WELCOME BACK TO THE WALL, BASTARDS!
This week is one of those when it’s cool to be a genre fan but your wallet wants to punch you right in the nuts and ask “do you really need that TERRORVISION/VIDEO DEAD double feature?” To which you answer an emphatic “fuck yes I do, wallet!” So here we are, 18 titles. Some are better than others (tough to argue the merits of HIGHLANDER 2) but after a dry start to 2013 we finally have some titles to write Mom about. So let’s get ramblin’.
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— DG PICK OF THE WEEK–
If you are one of the many that has yet to experience PRISON, I envy you. This is a little seen film from 1988 directed by Renny Harlin. It was going to be his breakthrough film; producer Irwin Yablans (John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN) had big plans for Harlin but the bankruptcy of Empire left the film all dressed up and nowhere to go. This film never really caught on but now you have the chance to see this on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, stacked with special features including an information packed commentary by Harlin. We’ll have a full review coming soon but in the meantime, click the cover art and buy this good shit!
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK…
Full review of this coming soon but know this: if you dig the creepy crawlies and women who become sexually aroused when said insects attack then you just found your plans for Saturday night.
First things first: neither one of these flicks are good, but they’re bad in all the right ways. This is late night watching at its best. TERRORViSION is probably the lesser of the two but who cares when they both celebrate incoherency and mediocre effects? Not this fat fucker! Call the buddies, crack the beers, and press play.
As far as horror franchises go, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS and NIGHT OF THE DEMONS 2 is one hell of a 1-2 punch. Kevin Tenney, who also directed WITCHBOARD, set the stage with a fast paced haunted house story and a dash of Linnea Quigley nipple, but it was Brian Trenchard-Smith’s follow up (six years after the original) that doubled down on the goods. The second film seems to have an understanding with the audience: you like it bloody, we like it bloody, so let’s quit the foreplay and start slashing. NOTD2 feels a lot like Trenchard-Smith’s homage to classic drive-in horror, I could easily see the kids at DEAD END DRIVE-IN watching this. This flick is one of the many reasons why Trenchard-Smith is an icon around these parts.
Who would have thought Ben Affleck would be one of the best directors working today? He has yet to have a misfire in his directing career and with ARGO he may have just created a film that will be considered a classic in due time. The story is real, we all know how it ends especially those of us that lived through it, but it’s the “how” that drives this film and thanks in part to declassified documents (it only took 18 years), Affleck created a film that is an engine of suspense, directed with a master’s touch.
Lionsgate had the rights to this film and they released a spectacular Blu-ray a year or two ago that was jammed with special features. Though it’s now out-of-print you can still find it all wrapped up in new condition for your purchasing pleasure. Click the cover art to have a look. Olive Films picked up the rights and is releasing a bare-bones Blu-ray. Skip it and grab this good shit instead.
HIGHLANDER is a classic. I love the hell out of that story, those characters, that incredible Queen soundtrack, Christopher Lambert being a baddass and Sean Connery schooling him in the art of war. It just all comes together in this odd concoction that shouldn’t work but does. Then you have HIGHLANDER 2: THE QUICKENING which makes zero sense. It just has its notes all wrong which ends up producing a symphony where everyone starts playing a different song at the same time. It’s a mess. And I don’t care who is taking a blade to the “Renegade” cut of this film and adding 18 minutes, this is lost, the body washed up on the shore and the bitch is dead. Move on.
This was not screened in time for this column but word on the street is that this is bound to become a cult classic. Dig that cast!
Few films have seen double-dips on the level of TERMINATOR and TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY (though THE EVIL DEAD films come close). And here we are once again with a remastered edition of the first film. Sorry, mine looks fine.
Shit, Arnie. Two double-dips in one week? In defense of this dip, I do seem to remember that the coloring was off on the first release so maybe it’s corrected here.
Blood, zombies, boobs, everything a growing boy needs. Dustin Mills did it again, I am not sure how he pounds out so many quality films but he does. I don’t think this is as good as NIGHT THE TENTACLES but this is another strong showing by the young director. The best $14.99 you’ll spend all week.
ADDITIONAL TITLES OUT THIS WEEK…
That’s it for this week, Bastards. We’ll be back next week with: HOLY MOTORS, SANSHO THE BAILIFF, THE MASTER, THIS IS NOT A FILM, JOSHUA TREE (Blu), GIRLS AGAINST BOYS, ZOMBIE LAKE (Blu).
Until then…
HERE’S TO GOOD WATCHING THIS WEEK, SALUTE!
SEE YOU ON FORTY DEUCE,
G
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