Scream Factory shows up for the EVE OF DESTRUCTION (review)

Gregory Hines (WHITE NIGHTS) and Renee Soutendijk (THE FOURTH MAN) race to stop the killing spree of a sophisticated android (also Soutendijk) whose circuitry has gone haywire in the nineties sci-fi thriller EVE OF DESTRUCTION.

REVIEW LINK: Scream Factory/Shout! Factory (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

EVE OF DESTRUCTION Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo
• Theatrical Trailer

More Scream Factory reviews at Update the Tags: Scream

Vicious Circle Films shivers AS NIGHT FALLS (review)

Eighty years ago, a young girl's psychotic parents put her to sleep... permanently.  Now they're back at their old homestead and the new owners (and their rocker groupies) are losing their heads and other body parts... but tonight, the victims fight back!

REVIEW LINK: Breaking Glass Pictures/Vicious Circle Films (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

AS NIGHT FALLS DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Video Diary
• Music Video
• Photo Gallery
• Trailer
• Breaking Glass Trailers

More Breaking Glass Pictures reviews at Update the Tags: Breaking Glass.

Second Run's Czech double bill: THE WHITE DOVE/JOSEF KILIAN (Review)

Second Run presents double bill of Czech New Wave films.  In THE WHITE DOVE, a carrier pigeon gets lost in a storm on the way to a Baltic island and ends up in Prague where it is wounded by a young wheelchair-bound boy.  He nurses it back to health, but is he prepared to let it go when it's ready to fly free?  In JOSEF KILIAN, a mild-mannered man experiences a Kafka-esque bureaucratic hell when trying to return a cat to a "cat rental agency" that has mysteriously disappeared overnight.

REVIEW LINK: Second Run DVD (UK) Region 0 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

THE WHITE DOVE/JOSEF KILIAN DVD specs:

• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen (original aspect ratio)
• Czech Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English subtitles
• Liner Notes Booklet

More Second Run DVD reviews at Update the Tags: Second Run DVD.

Code Red and Maria's B-Movie Mayhem play with JOCKS and CLASSROOM TEASERS (review)

JOCKS hit the tennis courts for some unsportsmanlike antics in Crown International's zany comedy while three girls are released from prison to take part in a college experimental drug program in the seventies exploitation pic CLASSROOM TEASERS (aka THE STUDENT BODY) from Gus Trikonis (THE EVIL).

REVIEW LINK: Code Red Releasing (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

JOCKS/CLASSROOM TEASERS DVD specs:

• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Audio Commentary on JOCKS by director Steve Carver
• Maria's B Movie Mayhem Playback Mode
• Code Red Trailers

More Code Red reviews at Update the Tags: Code Red Releasing.

Scream Factory unzips John Carpenter's BODY BAGS (review)

John Carpenter's and Tobe Hooper's nineties Showtime anthology BODY BAGS gets a high definition resurrection - in its uncut, unrated version - in Scream Factory's special edition with all brand new extras.  Carpenter helms the first two stories in which a gas station attendant on her first night encounters a series of weirdos (one of which might be a serial killer) and the story of a man (Stacey Keach) resorting to an unusual miracle hair-growth treatment that gives his scalp a life of its own.  Tobe Hooper directs the third story in which a ball player (Mark Hamill) loses an eye in a car accident and gets an experimental transplant from a donor whose memories are still very much present in the eye.  Robert Carradine, David Warner, and Twiggy also star.

REVIEW LINK: Scream Factory/Shout! Factory (US) Region A Blu-ray/Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

BODY BAGS Blu-ray/DVD combo specs:

• Blu-ray:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
• Optional English Subtitles
• DVD: 
• 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 setreo
• Audio Commentary by director John Carpenter, producer Sandy King, and actors Robert Carradine and Stacey Keach
• "Unzipping BODY BAGS" cast/crew interview featurette
• Trailer

More Scream Factory reviews at Update the Tags: Scream Factory.

Code Red swings a MACE (review)

HILL STREET BLUES' Ed Marino plays a big screen detective in this rare eighties thriller released on home video as DEAD AIM.  A series of murders disguised as overdoses are plaguing Atlanta.  Corbin Bernsen (L.A. LAW), Isaac Hayes (SOUTH PARK), and John Hancock (BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES) also star.

REVIEW LINK: Code Red Releasing (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

MACE DVD specs:

• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Audio commentary with director William VanDerKloot and associate producer Toby Murphy
• Code Red Trailers

More Code Red reviews at Update the Tags: Code Red Releasing.

The BFI and the BBC dig up ROBIN REDBREAST (review)

Anticipating the folk horror of THE WICKER MAN, this long unseen "Play for Today" teleplay ROBIN REDBREAST tells the story of a script editor (Anna Cropper) who decides to clear her head by leaving the city for a country cottage in a quaint little village.  The locals are eccentric and prying, and soon she begins to realize that she has become part of a mysterious plot involving the local harvest festival.  Written by John Bowen, author of "A Woman Sobbing" for the series DEAD OF NIGHT as well as "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" and "The Ice House" for A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS).

REVIEW LINK: British Film Institute (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

ROBIN REDBREAST DVD specs:

• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• English SDH subtitles
• Interview with writer John Bowen
• Short film "Around a Village Green" (1934)
• Collector's Booklet