olaf Ittenbach
Cast: Andrea Arbter, Ellen Fischer, Ronald Fuhrmann
Tagline: No Matter What You Have Seen... You Have NEVER Seen anything like...


 Synopsis: In 1992, writer/director/special effects master Olaf Ittenbach changed the face of video horror, force-fed its ripped-out eyeballs to screaming audiences, then used a drill, machete and shotgun on its still-twitching torso: Ittenbach himself stars as a degenerate junkie who babysits his young sister with two bedtime stories of the damned. First, an escaped serial killer turns date night into a graphic family massacre. Then a country priest on a rape and murder spree leads to a disturbingly explicit descent into Hell. It became the VHS that shocked America. It has been banned in its Motherland for nearly 20 years. And it remains perhaps the most violent and depraved shot-on-video saga in history. This is The Burning Moon.


Olaf Ittenbach’s shot-on-video gore-fest The Burning Moon (1997) makes its way from VHS dustbin obscurity to DVD from Intervision Picture Corp, a company who know a thing or two about obscure SOV films. They've brought us the Canadian VHS mindfuck Things (1989) and the slow-mo nightmare Sledgehammer (1983). If you know anything about either film you know they're not fucking around, these are some truly fucked-up films. Maybe not great films but really weird and wonderful in a you-just-gotta-see-this sorta way.


The Burning Moon is actually an anthology film of sorts featuring two tales with a neat framing device featuring a German thrasher dude named Peter (director Olaf Ittenbach) as he arrives for a job interview. He's really just one of the most-unhireable teens you'd ever want to come into an interview situation. After bombing the interview he takes off for a night of drinking and street fighting with his Hessian friends. The fight between two street gangs is loaded with carnage; chains, bottles being broken, head-bashing and lots of blood. In the aftermath Peter wanders home to tend to his wounds. The family dynamic at the house is nothing short of hostile with Peter verbally abusing his mother followed by a physical altercation with his father. In the midst of this he is told he must babysit his younger sister whom he clearly has no love for. Once mom and dad are gone Peter shoots a load of heroin into his arm, sweaty and disoriented he ventures outside and looks up  into the sky where he sees a vision of the moon on-fire, it's a very cool lo-fi effect. Strung out on dope he sits aside his sister's bed and spins the sibling two twisted bedtime stories.


First up an escaped mental patient escapes from a hospital for the criminally insane in a way that will seem pretty familiar to fans of John Carpenters Halloween. Having been away from the dating scene for some time he's anxious to get back into the swing of things and sets himself up on a blind date. The unfortunate young woman who winds up in his company only just narrowly escapes his clutches when she overhears a radio broadcast in regard to the escaped nutcase. But like any true psycho you just can't get away clean and he soon arrives on her doorstep leading to a pretty heinous slaughter. For a lo-fi shot-on-video slasher this film is heavy on the gore, it's not always realistic but just great stuff for the gore aficionados. The carnage is highlighted by a rather gruesome machete being shoved through a mouth and exiting the ear, it's fantastic gore. There are several decapitations, beatings and stabbings plus a wicked finger slicing scene with the killer leaving the severed digits in a butter dish. There's just tons of nastiness on display here.


The second story involves a countryside priest on a sadistic  murder-rape spree that begins with a woman being brutally raped and then shot in the head - it's pretty grim stuff. The priest continues his spree of rape and murders performing Satanic rituals to what end I am unsure. At the same time some hapless farmer  gets the blame for the violent rampage and a group of irate villagers hire one of the townies to stab, beat and pulverize his sorry ass to a bloody pulp. Apparently that Satanic ritual the priest performed had an effect because he then rises a zombie to wreak his awful revenge, sort off. He scrawls a bloody "666" onto the house and the perpetrator is then transported to Hell and then things get really strange. The finale is a glorious vision of Hell that's a lo-fi macabre masterpiece of gore, a cornucopia of the despicable and depraved. We've got ghouls tearing flesh, tons of gut-munching, a face peeled from a skull, flaming eye-sockets, vivisection and enough eye-trauma to appease even the most depraved fan of Lucio Fulci - it's fantastic stuff. Pretty elaborate effects highlighted by images of teeth being drilled which shattered my nerves, its horrendous stuff that culminates with someone being torn in half from the anus upwards, nauseating from start to finish.


Special Features:
- Making of Burning Moon (47mins)
- Trailer (0:39) 
- Intervision Trailers: ABC's of Love and Sex (2:42), Secret Life Jeffrey Dahmer (3:46)


Verdict: If The Burning Moon (1997) were a plate of nachos it wouldn't just be messy it would hands down be the gnarliest and nastiest plate o' nachos you've ever seen from the dirtiest dive-bar you've ever entered and you would scarf it down in a drunken hunger despite the imminent threat of food borne illness. This gets my vote for best shot-on-video feature I've ever seen, chock full o'  gore-tastic carnage and demented depravity. 3 outta 5 

DVD Review: SCARLET FRY'S JUNKFOOD HORRORFEST (2011)

SCARLET FRY'S JUNKFOOD HORRORFEST (2011)

Label: Chemical Burn Entertainment
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 75 mins
Director: Brian Crow, Walter Ruether
Cast: Calico Cooper, Cara Moody , Werner

Synopsis: Scarlet Fry takes you on the thrill of your life with: Blood Thirsty Cannibals, Satanic Zombies, Demented Nurses, Junkie Serial Killers, Freaky Perverts and More! This Blood Drenched Deluxe Horrorfest isn’t for the weak at heart. A drug dealer has made his last deal after he decides to hand a junkie serial killer (Calico Cooper) some bad junk. This junk is, in fact, a video tape entitled "Junkfood Horrorfest." This horror anthology, hosted by Scarlet Fry, features six twisted tales that kick off when the junkie and her new found friend decide to watch the tape. Little does her friend know how much trouble he’s in for. Get ready for a blood drenched, deluxe horrorfest that isn’t for the weak at heart. Twisted tales that will turn your stomach and send you crying for Mommy!      

My love of the horror anthology began with classic Sunday monster movie matinee showings of the Amicus horror anthologies Tales from the Crypt (1972) and The Vault of Horror (1973) on TV - these creepy documents of 70's macabre were hosted by mysterious figures and their chill and inherent camp kept me rapt as a 10 year old boy. The format continued to entertain me through the 80's and 90's with horror collections like the Creepshow (1982), Cat's Eye (1985) and Tales from the Darkside (1990) which was based on  the beloved by me long running TV series. The omnibus format dried up a bit in the nineties but the new millennium brought with it quite a few tasty fright collections including the Korean export Three... Extremes (2004) and the new Halloween classic Trick R. Treat (2009).  We were also treated to less polished indie features like Drive-In Horrorshow (2009) and Slices of Life (2010) which while lo-fi were ripe with idea, wit and gore. Then just last year Camp Motion Pictures resurrected the "lost" Super 8mm anthology film The Basement (1989), a rough and amateurishly assembled throwback to the Amicus films of the 70's featuring some great gore and a passion for the macabre. There can be little doubt that the anthology is back so lets see how this stacks up.

The anthology film in question tonight is Scarlet Fry's Junkfood Horrorfest (2011) from Chemical Burn Entertainment hosted by Scarlet Fry (Walter Ruether). It opens with a pre-credit sequence of a woman itching for a fix of heroin which she attempts to score from a  dealer who's strung out himself next to a dumpster in an alleyway. The junkie-dealer stiffs her with VHS cassette stuffed inside a paper bag. Not the black tar she was craving she returns with a tire iron in hand and beats him to a bloody pulp. Role opening credits and we're then introduced to our host Scarlet Fry, a rather poorly conceived horror host of sorts who goes on to introduce the six shorts that comprise the film and right from the start the dialogue is pretty bad. It's not witty or clever  in that lovable Cryptkeeper sorta way just eye-rolling awful.

The six shorts aren't so much stories as half-developed ideas that aren't fleshed out or developed in even a shallow way. We begin with The Blood-Thirsty Butcher wherein an obese man living in an apartment complex finds his fridge empty and just sorta resorts to cannibalism without explanation. In The Solution we meet a nurse who wishes to to end her employment with a wheelchair-bound invalid with the help of a sniper. Griptape Spank features a group of skater-stoners who frequent a creepy perv in a parking garage to earn extra bucks with splattery consequences. Wasted Life quite simply documents the suicide of a man who's decided he wants to shuffle off this mortal coil sooner than later and in The Devil Made Me Do It a man is murdered during a Satanic ritual but returns a zombie to seek revenge against his killer. The final short Love is Blind is the best of the shabby bunch featuring a young woman who's just discovered she's with child and when she breaks the news to her less than enthused boyfriend. Tired of his douchebaggery she really tears into him. It's not great but when leveled against the rest of the shorts it's not bad and features some decent low-budget gore including a gruesome eyeball extraction.

The DVD comes with a few special features including one of Scarley Fry's earlier anthologies Horrorama (1990) which I liked even less and Scarlet Fry's horror host presentation of the seminal cult classic Carnival of Souls (1962) which is a fantastically eerie film that influenced George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) and is well worth a watch.  

Special Features:
- Scarlet Fry's Horrorama
- Scarlet Fry's presentation of Carnival of Souls

Verdict: I just didn't care much for Scarlet Fry's Junkfood Horrorfest. It's an amateurish anthology entry. I can tolerate no-budget filmmaking but these shorts that were barely stories - more a collection of uninspired half-formed ideas. Not helping is the rather uninteresting host/framing device. It's really hard to recommend this when you could watch far superior indie anthologies like Drive-In Horrorshow or Slices of Life or any of the films mentioned anywhere else in this review. Skip it. 1.5 outta 5

Blu-ray Review: THOU SHALT NOT KILL... EXCEPT (1985)

THOU SHALT NOT KILL... EXCEPT (1985)

Blu-ray/DVD Combo

Label: Synapse Films
Region: All Regions
Duration: 83 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD 2.0 Mono, Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Director: Josh Becker
Cast: Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi, Scott Spiegel, Brian Schulz
Tagline: When Violence Demands Revenge

Synopsis: Vietnam, 1969. War is Hell. For Marine Sergeant Jack Stryker (Brian Schulz), however, Hell is just the beginning. Trapped outside a Viet Cong village, Stryker takes two bullets to the leg. Sent home from the war, he discovers his ex-girlfriend (Cheryl Hausen) has been kidnapped by a religious cult with a vicious Manson-like leader (played by The Evil Dead and Spider-Man trilogy director, Sam Raimi). Stryker teams up with some marine friends to form an assassination squad and annihilate the gang of crazed killers.

Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except (1985) is a pretty obscure mid-80' low-budget grinder that kicks off in right in the thick of 'Nam '69 where we meet the cigar chompin' Sgt. Jack Stryker (Brian Schulz) and his small band of Marines. With the assistance of some well-placed stock-footage 'Nam inserts the backwoods of Michigan are transformed into a 'Nam jungle, sorta. The visual trickery is not 100% successful but the effort on the part of the filmmakers is appreciated and quite a bit more successful than the plastic rat we catch a glimpse of. The small band of soldiers find themselves miserably outnumbered and are mowed down in a hail of bullets and explosions. It's full-on high energy excitement with lots of fiery explosions and gruesome violence which includes splattery gunshot wounds and a brutal punji trap through the chest. During the assault Sgt. Stryker takes two crippling gunshots to the leg ending his military career. In the ensuing weeks Stryker partially recovers from his injuries and is discharged from the military returning to his small town life in the States and to his rustic cabin in the woods where he eeks out a living with his dog "Whiskey". Picking up the pieces of his civilian life he starts to rekindle a romance with his high school sweetheart Sally (Cheryl Hansen), things are starting to look up for the Vet until Cheryl's kidnapped by a religious cult of bloodthirsty hippies lead by a maniacal nut played with delicious fervor by none other than director Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spider-Man).

For me the highlight and star of this exploitation nugget would have to be Raimi as the truly bug-nuts insane cult leader who believes himself to be the rebirth of Jesus Christ. A delirious and obvious riff on Charles Manson - it's just amazing to watch and a ton of fun. He's chewing on the scenery in a way that just suits this lo-fi grinder to perfection, worth the price of admission on it's own.

Stryker is joined in his war on the blood cult by his military buddies; "Love Machine" (Timothy Patrick Quill, the blacksmith from Army of Darkness), Sgt. Jackson (Robert Rickman, a former Mr. T impersonator), Lt. Miller (John Manfredi, Real Steel) who just happen to arrive on scene to visit their  former Lt. and they're a fun bunch of guys. Before they arrive at the cabin they find themselves in the company of a trio of jail bait they pick-up outside a liquor store followed by some sleazy backseat shenanigans and then right into a biker bar where a full-on brawl  spills out to the back alleyway, it's fun stuff and is the perfect b-movie filler to pad out the film until they face off against the bloodthirsty hippies, surely it superfluous but it's entertaining.

The final showdown with the cult in the woods is pretty fantastic, an orgy of bloodletting and shotguns blasts with fun kills that are well-staged and executed with much spilled blood. Highlights include Stryker's beloved dog Whiskey skinned on a spit, some brutal shotgun blasts, impalement's and my personal favorite - death by lawn darts which is amazing!

Blu-ray: Synapse Films offers up Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except with an all-new 2K high-definition transfer from the original negative, painstaking restored and cleaned-up in the best possible way. This 16mm cult classic has never looked better and the restoration leaves the film's grain structure wonderfully intact, this is a grain-lovers paradise and a very fine example of how you restore a film without running it through the Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) wringer. Synapse are transfer pros and cinema devotees who fully appreciate the grain inherent in celluloid. The DTS-HD MA English and Dolby Digital English 2.0 Mono audio options are limited in their fidelity but sound pretty great with special mention to Joe LoDuca's great war-themed score, it's above and beyond what one might expect from a budget-strapped grinder.

Special features for this obscure cult classic are abundant beginning with my personal favorite feature, the original Super 8mm film Stryker's War, an early version of the film featuring none other than Mr. Big Chin himself Bruce Campbell (Army of Darkness) in the role of Jack Stryker, a role created for him but when the opportunity arose for director Josh Becker to film Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except he was unavailable to partake in the project. Definitely a loss for Campbell fans but fear not for we have this fine 8mm document. It's interesting to note that the filmmaker didn't stray to far from the 8mm original when scripting Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except.

Up next is Made In Michigan: The Making of Though Shalt Not Kill... Except (35:16) a mini-doc featuring interviews with director Josh Becker, producer (and director in his own right) Scott Spiegel, actors John Menfredi (Lt. Miller), Tim Quill (LCpl. Ttyler) , Robert Rickman (Sgt. Jackson), production assistant Brian Rae and Production manager David Goodman. Tons of tasty nuggets are discussed including the early super 8mm films, why Bruce Campbell did not return to reprise his role as Sgt. Stryker, the budget and the Joe LoDuca's fantastic score, which is pretty great. Whether your a newcomer to the film or a fan there's a ton to enjoy here.

We also have not one but two Audio Commentaries from director Josh Becker, actor Bruce Campbell and star Brian Schulz, Deleted Scenes, Alternate Title Sequence (1:19), a Theatrical Trailer and an on-camera Interview with Bruce Campbell (8:47) in his backyard discussing the filmmakers early 8mm films and the making of Stryker's War. As special features go this is perhaps above and beyond what this obscure title would demand but that's why I love Synapse; they love cult and exploitation cinema and if it's worth doing it's worth doing right and they do it right every time.

[Reversible Cover Art]

Special Features
•All-New High-Definition 2K Digital Restoration from the Original Negative
•The Original Super 8mm Short film, STRYKER’S WAR Short Film, starring Bruce Campbell! (48:16) 4:3
•Made in Michigan: The Making of THOU SHALT NOT KILL… EXCEPT - Featurette (31:56) 16:9
•Two Audio Commentaries Featuring Director Josh Becker, Bruce Campbell and Star Brian Schulz
•All-New Video Interview with Bruce Campbell (8:47) 16:9
•Deleted Scene with Optional Director’s Commentary (0:45) 16:9
•Alternate Title Sequence (1:19) 16:9
•Original Theatrical Trailer 16:9
•Reversible Cover Artwork

Verdict: Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except is a tasty nugget of amped-up mid-80's exploitation cinema that's a suitably gruesome and gritty affair well-stocked with moments of off-kilter humor pitting 'Nam vets against a bloodthirsty religious cult in the woods, it's just entertaining stuff. Obviously shot on a shoe-string budget but made with the same heart and lo-fi ingenuity we've seen from director Josh Becker's cohorts Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) and Scott Spiegel (Intruder), if you're a fan of either of those cult classics there's gonna be a ton to love with Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except. Great job from Synapse on the great special features and fantastic transfer which shouldn't be a surprise at all. 2.5 outta 5

Blu-ray Review: THE DEADLY SPAWN [The Millennium Edition]

THE DEADLY SPAWN (1983)

Millennium Edition

Label: Elite Entertainment

Region Code: A

Duration: 81 mins

Video: Fullscreen (1.33:1)

Audio: English LPCM 2.0

Director: Douglas McKeown

Cast: Charles George Hildebrandt, Tom DeFranco, Richard Lee Porter, Jean Tafler

Deadly Spawn (1983) is an early 80's slice of sci-fi schlock cinema that's stuffed with gore, camp and unintentional hilarity. The story is quite simplistic:  a meteorite falls to Earth where it is found by two campers in a remote wooded area whom are torn to pieces by the toothsome alien parasite that arrived with it . The creature makes it's way into town where it finds shelter in the basement of a home and it's not long before the homeowners fall prey to it's toothy maw. The four remaining members of the household slumber completely unaware that an alien menace lays in waiting the basement.

The four remaining members of the home are a young teen named Charles, his older science-nerd brother Pete, their Aunt Mille and Uncle Herb. The character of Charles is a true horror nerd's horror nerd with a deep love of special effects and horror cinema. He's not far removed from Joey from Tobe Hooper's criminally underrated carnival-set slasher The Funhouse (1981) or Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) which we would see just a year later in Joseph Zito's Friday the 13: The Final Chapter (1984).

As the film plays along the creature in the basement continues to grow with each new victim it consumes. While it grows it also unleashes hundreds of offspring that bare more than a passing resemblance to the chest-burster from Ridley Scott's Alien (1979). The slimy spermal offspring begin to wreak their own toothy menace within the house leading to a final showdown in the attic pitting the special effects wizardry of Charles against the main toothsome alien parasite.

The Deadly Spawn is a film assembled by people whom clearly did not possess a great deal of skill in front of or behind the camera. It's a rickety production from the top down with workman like cinematography, lacklustre editing, poor dialogue and sub-par acting but despite these technical deficits there's just something so damn charming about this film. 

The creature-design by John Dods (Black Roses, Monsters TV Series) is quite inspired,  a three-headed phallic hydra with row upon row of gruesome razor sharp teeth that ooze slime, it's terrific looking in every shot. Also super fun are the creature's spawn which slither across the floor, very cool lo-fi effects, great stuff. The gore is alsolow-budget but top notch with a some fantastic face shredding featuring the skin peeling right off the face and some gruesome decapitations, definitely low-budget gore done right.

There are some nice touches throughout including a chat between the Uncle (who's a pyschologist) and Charles as the uncle tries to understand the young boy's fascination with the macabe. I also enjoyed the use of miniatures during the films beginning and partricularly the ending, fun stuff that seemed to channel 1950's science fiction features like The Blob (1958) and Invaders from Mars (1952), fun stuff. The real hero of the film though is the creature design and bloody gore effects, outstanding.

While it's great to see this obscure 80's gore-classic get the high-definition treatment it's not really up to snuff in the audio and video department. Let's start with the transfer; it's been given an atomic-sized dose of Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) to the point that the 16mm grain of the film stock has all but disappeared leaving it pretty anemic looking in the fine detail department, visually it's a lacklustre affair and if you own the previous Synapse Films DVD edition which boasts a superior picture and includes an audio commentary with writer Tim Sullivan, director Douglas McKeown, actor Charles Hildebrandt, special effects artist John Dods, and executive producer Tim Hildebrandt which is not found here. Likewise the audio is unremarkable on every level, it's tinny and boxy with the audio dropping out completrely at one point for a split second.

Special Features: 

- Introduction with Ted A. Bohus (1:19)

- Audio Commentary  with Producer Ted A. Bohus and Editor Marc Harwood

- Effects Enhanced Opening Scene (4:43)

- Casting Tapes and Gag Reel (35:57) 

- Bloopers and Outtakes (4:56) 

- Local Television Coverage Footage (40:32) 

- "Take One" (24:58)  

- "Visit with the Deadly Spawn" (8:39)  

- Production and Promotional Still Photo Gallery (15:30)  

- Color Pages from the Upcoming Comic Book

- A Theatrical Trailer and a T.V. Spot (2:24) 

- Full Color Insert featuring Liner Notes by Producer Ted A. Bohus

Verdict: As a fan of 80's horror and schlock cinema I think you need The Deadly Spawn on your shelf, it's a gruesome low-budget alien-chomper that's surely inept but also pretty kick-ass. The poor transfer makes it hard for me to say this is worth an upgrade if you own the Synapse DVD but if you are currently without this in your collection and can pick it up on the cheap I say it's a no-brainer - get it because they just don't make 'em like this anymore.
 3 outta 5