ROBOCOP 3 (1993) (Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review)

ROBOCOP 3 (1993) 
Collector's Edition
  

Label: Scream Factory

Region Code: A

Rating: PG-13

Duration: 105 Minutes 

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen 

Director: Fred Dekker

Cast: Robert John Burke, Nancy Allen, CCH Pounder, Daniel von Bargen, Rip Torn, Stephen Root

In Robocop 3 91993) we lose Peter Weller (Naked Lunch) as Murphy/Robocop, the actor had moved onto greener pastures making David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch (1993), though Nancy Allen returns, as did screenwriter Frank Miller (Sin City). Directing this time is kid-friendly director Fred Dekker (Night of the Creeps), who I love, I think Monster squad and Night of the Creeps are a blast. In Weller's place we have actor Robert John Burke (21 Guns), who is mighty weak sauce when stacked-up against Weller. He really makes it aggressively clear what Weller brought to the role, he has no presence whatsoever in the metallic-suit. Also hampering this production was the edict from the studio that this was to be a kiddie friendly PG-13 movie, something to cash-in on toy merchandising and an already established Saturday morning cartoon and video games, it was bad idea, and we haven't even gotten to the awful storyline yet - this thing was doomed!

The story, such as it is, OCP (Omni Consumer Products) are still out
to build their futuristic Delta City, but they're on the brink of bankruptcy themselves. They're on a timeline and have to move things along quickly, to that end they create a military force known as the Urban Rehabilitators, lead by fascist Commander Paul McDaggett (John Castle, the Rehabs are said to be helping police nab violent criminals in Detroit, but in reality they're forcibly removing residents and relocating, or just straight-up killing, those who stand in the way of OCP's urban redevelopment project.

Sadly, this time out we don't have the character of The Old Man (played by Dan O'Herlihy), in his place we have Rip Torn (Men In Black)as the CEO, who has aligned himself with Kanemitsu (Mako), CEO of the Kanemitsu Corporation, who are in part funding the development of the Delta City development.

Fighting against the Urban Rehabilitators are a group of resistance fighters lead by Bertha (C.C.H. Pounder, Demon Knight), whose group includes a 12-year old hacker prodigy named Nikko (Remy Ryan), if you recall the last film had a 12-year old drug dealer/murderer named Hobs, so this time out we have a 12-year old fighting for good, but she's annoying, a kid-hacker, ugh, it's as awful as it sounds.

So we have all these characters in play, where the heck is Robocop? He's here, not much though, but he's a pale shadow of his former metallic badass self, he's been neutered. His sidekick Officer Lewis (Nancy Allen, Carrie) who shows up just long enough to be killed by McDaggett (Castle), her death serves to reinvigorate Robocop into action, having been re programmed once again with a new series of emo-inducing directives by the baddies at OCP, which he must overcome, with the help of the resistance and the 12-year old hacker kid, oh boy.

What a mess of a movie, and them we have the samurai robot warriors
Otomo! Yes, screenwriter Frank Miller finally got to cram in some ninjas (one of his favorites) into the Robocop series, and while I think it's an awful addition, the action scenes are crap, there is a creepy visual with one of them who takes a shot to the face from Robocop, his fractured visage is nightmare fuel. Oh yeah, and Robocop has a new gun accessory and a jetpack, yup, he's flying around at the end of the movie, and it is awful, real awful! Things I liked about this one are few and far between, Robocop look decent, and they bring back ED-209 for a stint, but that's about it, the biting satire and dark humor are gone, this is an insult to the franchise.

I don't place all the blame on this tragic sequel on the shoulders of Fred Dekker, the poor guys career as a director was ruined by this flop, but he was working with a flawed script from Frank Miller and with an unfortunate edict to make it a kid-friendly sequel, and Robocop was never meant to be kid friendly, it should be a darkly funny violent slice of cinema, it was not meant for this, the damn thing was doomed from the beginning.

Audio/Video: Robocop 3 arrives on Blu-ray for a second time, having been previously issued by MGM on the Robocop Trilogy Blu-ray set, but unlike Scream Factory's Robocop 2, this is not being advertised as a new 2 scan of the film. I am assuming after comparison that this is the same HD transfer from the trilogy set, it's not a revelation on Blu-ray, this is your basic catalog title HD upgrade.
Audio include both English DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround and DTS-HD MA stereo 2.0 with Optional English subtitles. The audio has some nice depth to it, a nice clean presentation with some nice use of the surrounds during the action sequences, a strong audio presentation.

Extras include two brand new commentaries,  the first a very honest commentary with director Fred Dekker moderated by Michael Felsher, and a second with the makers of “RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop” documentary. There's also a 38-minute making of doc with director Fred Dekker, actors Nancy Allen, Bruce Locke, producer Patrick Crowley, cinematographer Gary Kibbe and production designer Hilda Stark. A make-no excuses look back at the making of the PG-13 flop, Dekker has always been very honest about the film, why it's flawed, he owns it, and it makes for a good watch that goes into pre-production, casting the movie, locations, set design and lots more.

There's also a 12-minute FX featurette with Peter Kuran, Phil
Tippett, Craig Hayes, Kevin Kutchaver and Paul Gentry. It's a good look back at the FX of the movie, some of which don't hold up spectacularly well now. There's discussion of the early digital effects work on the movie, the difficulty of shooting a silver-suited Robocop on blue screen,  the construction and design of the jet-pack.

Actor Felton Perry shows up for a 12-minute interview, his ass-kissing corporate ladder-climber character shows up in all three films, he goes into a surprising amount of detail about his character and his motivations. Actor Bruce Locke, who played the Otomo samurai robots, and martial arts trainer Bill Ryusaki appear in an 8-minute conversation about the character of the otomos and creating the fighting styles used in the movie.

James Belohovek returns again on the extras for Robocop 3 to discuss his work on the second sequel, working for Rob Bottin. This time not fabricating the armor for Robocop, but creating new props, namely the new gun attachment and the jetpack, which were based on parts of a miniature tape recorder and part of a beard shaver of all things. The last of the extras are a trailer and a still gallery.

The extras, produced by Red shirt Pictures, get to the heart of the story behind-the-scenes, while fans who might be expecting some sort of an apology from Dekker for this awful sequel won't get one the behind-the-scenes stuff about how the film came together are eye-opening, while they don't make the movie any better they do offer some keen and biting insights into how we ended up with Robocop 3.

The release comes housed in a standard blue keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, with a new illustration by Paul Shipper, which like Robocop 2 artwork looks like a painted version of the usual floating head photoshop stuff, which I hated. The reverse side features the original one-sheet poster. There's also a slipcase (o-ring) featuring the new artwork.

Special Features:

- NEW Audio Commentary with director Fred Dekker

- NEW Audio Commentary with the makers of “RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop” documentary – Gary Smart, Chris Griffiths and Eastwood Allen

- NEW Delta City Shuffle: The Making of ROBOCOP 3 featuring director Fred Dekker, actors Nancy Allen, Bruce Locke, producer Patrick Crowley, cinematographer Gary Kibbe and production designer Hilda Stark (38 min) HD 

- NEW Robo-Vision: The FX of ROBOCOP 3 featuring Peter Kuran, Phil Tippett, Craig Hayes, Kevin Kutchaver and Paul Gentry (12 minutes)

- NEW The Corporate Ladder – an interview with actor Felton Perry (12 min) HD 

- NEW Training Otomo – an interview with actor Bruce Locke and martial arts trainer Bill Ryusaki (8 min) HD 

- NEW War Machine – an interview with RoboCop gun fabricator James Belohovek (9 min) HD 

- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD
- Still Gallery (7 min) HD

Robocop 3 (1993) is still a neutered PG-13 stinker, it didn't get better with time, it only gets worse, which is a shame. I love Fred Dekker's previous movies Night of the Creeps (1986) and Monster Squad (1987), but he was wasn't the right guy to direct a Robocop sequel, furthermore it should never have been a PG-13 Robocop sequel in the first place, this thing was doomed to fail, and fail bigly. However, if there is a silver lining, at least the Blu-ray is loaded with some cool extras, while it doesn't improve the movie, they make for a great watch about a doomed sequel. 2/5

ROBOCOP 2 (1990) (Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review)

ROBOCOP 2 (1990) 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 117 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen 
Director: Irvin Kershner
Cast: Gabriel Damon, Belinda Bauer, Dan O'Herlihy, Nancy Allen, Peter Weller, Tom Noonan

Synopsis: RoboCop 2 pits two unstoppable cyborgs against each other in a battle to the death! When Detroit's descent into chaos is further compounded by a police department strike and a new designer drug called "Nuke," only RoboCopTM can stop the mayhem. But in his way are an evil corporation that profits from Motor City crime and a bigger and tougher cyborg with a deadly directive: Take out RoboCop. Containing the latest gadgetry and weaponry as well as the mind of the madman who designed "Nuke," this new cyborg isn't just more sophisticated than his predecessor... he's psychotic and out of control! And it's going to take everything RoboCop has – maybe even his life – to save Detroit from complete and utter anarchy.

Thinking back on this one I realized it is the only Robocop film I caught first run in the cinema, I don't have the best memory of loving it at the time, and the movie has sort of languished in the back of my mind as a less than stellar sequel to an amazing, dark and violently satirical first film. Director Paul Verhoeven did not return for this sequel, he was making Total Recall (1990) with Arnold Schwarzenegger at the time, so the producers brought in director Irvin Kershner, the guy who directed, in my opinion, the best sequels of all-time, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), but let's be real, he also directed one of the worst, the non-cannon 007 flick Never Say Never Again (1983), but he also directed The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), which I have a soft spot for. Producers also brought in comics writer Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City) as screenwriter, which again is both good and bad, I like a lot of Miller's work, but I don't think the he quite captured the satirical stuff I loved about the first Robocop for the sequel, his tone is dark, but different.

Again we have Robocop (Peter Weller, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension) in Detroit battling the evils of the inner-city, Omni Consumer Products (OCP)are still trying to create a new Robocop, literally calling their creation Robocop 2! OCP are also out to build the city of the future, something called Delta City, and to that end they are out to force the city to default on their payments to OCP, which would somehow force them surrender control of the city to OCP. The Old Man (Dan O'Herlihy, Halloween III) returns as the OCP CEO, and he's turned into quite a corporate bastard since the first film, wherein he seemed alright, for a corporate guy. The idea of Detroit declaring bankruptcy probably seemed like such a oddly dystopian idea back in '90, but not these days, haha.

As OCP own the cops they make things worse for Detroit by cutting wages and pension plans for cops, causing a city wide police strike, leaving Robocop and his partner Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen, Carrie) as the only cops out on the streets, so as you can imagine the whole damn city is thick with crime. The movie opens with a fun neon-lit montage of a thief robbing a bag lady only to be roughed-up by some violent prostitutes, so it does have a bit of the Verhoeven satire to it, mixed in with some of Frank Miller's darkness, you see a lot of his vision bleeding through, including the commercials, one of which features actor John Glover (Gremlins 2) selling a lethal form of car alarm, it's good stuff but not on par with the first film, which was more biting. Sadly we do not get any of the infamous "Id buy that for a dollar!" lines peppered throughout. 

One of the villains of this movie is a drug dealer named Cain (Tom Noonan, Manhunter)who peddles a new designer drug called Nuke. Cain is a weird cult-leader new age spiritualist, Noonan is nicely creepy in the role, but we don't get enough of him in my opinion. His right hand man is actually a young kid named Hobs (Gabriel Damon), a pint-sized killer with a shit attitude, and Cain's girlfriend Angie (Galyn Görg). Also working against Robocop are the corporate baddies at OCP who are looking to replace goodie-goodie Robocop with a new successor, after the failure of good old ED-209 from the first film. 

OCP are still using fallen officers to create cyborg robocops, but the problem they're having is that their creations tend to go insane, shooting up the lab techs before committing suicide. Enter psycho-psychologist Dr. Juliette Faxx (Belinda Bauer) who aligns herself with The Old Man to create a new Robocop, unwisely using the criminal Cain as the brain inside the new armored Robocop 2! Great idea, what could go wrong? Perhaps the idea that you now have a drug addicted Robocop might pose a bit of a problem, which of course it does.

Faults aside I have to say the movie holds up better way than I remembered, which is not usually the case usually i remember older movie far more fondly than they deserve, but that is not the case with this one. Sure, it's not on par with the original (so few are), but the violence is good and strong, Miller does channel some of the same darkness and satire that Verhoeven brought, but it is toned down, and that was a huge part of what I loved about the first movie. It also touches on an area I thought could have given the character of Murphy/Robocop a bit of new life, like when we catch him stalking his ex wife, keeping tabs on her, but that tasty tidbit of a subplot evaporates before it can even begin to boil. Nancy Allen returns here as officer Lewis but she is awful, more fairly, she doesn't have a whole lot to do, and the character is poorly written. I love Allen in De Palma's movies, but watching her in this, the next sequel and Poltergeist III (1988) recently, she can be a bad actress when not given some proper direction, real bad.

What the sequel does right is keep the action coming, this is a violent movie, the gore is toned way down, but I love the stop-motion animation between Robocop and Robocop 2 at the end of the movie. With Cain's brain inside the armored R2 we sadly do not get enough of Noonan as Cain, who is relegated to a Lawnmower Man esque digital face on a TV screen once inside the steel-machine, so as much as I loved the R2 design, I wish somehow we would have had more of Noonan incorporated into it.

This would be the last time we would see Weller in the role of Murphy/Robocop, and already it's a case of diminishing returns, honestly they just don't explore his humanity enough to keep the personal story interesting, it's dropped in there but just disappears, wrapped up way to fast for my tastes. I will say I love the new Robocop suit this time out, it has a pearly blue/purple tone to it that looks great on film, and Weller is iconic in his own way, giving some distinct line readings, which will be sorely missed in the bland sequel to this one. 

Robocop 2 is a fun watch, it's a lesser film but still maintains just enough of what I loved about the first to keep me plugged in right till the end credits. There's plenty of action, some watered down satire, Miller's dark humor and some bloody violence, unlike R3 this one maintains an R-rating and isn't aimed at the kiddies. 

Audio/Video: Robocop 2 (1990) arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory with a brand new 2K scan from the interpositive with a new color correction. The results are very pleasing, I own the MGM Trilogy Blu-ray set and this is a nice upgrade. Grain is nicely managed, the colors are more impressive, black levels are good and deep. The image is sharp, nicely detailed with some good depth, this is good stuff. 

Audio on the disc includes English DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1, the surround offers some good use of the surrounds when the action amps up, a solid surround track. The stereo track is also solid with good stereo separation. Optional english subtitles are included. 

Extras on the disc are plentiful and nicely in-depth, beginning with the 32-minute making of doc  with new and vintage interviews with director Irvin Kershner, producer Jon Davidson, cast members Tom Noonan, Nancy Allen, Galyn Görg, executive producer Patrick Crowley, associate producer Phil Tippett, cinematographer Mark Irwin and author/CG supervision Paul M. Sammon. A nice, honest, remembrance of the making of, including producer Jon Davidson speaking about the convoluted process of making the movie, the original story ideas including a Robocop love story! 

There'a also a 32-min FX featurette with Phil Tippett, Peter Kuran, Craig Hayes, Jim Aupperle, Kirk Thatcher, Paul Gentry, Don Waller, Justin Kohn, Randal Dutra and Kevin Kutchaver, an 9-min interview with RoboCop armor fabricator James Belohovek, a 6-min interview with comic book writer Steven Grant on adapting Frank Millers screenplay for Robocop 2, plus 46-min of archival production and behind-the-scenes videos including interviews with director Irvin Kershner, actors Peter Weller, Dan O’Herlihy  and a look at the filming of some deleted scene. Additionally we have trailers and a series of image galleries rounding out the extras. Almost forgot to mention the 3-min deleted scene gallery, which sadly is not actual deleted scenes but descriptions of some significant story elements that were left on the cutting room floor, I think if Scream had been able to unearth the actual deleted footage that would have certainly made this a much more sought after release, but as it stands this is a damn fine release. 

The single disc release comes housed in a standard blue keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, featuring a new illustration by Paul Shipper, which sadly looks like a painted version of the usual floating head photoshop stuff, which I hated. The reverse side features the original one-sheet poster, which isn't much better< sadly, this is one of the ugliest packaging artworks I've seen from Scream Factory. There's also a slipcase (o-ring) featuring the Shipper artwork, groan.   

Special Features:
- NEW 2K scan of the inter-positive
- NEW Audio Commentary with author/CG supervisor Paul M. Sammon
- NEW Audio Commentary with the makers of “RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop” documentary – Gary Smart, Chris Griffiths and Eastwood Allen
- NEW Corporate Wars: The Making of ROBOCOP 2 – featuring new and vintage interviews with director Irvin Kershner, producer Jon Davidson, cast members Tom Noonan, Nancy Allen, Galyn Görg, executive producer Patrick Crowley, associate producer Phil Tippett, cinematographer Mark Irwin and author/CG supervision Paul M. Sammon (32 min)HD 
- NEW Machine Parts: The FX of ROBOCOP 2 – featuring Phil Tippett, Peter Kuran, Craig Hayes, Jim Aupperle, Kirk Thatcher, Paul Gentry, Don Waller, Justin Kohn, Randal Dutra and Kevin Kutchaver (32 min)HD
- NEW Robo-Fabricator – an interview with RoboCop armor fabricator James Belohovek (9 min)HD
- NEW Adapting Frank Miller’s ROBOCOP 2 – an interview with comic book writer Steven Grant (6 min)HD
- NEW OCP Declassified – a collection of rare archival production and behind-the-scenes videos including interviews with director Irvin Kershner, actors Peter Weller, Dan O’Herlihy  and a look at the filming of some deleted scene (46 min) HD
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD 
- Teaser Trailers (2 min) HD 
- TV Spots (1 min) HD 
- Deleted Scenes (2 min) HD 
- Still Gallery (1 min) HD 
- Still Galleries (behind-the-scenes photos, stills, posters and lobby cards)(9 min) 

I was surprised how much I enjoyed re watching this sequel, it holds up surprisingly well, way better than I remembered. Sure, it's got a few parts that are less than stellar, and the satire and humor aren't up to the standards of Verhoeven's original, but this is a fun watch and loaded with plenty of Robocop action. The new transfer looks top notch and the extras are fantastic. 3/5 

POLTERGEIST III (1988) (Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review)

POLTERGEIST III (1988)

Collector's Edition Blu-ray 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 97 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, Stereo 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Gary Sherman
Cast: Kip Wentz, Lara Flynn Boyle, Nancy Allen, Tom Skerritt, Heather O'Rourke, Zelda Rubinstein

The third and final film in the original Poltergeist trilogy features only two returning stars from the franchise, young Heather O'Rourke as Carol Anne and the diminutive spirit-medium Tangina as played by Zelda Rubinstein. This is not a good sign, apparently Craig T. Nelson and Jobeth Williams didn't want anything to do with this sequel, which was probably a wise career decision. Also absent are original writers Mark Victor and Michael Grais who penned the original and the first sequel, and gone is composer Jerry Goldsmith who provided the rich, lyrical scores for the first two movies, which I think were very integral to their overall success. 

In this sequel we have Carol Anne (O'Rourke) being sent away to with her mom's sister Pat (Nancy Allen, Blow Out)in Chicago, who is newly married to Bruce Gardner (Tom Skerritt, Alien)in a 100-story luxury skyscraper. We don't get reason for why she's sent away, other than to assume since Williams and Nelson chose not to participate this was a convenient way to write them out of the story. Aunt Pat is bit of a self-obsessed 80s careerist, an art dealer who doesn't have a great connection with kids, not even her husband's teenage daughter Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle, Twin Peaks), so she doesn't have the most maternal of instincts when young Carol Anne arrives to live with them, making Carol Anne feel like a fourth wheel. 

Carol Anne is enrolled at a school for gifted/troubled youngsters, where the head shrink, Dr. Seaton (Richard Fire, writer of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), begins to believe that her history of supernatural entanglements can be explained away by Carol Anne having the ability to project some form of mass-hypnosis or post-hypnotic suggestion, which to me sounds more far-fetched than the reality of the situation. Anyway, his probing of her psyche seems to have once again attracted the unwanted attention of the demonic doomsday cult-leader Rev Kane, this time played by actor Nathan Davis, as Julien Beck who originated the role in Poltergeist 2 had passed away from stomach-cancer. For hs part Davis does good work, decked out in prosthetic make-up which makes him look similar to Beck's character, but not an exact likeness, he looks a bit more zombie-like in appearance, sort of like the Crypt Keeper from Tales from the Crypt, and the result are certainly creepy in a way, but not on par with the iconic performance from Beck.

While all this is happening the magical dwarf Tangina senses from far away that O'Rourke is again in danger, apparently she's got a bit of The Shining in her, and she races to the high-rise with a mystical necklace given to her by the shaman Taylor from the last film, though she doesn't fare too much better than Mr. Hallorann from Kubrick's The Shining. The movie sets up the high rise luxury building as a technical marvel with some operating bugs to work out, a place with way too many mirrors, which of course plays into the larger picture. Kane and his evil spirit-minions are able to reach out through the mirrors, again trying to whisk away Carol Anne into the spirit world to lead them into the Light. Kane's reach also extends to reflective surfaces like pools of water, he is also able to possess the mirror images of people, which he does to both Donna (a sort of dull pre-Twin peaks Lara Flynn Boyle) and her bland 80s boyfriend Scott (Kipley Wentz).

The movie has some freaky special effects but they're nowhere near the level of creepy as the Giger designed make-up effects we saw on the second film, though I will say that the Great Beast at the end of the P2 was mighty awful, too. However, there are some some cool set-pieces, like when Tangina is attacked and turned into a mummified corpse, then another character crawls up through her remains, returning from the mirror-world, sort of. The mirror stuff is pretty technical and well-done, notably these are in-camera effects, they're cool, but maybe overused at a certain point. I liked the way that the Donna doppelganger's shirt had the lettering on their shirt reversed, which was a nice little detail.

While I enjoy a few touches throughout the movie on the whole it seems a tired from the beginning, the high rise setting takes away from the haunted house vibe which I enjoyed previously, the fact that the Freeling family is absent sort of kills it for me, too. The family dynamic was one of my favorite parts of the previous film, here everyone seems so disconnected. Then there's a weird scenario in the parking garage of the high-rise where everything is frozen over and the cars become murderous, the whole thing was just silly, a definite jump the shark moment. I give it props for fleeting moments of creativity and technical wizardry, but the atmosphere and suspense is null for me. Looking at the cast I like Skerritt well enough but Allen's Pat is just unlikable, and that the overwrought ending hangs on her proving her love for Carol Anne is bad. 
  
Also not helping is that this is the least attractive looking of the sequels in my opinion, shot in standard framing as opposed to scope like the previous films by cinematographer Alex Nepomniaschy who has done some damn   decent TV work on The Americans and Big Love more recently, but this production seems flat. Jerry Goldsmith's wonderful music is also absent, instead we have a decent score from Joe Renzetti (Child's Play, The Exterminator), who had worked with director Sherman on Dead And Buried (1981), but it lacks the resonance of the Goldsmith scores, a lot of what's wrong with this picture is what's missing from it that I loved about what came before. 

Audio/Video: Like Poltergeist II this is not the first time that Poltergeist III has appeared on Blu-ray, we saw a decent 1080p presentation from MGM a few years ago, but it was bare bones. Scream Factory kick it up a few notches with a new 2K scan of the interpositive, and grain is more finely resolved, details and textures look superior, black levels are deeper and the image has a nice crispness and clarity.  Audio options on the disc come bay way of both DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround tracks. The stereo track has some good channel separation, everything comes through crisply, there's some good use of the surrounds with the score and some of the more spook-house type scenes get some rear channel action. Optional English subtitles are included. 

Oh My God! Why did we agree to make
this movie? 

Onto the extras we have two commentaries, one with director Gary Sherman moderated by Michael Felsher of Red shirt Pictures, which is mostly technical with some anecdotes about the production, taking time to speak about the death of O'Rourke. Plus a second with  Poltergeist III Webmaster David Furtney who provides loads of facts and info about the production, including alternate scenes. Red Shirt again provides a trio of new featurettes, a twelve-minute interview with Screenwriter Brian Taggert who speaks of his previous work with director Gary Sherman on Dead And Buried, being brought onto this picture, liking the director's pitch of it being Alice Through the Looking Glass sort of take on the material, even though that's not exactly what ended up on screen. Taggert also speaks about what a tough and interesting old bird Zelda Rubinstein was and the tragic death O'Rourke. 

Actress Nancy Allen shows up for a 12-minute interview, speaking about her experiences working on a movie she didn't quite understand, acting with Skerritt, and how technical and complex the film was, also stating that in her opinion it was a better sequel than the second film, to which I must respectfully say "nope". I love Allen's work in De Palma's movies and Robocop, but this was not one of her better moments in a movie, but I love you Nancy!  

Special Effects Creator John Caglione, Jr (C.H.U.D.) shows in for a 13-minute interview speaking about what an ho it was having special effects legend Dick Smith as the designer of the special effects, being able to facilitate his designs onscreen. Speaks about how game the cast were when it came to doing the effects, covering Lara Flynn Boyle in slime, making a body casting of Rubinstein for the mummified Tangina corpse, creating the Kane make-up for actor Nathan Davis (Thief), and the numerous in camera mirror effects seen throughout the movie 

A nice addition is a 3-minute alternate ending, no audio was available for these scenes and subtitles have been created using script pages, which was cool, not any worse than the theatrical ending in my opinion. Additionally we get the theatrical trailer, some TV spots, and a still gallery. Packaging extras include a slipcover (o-ring) with new artwork from illustrator Justin Osbourn, plus a sleeve of reversible artwork. 

Special Features
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Interpositive
- NEW Audio Commentary With Director Gary Sherman
- NEW Audio Commentary With Poltergeist III Webmaster David Furtney
- NEW High Spirits – An Interview With Screenwriter Brian Taggert (16 min) HD 
- NEW Reflections – An Interview With Actress Nancy Allen (12 min) HD 
- NEW Mirror Images – An Interview With Special Effects Creator John Caglione, Jr. (13 min) HD 
- Alternate Ending (3 min) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (1 min) HD 
- TV Spots (2 min)
- Still Galleries (Behind-The-Scenes Photos, Stills, and Posters) (79 images) HD  
- Script Pages (132 pages)

The third Poltergeist film is a dud, no doubt about it, there are some inspired moments, but overall this is a downer of a sequel, and not just because of the sad passing of young star Heather O'Rourke after it wrapped. As a scary movie this is bad, which is shame for several reason, but for me it's more so because director Gary Sherman directed two classic slices of terror cinema previously, the subway horror Raw Meat (1972) and the macabre Dead And Buried (1981), both of which I cannot recommend strongly enough, they're awesome. I think Poltergeist II might be a case of a good director being thrown in director's jail after a box office dud, much the same way Robocop 3 (1993) pretty much ended the directing career of Fred Dekker (Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps). 

On the bright side, Scream Factory have put together a fantastic Collector's Editions with loads of extras and a superior A/V presentation for fans or the morbidly curious, this is one of those classic cases of a sub-par movie receiving an above par release, and I love that. 2/5

As a side note, one of the more annoying aspects of the movie aside, from Nancy Allen's awful late-80s hair, is how many times "Carol Anne" is said, whispered and screamed throughout the movie. Just for fun here's a YouTube supercut of how many time her name is said, enjoy! 

CARRIE (1976) Collector's Edition (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

CARRIE (1976) 

2-Disc Collector's Edition 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Duration: 98 Minutes 
Rating: R
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0, DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Brian De Palma
Cast: Sissy Spacek, William Katt, Amy Irving, Betty Buckley, Edie McClurg, John Travolta, Nancy Allen, P.J. Soles, Piper Laurie, Priscilla Pointer

Synopsis: Based on the best-selling Stephen King novel, this "absolutely spellbinding horror movie" (Roger Ebert) has become a pervasive, pop-culture touchstone for anyone who's ever wanted to get even. Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie deliver Oscar®-nominated* performances and John Travolta and Amy Irving are terrific in this ultimate revenge fantasy that has become one of the all-time great horror classics, and is now, finally, offered as a definitive, two-disc Collector's Edition Blu-ray!

At the center of the terror is Carrie (Spacek), a high school loner with no confidence, no friends... and no idea about the extent of her secret powers of telekinesis. But when her psychotic mother and sadistic classmates finally go too far, the once-shy teen becomes an unrestrained, vengeance-seeking powerhouse who, with the help of her "special gift," causes all hell to break loose in a famed cinematic frenzy of blood, fire and brimstone!

There is not a lot I can add to the choir of voices who have sung the praise of Brian De Palma's wonderful adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie (1976) through the years, a classic slice of horror that combines Brian De Palma's dazzling technical visual style with the harrowing highschool horror tale of Carrie White, a painfully shy and awkward highschool girl who is traumatized when her period happens for the first time in the gym shower room. What might have been just an embarrassing moment turns traumatic as her classmates taunt her mercilessly, it doesn't help that her mother is an unsympathetic religious nut, and her newly emerged womanhood coincides with newfound telekinetic power which culminates in a nightmare prom night scenario that is pure cinematic awesomeness. This is a movie that goes right into the crypt as a movie to be celebrated as not only a horror classic but one of the best of the Stephen King adaptations and one of De Palma's finest works. 

Audio/Video: Wowzers, the new 4K scan from Scream Factory far advances over the MGM Blu-ray from a few years ago. Colors are vibrant, the blacks are nice and deep, shadow detail is strong, and the skin tones are noticeably less ruddy and cooler looking, very rarely has a new HD scan of a movie been such an obvious improvement, but this is simply stunning work. The colors are rich and deep, with very nice saturation throughout. The image has a nice layer of film grain and along with that some improved clarity and fine detail. 

Audio options on the disc comes by way of your choice of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo or Surround 5.1 and both sounds wonderful. I still prefer the stereo track but the surround options does give a nice fullness to the fantastic Pino Donaggio score, a nice combination of lush arrangements and dramatic Bernard Herrmann Psycho-nods. Optional English subtitles are provided. 

Scream Factory improve over the MGM Blu-ray by carrying over all the extras from the special edition DVD which MGM did not do for the Blu-ray. These   include two 40-minute mini-docs Acting Carrie (43 Mins) and Visualizing Carrie  (41 Mins) with vintage interviews from Actors Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, Betty Buckley, Nancy Allen, William Katt, Piper Laurie, Priscilla Pointer and P.J. Soles And Art Director Jack Fisk, screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen, editor Paul Hirsch and Director Brian De Palma, which are great. The original special edition was well-stacked back in the day and the material is still solid. 

Scream go above and beyond and tip the scales with over 2-hours of newly produced extras which are befitting the horror classic on its 40th anniversary. On disc one of the two-disc set we have the new 4K scan of the movie, plus we have the original theatrical trailer and franchise trailers for The Rage: Carrie 2, the 2002 Carrie TV movie plus the inferior 2013 remake. Onto disc two we have the aforementioned carry-overs from the special edition plus the new stuff.  'More Acting Carrie' is a nice update of the original 'Acting Carrie' with new interviews with Nancy Allen, Betty Buckley, William Katt, Piper Laurie, Edie McClurg and P.J. Soles (20 minutes). Plus there are new interviews with screenwriter Lawrence Cohen (29 Mins),  Paul Hirsch (25 Mins), director of photography Mario Tosi (15 Mins),  casting director Harriet B. Helberg (16 Mins), composer Pino Donaggio (24 Mins), a six-minute piece about "Carrie: The Musical", and a new episode of Sean Clark's Horror's Hallowed Grounds (11 Mins).  On top of that we have trailers and TV spots, an image gallery, plus a text essay 'Stephen King and The 'Evolution of Carrie'. As for packaging the 2-disc Blu-ray set arrives in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, featuring the original poster artwork and a new illustration from artist Nat Marsh, with a slipcover featuring the new artwork. 

Special Features

Disc One:
- NEW 4K Scan Of The Original Negative
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2Mins) 
- Carrie Franchise Trailer Gallery (4 Mins) 
Disc Two:
- NEW More Acting Carrie – featuring interviews with Nancy Allen, Betty Buckley, William Katt, Piper Laurie, Edie McClurg and P.J. Soles (20 minutes)
- NEW Writing Carrie – an interview with screenwriter Lawrence Cohen (29 Mins) HD
- NEW Cutting Carrie – an interview with editor Paul Hirsch (25 Mins) HD 
- NEW Shooting Carrie – an interview with director of photography Mario Tosi (15 Mins) HD 
- NEW Casting Carrie –an interview with casting director Harriet B. Helberg (16 Mins) HD 
- NEW Bucket of Blood – a new interview with composer Pino Donaggio (24 Mins) HD 
- NEW Horror's Hallowed Grounds – Revisiting The Film's Original Locations (11 Mins) HD 
- Acting Carrie – Interviews With Actors Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, Betty Buckley, Nancy Allen, William Katt, Piper Laurie, Priscilla Pointer and P.J. Soles And Art Director Jack Fisk And Director Brian De Palma (43 Mins) 
- Visualizing Carrie – Interviews With Brian De Palma, Jack Fisk, Lawrence D. Cohen, Paul Hirsch (41 Mins) HD 
- A Look At "Carrie: The Musical" (6 MIns) 
- TV Spots (3 Mins) 
- Radio Spots (2 Mins) 
- Still Gallery – Rare Behind-The-Scenes Photos, Posters And Lobby Cards
- Stephen King And The Evolution Of Carrie Text Gallery (17 Mins) HD 

Wow, the Scream Factory 2-disc Blu-ray Collector's Edition is jam-packed with not just a definitive 4K transfer but hours of cool extras. I remember listening to an interview with Jeff and Cliff from Scream Factory on an episode of the now defunct Killer POV podcast, they were posed the question what title had slipped through their fingers or what movie they would love to have a crack at, Carrie was at the top of the list. You could tell at the time it was a movie they wanted so badly to get their hands on, and now they have, and they've done right by it. When you watch this version of the movie you can feel and see their passion for the movie right there on the screen. This is hands-down the definitive version of the movie, case closed, sell-off your old versions and update immediately.  

STRANGE INVADERS (1983)

STRANGE INVADERS (1983) 

Label: Twilight Time 

Region Code: Region Free (A/B/C)
Duration: 93 Minutes
Rating: PG
Video: 1080p High Definition / 2.35:1 / Color
Audio: English 1.0 DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles 

Director: Michael Laughlin

Cast: Paul Le Mat, Nancy Allen, Diana Scarwid, Michael Lerner, Louise Fletcher, Wallace Shawn, Fiona Lewis

Synopsis Michael Laughlin directs Strange Invaders (1983), an affectionate homage to science fiction/alien takeover films of the 1950s that stars Paul Le Mat as a university professor searching for his ex-wife (Diana Scarwid), who seems to have disappeared while visiting her hometown of Centerville, Illinois. In fact, the place turns out to be a hotbed of aliens, in place since the Fifties and weirdly unaware of how the outside world has changed. Also starring Nancy Allen as a helpful journalist, and a lively supporting cast including Michael Lerner, Louise Fletcher, Wallace Shawn, Fiona Lewis, and period icon June Lockhart.

I remember watching this on TV in the eighties and I was completely absorbed by it, a straight-faced homage to the alien invasion movies of the fifties, movies which at that young age I had already watched, particularly Invaders from Mars and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Movies I loved, movies that made be think that just maybe my neighbors were aliens from anotherpanet... at least I hoped so. Ovid, New York was a sort of nowhere place, which is probably why I enjoyed Strange Invaders so much, most of the action takes place in Centerville, Illinois which was analog to where I found myself most of my young life in boring Upstate New York, a place also seemingly trapped in the Cold War-era 1950s. 

In the film university professor Charles Bigelow (Paul Le Mat, American Graffiti) becomes obsessed with the disappearance of his ex-wife Margaret (Diana Scarwid), whom had left their young daughter Elizabeth (Lulu Sylbert) with her Charles so she could return to her hometown of Centerville to attend her mother's funeral. When Margaret doesn't return in a matter of days Charles heads to Centerville ot get to the bottom of his ex-wife's whereabouts. Arriving he discovers that the small town is straight out of the '50s, the teens drive around in vintage Chevy cars, and the styles are of the June and Ward Cleaver variety. Contrary to the idyllic appearances no one is welcoming to strangers from out of town, in fact Charles just barely escapes the town with his life intact when he encounters an alien who zaps his car with a beam of pure energy which comes straight from the creatures own mind. 

Returning to the city he seeks the help of tabloid journalist Betty Walker (Nancy Allen, Blow Up) after he sees a picture on the cover of the tabloid which looks exactly like the alien he saw in Centerville. The sassy, chain-smoking reporter nearly laughs him out of the office when he confides to her what happened to him, that is until she is visited by a strange Avon lady (Fiona Lewis) at her apartment,  who locks herself in the bathroom and zaps Betty's landlord (Shawn Wallace, The Princess Bride) before disappearing herself. After the encounter she and Charles approach a shady government agent, played by the wild-eyed Louise Fletcher (the Invaders from Mars remake) as Mrs. Benjamin, who tells them that there are no aliens and there is no town of Centerville, that it was destroyed by a tornado in the fifties.

Regardless, Charles, Betty and the young Elizabth head back to Centerville, and not surprisingly what they find is that the town is has been populated by a race of alien creatures since the fifties, taking on the appearance of the humans they've zapped thirty years ago. What does all this have to do with the missing ex-wife is at the heart of the story, in this fun straight-faced send up of vintage science fiction movies, I love this sort of stuff.  The performances are played flat, which might not go over well with a younger audience who did not grow up watching vintage science fiction tales of alien paranoia like myself, I think you have to have an awareness of what the movie makers are sending up here to appreciate it. 

While I grew up with not only this movie, but the movies that it is clearly riffing on, my teen kids did not, and as such I don't think they had the appreciation for it I do, but they tolerated it. I can understand their perspective, it's a bit on the dry side, it's not played for laughs, it has that same strange sense of weirdness that the Invaders from Mars had, that feeling that something is not quite right here, a disconnect, a wry, antiseptic paranoia about it. The movie does have some fun sci-fi special effects, including a cylindrical mother ship, classic flying saucers, cool alien designs by James Cummins (John Carpenter's The Thing) and retro-styled laser beams! There's a little something for most sci-fi and horror fans to enjoy on some level, even a saccharine nod to Stephen Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind with a happy reunion at the end. 

Audio/Video: Strange Invaders (1983) arrives on Blu-ray for the very first time courtesy of twilight Time who have released the slice of retro sci-fi as part of their Limited Edition Series limited to just 3000 copies, so you had best act fast before it goes out of print and fetch high prices on the secondary market. The transfer is quite good, the eighties film stock used for these cheapies tend not to look great in HD in my opinion, but the image holds up surprisingly well, considering the soft-focus cinematography, which tends not to come across as very crisp, but does lend a retro air of authenticity to the proceeding. Colors are strong, skin tones look good and the image is about as crisp as you could hope for considering the soft-focus cinematography. 

Bonus content includes an Audio Commentary with Director Michael Laughlin and Writer William Condon recorded in separate sessions and stitched together seamlessly to provide a fun, anecdotal and well-rounded track that is sure to please fans of the movie. There's also a trailer for the movie and an isolated score highlighting the fun sci-fi score from John Addison, who scored Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain (1966). Additionally there's an 8 pg. booklet with new writing on the film from Twilight Time staff writer Julie Kirgo, who is always a wealth of insight and perspective.  

Special Features: 

- Isolated Score Track 

- Audio Commentary with Director Michael Laughlin and Writer William Condon

- Original Theatrical Trailer
- 8 Page Booklet with new writing on the film from Julie Kirgo 

Director Michael Laughlin also directed the equally bizarre retro-horror shocker Strange Behavior (a.k.a Dead Kids), a movie that also falls into a weird '50s style sense of place and atmosphere, he had intended a third movie in a series of "Strange" movies, but after this one tanked at the cinema that failed to come to fruition, which is unfortunate, I love these movies, they're strange and I am not at all surprised they failed to draw a large audience, but in retrospect I think these have found a home in the annals of cinema as proper cult-classics, and I would have loved to have a third and final installment in his planned trilogy of "strange" movies.3/5