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31 January 2011

Fulci's Finale: DOOR INTO SILENCE (DVDs compared)

Lucio Fulci's unfortunate swansong was the Louisiana-shot Filmirage production DOOR INTO SILENCE.  Based on his own short story, it follows Melvin Deveraux (John Savage) on a delirious road trip as he encounters a mysterious woman (Sandi Schultz, who Savage later married) and DUEL-like encounters with a hearse carrying a coffin with Melvin's name on it.  Is it all a product of coincidence and Melvin's guilty conscience, or is he on a collision course with death...  As much as Fulci and co. try to keep us in suspense, DOOR INTO SILENCE is a slog through all-too-familiar territory with a lot of filler.  There are  some nice shots and Savage takes it all seriously, but there's only so long the film can hold your interest.

I first saw this hard-to-see film (it was never released in America) on R2 PAL DVD from the Italian Raro Video.  It featured the original English mono track and an Italian dub as well as an Italian-only audio commentary with Italian critics (an English-language DVD was released in Japan years before, but it is out of print).  I picked up the barebones Severin disc just to see the differences.  The transfers do look slightly different and you can read my review and see the comparison caps over at DVDBeaver.

LINK: DVDBeaver comparison review of DOOR INTO SILENCE.

30 January 2011

Raro Video's Unofficially Announced Release List?

A month or so ago, we heard that Italy's Raro Video was entering the US market through E1 Entertainment (formerly Koch International) and four titles were officially announced including the Fernando Di Leo Crime Collection, the masterful Perfume of the Lady in Black, Antonioni's Vanquished, and Fellini's Clowns.  A posting at The Latarnia Forums has pointed out that four more titles have popped up with street dates at DVD Aficianado.

UPDATE: Federico Fellini's I CLOWNS (Raro Video USA) reviewed







So the list looks like this now:

22 February 2011:
Clowns
Fernando Di Leo Crime Collection














15 March 2011:
Perfume of the Lady in Black
Vanquished














12 April 2011:
ADUA AND HER FRIENDS
Dallamano's THE SECRET OF DORIAN GRAY














17 May 2011:
Pasolini's LA RABBIA
Deodato's LIVE LIKE A COP, DIE LIKE A MAN
Live Like a Cop Die Like a Man

"Raro Video" releases at my Amazon aStore.

I'll try to dig up some more info on these ones.  Any further posts can be found with the tag: Raro USA

23 January 2011

BLACK on Blu-Ray and DVD from Anchor Bay UK

On February 14, Anchor Bay UK will release Pierre Laffargue's French ode to American Blaxploitation BLACK on Region 2 PAL DVD and Region B Blu-Ray.  Rapper MC Jean Gab'1 (DISTRICT 13) and Carole Karemera (SOMETIMES IN APRIL) are among the desperate characters who have heard about an ill-secured cache of diamonds in a bank in Dakar. Francois Levantal (LA HAINE) and Anton Yakovlev (LORNA'S SILENCE) also star.

REVIEW LINK: BLACK Anchor Bay (UK) R2 DVD at DVDBeaver.






AMER hits DVD and Blu-Ray from Anchor Bay UK

On January 31, Hélène Cattet's and Bruno Forzani's arthouse hit AMER hits Region 2 PAL DVD and Region B Blu-Ray in the UK courtesy of Anchor Bay.  Winner of the New Visions Award at Sitges International Film Festival and the Public’s Choice Award at Montreal Festival of New Cinema among others, AMER is the story (told in three parts) of a girl's growing sexual awareness and the resulting Freudian nightmare of sexual obsession and murder.  Cassandra Forêt, Charlotte Eugène-Guibeaud, and Marie Bos play the lead character Ana at various stages of her life. Scored with classic library tracks from the giallo works of Bruno Nicolai (including his memorable main title theme to Sergio Martino's THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL), Ennio Morricone, Adriano Celentano, and Stelvio Cipriani, AMER isn't technically a giallo; rather, it is informed by the visual motifs of the genre and its master craftsmen.  Extras include 4 short films by Carret and Forzani.


"Anchor Bay UK" releases at my Amazon aStore.





22 January 2011

Palisades Tartan's SOLDIER OF ORANGE reviewed

I have reviewed Palisades Tartan's 2010 DVD of Paul Verhoeven's war classic SOLDIER OF ORANGE (featuring Rutger Hauer, Jeroen Krabbe, Derek De Lint, Edward Fox, and Susan Penhaligon) for DVDBeaver.  Higher budgeted than Verhoeven's transgressive art films, SOLDIER OF ORANGE is based on the true story of a Dutch student who joins the resistance when German occupies the Netherlands.  There's plenty of explosions and action as well as some of Verhoeven's usual envelope-pushing violence and sex.

DVDBeaver review HERE!

Specs:
  • 1.66:1 anamorphic 16:9 widescreen presentation
  • Dutch/German/English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Dutch Teaser Trailer
  • US "Survival Run" Trailer
  • Cast/Crew Filmographies
  • World Cinema Trailer Reel

"Palisades Tartan" releases at my Amazon aStore.

RELATED POST: Paul Verhoeven's SOLDER OF ORANGE from Palisades Tartan

Nucleus DVD of CANNIBAL GIRLS reviewed!

Nucleus Films' R2 PAL UK DVD of Ivan Reitman's CANNIBAL GIRLS has been reviewed by me over at DVDBeaver.  Besides the interviews with Reitman, Daniel Goldberg, and Eugene Levy that are present on the other DVD and BluRay releases, Nucleus has cooked up some exclusive extras including the French opening credits sequence (DES FILLES CANNIBALES) and PDF DVD-ROM extras.

Read my DVDBeaver review HERE!

Complete Specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic widescreen transfer
  • Original English audio and AIP "Warning Bell" track
  • Optional English subtitles for both tracks
  • "Cannibal Guys" interview with Ivan Reitman and Daniel Goldberg
  • "Meat Eugene" interview with Eugene Levy
  • Still Gallery
  • PDFs of the AIP Pressbook and the "Take One" magazine making of CANNIBAL GIRLS article
  • French title sequence
  • 3 trailers
  • 2 radio spots
  • Trailers for other Nucleus Films

"Nucleus Films" releases at my Amazon aStore.

20 January 2011

THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE... OR IS THERE?



Last week, Troma Films released a 2-disc 20th anniversary edition of Rolfe Kanefsky's THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE, an EVIL DEAD/slasher mishmash about some horny couples (the usual 20-something high school students) head to a remote cabin in the woods, plus one horror movie geek to point out the cliches and bad omens (years before SCREAM).  While the ditzy blonde is worried about bears, the geek is worried about axe murderers and aliens.  Soon enough, the scantily clad couples are being watched and stalked by something.  I won't spoil it here, but you can be sure there will be nudity and gore (and some outrageous horror setpieces).

DVD Specs:
  • Anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen transfer
  • English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio
  • Commentary track by director Rolfe Kanefsky, actors Craig Peck and Mark Collver, and prop men John Kim and Gene Masse
  • Commentary track by director Rolfe Kanefsky
  • Introductions by Rolfe Kanefsky and Lloyd Kaufman
  • Interview with Rolfe Kanefsky
  • Audition Footage
  • Pre-production footage
  • Rehearsal Footage/Bloopers
  • Test Animation and Deleted Shots
  • Still Gallery
  • Music Video
  • Short Film JUST LISTEN
  • Short Film MOOD BOOBS
  • Behind the Scenes: MOOD BOOBS

Check out my review HERE at DVD Drive-In.

Paul Verhoeven's SOLDIER OF ORANGE from Palisades Tartan

Paul Verhoeven's SOLDIER OF ORANGE was re-released last August on R2 PAL DVD in the UK from Palisades Tartan.  Once the most expensive Dutch production, SOLDIER OF ORANGE is the true story of a group of friends who end up on different sides when Germany occupies the Netherlands during World War II.  Rutger Hauer (TURKISH DELIGHT), Jeroen Krabbe (THE FOURTH MAN), Derek De Lint (BLACK BOOK), Edward Fox (A BRIDGE TOO FAR), and Susan Penhaligon (THE CONFESSIONAL) star in this war epic.  American readers might want to check this one out since the US DVD is long out of print.

Review link forthcoming.




 DVD Specifications:
  • 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer
  • Original Dutch mono audio with optional English subtitles
  • Dutch teaser trailer
  • American "SURVIVAL RUN" trailer
  • World Cinema Trailer Reel
  • Paul Verhoeven Filmography
  • Rutger Hauer Filmography
  • Jeroen Krabbe Filmography

Nucleus Films has CANNIBAL GIRLS!

Ivan Reitman's early CANNIBAL GIRLS is getting a UK DVD release courtesy of Nucleus Films on February 14. Clifford and Gloria (SCTV's Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin) honeymoon in a snowy Canadian town and hear the legend of the Cannibal Girls who lured men to their isolated house.  The young, wisecracking couple are recommended to the old house which has now been converted into a gourmet restaurant run by the cloaked and top-hatted Reverend Alex St. John (Ronald Ulrich) and three pretty women.  After sampling the cuisine, they are invited to stay the night rather than walk home in the dark.  Will Clifford and Gloria wind up on the next day's menu?  Long unavailable since its AIP theatrical release (and a rare Canadian VHS tape), CANNIBAL GIRLS has been remastered in high definition.  Nucleus Films' forthcoming R2 PAL DVD is a cool extras-laden package available just in time for Valentines Day.




Nucleus Films Specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic widescreen transfer
  • Original English audio and AIP "Warning Bell" track
  • Optional English subtitles for both tracks
  • "Cannibal Guys" interview with Ivan Reitman and Daniel Goldberg
  • "Meat Eugene" interview with Eugene Levy
  • Still Gallery
  • PDFs of the AIP Pressbook and the "Take One" magazine making of CANNIBAL GIRLS article
  • French title sequence
  • 3 trailers
  • 2 radio spots
  • Trailers for other Nucleus Films

Review Forthcoming!

19 January 2011

Code Red has GHOSTKEEPER!

Code Red has picked up the snowbound Canadian horror pic GHOSTKEEPER (1981) for release.  Directed by Jim Makichuk, this low-budget film is low on gore but high on atmosphere.  Below is a review I wrote for HubPages (original review with more pictures HERE):
Neurotic inevitable final girl Jenny (Riva Spier, RABID) and boyfriend Marty (Murray Ord, now a producer in Canadian film) and their snobby, bubble-headed friend Chrissy (Sheri McFadden) leave a boring New Years party at a ski resort and take off on snow mobiles to explore the scenery. Of course, they ignore the warnings of a storkeeper (Les Kimber) about getting lost in the snow and take a trail marked "Keep Out." No sooner do they stumble upon an ominous looking old hotel then Chrissy promptly crashes her snowmobile. Reckoning the three of them cannot get back on one snowmobile (Jenny's dependence on Marty is first evident in that she rides with him and it is further explored later in the film), they break into the hotel. Although there is a fire already going, Marty notes that the guestbook has not had any entries for several years. They do some exploring to show off the eerie location and for the obvious "someone's watching them" eye close-up. Once they settle in, the script introduces sexual tension by emphasizing Marty's obvious interest in Chrissy (who tells the story of how she got one of her high school teachers to pay her for sex). Jenny does the whole "I have a feeling we're not alone" thing and the others dismiss her feelings as if they've never seen a horror film before. The keeper of the inn (Georgie Collins) then reveals herself. She goes through the motions of warning them off before showing them to their rooms. While Jenny and Marty argue about Marty's attraction to Chrissty, Chrissy takes a bath and is promptly carried off by the keeper's hulking son (Billy Grove) as food for the Wendigo (John MacMillan), another hulking dark figure imprisoned in a room with walls made of bricks of ice. The story really falls apart the next day after Chrissy has disappeared (and not just because she's a much more interesting character than Jenny). The keeper proves evasive when Jenny wonders where Chrissy has disappeared to and Marty is too preoccupied with fixing the stalling snowmobile to worry. Jenny goes off exploring but discovering Chrissy's remains and catching a glimpse of the wendigo proves the least of Jenny's problems when the keeper's son brandishes a chainsaw and chases her around the hotel. Then Marty inexplicably (and I do mean inexplicably) goes nuts, paints his face with grease, and wanders out to die in the snow leaving Jenny to face off against the keeper. 

This little known Canadian horror film combines influences from Stephen King's THE SHINING (or, more likely, Kubrick's just released film) with the Algonquin legend of the Wendigo, a creature that feeds on human flesh (though, anthropologically, to actually symbolize the taboo of cannibalism) which figured in the periphery of King's novel PET SEMATARY. Here, he's a dark figure living in a room of ice blocks and being fed by the "ghostkeeper" though his supernatural attributes go unexplored. Further underlining the film's indebtedness to THE SHINING is the late reappearance in the film of the shopkeeper who has come looking for them only to be knifed pretty much as soon as he steps in the door. The ending also plays on certain passages in the King book/Kubrick film about the role of the inn's caretaker; however, the scenary chewing ghostkeeper in this film projects none of the menace of the Overlook's caretaker. By making Jenny the protagonist, the film gives Marty little to do since Jenny is both the terrified heroine and the basketcase (thus when Marty goes nuts for no particular reason, he doesn't get much screentime to pose much of a threat). Despite these shortcomings, the film is nevertheless atmospheric with wide angle exteriors of the hotel in which the building seems to stare at the camera, the camera panning across stark, snowy landscapes, and Paul Zaza's minimal, needling orchestral score (Zaza was the go-to-guy for Canadian horror in the early eighties including MY BLOODY VALENTINE, PROM NIGHT, and the underrated and muddled CURTAINS). This is an ideal rainy/snowy day time-waster; too slow and not scary enough for your full, undivided attention but entertaining enough if you're in a lazily receptive mood.

Well, now it's gonna hit DVD and I definitely am in a receptive mood for some Canadian horror (hopefully more to come).  Not a perfect film but it will be interesting to see what Code Red's transfer will look like and what extras they can dig up.

No pre-order link yet (no date announced).

17 January 2011

Jess Franco and Intervision visit the DVDBeaver

In addition to the DVD Drive-In reviews I've written for the upcoming Intervision Pictures Corp. DVDs of Jess Franco's THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF and PAULA-PAULA (both out February 8), I've also written reviews for the two discs for DVDBeaver. 

DVDBeaver review of THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF
DVDBeaver review of PAULA-PAULA

Related Post: DVD Drive-In review of THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF
Related Post: DVD Drive-In review of PAULA-PAULA

16 January 2011

Jess Franco's PAULA-PAULA (Intervision) reviewed

Check out DVD Drive-In for my review of Jess Franco's PAULA-PAULA on R0 NTSC DVD from Intervision Pictures Corp.  An audiovisual experience based on Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, PAULA-PAULA is about a nightclub performer Paula (Carmen Montes, Jess Franco's SNAKEWOMAN) who is institutionalized for killing another nightclub performer, also named Paula (Paula Davis).  She is questioned by a doctor (Lina Romay) but her answers are evasive.  The solution to the mystery is somewhere in her mind which is deluged by psychedelic images of the other Paula's shapeshifting hallucinatory performances and the living Paula's hazy libido.  The real star of the film are the jazz tracks of Friedrich Gulda, an Austrian composer who scored Franco's masterful NECRONOMICON/SUCCUBUS.  The late composer's family gave Franco some unused tracks and they are presented here in stereo under Franco's osbsessive imagery.

Check out the review HERE!


15 January 2011

SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF reviewed

Check out the fantastic DVD Drive-In site where I have reviewed Intervision's THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF.  It is the third of my reviews for that site.  Interesting to see a more plot-focused Jess Franco film (even if it is a very familiar plot) but Intervision's debut DVD isn't that great quality wise.  On the other hand, it is always nice to see a new Jess Franco interview.  He talks about the cast members (its the first time I've heard any background on Kali Hansa), the crew, and his choice of William Berger for the Orloff character this time around.

Read my review at DVD Drive-In HERE!

Also, check out some of the other great reviews on the main page of DVD Drive-In!

13 January 2011

Intervision Presents Two Jess Franco US DVD Debuts

On February 8, Intervision Picture Corp. will put out its first two releases, which also happen to be the DVD debuts of two Jess Franco films in the US: 1973's THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF and 2010's PAULA-PAULA.  Both feature English subtitles and interviews with Franco.  They just arrived in the mail today.  The white Amaray cases have an Arrow Video look to them but the covers have a Severin/Blue Underground look to them.  Expect DVD reviews of both of these titles in the next few days.  You'll find the links here and in new posts.





Blue Underground announces new DEEP RED DVD and Blu-Ray for 2011

Following Arrow Video R0 PAL DVD and Region Free Blu-Ray releases of Dario Argento's DEEP RED (Profondo Rosso), Blue Underground in the US has announced their own upcoming DVD and BluRay sets for 2011.  Their transfer will be a new high definition master sourced from the negative.  Blu-Ray compatible fans should be elated as the BluRay edition will feature both the international English version and the full Italian cuts.  DVD compatible fans, on the other hand, will only be getting the "Uncensored English Version," that is, the aforementioned English dub of the export version.  This is not the butchered US 96 minute R-rated theatrical cut, it is the 105 minute cut that was approved for exhibition outside of Italy, which removed about twenty minutes of expository material and some light comedy.  Blue Underground's previous DVD was a port of the out of print Anchor Bay edition which was also prepared by Blue Underground's Bill Lustig.  This version was the complete Italian version with the Italian track and English subtitles as well as a composite English/Italian track with English subtitles for the footage for which no English dialogue was recorded.  This cut has been coveted by Argento fans (although not at the expense of the full version) for its more focused pacing.  The cut was previously available on Japanese laserdisc (as SUSPIRIA 2) as well as middling quality releases on DVD in Spain and the UK (a Japanese set also featured this cut but it is quite expensive).  Another World Entertainment in Scandanavia released both cuts along with a great Thomas Rostock commentary, but the transfer quality was lacking (the full cut was a PAL conversion of the master created for the Anchor Bay version).  The English cut was available on Arrow's aforementioned DVD and Blu sets as a reconstruction using the longer Italian master (with text inserts and credits from standard definition).  I'm wondering if the Blue Underground transfer will be a true HD master of the export version.  While it is disappointing for DVD-only viewers that only one cut will be available on the DVD set, Blue Underground has been known to reissue their own titles (including boxed set exclusives) so we could very well see a DVD edition of the Italian cut some time after the initial DVD and Blu versions hit the streets.  Blue Underground has not ported over the Rostock commentary (which was on the Arrow disc as well) and their extras are lacking in general, but it may be that they have allocated most of the budget for the release to the transfer, and that is just fine.  The DVD and Blu editions will feature the same 25th anniversary featurette from the Anchor Bay version as well as the Italian and US trailers.  The two new extras are music videos of the main theme by Goblin and by Simonetti's band Daemonia.  The DVD will feature English DTS-ES 6.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, and Dolby Digital 2.0 mono tracks while the Blu will feature DTS-HD 7.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, and original mono tracks (no info yet as to which languages will get which encodings).  The DVD will retail at $14.95 (great price) and the Blu will be $29.98 (great if both cuts are on separate discs).

RELATED LINK: DVDBeaver comparison of the Anchor Bay (USA) Region 1 DVD and the Arrow Video (UK) Region 0 2-disc set

"Blue Underground" releases at my Amazon aStore.
"Arrow Video" releases at my Amazon UK aStore.

Blue Underground USA (port of the Anchor Bay edition - NOT THE PRE-ORDER)

Arrow UK 2-disc DVD set


Arrow UK BluRay edition

12 January 2011

Arrow's BARE BEHIND BARS reviewed/compared

I've reviewed Arrow's new Region 0 PAL DVD of BARE BEHIND BARS.  Although it lost 1m 35s to the censors, it is still plenty sleazy.  Two gory highlights have been completely and removed (the gory aftermath of one is shown but the other isn't even hinted at so one wonders why they kept the rest of the scene).  I compared it to the out of print Blue Underground DVD. 

You can find my comparison over at DVDBeaver: HERE.


Arrow DVD (January 31, 2011)


US DVD (out of print)

11 January 2011

Former BBFC Reject BARE BEHIND BARS on UK DVD

On January 31st, Arrow Video will release Osvaldo de Oliveira's 1980 WIP film BARE BEHIND BARS (A Prisão) in the UK.  When submitted for VHS release in the nineties by Redemption Video, the film was rejected outright by the BBFC; the ruling was appealed, but the video company still lost (according to the BBFC site, the submitted version ran roughly 86 minutes which is shorter than the PAL speed for the uncut version).  Arrow Video submitted the uncut version for reclassification this year for its DVD release; alas, the film still did not get through intact.  The BBFC insisted on 1m 35s of cuts.

UPDATE: DVDBeaver review/comparison (Arrow vs Blue Underground).



Related Link: British Board of Film Classification database entry for BARE BEHIND BARS.
 

THE BLACK KLANSMAN hits DVD

On January 18, Code Red Releasing's DVD of Ted V. Mikels' THE BLACK KLANSMAN hits US Region 0 DVD.  When his daughter is killed in a church bombing, light-skinned jazz musician Jerry Ellsworth (Richard Gilden) travels to the South and infiltrates the klan as a white man.  Meanwhile, Farley (Jakie Deslonde), whose younger brother was lynched for patronizing a white cafe, brings in a Harlem gangster (Max Julien, "Goldie" of THE MACK) to teach the klan a lesson.

Code Red Releasing's DVD features a 16:9 transfer under the title I CROSSED THE COLOR LINE as well as TWO audio commentaries, an interview with star Richard Gilden, the alternate titles, a trailer, and a handful of other promising Code Red trailers.

Read my full review HERE at George Reis' DVD Drive-In.



"Code Red Releasing" releases at my Amazon aStore

Black Klansman

Related Link: DVDBeaver review of THE BLACK KLANSMAN

09 January 2011

Hercules on A LONG RIDE FROM HELL

Code Red Releasing's DVD of Camillo Bazzoni's A LONG RIDE FROM HELL (Vivo per la Tua Morte/Ich Bin ein Entflohener Kettensträfling/Vivo para Matarte) hits the streets this upcoming Tuesday (well... most of you will probably get it online rather than in-store).  This was not only Steve Reeve's first Spaghetti Western, it was also his first film as an uncredited producer and a writer (adapting Gordon Sherriffs' novel "Judas Gun" with Roberto Natale, scripter of Mario Bava's KILL, BABY KILL! and LISA AND THE DEVIL).  It also proved to be his last film as Reeves' retired from acting due to a shoulder injury that made doing stunt work increasingly harder.  Here, Reeves plays Mike Sturgess, a rancher who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time while chasing after some cattle rustlers.  He and his brother find themselves fingered for a train robbery and sent to prison at Fort Yuma, while the real robber Maynard (Wadye Preston, of TV's COLT 45) and his partners stash the gold until the coast clears.  After his brother dies in prison, Mike and some other prisoners lead a jail break so that Mike can get revenge.  Rosalba Neri (DEVIL'S WEDDING NIGHT), Silvana Venturini (LICKERISH QUARTET), Bruno Corazzari (THE BLACK CAT), and Franco Fantasia (THE MURDER MANSION) co-star.

I previously reviewed this upcoming DVD at DVDBeaver, but more recently I've also written a review of the disc for George Reis' fantastic DVD Drive-In site (you'll find that review HERE).

While you're there, check out some of the other current reviews and announcements at DVD Drive-In.  You can always find a link to their main page on my "Favorite Pages" drop-down menu on the right panel of this blog.

"Code Red Releasing" releases at my Amazon aStore

Related Link: DVDBeaver review of A LONG RIDE FROM HELL

07 January 2011

Severin Films has NIGHTMARES (1980)

Severin Films will be releasing John Lamond's 1980 Australian slasher NIGHTMARES starring Jenny Neumann (HELL NIGHT) and Gary Sweet.  Severin had previously released John Lamond's entertaining EMANUELLE-styled FELICITY with Canadian starlet Gloria Annen (Norman Warren's PREY).  NIGHTMARES first turned up in the U.S. on cassette from VidAmerica as STAGE FRIGHT (with a replacement title card that looked like it was done on one of those home movie camera in-camera titlers).  The tape was uncut but horribly cropped to fullscreen from its scope Panavision ratio.  The UK tape was also cropped and cut by the BBFC.  Umbrella Entertainment in Australia put out a Region 4 DVD that was 16:9 widescreen (at 2.52:1) and fully uncut.  I previously reviewed it for DVDBeaver HERE
Not much in the way of extras but for an interview with Lamond and several nudity-filled trailers form Lamond's erotica productions.  Here's hoping that Severin puts out a great DVD edition of their own with some great extras.  I would be particularly interested in an interview with lead actress Jenny Neumann, who also played a stalked and slashed sorority girl in Tom DeSimone's great gothic horror slasher HELL NIGHT (1980) with Linda Blair.

05 January 2011

OUTCAST on R2 DVD


On January 17th, 2011, Colm McCarthy's monster pic OUTCAST hits DVD in the UK from Momentum Pictures (Region 2). James Nesbitt (MATCH POINT) plays a monster hunter chasing down an Irish mother and son in Edinburgh where a grotesque monster has been mutilating victims. The press has likened the film to LET THE RIGHT ONE IN and called it the most important British horor pic since THE DESCENT.

You'll find my review of the film and the Momentum DVD HERE at DVDBeaver.

02 January 2011

SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT at HubPages

I wrote this review for James L. Wilson's 1979 pic SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT over 2 years ago for HubPages.  I set up an account there as a challenge with some other friends to get some of our writing out there on the web.  I think I was the only one who actually did anything with it.  I wrote a couple reviews at HubPages but I got busy with school, a short film, and then the DVD screeners started coming in.  I had not given the stuff I wrote for HubPages much thought until Amazon Affiliates told me that I earned $0.53 off a purchase of an item linked to this review.  Woo-hoo.


Anyway, you can find the review HERE at HubPages!









Screams of a Winter Night (1979) 27 x 40 Movie Poster - Style A