THE MIDNIGHT MAN (2016) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

THE MIDNIGHT MAN (2016)

Label: Scream Factory / IFC Midnight
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 93 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0, Surround 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Director: Travis Z
Cast: Lin Shaye, Gabrielle Haugh, Grayson Gabriel, Emily Haine, Louise Linton, Michael Sirow, Robert Englund

From director Travis Z (the Cabin Fever remake) comes yet another remake - this time it's a remake of an Irish supernatural chiller, the film opens in 1953 where we find three young children playing a strange board game in a mansion, an occult game with a very specific set of rules which when executed properly summons a demonic urban legend named The Midnight Man, who stalks you around the house until a certain time, preying in your deepest fears. Game night ends with two of the children dead, one is gruesomely decapitated while the other pops like a blood-filled zit outside the home, spraying blood over the snow-covered lawn. It's honestly a pretty fantastic little opening with some surprising gore. From here we go modern day, we have teenager Alex (Gabrielle Haugh) caring for her senile granny Anna (Lin Shaye, Insidious) at the very same mansion from the open of the film, in fact in turns out that granny is the lone survivor of that gruesome night.

While rummaging through the attic of the home Alex and her friend Miles (Grayson Gabriel) stumble across a strange box hidden away inside a trunk, inside it they find the Midnight Game game complete with written instructions, and decide have a go at it, even after granny catches them in the act and nearly strokes out at the sight of the game, you think that would warn them off of it, but nope, they go forward, even after having to call a doctor to check in on granny,  by the way the doc is played by horror legend Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), not that it matters. Despite being incredibly complicated with it's myriad of rules involving protective circles of salt, knocking on doors and keeping candles lit, they start the game, and also invite their friend Kelly (Emily Haine) over to play, and she's totally into it, she immediately drops some creepy[pasta knowledge on them, already aware of the game, but as expected she's just more meat for the demonic-game grinder. 

The movie is well-made and attractively shot,  but the story is too been-there-and-done-that, and don't even get me started on character motivations, I don't know what any of these people were even thinking, the game is so hard to get going I never would have gotten it started, let alone having to worry about the elderly relative you're supposed to be taking care of! I do have a soft spot for urban legends and folkloric horror though, so I did enjoy the premise to a degree and I like the look of the cloaked reptilian Midnight Man, but the rules as complicated as they were didn't seem to matter all that much when it's revealed that the demon regularly cheats anyway! 

This is not a horrible movie, but it's perhaps something worse than horrible, it's largely forgettable, pissing away the considerable talents of Lin Shaye and Robert Englund with poorly written characters. I could see this getting some play on Netflix on a night when nothing else presents itself as viable entertainment, but it's not a movie you're gonna be sitting around turning your friends onto at some later date, you're gonna forget about it an hour later, and someday think to yourself, "what was that one lackluster movie with Lin Shaye and Robert Englund?", and you definitely won't remember the name, because there are at least four other movies with the same generic name, and there will probably be four more by the time you think about this movie again.  

This is another one of the IFC Midnight/Scream Factory titles, they're very hit and miss for me so far, for every The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) there's four of these. The single-disc Blu-ray includes a trailer for the film and the original Irish film from 2013 which I think is cool that they included, but given that I didn't enjoy the remake all that much I don't know when or if I would ever make the time to watch the original. This release also includes a sleeve of reversible artwork and a slipcover, I'm curious to know how it is decided over at Scream Factory which releases are deserving of a reversible wrap and a slipcover, 

Like the Cabin Fever remake, also directed by Traviz Z, this one is not awful but it's not anything you're gonna be thinking about afterward. I give it that it's a well-made film, the visuals look good, but there no substance, there's nothing original about it, which make The Midnight Man a proverbial one and done for me. 

 

BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON (2007) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON (2007)

Label: Scream Factory

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 91 Minutes 

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Director: Scott Glosserman

Cast: Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Zelda Rubinstein, Scott Wilson, Robert Englund

In Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2007) we have a documentary film crew lead by journalist Taylor Gentry (Angela Goethals, V.I. Warshawski) who along her two cameramen, Doug (Ben Pace) and Todd (Britain Spellings), have been invited by an aspiring serial killer named Leslie Mancuso (Nathan Baesel) to accompany him while he prepares to debut his serial killer persona, that of Leslie Vernon. He took the name of a local urban legend as his identity, Vernon was a local farm boy who murdered his family before being killed and dumped in the river by a mob of local vigilantes. In this alternate reality slasher film killers are real, this includes Michael Myers, Freddy Kruger and Jason Vorhees, these are Leslie's  role models and who he aspires to be, he even has a mentor, a retired serial killer named Eugene, played by Scott Wilson (The Exorcist III, The Walking Dead). 

The film crew documents Leslie's preparations for his debut as the killer Leslie Vernon, a detailed vision map where he had identified his virginal final girl, and her group of peripheral friends whom he plans to kill at an abandoned farmhouse which figures prominently into both he local lore and his character's mythical backstory. As we all know every serial killer must have a nemesis, for Leslie it's Doc Halloran, his psychiatrist/nemesis played wonderfully straight by Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), his character is a nice homage to Donald Pleasance's Dr. Loomis from John Carpenter's Halloween (1978).  

Nathan Baesel is great in the role of Leslie, he's charismatic, disarmingly affable, but also intense and slightly goofy as he sets about showing the doc-crew how he will execute his kill-spree, it's sort of akin to a magician showing you how his illusions are achieved. We see hi doing cardio so he can seemingly speed-walk to catch fleeing victims without looking like he's running, pre-spooking the final girl days before the event, and nailing windows shut to prevent escape, really going into detail about how it will all go down - the documentary team are totally in awe of his preparation. 

However, on the night of the kill-spree Taylor begins to have reservations about baring witness to a mass murder and tries to prevent Leslie from going through with it, but once he dons his signature mask and outfit, including a hand-held sickle-weapon, he will not turn back. Taylor and the camera crew try to warn the final girl of what's about to happen, in a nice twist they walk in on the virginal final girls riding a guy reverse cowgirl style, which would seem to throw Leslie's final girl aspirations out the window, but there's a nice twist to ti all and the films plays out wonderfully. 

At this point the doc crew abandon the documentary and the film reverts to a traditional narrative style, abandoning the documentary-POV, and when I first saw this film I did have a problem with that, the tonal-shift and change in perspective was jarring - but not so much this time around, I was able to just go with it and enjoy the slasher movie it becomes, which is rather good, maybe so good that I kinda want a straight Leslie Vernon movie. Once the carnage starts it's pretty good, there's an exquisite though not to graphic kill with Vernon plunging a post-hole digger into a victim's chest and pulling out his heart with the tool, depositing in into the hand of the victim, that's just great stuff. For a few brief scenes I could really see Angela Goethals as an Amy Steel type final girl, I was really into the whole last third of the film. 

The only downside to it all is that we've seen Leslie's civilian identity we know what nice-guy type he is, and while his murdering persona shows none of that you just cannot unsee that, so it informs you're enjoyment of the slasher part of it, I call this the Osbourne Effect. I love Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's music, but after having watched Ozzy's reality show The Osbournes I cannot help but think if what a drug-addled dip shit the guy is when I hear the music, I still love the music, I could listen to "Fairies Wear Boots" on repeat for days, but there's always that niggling image of that drug-addled and befuddled Ozzy in the back of my mind when I hear his music, the same with Gene Simmons, what a fucking douche-nozzle, but I still love Ace Frehly era Kiss, though I do tend to skip over a few of the Simmons-sung songs mow! 

Audio/Video: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2007) arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory with a new HD master from the 2K intermediate. I never had an issue with the previous Anchor Bay Blu-ray and I struggle to see much of a difference here, but that's fine because the image looks solid with what looks to be accurate color reproduction and deep blacks, so all is good. This is shot in part as a documentary so the video and audio components are a bit limited when compared to a full-on traditional film, but everything looked authentic to my eyes without any issues, and when it reverts to a traditional narrative slasher the visual quality is vastly superior. Audio options include both English DTS-HD MA 5.1 and stereo, the 5.1 is not the most active but there's some decent use of the surrounds from time to time.    

Scream Factory celebrate the 10th anniversary of this meta-slasher gem with new extras in addition to porting over the extra from the Anchor Bay DVD (which were not ported over for Anchor Bay's own Blu-ray upgrade). These include an audio commentaries, deleted scenes (with optional commentary), a half-hour on-set and behind-the-scenes making of doc,  six minutes of casting sessions including a few actresses who didn't make the cut, and the theatrical trailer. New stuff exclusive to this edition begin with 'Joys and Curses', a retrospective doc with new interviews from actors Angela Goethals, Ben Pace and co-writer/co-producer David Stieve who discuss the genesis of the project, the struggle to make it while actors Angela Goethals and Ben Pace speak about their unfamiliarity with the slasher genre.

There's also an interview with comic book artists Nathan Thomas Milliner (he's also a slipcover illustrator for Code Red and Scream Factory among others) who did the artwork for the sequel comic books for the film, speaking of how he reluctantly came to work on the comic after creating a promotional poster for the film.  

This single-disc collector's edition release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, the b-side featuring the original movie poster, the a-side is a new illustration from artists Joel Robinson (Misery, Silent Night Deadly Night, Tales from the Hood) which is an improvement on the original home video artwork IMO, though it is too floating heads-style for my tastes. This release comes with a slipcover(o-card) featuring the same Robinson illustration as does the Blu-ray disc. 

Special Features:
- NEW HD master from the 2K intermediate
- NEW Joys and Curses - interviews with actors Angela Goethals, Ben Pace and co-writer/co-producer David Stieve (29 min) HD
- NEW Before the Mask: The Comic Book – an interview with comic book artist Nathan Thomas Milliner (6 min) HD
- Audio commentary with co-writer/director Scott Glosserman, moderated by filmmakers Adam Green and Joe Lynch
- Audio commentary with Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Britain Spelling and Ben Pace
- The Making of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon featurette (32 min)
- The Casting of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon featurette (6 min)
- Deleted and Extended Scenes with Optional Director's Commentary (25 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) 

- Easter Egg ( 1 min) 

When I first saw Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon about a decade ago I enjoyed it but I didn't love it, but watching it again after having some distance from it I think it has aged remarkably well, I love it. This is not a send-up of slashers, this is a straight-up love letter from a writer and director who clearly love this stuff, this thing is great, glad to finally have it on Blu-ray with some worthy extras. 

"Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" Collector's Edition Blu-ray Available March 27th, 2018 from Scream Factory

BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON (2006)

Label: Scream Factory

Release Date: March 26th 2018

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 91 Minutes 

Audio: English DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Director: Scott Glosserman

Cast: Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Zelda Rubinstein, Scott Wilson, Robert Englund

You know legendary maniacs Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger. Now meet Leslie Vernon, the next great psycho-slasher, in the cult favorite Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Available as a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray March 27th, 2018 from Scream Factory, Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon comes loaded with bonus features, including interviews with actors Angela Goethals, Ben Pace and co-writer/co-producer David Stieve, an audio commentary with co-writer/director Scott Glosserman, moderated by filmmakers Adam Green and Joe Lynch, an audio commentary with Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Britain Spelling and Ben Pace, Making of Behind the Mask and Casting of Behind the Mask featurettes, and more! Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com

Nathan Baesel (Invasion) stars as Vernon, a good-natured killing machine who invites a documentary film crew to follow him as he reminisces with his murder mentor (Scott Wilson, The Walking Dead), evades his psychiatrist/nemesis (Robert Englund, A Nightmare On Elm Street), deconstructs Freudian symbolism, and meticulously plots his upcoming slaughter spree. But when the actual carnage begins, where do you draw the line between voyeuristic thrills, mythic evil, and good old-fashioned slasher movie mayhem? Angela Goethals (24) and Zelda Rubinstein (Poltergeist) co-star in this ingeniously twisted and award-winning shocker.

Special Features:
- NEW HD master from the 2K intermediate
- NEW Joys and Curses - interviews with actors Angela Goethals, Ben Pace and co-writer/co-producer David Stieve
- NEW Before the Mask: The Comic Book – an interview with comic book artist Nathan Thomas Milliner
- Audio commentary with co-writer/director Scott Glosserman, moderated by filmmakers Adam Green and Joe Lynch
- Audio commentary with Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Britain Spelling and Ben Pace
- The Making of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon featurette
- The Casting of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon featurette
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
- Theatrical Trailer

THE FUNHOUSE MASSACRE (2015) (Blu-ray Review)

THE FUNHOUSE MASSACRE (2015) 

Label: Scream Factory 
Release Date: June 7th 2015 
Duration: 90 Minutes 
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Andy Palmer
Cast: Andy Palmer, Ben Begley, Chasty Ballesteros, Clint Howard, Courtney Gains, Jere Burns, Mars Crain, Matt Angel, Robert Englund, Scottie Thompson, Sebastian Siegel

Synopsis: On Halloween night, a group of the United States’ most notorious serial killers escape from Statesville Asylum and descend upon a giant funhouse whose theme is based on their different reigns of terror. The unsuspecting carnival patrons think that the carnage created at the park is just part of the show… until they become part of the main attraction. The only people left to stop the killers are a rag-tag group of college kids, a clueless deputy (Ben Begley, The Hungover Games) and the local sheriff (Scottie Thompson, Skyline, Before I Wake), who seems to have a strange attachment to the leader of the maniacs, the silver-tongued devil “Mental Manny” (Jere Burns, Justified, Angie Tribeca).

Now this was a pleasant surprise, an indie horror-comedy that didn't suck balls, trust me this is not as common as you might want to believe. In my experience a decent horror-comedy is about as rare as a good low-budget zombie movie, and that my friend is some rare stuff. Thankfully The Funhouse Massacre delivers on both laughs and blood-drenched gore and kept me entertained right up till the end. 

The carnage begins as a group of psychotic murderers escape their psychiatric imprisonment on Halloween night and make their way to a local amusement park that is hosting attractions based on their own murderous exploits. Once thet arrive at the amusemtn park they relieve the amusement park employees of their lives with extreme prejudice a nd begin to cut, kill and eat the patrons of the carnival, whom at first suspect that the gore is all part of the fun, but once it is revelaed that psychotic killers are for real and on a bloody murder spree all Hell breaks loose. 

Robert Englund appears for a hot minute as the director of the asylum, as always he gives a nice performance that is a notch under over-the-top and perfectly suited to the material at hand. The killers in this one are a fun lot, we have the doomsday cult leader Mental Manny who is the defacto leader of the homcidal group, a very bad dentistt named Dr. Suave, cannibalistic chef Animal the Cannibal, a clown-faced dead-skin masked wrestler named Rocco and The Taxidermist played by Clint Howard of Evilspeak. There's also a sexy doll-faced clown killer who stitches her victim’s mouth and eyes shut before murdering them, she's probably the sexiest evil-clown since Batty Boop from the Killjoy movies. The cameos don't end with Englund and Clint Howard, Courtney Gains from Children of the Corn and The 'Burbs shows up at the proprietor of the amusement park who doesn't realize how played he has been by his lady friend who is in cahoots with the psychotic killers. 

Of course we have to have someone to root for here to pretend we aren't cheering on the murderers, cause that would be weird, right? To that end we have a group of employees from a local diner who head to the park for a night of fun terror, among them an awkward nice guy who pines away for the virginal final girl, the local jock and his horny girlfriend and the dishwasher, a Mexican dressed-up as Machete, and the local sheriff and her dip shit deputy. 

The Funhouse Massacre looks great on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, it definitely takes advantage of the bright amusement park colors delivers on some bloody gore and fun horror-comedy that goes down easy with a few beers, and at just ninety-minutes it doesn't wear out it's welcome. 

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with director Andy Palmer, producer Warner Davis and actors Clint Howard and Courtney Gains
- Popcorn Talk’s Video Commentary with director Andy Palmer and co-writers/co-stars Ben Begley and Renee Dorian (Blu-Ray only)
- A Day on the Set (3 Mins) 
- Production Diaries (5 Mins) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 Mins) HD 

The Funhouse Massacre is one of those indie gems that could easily slip right on by you without notice if it weren't for me telling you that this deserves a watch. I was initially put off by the artwork as I am juts not a fan of most clown-themed horror movies, there are a few out there that bring me joy, but they are few and far between, and I am happy to say that this one exceeded my expectations and them some, so definitely give this one a watch, I think you're gonna be pleased with its blend of gore and comedy. 

 

EATEN ALIVE (1977) (Arrow Video Blu-ray Review)

EATEN ALIVE (1977) 

Label: Arrow Video 

Release Date: September 21st 2015

Certificate: 18

Duration: 91 Minutes

Region Code: A/B/ 1/2

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio: English Uncompressed PCM Mono 1.0 with Optional English SDH Subtitles

Director: Tobe Hooper

Cast: William Finley, Mel Ferrer, Marilyn Burns, Janus Blythe, Carolyn Jones, Neville Brand, Stuart Whitman, Roberta Collins, Kyle Richards, Robert Englund

Eaten Alive (1977) is a very strange movie all the way around, it was Tobe Hooper's follow-up to the seminal shocker The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and it centers around the run down Starlight Hotel located somewhere in the rural Louisiana bayou. An unattractive roadside hotel run by a Southern-fried weirdo named Judd (Neville Brand, Without Warning), a grizzled, middle-aged man with a wooden leg who deliriously alternates between a somewhat charming Southern nut and a a completely unhinged scythe-wielding, mumbling murdering menace. 

We have several disparate groups of patrons convening at the Starlight Hotel, beginning with a kind-hearted whore named Clara Wood (Roberta Collins, Caged Heat) who has just been fired from a brothel run by Miss Hattie (Carolyn Jones, from The Munsters!) when she won't give-up the backdoor to a local redneck named Buck. The horny backdoor man is played by future Freddy Kruger star Robert Englund. In the opening scene he's trying for some sweet backdoor action with the classic line, "My name's Buck, I'm raring to fuck", a line Tarantino famously paraphrased in Kill Bill Vol.1.  When she refuses to take in the behind Clara is thrown from the brothel by the madame and finds herself at the Starlight, but when the moralistic Judd realizes she one of the local whores he makes quick work of her with his pitchfork before feeding her to the hungry crocodile which he keeps in a swamp right next the hotel. 

Sometime later the Faye (Marilyn Burns) and her wildly disturbed husband Roy (William Finley, The Funhouse) arrive at the starlight with their young daughter Angie (Kyle Richards) and set-up for the night in a room, but not before the croc eats their pet dog in a frenzied scene. Around the same time Harvey Wood (Mel Ferrer, Nightmare City) and his daughter Libby (Crystin Sinclaire, Ruby) arrive on scene, looking for Harvey's runaway daughter Clara, who was the whore Judd just fed to his croc.  Then after a night of drinking and playing pool Buck (Englund) arrives back at the Starlight to Judd's dismay with his girlfriend Lynette (Janus Blythe, The Hills Have Eyes) and the bloody slaughter begins as the demented Judd sets about murdering damn near everyone and feeding them to his croc.

The set-up is simple and sleazy, and the tone of the movie is very surreal, having been shot completely on  a sound stage the movie is washed in an brain-searing red glow, as if a blood red neon-moon was ominously shining down from the sky, plus there's an impenetrable thick fog which enshrouds the area in an otherworldly blanket of fear. It establishes a claustrophobic vibe that seems inescapable, with a nerve shredding electronic score that gives the impression of a bad southern acid-trip. 

Neville Brand is in top-form here as the demented hotel proprietor, a nut who mumbles to himself in between murdering folks with his trusty scythe. He's not the only weirdo at the hotel this night either, William Finley's appearance as either a drugged-out, or clearly insane, Roy is right off the deep end of weirdness, the scene of him looking for his lost eyeball on the shag carpet of the hotel room is straight out of a David Lynch film. Marylin Burns stars as his suffering wife, she matches the ferocity of her final girl from Chainsaw here with ear-shredding screams of terror, as does her movie daughter Kyle Richards (The Car, Halloween), who spends most of the movie hiding beneath the crawlspace of the hotel trying to escape the grasp of the murderous Judd and his hungry croc.

The movie is oozing atmosphere from the first frame, a strange and surreal psychotronic terror film that at times feel almost post-apocalyptic with the neon-red lighting and relentless fog-drenched setting, unhinged and disturbing and maybe not an easy watch for some, a Southern-fried nightmare you cannot get away from. 

Speaking of nightmares, you just cannot get around how awful the ten foot animatronic croc looks on camera. The thing is straight-up dreadful but Hooper wisely keeps it in hidden-away for the most part, you definitely get the impression that his is the croc-version of Bruce the Shark from Spielberg's Jaws, on the numerous extras you can hear multiple testimonies from the cast and crew as to what a nightmare the water-logged croc prop was during the making of the movie. 

So we have a croc that's a croc-o-shit and some mild pacing issues in the mid-section of this Southern slice of surrealistic terror but I can look past the flaws, I love this strange movie and I believable it's an undervalued entry in the Hooper canon, one worth rediscovering on Blu-ray from Arrow Video. 

Audio/Video: Arrow Video have gone back to the original 35mm camera negative for a brand new 2K restoration of Hooper's  Eaten Alive in the original widescreen aspect ratio (1.85:1), and the results are stupendous. The movie has never looked better and far surpasses by Dark Sky Films DVD (2000) in all respects. The colors are rich and nicely saturated, looking more natural and reds not running so hot. There's a nice layer of natural looking film grain with a new depth, clarity and fine detail to the image we've not seen before on home video, it simply looks fantastic. 

Arrow keep the audio pure with an uncompressed PCM 1.0 Mono track with a psychotronic-electronic score from Wayne Bell and Tobe Hooper, it is a harsh listen and it perfectly compliments the images of surreal terror. Dialogue and sounds effects are nicely balanced and optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing are included. 

Reversible Artwork 

Onto the wealth of extras we have all the bonus content from the Dark Sky DVD including the audio commentary with co-writer and producer Mardi Rustam, make-up artist Craig Reardon and stars Roberta Collins, William Finley and Kyle Richards. The commentary is a pastiche of separate commentaries stitched together and placed appropriately throughout the movie and works quite nicely. Also carried over are the featurettes 'My Name is Buck' with star Robert Englund discussing his early career and time on the film with the cast and Hooper. 

'The Butcher of Elmendorf: The Legend of Joe Ball' tells the story of the WWI vet turned bootlegger who is the inspiration for the character of Judd, who may or may not have fed his wife and lovers to the crocs he kept in a pit behind his bar. 

There's also the '5ive Minutes with Marilyn Burns' interview the original scream-queen, and star of Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, plus we get an alternate opening credit sequence. That's pretty much everything from the dark Sky edition, so feel safe to upgrade and enjoy the superior HD presentation. 

Onto the new stuff produced by Arrow Video we have three brand new interview coming in at about thirty-seven minutes in length with director Tobe Hooper, Special Effects Artists Craig Reardon and starlet Janus Blythe, and she seems like quite a character with loads of colorful stories as she recounts cruising the Hollywood studio lots in search of roles, her early career and she briefly mentioning turning down a role in what turned out to be Rob Zombie's Lords of Salem. Craig Reardon gives a somewhat scholarly recounting of history of the lot where the film was shot and his own insights into actor Neville Brand, who by all accounts was quite a weird guy and a decorated WWII soldier. Hooper recalls being pitched the film and how this was his first studio picture, re working the script, the true-life basis for Brand's character, and working on a sound stage and what he was trying to create.

Also included are thirteen-minutes of trailer for the movie under the myriad of alternate titles including Eaten Alive, Death Trap, Starlight Slaughter and Horror Hotel. There's also fifteen-minutes of TV and radio spots, and three galleries of behind-the-scenes and promotional images, including some hilarious comment cards from the test-screenings of the film. 

Away from the disc extras we have a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin and the original poster art, plus a 24-page collector's booklet with new writing on the film from author Brad Stevens, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Special Features

- Audio commentary with co-writer and producer Mardi Rustam, make-up artist Craig Reardon and stars Roberta Collins, William Finley and Kyle Richards

- New introduction to the film by director Tobe Hooper (1 Mins) HD

- Brand new interview with Hooper (14 Mins) HD 

- Brand New Interview with star Janus Blythe (12 Mins) HD 

- Brand New Interview with Special Effects Artist Craig Reardon (11 Mins) HD 

- My Name is Buck: Star Robert Englund discusses his acting career (15 Mins) SD 

- The Butcher of Elmendorf: The Legend of Joe Ball - The story of the South Texas bar owner on whom Eaten Alive is loosely based (23 Mins) SD

- 5ive Minutes with Marilyn Burns - The star of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre talks about working on Eaten Alive (5 Mins) SD

- The Gator Creator: archival interview with Hooper (14 Mins) SD 

- Original theatrical trailers for the film under its various titles Eaten Alive, Death Trap, Starlight Slaughter and Horror Hotel (13 Mins) HD 

- US TV and Radio Spots (15 Mins) HD 

- Alternate Credits Sequence (1 Mins) HD 

- Galleries: Behind The scene (8 Mins), Still and Promotional Material (64 Images), Comment Cards (34 Images) HD 

- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin

- 24 Pg. Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Arrow Video have put together a pretty damn definitive HD version of Tobe Hooper's psychotronic terror-classic for fans of the movie, the HD presentation is fantastic and the wealth of extras are superb, very highly recommend. 

Screenshots from www.DVDBeaver.Com

FEAR CLINIC (2014)

FEAR CLINIC (2014)

Label: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Rating: R

Duration: 95 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Cast: Robert Englund, Corey Taylor, Kevin Gage, Felisha Terrell, Thomas Dekker, Fiona Dourif, Brandon Beemer, Angelina Armani
Director: Robert Hall

Robert "Freddy" Krueger appears here as Dr. Andover who runs a fear clinic, the good doc is out to cure extreme phobias in pretty much the same way a lot of folks cure the hiccups, apparently you just gotta scare it out of 'em, the doc this by subjecting his patients to their worst fears. 

He doesn't thrown the arachnophobes into a pit of spiders or anything quite like that, he has developed a fear chamber, which is very much like a sensory deprivation tank which allows them to safely confront their fears while the doc communicated with them through a weird headset, the experience effectively scaring the fear out of them. 

The treatments are a success until one of his patients die while in the chamber which causes him to give up his fear therapy. A few years later several of the victims of a mass shooting that occurred at a restaurant show up at the steps of he clinic suffering what they refer to as "fear aftershocks", each insisting the doc fire up the fear chamber and treat them, which he reluctantly does, but of course terrible things begins to happen shortly afterward. Turns out the treatments have awakened a malevolent force - fear itself - which begins to manifest once the fears begin to flow, growing stronger and stronger. 

The first thing I noticed about the film was the performance of Robert Englund, a man who can elevate  any film, but it's been a while since I've seen him in anything other than the briefest of cameos in the shittiest of movies.  This time out he gives the doc some real pathos and you can feel his anguish as he struggles to cure his patients while fearing that he he may be endangering them, it's a meatier role than the icon has had in awhile, haven't seen Englund in this goof of form since Jack Brooks Monster Slayer. 

The supporting cast is quite decent, too. We have Thomas Dekker from The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series as a gunshot victim from the diner massacre, plus the very cute Fiona Dourif (daughter of Brad) from HBO's True Blood,  both of whom are very good. Slipknot's Corey Taylor appears as an orderly at the clinic, it's not significant role but will probably bring in the fans.  We also have Kevin Gage who has appeared in most of director Kevin Hall (Laid to Rest), offering up some comic relief throughout as the electrician. 

The numerous digital effects are not too offensive, with the spiders that pop up probably being the worst offender, but I did enjoy the creature design and digital effects used to enhance it. The oily black tendriled creature looks to be partly inspired by Venom from the Spider-Man comics, the last few sequences with the fully manifested creature are pretty damn cool. 

The science fiction part of it I can skip around, I'm not one to scrutinize movie science, as long as they can pull the wool over my eyes to a degree that I can buy into it that is fine by me, it manages to be not too painfully stupid.  

Director Kevin Hall has had years in the special effects business on dozens of big Hollywood film productions, the guy knows how to make an engaging film and he puts the money up on the screen where you can appreciate it, he definitely made the most of the budget and turned in a great looking film. 

There's not a lot of gore but there are some nice effects and atmosphere throughout but no splatter to speak of. You might wish for more of the more of the red stuff but the topless scene from Angelina Armani does offer some form of reparations for the lack of gore. 

The disc from Anchor Bay looks solid, the digital shot film has strong colors and crisp details with an active surround sound audio track. The only extra is a 12-minute behind-the-scenes featurette with interviews from Robert Englund, Robert Hall, Cleopatra Coleman, Fiona Dourif, Corey Taylor, Brandon Beemer and Thomas Dekker which also points out that this was based on a FEARnet web series which Hall also directed starring Englund. 

Not a classic slice of horror but maybe a decent rental, not a lot of re watch value for me but a decent film with a cool premise that doesn't feel phoned in, plus it's great to see Englund in a decent role with some meat on the bone. Fear Clinic is now available on DVD and the Blu-ray is available exclusively from Best Buy.