Severin Films Presents EMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS (1977) - the ultimate sex & gore shocker - newly remastered for the first time ever.

EMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS (1977) 

Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals - Limited Edition

Only 3,000 units with an exclusive Slip Cover and CD Soundtrack!

Label: Severin Films
Release Date: May 8th 2018 
Region Code: Region-FREE
Duration: 94 Minutes 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English, Italian Dolby Digital Mono
Director: Joe D'Amato
Cast: Laura Gemser, Gabriele Tinti, Monica Zanchi, Donald O'Brien

Synopsis: In 1977, infamous filth auteur Joe D'Amato (BEYOND THE DARKNESS, ANTRHOPOPHAGUS) combined the insane extremes of eroticism and cannibalism for the most groin-grinding, gut-munching, gore-spewing EuroSleaze saga of them all: When journalist Emanuelle (the ever-luscious Laura Gemser of BLACK EMANUELLE fame) discovers evidence of an extinct cannibal tribe in a Manhattan mental hospital, her investigation will take her to the Amazon jungle for an orgy of carnage that SexGoreMutants calls "...feral, demented and nasty. And in exploitation terms, that's entertainment!"

Gabriele Tinti (EMANUELLE IN AMERICA), Monica Zanchi (SISTER EMANUELLE) and Donald O'Brien
(DOCTOR BUTCHER, M.D.) co-star in "the flesh & fear masterpiece from the late great splatter genius" (DVD Beaver) released to '80s grindhouses as TRAP THEM AND KILL THEM and now scanned in 2k from original vault elements.

Special Features:
- The World of Nico Fidenco - An interview with composer Nico Fidenco.
- A Nun Among the Cannibals - An interview with actress Annamaria Clementi.
- Dr. O'Brien MD - An interview with actor Donald O'Brien.
- From Switzerland to Mato Grosso - An Interview with actress Monika Zanchi.
- I Am Your Black Queen - Laura Gemser archive audio interview.

- Theatrical Trailer

THREADS (1984) (Severin Blu-ray Review)

THREADS (1984) 

Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 117 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080P HD Fullscreen (1.33:1) 
Director: Jim Latham
Cast: Karen Meagher, Reece Dinsdale, David Brierley, Rita May, Nicholas Lane, Jane Hazlegrove

Synopsis: In September 1984, it was aired on the BBC and shocked tens of millions of UK viewers. Four months later, it was broadcast in America and became the most watched basic cable program in history. After more than three decades, it remains one of the most acclaimed and shattering made-for-television movies of all time. Reece Dinsdale (Coronation Street), David Brierly (Doctor Who) and Karen Meagher (in a stunning debut performance) star in this “graphic and haunting” (People Magazine) docudrama about the effects of a nuclear attack on the working-class city of Sheffield, England as the fabric of society unravels. Directed by Mick Jackson (THE BODYGUARD, TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE) from a screenplay by novelist/playwright Barry Hines (Ken Loach’s KES) and nominated for seven BAFTA Awards, “the most terrifying and honest portrayal of nuclear war ever filmed” (The Guardian) has now been fully restored from a 2K scan for the first time ever.

In 1983 I was ten years old, I remember watching the made-for-TV nuclear-panic film The Day After (1983) when it aired on TV with my family, it was a sobering and frightening account of what would happen if a full-scale nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union happened in the heartland of the US. The damn thing terrified me, the Cold War was till in full effect and the threat of nuclear war seemed very possible, especially to a ten year old kid who watched the news every night. I remember the next evening during a particularly orange-ish looking sunset that an odd-shaped "cauliflower" cloud tinted red/orange by the sunset gave me a moment of heart-stopping pause, , I made sure to draw my mom's attention to it in hopes that she would dispel my fear of it being a nuclear bomb detonation at the nearby military base, and when she did just that I felt more at ease, but the TV-film was deeply unsettling to say the least. As unnerving as that TV film was at least I didn't see the British made TV-film Threads (1984) till just this week, if I had seen this bleak slice of no-hope for the future I might have sunk into a never-ending spiral of nuclear-fear.

Threads (1984) opens in Sheffield, England with a young couple sitting in their car on a hilltop overlooking their city, the couple are Ruth Beckett (Karen Meagher) and Jimmy Kemp (Reece Dinsdale), the car radio tells us of growing tension between NATO and Warsaw Pact, but the scene is all about cementing the love they have for one another. A month later the couple are making plans to marry after discovering she's pregnant, we join them as the two families meet and make plans for a wedding, in the background we hear continuing reports of rising tensions between the US and Russia over things happening in the Middle East. The threat is always simmering in the background and then as tensions rise things get even more dire, a nuclear weapon is detonated nearby, and the reality of a post-nuke world settles in real fast for the couple. 

The film spends a lot of time with our young couple before the bomb drops, though it is Ruth the film follows to a larger degree, in the post-nuke scenario we see her struggling with her difficult pregnancy, coping with the loss of her family and making her way through the irradiated rubble and destruction left behind in the aftermath. The film has a docudrama sort of narrative,  it's a bit cold and detached, but also engrossing and horrifying. We see the breakdown of society and how the government is largely helpless and ineffectual, still bickering over paperwork while the world crumbles around. The film takes us thirteen years into the future after the bomb, and spoiler alert, it's all harrowing and horrifying, with nuclear winter setting in the climate grows colder and even more inhospitable, taking us back to a middle ages sort of agrarian lifestyle. 

The scope of this one is mighty impressive, the scenes of destruction are powerful and the human drama cuts deep, anchored by Karen Meagher who gives a wonderfully human and desperate performance. The carnage is well-done, destroyed building in flames radiation sickness, there's charred bodies and disfiguring injuries, not to mention the desperation of scrounging for food and water in the aftermath, a scene of two people tearing at a raw sheep carcass for sustenance was stomach churning. Threads is nightmare fuel, not some faraway impossible nightmare either, this is an alarmingly accurate and not too-sensational representation of what we could expect if things ever go this far, and sadly we once again find ourselves uncomfortably close to the brink of nuclear doomsday. 

Audio/Video: Threads (1984) arrives on Blu-ray from Severin films with a new 2K scan, not sure what the source is but it's a little rough with damage and grit abounding, the grain is course as the film was shot on 16mm film. The image is flat and dingy looking, some of that is by design, it is an post-apocalyptic film after all, but there's definitely some issues with the source, the grain field varies quite a bit and detail fluctuates, but for a TV film from the 80's it looks pretty damn decent, if it was too spiffy looking it might take away from the gritty realism. The mono DTS-HD MA audio is anemic and unremarkable but dialogue is never hard to decipher, optional English subtitles are provided. 

Onto the extras we get a very nice array, we begin with an audio commentary with Director Mick Jackson Moderated By Film Writer Kier-La Janisse and Severin Films’ David Gregory, I enjoyed the talk of the research that went into depicting the realistic outcome of a nuclear bomb drop, all of which makes for a disturbingly realistic film. There are also interviews with actress Karen Meagher (10 min), Director Of Photography Andrew Dunn (9 min) and Production Designer Christopher Robilliard (10 min), which speaks to the panicked-era in which this aired, how it was received and how they shot the film, achieving the look and aesthetic of a post-nuke world. My favorite of all the extras is a 30-minute interview with author Stephen Thrower, apparently taking a welcomed break from his day job as an avid Jess Franco/euro-sleaze commentator to speak about the film and the affect it had upon release, as usual a very astute and entertaining chat giving context to the film. The disc extras are finished up with a trailer and re-release trailer for the film. 

This single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork, the disc featuring the same artwork of a clock tower engulfed in a nuclear inferno. This version is the limited edition (of 3500) version with a lenticular slipcase, showing a tranquil park scene, when slightly titled it shows the nuclear inferno version of the scene in ruin. 

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Mick Jackson Moderated By Film Writer Kier-La Janisse and Severin Films’ David Gregory
- Audition For The Apocalypse: Interview With Actress Karen Meagher (10 min) 
- Shooting The Annihilation: Interview With Director Of Photography Andrew Dunn (9 min) 
- Destruction Designer: Interview With Production Designer Christopher Robilliard (10 min) 
- Interview With Film Writer Stephen Thrower (30 min) 
- US Trailer (2 min) 
- Re-Release Trailer ( 2 min) 

Threads (1984) goes several measures beyond it's US precursor The Day After (1983), creating a bleak and shattering image of a nuclear nightmare, a vision that still might well be a possibility considering the narcissistic maniacs who wield the nuclear power these days, this is still a valid warning of a possible apocalyptic future. The Blu-ray from Severin is not the most pristine presentation, but the film itself is disturbingly fascinating and loaded with some great extras, adding more dread to this already nightmare-fueled slice of nuclear panic. 

Severin Films Presents VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON (1982) - Bruno Mattei's infamous filth-fest - uncut in HD for the first time ever.

VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON (1982)

Label: Severin Films
Release Date: May 8th 2018 
Duration: 99 Minutes
Region Code: Region-FREE
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono
Director: Bruno Mattei
Cast: Laura Gemser, Gabriele Tinti, Lorraine De Selle, Franca Stoppi

Synopsis: In an over-the-top career filled with cannibals, zombies, nuns and Nazis, only EuroSleaze maestro Bruno Mattei (THE OTHER HELL, SHOCKING DARK) - along with frequent collaborators/co-writers Claudio Fragasso and Rossella Drudi (TROLL 2, ZOMBIE 3 and 4) - could take the BLACK EMANUELLE series to such insane depths of depravity. When Emanuelle (the legendary Laura Gemser) goes undercover in a penitentiary, she will endure a nightmare of sadistic guards, voracious lesbians, rat attacks, feces fights and enough graphic mayhem for a dozen women-in-prison trash epics.

Gabriele Tinti (EMANUELLE AND THE LAST CANNIBALS), Lorraine De Selle (CANNIBAL FEROX) and Franca Stoppi (BEYOND THE DARKNESS) co-star in this "classic of exploitation" (Yell Magazine) - also known as CAGED WOMEN and EMANUELLE IN PRISON - now featuring a 2k scan from an uncensored inter-positive.

Special Features: 
- Brawl in Women's Block - Interview with co-director/co-writers Claudio Fragasso and Rossella Drudi.
- Archive interview with director Bruno Mattei.
- Radio Spot.

FULL MOON HIGH (1981) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

FULL MOON HIGH (1981) 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: PG 
Duration: 93 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Larry Cohen 
Cast: Adam Arkin, Roz Kelly, Ed McMahon, Elizabeth Hartman, Bill Kirchenbauer, Joanne Nail, Demond Wilson, Louis Nye, Jim Bullock, James Dixon, Kenneth Mars

1950's teen high-school football player Tony Walker (Adam Arkin, Halloween H20) is dragged Transylvania on an ill-fated vacation by his father (Ed McMahon, The Tonight Show), while there a gypsy palm reader informs him that he is cursed to live an unnaturally long and ageless life, which turns out to be very true, later that same night he is attacked and nibbled on by a werewolf. Not quite realizing what has happened to himself he returns to the states and has a hard time adjusting to his new furry-lifestyle. The werewolf transformations in this one are real bad, and there's absolutely no gore - in fact there might not even be a drop of blood in this thing. The "attacks" come down to our teen werewolf chasing down women in the neighborhood and nibbling on them, not so much killing them as really inconveniencing them. One day his dad walks in on him while he's he transforming and puts a fright into him, his dad runs down to the family bomb shelter and locks himself in for safety, inside he discharges his weapon and the bullet ricochets comically for what feels life forever, eventually killing him, which happens off screen. All of a sudden were at his funeral, there's no good transition scenes in this whole film, everything is poorly stitched together with smash-cuts. After his father's death he leaves town and wanders the world for several decades, there's a cheesy montage with awful headlines like "werewolf eats Chinese, hungry half hour later". Spurred on by the fact that his hometown team has not beaten there rivals in the decades since he left town the night before the big game her returns to Full Moon High - that's the actual name of the school, signing up for classes and joining the football team hoping to finally beat the local rivals and somehow put his life back together. 

This is wacky one folks, the comedy is running wild, Cohen throws everything and the kitchen sink at the screen to see if it sticks - and a lot of it does not. It's loaded with cornball puns, spoof humor, some satire, the material is fun, whimsical and lighthearted, while there are no scares or thrills you just might find yourself howling at the lunar-lunacy of it all, or dying from how dumb it is, and boy oh boy is it dumb. Adam Arkin is so young and fresh-faced here, coming off as a young Jerry Seinfeld by way of David Naughton (An American Werewolf in London), a naive sort of fool who never seems to fully wrap his head around his affliction, it's a silly role but I thought he was charismatic and enjoyed how unembarrassed to just go for it.

The film is capably directed, though it feels slapdash at times, especially when the passing of decades is represented by an hour glass on a string being jigged across a darkened room along with series of presidential portraits being changed in accordance with the times, it definitely has a lo-fo charm about it. There's a ton of familiar faces here, we have Kenneth Mars from Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein as a very hands-on football coach turned high school Principal, Julius Harris from Cohen's Black Caesar shows up as a airplane hijacker, comedian Bob Saget appears as a sports reporter, and Jim J. Bullock shows up as the effeminate son of a character named Jane, played by Roz Kelly of New Year's Evil, a girl who lusted after Tony as a teen, and now as a mother still lusts after him when he returns to the neighborhood decades later. 

Audio/Video: Larry Cohen's Full Moon High (1981) arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen, this looks like it is sourced from a theatrical print, though one in great shape with really only some white speckling to note as far as blemishing goes, colors are robust, grain is well-managed, and the black levels and shadow detail are quite impressive.  The lone audio option is a DTS-HD MA mono track, it has limitations but sounds just fine with no distortion, there are no subtitle options.

Extras are slim but appreciated considering the former obscurity oif it, we get a 3-minute trailer in HD plus a brand new audio commentary from writer/producer/director Larry Cohen, moderated by King Cohen doc director  Steve Mitchell, and it's a keeper. Cohen is a master commentator, it's a warts and all commentary, pointing out the locations used, the cast of characters appearing on-screen, with some good moderation from  Mitchell who keeps the conversation focused and on-point.  

Special Features:
- NEW audio commentary with writer/producer/director Larry Cohen, Moderated by KING COHEN filmmaker Steve Mitchell
- Theatrical Trailer (3 min) HD

It's been a great year for Larry Cohen's films arriving on Blu-ray, from Black Caesar courtesy Olive Films to the It's Alive Trilogy and The Ambulance from Scream Factory, however this is a lesser entry among his filmography, it's a bad movie. 1981 was a banner year for werewolf movies, we had An American Werewolf in London, The Howling and Wolfen... classic stuff, and then there's Full Moon High, the worst of the bunch. If you enjoy bad, madcap monster movies this might be worth a watch, but if you're a gore-hound without a funny-bone this is one to avoid. 

THE OUTER LIMITS: SEASON ONE Coming to Blu-ray & DVD March 27th from Kino Lorber Studio Classics

The Outer Limits: Season One Coming to Blu-ray and DVD March 27 from Kino Lorber Studio Classics Includes 40 Page Booklet Essay by David J. Schow and  Audio Commentaries by Noted Film and Television Historians "The best program of its type ever to run on network TV!" - Stephen King

Kino Lorber Studio Classics is proud to announce the Blu-ray and DVD release of Season One of The Outer Limits, the hit television anthology series, created by Leslie Stevens, that became a benchmark for science-fiction shows to follow. This seven-disc collection contains all 32 episodes of Season One, newly restored in HD. The Outer Limits: Season One will be released on Blu-ray and DVD March 27, with a SRP of $99.95 for the Blu-ray and $79.95 for the DVD. Special features include "There is Nothing Wrong With Your Television Set", a 40 page booklet essay by David J. Schow, and audio commentaries by David J. Schow (The Outer Limits Companion), Tim Lucas (Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark; Video Watchblog), Craig Beam (My Life in the Glow of the Outer Limits), Dr. Reba Wissner (We Will Control All That You Hear: The Outer Limits & The Aural Imagination), Gary Gerani (Fantastic Television), Michael Hyatt (film historian), and Steve Mitchell (King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen). There Is Nothing Wrong With Your Television Set...  Do Not Attempt To Adjust The Picture...  We Are Controlling Transmission... You hold in your hands an artifact from a time now vanished forever; a compendium of portals into worlds unknown. A seven-disc set that controls over 27 hours of transmission from the 1963-1964 series, this vessel has sought you out for one specific purpose: to expand your mind to The Outer Limits!  Guest stars include Ed Asner, Macdonald Carey, Dabney Coleman, Robert Culp, Bruce Dern, Robert Duvall, Mimsy Farmer, Don Gordon, Harry Guardino, Gloria Grahame, Signe Hasso, Miriam Hopkins, Richard Jaeckel, Sally Kellerman, Shirley Knight, Martin Landau, George Macready, John Marley, David McCallum, Ralph Meeker, Gary Merrill, Vera Miles, Leonard Nimoy, Simon Oakland, Warren Oates, Carroll O'Connor, Donald Pleasence, Cliff Robertson, Ruth Roman, Barbara Rush, Martin Sheen, Henry Silva and many more. THE OUTER LIMITS: Season One Blu-ray and DVD Street Date: March 27, 2018 Blu-ray SRP: $99.95 DVD SRP: $79.95 Directors: Leslie Stevens, Byron Haskin, Laslo Benedek, James Goldstone,  Gerd Oswald, John Brahm, Robert Florey  Produced by Joseph Stefano Executive Producer: Leslie Stevens A Villa Di Stefano Production in association with Daystar Productions Technical Specs: 1963-1964 / B&W / 1632 Minutes / (1.33:1) / 1920x1080p / French Subtitles / Not Rated Special Features: "There Is Nothing Wrong With Your Television Set",  a 40-page booklet essay by David J. Schow Audio commentaries by David J. Schow (The Outer Limits Companion), Tim Lucas (Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark; Video Watchblog), Craig Beam (My Life in the Glow of the Outer Limits), Dr. Reba Wissner (We Will Control All That You Hear: The Outer Limits & The Aural Imagination), Gary Gerani (Fantastic Television), Michael Hyatt (film historian), and Steve Mitchell (King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen)

BATMAN & MR. FREEZE: SUBZERO (1997) (WAC Blu-ray Review)

BATMAN AND MR. FREEZE: SUBZERO (1997) 

Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 67 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS HD-MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles  
Video: 1080p HD Full FRame (1.37:1) 
Director: Boyd Kirkland
Cast: Kevin Conroy, Michael Ansara, Loren Lester, Mary Kay Bergman, George Dzundza, Bob Hastings, Robert Costanzo, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

In the wake of the deeply disappointing big screen version of Mr. Freeze (cornily played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) in Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin (1997) fans of Batman could at least take solace in this new adventure set in the world of Batman the Animated Series, an animated movie that truly does justice to one of Batman's greatest foes, the tragic villain Dr. Victor Fries (AKA Mr. Freeze, voiced by the late Michael Ansara, Batman TAS). The story has Mr. Freeze desperately trying to save his beloved wife Nora, who fan of the animated series will remember is frozen in a suspended state of cryogenisis and in need of an organ transplant. It turns out that Barbara Gordon (AKA Batgirl, voiced by the late Mary Kay Bergman, South Park) is the only viable donor candidate for the procedure, the fact that she's alive isn't much of a deterrent for conflicted villain Freeze who enlists/coerces a former surgeon-colleague to perform the procedure. When Barbara is kidnapped by Freeze (unaware that she is Batgirl) our heroes Batman (voiced by best Batmen EVER Kevin Conroy) and Robin (voiced by Loren Lester) track the villain to his chilly Arctic lair to save the day, having to contend with not only Freeze's powerful cold-weapon but his pet polar bears Hotchka and Shaka!

More so than Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) this one feels like an extended two-parter from Batman the Animated Series, mixed in with some nascent 3-D animated sequences, digital elements that haven't aged too awfully in my opinion. The story is a solid one, we get some enjoyable Robin and Batgirl action, fighting alongside Batman in a Mr. Freeze story-arc that is nicely multi-layered, sure he's a bad guy, but his motivations are coming from a place of desperation and loss, so you can empathize. In the shadow of the awful Batman and Robin movie this animated adventure was a welcome return to form for the Mr. Freeze, though the addition of a pair of loyal pet polar bears and an adopted Inuit son seem a bit much (though still not as corny as the Batman and Robin movie), this is very entertaining Bruce Timm-era entry. 

Audio/Video: Batman and Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1997) arrives on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive framed in the original 1.37 full frame aspect ratio, as was intended. The film did receive a cropped/matted 1.66:1 widescreen version on laserdisc at one point, though the original intended presentation is as is, full frame. The animation looks fantastic, the best I've seen it look on home video, the animation looks crisp, colors are nicely saturated and blacks are deep and inky. Audio comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track, with optional English subtitles, everything sounds great, well-balanced with the score from Batman the Animated Series composer Michael McCuistion having some nice oomph behind it. 

Onto the extras, WAC did something very cool, they've included the complete Mr. Freeze saga from the various animated series, even noting where this one falls into the story, which is all sort of awesome. Mr. Freeze was always one of the coolest (zing!) villains in Batman's rogues gallery, a tragic villain with some serious gravitas, not a wholly sympathetic character but you could at least understand his motivations. These four episodes are unfortunately presented in standard definition but look and sound great nonetheless.

Other extras on the disc include a brief music montage of the artwork including character sketches, backgrounds, and storyboards, a 'how to draw Batman' tidbit, plus a theatrical trailer. I wish the four episodes would have been presented in HD (after all, they are preparing a Batman the Animated Series Blu-ray box set for release) but it's awesome to have all the Mr. Freeze episodes on one release. The other extras are non-essential in my opinion, but just having all the Mr. Freeze episodes, including his brief resurrection from Batman Beyond, is extra enough for me. 

Worth noting, fans have speculated at the existence of not only a 5.1 surround sound mix of the audio but a proper widescreen version of the film, these speculations are based on comments made by the late director Boyd Kirkland in an interview, and in more recent message board/Facebook posts from his son backing up his father's claims. Warner have responded that these elements simply do not exist and that to their knowledge have never existed. Stating on their Facebook page that the film's original aspect ratio is fullframe and that the previous Laserdisc version was a crop/matted 1.66:1 presentation, that this full frame version is the intended and most complete version, and I'm happy with that. That's not to say I wouldn't have enjoyed the matted 1.66:1 widescreen version of the film on this disc, both options would have been preferable, but as I said, I'm quite happy with what we have here.

Special Features: 
- The Mr. Freeze Saga in Chronological Order includes the episodes:
 "Heart of Ice" (22 min)(from Batman the Animated Series), "Deep Freeze" (21 min) (from Batman the Animated Series), "Cold Comfort", (21 min) (from The New Batman Adventures) and "Meltdown" (21 min)(from Batman Beyond) in Standard Definition
- Art of Batman: Music Montage (3 min) 
- Get the Picture: How to Draw Batman (1 min) 
- Theatrical Trailer (1 min) 

I love Batman the Animated Series, I have very fond memories of watching it with my younger brother Tommy after he got home from school everyday, and I love these ancillary feature length movies that were part of the same universe, so having this one on Blu-ray is a real treat! It's truly a great time to be a fan of the Batman the Animated Series, glad to see the animated films getting Blu'd with such wonderful presentations from WAC.  

SWEET VIRGINIA (2017) (Blu-ray Review)

SWEET VIRGINIA (2017) 

Label: Shout! Factory / IFC Midnight
Release Date: April 3rd 2018
Region Code: A
Rating: R
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: Jamie M. Dagg
Cast: Jon Bernthal, Christopher Abbott, Imogen Poots, Rosemarie Dewitt

Brooding small town thriller Sweet Virginia (2017) opens with a drifter named Elwood (Christopher Abbott, Girls) walking into a bar after hours, inside three men are gathered, Elwood acts strangely and is turned away, returning moments later with a gun, killing all three men inside. We learn that Elwood was hired by the wife of one of the men inside to kill him, a woman named Lila (Imogen Poots, 28 Weeks Later), but things didn't go as planned and the killer ends up with two unintended victims, rocking the small community. Later when the self-made widow is informed by her lawyer that her husband was on the verge of bankruptcy, her lack of funds to pay the hit-man sets in motion a series of unfortunate events. 

Central to the story is a depressive motel owner named Sam (Jon Bernthal, Netflix'a The Punisher) who has connections to Poots' character, he's having an affair with her mother Bernadette (Rosemarie Dewitt, Poltergeist), who's husband was one of the unintended casualties at the bar. The dots begin to connect when Elwood who is staying at the motel run by Sam recognizes him as a former rodeo champion from West Virginia, and Elwood sort of forces an uneasy acquaintance with the motel owner, and so the dots begin to connect, slowly building towards an inevitable violent climax that will leave few unscathed.

This slow-burning thriller caught my attention from the get-go with the crime at he bar, it grabs the attention, and then things settle down and it begin to unfold and build-up in a subtle sort of way, you can see the machination at work, the intertwined characters  begin to mingle and cross-pollinate, culminating with the expected violent outcome, there's no surprised here but I liked the contrast of the characters of Sam and Elwood. Bernthal as Sam is a surprisingly quiet guy, very meek and downplayed, we see him cower away from the threat violence an earlier scene, in contrast to the high-strung Elwood, a man with a short fuse who is always holding back the inner-rage, which is threatening to boil over at any moment. We see him set off by a pair of locals punks giving him the eye at a phone booth, or when he realizes Lila is coming up short of his required fee for the crime. 

I love this sort of quiet small town thriller, watching the pieces come together in the final push at the end, but I didn't find this one to be all that satisfying, the tense finale was a bit too anti-climatic for my tastes, there's a pressure build-up and then it just sort of deflated without the appropriate fanfare, it's not bad but it is a one and done.