THE EPITAPH VOL.23: STANDARD-DEF DVD EDITION!
MANSON FAMILY MOVIES (1984) - PREY (2019) - FAMILY (2019) - DANGER GOD (2018) - WILLS AND BURKE (1985) - THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL (2018) - HOUSES OF HELL COLLECTION
That's right, in the age of 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray there are still plenty of DVD-only releases arriving everyday at the Mausoleum. They're not all great, they're all not awful, but this week there seems to be a whole lot of mediocre, but there are a few highlights among them worth checking out...
Label: Cult Epics
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 88 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0
Video: Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Director: John Aes-Nihil
Cast: John Aes-Nihil, Rick the Precious Dove, Katie Lazarus, Knarly Dana, Krista Meth, Mr. Jacquetta
Originally released in 1984 Manson Family Movies is a super-8mm shot "found footage" sort of film that depicts the daily life and routine of the infamous Manson family cult in and around the Spahn Ranch. It's a silent film with Manson's music to accompany the images, giving viewers a replicated glimpse into the hippie lifestyle with the cult experimenting with sex and drugs, and then of course leading up to the heinous murder of the pregnant Sharon Tate and her friends in 1969. The film has a very handmade feel about it, and if you're not completely obsessed with the Manson clan and the infamous murders I think this will be a hard watch, it's can be a real slog for long stretches with no real narrative to it, and I struggled to keep tuned-in to it. The crimes are depicted are disgusting but the acting and FX used to recreate them are a bit hokey looking. Shortcomings aside there's no denying that this was a passion project from director John Aes-Nihil, who provides an informative commentary for the film showcasing his in-depth interest and knowledge in the crimes. The film arrives on a 2-disc special edition DVD from distributor Cult Epics which includes a limited edition of 1000 slipcover designed by Erogrphic, on the disc we get 14-min of deleted scenes with optional commentary from the director, a 30-min interview with Charles Manson which is advertised as his last, plus an image gallery of real LAPD crime scene photos, and a bonus disc containing 30-min of 'Sharon Tate Home Movies', which if I am not mistaken looks to be an actual super-8mm shot collection of the doomed starlet, which I thought was eerie. This is not a release I see myself coming back to anytime soon, but if you're a Manson freak obsessed by Charlie and his murderous hippie-cult this is a macabre bit of strangeness you might want to check out.
PREY (2019)
Label: Cenedigm
Region Code: 1
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 85 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Franck Khalfoun
Cast: Logan Miller, Kristine Froseth
When bland teen high-schooler Toby's (Logan Miller) father is randomly murdered by car surprisingly violent thieves he is sent away to a remote Malaysian island for three days to cope with his grief. This set-up all happens within the first 5-min of the film, with Toby arriving on the island, dropped off by the program's coordinator via sailboat. He sets up his camp on the beach and quickly
discovering he's not alone on the island, thus setting in motion an island survival thriller with a supernatural bent to it. This Blumhouse produced entry feels a bit under-cooked, the way it gets underway in a ridiculously short amount of time, the way things unfold, the unsatisfying finale, it's a bit of a blunder. On the plus side the film does offer some decent jungle island visuals, the cast is alright, and the digital supernatural elements are not awful, but overall I found this generically titled film to be generic (surprise) and wholly unsatisfying, with a PG-13 rating that renders it gore prohibitive.
Label: Indiepix Films
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 104 Minutes
Audio: Hebrew with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Veronica Kedar
Cast: Veronica Kedar
Veronica Kedar stars, writes and directs this portrait of a doomed family, which I think perfect viewing to get you ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner with the family this year. I found this psychological drama to be quite a headspinner, beginning at the end with a macabre scene of Lily (Veronica Kedar) in her family's home surrounded by the corpses of her mother, father, brother, and twin sister. The film then tells the story of how we got to this point, with Lily telling her story to the angsty teen daughter of her therapist. The film is dark but infused with a strange vein of black humor that really appealed to me. The cast is uniformly strong throughout, the visuals are gorgeous, and the tale of a doomed, dysfunctional family was absolutely fascinating. This comes highly recommended for fans pitch black family comedies in the vein of Todd Solondz' Happiness (1998). Couldn't find a link for this on Amazon but you can buy it direct from IndiePix HERE or watch it on their Amazon channel.
Label: Wild Eye Releasing
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 100 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen
Director: Joe O'Connell
Cast: Gary Kent, John 'Bud' Carlos, Tomi Barrett, Duane eddy, Monte Hellman, Bob Ivy, Ricardo Rush, Marc Singer, Samuel M. Sherman, Esao Morales
Stuntman Gary Kent was one of the real-life inspirations for Brad Pitt's character in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time In Hollywood (2019), and director Joe O'Connell's doc Danger God (2018) zeros in on the career of the footballer turned stuntman with Kent offering details about his storied career on the b-movie circuit. From his early days shooting westerns with Monte Hellman without proper padding for $50 a day and a bologna sandwich, onto dropping acid for the sake of realism onto the Richard Rush directed Psych-Out (1968)and beyond. It's a touching document with interviews from friends and colleagues of Kent, including John 'Bud' Carlos, rocker Duane Eddy, director Monte Hellman, actor Marc Singer, and distributor Samuel M. Sherman among others, but the best stuff is straight from Gary Kent himself recalling his wild career, working with bad-film legend Al Adamson, who he recalls was the only guy to ever cast him in a role as the good-guy, with Kent also touching on Adamson's bizarre murder. Kent also takes us into his personal life, detailing how he met his wife and her struggle with alcoholism, in addition to his own battle with cancer. Danger God (2018) is a wonderful little tribute to this legendary b-movie stuntman, if you're into the nitty-gritty behind-the-scenes happening on vintage b-films there's a lot here to love. It might not have the high-caliber industry talking heads of something like Not Quite Hollywood! but it's got a lot of heart.
Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: 4 (PAL Format)
Rating: PG
Duration: 98 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0
Video: Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Director: Bob Weis
Cast: Gary McDonald. Kim Gyngell, Jonathan Hardy, Peter Collingwood, Mark Little, Roy Baldwin, Nicole Kidman
Wills and Burke (1985) treats the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition across Australia in 1860 as a slap-stick comedy, detailing the doomed expedition with a satirical wink and a nod with plenty of humor involving camels, horses and Outback shenanigans, with the prerequisite stereotyping of foreigners you would expect in the 80's. Some of the slapstick worked for me but overall this is is one "ozploitation classic" that left me cold, I just couldn't get into it. I applaud ozploitation experts Umbrella for bringing this one to the curious masses but this historical comedy while occasionally eliciting a chuckle or two was a chore to make it through. I am sure this will have more appeal to an Australian audience but it did little for me.
THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL (2018)
Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: Region-FREE (NTSC)
Rating: MA 15+
Duration: 118 Minutes
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
Directors: Ashim Ahluwalia, Can Evrenol, Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz, Katrin Gebbe, Calvin Reeder, Agnieszka Smoczynska, Peter Strickland, Yannis Veslemes
Cast: Birgit Minichmayr, Claude Duhamel, Jilon VanOver, Fatma Mohamed, Niharika Singh
Also from Umbrella Entertainment comes horror anthology The Field Guide To Evil (2018), the film tackles eight folk-tales from around the world, directed by various international director. It starts off strong with 'The Sinful Woman of Hollifal' directed by the directing team that brought us Goodnight Mommy, a gorgeously filmed rural folk tale about a pair of 16th young women who give into their mutual attraction even though it breaks with societal norms of the day, their sinful union bringing about a demon know as "the trud". Up next from the director of Baskin comes 'Al Karisi, The Childbirth Djinn', dealing with a pregnant young woman who is caring for her ailing grandmother, while also dealing with a child-snatching demon who has come for her child, first in the form of a goat and then into the body of her grandmother. The middle-part of the anthology still offers interesting fol tales but I found the shorts slightly less enthralling, but the film does close out on a solid note with a silent film from English director Peter Strickland (The Duke of Burgundy) featuring a pair of cobber brother's vying for the affections of princess with a dark fairytale outcome. I wouldn't say any of these eight shorts were bad, but the American entry 'Beware The Melonheads' felt the most out of place, not carrying the same depth and weight as the other folk-tales. As with all anthologies some of the stories are stronger than the others, but on the whole this is strong folk-centric anthology that I would easily recommend to fans of international and folk-horror.
HOUSES OF HELL COLLECTION (2009-2012)
Label: Mill Creek Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Rating: TV-14, R
Duration: 354 Minutes
Audio: English Doby Digital
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78;1)
Cast: Jeffrey Combs, Dean Stockwell, Charisma Carpenter Corin Nemec, Nikki Deloach, Stepehn Colletti, Treat Williams, Morgan Fairchild
Last and certainly least this week we have Mill Creek Entertainment's newest 4-film collection 'Houses of Hell' collecting four films Syfy Channel originals, some starring notable cast like Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator), Dean Stockwell (The Dunwich Horror) and Charisma Carpenter (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), but I couldn't watch one of these on through to the end to be honest. These were cynically awful stuff start to finish, it's just not for me, but apparently trash like this has an audience, o if this is your cup of tea have fun.
