There’s been a lot of talk about the importance of physical media over the last year. People are more and more realizing that they count on streaming having “everything” forever. You can’t real give someone your favorite film on streaming as a gift. The rise of the boutique home video labels has meant that a lot of smaller films are given a lot of bonus feature love. Most of the movie I’ve reviewed over the last year have had commentaries and more that allow people to share their passion for a film. You’re not getting that out of streaming. Here’s a list of several of the movies I really enjoyed reviewing over the last year that you ought to consider adding to your collection when you get those sweet gift certificates (or even cash).
Shelf Life (Liberation Hall) was something you saw mentioned on Paul Bartel’s filmography, but could never find. Now it’s finally arrived on Blu-ray. On November 22, 1963, JFK was shot in Dallas. In Anaheim, California, the St. Cloud family ran down into their bomb shelter in fear of the destruction of America. For 30 years, Tina (Edward Scissorhands‘ O-Lan Jones), Pam (Trouble In Mind‘s Andrea Stein) and Scotty (Arli$$‘s Jim Turner) have been raising themselves since their parents died of food poisoning early on. We see them on what seems like a normal day for the siblings. They play, sing and attempt to educate each other. It’s like watching a bizarre subterranean variety show. There is a strange dynamic between them as they maintain a childhood playfulness while they’re in their mid-30s.
Cruising (Arrow Video) is not an easy viewing experience. The visuals are harsh. Thanks to it being on 4K UHD, you can frame-by-frame to the murders to see what Friedkin snuck past the MPAA censors. Cruising fills the screen with a story that Hollywood hasn’t since approached on this scale.
The Last Match (Cauldron Films) as one of the greatest twists in cinema history. The first half of the film is the story of a dad trying to get his daughter out of a stanky prison. We get a sense that he’s going to need to create a jailbreak. We get a sense that his teammates might show up to help. But director Fabrizio De Angelis has the football players in full uniform even if the shirts are white. They’re easy targets. None of this makes sense which is why The Last Match is more memorable than this year’s Super Bowl. The Last Match is touchdown.
Lifeguard (Fun City Editions) feels real as a film. Nothing goes too out of control to great false drama. Elliott plays Rick just right as he deals with everyone wanting him to put on a shirt and clock in. This is like a really smart episode of Baywatch that they never produced. Oddly enough, 14 years later, Parker Stevenson would put on the red trunks once more to play Craig Pomeroy on Baywatch. But he didn’t seem to have the same issues as Rick on the show. If you get a laugh out of Sam Elliott goofing around with Gronk, you owe it to yourself to see one of Sam Elliott’s finest performances and the birth of the greatest mustache in cinematic history. Just remember to wipe on some sunblock before pressing play, Lifeguard is a great trip to the beach.
Tommy: 50th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Studios) could have easily just been a giant rock video for the record. But there’s more here that miming to tracks. Ken Russell enhances the album with Pete’s new songs that fill in the plot holes. He gets deep into the idea of how quickly the once deaf, mute and blind boy can become a messiah to people looking for a trendy salvation. He brings out the best of his all-star cast. Tommy is not a musical with rock songs, but a fully formed Rock Opera. Fifty years after its original release, Tommy remains a powerful experience especially on a 4K UHD disc.
Baby It’s You (Fun City Editions) is a top tier ’80s Teen Film as it deals realistically with a high school couple that are not just from different cultures, but with different future plans. Can they stick together? Should they stick together? The Shiek has his little moments of losing his cool with he gets frustrated with her. These are red flags. But he is a sharp looking guy in his suit so you can see why he tempts her. The film also shows the big way life can change between being in high school and going off to college. In the movie, the shift is even more dramatic with the explosion of the ’60s with the arrival of hippie culture. Jill’s wardrobe changes abruptly.
Blue Sunshine (Synapse Films) is more than a horror film with a science fiction twist. It’s what we’re living in now. Nobody in 1977 could imagine politicians being drug dealers. That would be disqualifying. And yet now we’ve got Washington D.C. being run by people who have been busted by the cops for dealing or outed by their classmates for selling drugs at the Stanford of Cambridge, Massachusetts. At once point the candidate screams, “It’s time to Make America Good Again!” Sound familiar? Edward’s campaign slogan is “Here Is The Future” and this is sort of our future. Turn on any news channel and it does feel like we’re on a bad LSD trip. We’re living in the rays of Blue Sunshine.
A Place Further Than The Universe (GKIDS & Shout! Studios) is a remarkable 13-episode journey involving Mari, Shirase and their two friends. Having seen a few documentaries and hearing Steve Burns’ tale, there’s nothing easy about a visit to Antarctica. This is not for the kind of tourist that likes to use the word “glamping.” The anime gives a sense of what difficulties are involved in such an endeavor. By using animation, the producers and directors don’t have to worry about things such as their cast catching hypothermia, their cameras freezing up and crew being mugged by penguins. They can capture the shot without braving the icy elements.
Tunnel Vision (MVD Rewind Collection) is extremely short for a comedy film which works in its favor. You don’t have the feeling of being stuck in a sketch and eager to pull out the remote control. The humor pushes the R Rating to make sure it’s nothing you’ll be seeing on The Carol Burnett Show in 1976. Even though broadcast TV censorship has laxed in the last 50 years, Tunnel Vision features a lot of jokes that wouldn’t be able to get on a current of Saturday Night Live. What I appreciate most about Tunnel Vision is that it works as both a spoof of TV and prediction of how bad things will get ten years down the road. It even predicted an audience that will keep the same station on their TV all day long and just sit there watching it like zombies.
The House of Clocks (Cauldron Films) was part of the House of Doom TV series that featured four films directed by Lucio Fulci and Umberto Lenzi. The movies were too much for Italian TV in 1989. During the middle of the night, Maria (Captain America‘s Carla Cassola) uses a flashlight to poke around the manor. The one noticeable thing about the place is it’s full of ticking clocks. But she’s looking for more and finds it in the chapel room. A dead and decomposing couple are lying in open caskets with giant spikes driven through their throats. It freaks Maria out. The next morning the owners of the manor are busy. Vittorio Corsini (Cannibal Holocaust‘s Paolo Paoloni) has an unusual way to feed his cat. His wife Sarah (The King’s Whore‘s Bettine Milne) is working in the garden. Maria makes a bad judgement call when instead of fleeing the property in the middle of the night, she gives Corsini’s her notice claiming an illness in the family. The other three films: The House of Witchcraft, The House of Lost Souls and The Sweet House of Horrors are worth grabbing too.
Themroc (Radiance Films) is so brilliant that it can skip real dialogue and still be engrossing. We don’t have the usual engagement that comes from characters talking. We don’t have to agree with what they’re saying or doubt their sincerity. You sense they are communicating through the grunts and gibberish, but what they mean is all in their attitudes and actions. The film doesn’t get boring as the characters get deeper and deeper into their urban caveman lives. The comedy comes out of the conflict even in the most shocking of situations.
Rock Bottom (Cleopatra Entertainment) has writer-director María Trénor caring so much about the life and music of Robert Wyatt that she made a film about him. That’s got to be a hard sell when you go looking for backers. Even after all these years, Soft Machine and Robert Wyatt are considered obscure. It would have been “easier” to pitch a movie about Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd. Rock Bottom feels like a passion project that explores the musician from the inside out. His relationship with Alfreda adds so much to his story. I’m not sure if the experimental film scenes in the movie reflect her actual work of the time, but I’d hope so. Because of the psychedelic influences via music and actual drugs in Robert and Alfreda’s relationship, animation is the best way to depict them. The film has moments when things flow over each other character that couldn’t be captured in a live action biopic.
Sour Party (Anchor Bay Entertainment) is hilarious. A lot of that comes from the chemistry between Samantha Westervelt and Amanda Drexton. They seem like two people who have been slacking it for decades. They are perfect partners in crime when they attack the garden. They have a natural give and go in the scenes as they track down their friends. They also play up the Southern Californian vibe with including the baby gift being a Holistic Health Kit for the newborn. Gwen and James viral video dance routine is funny and seems like something TikTok would force on my feed.
Cobra (Arrow Video) is so over the top in all aspect that you can’t stop watching until the end of it’s 87 minutes. The action scenes don’t spare a bullet. The axes and sledgehammers smash and crash everything in their swing rang. The film allowed Stallone to once more share the screen with his short term wife Brigitte Nielsen. She was able to use the role to promote her modeling career although the scene where she poses with the clunky robots is hilarious. The element that really keeps the movie pumping is Brian Thompson as the unrelenting killer. He has a knife that more fearful than a Ginsu.
Breaking Glass (Fun City Editions) is an astonishing look at the record industry. We see how an artist gets compromised by the music industry. The lure of getting bigger will make people do things that can cost them their artistic soul. Although Kate has more than just her artistry compromised by the record company weasels. If you’re only used to previous releases on home video or the times it ran on USA’s Night Flight series, you’re in or a shock. Turns out Paramount had made a “happy” ending by slicing off the last few minutes of the movie. I’m not going to spoil it other than the say it’s seriously different. They really did take a punk film and made it New Wave. Hazel O’Connor is magnificent as Kate. Her outfits and make up make you think this is a concert movie of a real band. Phil Daniels (Quadrophenia) is the perfect hustler wanting to break his act and also hook up with Kate.
The Pickleball Exorcist (SRS) lives up to it’s amazing title. We gets to see what happens when a demonic force is your mixed doubles partner on the court. Writer/director Evan Jacobs really does a fun job in this microbudget horror comedy. The fights are humorous so we don’t have to feel bad that someone has been beaten to death with a demonic pickleball racket. The special effects are appropriately cheesy. At no point do you recoil in horror when he turns babies into pickleballs.
Strangers With Candy (Shout! Studios) doesn’t depend on you knowing the TV shows which is great since you’ll want to see the series after the end credits. We finally see Jerri coming out of jail and dealing with trying to stay clean while wanting her dad to come out of the coma. The movie has the same comic tone as the show although since it’s a movie, the scenes are subtlety lit with a bit more shading than a TV production. They upgrade brings out even more of the bizarre elements in the school. There’s also an amazing guest cast wanting to be a part of Jerri’s return to school including Allison Janney (West Wing), Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Sarah Jessica Parker (Hocus Pocus), the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Boogie Nights), Justin Theroux (Inland Empire) and Kristen Johnston (Third Rock From the Sun). It’s good to see Broderick playing such a prick on screen.
Proof of the Man (Arrow Video) is a Japanese film that unites Toshiro Mifune, Yusaku Matsuda, George Kennedy and Broderick Crawford. It’s a gripping police film about the investigation of a man from Harlem who is murdered in Tokyo. The film has never been released outside of Japan until now. Yusaku Matsuda is the investigating detective.
His Motorbike, Her Island (Cult Epics) gets to the core of a man who thinks he’s free on his motorcycle except he’s finding himself being drawn to two young women. Director Nobuhiko Obayashi keeps the viewer able to tell the difference between Koh’s relationship with the women by having scenes in color and others in black and white. This is explained that Koh claims he dreams in black and white. We know who is his dream girl. The film also shows how reckless Koh and his pals are on their motorcycles. At one point he and another rider get into a dangerous jousting attack.
Ms .45 (Arrow Video) coming to 4K UHD is a dream come true. This is the film that made Abel Ferrera the King of New York before he made King of New York. Zoe Lund snaps after she’s been victimized twice and goes on a killing rampage around the Big Apple against creepy guys. The best moment is when she destroys the romantic bridge view park bench that Woody Allen glamorized in Manhattan. Ms .45 is essential exploitation viewing especially when Zoe dresses up as a Nun to shoot up a Halloween party.
Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 (AnimEgo) reminds us to not play with strange robots even if we have the manuals. This OVA feeds into the fascination with people wearing robot suits. The big difference is you don’t have to watch all those episodes. The OVA is filled with top notch battle scenes between robots, helicopters and tanks. The majestic view of the city from a skyscraper’s observation deck is beautiful. These scenes look even better with the 1080p transfer. The OVA holds up as a less than an hour-long futuristic adventure.
Dakota (Cult Epics) is about Dick’s relationship with the airplane. It’s like a reworking of The Spirit of St. Louis if Charles Lindburgh was running contraband over the ocean instead of grasping for fame. We see what Dick goes through in isolation as he makes this marathon flight. There’s a poetic nature to his solo flight. He puts a bit of faith in the auto pilot so he can get a little rest behind all the extra barrels of fuel that have replaced the passenger seats. There’s quite a bit of jeopardy including when he has to refuel mid-flight over the ocean. Dakota seems to be what modern filmmakers are angling to capture when they make an inspired by the ’70s film about a single guy on a mission.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (GKIDS & Shout! Studios) proved to be a remarkable beginning for Mamoru Hosoda’s career. He creates a great leading character in Makoto Konno. Even though she’s animated, she feels very much like a teenage girl. I make that observation as the parent of teenage girl who would enjoy having the ability to leap back in time to “fix” things.
Meridian (Full Moon Features) is a movie that’s all about Sherilyn Fenn (Twin Peaks). The horror/mystery/romance angle is interesting. The Gothic nature of the plot reflects in the various Italian locations. The pacing is rather slow, but who cares if you’re wanting to see “Audrey Horne” in an unrated movie. Sherilyn isn’t coy in her pivotal scene with Lawrence and Oliver. Neither is Charlie. It’s good to see this on a Blu-ray instead of a not as much definition VHS tape in 1990.
The Assassin of the Tsar (Deaf Crocodile) opens with Timofeyev (A Clockwork Orange‘s Malcolm McDowell) as a patient at a Soviet insane asylum. Among the many reasons he’s been locked away is his belief that he is the assassin who killed Tsar Alexander II and later took out Tsar Nicholas II (the last reigning Tsar – sometimes spelled Czar). Dr. Smirnov (Mute Witness‘ Oleg Yankovsky) and his supervisor Alexander Yegorovich (Gikor‘s Armen Dzhigarkhanyan) are figuring if they need to transfer him to a different facility. They know he can’t be the assassin because the killings took place in 1881 and 1918. They are examining him in late ’80s Soviet Union.
The Ogre of Athens (Radiance Films) is a great dark comedy. It doesn’t hurt that star Dinos Iliopoulos has the same feels as Wally Cox (Mr. Peepers & voice of Underdog) on the screen. He has this great “what have I stumbled into” nervousness to his face without trying to look too out of place. All these people have their idea of The Ogre although none of them think he’s really this mild. While this is a comedy, there’s a darkness always about to cover everything. A lot of that energy is generated by Giannis Argyris as the gangster in charge of the nightclub. He can be funny without losing his dangerous edge. He’s got the same potency as Joe Pesci in Goodfellas. You don’t want to hate him, but you know he will kill if given a chance.
Giallo
Don’t Torture a Duckling (Arrow Video) wasn’t legitimately released in America until 1999 which is a shame since this is Lucio Fulci at his finest. It is easy to understand why exploitation distributors in America would be reluctant to distribute a film dealing with boys being murdered. There’s a Catholic Church angle that might anger your local priest. The scene with Barbara Bouchet (Gangs of New York) naked and teasing a boy would probably leads to the film being shutdown by your local police or at least picketed by your great aunt Blanche. Bouchet is great in the film as a suspect. Although we learn how Fulci constructed the scene so the kid wasn’t exposed to any nudity in real life. Don’t Torture a Duckling allowed Fulci to give us classic view of Italy found in the works of the high brow masters and twist it to his exploitation standards. This is one of Fulci’s masterpieces.
Short Night of Glass Dolls (Celluloid Dreams) proves Aldo Lado is masterful as he switches between Gregory in the morgue and memories of tracking Mira. The big finale is a cinematic gut punch. You would almost expect the writer-director of the film to be a seasoned pro like so many of the other named directors of this time who had worked in other genres before giallo became all the rage. He came from a assistant director position (including on The Conformist) so Lado understood what it took to make a film. He also knew how to make a film that pushed the boundaries of the genre to become memorable. So worth watching on 4K UHD.
A Hyena In The Safe (Celluloid Dreams) is a brilliant “small” film. This is about desperate people stuck in a mansion wanting to be the one collecting all the jewels and not just their share. This has all the makings of a modern reality show. But it’s more mod than modern. There’s a lot of groovy fashions on display around the villa.
The Killer Must Kill Again (Rustblade) works because George Eastman looks like the kind of bastard husband who would think of hiring a serial killer. Antoine Saint-John also has the perfect look as a serial killer. You don’t doubt for a minute that he will have his way with every character on the screen. Director Luigi Cozzi (Starcrash) links these two by crosscutting Eastman at the party and Saint-John taken care of Norma. He does the same crosscutting towards the end of the film with Saint-John and Alessio Orano in a different set of circumstances that I won’t spoil. This is Cozzi working at the top of his game in a non-science fiction flick.
Nothing Underneath (Rustblade) uses a psychic connection to link the action between the USA and Italy. Bob Crane (Fever Pitch‘s Tom Schanley) is a forest ranger in Yellowstone Park. His twin sister Jessica (Duet for One‘s Nicola Perring) is a rising star in modeling and strutting her stuff in Milan, Italy. She sends Bob her latest magazine cover. Even though the duo are on the other side of the globe from each other, their psychic bond is as tight as ever. While Bob is at work in the woods, he gets visual flashes that something horrible is about to happen to his sister. He does his best to contact her, but he can’t reach her. They’re not telepathic and the telephone company is inept. He grabs the first flight from Wyoming to Milan to try to track down his missing sister.
