THE DEVIL'S RAIN (1975) (Severin Blu-ray Review)

THE DEVIL'S RAIN (1975) 

Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 86 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1) 
Director: Robert Fuest
Cast: William Shatner, Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Keenan Wynn, Tom Skerritt, Ida Lupino, John Travolta

I first caught up with this Satanic panic drive-in classic when it was released by Dark Sky Films back in 2006 on DVD, it totally caught be surprise, a cool little slice of satanic cinema with an all-star 70's cast and directed by Robert Fuest, a wonderful director who brought us The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), not to mention the involvement of Anton Lavey, the founder of the Church of Satan!

It all begins on a rainy night with Mark Preston (Star Trek's William Shatner) and his mother (Ida Lupino, The Food of the Gods) waiting for his father to return home, when he does he has no eyes and begins melting into a multi-colored glob of goo! Mark's mom is later kidnapped by a local Satanic cult led by Jonathon Corbis (Ernest Borgnine, Escape from New York)who wants a satanic tome that the Preston family has kept hidden away for years, it would grant the cult-leader favor with Beelzebub and make him all-powerful!

When Mark himself becomes ensnared by the cult his younger brother Tom (Tom Skerrit, M*A*S*H) comes to his aid, along with his wife Julie (Joan Prather, Big Bad Mama) and occult expert Dr. Richards, played by Eddie Albert of TV's Green Acres. Working against the group are the local sheriff played by Keenan Wynn (Piranha) who is in tight with the Satanist, including a very young John Travolta in his first movie, though it is a small role.

The satanic thrills come fast and furious in this briskly paced drive-in b-movie classic, aided by some very goopy and surprisingly grotesque special effects from Tom Burman  (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and crew, including Borgnine being transformed into a horned, goat-headed manifestation of evil, who also gets his own goopy transformation. There's also a cool scene where Shatner is rendered eyeless, the make-up effects look quite a bit like the mask from Halloween (1978) which modeled after a Shatner/Captain Kirk Star Trek mask, I thought was pretty nifty. This one has always suffered a bit from a plot that seems to evaporate a bit, I always get list, not in the complicated plot, but in the lack of a clear one, but that's never deterred me from partaking in the satanic fun, plus we get some cool atmospheric and creepy cinematography from Álex Phillips Jr. (Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia). 

Audio/Video: The Devil's Rain (1975) arrives on Blu-ray from Severin Films, the new HD restoration (from an non-specific source) looks very nice, there's a nice but inconsistent layer of film grain, details aren't overly abundant and the image can be soft, but overall this is a nice upgrade compared to by 2006 DVD, even with a few unsightly emulsion scratches. Audio comes by way of an English language DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 track with optional English subtitles. The audio is clean and crisp, I wouldn't say the mix was overly dynamic by any means but it does the job.

Onto the extras Severin have grabbed the devil by the horns with this one, offering up a plethora of extras, beginning with a director's commentary ported over from the 2006 Dark Sky release. Then onto the new stuff, brand new interviews with the cast and crew, including an 11-min chat with Skerritt who spins a tale of how he got started in the business, originally wanting to be a director, scoring a few writing gigs and his early career, making this movie and laughing quite a bit when asked about the involvement of Anton Lavey, which he seems to find mildly amusing. FX artist Tom Burman shows up for a brief 5-min interview discussing the goopy effects created for the film and how the melting people were achieved, it's cool.  

Well established Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana (Blade Runner, Jurassic Park) speaks about landing her first job as a script supervisor on this very film by pretty much conning her way into it, and also being bilingual helped, as the film was shot in Mexico with a Mexican crew and with an English director and an American cast. 

The Church of Satan gets some representation on two featurettes, one with the current High Priest and High Priestess of the Church of Satan speaking about Lavey's involvement on the film, plus LaVey Biographer Blanche Barton, speaking about her relationship with the Lavey, and his time on the film with the cast. There's also a vintage '75 interview with Shatner who speaks about the possibility of a Star Trek movie opportunity, and if that was something he'd be interested in, and what that might mean for his career... he made a wise move accepting the eventual offer! Another very cool extra is an interview with director/actor Daniel Roebuck (River's Edge) who showcases his vintage horror collection while detailing his own trip to the drive-in with his mom to see The Devil's Rain, and what his mom did for him to secure a prize at the screening, fun stuff. The disc is finished up with a theatrical trailer, TV spots and a poster and still gallery.    

This single-disc Blu-ray release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with  sleeve of reversible artwork, which looks awesome on both sides, I believe the a-side is the original movie poster, with a cool variant on the b-side. 

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary With Director Robert Fuest
- Confessions Of Tom - Interview With Actor Tom Skerritt (11 min) HD
- The Devil's Makeup - Interview With Special FX Artist Tom Burman (5 min) HD - 1975 Archive Interview With Actor William Shatner (4 min) HD 
- First Stop Durango - Interview With Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana (15 min) HD 
- Consulting with the Devil - A Conversation with the High Priest and High Priestess of the Church of Satan (10 min) HD 
- Hail Satan! - Interview With Anton LaVey Biographer Blanche Barton (8 min) HD 
- Filmmaker / Horror Collector Daniel Roebuck On The Devil's Rain (11 min) HD 
- On Set Polaroid Gallery Of Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana Accompanied By Radio Spots (8 min) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (3 min) HD
- TV Spots (2 min) HD 
- Poster/Still Gallery(8 min) HD 

The Devil's Rain (1975) is a fun slice of evil 70's cinema, it's not the strongest story but the performances are good and the special effects are surprisingly gooey, which is what makes this so memorable, trust me, it ain't the story! This would make a fun hail-Satan triple-feature with The Brotherhood of Satan (1971) and Race with the Devil (1975) or a fun Borgnine scenery-chewing triple play with Willard (1971) and Deadly Blessing (1981).  I never really thought I needed to upgrade my old DVD of this one, but watching this Severin Blu-ray I can say that the A/V upgrade is very nice and the plentiful extras actually make the movie more enjoyable. 

THE DEVIL'S HONEY (1986) (Severin Blu-ray Review)

THE DEVIL'S HONEY (1986) 

Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 83 Minutes 
Audio: English and Italian LPCM 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Lucio Fulco
Cast: Brett Halsey, Corinne Cléry, Blanca Marsillach, Stefano Madia, Bernard Seray, Lucio Fulci, Stefano Madia

I do believe Lucio Fulci's career and health were in steady decline by the time he made this previously little seen erotic-shocker in '86, the story begins with a tale of a two sex-obsessed lovers, that of Jessica (Blanca Marsillach) and her professional saxophone player boyfriend Johnny (Stefano Madia). The two engage in a LOT of sex, the most startling being Johnny sexing up her coochie with some saxophone playing in the recording studio, with his sax-hole cupped over her thonged crotch while playing some deep notes to her even deeper delight - it is some seriously strange stuff. You have to hand it to Fulci, he new his way around a horror movie but he also knows how to delight in this perverse erotic thriller.

As the story builds we see that Jessica is a somewhat unwilling participant  to Johnny's increasing strange sexual proclivities, but it's not a rape scenario, he's just forceful but she comes around, she's definitely participatory, it's not a Harvey Weinstein situation so don't be alarmed. Throughout the opening scenes they engage in a motorcycle-hand job excursion that nearly climaxes with a head-on collision, as well as some sloppy tongue-darting on a rollercoaster, and forceful anal-sex on a staircase while a German Shepherd feverishly looks to get in on the backdoor action.

There's also a story running parallel to that of the young couple, we have the rocky marriage of surgeon Dr. Wendell Simpson (Brett Halsey, Touch of Death) who is stuck in an awkward marriage to his wife Carol (Corinne Cléry, Yor, the Hunter from the Future). The surgeons wife is deeply unsatisfied by their love life, and less than pleased when she discovers her husband has been frequenting prostitutes on the side, and judging by what turns him on with the whores his wife might be lucky he's just not that into her, trust me, they'd rack up some huge nail polish and nylon stocking bills. 

The two stories converge when Johnny falls of his motorbike and bangs his head on a rock, at first the injury seems none too serious, but later that night he falls unconscious and ends up on the docs operating table. It just so happens that the surgeon's wife has asked for a divorce right before the doc enetered surgery, he becomes distracted during the operation and Johnny dies as a result. Afterward Jessica blames the doc for her lover's death and begins to obsess over her dead lover, phoning the doc and leaving him accusatory/threatening notes.

Eventually she loses it kidnaps the doc, chaining him up in the basement of a seaside mansion owned by her dead lover, proclaiming that she will kill him or let him die of his own will, but only when she wants him too. In her grief and derangement her revenge involves serving the surgeon dog food, reciting some awful poetry, dripping hot candle wax, licking his own blood of her tummy, and eventually  turning into sexual revenge, with the doc becoming her submissive love interest in a way. While all this is happening we are treated to flashbacks of Jessica and Johnny that further flesh out their sordid relationship, including a bizarre trip the local cinema that results in a oddball bi-sexual threesome, much to the chagrin of Jessica.

This is not the sort of film I think most people think of when they think of Lucio Fulci, what we have here is a slice of erotic weirdness loaded with glossy, music video esque 80's cinematography, but there's little doubt that this one offers up entertainment of the lurid kind, bathed in a that ever-present Fulci aesthetic. Blanca Marsillach is quite good as the deranged lover, appearing largely nude for much of the film, there's more to her than just a hot body, her descent into sexualized madness is enthralling to a large degree. Brett Halsey is also quite good, he's certainly down for whatever Fulci's erotic shocker throws at him, this being a considerably film that the films he would appear in with Fulci, that being Touch of Death (1988) and Demonia (1990), both considerably lesser movies in my opinion.   

Audio/Video: The Devil's Honey arrives on Blu-ray from distributor Severin Films - advertised as being a scan from the original negative, framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. The results are grainy and soft, the image is soft-focused, not lending itself to copious amounts of fine detail. Audio comes by way of two lossless English LPCM Mono 2.0 with optional English subtitles, the English dub sounds a bit anemic while the Italian track is more robust, though neither are notably powerful, the Caludio Natili (Velvet Dreams)score comes through nicely though.  

Even though this is a bit of an odd-duck in the Fulci filmography Severin have gone all-out with the extras, we have new interviews with actors Brett Halsey, Corrine Clery, producer Vincenzo Salvianai and composer Claudio Natili adding up t about 41-minutes in length, impressive. Additionally we get a 21-min appreciation by Stephen Thrower, a 17-min audio essay by author Troy Howarth, alternate opening and a trailer for the movie. 

This single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversdible artwork, one being decidedly more nipply than the other! 

Special Features:
- The Devil’s Halsey: An Interview with Actor Brett Halsey (7 min)
- Wild Flower: An Interview With Actress Corinne Cléry (12 min)
- Producing Honey: An Interview With Producer Vincenzo Salviani (13 min)
- The Devil’s Sax: An Interview With Composer Claudio Natili (10 min)
- Stephen Thrower on The Devil’s Honey (22 min)
- Fulci’s Honey: An Audio Essay by Troy Howarth – Author of  “Splintered Visions – Lucio Fulci And His Films” (17 min)
- Alternate Opening (3 min)
- Trailer (3 min) 

The Devil's Honey (1986) is a strange one, an erotic thriller from one of Italy's finest purveyor's of gore, Fulci really ratchets up the sleaze-factor here, it's not a horror film but it is truly horrific in many ways, I might never be able to wash that sax-sex scene out of my eyes!

YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE (1983) (Blu-ray Review)

YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE (1983)

Label: Mill Creek Entertainment
Region Code: A
Rating: PG
Duration: 89 Minutes
Audio: English LPCM Stereo 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widecrseen (1.78:1)
Director: Antonio Margheriti
Cast: Reb Brown, Corinne Cléry, John Steiner, Carole André

Yor, The Hunter from the Future (1983) offers up some sweet eighties sword and sorcery cheese for fans of that ilk, we have Reb Brown (from the 70's Captain America TV movie) starring as the titular Yor, a bare-chested, blond-maned barbarian-warrior who at the top of the movie is jogging through the pre-historic wasteland to one of the cheesiest  80's theme songs you will ever EVER hear, it's awful stuff. Along the way Yor encounters pretty cave-girl Kala (Corinne Cléry, Lucio Fulci's The Devil's Honey) and her mentor and adopted father  Pag (Luciano Pigozzi, Exterminators of the Year 3000) who are hunting a baby dinosaur (which is obviously a baby pig wrapped in a cheap dino-skin) when they are attacked by the hybrid dinosaur  "stegoceratops", which Yor kills using his trusty stone-ax with a few crushing blows, which were surprisingly bloody! Afterward he drinks the dino's warm blood, offering some to Kala and Pag, saying that drinking the blood of your enemies makes you stronger, Pag humorously refuses the offering.  

Yor accompanies his new friends back to their village, enjoying a dino-feast and a seductive dance from Kala, until they gala is interrupted by the arrival of a warring tribe of purple-skinned cavemen who kidnap Kala and take her back to their cave. Yor and Pag track the kidnappers and Yor kills a giant bat, using the creatures leathery wings as an impromptu hang-glider to fly into the cave, afterward flooding the cave killing the purple-skinned enemies along with a few innocent villagers who were being kept prisoners, but he saves his woman so all is good. 

Pag and Kala continue to travel with Yor on his aimless adventure, along the way Kala competes for Yor's affections with a blond woman named Tarita (Marina Rocchi) who also has blond hair and wears a similar amulet to that worn by Yor, but she is killed by more purple skinned cavemen, but not before revealing to Yor with her dying breath as to where he can find more of his own kind, a blond haired race of advanced people who live on an island surround by storms.

The trio find the island, discovering the technologically superior  race of blond people led by the tyrant Overlord (John Steiner, Tenebre), here we discover in a fun Planet of the Apes (1968)sort of twist that this is not pre-historic Earth at all, but Earth after a nuclear apocalypse, which begs all sorts of questions, like why are dinosaurs roaming the earth! While the film begins in a standard Beastmaster/Krull sword and sorcery sort of way it becomes a serious Star Wars rip-off with the Overlord, who is sort of in the Ming the Merciless vein, overseeing over an army of Darth Vader-esque looking androids, there's even a scene that lifts large portions of the scene from Star wars with Luke bridging the chasm in the death star with a trapeze twist! The film culminates with the trio aligning  themselves with a group of rebels led by the scientist, Ena (Carole André, The Bloodstained Butterfly)and a blind man known as the Elder. It's all cheesy fun, very low-budget but never less than fun. 

The film is helmed by Italian director Antonio Margheriti (The Long Hair of Death) who keeps things lively if lo-fi, the creature effects are decently awful but thoroughly entertaining, the sword and sandals imagery does the job, and having been shot in Turkey the film has some nice locations that add flavor to the sword and sandal sci-fi stew. Actor Reb Brown seems to be having a blast making this one, running around with his loin cloth with a smile plastered on is face, there's a moment after his first dino-kill where he seems so excited, giving out a strange howl that almost seems like he's going to burst out in a victorious song! Corinne Clery is super-sexy, a beauty that holds her own just fine against Reb Brown, not that it would take much, but they make for a decent enough coupling. Luciano Pigozzi as the mentor Pag physically has always has reminded me of director Lucio Fulci, imagining him in this sword and sandal epic brought a smile to my face. As for the dino special effects, they remind me not of Harryhausen but more akin to what we saw with Kevin Connor's  The Land That Time Forgot (1975), and that's not a bad thing! 

Audio/Video: Yor, The Hunter from the Future (1983) arrives on Blu-ray from budget-label Mill Creek Entertainment in 1080p HD and framed in 1.78:1 widescreen. Not sure what the source is for the HD Master but I know it's not the 35mm negative, the image is soft and marked with blemishes including white speckling, dirt and debris and the occasional vertical scratch. darker scenes are bogged down in grain and murkiness, it falls short of my modest expectations but is never not watchable. Audio comes by way of an English LPCM 2.0 Stereo track, and it does the job without much fuss. Extras include a theatrical trailer and a new audio commentary from actor Reb Brown who is very candid in his memory of making  the film.  

This single-disc Blu-ray release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a one-sided sleeve  of artwork featuring the original U.S. theatrical poster, it also comes with a sweet slipcover (o-card) sporing a gorgeous illustration, which I believe is the European artwork, easily besting the U.S. artwork, looking a bit ike Thundarr the Barbarian with that flaming sword! It's too bad we do not get a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring this, it's a great slipcover with attractive lettering on the spine that makes it stand out when it's on the shelf.

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary with star Reb Brown
- Theatrical Trailer 

Yor, The Hunter from the Future (1983) is a fun watch, if you have love for 80's sci-fi/sorcery cheese along the lines of Space Hunter and Metal Storm there's bound to be a lot here you will love, and this can be picked-up for under $10 right now.       

68 KILL (2017) (Blu-ray Review)

68 KILL (2017)

Label: Scream Factory/IFC Midnight
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 96 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Trent Haaga
Cast: Matthew Gray Gubler, AnnaLynne McCord, Alisha Boe, Sheila Vand, Sam Eidson

Trashy thriller 68 Kill (2017) stars TV's  Criminal Minds star Matthew Gray Gubler as nice-guy loser Chip, a man beyond pussy-whipped by his Southern-hot slice of sexiness Liza (AnnaLynne McCord, Excision), a hard woman who gets her kicks from beating and strangling Chip while hate-fucking him, that is when shes not getting nailed by her wealthy sugar-daddy on the side. The sad part is that Chip knows about the other guy but let's it slide because she says it don't mean anything, it's just about the money, the poor just won't stand-up for himself, he is completely under the control of the sweet-pussy. 

Liza convinces Chip to reluctantly join in on stealing sixty-eight grand from her sugar daddy, but when the robbery turns into a homicide Chip finds himself on the run with the money and hiding from Liza with a female-hostage in his trunk, whom he begins to fall in love with, will Chip ever learn? 

This film is a blast, directed by writer/actor/director Trent Haaga the film is seedy and action-packed, loaded with trashy fucking, hardened women, and fast-paced trailer park weirdness, it goes by fast and holds up to repeat watches. Matthew Gray Gubler is perfect for the role of the spineless guy who lets women walk all over him, we keep wanting him to rise to the occasion and when he does it's awesome. There's no shortage of strong-willed women, the ones your mamma warned you about, the role of white trash vixen is tailor-made for AnnaLynne McCord who is smoking hot and so fucking diabolical, but also very charming in a sexy, crazy sort of way. Then we have Alisha Boe as the street-smart Violet and Sheila Vand as the Goth madwoman Monica who is sort of like a maniacal Lydia from Beetlejuice. I won't spoil the fun by explaining the plot any more than I have but this was a heck of a fun watch, very trashy, fast-paced and well-executed. 

SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS (1976) (VCI Blu-ray Review)

SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS (1976) 

Label: VCI Entertainment
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 92 minutes 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78.1)
Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono  with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Greydon Clark
Cast: John Ireland, Yvonne De Carlo, Jack Kruschen, John Carradine, Sydney Chaplin

Horny cheerleaders and a cult of Devil worshipers collide in this fantastic slice of drive-in exploitation from low budget director Greydon Clark (Without Warning) who begins the film with a fun beach scene of horny bikini-clad cheerleaders playing a game of very touchy football with the school football team.  The frustrated coach implores the boys to save their "precious bodily fluids" for the big game tomorrow, but the cheer squad have other plans, and the jocks will be scoring long before tomorrow's big rival game, and drained of the precious bodily fluids.

The following day the cheerleaders and their air-headed PE coach (Jacqueline Cole) are en route to the big game when they're car breaks down on the side of the road, luckily for them Billy (Jack Kruschen), the school janitor happens along and offers them a ride. What they don't know is that Billy is a sequin-studded peeping tom who regularly spies on the naked cheerleaders through a peephole in the shower room, and he has no intention of transporting them to the game. He whisks them away to his Satanic altar out in the middle of nowhere, revealing his plan to sacrifice the horny teens in the name of Satan ...and get his rocks off in the process. Unfortunately for old Billy things don't go as planned, a cheerleaders named Patti (Kerry Sherman) strips nude and lays on the altar and is raped by the Beelzebub, causing Billy to throw a bit of tantrum off to the side, screaming that this was not the plan! There are corny red flashes on screen and Billy drops dead, seems making a deal with Old Scratch never goes as planned. Now slightly dazed poor Patty is transformed by the Satan-rape experience, becoming a sinister disciple of Satan. 

The girls make off with Billy's truck and encounter a bum on the side of the road, played by b-movie hero/legend  John Carradine (The House of Seven Corpses), who directs them into the town of Nether where they find Sheriff B.L. Bubb (John Ireland, Red River) and his wife. Emily, played by Yvonne Decarlo, whom you might better know as Lily from TV's The Munsters, but who had definitely seen better days at this point in her career, having appeared in a string of low-budget dreck already. In a turn straight out of Race With the Devil the Sheriff turns out to be the leader of the satanic cult and he and his devil-worshiping wife plan to make a virgin sacrifice of their own at the stroke of midnight. There's only one problem, these cheerleaders have not been virgins for quite some time, which throws a wrench into the diabolical plans of the hayseed Satanists. 

Satan's Cheerleaders is a very silly and camp-infused seventies slice of Satanic cinema with oodles of poor acting and unintentional hilarity, it is truly am awful film but  manages to be immensely entertaining for those very same reasons, it's just ridiculous fun. These teen-ladies do not have an ounce of talent between them but they are super cute and very easy on the eyes, I just love these horny 70's babes. Add in phoned-in performances from b-movie stars John Carradine, John Ireland and Yvonne Decarlo and you have the makings of b-movie romp that's ready for ridicule with a few brews and a roomful of drunk friends, which really is the only way to watch something this bad. Of note, this was one of cinematographer Dean Cundey's early features, he would go onto a very storied career beginning with John Carpenter Halloween just a few year's later but don't go in expecting this to be an early example of his visual artistry, it's not. 

Audio/Video: Satan's Cheerleaders arrives on 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo from VCI who upgrade their previous 2015 widescreen DVD with a 1080p HD image framed in 1.78:1 widescreen, derived from a "new 2K scan from the original 35mm negative". The results are an upgrade over the previous standard definition release, though it is soft with muted colors, but still an improvement over what has come before. The source has some issues by way of speckling and print damage, and other minor issues that pop-up, it doesn't look like an image derived from the OCN to my eyes, grain structure is inconsistent, looking heavy at times and bereft in others, there's been some aggressive DNR applied in spots, but it's uneven. Audio comes by way of LPCM Mono 2.0 track with optional English subtitles. There's some wear on the audio track by way of hiss and pops, but overall it's not too bad, a bit boxy but perfectly listenable.  

Onto the extras VCI carry-over the photo gallery and the audio commentary from director Greydon Clark that accompanied their 2015 widescreen DVD edition, he tends to be technical and overly serious when discussing such a silly movie, but he does offer plenty of making-of anecdotes and behind-the-scenes info that fans of the film might enjoy. New stuff exclusive to this release comes by way of an audio commentary from Director David DeCoteau (Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge) and film historian David Del Valle, who are huge film buffs and offer up a lot of trivia about the film, director and cast. VCI also offer up an alternate version of the film, something titled "Original Transfer", not sure what the provenance for this is but the image is very similar to the "restored" version, a few more blemishes but not much more to my eyes, it doesn't look like a raw scan of the negative either, so it would be interesting to have more information about the source. 

This dual format release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork, closely mirroring the key artwork from VCI's previous DVD release with some minor alterations, mostly by way of black banners with white lettering advertising that the film is widescreen and uncut, from a 2K scan of the negative. The 2-discs feature the same artwork, an excerpts from the sleeve.  


Special Features: 
- Commentary track with the director, Greydon Clark.
- Commentary track with genre film director David DeCoteau (Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge) and film historian and Journalist, David Del Valle.
- Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery (3 min) 

Satan's Cheerleaders (1977) is a silly slice of 70's cheerleader/devil-worshiping cinema that's sure to have your eyes rolling back in your head with loads unintentional camp and awful acting, but I wouldn't change a thing about it other than to say more nudity wouldn't have made it better, just more fun.
  

THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY (2005-2012) (4K UHD/BD/Digital Review)

THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY (2005-2012)

4K UHD/BD/DIGITAL

BATMAN BEGINS (2005)

Label: Warner Bros. 
Region Code: A
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 140 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1 with Optional English SDH Subtitles 
Video: 4K 2160p Widescreen (2.40:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)  
Director: Christopher Nolan 
Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman

Synopsis: In Batman Begins, acclaimed director Christopher Nolan explores the origins of the legendary Dark Knight. In the wake of his parents' murders, disillusioned heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. With the help of his trusted butler Alfred (Michael Caine), Detective Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and his ally Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), Wayne returns to Gotham City and unleashes his alter ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses strength, intellect and an array of high-tech weaponry to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.

Christopher Nolan re-telling of the story of Batman didn't blow me when I saw it at the cinema in 2005, but I still like it quite a bit and it continues grows on me with each watch. As a fan of the Gothic '89 Tim Burton film I found his hyper-realization take on the film a bit cold, Nolan tends to be a bit Kubrick-ian when it comes to human emotions but he gave us something special here, an origin story that felt like it could actually happen, the story of a young Bruce Wayne who after seeing his parents murdered in cold blood set out on a path for revenge, which turns into something more, with the millionaire setting out for parts of Asia to learn how to fight the criminal element, eventually meeting up with Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson, Darkman) who brings him into the a guild of assassins known as the League of Shadows, led by Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe). Ducard trains Wayne in both body and mind, honing his skills as a ninja and purging his mind of the deep-seated fears which hold him back. After an ideological difference ends with Ra's al Ghul seeming death Wayne (Christiam Bale, American Psycho) returns to Gotham and adopts the identity of Batman, creating his iconic suit and arsenal with the help of tech-guy Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) at Wayne Enterprises. 

Batman's villain this time around is the mind-altering Scarecrow, played by Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later) who also happens to be a corrupt administrator at Arkham Asylum. He is aided by good cop Sgt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman, Sid and Nancy) and Gotham's assistant district attorney Rachael Dawes (Katie Holmes, Saved). Eventually Ra's al Ghul re-emerges and descends on Gotham in an attempt to destroy the city using the Scarecrow's fear-hallucinogen and there you have the major plot points.

It's been a few good years since I last revisited the first part of Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, and I've definitely warmed up to it, it's certainly a movie that in some ways is made better by the following films, with The Dark Knight being one of my favorite movies of all-time. This one suffers a bit with the cold emotions and some stilted fight sequence, Nolan's quick cut action sequences are sometimes hard to follow, but it's fun to see how Batman gets all his toys/weaponry, the bat-tumbler was a particularly sweet addition to his armory. Scarecrow makes a fine villain, though slightly under utilized, I loved the scene when the scarecrow has been dosed with his own fear gas and Batman becomes a hideous leather-skinned monster.

Batman Begins succeeds in setting up a more reality-based Batman franchise, losing the Gothic touched we saw from Tim Burton, the sequel blows this entry out out of the water, and in my mind sort of makes this a better movie for it, but as it is this stands on it's own. 

Special Features: 
- The Dark Knight IMAX Prologue (7 min) HD 
- Tankman Begins (5 min)
- The Journey Begins (14 min)
- Shaping Mind and Body (13 min)
- Gotham City Rises (13 min) 
- Cape and Cowl (8 min) 
- Batman-The Tumbler (14 min)
- Path To Discovery (14 min)
- Saving Gotham City (13 min)
- Genesis of the Bat (15 min)
- Additional Footage
- Reflections on Writing (2 min)
- Digital Batman (1 min)
- Batman Begins Stunts (3 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (1 min) HD 

THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)

Label: Warner Bros. 
Region Code: A
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 153 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1 with Optional English SDH Subtitles 
Video: 4K 2160p Widescreen (2.40:1), (1.78:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1), (1.78:1) 
Director: Christopher Nolan 
Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart 

Synopsis: The follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The trio proves effective. But soon the three find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker (Heath Ledger), who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces Batman closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante.

The Dark Knight (2008) takes what Nolan created with Batman Begins and takes it to the next level, opening with a stunning IMAX-lensed bank-robbery scene with a group of criminals in clown masks, the visuals are grand and impressive, the daylight robbery loaded with intrigue, betrayal and weirdness, expertly executed and establishing the late Heath Ledgers's Joker character in the opening minutes as someone who is not to be trifled with. Comic book movies do not get much better than this entry right here, from these opening scenes the film continues to mesmerize right on through till the end credit. The Joker proves to be one of Batman's most villainous foes, a man, who as Alfred (Michael Cains) points out, just wants to watch the world burn, he has no obvious plan other than to make Batman break his one cardinal rule.  

Gary Oldman is back as Gordon in a larger role this time around, forming an alliance with Batman and Gotham's new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to put the mob put of business, a move that sets in motion the unleashing of the Joker on Gotham, which puts everyone through the wringer. Aside from the stunning opening bank robbery there are numerous setipieces here that are expertly realized, a scene of Batman arriving in Hong Kong to nab a corrupt accountant working for the mob from a high-security high-rise through an aerial evacuation is another breathless scenes, as is Batman's pursuit of the Joker through the streets of Gotham, the Joker on the back of a semi-truck with a rocket launcher and the Batman in his tumbler, which when damaged turns into a bat-cycle, which is bad-ass! 

This is a sequel that amps up the action, I had problems with some of the staging of the action in Batman Begins, but this is a huge improvement all around, it's an intense nail-biter of a watch. Of course I cannot review this and not spotlight the phenomenal performance from Heath Ledger who in a bit of Crow-type tragedy died shortly before the film went to the cinema, but that's not to say his performance has been inflated by the tragedy, his turn as the Joker is hands-down my favorite incarnation of the character on film, from his bizarre, smeared grease-paint visage to his  creepy delivery, this is the definitive Joker for me, it would be hard to imagine anyone even coming close to this. This is one of my favorite comic movies, it's up there with Tim Burton's Batman and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, a classic superhero film. 

Special Features: 
- Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene (64 min) HD
- Batman Tech (46 min) HD
- Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of The Dark Knight (46 min) HD)
- Gotham Tonight (46 min)HD
- TV Spots (9 min) HD 
- Trailers (6 min) HD
- Gallery: Joker Cards (74 images) HD 
- Gallery: Concept Art (59 images) HD 
- Gallery: Poster Art: (13 images) HD 
- Gallery: Production Stills (90 images) HD  

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)

Label: Warner Bros. 
Region Code: A
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 165 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1 with Optional English SDH Subtitles 
Video: 4K 2160p Widescreen (2.40:1), (1.78:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1), (1.78:1) 
Director: Christopher Nolan 
Cast:  Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy

Synopsis: Eight years ago, after assuming the blame for D.A. Harvey Den's death, a disgraced Batman (Christian Bale) mysteriously vanished. But everything changes with the appearance of a cunning cat burglar (Anne Hathaway) and the arrival of Bane (Tom Hardy), a ruthless madman. Bane's reign of terror forces Bruce out of his self-imposed exile and into the ultimate battle for Gotham City's survival.and his own. 

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) is the capper to the Nolan Batman trilogy, picking up eight years after the end of The Dark Knight (2008) we have a decrepit Wayne being reclusive in his manor, spurred back into bat-action by the arrival of a cat-burglar named Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway) who steals a string of pearls and a Bruce's fingerprints from a safe at Wayne Manor. This leads to the discovery of a terrorist named Bane (Tom Hardy, Inception) who is leading the remnants of Ra's al Ghuls League of Shadows, to once again destroy Gotham.

Bane as played by Hardy (with a peculiar vocal affectation) proves to be Batman's most formidable foe, mentally and physically breaking the bat, discovering his true identity, breaking his spine and throwing him in an inescapable underground prison while the terrorist holds a atomic-weapon over the city, causing anarchy in the streets. 

The stand-out scene here is the aerial takeover and destruction of a smaller C.I.A. plane by another larger cargo plane in mid-air over the South America jungles, a dizzying Bond-type scenario that was a keeper, which stands among the trilogies most iconic scenes. However, I found this one a bit long in the tooth, some of it is downright absurd, including a reality-stretching death-defying finale, but thanks to the presence of Hardy as Bane and Hathaway as the not-mentioned-by-name catwoman, it kept me entertained, but it is my least favorite entry in the series, but as with Batman Begins perhaps it will too with time, not awful but my least favorite in the trilogy.   

Special Features: 
- Second Screen
- The Batmobile (58 min) HD
- Production – The Prologue: High Altitude Hijacking (8 min) HD
- Return To The Batcave (4 min) HD
-  Beneath Gotham (3 min) HD)
- The Bat (11 min) HD
- Batman Vs. Bane (6 min) HD
- Armory Accepted (3 min) HD
- Gameday Destruction (7 min) HD 
- Demolishing A City Street (4 min) HD 
- The Pit (3 min) HD
- The Chant (5 min) HD 
- The War On Wall Street (7 min) HD 
- Race To The Reactor (8 min) HD 
- The Journey Of Bruce Wayne (9 min) HD 
- Gotham’s Reckoning (10 min) HD 
- A Girl’s Gotta Eat (9 min) HD 
- Reflections – Shadows & Light In Large Format (6 min) HD 
- The End Of A Legend (9 min) HD 
- Trailer Archive (9 min) HD 
- Gallery: Print Campaign (31 images) HD 

Warner Bros. gives Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy a wonderful 4K treatment, the images are crisp and oftentimes stunning, particularity those large format IMAX scenes from The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises! Watching these in 4K for the first time in a few years breathed new life into the visuals and imbued my re-watch with more depth, detail and clarity. I loved it, well-worth the upgrade for those 4K enabled. These releases are available separately or as part The Dark Knight Trilogy in 4K UHD/BD/Digital from Warner Bros. 

Severin Films Presents EATEN ALIVE! - Now Uncut, Uncensored and Remastered in HD

UPDATE! Due to the complexities of producing the Limited Edition Slip Cover and Soundtrack the street date will be postponed to the new date of February 20th 2018 

EATEN ALIVE (1980) 

Label: Severin Films
Release Date: February 20th 2018 
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 93 Minutes
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.66:1) 
Audio: Italian and English Dolby Digital Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Cast: Robert Kerman, Janet Agren, Ivan Rassimov

Eight years after he first unleashed the Italian cannibal craze, spaghetti splatter master Umberto Lenzi (NIGHTMARE CITY, CANNIBAL FEROX) returned to the jungle for this "graphic" (Monster Hunter), "sordid" (Geek Legacy) and "extreme" (Horror News) gut-muncher that still packs the power to knock you over. EuroSleaze hall-of-famers Robert Kerman (CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST), Janet Agren (CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD), Ivan Rassimov (THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER) and Me Me Lai (JUNGLE HOLOCAUST) - along with Hollywood legend Mel Ferrer (WAR AND PEACE) - star in this insane assemblage of flesh-ripping mayhem, depraved sexual brutality, and even the Jonestown massacre. EATEN ALIVE! is now presented uncut, uncensored and fully remastered in HD for the first time ever, with all-new Special Features that slit open the legacy of this definitive cannibal classic.

Special Features: 
- Welcome To the Jungle - Interview With Director Umberto Lenzi
- Me Me Lai Bites Back - Feature Documentary on "The Queen Of Cannibal Movies"
- The Sect of the Purification - Interview with Production Designer Antonello Geleng
- Archive Interviews With Actors Ivan Rassimov and Robert Kerman
- 2013 Q/A With Umberto Lenzi from the "Festival of Fantastic Films, UK"
- Limited Edition Version Exclusive! Only 2,500 units with an exclusive Slip Cover and CD Soundtrack!