The recent purge of movies and TV shows off major streaming services jolted people from the delusion that their favorites will always be available. For years the belief has been that home video is unnecessary since you can always find what you want on the major streamers. Why clutter up your family room shelves with DVD and Blu-ray boxes? Then over the last year, the major services decided that they really don’t need to carry that many series and movies. You might have noticed when you went searching and only got the “Similar to your search” selections. Even worse is people who “buy” digital copies of the show or movie. Recently PlayStation let users know that the shows they bought from Discovery will no longer exist in the new year. The fine print when you agreed states that you don’t own the digital version no matter how much you paid for it. You merely bought access that can come to an end. If you had the TV series or movie on DVD, Blu-ray or 4K UHD, you would still have it.
They are still putting out movies and TV shows on physical media. Many of them come with a large amount of bonus features so you can bond even deeper with your favorites and truly get to appreciate ones that are new to you. They celebrate the film or TV show.
Let this be a Physical Media Christmas! We’ve already put out a list of Asian films that came out on shiny discs in 2023. Here’s a list of the movies and TV show I reviewed over the last year that would make great gifts for friends and definitely yourself:
TV Series
Sesame Street: Elmo’s Holiday Spectacular: The Nutcracker and Other Tales (Shout! Studios) is perfect for the kids on your list. Along with the brand new special The Nutcracker: Starring Elmo & Tango you get two older holiday treats. Elmo’s Christmas Countdown that has Ben Stiller as an elf needing Elmo’s help. The true joy of this is watching two Sopranos cast members performing as Ernie and Bert. Elmo Saves Christmas brings Maya Angelou to the Street. The human cast from the ’90s appear including Bob (Bob McGrath), Luis (Emilio Delgado), Maria (Sonia Manzano), Gordon (Roscoe Orman), Carlo (Carlo Alban) and Mr. Handford (David Smyrl). It’s perfect viewing for older and younger fans of the iconic show.
Alf: The Complete Series – Deluxe Edition (Shout! Studios) gives all the joy that was ALF at the end of the ’80s. Rewatching episodes, the sitcom was a bit more pointy than I remembered. ALF lasted four seasons from the Fall of 1986 to the Spring of 1990. Unlike a lot of shows of that time, the series has a beginning and somewhat of an ending. “A.L.F.” launches the sitcom by introducing us to the happy Tanner family. Father Willie (Buffalo Bill‘s Max Wright), mother Kate (Three’s Company‘s Anne Schedeen), daughter Lynn (Whiz Kids‘ Andrea Elson) and son Brian (Punky Brewster‘s Benji Gregory) live in the San Fernando Valley with a converted garage that is used for a HAM radio set up. One night they begin talking with a stranger which leads to an unexpected guest. An alien’s spaceship has crashed into the roof. Willie names the creature A.L.F. for Alien Life Form. He realizes that they have to keep their new friend a bit of a secret. He fears a visit from the military’s Alien Task Force. Willie does his best to keep his nosey neighbors Trevor and Raquel Ochmonek (John La Motta and Seinfeld‘s Liz Sheridan) from peeping through the windows. ALF isn’t great at keeping a low profile. The Boxset includes both of ALF’s Saturday Morning cartoons and the TV movie that showed what happened to ALF after the final regular season episode. There are three different boxsets offered by Shout! Studios that can include a record or lunchbox.
Cheers The Complete Series (Paramount) brings the iconic sitcom to Blu-ray. You can see all the stuff Sam Malone (Ted Danson) hung around on the bar walls. Getting to see Cheers on Blu-ray really does bring me back to a familiar place that had gone fuzzy in my memories. You’ll see how Cliff keeps his postal uniform sharp and the identify the Redsox player photos on the wall. The show still packs a lot of comedy into the small bar.
Bonanza: The Official Complete Series (Paramount) has all see all 14 seasons and 432 episodes on 112 DVDs. The show revolved around Ben Cartwright (Battlestar Galactica‘s Lorne Greene) and his massive ranch in the Reno, Nevada area. For all his good fortune, Ben had really bad luck with wives. He lost three wives of different backgrounds that dropped dead after giving birth to a son each. Adam (Trapper John M.D.‘s Pernell Roberts), Hoss (Lady In the Cement‘s Dan Blocker) and Little Joe (Little House on the Prairie‘s Michael Landon) are three different kinds of guys although they do share their father’s feeling of doing the right thing for their neighbors. Taking care of all four of them is Hop Sing (Charlie Chan in Reno‘s Victor Sen Yung).
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Season One) (Paramount) gives Captain Pike his own series after appearing during the second season of Star Trek: Discovery. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that takes place a decade before the original Star Trek.
Animation
Spirited Away – Live On Stage (Shout! Studios – GKIDS) brings the Oscar winning animated film by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli to a live performance. Because they have more performances a week in Japan than Broadway, the producers and director Caird decided to not burn out the cast from doing 10 or more performances a week. The play takes three hours (counting intermission). He hired an entire second cast that performed half the shows during the run in Japan. The Blu-ray contains both performances on separate discs. Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi play Chihiro. No matter which version you watch first, both actresses are wonderful as the lead. This is a huge production that pulls out so many tricks including a video screen, flamboyant costumes and elaborate moving sets. There’s a lot of puppetry on stage. Instead of hiding the puppeteers, they wear brown outfits and work their creations in plain sight.
Inu-Oh (Shout! Studios – GKIDS) is a film that you can get lost inside with the huge soundtrack and delicate drawings. The animation draws you into what look like ancient artwork and then transform the moment. Tomona becomes a heavy metal messiah when he gets deep into his songs. The animators capture the crowd going wild for his music. The old ways ripple into the modern world. Director Masaaki Yuasa and his crew have the supernatural swirl around with the music. The film is exquisite as it shows the two characters that have been screwed up by forces beyond their control coming together as a creative force. The ending shows how both react to a situation that is within their control when they’re told to stop performing by the powerful force of the Shogun. GKIDS and Shout! Studios have also released a boxset Masaaki Yuasa: Five Films on Blu-ray containing MIND GAME (2004), The Night is Short, Walk On Girl (2017), Lu Over The Wall (2017), Ride Your Wave (2019), INU-OH (2021) and a bonus disc with his amazing pro wrestling short cartoon.
Goodbye, Don Glees! (Shout! Studios – GKIDS) is a captivating and touching story about a big summer adventure for a trio of teenagers. The kids end up buying a drone so they can film the massive fireworks display from the middle of the bursts. Turns out using a drone this way is illegal, but they want to do it. They also buy their own fireworks to launch that same night. Their big plan goes wrong when they lose control of the drone and their fireworks fizzle. The boys think the night is a disappointment. Except when they get home, there’s a wildfire in the forest and kids on a social media site are blaming them. The trio think the only thing that can clear them is to track down the drone and find the footage that might prove them innocent.
Giovanni’s Island (Shout! Studios) shows that an animated movie can illustrate a historical event. The film does an amazing balance of presenting this time using the brothers so there is a human factor to what happened on the island. The movie is also extremely heartbreaking as the family deals with all the turmoil the Soviet military throws at them. This is a very adult film even if the main characters are children. The third act is gut wrenching as the boys attempt to get back to Japan. Director Mizuho Nishikubo and his crew have made very deep and moving film about the Kurii Islands.
Kubo And The Two Strings (Steelbook) (Shout! Studios) brings the stop motion film to 4K UHD. The stop motion animation makes Kubo and the Two Strings feel like an elaborate picture book come to life. The story is enthralling with the action coming off as dream-like as if a tale being sung by Kubo. There’s so much that’s appealing on the screen. Perhaps my favorite element is the Moon King looking like Hammer horror legend Peter Cushing. The moon on his chest looks like the Death Star which ties back to Cushing’s role in the original Star Wars film. The film also features the voices of George Takei (Mr. Sulu on Star Trek) and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (The Last Emperor). Kubo and the Two Strings is a film that’s so deserving getting upgraded to 4K UHD and placed inside a Steelbook so it looks as good on your home video shelf as it does on your 4K TV screen.
Boxtrolls (Shout! Studios) is a visually treat with the stop motion characters involved in their various obsessions. Whether it be creating new inventions or lusting after rare cheeses, it’s easy to think the characters are alive. Getting to see the action in 4K UHD also makes the figures seem a bit more believable.
Blue Thermal (Shout! Studios) is breathtaking film when watching it on a large HDTV screen. The glider scenes are involving as we get close to the cockpit and see Tamaki and other characters reactions to the bird’s eye view of the world. You can get into the action after the pull plane has released the glider. Director Masaki Tachibana have captured the little details involved in the powerless flight. They also perfectly illustrate how the nervous Tamaki becomes an expert behind the controls during the school year.
DEEMO Memorial Keys (Shout! Factory and Eleven Arts) adapts a very popular video game that mixes the keep up with the beat with a fantasy mystery. Deemo: Memorial Keys captures both elements as it animates the game. We get the fantastical elements swirling out of the music. The story makes sense even if you don’t have a clue that the film is based on a videogame. You don’t get a sense of missing out on the mythology. It plays like a fantastical mystery with Alice and those she encounters in the castle.
New Gods: Yang Jian (Shout! Factory & GKIDS) is a beautiful movie. It’s easy to get lost in the frame. The backgrounds in the movie are exquisite. The CGI looks almost real at certain points. Other times the landscapes look like they’re traditional Chinese art given motion. Quite a few times you think there’s a touch of an influence from Roger Dean’s Yes album covers. This is just a stunning film to watch with so many details on the screen. We’re seeing images through screens. The story keeps you engrossed as Erlang Shen races across these worlds looking for his missing subject. The fights take full advantage of the CGI. New Gods: Yang Jian will make you wish you had a third eye to take it all in.
Unicorn Wars (Shout! Studios & GKIDS) is brilliantly weird. Alberto Vázquez gives us a deep and entertaining story that also delivers on the violence. He doesn’t hold back when the Teddy Bears and the Unicorns tear into each other. There’s a dazzling and disturbed nature to what goes down in the magical forest. The story of what happened to Gordi and Azulín’s family adds to the narrative. If you’re the parent of a kid (or kids) that’s now in high school that you used to watch Hub, Nick Jr. and Disney Jr with them, you owe it to them to show them Unicorn Wars.
Mavka: The Forest Song (Shout! Studios) is timely since this is a film from the Ukraine about a land being invaded. But it’s not a political tale of what’s gone happened over the last year. This is a movie aimed at young adults with Mavka and Lukas existing in two different realms, but drawn together. Who doesn’t want to see them work out their differences and battle the villains of the Village? The movie is beautifully animated with creatively designed woodland creatures. The faces on the Mavka and Lukas express their emotions as they cross over. The folk music in the soundtrack adds to the experience. Mavka: The Forest Song is a sweet film that was created under troubling times.
Lonely Castle In The Mirror (Shout! Studios & GKIDS) is based on a novel by Mizuki Tsujimura. Director Keiichi Hara and screenwriter Miho Maruo who previously teamed up for The Wonderland and did a remarkable job adapting the film. While the movie is animated and has a fantastical/science fiction, the movie doesn’t over dazzle us with visuals. The focus is on the seven kids and their issues at school. There is a fascinating third act twist when they discover one of their common traits don’t exactly line up.
Cult Movies
Night of the Demons (Scream Factory) gets scarier as the original party at Hull House gets upgraded to 4K UHD. You’ll see even more details of what happened when Suzanne (Silent Night, Deadly Night‘s Linnea Quigley) put her lipstick away. The Halloween party was set up by Angela Franklin at the abandoned mortuary that’s filled with bad spirits. The place doesn’t need much decorating to make it spooky. Eventually Angela (Road House‘s Amelia Kinkade) and other get possessed and go after their classmates. Besides the upgraded transfer from the Uncut Camera Negative, there are a few new bonus features from the previous Scream Factory Blu-ray release. There is also a Blu-ray with the new transfer.
Night of the Demons 2 (Scream Factory) proves you can’t keep kids out of a hot Halloween party location. This time it’s a bunch of kids from a Catholic Boarding School that are ready to see how spooky the joint is. Angela’s sister Melissa is attending the school. She’s not up for a party there, but her classmates aren’t like “the Mouse.” The kids sneak off the campus and head to the Hull House. As the fun gets started, Angela (Amelia Kinkaid) crashes the party. The sequel was directed by Australian cinema legend Brian Trenchard-Smith. We get treated to quite a few great scares including what happens when one boy cops a feel off a female classmate. The film was given a very small theatrical release back in 1994. But this was mostly done to score reviews in major outlets that didn’t pay any attention to straight to video titles. Among the bonus features is the workprint of the film with a lot of changes. Brian Trenchard-Smith and Kevin Tenney talk about their Demons films. They talk about sequels works for friends. This is only in Blu-ray.
Night of the Demons 3 (Shout! Studios) has Angela (Amelia Kinkaid) back at Hull House and ready for the next group of Halloween partiers to arrive. A cop tries to send her home, thinking she’s a squatter. But she ain’t going nowhere. Even after two horrifying incidents at Hull House, there’s still more kids eager to celebrate at the cursed old mortuary instead of staying at the safe school dance. This time the kids are troublemakers who have to hide out after a shooting at a convenience store. But is this Hull House really a safe place to lay low? This entry changes up the chemistry since the teenagers aren’t there to get drunk and raise Hell. But they’re still going to get Hell. Besides the theatrical version, there’s also a Director’s Cut that’s a rough cut with timecode on the screen and the TV Cut.
JFK- Collector’s Edition (Shout! Studios) brings Oliver Stone’s investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy to 4K UHD. The film is about the time that New Orleans DA Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) felt that a local businessman (Tommy Lee Jones) was tied into the killing in Dallas. John Candy pulls off playing a New Orleans attorney. You’ll swear he grew up on the Mississippi as he dodges Garrison’s questions. The boxset contains the Director’s Cut in 4K UHD and Blu-ray. The Theatrical Cut is only on the Blu-ray. There’s a bonus Blu-ray with deleted scenes and an alternate ending. You can also pick up Shout Studio’s recent JFK: Revisited that has more of Oliver Stone’s research into the killing of a president.
Bubba Ho-Tep (Scream Factory) goes even deeper into the conspiracy as we learn about JFK and Elvis being stuck in a retirement home with a mummy on the loose. Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead) gets deep into his Elvis. Ossie Davis (Do the Right Thing) make you think he is JFK. Director Don Coscarelli found midnight magic once more after his Phantasm flicks.
Clue – Collector’s Edition (Shout! Studios) You ever get into a conversation with someone about a movie and you’re left wondering, “Did we see the same movie?” Sometimes people do fall asleep during a movie and dream the second act. Or maybe they complete missed a key moment of the film by getting a popcorn refill. But once upon a time there was a film that had people completely describing different endings and everybody was right. When Clue came out before Christmas of 1985, it attempted to be like famous board game in more than the plot, characters and location. Each time you played the game, the identity of the killer, weapon and murder room in the mansion was different. The film took this attitude and released three versions of the movie with different endings. Depending which cineplex you went to in your town to see Clue, you came away with a different real killer. The new 4K UHD not only gives you a chance to see Clue with a theater quality resolution, but an option to have the disc randomly pick an ending.
Freeway (Vinegar Syndrome) is Keifer Sutherland, Reese Witherspoon, Brittany Murphy, Brooke Shields and Dan Hedaya giving a strange take on Little Red Riding Hood. Except instead of being a sweet girl, Reese plays her “Red” as a foul mouth teenager who deals with the wolf in Keifer. The film has been restored to its original version that is so much better than the theatrical release.
Tombs of the Blind Dead (Synapse Films) has two versions of the classic horror movie. The original uncut Spanish language version is 101 minutes long. This is the version director Amando de Ossorio made before various territories snipped up the film for reasons from censor boards to running time. Which leads to the US Theatrical version on the second Blu-ray that was renamed The Blind Dead. The film was shortened down to 83 minutes. They didn’t merely remove scenes. The distributor moved the flashback Knights Templar virgin sacrifice scene to the opening to give us a sense of what wickedness awaits. They also cut up the entire boarding school flashback scene between Betty and Virginia so it stops with them staring at a magazine article about a wedding couple. We don’t get the full reason why she’d eagerly jump off a train in this cut. Guess the distributor figured that he needed to speed up Virginia’s journey to the Blind Dead. The version you probably don’t want to see all the way through was the notorious Revenge of Planet Ape.
Killer Condom (Vinegar Syndrome) was originally distributed in America by Troma. This film has quite a few of the gross out qualities you expect from a Troma movie. The films special effects feature H.R. Giger (Alien) and Jörg Buttgereit (Nekromantic) joining forces. You’re talking about two people who grossed out so many theater goers over the decades. The duo brings the trauma to the screen. They made a condom with teeth scary enough to be nightmare inducing. There’s also quite a bit of depth to the film that keeps it from being a one note comedy.
Dawn of the Dead (Collector’s Edition) – 2004 version (Shout! Studios) brings the remake to 4K UHD. Director Zach Snyder and screenwriter James Gunn changed enough of the zombie mall culture to not feel like a complete rehash. Gunn brought the Troma touch to a major studio film.
Julia (Cult Epics) was made while Emmanuelle was in post-production so when it was time to release Julia, their supporting character was the biggest name in the cast. Thus Sylvia Kristel got a promotion in the publicity. While they didn’t re-edit the film to make it all about Julia, Kristel is in enough of the film in various forms of undress to please the audience. Even when Kristel’s not on the screen, there’s enough interesting action from the other characters to not make you feel cheated. Julia is the perfect Euro-summer movie that sizzle enough that you’ll need a dip in the pool to cool down.
The Magnificent Seven (Collector’s Edition) (Shout! Studios) brings the iconic Western to 4K UHD. A remote Mexican farming town finds itself being victimized by Calvera (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly‘s Eli Wallach) and his crew of 35 bandits. He warns the locals that he’ll be back in a few weeks to collect enough food to keep his outlaw crew fed while they winter in the mountains. The towns people have had enough of being used and abused so they send a crew off to a border town in America to buy guns. But when they arrive and make a hook up with Chris Adams (Westworld‘s Yul Brynner), they’re talked into not merely buying guys, but hiring gunslingers. They need people who know how to shoot. So they agree and Chris hooks them up with six other gun for hires: Vin Tanner (Bullitt‘s Steve McQueen), Bernando (One Upon A Time In The West‘s Charles Bronson), Britt (Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid‘s James Coburn), Lee (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’s Robert Vaughn), Harry Luck (The Asphalt Jungle‘s Brad Dexter). The seven mercenaries do their best to figure out a way to defeat Calvera. But can they really hold the bandit force back with six-shooters and rifles? You can see so much machismo with even more resolution. Perfect gift for dad.
The Last Starfighter (Arrow Video) brings the science fiction film to 4K UHD. The Last Starfighter is the perfect teenage science fiction movie. This is much more relatable to Star Wars since Alex’s amazing video game skills don’t come from midichlorians. He also doesn’t suck face with his twin sister. We can relate to Alex. How much time did you spend at the arcade with your name on the Top Score screen and find your parents were unimpressed. “What is the value of all those quarters you wasted?” your dad would say. Now you know this was training for the chance to save an alien civilization.
Fighting Back (Arrow Video) is tale of a Philly businessman who is sick of dealing with the robbers, pimps and junkies that have destroyed the neighborhood was slated to be the next Death Wish. It was produced by Dino De Laurentiis who gave us Death Wish. One of the screenwriters penned Straw Dogs. Director Lewis Teague had struck gold with the neighborhood menace movie Alligator. Two of the stars (Tom Skerritt & Yaphet Kotto) had just battled the Xenomorph in Alien. We get to see a nastier side of the Philadelphia neighborhood from Rocky. Fighting Back never came out on DVD, but has fought back to finally arrive on Blu-ray.
Swamp Thing (MVD Rewind Collection) gets less murky with a 4K UHD. Even after more than 40 years, Swamp Thing is a fine superhero flick that doesn’t try to overwhelm you with special effects. This has aged better than Daredevil and Thor. Unlike so many of the ’70s and ’80s superhero adaptations that ran on TV, Swamp Thing is enjoyable without tapping into kitsch. The movie smartly focuses on the characters and not merely the super powers. There’s an honesty when Ray Wise flirts with Adrienne Barbeau.
Weird Science (Arrow Video) lets you enjoy Kelly LeBrock sizzling in 4K UHD. She’s Lisa, a cyber dream that takes human form in John Hughes’ science fiction teen fantasy. She pushes her sensual persona to the next level on the screen. She was wild, untamed and yet sophisticated. Anyone sitting in the theater wanted to party with her. The only mature woman in ’80s Teen Cinema to compete with her was Jacqueline Bisset’s MILF in Class. It’s a shame Kelly LeBrock didn’t make that many films in the ’80 s. The movie features a cameo action legend Steve James.
Cosa Nostra – Franco Nero In Three Mafia Tales (Radiance Films) is a perfect retrospective film festival in a box. More importantly it elevates the status of a director who often doesn’t get in the conversation of Italian filmmakers. Damiano Damiani is best known in America for directing Amityville II: The Possession starring Burt Young. Which is a fine horror film, but doesn’t get him mentioned with Argento, Fulci and Bava. He also gets skipped over when talking Italian art house directors. Watching these three films, you experience how Damiani made intense films. He doesn’t dial back the jeopardy in these dangerous locations. While each of these films star Franco Nero, Damiani gets the actor to give us three different characters and not one character with three different names. Even the Mafia villains change up in each film. We see how the underworld can survive in all sorts of environments. Cosa Nostra – Franco Nero In Three Mafia Tales will make you appreciate what Nero and Damiani could do together.
The Warriors – Limited Edition (Arrow Video) with the new 4K UHD transfer brings out the gritty nature of New York City in the late ’70s. Hill insisted they shoot on the streets of New York. This is a documentary of the time. Everything is grungy, falling apart and covered in graffiti. The higher resolution allows you can see the OTB ads on the walls of the subway stations. The shadows are more menacing. This is a dangerous New York City in the details.
Point Break: Collector’s Edition (Shout! Studios) delivers an Adrenaline rush even after 30 years. The surfing and skydiving don’t distract from the narrative. They are part of the characters like dance numbers in a Broadway show. As learned from the bonus features, Patrick Swayze really did his own skydiving. He jumps out of the plane. This isn’t a stunt double or green screen effect. He becomes Bohdi during the film. Even more thrilling than the stunts is how Keanu Reeves and Swayze connect. Point Break: Collector’s Edition delivers the thrills and chills of a surfing life that’s gone bad.
Barbarella Limited Edition (Arrow Video) is such an addictive film. Over the years, I’ve found myself originally popping in the rented VHS and later putting my DVD or Blu-ray onto the player’s tray at odd hours. It’s just such a groovy 98 minutes. Now on 4K UHD, you can really get lost in the visual extravagance of the futuristic sets. The film goes straight to the comic book feel with the outlandish costumes and action. But it’s an adult comic book. Jane Fonda at this time was magnetic on the screen. Her zero-gravity strip tease at the opening of the movie is one of those great moments in cinema. Although the rest of the movie is more teasing when it comes to Fonda although some of the background extras are more revealing. This isn’t quite Flesh Gordon. Although Anita Pallenberg seems game for whatever happens in her futuristic kingdom full of wicked characters. David Hemming is hilarious as the rebel leader who only wants to use the pills to have an intimate moment with Barbarella. There’s just so much weirdness happening and now you can see more details. Barbarella remains intergalactic fun.
Marleen Gorris Trilogy (Cult Epics) Before Marleen Gorris won the Best Foreign Film Oscar for Antonia’s Line, the Dutch director made three films that showed she was a cinematic force. Gorris didn’t go to film school or make short films, TV shows and commercials before writing and directing her first feature film. The film looks like she was a seasoned pro. A Question of Silence grabbed the attention of critics and viewers with a tale of three women who kill a dress store owner. Her next film Broken Mirrors mixed life in a legal brothel with a serial killer’s torture dungeon. Finally The Last Island has the survivors of a plane crash trying to survive each other on a remote island. Now all three films will be released together in the Marleen Gorris Trilogy from Cult Epics.
Bloodsucking Freaks (Vinegar Syndrome) is out on 4K UHD! When the 4K UHD format was announced, there was buzz about certain cinematic masterpieces getting an upgraded release so folks at home could see even more into the frame. I don’t think anyone asked, “When is Bloodsucking Freaks getting released on 4K UHD?” Why? Because most of us had a feeling that this grainy picture was shot on Super 8 film. Turns out that Joel M. Reed and his crew captured the low budget nightmare vision on 35mm. It’s perfect for the high-resolution home video format. Now you can see even more into his New York City theater and dungeon. You can feel extra dirty staring at mid-70s Manhattan. You’ll be able to enjoy Sardu’s assistant Ralphus in actual size if your HDTV is extra-large. You will be sucked into the world of Bloodsucking Freaks!
Tenebrae (Synapse Films) brings Dario Argento’s Giallo to 4K UHD. Tenebrae is the kind of murder mystery where you’re not sure who is the killer and who will actually survive to the end. Dario Argento mixes the suspense with the gruesome death scenes. The part with a victim losing their arm and painting a blank canvas with blood is nightmare inducing. There are two versions of the film on the 4K UHD disc. The Italian Version (101:03) features not only the Italian dialogue track, but pages from the novel in Italian. The English Version (101:01) has the close up of the pages in English (101:01).
City of the Living Dead (Cauldron) brings this nightmare to 4K UHD. Lucio Fulci was able to one up Zombie by giving us another gross out movie, yet we get a sense that there is hope for humanity to stop this undead onslaught. Not sure how reassuring it can be that the guy from Rat Patrol has to figure out how to close the Gates to Hell. There’s a chance that humanity is still doomed. Fulci coming to America does have a bit of location comedy. The characters talk about Dunwich being built on the site of Salem, Massachusetts. Yet the location is so obviously in the South. There’s Spanish moss in the frame which is something you don’t quite see dangling around the trees of Greater Boston. But what really matters is that the Lovecraftian nightmare spreads across the screen. Fulci delivers. The cast keeps up the scares. This might be the best performance from Christopher George in a European movie.
Deadgirl: 15th Anniversary Edition (Unearthed Films) is a remarkable film in that it pushes everything to an extreme. Anytime you think, they’re not going to do that…they do it. This isn’t too out of the realm for extremely stupid things teenage boys would be willing to do. Just scan the WTF stories that your friends keep posting in your timeline. There’s no authority figure to demand answers from the kids. They just keep up the insanity as they treat the woman in the basement as some sort of blow-up doll. Except she’s not full of air and she’s very dangerous.
Carlito’s Way (Arrow Video) gives us Al Pacino’s third major mobster to 4K UHD. Carlito’s Way often gets overshadowed by Pacino and De Palma’s Scarface. There previous film is flashier with Miami in the ’80s and the piles of cocaine. New York City in the mid-’70s isn’t quite so colorful and most of the cocaine is going up his lawyer’s nose. Sean Penn’s hair should have won the Oscar for Special Effects. It’s a rather ugly coif for a successful lawyer. This isn’t a glamorous movie except during the scenes when Tony and Gail are romantic. Unlike Tony Montana’s rise to power, Carlito is figuring out how to get away from the crime since he doesn’t want to end up like Tony. The third act of the film show De Palma at his finest as he uses his complicated tracking shots during the chase without making them stick out from the action.
Natural Born Killers (Shout! Studios) brings Oliver Stone’s vision of Quentin Tarantino’s script to 4K UHD. The film was a shocker with the casting of Woody Harrelson as the homicidal Mickey. For years we’d welcomed him into our living rooms as the goofy bartender Woody on Cheers. Now he was smashing in front doors, taking hostages and murdering the rest of families. Comic Rodney Dangerfield (Back To School) becomes a character that doesn’t deserve any respect as he gets extremely scummy with his daughter Mallory. Tommy Lee Jones goes wild as the warden of the maximum security prison holding Mickey and Mallory. Oliver Stone doesn’t let his actors play any of the roles with a sense of reserve. This movie is all about excessive behavior. The movie itself is visually excessive as Stone and cinematographer Robert Richardson using every filmstock and size available along with various levels of video. You’ll want to see the Director’s Cut in 4K UHD.
Spaghetti Westerns
Blood Money – Four Western Classics Vol. 2 (Arrow Video) digs a little bit deeper into the Spaghetti Western genre. These are not the titles that get mentioned in an introduction, but they’re extremely entertaining. The four films here bonded by the theme of a getting a fat payday either by collecting a bounty or stealing a large amount of gold. This thematic union makes you feel like you’re watching a film festival and not four randomly grabbed movies from the era. The four titles are Matalo! (Kill Him), Find a Place to Die, Vengeance is Mine and $10,000 Blood Money.
Savage Guns: Four Classic Westerns Vol. 3 (Arrow Video) takes us back to the wild west of Spain and Italy for four more adventures. I Want Him Dead has Craig Hill looking for revenge that turns into a chance to bring an end to the Civil War. El Puro has Robert Woods as a broke and drunk gunslinger who is really worth more dead than alive. Wrath of the Wind shows Terrence Hill as a stone-cold hitman who grows to hate his business. Four of the Apocalypse is an amazing western from Italian horror master Lucio Fulci. Michael J. Pollard plays a drunk. Another fine batch of Euro-Westerns for the fans who want to go beyond Sergio Leone.
A Bullet For Sandoval (VCI Entertainment) has Ernest Borgnine as the worst quasi-father-in-law imaginable. A Bullet For Sandoval is slightly different from the usual Spaghetti Western. Instead of an Italian crew showing up in Spain to film their cowboy action, Sandoval is more Spanish. Director Julio Buchs was born in Madrid. The producers are both Spanish and Italian. As brought up by Alex Cox in the commentary track, both sets of producers made their own versions of the film. The Blu-ray has the Spanish cut that was made with the director. Star George Hilton was from Uruguay. Ernest Borgnine was born to immigrant Italian parents in Connecticut but spent nearly five years of his youth living in Italy. In an odd way, he’s not merely the big American star (he had won the Oscar for Marty), but also a true Italian-American leading actor. His real voice was used for the English dub track in the original release.
