DVD Review: AMSTERDAMNED (1988)

AMSTERDAMNED (1988) 

Label: Shameless Screen Entertainment
Region Code: Region 2 PAL 

Rating: Certificate 18

Duration: 109 Minutes
Audio: English, Dutch Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 16x9 Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: Dick Maas
Cast: Huub Stapel, Monique Van de Ven, Serge-Henri Valckke

WTF! Dutch people of the world, what was in the water of those famed canals in the 80's that lead to this? Hey, I'm not complaining, it's nutty as fuck and I sorta expected no less from the director of the Christmas crime-slasher Sint (Saint) from 2010 but even with that odd watermark in mind I wasn't expecting a scuba-diving slasher, no sirree. 

The film opens with a surprisingly effective POV shot of our scuba-slasher stalking the gorgeous nighttime canals of Amsterdam until he comes across prostitute who's already had a shitty night, but it's about to get even worse. The frog suited attacker leaps from the canal and plunges a divers knife into her flesh repeatedly before dragging her corpse back into the murky depth of the canal. The next day her mangled corpse is hung from a footbridge where it is struck by a passing tour boat. Her bloody corpse dragging along the entire length of it's windowed visage to the scream-filled horror of the boy scouts and nuns until it falls through the open-top roof, the whole set-up of the first kill and it's aftermath is a real showstopper, it gets it's hooks right into you! 

When more bodies emerge it's pretty obvious that there's a seial killer on the lose and detective Eric Visser (Huub Stapel) is brought in on the case and the film plays our more or less like an Italian style Giallo crime drama with some typical cat and mouse games between cop and killer with some stylish kills and a surprising amount of action including a fantastically over-the-top hi-speed boat chase through the canals and sometimes on the surface streets, it really puts to shame the boat chase in The World is Not Enough (1999). 

Detective Visser has a young daughter named Anneke and the film needed more of her, or at least some exploration of her character. At one point she aims a gun at her father while he's bathing in the tub, and then.... nothing, no follow-up! WTF! The film definitely has a weird sense of humor, aside from the odd gun-incident Anneke answers the phone only to tell her dad's boss that he's in the bathroom, probably masturbating! There's also a strange pursuit of a youthful offender that ends in a bakery with the perpetrator face down in a cake, eating frosting with a fun exchange between the baker and cop, I really like director Dick Maas's strange sense of humor here. 

The kills are pretty great, we get stabbings, decapitations and even a suicide by harpoon, there's no shortage of creative grue! The killer in a decked-out in a black wet suit and it comes across fantastically, like an aquatic version of My Bloody Valentine (1981) with the heavy breathing and flippers, a very cool killer indeed and quite unique. The best kill scene for me was a young women on an inflatable raft that brought to mind Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) and the infamous trampoline scene from Eli Roth's Thanksgiving (2007), great stuff.

On the downside there are some long stretches of film that put the sleepy boredom right into me but just as I feared I might be overcome by the sandman we get another great kills or some god awful 80's fashion or a quirky 80's synth music cue that brought me back from the edge of boredom, it's not a perfect film but it's  an odd 80's Dutch slasher with Giallo-esque tendencies that's certainly entertaining, loaded with action and with a decent body count and a very peculiar sense of humor.

Reversible Artwork 

DVD: There's currently no Region 1 North American edition of this nutty Dutch slasher but Shameless Screen Entertainment have come to the rescue presenting Amsterdamned (1988) uncut and in it's original aspect ratio (1.85:1) on Region 2 DVD. It's an attractive shot film and it looks great on DVD, not the most crisp or sharp image you will ever see but colors are vibrant and overall we get a nice video presentation  .

Audio options include choice of original Dolby Digital 2.0 Dutch or a dubbed English track with optional English subtitles. This edition is not exactly waterlogged with extra features but we do get a nifty behind-the-scenes making of documentary, English an Dutch language trailers, a reversible sleeve of artwork and the standard Shameless Screen Entertainment trailer reel. Would have loved to hear director Dick Maas offer up a commentary just to see what his thought process was during this film, where the idea of a scuba-slasher came from, directors like this need to be dissected and explored for further study, not really, but a commentary would have been appreciated for this nutty Dutch film. 

Special Features: 
- Reversible Sleeve of Artwork 

- Exclusive making-of by Director Dick Maas

- Newly remastered English Audio

- Dutch Trailer

- English Theatrical Trailer 

- Shameless Trailer park

Verdict: I can think of precious few late-80's slashers that can outmatch this imaginative and nutty Dutch entry, it's a definite recommend and I give it creativity points on the concept and execution alone, just when you think you've seen it all Dick Maas and the Dutch are there to prove you wrong. 3.5 Outta 5 

http://www.shameless-films.com/

DVD Review: EVERYONE MUST DIE (2012)

EVERYONE MUST DIE (2012) 

Label: MVD Visual
Region Code: 1 NTSC
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 71 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 
Video: 16x9 Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Steve Rudzinski
Cast: Nick Lamanta, Nicole Beatte, Seth Gontkovic, Aleen Isley
Tagline: When It Comes To Your Town, No One Can Run, No One Can Hode...

Synopsis: When it comes to your town, no one can run, no one can hide. EVERYONE MUST DIE! A pattern of similar killings occurs, leaving small towns aghast with grief and suspicion. When the massacre left Kyle's sister dead, he vowed to solve the mystery behind the gruesome pattern of slaughter, and find out where this seemingly death-proof killer will strike next.

If you're gonna make a micro-budget slasher go all out, scrap your art house pretense and gut as many fucking teens as possible in as short a span as you can... and show some tits.... and to that end the producers of the indie-slasher Everyone Must Die (2012) are pretty damn successful. 

Sure, the story is a bit absurd, the effects are bloody but not great, and the acting is scary bad, but the performances are pretty fun in a schlocky sorta way. What we have here is a clever micro-budgeted slasher with some fun douche nozzles getting killed off one after the other in quick succession, so quickly in fact that there's little room left to squeeze in the ridiculous storyline about a killer going from town to town killing large numbers of teens, and that's probably a good thing. However, the script has just enough clever witticisms and playfulness that most of the many shortcomings of the production can be easily forgiven, especially when we have fun characters like a homosexual rapper, a narcissistic class president elect and a young woman whom gets wet at the sight of blood, this is a very funny slasher film, no doubt about it, it just looks like it was filmed on an a second gen iPhone in your neighbors backyard, and that okay, you just need to know what you're getting into. 

Special Features:

- About EMD! (22:37)
- Trailer (1:16)
- Writer Commentary
- Cast and Crew Commentary
- Bloopers (5:11)
- Peter Alternate Takes (1:23)
- Carsom Mauthe EMD! Music Video (3:15)
- MC Pink "Cockfight" Music Video (2:07) 

Verdict: Truly a film that looks every bit like the shot-on-a-shoestring budget that it is, the word slick does not come into play at any time during it's 71 minute duration but it's got a lot of heart, some fun characters, a steep body count and an interesting twist that's probably not as clever as it is just from out of nowhere, but I liked it and give it a cautious recommend to those with a high tolerance for low-budget schlock. 2 Outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: FOXY BROWN (1974)

FOXY BROWN (1974)

Label: Arrow Video

Region Code: B

Rating: 18 Certificate 

Duration: 91 Minutes 

Audio: English LPCM with Optional English SDH Subtitles

Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Cast: Pam Grier, Antonio Fargas, Sid Haig, Antonio Fargas, Peter Brown, Kathryn Loder
Director: Jack Hill
Tagline: She's the meanest chick in town!

I must confess that pre-Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997) I knew very little about the 70's Blaxploitation era of cinema, having only the most vague knowledge of Richard Roundtree's Shaft (1971) film and it's sequels I had not even heard of director Jack Hill at that point.  However, after taking in Pam Grier's return to prominence starring role in Jackie Brown and the many Tarantino interviews that accompanied the film I went straight to Foxy Brown (1974) to see what this Jack Hill 70's exploitation classic was all about, and it was a pretty fantastic watch from the get-go. 

In reality director Jack Hill initially set out to film a sequel to the successful Pam Grier vehicle Coffy (1973) but when distributor American International Pictures opted not to go the sequel route re-purposed the ebony revenger and gave us Grier as the smoking-hot, street-smart Foxy Brown who kicks  major amounts of corrupt white ass when her DEA boyfriend is gunned down by an heroin dealing escort service run by villainous lovers Steve Elias (Peter Brown) and Miss Katherine (Kathryn Loder, The Big Doll House). 

Street Smart and Lethal!

It turns out that Foxy's very own dip shit brother Link (TV's Antonio 'Huggy Bear' Fargas) is a coke dealing delinquent and when his debt with Miss Katherine comes due he wins her favor by revealing the whereabouts of Foxy's DEA boyfriend resulting in his murder. Double-crossed Link ends up dead at the business end of a shotgun at the hands of Elias, while his coked-up girlfriend gets her throat slit. The murder of both her lover and fuck-up brother sends Foxy off the deep end and into full-on revenge mode. Foxy sets out to infiltrate the whores-den as a prostitute decked out in some super sweet 70's outfits that are tight in all the right places if you know what I mean - WOW - Grier is a stunning women here with a knockout physique and those skintight outfits are superbly revealing. Link at one point says Foxy is a "whole lotta woman" and he ain't lying, she's definitely an eyeful! 

Oh, Foxy Foxy! 

Foxy enlists the help of a vigilante group to reap her revenge but when they successfully start to shake things up for the whore mongering heroin dealers they get smart and catch onto Foxy's true identity. Now captured Foxy winds up tied to a bed with heroin needle jabbed in her arm.  Miss Katherine's diabolical scheme is to get Foxy hooked on smack and then pimp her out before sending her off to a slave-farm in Haiti - but you just know Foxy Brown ain't going out like that, not a chance!

Jack Hill regular Sid Haig (The Big Bird Cage) arrives on scene as a pervy pilot in the service of the drug cartel, it's great to see him with Grier onscreen, there's an undeniable chemistry and they make for quite a duo, even if the couplings short lived. The casting of the film is awesome, Antonio Fargas of TV's Starsky and Hutch as Foxy's wise-cracking brother is quite entertaining. Kathryn Loder's weird, sexed-up baddie plays well and Brown's Elias is perfect, love his comeuppance, a dong-slicing shocker and the way it's carried through is quite wonderful.

Foxy Brown is an entertaining actioner chock full of 70's kitsch, black on white revenge, memorable dialogue and a sweet villainous duo, definitely one of my favorite of the 70's Blaxploitation classics, though admittedly there's a lot I have yet to see. If you're not familiar with director Jack Hill's Spider Baby! (1968), Coffy (1973) or his Filipino exploitation women-in-prison films you need to check 'em out! 
    

Main Menu

Blu-ray: Jack Hill's Foxy Brown (1974) makes it's hi-def debut on Blu-ray from the UK's Arrow Video, it's region-b locked so if you have not gone region-FREE yet you definitely should, if not you are missing out on some great edition of beloved genre favorites from Arrow, Second Sight, Umbrella Entertainment and Shameless Screen Entertainment! The 1080p widescreen (1.85;1) transfer is wonderful, sourced from a very fine print the colors are vivid, contrast is sharp and there's a nice layer of film grain intact - there's nothing to complain about here, it's a solid image with some nice fine detail, a very nice remastering of the film and an attractive visual presentation. 

The English LPCM  audio track is very solid as well. Dialogue, effects and score sound come through clean and free of snap, crackle and pops while Willie Hutch's score probably benefits the most, it's a nice score if not super remarkable, it's pretty standard for the genre in my opinion, not anywhere near Curtis Mayfield's iconic scoring of Gordon Parks Jr.'s Super Fy (1972). 

On to the bonus content we have the audio commentary by director Jack Hill from the previous DVD edition, he's very honest in his appreciation of the film, stating his distaste for the 007-esque title sequence and his belief that Coffy (1973) was a superior film. We have three excellent featurettes from High Rising Productions beginning with From Black and White to Blaxploitation (19:52) featuring actor Sid Haig speaking at length about friendship with Jack Hill beginning with working on his short-subject student film The Host and his first feature length project, the cult-classic Spider Baby! (1968), the Filipino exploitation stuff, being enamored with Grier from the start and some fun anecdotes. Haig is always an entertaining figure, I could listen to him for hours, for more of him on-camera I recommend Arrow's Spider-Baby Blu-ray which features some great extras with Haig including a commentary and Mark Hartley's Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010), fantastic watches. 

Reversible Artwork

Up next is Back to Black (25:06) featuring interviews with legendary actors Fred “The Hammer” Williamson (Black Caesar) and Austin Stoker (Sheba Baby, Assault on Precinct 13), alongside Rosanne Katon (Ebony, Ivory, and Jade) and film scholar Howard S. Berger whom each speak about the beginning of and the legacy of  genre. Williamson is great as always, quite a presence and the discussion from all are quite thoughtful and introspective. 

The last of the featurettes is A Not So Minor Influence (18:57) with Bob Minor, the first African-American member of the Stuntman’s Association, whom played a member of the Black Panther-esque vigilante group named "Oscar" in the film. He speaks about breaking into the business, being hired by Jack Hill to help make Grier into an "action queen", the various stunts in the film, Grier's stunt double Jadie David and his favorite scene. 

Also on the disc are an image gallery and a Jack Hill Trailer Reel featuring Spider Baby! (1968), Pit Stop (1969), The Big Doll House (1971), The Big Bird Cage (1972), Coffy (1973), Foxy Brown (1974), The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974), Switchblade Sisters (1975) and Sorceress (1982). This is a fantastic edition from Arrow Video, good to see the UK love for Jack Hill with Blu-rays of this film and Spider Baby, hope to see more Arrow Blaxploitation titles very soon. 

Limited Edition Steelbook Edition

I was sent a screener sans packaging so I cannot comment on the non-disc extras but should you purchase the retail version, and I highly recommend you do, there's a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring newly commissioned artwork by The Red Dress and a collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Josiah Howard, author of Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide, a new interview with Pam Grier by Jack Hill biographer Calum Waddell, illustrated with original archive stills and posters. Also available is a limited edition steelbook version of the film with the same features, this is a very sweet edition with over-an-hour of new featurettes, it's been a great year from Arrow Video and outstanding special edition releases.



Blu-ray Special Features:
- Audio commentary with director Jack Hill
- From Black and White to Blaxploitation – Actor Sid Haig speaks about his long and influential friendship with Jack Hill (19:52)
- A Not So Minor Influence – An Interview with Bob Minor, the first African-American member of the Stuntman’s Association, and co-star of Foxy Brown (18:57)
- Back to Black – Legendary actors Fred “The Hammer” Williamson (Black Caesar) and Austin Stoker (Sheba Baby, Assault on Precinct 13), alongside Rosanne Katon (Ebony, Ivory, and Jade) and film scholar Howard S. Berger speak about the enduring popularity of the Blaxploitation film (25:06)
- Photo gallery of behind-the-scenes and publicity images
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Trailer Reel – Trailers for all the major works by Jack Hill including Foxy Brown, Coffy and Switchblade Sisters

Verdict: Foxy Brown (1974) is an essential slice of seedy 70's cinema. Pam Grier's stunning and her street smart and lethal alter ego Foxy Brown make for an entertaining Afro-centric actioner that's loaded with kitschy 70's fashions and gritty urban action, fun stuff and a definite recommend. 3.5 Outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: THE MANSON FAMILY (2003)

THE MANSON FAMILY (2003) 

Label: Severin Films

Region Code: Region FREE

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 95 Minutes

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 

Video: 1080p Fullscreen (1.33:1)

Cast: Marcello Games, Marc Pitman, Lelsie Orr, Amy Yates, Maureen Allisse, Jim VanBebber 

Director: Jim VanBebber  

The Manson Family murders are the stuff of pop culture legend, particularly the murder of Sharon Tate and her unborn child, it was grisly stuff and Jim VanBebber's true-crime docudrama is a punishing and surreal journey into the nightmarish Summer of '69 which spawned these horrific events masterminded by the charismatic and nutty songwriter turned cult leader Charles Manson. 

The film focuses more on the Manson Family than on Manson (Marcelo Games, Deadbeat at Dawn) himself, it chooses to focus on the small group of drug-addled Manson disciples that actually perpetrated the blood lust crimes. There's Tex (Marc Pitman), Patty (Leslie Orr), Sadie (Maureen Allisse), Leslie (Amy Yates) and Jim VanBebber himself as Bobby, and each are pretty great in their roles, particularly enjoyed the performance from Orr whom reminded me a weirded out Parker Posey (Dazed and Confused). While Games' Manson is regulated to a smaller role than what one might assume he's truly memorable, a bright-eyed, charismatic nut, for a low-budget feature the cast really bring this one home with just the right amount of unintentional camp thrown into the mix. 

For a film that was shot over the course of a decade it's surprisingly consistent in tone, it's non-linear in nature and I think that worked to it's benefit given the weird production history. An element that seems slightly out of place is a side-story about latter day Manson disciples out to murder the producer of a true-crime news show whom is making a documentary about Manson. It's set in the mid-90's and it sticks out quite a bit from the rest of the film's retro-aesthetic, it's interesting but draws attention to itself, when it first appeared I was a bit lost. 

The atmosphere of the film are surreal and violent, there's a lot of orgiastic sex scenes including a nightmarish blood orgy with Manson crucified up on a cross and a dog is sacrificed - it's weird and wild stuff, the visuals are fantastic and blasphemous. The murders are truly gruesome, their intimate and uncomfortable  you start to feel like an accomplice at the scene of the crime. It's disturbing stuff and VanBebber doesn't pull away, it's nauseating. Separate from the free-love orgies there's a harrowing group-rape scene, it's graphic stuff and is a bit hard watch, particularly when you take into account that much of this really happened, this is the true-life scary stuff that fantasy-horror like A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) just cannot compete with, this actually happened, and it's  a stomach churner. 

Blu-ray: Severin Films bring Jim VanBebber's The Manson Family (2003) to 1080p Blu-ray with its original full frame (1.33:1) aspect ratio. The film looks rough but keep in mind that the film was shot using 16mm cinematography and the film stock was purposefully distressed to give it that retro-60's patina,and it's quite successful. The image quality is pretty solid, colors are strong but the vintage aesthetic comes with a fair amount of film grain, scratches and minor imperfections, it truly does look like an unkempt 60's documentary. 

The Blu-ray disc audio options include an uncompressed English language DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix. The 5.1 audio reigns supreme with some nice use of the surrounds channels, this is a hallucinatory experience visually and the audio mix is strong brew of bizarre bad-acid effects and nightmarish sound collages which accentuate the drug fueled nature of the film.

Previously released on 2-disc DVD in 2005 by Dark Sky Films this new Blu-ray retains all the features from the set and throw in a few new ones, beginning with a very fine commentary from VanBebber who offers a wealth of information about the film, it's production and the true crime events that informed the story, it's not quite feature length, at just over an hour it abruptly ends when VanBebber says he's run out of things to discuss. If you enjoy commentaries you're gonna wanna hear this one, it's pretty insightful. 

Also new to this release is Jim VanBebber's newest short film Gator Green (2013) which is set in the 70's  and revolves around a trio of 'Nam vets who run a gator-themed bar of sorts and a drug deal gone awry, it's a nice slice of exploitation nastiness. 

Another new features is a 10 minute interview Anselmo (Pantera, Super Joint Ritual) whom contributed songs and the voice of Satan to the film. He discusses discovering Deadbeat at Dawn (1988) through Film Threat magazine, meeting VanBebber through director Buddy Giovinazzo (Combat Shock), putting up some of his own money to help finance the film and his own fascination with the '72 Manson documentary. 

Carried over from the 2005 Dark Sky DVD are two documentaries beginning with The VanBebber Family (77:00), which appears here for the first time uncut, a feature length documentary about the decade long process of making the film, it's a great watch with interviews from nearly all the major players in the production including cast and crew. Notably missing is any contribution from Marcelo Games who portrayed Manson, the actor has distanced himself from the film for quite a few years, apparently having left the production for personal reasons. Actor Don Keaton whom portrayed Lotsapoppa adds that at the time he wasn't sure if the strange bunch of kids making this film were Manson worshipers or just a weird group of filmmakers, there's some great set stories to be had including VanBebber filming scenes in the nude  alcohol and drug binges and some actual sex on set - it's about a lurid as one might assume after viewing the film which does not take away from the single-minded devotion of VanBebber to finish this film, the man was determined, this is a great making-of doc. 

The second doc on the disc In The Belly of The Beast (73:52) documents the '97 Fant-Asia Film Festival in Montreal where Van Bebber screened a rough-cut of his as-of-then unfinished film. he appears alongside filmmakers Todd Morris (A Gun for Jennifer), Nacho Cerde (Aftermath), Richard Stanley (Dust Devil) and Karim Hussein (Subconscious Cruelty) each filmmaker discussing the trials and tribulations of bringing their independent films to the masses, particularly interesting were the interview with Stanley whom discusses production shutting down on Dust Devil (1992) which he was screening at the festival in addition to being unceremoniously kicked-off The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), there's also an appearance by film-writer Chas Balun of the Deep Red 'zine and a weird, last minute appearance from underground filmmaker Demitrios Estdelacropolis. 

There's also an excerpted Interview With Charles Manson (10:10) from the Charles Manson Superstar doc taped in '89 which just goes to prove the guy's still a nut and thankfully still rotting away in a prison cell. Rounding out the Blu-rays special features are fourteen minutes of deleted scenes which look pretty awful, they were recorded on 1/2 video tape from the monitor of a Steenbeck editing bay, not optimal viewing but it's good to see 'em on the edition. We also get a handful of trailers and a promo reel for the film, this is a well-stacked Blu-ray edition from Severin Films, great stuff

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary with Director Jim VanBebber
- Gator Green – Exclusive First Release of VanBebber’s latest short (15:47)
- Exclusive New Interview With Phil Anselmo (9:51)
- The VanBebber Family – Uncut Version of ‘Making Of’ Documentary Featuring Interviews with Cast and Crew (77:00)
- In The Belly of The Beast – Documentary On the 1997 Fantasia Film Festival (73:52)
- Interview With Charles Manson (10:10)
- Deleted Scenes (14:03)
- Theatrical Trailers (8:40) 

Verdict: The Manson Family (2003) is a depraved and sickening true-crime docudrama, if you're coming into it looking for the exploitative elements you will certainly find it in spades, if you're coming to it as a true-crime film you're gonna enjoy it but either way you might be offended on some level, and you should be, these were gruesome murders by disturbed young people hopelessly lost under the spell of a charismatic, drug-addled nutjob. This is a nasty slice of modern exploitation cinema and it gets a sweet edition from Severin Films, a powerfully upsetting piece of work. 3.5 Outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: BLOOD FOR IRINA (2012)

BLOOD FOR IRINA (2013) 

Label: Autonomy Pictures
Region Code: Region-FREE
Duration: 70 Minutes
Rating: unrated
Audio: LPCM 2.0 with Optional French, Spanish Subtitles 
Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Cast: Shauna Henry, Carrie Gemmell, David Goodfellow, Andre Becker, Jason Tannis, Mark Goodfellow, Brenden Crowells
Director: Chris Alexander

BLOOD FOR IRINA (2012) is the feature film debut from FANGORIA magazine editor Chris Alexander whom also co-produced, edited and co-shot the film in addition to providing the film's creepily seductive score. One might expect a film from the editor of a magazine that revels in gore to be quite a bloodbath but surprisingly this is a more personal and thoughtful vampire film, more along the MIDNIGHT SON (2011) than SUBSPECIES (1991). 

Boldly the film is nearly wordless for it's duration as we follows the lonely exploits of a century old vampiress named Irina (Shauna Henry) who resides in a dilapidated seaside motel venturing outside at dark to find sustenance from street urchins. Occasionally a distorted urst of voice-over narration will punctuate the proceedings to accentuate the abstract story arc. Visually Alexander seems to be channeling lyrical style of Euro-sleaze directors Jean Rollin and Jess Franco but more often than not I felt it succumbed to empty art house pretension which lulled be off to slumberland.

Credit where credit is due the director and cinematographer have crafted a striking image on a microbudget, the slow panning shots do conjure up a surreal dreamy atmosphere but there are only so many close-ups of hotel signs and slow walking sequences that I can tolerate in a setting and Blood For Irina exceeded it early on in it's 70 minute running time, it just felt a bit too faux experimental for my tastes. There's a lot of long Gus Van Sant-esque static shots that will appeal to a certain set of film lovers but I guess tonight I'm just looking for something a bit more visceral and frenetic. 

Alexander's score is quite impressive, and it ranges from creepy electronics to haunting piano and strings which perfectly compliment the visual style of the film. At least the audio and the visual elements come together nicely if not to create a compelling story at least to conjure up some surreal atmosphere and a feeling of dread and loneliness. 

As I have said the story itself is pretty threadbare, and while film is surely a visual medium I just could not latch onto the character of Irina for the vague scripting, even when we're exposed to the trauma of her past through flashback I could not feel for her or for her victims, and that's a very serious problem.

Special Features:

- Director’s commentary with Chris Alexander
- R.I.P.: The Riviera Motel(2:21)
- Outtakes and Deleted Scenes (12:56)
- Teaser Trailer (1:06) 

- Theatrical Trailer (2:21) 

Verdict: I do commend Chris Alexander as a first time director who wrote, co-shot, produced and edited the film in addition to scoring it but I found this a difficult watch. I can appreciate that it's going for something quite a bit different from the norm and  with it's 70's Euro influence but BLOOD FOR IRINA (2012) has zero rewatch factor for me. That said,  I do love the score and wouldn't mind owning it and I look forward to what Alexander does next, while it wasn't for me it's not awful either, just not my cup o' tea. 2 Outta 5 

http://www.autonomypics.com/

Blu-ray Review: 6 SOULS (2010)

6 SOULS (2010) 

Label: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Release Date: July 2nd 2013

Region Code: A

Duration: 112 Minutes

Rating: R

Audio: English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 with Optional English and Spanish Subtitles

Video: 1080p Widescreen (2.35:1) 

Cast: Julianne Moore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jeffrey DeMunn, Nate Corddry 

Director: Mårlind and Stein 

Ginger-haired fox Julianne Moore is the faith-challenged forensic psychologist named Dr. Cara Harding whom loves to dissect, dispute and disprove cases of so-called multiple personality disorder. When she's brought in on a case by her psychiatric father (Jeffrey DeMunn, The Walking Dead) she's introduced to a patient named Adam (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Mission Impossible III)) whom is wheelchair bound and supposedly afflicted with multiple personalities. Strangely the personalities seem to be those of deceased people and not purely creations of his fractured psyche. When Adam's other personalities begins to manifest he convulses violently, his demeanor changes as does his accent, more shocking is that he regains the use of his legs, it's pretty weird and I gotta say that at this point I was sucked in, really thought this one was going somewhere interesting, and it does to a point.   

Seeking answers to case Dr. Harding ends up tracking down one of the family members of "David", one of Adam's personalities. She finds the mother (Frances Conroy, The Woods) in a rural part of the state and invites her to come see the patient to help disprove the diagnosis of multiple personality disorder, but the encounter is unnerving and would tend to lend credibility to it's legitimacy. Returning to the rural mountainous region Harding seeks a witchy persona knows as "Granny" and then things get weirder while the story quickly loses cohesion and what started as a promising psychological thriller devolves into a rather attractively-shot supernatural Lifetime Channel movie, but attractive though it may be it's still a Lifetime Channel movie, and despite what Mythbusters has taught me you just can't polish a turd, which may be why this feature film sat on shelf for three years before being dumped on Blu-ray without a theatrical release. 

Blu-ray: 6 Souls (2010) gets a very decent 1080p transfer on Blu-ray presented in the widescreen scope aspect ratio (2.35:1) from Anchor Bay Entertainment. It's an attractively shot film with some spooky atmosphere, it looks quite good in 1080p with strong colors and some decent fine detail, some crush artifacts do show up during the many low-light situations from time to time but overall this is a very solid hi-def presentation. 

The  5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is very nice, the 5.1 exports creepy score and effects to the surrounds creating an enveloping audio experience. Dialogue is always clear and crisp and John Frizzell's stinger-laden score comes through with some nice depth and clarity. 

This straight-to-VOD release gets no bonus content whatsoever; no trailer, no commentary and no alternate ending, it gets the classic straight to video release from Anchor Bay. 

Verdict: There are some interesting ideas hatched onscreen here and  I was really holding on for something special but the script and execution are quite a mess. Props to Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys Meyers for strong performances but even their valid attempt to breath life into this is indecisive thriller can't resuscitate it. On the plus side, my wife, who sorta hates horror but loves generic thrillers,  found it quite entertaining. By no means am I suggesting this is a purchase but should you spy it on Netflix or Redbox and need something to watch with the wife that won't make you wanna gouge your eyes out, if not exactly satisfy you, just maybe... 2.5 Outta 5 

SCREAM FACTORY ALL-NIGHT HORROR MARATHON VOL. 2: THE DUNGEONMASTER, CATACOMBS, CELLAR DWELLER, CONTAMINATION 7

Today Scream Factory surprised everyone by announcing even MORE cheap thrills on the horizon with“Volume 2” of the SCREAM FACTORY ALL-NIGHT HORROR MARATHON series is coming soon!

Another fun and frightening multi-title DVD set is scheduled to land on October 29th. Titles include:

THE DUNGEONMASTER (1984) – Original story by Empire Pictures’ Charles Band. 1.78:1. All all-new transfer that includes a pre-credit dream sequence missing from the Lightning Video VHS.

CATACOMBS (1988) – From Director David Schmoeller (Tourist Trap, Crawlspace, Puppetmaster) 16x9 1.66

CELLAR DWELLER (1988) – From Director John Carl Buechler (Troll, Friday the 13th Part 7)  4x3 full frame

CONTAMINATION 7 (1993) – From Director Joe D’Amato (Ator: The Fighting Eagle, Emmanuelle in Bangkok) 1.78:1

All 4 films have never been on DVD before and you can get them for a super low $9.99 SRP.

Pre-order links on ScreamFactoryDVD.com, Amazon and other fine online retailers coming soon!