The Mountains Are Alive With the Sound of EVIL! “Cold Prey” trilogy reviewed! (Second Sight Films / 3-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

“Cold Prey” limited edition trilogy set! Get it while it lasts!

Five snowboarding friends travel to a remote mountain to shred the best scenic power Norway has to offer.  When one of them hurts their leg, the group hunkers down in an abandoned hotel for the night, a hotel with a horrible history of a child and his parents who went mysteriously missing decades earlier.  As the night carries on, a mountain man living underneath the main floor hunts them down.  A lone survivor of the night is taken to a closing down hospital with a skeleton crew.  The mountain man had followed her, prolonging her ordeal of terror, and continues his murderous killing spree through a new batch of medical staff and police officers.  Decades earlier, the mountain man’s abused backstory sets a coming-of-age path of homicidal tendencies as he lives in the woods 12 years later after departing his parents and the hotel.  A group of hikers wander into his woods where he can’t differentiate man from animal game and begins his thirst for the kill that would claim the lives of many years to come.

What I’ve just given is the three basic plotlines for all three of the Cold Prey films, a trio of Norwegian-made slashers with a murderous mountain man at the center of it all.  Including a sequel and a prequal, the films were all produced in a relatively short amount of time of four years between 2006 and 2010.  For the original film, Thomas Moldestad (“The Conference”) wrote the script based off a story he wrote alongside Martin Sundland (“The Wave”) and Roar Uthaug, the latter directed the film and would later go on to direct the 2018 reboot of “Tomb Raider” with Alicia Vikander in the Lara Croft role.  The sequel, “Cold Prey 2,” directly follows the first film but helmed by a different director in Mats Stenberg with Moldestad returning to pen the project.  The prequel innately disconnects the continuous nature of Cold Prey I and II for more history on the homicidal mountaineer with Sundland taking a backseat story idea role to Peder Fuglerud and Lars Gudmestad with Mikkel Braenne Sandernose bringing up the rear in the director’s chair.  The real-world location used in all three shoots was the Jotunheimen mountains and the studios connected to each project are Helgeland Film, SF Norge A/S, Norsk Filmstudio, Film i Väst, Storyline Studios and with the Norsk Filmstudio subsidiary, Fantefilm, involved in all three as the movie’s presenting studio. 

Ingrid Bolsø Berdal (“Chernobyl Diaries”), Thomas Alf Larsen (“Troll Hunter”), Viktoria Winge (“Inside the Whore”), Rolf Kristian Larsen, and Endre Martin Midtstigen play the five friends venturing to the mountains to shred some nice powder but wind up finding themselves stranded with a madman in their company.  That madman is played by Rune Melby, not to be confused with Sweden’s national hockey team player of the same name, to impose his large stature and husky look to be a formidable, silent antagonist that doesn’t need vocals to be threatening.  Surface level inspect of “Cold Prey” has it pegged as another typical slasher but this slasher rolls back the tropes, desaturating the themes and motifs to a reasonable amount and in a more realistic approach rather than having established personas, such as the nerd, jock, slut, etc., having gratuitous sex scene moments, and reduce the bonehead moves that ultimately result in their demise.  The sequel houses a new cast apart from Ingrid Bolsø Berdal making her return as a survivor recovering in a soon-to-be-closed hospital following the events of the first film.  She’s joined by Martha Snorresdotter Rovik, Fridtjov Såheim, and Johanna Mørck as the skeleton crew hospital staff, Kim Arne Hagen as Camilla’s boyfriend and utility emergency service person, Mats Eldøen, Per Schaanning, Andreas Cappelen, and Mads Sjøgård Pettersen as the limited bandwidth local law enforcement, Vetle Qvenild Werring as a boy patient, and Robert Follin replaces Rune Melby as the killer.  A larger cast equates to a larger body in this direct story follow-up and really capitalizes on the killer’s brute force and unstoppable grit that sets up a delusion of him against the world as a misanthropic maniac with some underlying superhuman force, like we see with Michael Myers. Berdal takes on the true survivor and heroine role helping those unaccustomed to the fight and even takes the fight to her tormentor, solidifying more of the final girl trope.  The rest are stuck in the middle as potential kill fodder and support to provide emotional capital as lives hang in the balance in their various relationships, which reminds me one relationship that’s hint at but never explored is the seemingly undercover or seedlings of affection between two medical staff that is quickly squashed by the rise of a killer in their midst.  The scene interaction would have stirred up controversy wither another involved character but never had a change to be problematic.  The prequel doesn’t involve any returning characters and really invests into the mountain man’s background more.  Played by a different actor in Endre Hellestveit and having an appearance more akin to the WWF Undertaker instead of a pelt and parka-cladded mountain man, each filmic version has varying style that almost feels heavily contrasted to the previous one and that can be jarring to that connective tissue for some.  A new band of friends become the hunted prey as they stumble into the mountain man’s forest home under the rough tutelage of illegal game hunter Jon (Nils Johnson) whose brother, police officer Einar (Terje Ranes), pieces the puzzle together the disappearance of the backpackers and Jon’s involvement in something more than poaching.  The backpackers play more into conventions without many complexities in their depth chart with Ida Maria Bakkerud, Julie Rusti, Kim Falck, Pål Stokka, Arthur Berning, and Sturla Rui are put into the mountain man’s crosshairs.  

As you’ve might have noticed, the prequel doesn’t receive high marks but it’s an entertaining bloodbath nonetheless, overshadow by the predeceasing counterparts because of the developing characters and the more interesting story that plays to a similar tune of the first two “Halloweens” and even more so with the continuation storyline between the first and second film with the latter set inside a sparsely populated hospital that definitely gives off “Halloween II” vibes.  That’s not to say the “Cold Prey” films are a carbon copy of notable classics and their sequels as “Cold Prey” brings a Norwegian staple into play with the summitting Jotunheimen mountains and their existence within that snowy terrain and mountain air, building a story around a mountain code that’s often spoken of, a code about safety that goes in deadly contrast toward the inexperience and nativity of youth believing they’re invincible to their surroundings when in reality mother nature, a natural evil within the mountain man living off the land, leaves more than a dent into their humility.  “Cold Prey” will often feel unoriginal with a severe lack of gore as that has almost become intrinsic to contemporary slashers but it’s refreshing to see a step back in the violence, though it’s nonetheless harsher.  Audiences will not be treated to impact violence that creates squeamish reactions and ghastly shock.  Instead, implied violence is the name of the game that results in the same blood-spattered crime scene look without the initializing, violent show of the blade sliding into the sternum.  These stylistic choices, executed perfectly by DoPs Daniel Voldheim (“Cold Prey”) and Anders Flatland (“Cold Prey 2”) in their camera work and expertly cut by Jon Endre  Mørk, are sold convincingly to ensure death is impenetrable when the pickaxe strikes while still flaunting a good amount of practical effects in makeup wounds, prosthetic props, and gallons of fake blood.  “Cold Prey III” dabbles in the same inferences and off-screne violence but shows a lot more too as we see a machine pierce and then slice away the insides of man and that knife going right int between the rib cage of a poor young woman, keeping up with the times of a modern slasher.  

The three film, Blu-ray set comes from Second Sight Films.  The UK label rolls out the red carpet with their high-definition release that’s an AVC encoded BD50, presenting each film with 1080p resolution and in a compressed widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 to capture the majestic Jotunheimen mountains.  Despite having three different directors of photography in Daniel Voldheim, Anders Flatland, and Ari Willey, each “Cold Prey” entry has the same gray sepia grading with a solid reducing of color saturation in attempt to harness cold and bleak surroundings of a harsher landscape.  IN the same breath, each DoP also tries to make the mountains and forest feel awesome and breathtaking while coursing its perilously imposing strength in size and, ironically enough, confining isolation.  You may find the Blu-ray details and textures on “Cold Prey” and “Cold Prey 2” not to be a sharp as expected for an early mid-2000s slasher as both were shot on 35mm for a better film cell texture rather than a captured texture to accentuate the landscape in a cinematic view rather than the digital polish that often downgrades pictures with a one-note aesthetic.  Since the snowcapped mountains were not used in the prequel, replaced with a forest setting, digital film was used to flesh out more raw textural details amongst the dense foliage and in the midst of a dilapidated mountain property.  No compressions issues in the codec to note.  Each film is fitted with a Norwegian language DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound, suited to bring the soundtrack and the directional tension to the frontlines of the sound design to setup an impacting impression when the action saunters into frame.  Diffused nicely throughout, depth and direction of sound creates not only the atmospheric of a malevolent presence, it also creates environmental anxiety when sounds go bump in the night or just in the abandoned motel or echoing forest setting.  Dialogue is crystal clear and the English subtitles pace well with the speed and have no noticeable grammatical errors.  Each disc comes with its own special features:  “Cold Prey,” Disc one, has a new audio commentary with Director Roar Uthaug and actress Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, a new interview with Uthaug This is the Vibe, a new interview with Ingrid Bolsø Berdal Draw the Process, an alternate ending shown in storyboard that extends the final cut ending, a behind-the-scenes look at the visual FX of the film, additional car scenes, blooper reel, two short films: “Mountain Rose Run Amok” and “An Evening in the Green,” and Bloodlights’ music video for their hit “One Eye Open.”  “Cold Prey 2,” Disc Two, has a new audio commentary with director Mats Stenberg, a new interview with Stenberg A Blessing and a Curse, new interview with actress Berdal Dissociation, a new interview with fomer director turned solely producer Roar Uthaug Stepping Aside, behind-the-scenes, blooper reel, and extended and deleted scenes.  “Cold Prey 3,” Disc 3,” has a new commentary by Christer Andresen and Phillip Escott of an outsiders’ perspective looking in on the film prequel and a behind-the-scenes featurette.  The limited-edition rigid slipbox is massive and perhaps one the biggest physical copies for a 3-disc production.  James Neal provides new artwork for the front cover that truly represents the story as well as the aesthetic to expect.  The trifold jewel snapcase holds all three discs and have dramatic character portrays from all three films.  Also inside are 5 collector art cards and a 120-page book with new essays from Matt Donato, J.A. Kerswell, Just LaLiberty, Paul Le, Ariel Powers-Schaub, and Nathaniel Thompson, plus the book comes with new artwork, stylized stills, cast and crew acknowledgements, and Blu-ray production acknowledgments and thanks.  The Blu-ray holds a UK certified 15 rating for strong horror, bloody violence, language, sexual threat, injury and abusive behavior.  This particular release is region locked on B and has a total runtime of 278 minutes.

Last Rites: The “Cold Prey” trilogy doesn’t flash new spins on the slasher genre that’s as old as horror itself. Instead, “Cold Prey” a satisfactory slasher that scratches the killer maniac itch with its mountainman maniac!

“Cold Prey” limited edition trilogy set! Get it while it lasts!

A Homosexual Hooks Up with a Porn Star and Treats Her EVILLY Sleazy. “The Last Foxtrot in Burbank” reviewed! (Full Moon Features / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

“The Last Foxtrot in Burbank” Finally Recognized by Charles Band and Full Moon Features!

In the fictious setting of Burbank, France, a distraught and wandering Paul grieves over the loss of his gay, drag queen lover.  Wallowing in despair as well as barely entertaining his lover’s mother, Paul is on a half-hearted hunt for a new apartment and runs into Jeannine when the two meet looking at the same rental.  A mostly sexualized relationship ensues at the apartment with Paul treating the beautiful French woman and aspiring adult star like a piece of meat in a homosexual way, stemmed by his inadequacies in bed.  Jeanne, becoming fed up with Paul’s obsessive and polarizing behavior during their romantic tryst, lashes out in various ways, one as a gun-toting adult starlet that makes shooting scenes with her all that more dangerous to one’s health.  Paul’s health too becomes a target as Jeanne’s ultimate distaste for his floundering and obsessive ways, especially in condemning her pornographic lifestyle.

“The Last Foxtrot in Burback” is a film Charles Band (“Puppet Master”) desperately tried to erase and forget along with then newcomer editor, “Halloween’s” John Carpenter, as both filmmakers disassociated and disavowed its existed because of a couple reasons:  1) the romantic satirical spoof was not a horror/sci-fiction film both of them wanted to make at the time and 2) audiences were not appreciating it’s parodical and fleshy colored luster.  The film it removes inspirational humorous bones from is Marlon Brando’s “The Last Tango in Paris,” helmed by Bernardo Bertolucci who is dug a path of steamy sexual dramas, including “Stealing Beauty” and “The Dreamers.”  “The Last Foxtrot in Burbank” aimed to capitalize on its 1972 pushing-the-boundaries of sexualization success with writers Bill Haggard and Sam Vaughn behind the screenplay pages.  Band produced the film with filming held in Los Angeles and Marc Perilli serving as executive producer under the Federal Film Incorporation.

In his best Marlon Brando impersonation, Michael Pataki (“Halloween 4:  The Return of Michael Myers,” “The Baby”) opens his pastiche performance with hyperbole and flamboyance to emulate his version Paul to Brando’s version of Paul while still dishing the Brando-isms and deliveries.  Pataki also opens his trench coat to open-faced frontal nudity.  Yet, the one who is mostly nude is Sherry Denton in the role of Frenchwoman Jeanne.  Her role does harness the same essence of “The Last Tango in Pari’s” Maria Schneider, making Denton’s Jenne harder to define as she absorbs Paul’s verbal and emotional abuse, as she contemplates their arranged sexual rendezvous against her emotional withstand all, and how she manages a life in the adult industry as a sex object that runs parallel with being too a sex object outside the profession.  Pataki and Denton’s scenes together resemble that of a mother humoring a spoiled child.  Denton’s rather levelheaded compared to a full-blown exaggeration of Marton Brando in Michael Pataki with acute yelling spats and irrational sex requests that bleed into pleading and disappointment on a childish person of imprudence.  The gut punch of obsession, desire, and more refined melodrama is lost within Band’s spoof in a combination of bad writing and missed opportunities to sell the performances.  While this version of “The Last Foxtrot in Burbank” is not the pornographic scene splice in version, the actors still must be comfortable with each other in the story’s requirement of genitalia proximity and exposure as some scenes can be often graphic in its simulation of sex as well as be humiliating.  The cast rounds out with Merlouch Drabin, Sally Marr (“Young Lust”), Simmy Bow, and I. William Quinn (“Alligator”).

Supposedly, “The Last Foxtrot in Burbank” is a shot-for-shot spoof but Charles Band’s picture has jagged edges around a nonconformist narrative whereas “The Last Tango in Paris” abides by more linear storytelling.  The gags are not particular funny unless you’ve seen the Brando film and have a puerile sense of humor, but even then, the gags are terribly heavy fisted in a strive to really make light of sexual casualness and obsession in a conduit of Brando’s mumble and gravelly discord with the occasional outburst of hyperbolic flair.  For those who haven’t seen the Brando film, “The Last Foxtrot in Burbank” will be totally lost without a reference, especially the France set story shows it’s budget with the English-laden business and directional signs that play into the running gag of the fictious city that combines Burbank, California and Paris, France.   One could see why Charles Band and John Carpenter wanted to disassociate and distance themselves from this film but for both filmmakers, it’s a significant first film that kind of redirected their career paths when they knew comedy, such as this one, wasn’t their forte.  Charles Band even went as far as destroying all copies of the film and changing his name to a pseudonym, Carlo Bokino, to erase all involvement but he unsuccessful and a print was discovered unphased by his attempts to eradicate all known evidence.  Today, Band accepts his first film and even catalogue’s it with a No. 0 on the spine that makes it official Charlie canon. 

The first official and unofficial film of Charles Band’s career comes to Blu-ray home video from Band’s Full Moon Features in an unlikely genre release from the horror and science fiction regular.  The AVC encoded, 1080p high-definition, BD25 comes uncut and uncensored, transferred from an original negative donated from the UCLA archives under an anonymous donor.  Not much is stated here about what kind of a transfer we’re treated but the 2K scan appears adequate with a freshened image with moderate color saturation and details.  There are times the image appearance has a slightly faded realism, similar to that of William Friedkin’s “The French Connection” where details can be soft at times and ungraded.  Most scenes are better than not with palpable textures around more closeups and medium shots.  Skin tones are little more on the orange side, likely due to the chemical dye in the exposure that has an orange base which results in a natural, fringed tint.  The Blu-ray is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio 1.78:1.  Audio comes with an English LPCM 5.1 and a Stereo 2.0.  Both audio formats provide a crisp track of a dialogue, ambience, and what soundtrack is present, but the surround sound does little to enhance the film with its lack of off-camera or multi-directional scenes with mostly centered performances by the actors and not a ton of action.  The stereo 2.0 suffices.  No hissing or crackling present and the interference is kept to a suitable minimum to digest all its wacky dialogue.  The physical presence of Full Moon’s Blu-ray runs the same course as the others with a standard Amaray Blu-ray case and single-sided sleeve art with no other tangible attributes.  The nearly full-bodied orange colored sleeve mirrors “The Last Tango in Paris’” art to an extent and Full Moon uses stills with nudity on the back cover as an added perk.  The 56 minute Blu-ray, shorter because the cut of the hardcore inserts, is rated R and unlocked for multi-region playback. 

Last Rites: “The Last Foxtrot in Burbank” is a hard sell with its flat lampooning of “The Last Tango in Paris.” A handful of sleaze to be had but there’s nothing more cringy than watching histrionics for an extremely niche market.

“The Last Foxtrot in Burbank” Finally Recognized by Charles Band and Full Moon Features!

A Father and an Assassin Fight Against EVIL Corruption! “On the Run” reviewed! (88 Films / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

“On the Run” Now Available from 88 Films!

CID special operations police officer Hsiang Ming is going through a separation with his wife, who also works for the CID in the narcotics division.  As the two attempt to work out an amiable agreement with their young daughter before she moves to the U.S., his wife is brutally slain by a female assassin, a hired gun employed by corrupt cops involved in a large drug smuggling operation.  One of those cops is her new boyfriend, a high ranking CID officer.  Accused of murder, Ming is on the run with his youngest daughter and even tracks down his wife’s murderer, Miss Pai.  Extenuating circumstances leaves Ming at the mercy of Pai who didn’t know her target was a cop and has immense sympathy for Ming and his daughter, a problem she’s directly responsible for.  Outnumbered, outgunned, and friends quickly diminishing. Ming has no other option but to accept the deadeye Pai’s help and the two quickly form a bond that goes beyond just surviving insidious corruption.

In 1988, Bo Ho Film Company and Golden Harvest Productions released the Alfred Cheung-directed, Hong Kong heroic bloodshed flick “On The Run,” penned by Cheung alongside cowriter Keith Wong (“Her Fatal Ways” trilogy). “Mong ming yuen yeung,” aka “Fleeing Couple,” is the literal title which also included another alternate title, “Hong Kong Connection – On The Run,” in more broad English titles.  The fast-paced, action-packed fight or flight thriller told a narrative of ingrained corruption within the ranks of the law, bonded unlikely heroes with conflicting professionals and a sore point connection, and really pushed the exodus, or export, of emigration at the time because of the seedlings of British rule coming to an end with a handover of Hong Kong back to the Republic of China, an act that eventually took a decade to complete.  Anhtony Chan, Leonard Ho, and Sammo Kam-Bo Hung produced the film with Paragon Films and Mobile Film Production as associated studios.

“Picture of a Hymph” and “The Peacock King” martial arts action star Biao Yuen is a sorely underrated action star from the 1980s, overshadowed greatly by the versatile Jackie Chan and the quickly rising through the heroic bloodshed ranks Chow Yun-Fat.  Though immensely popular in Hong Kong for his contribution to the acrobatic style of fighting and palpable stunt work, Yuen should be a household name in the States with select films that carried over.  The only problem was Yuen was never really a part of those niche works unlike the aforementioned stars and amongst others, but Yuen never stopped working, starring in a co-principal production as Hsiang Ming, a CID officer whose special operations department is being phased out, mirror his own life as he is being phased out amicably by his emigrating wife (Idy Chan, “The Siamese Twins”) and child (Chan Cheuk-yan, “Bless This House”).  As Ming, going through a separation is already difficult enough and Yuen’s able to show the meek and reserved desperation that initially stunts him as a husband but breaks through that limitation when she’s shot in the head and he must step up to be the protective father for his young daughter.  The father -daughter aspect is a narrative opposite that strays from the typical damsel in distress device.  Instead, Patrica Ha (“Flaming Brothers”) embodies the strong protector as the assassin Miss Pa.  Quiet natured and a crack shot, we’re introduced to Ha’s unique solitude of naked contemplation and, later, her retro appearance of a woman plucked from the 1960s with the flick up hairstyle.  Ha’s portray adds a lot to Pai’s mysterious past and her cold nature but her character’s arc travels across a sympathetic bridge when Miss Pai’s target ends up being an law officer with a cute family being hunted by money greedy and morally corrupted officials in Lu played by Charlin Chin (“The Imp”) and his entourage of varied goonies (Lo Lieh, “The Untold Story III”) – Wah Yuen, “Mr. Vampire” and Phillip Ko, “Cannibal Curse”) who are so individualized they are worth more than just the general and broad charactered henchmen that tend to be forgettable.  Bowie Lam, Kam Kong Chow, Peter Pau, Lap Sal Lam, Yung Kwan, Cheuk Yan Chan, Shek-Yin Yau, Kwai-Bo Chun and Heung-Kam Lee costar. 

Cheung’s “On the Run” is not only fast-paced, hard-boiled, and well-executed, the story is also dark and unforgiving.  No one is safe from the ingrained corruption even when lives are already upended through a natural course of hardships between sentient people making conscious choices that best suites them, such as Ming and his wife’s separation involving a small child.  Good guys are bad, bad guys are good, “On the Run” doesn’t define and cement the roles of the players as cops turn out to be corrupted drug smugglers and ruthless killers and an assassin for hire becomes a life savior for a father and his daughter with immense sympathy.  Each one of them are looking to escape one way or another:  Ming’s wife wants to move to America, Miss Pai wants to go back to Thailand, Lu’s looking to get away with murder and money, and Ming is open to explore the possibility of either moving to American before all the chaos ensued or flee to Thailand with his wife’s assassin in attempt to not only be out of the reach of Lu and his men as a witness to their treachery and victimizing transgressions but also to escape from his accusations of murder as well as be with his new found affection for his wife’s killer.  This speaks to the current Hong Kong climate of the looming power change and the state of affairs that drive denizens to abscond an unwanted change in rule with Lu and his men likely representing Chinese corruption of a communism power.  The film’s neo-noir veneer capitalizes suspense and danger around every corner and the level of trust certainly wavers in a directional wind that gives a scent of deceit.  “On the Run” is not gun-fu nor is it straight up martial arts; instead, the conflict basis is strictly melee and projectile based without the heavily influenced martial arts action of Hong Kong historical cinema, grounding “On the Run” with more realism in it’s darkest, grittiest narrative that makes the Andrew Cheung thriller more intense.   

88 Films releases “On the Run” onto a new Blu-ray home video that’s AVC encoded with Full HD 1080p high-definition resolution on a BD50 capacity disc.  The new 2K transfer from the original film elements has no qualms about it with a clean picture quality underneath it’s naturally healthy grain and diffused color palate that’s designs around shadows, neon lighting, and low-key lighting.  The negative spaces are often pleasantly inky without any decoding blotches or issues to divide into a couple of shades of black.  Skin and fabric textures are nicely highlighted with full perspective of the grime that builds up on the characters put through the violent wringer.  Patrica Ha is stunning with her character’s introductory getup much to the thanks of the transfer’s refined detail from her retro hairdo to the equally attributed outfit ensemble that’s plain, but she wears plain in a cool, sexy fashion.  The film is presented in a widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio.  The uncompressed Cantonese LPCM mono track funnels right, left, and center audio through a singular speaker so there’s an unfortunate lack of spatial direction, but this cleanly presented ADR track still offers strong, robust audio in its action and in its unobstructed dialogue albeit some low buzzing interference from the studio recording.  This strength of quality also extends to the action that has powerful measure despite being held in a crowded, single audio design.  The new remastered, optional English subtitles are of the UK lexicon with 88 Films being a UK label.  Special features include an audio commentary by Kenneth Brorsson and Phil Gillion from their Podcast on Fire Network, a second audio commentary with Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto, an interview with director Alfred Cheung Running Away, an interview with David West Predicting the Future, an alternate ending that cuts shaves off scenes on the tail end, and the Hong Kong trailer of the feature.  Graphic artist Sean Langmore continues to supply 88 Films with tremendously detailed slipcover and primary sleeve art compositions of characters and memorable moments meshed into a single image.  The reversible sleeve inside the green Blu-ray Amaray case houses the original Hong Kong poster art, which is more simplistic and not as busy as Langmore’s.  The region A/B encoded Blu-ray is not rated and has a runtime of 89 minutes.

Last Rites: Hong Kong heroic bloodshed and noir is defined by many filmic entries but “On the Run” has paradoxical attractiveness about it that separates it from the rest as it treads a gloomy disposition and an expat dream.

“On the Run” Now Available from 88 Films!

Earth’s Greatest Threat of Destruction is an EVIL Extraterrestrial Slug! “Slither” reviewed! (Visions Home Video / 2-Disc Steelbook 4K UHD and Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

“Slither” Steelbook Can Be Yours! Buy it Here Today!

Wheelsy, South Carolina is a small town where the biggest event of the year is the countdown to deer hunting season.  On the eve to the start of the great hunt, an aggressive, parasitic alien entrenches itself inside a human host.  It impregnates a young woman to gestate thousands of its spawn, slug-like creatures that form telepathic link to the host and undertake its bidding.  Newly appointed Sheriff Bill Pardy, alongside his deputies, the eccentric town mayor, and longtime high school crush, Starla Grant, who’s husband was first infected by the invading extraterrestrial creature, must fight through the zombified hordes of alien controlled friends and neighbors townsfolk to stop the source from spreading and taking over the world but with their force numbers dwindling and the alien growing bigger and uglier by the second, Pardy must himself avoid being a host to the meat-hungry creature that has come to plague his small town community.

James Gunn, who has taken the MCU and DCU by storm with his creative involvement directing all of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, and upending the David Ayer and Zack Synder-universes with his divergent take on “Suicide Squad, and “Superman,” while also producing the just released “Supergirl,” use to bask in horror with “Slither,” a creature feature that captured the appreciation of 80’s monster movies and body horror with a zombie chaser and plenty of practical, tangible effects.  Gunn wrote and directed the now 20-year-old, 2006 movie filmed in a collective of portions of British Columbia, Canada doubling as a backwater town in South Carolina.  Brightlight pictures and Strike Entertainment produce the Gold Circle films presented movie with Paul Brooks (“White Noise,” “The Fourth Kind”), Eric Newman (“Dawn of the Dead” ’04, “The Thing” ’11), and Jeff Levine (“Shadow of the Vampire,” “ATM”) serving as producers. 

An established cast of talent comprises “Slither’s” eclectic character pool of townies being invaded by an outer space slug with a bad attitude.  “Firefly’s” Nathan Fillion is in the newly appointed Sheriff Bill Pardy and Fillion adds his usual spaceship captain comedic charm and swagger in the more grounded role as he stumbles into a world of slithering extraterrestrials that infest, digest, and gestate inside organic organisms.    Fillion’s hung up projection is for Elizabeth Banks’s Starla Grant, perhaps the most beautiful, and nicest, woman in all of Wheelsy, South Carolina,  The “Uninvited” actress adds pleasantries that are a compliment to Starla Grant but also a detriment as she’s unable to express how she really feels about her much older, well-off husband Grant Grant, played by “Henry:  Portrait of a Serial Killer” Michael Rooker.  Effectively, a love triangle ensues between the three with themes of true happiness, dissolution of a marriage, saving a marriage, love, and heartache coming into play amongst a body transformative horror that exceeds our solar system.  Rooker’s the rich Wheelsy resident who’s very protective of his trophy wife and is starting to feel the pangs of his wife pulling away from his advances but still loves her.  The fourth principal character in this quartet “The Darkling’” Tania Saulnier in what is essentially her debut protagonist role as a teen touched by the shared collective of the slugs and with her insight, provides pivotal information for the survivals to work against.  Each play their respective roles to perfection inside the chaos and mayhem of a more dominant species quickly spreading, even Gregg Henry (“Bodily Harm”) and his jaggedly crude role of town mayor fields a certain level of entertaining value to the frantic fray to keep “Slither” a light-hearted Hard-R creature feature.  The remaining cast includes Brenda Gutierrez (“Stone Cold”), Haig Sutherland (“Halloween:  Resurrection”), Jenna Fisher (“The Office”), and Don Thompson (“Horns”).

“Slither” is one of those seminal movies of the creature feature that could, or more accurately did, being a small fry horror movie that made a positive profit financially and amongst the audiences.  Of course, James Gunn found influence in his favorite horror works and borrowed, to an extent, key elements to spin his own craft that works to stand on its own two feet told mostly by its fine performances of the cast.  The down-to-Earth sci-fi action and gore is palpable and designed well in its composition of practical and computer-generated effects, especially for a mid-2000’s horror.  Gunn’s knack for black comedy works to the advantage of his brand of small-town satire and eccentric characters who can range from being charismatic and likeable to crude and inimitable.  Seeing the influences from John Carpenter’s “The Thing,” George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead,” and Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. and Russell S. Doughten Jr.’s “The Blob,” or maybe more so closer to  Chuck Russell’s 1988 remake of “The Blob,” won’t create a rift between the film and audiences as there’s too much to like and laugh about “Slither’s” slimy infiltration and invasion concept without it feeling hackneyed and reaching to strive to be something it’s not in its hark of a classic creature feature and science fiction monster movie.

The first time transferred in 4K, Visions Home Video, a subsidiary label of Vertigo Entertainment, releases “Slither” onto a new 2-disc, steelbook 4K UHD and Blu-ray set.  Disc specs include a 4K UHD HVEC encoded with 2160p resolution on a BD100 and a Hi-Def Blu-ray that’s AVC encoded with 1080p resolution on a BD50, and both films are presented in a widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio.  Image quality has been greatly found immersion with an image that pops off of the screen in the 4K option with the additional pixel count.  The Blu-ray holds its own and is also a fine presentation but in UHD, we’re treated to a little extra texture and a little extra clarity from the DolbyVision that can’t be achieved on the standard Blu-ray, especially around night sequences which most of the chaos and action takes place.  This is not to say the Blu-ray is unclear or obstructed as too has plenty of clarity and detail but what it doesn’t have is that deep sensory engagement of picture.  Coloring and grading are equal on both presentations that involve a more organic approach during the date and a bluish grading during night sequences to work in against the lighting.  No issues with the original 35mm elements as it’s kept clean and persevered well last 20 years, contributing to the natural resolution enhancement of the 4K transfer while also maintaining a healty but subtle grain.  The lossless English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio has no suppressive issues with fidelity and is just as immersive as the picture quality with distinctive directionals of the back and side channels and a balanced output of stereo, LFE, and central action.  Dialogue has no issues with clarity and is prominent above the audio layering.  The effects, such as slithering slugs sounds and gunfire, offer a good amount of bang for the cinematic budget and the overall main creature sound production eclectically engineered to be funny, in its whipping tentacles with that distinctive whip crack, as it’s scary and gross with its guttural growls and slimy trails.  English SDH subtitles are available for selection.  There’s also an uncompressed Stereo 2.0 audio format available.  Special features include an audio commentary with writer/director James Gunn and actors Nathan Fillion and Michael Rooker, featurettes The Sick Minds and Slimy Days of Slither and Bringing Slither’s Creatures to Life, Gunn discussions The Genesis of Slither in an interview with the writer/director, an interview with director of photography Gregory Middleton We’ve Got Worms, an interview with editor John Axelrad Feed the Fear, an interview with special make-up effects designer Todd Masters Just a Bee Sting, an interview with composer Tyler Bates What’s Gotten Into You, a location and set tour with actor Nathan Fillion, deleted and extended scenes, a blooper reel, and trailers for film.  The Visions Home Video set case comes in a steelbook with metallic luster and an exclusive, and uncredited from what I can tell, illustrated artwork of survivors in the throes of tentacle mayhem.  The backside also includes additional artwork that has the semblance of a veiny, Resident Evil-like giant eyeball.  Both sides are primarily colored in reddish orange with blue slithering in on the front cover.  Inserted inside is a dual-sided mini folded poster with the same front cover artwork plus alternative compositional artwork on the opposite side on its rigid heavyweight construction paperwork.  The 4K UHD is region free while the Blu-ray is region locked B as it’s a UK release.  The 95-minute film is certified 15 for strong gory violence and language.

Last Rites: An early 2000s oldie but a goodie, “Slither” gives a glimpse of James Gunn’s caliber of losers become winners and to not hold back much of the violence, gore, and rough dispositions of uncouth, unsavory, and unsophisticated characters. This new 4K UHD and Blu-ray release from Visions Home Video re-invades “Slither” into our lives, taking over our brains, and becoming part of our physical media collective.

“Slither” Steelbook Can Be Yours! Buy it Here Today!

EVIL Rides Murderously on the “Highway to Hell” reviewed! (Visual Vengeance / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

“Highway to Hell” on Blu-ray from Visual Vengeance!

Prison escaped, serial killer Toby Gilmore treks across the Midwestern terrain killing innocent people to take what he needs to retain his freedom.  City photographer Fran Tucker travels to the countryside to visit her family.  When the two collide, Fran is taken hostage after Gilmore shoots a man down on a road rage whim and he keeps her alive because of his loneliness inside a jail cell for years.  As the bodies pile up on Gilmore’s path toward freedom, the keen photographer will use ever clever trick in her repertoire to get away from a maniacal, yet steely, murderer with no sympathy, no remorse.  Sheriff Earl Dent stopped Gilmore once before and regrets not finishing the killer off when he had the chance.  Now, Dent won’t make the same mistake twice as he’s hellbent on stopping Gilmore once and for all before anyone else falls victim to Gilmore deranged acts of violence. 

“The Abomination” and “Ozone:  The Attack of the Redneck Mutants” filmmaker Bret McCormick strays outside the supernatural confines of horror and into a different kind of terror with an escaped prison and serial killer on the loose, titled “Highway to Hell.”  McCormick helms the 1990 release thriller under the pseudonym of B.A. Jenkins with writer Gary Kennamer penning his debut screenplay.  The story was set on the same near by set locations as “The Abomination” and “Ozone:  The Attack of the Redneck Mutants,” such as in the Poolville, Texas area as well as Dallas, Texas.  If you’ve seen all three of McCormick’s films, you may recognize some of the locations in the same shot angle.  McCormick also produces the film but also in a pseudonym of Max Raven, a regular alias used the aforenoted productions.  Mars Film serves as the production studio for the low budget, regional thriller.

Aside from a large supporting cast of Gilmore whim fodder, a murder spree that’s shows no discrimination, “Highway to Hell’s” cast is chiefly three principal characters, all beginning with Toby Gilmore’s escape from prison involving using stolen jail keys, killing a guard, pilfering the guard’s gun, and absconding on foot through the western landscape.  “Reanimator Academy’s” Benton Jennings, who has since “Highway to Hell” has found success as working up through the minor roles of eclectic of projects, had free reign to mold serial killer Toby Gilmore and the result is a generously entertaining dose of controlled chaos as Gilmore quirks and tics as he runs across the parched Texas land provide insight to his mental mindset but Gilmore is no dummy when he’s calculating next steps with hostages that ultimately benefit his survival.  His guard corpse looted snub-nosed pistol becomes an extension of his madness as he uses it to takeout anyone who puts a pinky toe in his path.  Up against him, his main arch nemesis, is Sheriff Earl Dent, played by an American action star mostly notable for his roles in Italian cinema, such as “Ninja Commando” and “Orgasmo Nero” to name a couple plus with a major role in U.S. “Evil Spawn” with John Carradine.  Harris and Jennings share very little scenes together and the ones they do share are in flashback of Gilmore’s apprehension, one that the Sheriff regrets not putting a bullet in between the killer’s eyes instead.  The other Gilmore antagonist Fran Tucker, an unfortunate photographer on her way to see her family caught in the middle of Gilmore’s escape.  Blue Thompson (“The Abomination,” “Ozone:  The Attack of the Redneck Mutants”) provides Fran’s beauty that strikes Gilmore’s perverse chord after his long jail time stint, providing him the only reason to keep her alive, but Fran isn’t one to backdown and give up her life so easily as she is involuntary thrusted into a misadventure of carnage and death  with no one coming to save her. 

Anchor by Benton Jennings horridness and traversal storyline, “Highway to Hell” doesn’t become stagnant because of its independent and minute budget.  The editing, performances, locations, effects, and overall story are more coherent than not without mostly any confounding measure. There are a couple of plot holes that could have been addressed to sate the quizzical audience, such as how did Toby Gilmore end up with jailhouse keys?  Or how he was able to explode motor vehicles with one shot of his puny revolver handgun?  Gilmore must have been one crack shot.  Yet, the sensationalized key points and action add mystery and cult film nodes to McCormick’s ambitious westernized highway thriller that pits good versus bad, morality versus justice, and insanity versus sanity.  Crackerjack editing from Gregg Phillips and stylistic measures by McCormick salvage any misgivings about the budget or special effects in what is a competent and coherent, yet strangely fascinating, terrain and terror tensioner that has little representational or metaphorical value but high on entertaining merit. 

Visual Vengeance highlights another Bret McCormick Texas hoedown of horror and exploitation with “Highway to Hell” on a new Blu-ray transfer.  The AVC encoded, 1080p resolution, BD50 uses the original SOV tape master and what it lacks in saturation, as tapes usually do, makes up for in quality with a near flawless image quality for a magnetic tape.  Details are not terrible defined, typical of a tape, but there is great delineation and discernibility with all objects in screen.  As mentioned, hues are muted because of analog limitations and the inability to touchup the tape itself.  If a digital transfer was made, doesn’t look like much was done to touch up the color, and perhaps has purposefully retained its analog aesthetic, presented in a full frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio.  The LPCM stereo 2.0 English track offers a dual channel ranged output that has clean and clear dialogue with no issues of hissing, crackling, or any other vocal obstructions.  Overall truck lacks vigorous opportunity within the action context, such as gunshots and explosions, but, again, keeps with the original presented elements of a retro SOV exploitation.  Optional English subtitles are available.  Visual Vengeance delivers another jampacked Blu-ray full of special features that include an audio commentary by Bret McCormick, an interview with McCormick, interview with actor Richard Harrison Red Hot Asphalt, interview with Blue Thompson Road Trip, interview with screenwriter Gary Kennamer Writing a Road Map to Hell, interview with actor Tom Fegan, an image gallery, Gary Kennamer directed movie “Redneck County Fever” from 1992, Bret McCormick interview on Kennamer’s “Redneck County Fever” film, an interview with Kennamer on his movie, a commentary rack with McCormick and Kennamer on “Redneck County Fever,” Kennamer interview on his film, and other Visual Vengeance trailer previews.  Inside the Blu-ray, there’s a stick-your-own, retro VHS sticker sheet, a folded mini-poster with original art, and a reversible cover sheet with new art from Jolyon Yates as well as the original VHS artwork on the reverse side.  The Blu-ray comes in a clear Amaray case sheathed inside a limited-edition O-ring slipcover with more new illustrated artwork almost in a Ghana style fashion.  The 90-minute film is unrated and has region free playback. 

Last Rites: My personal favorite of the Bret McCormick catalogue, “Highway to Hell” is a SOV that’s simple yet effective with its western veneered thrills and a maniac making his will to ride-or-die freedom.

“Highway to Hell” on Blu-ray from Visual Vengeance!