DVD Review: MEMORY OF THE DEAD (2012)

MEMORY OF THE DEAD (2012) 

Label: Artsploitation Films

Region: 1

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 89 Minutes
Audio: Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles

Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Valentín Javier Diment

Cast: Gabriel Guity, Lola Berthet, Matias Marmorato

We start off with a creepy and macabre lullaby as a young woman, Alicia, wakes up from a frightful nightmare to find her beloved husband Jorge laying dead next to her. Forward forty-nine days later and she has assembled a small group of Jorge's closest friends at her rural home for a reading of a letter Jorge left behind for each of them, and to celebrate his life. 

Perhaps not surprisingly when the film is titles Memory of the Dead there's a bit more to the story than that. It seems Alicia has called upon these friends in an effort to resurrect Jorge from the grave through the occult, and as the clock strikes midnight odd and menacing things creep up on each of the mourners with violent results. 

Argentinian director Valentín Javier Diment's film is a pretty simple conceit, a variation on the classic cabin-in-the-woods story filtered through the eyes of Dario Argento, a phantasmic nightmare of malevolent spirits and geysers of ferocious gore. The images conjured are demented and sopping with blood, the gore hounds will not be disappointed by the visceral experience but some might be a bit turned off (or maybe just confused) by the pervasive dream logic, the narrative can be a bit disjointed at times.

I found the performances to be very natural, if sometimes a bit campy. There's definitely a macabre sense of humor at play throughout the film, it's not all dread and nightmares, particularly the finale. The group of mourners are on the surface friendly with each other but as the night creeps in those friendships are quickly torn asunder and betrayal is evident at every turn. 

The production looks fantastic while the image doesn't have a lot of depth to it's superbly lit in every shot and each sequence is framed nicely, this is a gorgeous film with oodles of macabre atmosphere and surreal imagery. I give this a high recommend, a creepy and nightmarish version of Evil Dead 2 (1987) by way of Argento's Suspiria (1977) and one heck of a ferocious gore-fest, totally fun. 3.5 Outta 5 

DVD Review: ARTHUR C. CLARKE COLLECTION - 8 DISC EDITION

ARTHUR C. CLARK COLLECTION

The Complete Original + Groundbreaking Series - 8 Disc Edition

MYSTERIOUS WORLDS (1980) - 13 Episodes (325 Minutes) 

MYSTERIOUS UNIVERSE (1985) - 26 Episodes (650) Minutes

WORLD OF STRANGE POWERS (1995) - 13 Episodes (340 Minutes) 

Label: Visual Entertainment Inc. / ITV Studios

Duration: 1315 Minutes
Region Code: 1 NTSC 

Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 

Video: Fullscreen (4:3) 

Years before Agents Mulder and Scully of the X-Files TV series rekindled my interest in Cryptozoic oddity and the unexplained sci-fi author Arthur C. Clark (2001: A Space Odyssey) opened my young mind to the myriad of unexplained phenomena in 1980 with the 13-part British mini-TV series Mysterious Universe (1980) documenting some of the most perplexing and sensational weirdness known to man. The show was my early introduction to the Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster, and flying saucers. Each episode was introduced and ended by Arthur C. Clark and stuffed with first hand accounts and fascinating filmed footage, it was pretty thrilling stuff when I was 10 and watching it again over thirty years later it's still pretty damn entertaining. Watching each episode I found myself cruising Wikipedia to further investigate each strange topic, scouring the Internet for some new tantalizing tidbit of evidence or video footage to appease my craving for more weirdness. 

Revisiting all 52 episodes I was surprised at just how much ground is covered, we get the face on Mars, fairies, zombies, secrets of the Egyptian pyramids,  spirits from the beyond, crop circles, ancient civilizations, the Bermuda triangle and dozens more unexplained phenomena, there's a little bit of everything here for lovers of science fiction, the occult, the supernatural, aliens and pretty much every bizarre phenomena you can imagine.  

Arthur C. Clarke was the perfect commentator for the subject at hand, clearly a man of science with a true passion for the unexplained. He was not given to blind belief without some science-based proof, offering his own observations and beliefs on each sensational topic at the end of each episode. Clarke's a skeptic but a skeptic who seemingly wants to believe there's something more out there in the universe what we can rationally explain, offering the most probable scientific explanation for each oddity. As he says, "I don't pretend to have all the answers, but the questions are certainly worth thinking about.", very true. 

What this set contains are all 52 half-hour episodes of the three separate series - Mysterious World (1980), World of Strange Powers (1985), and Mysterious Universe (1995) spread out over 8 discs.  Strangely, up to the release of this set these episodes have never before been available on DVD. The source material can be a bit sketchy and grainy from time to time but this is a pretty crisp video presentation considering the age and varying source elements of the video footage. We get an English language Dolby Digital stereo audio track with no subtitle options and the set includes no special features whatsoever,  we have only a basic start-up menu offering either the option to play all or choose individual episodes. 

Despite the fact that the presentation is a bit dated without benefit of fancy editing and the fact it can be a bit dry from time to time I still have to give this 8-disc set a high recommend, particularly for fans of conspiracies, the unexplained, TV's In Search of... , Kolchak: The Nightstalker and The X-Files. These tales of the paranormal are thirty plus years old but the mystery and intrigue are timeless, watching it with my own three children I was pleased to see them take an interest in the unexplained wonders of the cosmos much the same way I did thirty plus years ago when I was about the same age, even without the benefit of nostalgia, this is great set. 4 Outta 5 

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DVD: Review: THE ASYLUM TAPES (2012)

THE ASYLUM TAPES (2012) 

Label: Revolver
Region Code: 1 NTSC
Duration: 80 Minutes
Rated: Unrated
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, 2.0 Stereo 
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.77:1) 
Director: Sean Stone 
Cast: Oliver Stone, Alexander Wraith, Antonella Lentini, Monique Van Vooren, Oliver Stone

Synopsis: When a group of young filmmakers decide to visit an abandoned psychiatric hospital to investigate the terrifying rumors that surround an institution that was infamous for its inhumane treatment of its patients, they have no idea of the horror they will uncover. Ward after ward was used for a variety of invasive surgical procedures, some necessary, some less so. As their exploration takes them deeper into the bowels of the building, they find themselves trapped by supernatural forces that have no intention of letting them escape. As the night unfolds, they soon find that there is a fate worse than death. This is their footage. Everything is real.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: three young filmmakers armed with a camera spend the night in an allegedly haunted asylum... these are the tapes of what really happened. 

Okay so right from the start let's just say that Sean Stone's feature film debut is not the most original slice of celluloid, it's pretty rote even within it's own genre of "found footage" cinema, this entry particularly reminded me of a film from Singapore I reviewed a few years back called Haunted Changi (2010), it's a very similar premise, so much in fact I thought this might just be the English language remake of it, which it isn't.

As the story goes in October 2009, three young filmmaking friends enter an abandoned asylum named Greystone to explore for ghosts, sorta an impromptu Ghost Hunters expedition. Local legend have it that anyone who ventures inside Greystone will go either insane or vanish, there's also a legend of a spooky gray haired witch named Crazy Kate and dark shadowy figures called the Shadow Men, the building are said to be inhabited by the tormented souls who once lived and died there, exploited by the psychiatric profession and subjected to invasive surgical procedures like frontal lobotomies, hot and cold pressure baths and electro-shock therapy. The film has a bit of a clunk set-up, first we get Sean Stone, son of director Oliver Stone (Natural Born Killers), playing a version of himself, it's just a bit of a jarring introduction to the film with out-of-context footage, a dinner gathering at the Stone residence where we first hear the legends surrounding the asylum and vintage newsreel footage that explain the location's history. So, maybe it's disjointed by design but I found it a bit of a cold start to the film, however, once our trio of adventurous spirit seekers arrive on scene things come together nicely, beginning with a drive up the spooky dirt road leading  to the asylum.

Once we get inside it's an effective little found-footage chiller, if a bit predictable to a point. We get a lot of the pre-requisite creepy shadows, tricks of light and dark and tons of  "did you hear, see, feel that?" type cliches so familiar to the genre. Remember, I warned you that it wasn't exactly a unique entry, but all in all the film works and even these stale genre platitudes are effective in Stone's capable hands. As the trio make their way through the dilapidated buildings they find creepy dolls, crucifixes and chained shackles, the last item is said to belong to an murderous escaped mental patient that stalks the premises, all of these things start to wear on the nerves and fray the adventurous spirit of our trio as they begin to jump at shadows, turn against each other and maybe even exhibit signs of what might be demon possession, or some such shit. Not the most original entry but as a found footage haunted house ride it was good fun as formerly skeptical young folks foolishly enter dark tunnels and find pretty much exactly what they wanted and then some. It's genuinely unsettling, at times I felt that familiar tightness in my chest that either means I'm about to have a heart attack or the film is thoroughly suspenseful, I am pleased to say it's the latter.

For a found-footage film the camera is pretty steady throughout aside from the chaotic scenes of running scared shitless while screaming down shadowy hallways, so it does feel like a found-footage film but it doesn't go completely nuts with the camerawork. There's also a creepy atonal score underlying the film, a nice touch even though it could potentially take you out of the moment and take away from the realism, but it's not too intrusive at all. 

DVD: The film is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen and given that this is a found footage film the quality ranges accordingly from decent to not so great, probably by design, there are post-production digital artifacts, video distortions and the black levels are a bit of mess throughout, but like I say it's surely by design. There's are English language Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo presentations, the surrounds are used well, dispersing creepy echoes, weird whispering, foot-steps and scary haunted house aural scares with eerie effectiveness. Sadly, this DVD is a bare-bones edition, the lone special feature is a Alternate Ending (1:54) which is interesting but wisely unused. It should be noted this is the region 1 Canadian edition of the film, there's also a Region 1 US version under the title Greystone Park available through Image Entertainment that has a few more extras on it.

Verdict: A effective and genuinely creepy found-footage entry with some great supernatural elements, it falters from time to time with some odd pacing and the usual "why the fuck would they do that!?!" moments but I rather enjoyed this one, a great asylum setting, some really decent acting and a fun shocker finale that I didn't see coming, fun stuff. If I was to sum it up in a generic one-liner it might be Session 9 (2001) meets The Last Exorcism (2010). 3 Outta 5 

Amazon Link:  amzn.to/Z7lhqz

DVD Review: EQUINOX (1969)

EQUINOX (1969) 

Label: Umbrella Entertainment

Region Code: 0 NTSC

Rating: PG

Duration: 82 Mins

Aspect Ratio: Original Full Frame (1.33:1)

Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Cast: Barbara Hewitt,Edward Connell,Frank Bonner

Director: Jack Woods

Tagline: An Occult Barrier Between Good and Evil!

Synopsis: A unique tale of fantasy and horror, EQUINOX is set deep within the guarded woods and canyons of California, where four leisure-seeking teenagers discover the 'Book of the Damned', an ancient text that will lead them on a mystifying journey into a malevolent world. Here the intrepid youths discover a parallel universe populated with all manner of monsters, zombies and gargantuan beasts.

Fun schlocky stuff right here as a group of college kids spend the day in the wooded canyons and encounter a cackling old man in a cave and obtain an ancient text called "The Book of the Damned" which has the power to unleash unspeakable evil - sounds familiar huh? I think one would be hard pressed not to think of Sam Raimi's EVIL DEAD (1981) when viewing this one - a professor unearthing an ancient text, reading it's words aloud and other-dimensional creatures emerge from the woods wreaking havoc on a group on fun-loving teens. Someone in the Raimi camp definitely saw this films there can be no denying that; the ancient book, the recorder, etc.

Fans of Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion animation are in for a real treat with the David Allen effects works, just fantastic stuff, a Lovecraftian tentacles creature, a winged demon, and a gigantic purple gorilla creature. Allen would go onto work extensively with Charles Band and Full Moon Entertainment, even directing PUPPET MASTER II as well as creating special effects work on DOLLS, THE HUNGER, THE HOWLING, THE STUFF and many others - quite a talented artist even at this early stage.  

While the teens must contend with the Satanic creatures they are also under attack by a demented forest ranger named Asmodius (played by director Jack Woods) who falls under the control of a malevolent supernatural force whom wants the book back, and he's not afraid to molest a pretty young lady to get his way either, it's a fun performance that's absurd and creepy, love it. Overall the performances are pretty terrible as one might expect from a student film but as a schlocky slice of b-movie making it totally works, adding to the aural excitement is some wonderfully goofy post-dubbing of the actors voices.

Not a good film, but a fun one chock full o' bad acting, continuity issues and sci-fi schlock, quite a fun watch all in all, perhaps as enjoyable as the film is the behind-the0scene story of how a student film turned into a cult classic.

DVD: The film shot on 16mm is pretty rough at times with heavy grain and print damage but this is edition is jam-packed with bonus content which is amazing given the obscurity of the flick, when compared to Criterion Collection's 2-disc DVD there are a few things missing including radio spots,  the Forrest J. Ackerman video introduction and the original 1967 version with the accompanying commentary from special effects director Dennis Muren, co-director Mark McGee and artist Jim Danforth but still this is a fantastic edition with some very sweet DVD art to boot. The interviews and commentaries offer up more than one could ever hope to know about the production and the love of genre filmmaking the creators so clearly had when they were making it, just awesome stuff. One downside is that the Australian releases have the rating plastered on the front DVD cover and spine which is just unsightly but small packaging blemish aside this is a knock-out package.

The Interview with co-director / effects guru Dennis Muren features him reminiscing about his love of effects work from an early age, the feature also displays some great super 8 footage of his early works, recalling his first meeting with producer Jack Harris (THE BLOB), gaining respect for writers and directors and lessons learned from working on EQUINOX, selling the film and his views on CGI vs stop-motion animation. Cast Interviews with Frank Bonner, Barbara Hewitt and James Duron were also fun, many will recall Frank Bonner as "Herb Tarlek" from the TV series WKRP IN CINCINNATI  and he seems genuinely mind-boggled that the film is remembered at all. There's a collection of silent outtakes and deleted scenes, two rare films featuring cast and effect work by the EQUINOX crew and a very cool KING KONG themed Volkswagen commercial featuring Fay Wray's daughter plus test footage, too. The Audio commentary with writer-director Jack Woods and producer Jack H. Harris is quite an entertaining listen, the two men are reunited after  25 years to talk about all aspects of the film and bringing the cast back together for the extended 1970 version of the film which is presented here, the two have a great rapport and a wonderful chemistry not to mention storied careers, particularly Jack H. Harris. 

Special Features:

- Interview with director / effects guru Dennis Muren (7:39) 

- Cast Interviews with Frank Bonner, Barbara Hewitt and James Duron (9:37) 

- Trailers (1:43) 

- Audio commentary with writer-director Jack Woods and producer Jack H. Harris

- King Kong Volkswagen Commercial (1:02) 

- Kong Commercial Test Footage (:37) 

- The Magic Treasure (19:17) 

- Taurus Test (1:49) 

- Outtakes (7:05) 

- Zorgon: the H-Bomb Beast From Hell – short film featuring Equinox crew.(8:44) 

Verdict: While I would never claim this is a particularly good film (it's not) EQUINOX is quite the entertaining lo-fi film that should appeal to fans of EVIL DEAD and THE CLASH OF THE TITANS with it's blend of supernatural schlock and awesome stop-motion and miniature effects work. I simply loved this film from start to finish, if you love b-movie grinders, classic creature features or just schlockly cinema this is a must-see in my opinion. A good barometer of how much you might enjoy this is if you were a fan of THE CRATER LAKE MONSTER (1977) also featuring effects work from David Allen, if that was a fun watch for you then this is probably a no-brainer. 3.5 Outta 5 

Additional Screen Captures

http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/

DVD Review: SEX, DEMONS AND DEATH (1975)

SEX, DEMONS AND DEATH (1975)

aka DIABOLICAMENTE...LETIZIA

Label: One 7 Movies
Release Date: October 25th 2011
Region 0 NTSC
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 93 mins
Video: 16x9 Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: Italian Dolby Digital Mono 2.0
Director: Salvatore Bugnatelli
Cast: Franca Gonella, Mirella Daruda, Gianni Dei Vito, Giorgio Bugnatelli
Tagline: Satan's Mistress on a Sex Prowl!

One 7 Movies have done it again, they've unearthed an obscure Italian Eurocult film that has never before had it's day on DVD, that is until now. This one coming from the equally obscure director Salvatore Bugnatelli whom has only five directing credits to his name. His debut is the 1975 psychotronic-sex-occult film SEX, DEMONS AND DEATH aka DIABOLICAMENTE... LETIZIA which tells the at times confounding tale of the wealthy couple of Marcello (Gabrilele Tinio, CUT AND RUN) and Micaela (Magda Knopka, SATANIK) whom are having trouble conceiving a child, it's an emotionally difficult hardship particularly for Micaela who seems to be at sanity's end over the ordeal, spouse Marcello seems more indifferent about the whole thing but to soften the blow over her inability to conceive they decide to pull their niece Letizia (Franca Gonella, A VIRGIN IN THE FAMILY) out boarding school, a place she's been since her parent's death some time prior, and raise her as their own. I don't recall it being said what happened to her folks but given what turns out to be her predisposition for the supernatural chicanery I think we can safely assume they weren't the most natural of deaths on record.

Letizia is pretty cute and though she is supposedly in her teens the actress playing her is probably in her late-20's at this point in her career, regardless of age she is a total sex-pot fully capable of encouraging libidinous urges in both men and women. She has intensely spooky eyes that are quite startling and there's no shortage of close-ups of her oculars throughout the film either. Once she arrives at auntie's home she wastes little time before shedding her clothes and before you know it the house servant Giovanni (Gianni Dei, PATRICK VIVE ANCORA) enters her room and catches an eyeful for a few brief moments before she reveals herself to be a demon or perhaps just a bearded primate of some sort, it's not too dissimilar to the Lady in the Radiator from David Lynch's ERASERHEAD, weird stuff. The shenanigans continue with some sort of telekinetic activity in the form of levitating pillows, which isn't so much weird as it is really stupid, that's something else this film has no shortage off, blatant stupidity.

From this point the film plays out in a string of lurid, somewhat nonsensical scenarios that involve Letizia in various states of undress seducing and corrupting the occupants of the home one by one. These seductions include her uncle who gives inrather easy I must say. There's some sweet 70's lesbian action with house maid Giselle (Karen Fiedler, THE LOVES AND TIMES OF SCARAMOUCHE) and even some incest with dear auntie Micaela! The encounter further unhinges Micaela and stresses the couple's already strained relationship, pretty soon everyone in the housat each other's throats. The shocker finale tends to play down the supernatural elements that came before it but it has a fun trashy giallo twist to it.

At it's core SEX, DEMONS AND DEATH is an Italian knock-off of the hugely successful THE EXORCIST which the Italians were churning out at a steady clip at the time with some trashy erotica and giallo elements thrown into the mix and while the end result is certainly not great it's just trashy and ineptly entertaining enough to make this one a fun watch. There's a fun synth score from Guiliano Sorgini (LET SLEEPING CORSPES LIE, THE BEST IN HEAT) and the cinematography is decent if not on the level of Luciano Tovoli or Vittorio Storaro, the acting is acceptable for the most part with a very decent performance from Franca Gonella as the seductive demon-tart.

DVD: SEX, DEMONS AND DEATH is presented in 16x9 enhanced widescreen (1.85:1) with Italian language Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono audio and optional English subtitles. This marks the films first time on DVD, the transfer
reportedly culled from the last surviving 35mm elements of the film, and it shows. Plenty of print damage, scratches, dirt, cigarette burns and jump cuts. The audio much like the video leaves plenty to be desired but given the obscurity of the film and the fact that this marks it's DVD debut I'm gonna give it a pass. The lone extra consists of a letterboxed trailer (2:30) for the film.  

Verdict: SEX, DEMON AND DEATH is a sleazy good time, it's not for everyone but as Italian knock-offs of THE EXORCIST go it ain't too shabby. Trashy,

psychotronic Eurocult sin-ema for those paddling far past the more travelled waters of Dario Argento, Luicio Fulci or even Sergio Martino, out past the waterways of Ruggero Deodato and Umberto Lenzi and into the truly obscure dark waters of Italian exploitation. Not a high recommend unless you're a serious collector of obscure Italian cinema or if you can pick it up on the cheap, it's a bit pricey. Thumbs up to One 7 Movies for resurrecting this one from the grave.

REGION 2 DVD REVIEW: SHOCK LABYRINTH 3D (2009)

SHOCK LABYRINTH 3D (2009)

Release Date: January 31st 2011

LABEL: Chelsea Films
DURATION: 93 Min.
RATING: Cert. 15
REGION CODE: Region 2
DIRECTOR: Takashi Shimizu
CAST: Yuya Yagira, Shoichiro Masumoto, Ryo Katsuji, Ai Maeda, Suzuki Matsuo

PLOT: When a small group of young friends spending the day at a theme park near the foot of Mount Fuji sneak into the park’s haunted house attraction after hours, the innocent children’s escapade results in the mysterious disappearance of one of them, Yuki. On a rainy evening ten years later, Yuki inexplicably reappears, turning up at the apartment of one of the girls who was present when she disappeared. Yuki is soon reunited with her friends but shortly afterwards collapses and the group rushes her to a nearby hospital where they are unable to find anyone to treat their friend. With little option but to wait in the hospital, they begin to look for help but soon find things are not as they seem. As the night wears on, the friends begin to relive the events from a decade ago and soon come face to face with the terrible truth behind Yuki’s disappearance.

FILM: When it was announced that Japanese master of horror Takashi Shimizu (JU-ON-THE GRUDGE) would be filming Japan's first-ever 3D J-Horror flick I was pretty excited. Whom better to helm a haunted attraction film then Shimizu? The Grudge is a fantastic ghost story and Shimizu's surreal and haunting style would seem to lend itself well to the concept. It was when I realized that the film was based-on 'The Haunted Hospital' the world's largest walk-through haunted house I was less excited. There's something about properties based on theme park attractions that just saddens me. Don't get me wrong, I think the amusement park is a great setting for a horror film, just check out FUNHOUSE (1986) and ZOMBIELAND (2009), good stuff. That the film industry is so unwilling to fund new and innovative film properties that it plunders theme parks and board games for inspiration is what's disheartening. My initial excitement for the film was now tempered by the fact 1. I realized I haven't seen any of Shimizu's films since The Grudge and 2. the basis for the film was a theme park attraction. It was with this cynicism in mind I entered the 3D world of Shock Labyrinth 3D.

A group of friends are startled when Yuki (Misako Renbutsu), a childhood friend whom disappeared ten years previously at a theme park attraction, reappears at the door step of Rin (Ai Maeda), a young blind woman. Shocked at the incredible news the group of childhood friends reassemble. Shortly after the awkward reunion Yuki collapses unconscious to the floor. The friends rush her to the hospital where she disappears once again. While searching for Yuki the group discover that the hospital is deserted, the rooms are eerily empty and as they explore the upper levels of the hospital things only get weirder. They come to realize that somehow they've returned to the haunted attraction where Yuki disappeared a decade earlier. From here the film quickly loses reasoning as each of them begin to have flashbacks to the events that unfolded that fateful day. All the while they are haunted by the reoccurring images of her death, a floating rabbit and they're own guilt ridden memories.

Shock Labyrinth looks quite beautiful at times, vibrant colors, great set dressing and a creepy atmosphere. It definitely feels like a haunted house with all it's novel 3D parlor tricks. Quite a few things worked against the film for me. The first would be some lazily rendered flashbacks framed in hazy halo which I found annoying. The acting is only passable, the characters undeveloped and the PG13 equivalent rating does not allow for anything approaching actual fright. Sure, there's some spooky stuff here but nothing that stirred me and the 3D effects are mostly gimmicky and give little depth to the goings-on. That sorta makes sense as the film is based on a gimmick to begin with but it does little to enhance the film. That's not to say that all is lost here, there are bits and pieces that intrigued me. The fractured non-linear narrative made for some fun viewing as we jump through the past and into present, the overlapping time lines added a sense of the unexpected to the proceedings and the ending caught me by surprise. In the end Shock Labyrinth just seems to be aimed at a much younger audience than myself and will probably play well to the 13-15 mall rats looking for some superficial, creepy fun but not to die-hard horror fanatics.

DVD: Shock Labyrinth 3D is presented with 2-D version on double disc Region 2 DVD with a 16x9 enhanced widecreen transfer with a decent 5.1 surround mix. The films looks quite good with a vibrant color palette. The 3D probably looked pretty good in theatres with RealD)) glasses, no doubt. Unfortunately the cardboard framed red and green 3D here is nearly unwatchable in my opinion. The films is rich in saturated colors and lighting in 2D but the 3D washes it out and lacks definition so much so that halfway through the film I switched to 2D and restarted the film. There's a decent amount of features here but nothing essential. We get an array of behind-the-scenes featurettes regarding the 3D process, press junkets and on-set interviews with the cast and crew.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Interviews with: Takashi Shimizu (Director), Yuya Yagira (Cast), Ryo Katsuji (Cast), Ai Maeda (Cast), Erina Mizuno (Cast), Misako Renbutsu (Cast)
- The haunted house and the scary dummies
- The Secret of the Stereoscopic Camera
- Cast + Crew fooling around and shooting last scenes
- Venice Film Festival with Takashi Shimizu
- Press Conference and Opening Day

VERDICT: At it's heart Shock Labyrinth 3D is a rather pedestrian teen-haunting flick mixed with some elements of psychological horror and gimmicky 3D. It was surreal and at times visually intriguing but the characters fell flat, there's no emotional center, no connection for the viewer. It's a novelty, it doesn't push the 3D technology but is a pleasant enough diversion, just don't expect THE GRUDGE as this is a lesser film. Shock Labyrinth 3D is released with 2-D version on double disc DVD by Chelsea Films on January 31st 2011. As of press time there is no Region 1 release currently scheduled.
**1/2 (2.5 out of 5 stars)

Here's the UK trailer: http://onlinemoviepromo.com/newplayer.php?id=3828

DVD Review: Clive Barker's Book of Blood (2009)

BOOK OF BLOOD (2009)

"The Dead Will Not Be Silenced"

RATED: R
RUNNING TIME: 100 Min.
DIRECTOR: John Harrison
CAST: Jonas Armstrong (Simon McNeal), Sophie Ward (Mary Florescu), Clive Russel (Wyburd), Paul Blair (Reg Fuller), Romana Abercromby (Janie)

SUMMARY: A paranormal researcher and her assistant recruit the help of a psychic to investigate a haunted house that is at the crossroads of life and death.

FILM: John Harrison, the director of TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE: THE MOVIE (1990) and the quite good DUNE (2000) miniseries helms this sleepy adaptation of two short stories from Clive Barker’s ‘Books of Blood’.

Simon (Jonas Armstrong) is a young man with horrific scarring covering his entire body. A professional killer (Clive Russell) has been contracted by an anonymous benefactor to peel the skin from his body. Before killing him the assassin tells Simon that if he tells him a story he will make his death quick and painless. Simon agrees and spins the tale of what has led to this moment.

As the fable unfolds a young woman is viciously attacked by an unseen spirit that culminates in a gruesomely fantastic face-peeling scene that really evokes Clive Barker’s HELLRAISER (1987), it’s a strong start to a film that quickly loses steam. Enter Mary Florescu (SophieWard) a professor and paranormal researcher and her assistant Reg (Paul Blair) who enlist the help of psychic grad-student Simon McNeal (Jonas Armstrong) to assist them as they investigate the house where the mysterious murder took place. They set up cameras and other diagnostic equipment ala POLTERGEIST to record any paranormal activity. Trouble arises as Sophie and Simon strike up a romantic relationship, Reg is highly skeptical of Simon’s psychic abilities and disapproves of the romance. As the spirit of the house make themselves known things quickly escalate out of control.

“The dead have highways, running through the wasteland behind our lives, bearing an endless traffic of departed souls. They can be heard in the broken places of our world, through cracks made out of cruelty, violence, and depravity. They have sign posts, these highways, and crossroads and intersections. And it is at these intersections where the dead mingle, and sometimes spill over into our world.”

- Mary Floresco / Book of Blood

The script and story are plodding, the performances are ponderous and the film crawls along at too slow a pace. By the end of the film I’d long since given up interest. While the film contains some of the best elements of Clive Barker’s stories; horror, fantasy and eroticism, director John Harrison is not able to focus these elements into a suspenseful film.

 DVD: A pretty bare-bones affair here including trailers and a 20 minute featurette. We get interviews with Clive Barker, John Harrison, the actors and producers - pretty standard fare, nothing too illuminating. The image and audio quality are very good, no complaints in that department.

VERDICT: The trouble with this film is that its source material is merely a prologue to a series of short stories and you can feel the director really trying to stretch the material, it’s just not there. I can see this making a decent Masters of Horror episode or a part of a larger anthology film, but as a full-length feature film it’s pretty abysmal and the story cannot sustain a 100 min. running time. While not a terrible film BOOK OF BLOOD is a largely underwhelming film. Clive Barker’s best adapted works have always been directed by himself; HELLRAISER (1987), NIGHTBREED (1991) and the underrated LORD OF ILLUSIONS (1995). There are some decent adaptations by others out there, but for every MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN (2008) there are several that fall to the depths of THE PLAGUE (2006) and BOOK OF BLOOD. I think I’ll be checking out DREAD (2009) next, let’s hope for something better than this.
*1/2 (1.5 out of 5 stars)

-McBASTARD

DVD Review: Audrey Rose (1977)

AUDREY ROSE (1977)

“A Haunting Vision of Reincarnation”
RATED: PG
RUN TIME: 113 Min.
DIRECTOR: Robert Wise
CAST: Marsha Mason, Anthony Hopkins, John Beck, Susan Swift

I’ve always heard mention of this film in the same breath as the George C. Scott classic The Changeling. So, it’s been on my radar a while, then I discovered it was directed by Robert Wise, and that really caught my attention. Let me spin off just a few of this man’s films: The Curse of the Cat People (1944), The Body Snatcher (1945) – which is one of my favorite Karloff films, the sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Haunting (1963), The Sound of Music (1965), The Andromeda Strain (1971), and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) – what a body of work! Considering the comparison to The Changeling, his body of work, and the appearance of Sir Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) I thought it was high time I took in a viewing. I picked it up from a SwapaDVD.Com trade, if you’re not familiar with the site, check it out, it’s awesome. FYI, the film is based on a same-titled novel from Frank De Felitta, which I’ve not read.

SYNOPSIS: The parents of 11-year-old girl are approached by a stranger who tries to convince them that their daughter is the reincarnation of his deceased daughter.

THE FILM: Audrey Rose opens during a rainstorm, a mother and daughter are driving to an unspecified location; a car heading the opposite direction veers into oncoming traffic, striking the car resulting in a rollover and the fiery death of the title character and her mother. The scene closely mirrors a scenario in The Changeling, a very similar introduction, indeed. We’re then introduced to Janice and Bill Templeton and their daughter Ivy played by Susan Swift (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Meyers). Ivy suffers from tormented dreams of a fiery death, they’re getting progressively worse as time goes by, eventually manifesting themselves in the form of violent waking nightmares. About this time her parents notice a strange man following them on several occasions, he seems unusually interested in their daughter. The stranger is actually Elliot Hoover, the father of the title character who was killed in the fiery car crash, played by Anthony Hopkins. It eventually comes to light, though convoluted it may be, that Elliot believes the day his daughter died her soul was reincarnated into the body of the newly born Ivy. Hopkins plays the role with such sincerity, albeit a bit demented, that you don’t believe he’s out to harm the girl, but you’re not quite sure he’s there to help, either. The parents, of course, balk at the idea, though, eventually Janice (Marsha Mason) comes around to the notion, while Bill (John Beck) becomes increasing hostile towards Elliot, frustrated by his powerlessness to help his own daughter.

I think I may have come into this film with a bit too much enthusiasm or expectation. I’d the preconception that it would be eerie thriller, ala Wise’s amazing film The Haunting or the aforementioned The Changeling. In reality, its presented in a docudrama style, very antiseptic and dry, not haunting in the least, or visually alluring, and it’s probably not meant to be. At its heart the film is less a supernatural thriller than an examination of religious beliefs.

What saved the film for me were the performances of Hopkins and Swift. Swift, truly an odd looking adolescent at the time, was pretty great. The night terrors she suffered were convincing, particularly the regressive hypnotherapy session during the films finale, frightening stuff. The most chilling scenes involved Ivy running through the house clawing at the windows, in an attempt to escape the fiery car of her dreams, very effective. Hopkins portrayal of Mr. Hoover is not over-the-top, it’s tense and demented but never does he chew on the scenery as he’s prone to do these days, The Wolfman anyone?

DVD: Audrey Rose is presented in its original 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio. This DVD came out back in 2001, pretty early on in the DVD age, as was the case with a lot of the early MGM releases it’s a bare bones affair, the only special feature being a trailer. Yawn.

VERDICT: While I don’t think that Audrey Rose is a classic film along the lines of The Haunting or The Changeling, it’s an effective and striking examination of the idea of reincarnation. Seeing Hopkins in this film, in that era, reminded me of his 1978 film Magic, I saw when I was 7 and it scared me something fierce, I need to revisit that film, I mean it’s been 30 years, it’s about time, right? It’s out of print and expensive, so If you have a spare copy send it my way. ***1/2 (3.5 out of 5 stars)