THE GREEN KNIGHT (2021) (Lionsgate 4K UHD Review)

THE GREEN KNIGHT(2021)

Label: Lionsgate

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: R

Duration: 132 Minutes

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

Video: 2160p UHD Widescreen, 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: David Lowry 

Cast: Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, Kate Dickie, Ralph Iverson

The Green Knight (2020) tells the adjunct Arthurian story of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), the nephew of King Arthur's (Sean Harris, 24 Hour Party People), who is never mentioned by name. Gawain is a sort of do-nothing 20-something medieval style, who after a life of hedonistic pursuits  embarks on a quest to confront a supernatural being called the Green Knight (Ralph Ineson, The Witch). TGK is an emerald, tree bark-skinned character who appears at King Arthur's court during Christmas revelry with the offer of a strange game, one in which one of Arthur's Knights of the Roundtable are challenged to land a blow upon him. If one succeeds, he will surrender his axe to them, but come the following year on Christmas that knight is fated to journey to the faraway Green Chapel, where the Green Knight will return the blow in kind. Gawain, suddenly possessed with the a need to prove his worthiness, volunteers to play along, borrowing the King's legendary Excalibur sword and chopping off the head of the Knight without a fight. However, the emerald knight does not die, he merely picks his head up off the floor, reminds Gawain of their agreement, and then rides off with a bit of laughter holding his head like The Headless Horseman. 

What ensues is Gawain's journey across the kingdom with intentions of honoring his covenant to the Green Knight in one years time. Along the way he must contend with a headless ghost (Erin Kellyman, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), wandering giants, ill-intentioned highwaymen (Barry Keoghan, The Killing of a Sacred Deer), a bewitching Lord (Joel Edgerton, The Thing) and Lady (Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina, who appears in a dual-role, also as Gawains lover Essel), and the near constant companionship of a mystical red fox who tags along. The journey sees Gawain come into his own as an honorable mans, defining define his character through good deeds and valiant acts, and stumbling a bit along the way. 

It's an engrossing slow-burn drenched in medieval lore and fantastical imagery, the world building and supernatural elements are terrific. I don't know what the budget was but they make it look like it cost a mint, thanks in no small part to the fantastic Irish locations, the cinematography of Andrew Drozz Palermo (You're Next), the gorgeous production designer Jade Healy (House of the Devil), and then aided and abetted by some terrific period costuming by Malgosia Turzanska (Stranger Things), visual effects by Eric Saindon (WETA), Nicholas Ashe Bateman and prosthetics creator Barrie Gower (Game of Thrones) -  who created the look of the Green Knight, which is one of the most interesting fantasy characters I've seen since Hellboy II: Legend of the Golden Army. On top of that you have an atmospheric score from composer Daniel Hart (TV's The Exorcist) that pulls you right into the middle of it all and further enhances the fantastical elements The world building happening here is magnificent, it's a total medieval fantasy fever dram that feels expansive, I would love to see more stories set in this world. 

 

Audio/Video: The Green Knight (2021) arrives on 4K UHD from Lionsgate in 2160p UHD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen with DolbyVision color-grading. The image looks fantastic, the fantastical medieval world bathed in glens and wafting shrouds of fog looks amazing in 4K UHD, the wider gamut of color gives it a boost over the accompanying Blu-ray, with deeper black levels that are layered and give a boost to depth and contrast. The 4K resolution also offers plenty of refined detail in textures and close-ups of facial hair with deep blacks that accentuate contrast and depth. Colors are restrained, it's a medieval fantasy film, so it's somewhat subdued by the green canvas of the forest, the cold blues and greys, and the yellow and green of Gawain's clothing have a nice depth of color.   

Audio comes by way of uncompressed Dolby Atmos track that offers a nice immersive experience with the sounds of forest adventures springing to life around you, plus that gorgeous score, and that raspy timber of the Green Knight's voice. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 is also quite good, and we get optional English subtitles are provided. 

Onto the extras we begin with a 35-minute Boldest of Blood and Wildest of Heart: Making The Green Knight that offers both plenty of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Director David Lowry, stars Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander and Joel Edgerton, plus Producers James M. Johnston and Toby Holbrooks, plus cinematographer Andrew Drozz Palermo, Production Designer Jade Healy, Costume Designer Malgosia Turzanska, and Composer Daniel Hart. Topics discussed are the original Arthurian story, the genesis of the project, casting, location scouting, the approach to storytelling and character, creating the effects,  the sets and locations, costuming and the score, It's a rather well-rounded making of mini-doc, much better than most contemporary  films get these days, so kudos to Lionsgate for the quality bonus content. .  

The 15-minute Practitioners of Magic: Visual Effects features interviews with Visual Effects Supervisors Eric Saindon (WETA) and Nicholas Ashe Bateman, who talk about Lowery's love of cinema and practical effects, creating The Green Knight, how certain scenes were achieved, the scene with the giants, digital matte paintings and layering in digital effects to create the immersive landscapes we see in the films. 

 The 8-minute Illuminating Technique: Title Design features Title Designer Teddy Blanks talking about the extensive research he did to come up with the typographic title designs seen throughout the film, exploring the various fonts, both used and unused in the final film. It's a pretty cool extra and in my opinion title design of often overlooked, so I love the nerdy in-depth featurette! The disc is buttoned up with a 2-minute trailer for the film, plus trailers for On The Rocks, Zola, and Minari. 

Special Features: 

- Boldest of Blood and Wildest of Heart: Making The Green Knight (35 min) 

- Practitioners of Magic: Visual Effects (15 min) 

- Illuminating Technique: Title Design (8 min) 

- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) 

- Trailers:  On The Rocks (2 min), Zola (2 min), Minari (2 min) 

 

If you're a fantasy adventure junkie with a minor in Arthurian lore The Green Knight is sure to scratch your medieval itch. A well-crafted tale bristling with tinges of the supernatural, definitely one of my favorite films this past year. It might not be horror but it is a hell of a fucking cool movie!

Screenshots from the Blu-ray: 

Extras: 

Full Moon to release MANSION OF THE DOOMED (1976) on Blu-ray and DVD for the FIRST TIME EVER fully uncut and remastered from the recently uncovered original 35mm negative!

MANSION OF THE DOOMED (1976) 

Serious horror and exploitation film fans have long loved Charles Band's 1976 psycho thriller MANSION OF THE DOOMED, citing it as one of the scariest films of its decade, a period which yielded so many landmark shockers (among them, Band's legendary TOURIST TRAP). But there's never really been a GOOD home video release of MANSION OF THE DOOMED, even from Full Moon, as the elements just weren't anywhere to be found.

Until now, that is.

Full Moon is super stoked to be prepping the Blu-ray and DVD premiere of most lurid and unsettling exploitation films of all time, presented now for the FIRST TIME EVER fully uncut and remastered from the recently uncovered original 35mm negative!

 

Richard Basehart (BEING THERE, TVs VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA) stars as the maniacal Dr. Leonard Chaney, a brilliant surgeon who compulsively kidnaps people and rips out their eyeball, dumping their bleeding bodies into a filthy basement cage. His master plan? To use these ill-gotten orbs and transplant them into the skull of his daughter, who herself was blinded in a tragic accident years before.

Taking its cues from Georges Franju's notorious 1960 French shocker EYES WITHOUT A FACE but careening off in wild, gruesome new directions, MANSION OF THE DOOMED (aka THE EYES OF DR. CHANEY and HOUSE OF BLOOD) is producer and Full Moon founder Band's first horror film (and is officially labelled as #1 in the Full Moon catalog) and also features an early co-starring role from future genre icon Lance Henriksen (ALIENS) as well as a memorable performance from Hollywood legend Gloria Grahame (OKLAHOMA!, BLOOD AND LACE) as Chaney's complicit nurse.

The Terror Trap says MANSION OF THE DOOMED is "a ghastly, underrated shocker. Exploitative and sick, but consistently powerful enough to sear its images onto your retina."

And trust us, your retinas have NEVER seen the movie look this good. Get ready to be wowed when MANSION OF THE DOOMED makes its triumphant return soon to Blu-ray and DVD!

BLITHE SPIRIT (2020) (IFC Films Blu-ray Review)

BLITHE SPIRIT (2020) 

Label: IFC Films
Region Code: A
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 99 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Edward Hall
Cast: Dan Stevens, Isla Fisher, Judi Dench, Leslie Mann, Emilia Fox, Julian Rhind-Tutt

Blithe Spirit (2020) Is a movie adaptation of the Noël Coward stage play from '41 which was previously adapted for film in '45 by David Lean. This new adaptation sticks true tot he source for the most part but goes slightly darker with an art-deco twist. In it best-selling crime novelist Charles (Dan Stevens TV's Legion) is suffering from a severe bought of writer’s block and is struggling to finish his first screenplay; an adaptation of one of his novels. His new wife Ruth (Isla Fisher, Wedding Crashers) does her best to keep him focused but suffers as well, as Charles sex-drive is seemingly blocked, too, and she cannot understand how it can be such a chore to adapt one's own novel. During a night out on the town Charles and Ruth attend a theater performance where they see eccentric mystic Madame Acarti (Judi Dench, Goldeneye) bomb at a live performance that exposes her as a fraud, which gives Charles a bit of inspiration. He then invites the down-on-her-luck medium to perform a séance in his home for himself, Ruth and friends Violet (Emilia Fox) and Dr. George (Julian Rhind-Tutt, Your Highness), hoping to use her as inspiration for his story. While Madame Acarti's séance appears to be a bust it turns out that she has managed to summon the spirit of the writer's first wife Elvira (Leslie Mann, This Is 40), who we learn was his writing muse, and quite a bit more. 

When she reveals herself to Charles it turns out that only Charles can see her, leading to some fun verbal snafus as he attempts to talk to her in mixed company, with observers assuming he is a loon. Mann as the spirited ex is ready to pick up right where she left off, much to the dismay of current wife Ruth, who already has been living in the shadow of her husband's long dead wife. Now Charles finds himself stuck between his wife and his dead wife as they each vie for his attentions, with Charles's sanity slipping away in the process. 

It's been quite a good long while since I saw the '45 adaptation but I do recall it being supremely witty and well-executed, and so to is this adaptation, up to a point. The cast are game for the witty repertoire, but the script struggles to maintain that level of wit consistently. That said, Dan Stevens as the writer caught between two wives is quite wonderful, and Isla Fisher as his well-meaning but suffering wife is sympathetic,  and Leslie Mann as the spirited ex with a darker side is a total spark plug. Then we have Dame Judi Dench having a blast as the medium Madam Arcati who more or less stumbles into an actual supernatural event, much to her own surprise. It's a top-notch cast that even if the script doesn't completely rise to the occasion the rock-solid premise of the original play is steadfast and the ensemble cast of thoroughly entertaining, if not the screwball classic the original adaptation was. 

The flick also has some fantastic period art-deco set design and costuming that brings the period film to life, each room is feast for the eyes and it's well shot by cinematographer 

Ed Wild (London Has Fallen) and the score from Simon Boswell (Santa Sangre) is terrific. 

Audio/Video: Blithe Spirit arrives on Blu-ray from IFC Films in 1080p HD framed in 2.39:1 widescreen with an abundance of vibrant colors and plenty of fine detail that showcases period costuming and dazzling period decor. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles that offers some nice atmospheric use of the surrounds, and we also get an audio descriptive track . 

Extras include a 7-minute featurette with  some behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew, plus a selection of IFC trailers. The single-disc release arrives in an eco-case with a non-reversible two sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original move poster on the a-side and a scene from the film on the reverse, plus we get a slipcover with the same artwork. 

Special Features: 

- Behind-the-Scenes Featurette (8 min) 

- Audio Descriptive Track 

- Trailer (2 min) 

Blithe Spirit is a fun topsy-turvy comedy, along the lines of something like High Spirits (1988) or Haunted Honeymoon (1986), a totally charming, imperfect bit of wonderment that is sure to please anyone looking for a haunted comedy, it's might be featherweight but it's also a super-easy comedic distraction.

Screenshots from the IFC Films Blu-ray: 

SON (2021) (Acorn Media International Blu-ray Review)

SON (2021)

Label: Acorn Media International 

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: Cert: 15
Duration: 98 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1) 

Director: Ivan Kavanagh

Cast: Andi Matichak, Emile Hirsch, Luke David Blumm, Cranston Johnson, Blaine Maye

From director Ivan Kavanagh (The Canal) comes the satanic cult thriller Son (2021) which opens with pregnant mum Laura (Andi Matichak, Halloween Kills) on the run and avoiding a pair of men who seem to be chasing her. Hard cit to eight years later and she seems to be doing well, she's a teacher and her son David (Luke David Blumm, The King of Staten Island) seems to be a healthy and well adjusted kid. However, things begin to unravel when she awakens one night to find strangers surrounding her son's bed. She calls the cops, Paul (Emil Hirsch, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys) and Steve (Cranston Johnson), but their investigation turns up no sign of anyone breaking into their home. We come to learn that when she was younger she had escaped a cult that was run by her father, and as she, and we the audience, begin to question her sanity we are treated to flashbacks to her time in the cult, which further cast doubt on her sanity. Her son David also becomes increasingly sick with a mysterious undiagnosed illness, and strangely the only cure - and a temporary one at that -  seems to be feasting on the flesh of human, and she being a loving mother is willing to do what she has got to do to keep him healthy. Son is not all that original, a cult thriller that juggles between 'she's nut' and 'oh yeah, it's satanic' with some cool gore, but it struggles to maintain it's own identity. I kept being reminded of better films of this ilk, and while it's not awful and is a pretty c-grade time waster, it's a bit too familiar and doesn't have it's own identity. I also was not a fan that the sound design is too geared towards cranking up the volume to illicit a jump. The region-free Blu-ray from Acorn Media offers a solid looking 1080p HD image with an uncompressed 5.1 audio track, plus a handful of extras including deleted scenes and cast and crew interviews. 

MONSTRUM (2018) (Acorn Media International Blu-ray review)

MONSTRUM (2018) 

Label: Acorn Media International 

Region Code:

Rating: Cert. 15 

Duration: 120 Minutes 

Audio: Korean and English-dubbed DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD widescreen (2.39:1)

Director: Huh Jong-Ho 

Cast: Hyeri Lee, In-kwon Kim, Myung-Min Kim, Woo-sik Choi

Monstrum (2018) is a terrific Shudder original creature-feature set in 16th Century South Korea where King Jungjong's (Hee-soon Park) reign is threatened by a plague sweeping through his kingdom, made worse by reports of a fearsome beast (monstrum) that is ravaging the countryside. The king believes these reports of the monster are untrue and are merely rumors spread by his political opponents. He recruits a former general, the exiled Yoon-gyeom (Myung-Min Kim), to hunt the monstrum, or at least expose it as a fraud. Yoon-gyeom is assisted by his reluctant brother Seong-han (In-kwon Kim) and his very capable adopted daughter Myeong (Hyeri Lee).  Monstrum is a gorgeous period film with plenty of palace intrigue, humor, political scheming and plenty of swashbuckling martial arts action, plus some killer Kajui-styled action featuring a beast that has grown to immense size after feasting on the corpses of plague ridden villagers! This one feels large in scope with fantastic sets and costuming, plus some solid digital effects to bring the fearsome monstrum to life. A solid gem of a creature-feature, if you're a fan of monster stuff along the lines of The Host and Brotherhood of the Wolf I think this is a flick worthy of a space on your movie shelf, highly recommended. The Blu-ray from Acorn Media is region-free, and while we get zero extras it's an attractive presentation, and includes the original Koran audio in addition to an English dub for those adverse to reading subtitles. 

THE VIGIL (2021) (IFC Midnight Blu-ray Review)

 

THE VIGIL (2021)

Label: IFC Midnight

Region Code: A

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 89 Minutes

Audio: English with Yiddish DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)

Director: Keith Thomas

Cast: Dave Davis, Menashe Lustig, Ronald Cohen, Lynn Cohen

Jewish religious horror The Vigil (2021) is a spooky creep-fest that dabbles in ancient Jewish lore with elements of demonology and supernatural chills, set in Brooklyn’s Borough Park where we find an out-of-work young man named Yakov (Dave Davis, Logan). He's an out-of-practice Orthodox Jew who has lost his faith, whom reluctantly accepts an offer from his former rabbi (Menashe Lustig), who throws some cash his way, to be an overnight shomer - which is the Jewish practice of watching and praying over the body of a deceased community member.  While stayomg the night at the home of the deceased, a Mr. Litvak's (Ronald Cohen), Yakov must contend with the his widow (Lynn Cohen) who is suffering from the effects of dementia. As the night wears on Yakov experiences 

creepy occurrences which at first manifests as flickering lights and then onto receiving weird videos of himself sleeping in the house, then onto watching super-8 home video's of the deceased and his wife, explaining that Mr. Litvak has been haunted by a Mazzik, a malevolent spirit along the lines of a Dybbuk that bonds to people who are wounded or broken in spirit. With Litvak's passing it seems the malevolent spirit is now looking for a new host, and Yakov, having suffered a loss that shook his faith, looks like a good candidate. Super-creepy, well-shot and tense from start to finish this is a gem of haunter with an somewhat ambiguous ending that's not so ambiguous but also doesn't button things up too tight, which I loved. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork and no extras, but sadly the only extras are a trailer and an audio-descriptive track. A solid feature film debut from director Keith Thomas, looking forward to his next film, a new adaptation of Stephen King's Firestarter.