Blu-ray Review: A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL (1967)

A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL (1967)  
2-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray/DVD

Label: Blue Underground 
Region Code: ALL
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: U.S.: 115 Mins. / International: 118 Mins.
Audio: English and Italian DTS-HD Mono
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, English for Italian Version
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Damiano Damiani (How to Kill a Judge, Amityville II)
Cast: Gian Maria Volonte, Klaus Kinski, Martine Beswick, Lou Castel

Synopsis: At the height of the Mexican revolution, a mysterious young American (Lou Castel of FIST IN HIS POCKET) joins a gang of marauders led by El Chucho (Gian Maria Volonte of A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS) on a series of savage raids to steal guns for a powerful rebel general. But when the Gringo brings his own cold-blooded ideals to the bandits, El Chucho discovers that the real weapons of war belong to no army. In a land ravaged by poverty and violence, can true freedom be bought with a single bullet?


The Film: In director Damiano Damiani's "zapato" spaghetti western A Bullet for the General (1966) encounter a revolutionary bandit named El Chuncho (Gia Maria Volonte, A Fistful of Dollars) during the Mexican Revolution and his group of banditos as they stop rob a military cargo train. Ingeniously they stop the train by crucifying a soldier in the middle of the train tracks, it's quite a sight.  After rather easily eliminating the government soldiers on the train El Chucho encounters a well-dressed American named Bill Tate (Lou Castel, Fists in the Pocket) whom earns the nickname "Nino" for his boyish looks. After he earns the trust of El Chuncho  Nino joins the revolutionary bandits. Chuncho and his bandits blaze a path through Mexico exchanging gunfire with the government forces and raiding military compounds collecting weaponry, including a new machine gun, to aide General Elias's revolutionary forces. El Chuncho is not truly a supporter of the revolution and seems motivated mostly by the notoriety of his conquests and the lucrative spoils of war. However, when it is revealed that Nino may be in fact a counter-revolutionary assassin El Chucho's loyalties are put to the ultimate test.

I think the film goes a bit long but I was sucked right in from the start. It's a sweaty film, it feels dirty and sun-bleached with great shoot-outs and arid desert landscapes, you really feel the enviorment. Volonte as the cigar-chompin' El Chuncho is a great villain... or is he? Definitely a film that tests your loyalties, he's someone profiting from the spoils of war -  chewing up the scenery in every shot in the best possible way. Lou Castel as Nino is a pretty cold character, baby-faced and steely-eyed, always with an air of mystery. After these two amazing performances we have an all too brief appearance by the madman himself Kalus Kinski (Aguirre, the Wrath of God) as El Chuncho's brother El Santo , a holy-bandit praying for his enemies fallen in battle, it's an odd role even for the notorious Kinski, I wanted more from this character and my main beef with the film would be just that. Special mention should also be made of the gorgeous brunette sexpot Martine Beswick (Thunderball) whom appears as Adelita, the lone woman among El Chuncho's gang, a supremely alluring beauty and the cause of some friction among Nino and Chuncho.


The film in my opinion is not as violent as Sergio Corbucci's Django (1966) or as twisted as Giulio Questi's Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1966) but there's definitely no shortage of spaghetti western carnage onscreen here right from the start, the assault on the train is fantastic. The film has a great pedigree too, it was penned by Oscar-nominee Franco Solinas (The Battle of Algiers) and features a great score from Luis Bacalov (Django) and Ennio Morricone (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) and looks fantastic with lensing from Antonio Secchi (The Hills Run Red) so we're in good hands here from the ground up except for maybe the director whom went onto direct Amityville II: The Possession but credit where credit is do this is a great film. 

Blu-ray: Blue Underground's region-FREE Blu-ray release features both the U.S. 
(115 mins) and International Version (118 mins) of the film presented in 16:9 enhanced widescreen (2.35:1) in wonderful 1080p HD. The transfer is sourced from a gorgeous print and there's a fine layer of film grain. The colors are vibrant, flesh tones are accurate and the black levels are strong. The image is crisp and while some scenes seem to have received an aggressive dose of digital noise reduction but overall I have no other complaints, a very pleasant image. The Italian and English-dubbed DTS-HD Mono options both sounds very good with crisp dialogue, piercing gunshots and score.


Special Features:
- A Bullet for the Director - Interview with Director Damiano Damiani (5:01)
- U.S. Trailer (1:52) 16:9
- International Trailer (4:29) 16:9
- Poster and Still Gallery
- Bonus DVD - Gian Maria Volonte: Un Attore Contro (112 Mins.)


Verdict: In years past Blue Underground were synonymous in my mind at least with horror and exploitation cinema and not much else, so it's rather nice to expand my adventures into Spaghetti Westerns with their release of Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! and A Bullet for the General. This is a riveting watch and comes recommended not just for fans of the spaghetti westerns but of all westerns, it's right up here with A Fistful of Dynamite and The Wild Bunch. 4 Outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: DJANGO KILL... IF YOU LIVE, SHOOT! (1967)

DJANGO KILL... IF YOU LIVE, SHOOT! (1967) 

Label: Blue Underground 
Region Code: ALL
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 117 Mins
Audio: English, Italian DTS-HD Mono
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, English for Italian Version
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (2.40:1) 
Director: Giulio Questi (Death Laid an Egg)
Cast: Tomas Milian (Traffic, Run Man Run), Ray Lovelock (Let Sleeping Corpses Lie)
 

Synopsis: Tomas Milian (Run Man Run) stars as a half-breed bandit double-crossed and left for dead who rises from the grave to seek his revenge. But when his quest leads to a bizarre town called 'The Unhappy Place,' he is plunged into an odyssey of gruesome torture, graphic violence and relentless sexual depravity. This is the landmark movie that fans and critics still consider to be the strangest - and most controversial - 'Spaghetti Western' ever made. This is DJANGO KILL!


The Film: The Stranger (Thomas Milan) is a half-breed Mexican bandit double-crossed by  Oaks (Pierro Lulli)  following a lucrative Wells Fargo gold heist. He and the other Mexican bandits are executed and left for dead. Sometime later The Stranger is resurrected by two native American medicine men whom set him on a path of vengeance armed with newly crafted golden bullets, just one of many weird and awesome events evidenced in this bizarre and brutal spaghetti western.

His quest for vengeance  leads him to a small and unsettling town known as The Unhappy Place.  Here he must face off against not just Oaks' gang of bandits but a greed-obsessed saloon proprietor, a weird priest and a very strange gang of gay (read: homosexual) caballeros lead by a man called Sorrow (Robert Camardiel). A very young Ray Lovelock (Live Like a man, Die Like a Cop) also makes a memorable appearance as the son of the saloon owner who bares a possibly sexually repressed resentment towards his mother and her sexy lingerie, it's pretty bizarre and only gets weirder when he winds up a victim of Sorrow's gang and their particular proclivities leading to a tragedy.


The film is also mighty violent - even by spaghetti western standards - the first of The Stranger's victims Oaks lays dying on a Saloon table riddled with bullets. As his wounds are tended to it is discovered the bullets are made of gold. Well, any concern for his well-being is thrown out the window right there and then and he is literally torn apart as hands are plunged into his wounds to get at the remaining bullets as he writhes in exquisite pain. A later scalping scene is especially bloody and cringe-worthy, not to mention the death of children and someone roasted to death on a spit over a fire. 


There's no shortage of What-the-Fuck moments on display here from the gritty violence on thru to the perversion, torture and pain- it's a thing of strange beauty including a fantastic fiery finale with someone taking a blast of  molten-gold to to the face.


Milan is a total understated bad-ass as The Stranger whom admirably carries on the tradition of The Man With No Name having been resurrected from the grave. I love this film, there's a lot of re-watch value here, a high recommend.  

Blu-ray: The transfer here is par for the course with what I've see from Blue Underground of late, we get some nice film grain with very nice fine detail, it's a crisp image with no evidence of overly aggressive digital noise reduction. While the transfer created from the original Italian negative is quite good the source material does seem uneven at times going from wonderfully crisp to a soft from time to time but this is no fault to the transfer. The film is presented in it's original aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and it's a stunning watch. 


Audio options include both English and Italian DTS-HD mono with optional English SDH, Italian, French and separate English subtitles for the Italian version. To my ears the English audio bests the Italian but there are dropouts on the English dub stemming from the fact that certain scenes included here were cut from the shorter American version of the film. It should be noted that the Blu-ray is REGION-FREE too.


Special features include a twenty minute featurette ported from the 2004 DVD edition with interviews  from director Giulio Questi and stars Tomas Milan and Ray Lovelock. There's also a theatrical trailer and a poster and stills gallery, the features are not extensive by any means but the interviews are quite interesting and the trailer's pretty bad-ass.


Special Features:
- Django, Tell! - Interviews with Co-Writer/Director Guilio Questi, Stars Tomas Milian and Ray Lovelock (20:37) 16:9
- Theatrical Trailer (2:26) 16:9 1080p
- Poster and Still Gallery


Verdict: Giulio Questi's Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! is most definitely not on par with the Sergio Leone iconic spaghetti westerns but is definitely a blast of perverse and gritty western action laying somewhere between Alejandro Jodorowski's mind-bending El Topo and Sergio Corbucci's brutal  Django. A gritty and slightly surreal spaghetti western revenger that offers up more than a handful of things you won't be expecting even by today's standards it's pretty shocking stuff, a spaghetti western that will definitely appeal to the exploitation enthusiasts and another home-run for Blue Underground.  4 outta 5 

DVD Review: OFFICE KILLER (1997)

OFFICE KILLER (1997) 

Label: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment

Region: 1 NTSC

Rating: R

Duration: 83 Mins

Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (No Subtitles) 

Video: 16:9 Widescreen

Director:  Cindy Sherman

Cast: Carol Kane, Molly Ringwald, Jeanne Tripplehorn

Tagline: Working Here Can Be Murder


Synopsis: Dorine (Kane) is a quiet and diligent social outcast who has endured years of abuse as the office doormat. When the magazine she works for takes a dive, Dorine hangs on through the downsizing and drastic changes. But one night, the mild-mannered paper-pusher accidentally electrocutes an obnoxious co-worker, and in the process, completely short-circuits her sanity. From that moment on, Dorine believes that anyone can be her best friend…once they're dead.


This was a film I caught on IFC some years ago no doubt drawn in by the appearance of my one true 80's crush - Molly Ringwald - whom one could quite easily argue I spanked it too on way too many occasions in my adolescence - total crush - it's embarrassing.


In the indie slasher Office Killer (1997) we're introduced to the staff at the Constant Consumer magazine. A small time publisher suffering through a period of budget cuts and restructuring - you know - corporate downsizing. This was 1997 so these poor bastards aren't even aware of just how bad things would become for print media in the very near future. Dorine (Carol Kane, When a Stranger Calls) is a mousy proof reader on staff who gets demoted to working part-time from home at the start of the film. She's a tightly wound bundle of nerves, one of those wallflowers that's a bit too quiet. She lives at home with her invalid mother Carlotta (Alice Drummond, the librarian from Ghostbusters!) and her cats. I first suspected  there might be more to her than just being awkward during an early scene when a cats brings to her a dead mouse and she throws it down the garage disposal, that's just disgusting, normal folks just don't do that.


Also on staff at the magazine are ax-woman Norah (Jeanne Tripplehorn, TV's Big Love), the bitchy Kim (Molly Ringwald, Breakfast Club), the chain-smoking asthmatic Virginia (Barbara Sukowa, M Butterfly), tech-guy Daniel (Michael Imperioli, TV's The Sopranos) and douche-nozzle staff writer Garry (David Thornton, TV's Law and Order).


Just after getting the news she's been demoted Dorine finds herself working late in the office when the womanizing douchebag Gary calls her into the office to fix his computer but he is accidentally electrocuted when Dorine resets the tripped circuit breakers while he's messing with some wiring. At first Dorine attempts to do the right thing by calling 911 but instead chooses to take him home where she props him up on a couch in the basement. This accidental death spurs Dorine to set off on a bloody office murder spree taking out her co-workers one at a time all the while sending emails from her new laptop at home that would seem to indicate odd but somewhat logical reasons why the staff are dissappearing. Amidst these killings we're treated to flashbacks from Dorine's childhood and a strange relationship with her father (Eric Bogosian, Talk Radio) which give us insight into her quirks and murderous impulses.


As the body count climbs Dorine's basement quickly nears capacity with cadavers, the spree is not limited to co-workers either and the bodycount includes two young  girlscouts whom show up on her doorstep one day selling cookies. Dorine spends her time amidst the decomposing bodies talking to her new found friends while her cats eat at them, she tends ttheir feline woulds with packing tape and Windex. The only one to suspect Dorine is a psychotic killer is the pushy Kim (Ringwald) but her warnings fall on deaf ears and to the detriment of the non-believers. 

The film has a decent body count but it is most certainly not a blood bath in anyway, it's pretty tame in the gore department. What we do get an electrocution, poisoning, a throat slashed with a cuisinart blade, attempted stranglation, a tire iron to the skull, stabbings and several offscreen deaths of undetermined nature.


Verdict: This film is an odd, quirky late-90's indie slasher that's pretty entertaining. 1997 was not a great year for memorable horror films - we had Uncle Sam, Mimic, Event Horizon and an obscure little film Bleeders - that's really about it and I would be quite pleased to hear this film mentioned a bit more when 90's horror is talked about. Sure, it's not gonna make anyone's top 10 list but it is an entertaining office slasher that deserves a space on your shelf somewhere between Office Space and Corporate Cutthroat Massacre, fun stuff. 2.5 Outta 5 

HALLOWEEN 4 and HALLOWEEN 5 on Blu-ray August 28th from Anchor Bay

On August 21st Anchor Bay Entertainment revamps two of the most iconic horror films to ever grace the big screen with Halloween 4 (1988) and Halloween 5 (1989).  The films are coming to Blu-ray with all brand-new hi-def transfers and over an hour of both archival and newly created bonus features! This is great news for slasher fans whom can also look forward to Collector Edition Blu-rays of Halloween 2 (1981) and Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) on September 18th from Scream Factory. The Anchor Bay discs are loaded with some very cool newly created bonus content including new audio commentaries and deleted scenes.

HALLOWEEN 4 (1988)  Blu-ray 

Label: Anchor BayEntertainment

Release Date: August 21st, 2012

Rating: R

Duration: 88 Mins

Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 with English, Spanish Subtitles 

Director: Dwight H. Little 

He had maimed 16 people to get to his sister.  He was shot and incinerated, but still the entity that Dr. Sam Loomis (the legendary Donald Pleasence) calls “Evil on two legs” would not die. Tonight, Michael Myers has come home again…to kill! This time, Michael returns to Haddonfield for Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris, Halloween 5, The Last Boy Scout) – the orphaned daughter of Laurie Strode – and her babysitter Rachel (Ellie Cornell, Halloween 5, House of the Dead). Can Loomis stop Michael before the unholy slaughter reaches his innocent young niece?

Bonus Features: 

- Deleted and Alternate Scenes (30 minutes of NEW scenes!)

- Audio Commentary with Director Dwight H. Little and Author Justin Beahm(NEW)

- Audio Commentary with Actors Ellie Cornell and Danielle Harris

- Halloween 4/5 Discussion Panel

- Theatrical Trailer

HALLOWEEN 5 (1989) Blu-ray 

Label: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Release Date: August 21, 2012

Rating: R

Duration: 98 Mins

Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 with English, Spanish Subtitles

Director: Dominique Othenin-Girard

Michael Myers survived the mine explosion thought to have killed him. One year later, his traumatized young niece Jamie is horrified to discover she has a telepathic bond with her evil Uncle…and that Uncle Michael is on his way back to Haddonfield. But Dr. Loomis has a new plan to destroy The Boogey Man in his childhood home using Jamie as bait.  With enhanced gore and effects, vengeance has never looked so gruesome!

Bonus Features: 

- Audio Commentary with Director Dominique Othenin-Girard and actors Danielle Harris and Jeffrey Landman

- Audio Commentary with Actor Don Shanks and Author Justin Beahm (NEW)

- Halloween 5: Orginal Promo (NEW) 

- Halloween 5: On the Set Footage (NEW - 17 mins. of raw footage)
- Theatrical Trailer

DVD Review: COUNTESS PERVERSE (1973)

COUNTESS PERVERSE (1973)

Original Director's Cut DVD 

Label: Mondo Macabro
Region: ALL NTSC 

Duration: 78 min.

Rating: Unrated

Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono French with English Subtitles

Video: Fullscreen (1.33:1)

Director: Jess Franco

Cast: Alice Arno, Howard Vernon Kali Hansa, Lina Romay, Tania Busselier, Robert Woods 

Synopsis: In the Countess Perverse aka La Comtesse Perverse (1973) a pair of decadent and debauched aristocrats turns their private island into a human hunting ground where they can stalk their naked prey. As each victim is murdered, their carcass is then cooked and fed to their guests; simply delicious! What the unsuspecting visitors don't realize is that they will soon become the next evening’s “meal, “ eventually fighting for their lives in a shocking and flesh-baring cat-and-mouse game.

The ever-prolific Jesus Franco is a true master of Euro-sleaze cinema with a stunning filmography that's 200+ strong. Franco is someone whom I honestly cannot say I've seen a ton from but of what I have seen it's been a love it or loathe it experience. A title that I am particularly fond of is the erotic-revenger  She Killed in Ecstasy (1971) starring the stunning 70's sexpot Soledad Miranda (Vampyros Lesbos) which I just cannot recommend enough for Euro-cult enthusiasts. It's problematic for me that it was my first entry into the Cult of Franco because I  think it set the bar rather high for a director who's rather hit and/or miss for me. 

This erotic take on the pre-code classic The Most Dangerous Game (1933) begins with a couple discovering a naked and unconscious woman on the beach. They take her back to their home where the gorgeous red-haired beauty named Kali (The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff) spins a delirious tale of  traveling to the island of Count (Howard Vernon, Seven Women for Satan) and Countess Zaroff (Alice Arno, Justine De Sade) in search of her missing twin sister. We get a an odd flashback as she is transported to the eerie island on top of which sits a fantastic home, it's a bizarre construct. It seemed so familiar to me and then it dawned on me that I had previously seen it in Franco's She Killed in Ecstasy. Unfortunately the couple whom found her washed-up  on the beach, Bob (Robert Woods, Lady Lucifera) and his wife Moira (Tania Busselier, Ilsa the Wicked Warden), are in league with the Zaroff's and procure young beauties for their diabolical games.

Bob and Moira are a swinging couple whom befriend young ladies, seduce them and  take them to the island of the bizarre Count and Countess Zaroff whom treat their guests to a succulent meal then tag-team rape them and then stalk their naked prey before eating them and serving them to the next guests. It's a delirious and fever-pitched slice of cinema that doesn't always make sense but never fear because Franco is a master of his craft and before your brain can properly launch a protest your mind and libido are assaulted by a feast of nubile flesh. Franco may have his shortcomings as a filmmaker but his eye for exotic locations and stunning naked women are never in doubt.  The true find for me here was the super-hot Silvia (Lina Romay, Female Vampire) as a Spanish tourist whom befriends Bob and Moira and ends up in their bed and inevitably on the island where she is seduced by the Countess only to later discover the duo in the process of beheading poor Kali. Silvia faints at the sight and awakens to find she has become prey for Countess Zaroff in the film's finale. The site of a nude Alice Arno stalking Lina Romay over the island with a bow and a quiver full of arrows is quite a sight and not one you'll soon want to forget but the final scene  featuring Robert Woods decked out in a rhinestone studded denim jacket and bell bottomed jeans wading into the ocean carrying the lifeless body of his beloved is a bit too dramatic and early 70's for me, totally laughed my ass off. There's some 70's cheese here but the cinematography and locations are quite striking as are the women. The story is pretty threadbare but it's entertaining and perverse with deviant elements that should delight any Euro-sleaze enthusiast.  

DVD: Mondo Macabro's presentation of Jesus Franco's erotic-thriller Countess Perverse (1973) is presented in it's original 4:3 aspect ratio and not 16:9 as the DVD jacket would indicate. That said the transfer is sourced from a newly restored camera negative and is pretty fantastic with vibrant color and nice clarity and sharpness that's free of debris, artifact and blemishes. The French language Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio is clean and the post-dubbed dialogue and film score sound great, especially loved the sweet fuzzed-out guitar score alternated with some less than stellar organ-mashing. 

We get a video interview with actor Robert Woods whom discusses the uneasy transition from westerns into Countess Perverse and  there's some discussion of the  other six films he went onto do with Franco. He speaks about the genius of the director and his less than enthusiastic opinions of the alternate XXX versions of the film. The second interview comes from author Stephen Thrower whom speaks about the film's origins as a take on The Most Dangerous Game (1933) with some Marquis De Sade elements, good stuff. 

We also get a 10 pg. text essay entitled "About the Film" which is pretty informative with plus we get "Cast and Crew Profiles" of Robert Woods, Alice Arno, Tania Busselier, Howard Vernon and Lisa Romay. There's a nice Mondo Macabro video preview of a ton of Mondo Macabro titles. I haven't seen a ton of MM's stuff and this got me excited to check out a few more really soon. The films on the preview reel are Snake Sisters, The Queen of Black Magic, Silip - Daughters of Eve, Mystics in Bali, The Blood Rose, Snake Dancer, The Devil's Sword, Lifespan, Don't Deliver Us from Evil, Satan's Blood, Virgins from Hell, For Your Height Only, French Sex Murders, The Deathless Devil, Living Doll, Satanico Pandemonium, Panic Beats, Clonus, The Killer Must Kill Again, The Mansion of Madness, Alucarda, The Diabolical Dr. Z, Aswang, The Living Corpse, Blood of the Virgins, Seven Women for Satan, Lady Terminator, Crazy Love, Mill of the Stone Women, Dangerous Seductress and More!

Special Features:

- Brand New Transfer from Original Negative 

- Cast and Crew Profiles of Robert Woods, Alice Arno, Tania Busselier, Howard Vernon and Lisa Romay

- Interview with actor Robert Woods (15:56) 

- Introduction by film critic Stephen Thrower (16:03) 

- Exclusive Profile of director Jess Franco 

- Mondo Macabro Previews (7:43) 

 http://www.mondomacabrodvd.com/

Verdict: I was completely turned-on by Countess Perverse, it's an erotic and twisted take on The Most Dangerous Game with all the sex and perversion one has come to expect from a Franco film with a nice side of rape, cruelty and cannibalism thrown in. After the erotic-revenger She Killed In Ecstasy (1971) this is my favorite Jess Franco feature so far, definitely puts me in the mood to further explore the filmmakers prolific early 70's filmography. In 1973 alone Franco completed nearly a dozen films, truly a mad genius.  

3.5 Outta 5 

DVD Review: THE COLLAPSED (2011)

THE COLLAPSED (2011) DVD

Label: Anchor Bay Entertainment 
Region: 1 NTSC
Duration: 82 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1; Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with English Subtitles
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Justin McConnell
Cast: John Fantasia, Anna Ross


After a slightly ambiguous world-ending event a family of four find themselves scouring the countryside for supplies which brings them to an abandoned gas station where they hope to collect gasoline and snacks. While there the father spots a group of heavily armed men entering the building and the family abandon their vehicle and make the forested wilderness where they encounter other survivors of the apocalypse whom may or may not be cannibals and something otherworldly that's all together more sinister.

I do love a well-crafted apocalypse film, one I can throw myself into and think what would I do in that situation and what are these guys on-screen doing wrong that I could do better. That's something that I think I first encountered with George a. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978) when I was eight years old  thinking what the Hell would I do and how awesome would it be to be holed-up in a frigging mall of all places. When I was eight that was appealing but now thirty years later when I step foot in a mall it feel like a soul-sucking apocalypse but for different reasons, now I loathe the mall.


Justin McConnell's film The Collapsed (2011) offers up some decent suspense and mystery for it's duration, it moves along a t a pretty good pace and there's a supernatural element to it that reminded me a bit of Gregg Holtgrewe's Dawning (2009), it gave the film a nice sense of paranoia and dread that amped up the finale. 

The acting in the film is pretty decent, maybe a bit short of great but definitely serviceable. These people are in a desperate and dire situation compounded by personal feelings. These are family members under a lot of stress, the tension is palpable and to that end it's pretty successful and pulls you in with some nice character moments. Now one of my main issues  are some suspect motivations that left me scratching my head wondering just what a few characters were thinking, but for the most part this was a very decent watch and nothing was so odd that it withdrew me from the film.

Special Features: 

- Feature length behind-the-scenes documentary "Apocalypse On A Budget: The Making of The Collapse"
- Two audio commentaries: director/writer/producer Justin McConnell and co-story/co-producer Kevin

Hutchinson; lead actor John Fantasia;
- Music Video: Rob Kleiner's "Devil In Disguise"
- Trailers
- Photo Gallery
- Original Score Jukebox and MP3 Album Download
- Original Screenplay
- Easter Eggs



Verdict: Not a perfect film but a thoroughly enjoyable watch and a well crafted apocalyptic indie-thriller with some sweet nail-biting moments. A definite rental at the very least and a probably a buy for the apocalyptic nuts out there. Good Stuff.  3.5/5 

Blu-ray Review: Mother's Day

MOTHER'S DAY (2010)

Label: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 112 mins
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (2:40:1)
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Cast: Shawn Ashmore, Lyriq Bent, Patrick John Flueger, Frank Grillo, Jaime King, Warren Kole, Lisa Marcos, Kandyse McClure, Rebecca De Mornay, Tony Nappo, Matt O'Leary, Deborah Ann Woll Darren Lynn Bousman's remake of the Charles Kaufman's Troma classic Mother's Day (1980) makes it's way to Blu-ray after languishing for some time on a shelf having been deprived of a theatrical release. I should mention that I watched this without the benefit of having seen the Troma exploitation original but hopefully we'll be seeing a Blu-ray of that feature in the very near future, it having been delayed numerous times not unlike the remake. Beth (Jamie King) and Daniel Sohapi (Frank Grillo) are young couple just having moved into a new home following a family tragedy. The night they host a birthday party attended by several friends the party is crashed by the Koffin Brothers, a trio of sadistic bank robbers. We have Izaac (Patrick John Flueger), Addley (Warren Cole) and the youngest of the bunch Johnny (Matt O'Leary) who suffers a  nasty gunshot to the chest after a double-cross during the robbery. The trio arrive at the house under the assumption that the home belongs to their mother, not realizing it was recently foreclosed on and is now home to the young couple. Taken by surprise the party goers are forced to remain in the basement at gunpoint while one of the guests, a doctor (Shawn Ashmore) tends as best he can to the gravely injured Johnny. It's not long before mommy dearest (the awesome Rebecca De Mornay) and daughter Lydia, the gorgeous ginger-haired Deborah Ann Woll of HBO's True Blood, arrive on the scene and mom takes over. De Mornay as the steely-eyed patriarch is quite the chilling character; a strict punishment minded momma who is the scary embodiment of every quietly seething mother who's ever uttered the phrase "come here, I just wanna talk, I'm not gonna hurt you" right before she snags you by the ear and whips the snot outta ya. Only De Mornay's momma is more likely to have one of her sadistic sons poor liquor on your head and set it on fire rather than grabbing a handful of earlobe, she's a scary intense piece of work. We haven't seen the actress this scary since the thriller The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and even still that's nowhere near what we have here. There's quite a few torturous moments on display here, it's a real nail-biter. Not a splatterfest by any means but there's definitely some decent moments of gore including a couple of sweet shotgun blast to the skull. It's disturbing stuff as the twisted family pit the party guests against each other taking delight in their misery. There's a matter of missing money that fuels the horrific events throughout the film and I think it's mighty successful.I don't count myself as a fan of the few Darren Lynn Bouseman films I've seen including Saw II and Repo! The Genetic Opera but this I truly love. It's a sickening nailbiter that's pretty twisted and it's a damn shame it didn't get a wide theatrical run.  4 outta 5