Attack Force Z (1981) 35th anniversary edition starring Mel Gibson on Blu-ray 11/7

ATTACK FORCE Z, the World War II action classic starring 
Mel Gibson, makes its high definition debut from 

Umbrella Entertainment and MVD Entertainment Group

ATTACK FORCE Z (1981) 

Label: Umbrella Entertainment 

Duration: 95 Minutes

Audio: Stereo Mono 

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen 

Director: Tim Burstall

Cast: Mel Gibson, Sam Neill, John Phillip Law, Chris Haywood, John Waters

The film celebrates its 35th anniversary with a long awaited special edition release

Directed by Tim Burstall (End Play) and written by Roger Marshall (Twisted Nerve), Attack Force Zstars Academy Award© winner Mel Gibson (Braveheart, Lethal Weapon), three-time Golden Globe nominee Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, Thor: Ragnarok), John Phillip Law (Barbarella), Chris Haywood (Shine) and John Waters (Breaker Morant).

Attack Force Z was originally released theatrically in North America in June 1982 and is in the company of a collection of films that include Mad Max, The Road Warrior and Gallipoli that introduced Mel Gibson to U.S. audiences before his star making turn in the Academy Award© winning The Year of Living Dangerously.

Long before Gibson tackled the subject of World War II in Hacksaw Ridge, Attack Force Z tells the classic story of an elite military team of commandos lead by Captain P.G. Kelly (Gibson) dispatched during World War II to locate and rescue the survivors of a shot down plane stranded on a South Pacific island occupied by the Japanese. One of the castaways, a defecting Japanese official, holds the secret to ending the war and must be saved at all costs.

Making its debut in high definition Attack Force Z boasts a brand new 4K scan and restoration from the film's inter-positive, presented for the first time ever on 1080p Blu-ray in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio along with the original uncompressed dual channel mono audio. Additional special features in the disc include "The 2-Men Debriefed", a 25 minute featurette that includes interviews with executive producer John McCallum and actors John Waters and Chris Haywood (presented in standard definition) a photo gallery and the film's original theatrical trailer.

Eric Wilkinson, MVD Entertainment Group's Director of Acquisitions and Sales shares his excitement about announcing this release...

"Previous home video versions of this film have looked sub-par. Umbrella Entertainment has done an amazing job restoring this film to its original glory. As a collector of physical media, myself, I'm happy to announce that Attack Force Z represents the first of many classic films on Blu-ray that MVD will be releasing in the near future."

Attack Force Z makes its home video debut on November 7th 2017 on Blu-ray (UPC# 9344256016103) and Digital/VOD from MVD Entertainment Group in North America.

SERIAL MOM (1994) (Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review)

SERIAL MOM (1994)
Collector's Edition Blu-ray 

Label: Scream Factory
Release Date: May 9th 2017 
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 94 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: John Waters 
Cast: Justin Whalin, Kathleen Turner, Matthew Lillard, Ricki Lake, Sam Waterston, Suzanne Somers, Traci Lords, Patty Hearst

Synopsis: Beverly Sutphin is the perfect happy homemaker. Along with her doting husband Eugene and two children, Misty and Chip, she lives a life straight out of Good Housekeeping. But this nuclear family just might explode when Beverly's fascination with serial killers collides with her ever-so-proper code of ethics – transforming her from middle class mom to mass murderer! Soon, the bodies begin to pile up… and suburbia faces a horror even worse than wearing white after Labor Day.

Director John Waters (Pink Flamingos)satire of suburbia in Serial Mom (1994) has always had me in stitches, a dark and biting satire starring Kathleen Turner (Body Heat) as an suburban apple-pie baking mom named Beverly Sutphin who has a secret obsession with serial killers, a secret she had kept hidden from her loving family for years. She's married to a dentist named Eugene, played with doting naivety by Law and Order's Sam Waterston, they have two children, the college bound Misty (Ricki Lake) and horror-obsessed teenage son Chip (Matthew Lillard, SLC Punk). Beverly's killer instinct emerges as she observes what most would perceive be trivial slights, which go against her weird code of ethics, these slights include not properly recycling, stealing parking spaces, wearing white shoes after labor day, and standing up her daughter, and it all begins when her son's math teacher Mr. Stubbins questions her parenting skills during a parent-teacher conference, calling her out for allowing him to watch "sick" gore movies. She runs him down outside the school with her station wagon, a wasted stoner-chick is the only witness, and with her account of what happened the police quickly begin to piece together who the unlikely culprit is. Once she has what seems to be her initial kill out of the way she has some serious trouble staving off her murderous urges.

As the comedy roles on more people from around town end up as victims of her twisted moral compass, including a series of foul-mouthed phone calls to her friend and neighbor Dottie Hinkle (Mink Stole, Cry Baby), which are freaking hilarious, hearing Kathleen turner raspily say "pussy willow" and "cocksucker" never gets old! On her rampage Beverly kills with scissors, an air conditioners, a fire poker, and a spiced up leg of lamb, it's all great stuff. The kills are pretty campy and don't get too gory, except for her pulling someone's liver out of their body on the end a gore-strewn fire poker, which was a nice homage to the gore-films of Herschell Gordon-Lewis, whose seminal gore-film Blood Feast (1972) is showcased in the movie.

Kathleen Turner is simply wonderful in the movie, she camps it up to the perfect degree in a delightfully weird performance, chewing on the scenery and clearly having a blast with the likeable, but murderous, character. The supporting cast is also great, including Sam Waterston, who seems so out of his element in the best possible way. During an amped-up sex scene with his wife he excitedly shouts "Oh honey, you are hot tonight!", and their kids played Lillard (13 Ghosts) and Lake (TVs The Ricki Lake Show), are fun, each profiting from their mother's infamy during the trial. Justin Whalin (Child's Play 3) shows up as Chip's chronic-mastubator friend, Mink Stole (Pink Flamingos) and Mary Jo Catlett (Foul Play) as Beverly's doomed neighbors, this is just a great cast... almost forgot the infamous Patty Hearst as juror no.8! Traci Lords (Excision) even shows up, as does grunge-punk rockers L7 as the band Camel Toe, during a raucous club performance, with prop-pants featuring huge puffy pussy lips sewn into their crotches. which is sort of a thing nowadays in Japan I hear, weird. 

Audio/Video: Serial Mom (1994) debuts on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, looking crisper and sharper than my 2008 Universal DVD, see comparison shots below, but that is to be expected with the 1080p upgrade. Skin tones and colors are slightly improved, there's not a lot of depth and clarity to the image, and it can be a bit soft at times, but I think this goes back to the source. Overall this is a pleasing HD image and a nice upgrade over the standard-def releases, there's just not a lot of wow-factor. Notably, the Blu-ray image does appears to lose some minor information on the left and right of the screen. The disc includes the option of DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1, the surround is very front speaker specific for the most part, but occasionally we get some nice use of the surrounds, but for the most part this is a front heavy audio track, optional English subtitles are provided. 

Onto the extras we have a nice array of bonus content, Scream have ported over all the extra from the 2008 Collector's Edition DVD, including two commentaries, the original commentary with Waters from the original 1999 snapper case HBO Home Video release, and a second with Waters and Kathleen Turner from the 2008 Collector's Edition DVD. Waters is always a fun listen and both tracks are loaded. Also carried are the Making of EPK, the half-hour Serial Mom: Surreal Moments (29 min) doc with interviews from Waters, Stole, Actress Patricia Hearst, Actress Ricki Lake, Actor Matthew Lillard, Casting Director Pat Moran, Production Designer Vincent Peranio, plus The Kings Of Gore: Herschel Gordon Lewis And David Friedman (11 min) featurette, containing interviews with Waters, film critic Dennis Dermody all speaking about the influence of Herschel Gordon Lewis and Dave Friedman, whose seminal gore film Blood Feast shows up prominently in the movie. Lewis and Friedman also show up in interviews, and they're always great. The featurette doesn't have a whole lot to do with the movie Serial Mom but I loved that its here. 

The only real new brand extra is a 34 minute sit down chat with John Waters, Mink stole and Kathleen Turner seated in a living room conversing about the movie, it's fun and witty, Waters is in fine form, speaking about making the movie, how prescient it was in the months before the O.J. Simpson trial and the advent of Courtroom TV type shows. Mink Stole speaks about being intimidated by star Turner, while the star herself recalls having a blast making the movie, with Waters telling the story of how Turner single-handedly saved the movie when the studio considered not releasing it. The disc comes in a standard blue keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring the original key art and a new illustration, the new artwork also adorns the slipcover (o-ring). 

Special Features
- NEW – A Conversation With Director John Waters, Actress Kathleen Turner And Actress Mink Stole (34 min) HD 
- Serial Mom: Surreal Moments – Featuring Interviews With Waters, Stole, Actress Patricia Hearst, Actress Ricki Lake, Actor Matthew Lillard, Casting Director Pat Moran, Production Designer Vincent Peranio and More!
- Feature Commentary With John Waters And Kathleen Turner
- Feature Commentary With John Waters
- The Making Of Serial Mom – Original Promotional Featurette (6 min) 
- The Kings Of Gore: Herschell Gordon Lewis And David Friedman Featurette (11 min) 
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2 min) 

SCREENSHOT COMPARISON

UNIVERSAL DVD (2008) TOP
SCREAM FACTORY BLU-RAY (2017) BOTTOM 

UNIVERSAL DVD (2008) TOP

SCREAM FACTORY BLU-RAY (2017) BOTTOM 

UNIVERSAL DVD (2008) TOP
SCREAM FACTORY BLU-RAY (2017) BOTTOM 

UNIVERSAL DVD (2008) TOP

SCREAM FACTORY BLU-RAY (2017) BOTTOM 

UNIVERSAL DVD (2008) TOP

SCREAM FACTORY BLU-RAY (2017) BOTTOM 

UNIVERSAL DVD (2008) TOP

SCREAM FACTORY BLU-RAY (2017) BOTTOM 

John Waters' exquisite taste for bad taste has rarely been better for me than right here, which is probably his most commercial work to date. His biting take on America's confusion between celebrity and infamy proved to be slightly ahead of it's time, too, this having been released just a few short months before America collectively lost it's mind during the O.J Simpson slow-motion highway pursuit and ensuing trial, a time that brought us 24-hour celebrity murder shows and networks like Court TV, truTV and the ID Network. We are still deeply entrenched in a culture that celebrates the heinous acts of others, you need look no further than America's obsession with the murder trial of Jodi Arias and the Casey Anthony, or the reality TV success of the awfulness that is the Kardashians, an entire family made famous because their father defended O.J. and one of them made a fuck tape that went viral, ugh. Anyway, Serial Mom is damn fun film, loaded with Waters' patented blend of suburban satire and dark humor, and some biting social commentary. The new disc from Scream Factory looks good and the extras are plentiful, if you're a fan this is a must-own. 4/5
  
 

Blu-ray Review: EXCISION (2012)

EXCISION (2012) 

Label: Anchor Bay Entertainment 

Release Date: October 16, 2012
Region Code: A

Duration: 81 minutes
Rating: Unrated

Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.40)
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 with English, Spanish Subtitles

Cast: AnnaLynne McCord, Traci Lords, Ariel Winter, Roger Bart, Jeremy Sumpter, Matthew Gray Gubler, Ray Wise, John Waters, Malcolm McDowell, Marlee Matlin 

Director: Richard Bates, Jr.  

Synopsis: Based on writer/director Richard Bates, Jr’s short film of the same name, Excision follows a disturbed and delusional high school student, Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord). Pauline, with aspirations of a career in medicine, goes to extremes to earn the approval of her controlling mother (played by Traci Lords). While dealing with both being an outcast teenager and having an obsession over curing her sister’s cystic fibrosis, Pauline becomes increasingly deranged as her fascination with surgery and flesh and blood grows into something compulsive and demonic, if not epic.

The Film: Wowie, this was a dark-hearted film, and a funny one, too but super dark and certainly twisted - nice to see some original fuck-uppedness out there. Pauline as played by AnnaLynne McCord (TV's Nip Tuck) is an outsider at school, attractive but in a dark, demented way. She's strange and no one seems to care for her, particularly not the popular kids. She doesn't really help herself with fun question in sex ed class like "Can you get an STD from a dead guy?", that's just social suicide in high school and in life after, y'know but she's an inquisitive young lady so what can you do.

She's has dreams of becoming a surgeon and believes she has natural God-given abilities with a scalpel which she hopes to use to cure her sister of her cystic fibrosis, let's just see how that delusion pans out at the end. Speaking of dreams, let me tell you this chic is festering in dark surreal nightmares, fantasies actually, she dreams of crawling naked over masses of corpses, licking mutilated body parts, bathing in a tub of blood and enduring toe-curling orgasms while straddling cadavers on the autopsy table - really bizarre stuff. A virgin at the start of the film she offers her virginity to the boyfriend of one of the popular cheerleaders and this poor douche nozzle just has no idea what he's been invited to partake of, definitely bites off more than he's willing chew.

The film has quite a cast including Traci Lords (Cry Baby) and Roger Bart (Hostel II) as her parents. Bart who plays a sympathetic and henpecked husband to Lords over-bearing but well-meaning mother. We also have some great cameos from Ray Wise (Twin Peaks) as the school principal and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) as Pauline's teacher (how fucked-up a school would that be?) plus a brief cameo from trash-master John waters (Serial Mom) as a priest who futilely attempts to bring the demented Pauline closer to God whom with Pauline speaks regularly about pre-marital sex among other things, very funny. 

Hard to believe this is a first time feature for Richard Bates, Jr., it's very well directed, definitely a guy with vision and a beautiful film too with tons of grotesque and surreal beauty. Hats of to McCord for her performance, very solid and some might think casting an actress as gorgeous as her in the role as some sort of stunt-casting ala Charlize Theron in Monster (2003) but she's got the chops, not a character you will soon forget, totally unhinged and wonderful. 

The film is pretty twisted, if you're a fan of Todd Solondz' twisted coming-of-age film Welcome to the Dollhouse (1999) with some Cronenberg-esque body horror (think Dead Ringers) elements soaked with a wickedly dark wit then this is a film for you, highly recommended. (4 Outta 5)