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 July 24, 2026

“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 July 20, 2026

“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!

When EVIL is so Ingrained, Drastic, Dangers Measures Must Be Taken. “Confessions of a Police Captain” reviewed! (Radiance Films / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on July 4, 2026

“Confessions of a Police Captain” Now Available on Blu-ray!

Police captain Giacomo Bonavia is a dog with a bone when it comes to pinning an arrest against the corrupt and criminal kingpin Ferdinando Lomunno. Lumunno is seemingly immune and untouchable to conviction, having been acquitted of charges three times already while in Bonavia’s custody after key witnesses go missing or are found dead deemed by accidental circumstances. Determined to stick it to Lumunno by going outside the limitations of the law, Bonavia strong arms the release of a professional hitman from a psychiatric ward and who has a lethal grudge against Lumunno for dating his sister. When the plan backfires in a bloodbath, the captain becomes the subject of investigation for assistant D.A. Traini who suspects Bonavia to be no less corrupt than those he pursues, but when the evidence suggests corruption at the highest level within the public office, Traini wavers on the captain’s crusade against inexorable crime.

Before moving into a follow-up of powerful possession of one of America’s favorite haunted houses in “Amityville II: The Possession” and even before formulating a planned coup of an Arican nation with a meticulous plan that involves the hijacking of a major hotel and taking key hostages in “Goodbye & Amen,” Italian director Damiano Damiani tackled corruption on every level with “Confessions of a Police Captain,” released 1971. Originally titled “Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica,” the script is written by Damiani, who usually has his hands mixed into his directed projects, and Salvatore Laurani, based off a story by Damiani and Italian genre utility screenwriter Fulvio Gicco Palli (“The Designated Victim”). The Italian crime thriller is shot on location in Palmero of the Sicily region and is produced by “Hitch-Hike” producers Mario Montnari and Bruno Turchetto with Euro International Films and Explorer Films ’58 as the coproduction studios.

One of the biggest names in Hollywood shares the screen with one of the biggest names in Italian cinema as questionable colleagues against crime as Martin Balsam of “Psycho” and “12 Angry Men” plays the cynical police captain Bonavia who has lost all faith in the justice system and takes a covert vigilante approach with a dangerous plan that hopefully kills two birds with one stone. Balsam fashions Bonavia as a man exhausted by law’s red tape, lack of enforcement, and the justice system need for hard evidence, turning the hardnose captain into playing the game just as the criminals do with deceit, guile, and ruthlessness. While Bonavia’s intentions are in the right place but executed with malice and frustration, deputy D.A. Traini sees the world in black and white and not as red and complex as Bonavia as the deputy is almost near clueless to the corruption with his straightforward approach to the justice system her serves, believing it works without wickedness. “Django” actor Franco Nero compliments Martin Balsam’s tranquil plotting and coverup with headstrong thoroughness to cover every base to nab the captain in his own misstep or vocally browbeaten and accuse him into a confession. Nero purposefully feels lost but never out of the cat-and-mouse game that he plays to a character’s fault, losing sight of the real danger of blatant criminality and the scum that pull the strings right under his nose. The supporting cast includes colorful peripheral characters who double as cynical expendable fodder or are possibly a double agent with their own set of vices with Marilù Tolo (“The Scorpion with Two Tails”), Luciano Catenacci (“Syndicate Sadists”), Arturo Dominici (“Castle of Blood”), Claudio Gora (“Seven Blood-Stained Orchids”), Adolfo Lastretti (“Venus in Furs”), Giancarlo Prete (“Escape from the Bronx”), and Michelle Gammino (“The Virgo, the Taurus and the Capricorn”) in those roles.

As far as Italian crime thrillers go, “Confessions of a Police Captain” is about as brutal and unforgiving as they come with a medley of fair game for mortal coil and where high rankings, who are opposed to pure corruption, must go beyond that upstanding public official role to bend or break the law to be effective against the insidious nature and unkillable cockroach conduct of crime. The story puts to question the moral judgement of good men who want to do the right thing but our bound by the shackles of statutes and can do nothing about the misuse of the justice system and how career criminals in high places can get away with murder without even a scratch. Is Captain Bonavia the good guy of the story as he goes after a hefty criminal or is he the story’s villain for stirring up trouble with a plotted assassination attempt that in turn leads to a string of homicides? The latter seems pretty damning but, at the same time, it exposes more truth to the underlining criminal element that disguises itself as powerful public figures who are supposed to be on the right side of the law. Audiences will be neutral with Captain Bonavia and feel more relatable with Deputy D.A. Traini and his confusion and frustration about the internal conflicts of the law, the transgressions, and the blurred line of vigilantism. There’s also a remark in the story about how integrated crime is the institutions and this goes as far as being very literal too by comment and even exhibiting a scene of a snuffed-out corpse being encased in cement used for pillars of new skyrise construction. The ruthless and plausibility of cementing someone inside a concrete pillar is one aspect that makes “Confessions of a Police Captain” a visceral Italian crime thriller amongst an already stacked of powerhouse performance.

Damiano Damiani’s “Confessions of a Police Captain” is a taut crime thriller now available on a 2K transfer restoration, limited-edition Blu-ray from Radiance Films. The UK distributor releases the Blu-ray for the North American market, encoded with both regions A and B, under is AVC compressed BD50 with Hi-Def, 1080p resolution, and presented in a widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The restoration refreshes the image with a stronger color saturation and deeper details that make people and objects pop off screen and have a tactile appearance. This is the best the Damiani picture has ever looked that remains consistent through the runtime with no issues with the well-preserved and maintained print and no issues with compression codec. Even wide shots of large landscapes around Palmero, from rock click formations to the cityscape are highly detailed and don’t have that washed out and stretched to lesser image discernability. The Italian uncompressed PCM mono track offers an about as expected with a post-production, or ADR, audio layer distinctly detached for the action, more so with the dialogue that the action effects as gunshots are particularly well integrated. Not a native Italian linguist, Balsam’s English performance was noticeably mismatched and had an Italian overlay track with a voice acting dub. English subtitles are available and they pace well without grammatical error. Special features include new interviews with actors Franco Nero and Michelle Gammino, a new interview with editor Antonio Siciliano, and a new interview with film score export Lovely Jon. The new artwork sleeve has a reversible side with a replica of original Italian poster art. Inside, a limited edition booklet feature a pair of archival interviews with Damiano Damiani conducted by Gerard Langlois and Guy Braucort, cast and crew listing, transfer notes and acknowledgement, and black and white stills from the film within the 23 pages. Housing the release is a clear Scanova Blu-ray case. The film is not rated and has a runtime of 104 minutes.

Last Rites: “Confessions of a Police Captain” is the epitome of an Italian police story with subversive city corruption, a vigilante lawman, and unflinching narrative that puts every character in the crosshairs of its noir-like composition.

“Confessions of a Police Captain” Now Available on Blu-ray!

What’s Fashion Without a Little EVIL Behavior? “Helter Skelter” reviewed! (Radiance Films / Limited Edition Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on July 1, 2026

Beauty is Pain. “Helter Skelter” from 88 Films!

Lilico is the hottest Japanese fashion icon. Fans adore her, brands want her, magazines crave her, and paparazzi and photographers yearn to shoot and work with her beauty that inspires all and commands undivided attention. However, her astonishing beauty isn’t entirely organic as multiple surgeries through unorthodox surgical procedures that enhance her from a forgettable nobody to an unforgettable somebody. Her radical surgeries begin to show blight side effects of the surface of her skin, sending her into vanity driven sociopathic spiral of sex, mental torture, and self-destruction, also affecting those closely around her, especially her assistant Hada who takes the brunt of her maltreatment. When a new, hot model is presented by her manager and the world begins to fall in love with her, seemingly dropping Lilico from being the face of the fashion industry, the model’s snowballing and necrotizing surgical side effects can’t be stopped from becoming all but public.

Social commentary horror movies like “The Substance,” “The Neon Demon,” and “The Ugly Stepsister” underline the vast awfulness and extreme lengths of beauty standards. How to keep youthful, how to manipulate the face and body, and how envy can be weaponized from the worst of counterparts are just some of the attributes, which are very accurate outside the cinema, used as tropes for the body horror subgenre where attractiveness is the core catalyst that motivates monstrosities. These late 2010s and early 2020 films might not have been directly inspired by Mika Ninagawa’s “Helter Skelter” but definitely pulls from the same cloth. The 2012 Japanese fashion industrialized body and psychological horror is adapted by Arisa Kaneko based off the Kyôko Okazaki manga of the same name with established manga-to-film experienced producers, Morio Amagi (“Cutie Honey”) and Mitsuru Uda (“Xxxholic”), producing the WOWOW, Parco Co. Ltd, and Asmik Ace Entertainment film.

Objectification perspective isn’t always from the outside looking in but can be looking out as well. In “Helter Skelter,” model Lilico believes in her self-importance, treating others in subordinate to her illustriousness career as the hottest flavor in Japan’s fashion society. Society objectifies Lilico as nothing more than a stylistic Goddess who can do no wrong and even have the smallest bit of her in their space, whether be the hot topic of conversation or to the be face of their magazine cover, whereas Lilico objectifies those all around her with eviscerating self-proclaimed eminence and dominion over their mind, body, and soul. “Ghost Train’s” Erika Sawajiri has the perfect look and approach to celebrity derision without blatancy toward others as her expressionless face never contorts with anger, never smiles without the devilish smirk and piercing eyes, that makes the fashion icon unreadable and to sway of control during bi-polar scenes where happiness and disgust swing rapid on a totalitarianism pendulum. Personal assistant Michiko Hada, under the performance of “R100’s” Shinobu Terajima, takes the brunt of abuse during on-the-clock and off-the-clock professional and personal time. Terajima’s ordinary bearings for Hada make the character an easy target in contrast to Lilico’s ornate wardrobe and lavish style of living spurred by ruthless nature to be best and most beautiful, taking an authoritative sovereign stance of control in the fashion hierarchy. Lilico’s spoiled prince behavior coincides by a fueling Kaori Momoi in a queen-like mother figure as the talent agent who mostly advises her star pupil an instigating misconduct mindset with pro-surgical advice and like-minded guidance that artificially influences her body despite the pain and dangers as well as providing a mimicking behavior of dejecting and downcast harm. Nao Ōmori (“Ichi the Killer”), Gô Ayano (“Woman Transformation”), Kiko Mizuhara (“Attack on Titan”), Hirofumi Arai (“The Neighbor No. Thirteen”), Anne Suzuki (“Returner”), and Mieko Harada (“Ran”) all play a role in the rise and fall of Lilico.

Much like Lilico’s quickly deteriorating fractured state of mind, and body, Ninagawa utilizes a cinematic style that’s overly brilliant with neon colors and a sharp polished look that contrasts reality and distorted perception, creating a disjointed narrative digression Lilico experiences. The hyper stylization keeps in tandem with the fashion world of flash photography and gaudy maximalism, the ultra-violence and promiscuous behavior depict the cutthroat competition of remaining beautiful and the ugliness that’s truly inside, and the sheer flaunting of indifference and superficiality lingers throughout in and out of favor of our terrible protagonist who is actually the villain and the victim of her own tale. Each character is flawed beyond reproach and having no redeemable qualities that make them appear strong or promising to be a virtuous type. Not even the meek and eager-to-please personal assistant Hada who takes the punishing commands of her employer and manager in a purely pitiful subjugation of oneself to not lose a job position and be in the presence of stardom. Hada even lets Lilico invade her personal life and continues to let it happen with no choice in the matter. “Helter Skelter” embodies the very definition of the term with its confused and hurried chaotic state in design and in story while, in the same baroque breath, disenchanting the illusion of the fashion industry and beauty standards as not glamourous and genuine but fickle and fabricated with a heavy dish of backstabbing and self-destruction.

In the same spirit as photogenic magazine models, UK label 88 Films releases a beautifully crafted, limited-edition Blu-ray release. The numbered release Blu-ray is AVC encoded, 1080 high-definition resolution, onto a BD50 that was already shot digitally with a Red One MX camera through Zeiss Ultra Prime and Angenieux Optimo lenses under cinematographer Daisuke Soma. This gave “Helter Skelter” a glamorously polished look to accentuate the hyper-stylized and contemporary look that starkly discolor the centralized characters as ruthless people of fashion and high society. When good finally enters the picture, a young model stepping to Lilico’s high heels as the next young, hot model, the harsh design of modernism is scaled back to simple and sterile aspects with more of the dramatics being held locally to the downfallen characters. Higher contrasts create deeper shadows amongst a medium-heavy color saturation that primaries strong statement colors like fire-engine red and Duke blue. The curvature of the anamophoric lenses, presenting in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, do show intentional signs of wrapping at the sides to capture the entirety of the wide shots in smaller spaces but adds to the surrealistic effect and is implemented at the right moments to make it all sensible. No compression issues to note. The Japanese DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and 2.0 Stereo tracks are the only two formats encoded. The 5.1 has formidable attention to the side and back channels with the chaotic fashion-industry ambiance with erratic behaviors steering the scene. Every action detail is highlighted to bring quieter scenes more tension and every tumultuous moments a fuller body. The dialogue is crystal clear and layered appropriate with environmental track and soundtrack. Moods rise up and down with the fluctuation soundtrack that pulsates in breath-holding, provocative, turning-point scenes that while melodies play in more of shocking portions to entice attention during climatic notes. The newly translated English subtitles have no synchronization or grammatical issues to note and pace well with the visuals. Special features include a feature in tandem audio commentary with Tori Potenza and Amber T., interviews with star Erika Sawajiri and director Mika Ninagawa, a behind the scenes of raw footage making the film, the Japanese premiere stage greeting, an opening day stage greeting, the Q&A from the Taipei Film Festival with director Mika Ninagawa, the original rehearsal footage, an image gallery, and the teaser and official trailers. Like Ninagawa’s film, 88 Films tangible release is also hyper-stylized with newly commissioned art by Luke Insect that’s surreal, color, and slightly disturbing. The clear Scanavo cases comes with an gold Obi strip with film and Blu-ray details and the sleeve is dual sided with original Japaense compositional design on the inside. Inserted inside is a 23-page color booklet with a chaptered essay by Violet Burns, complete with color photo stills and promotional photos with the front and back art contrasting the two model women in a good and evil, light and dark, way. The not rated, limited-edition Blu-ray has a runtime of 127 minutes and is A and B encoded to support playback in the Americas as well as Europe.

Last Rites: There are plenty of horror as well as commentary films about fashion, but none do it with style quite like Mika Ninagawa and still develop an unrivaled cynicism of self-implosion.

Beauty is Pain. “Helter Skelter” from 88 Films!

EVIL Has a Sweet Tooth for Children! “The Devil’s Candy” reviewed! (Second Sight Films / 4K UHD and Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on June 14, 2026

“The Devil’s Candy” 4K UHD and Blu-ray Is Now Available from Second Sight Films!

A financially struggling, heavy metal inspired painter buys a bargain country house with an adjacent studio to work toward commissions and to home his wife and daughter in a bigger, lighter space. When an unstable man with a child-like intellect disability arrives at their doorstep, wanting to come home to play his electric axe guitar to drown out the Satanic chants he continues to hear, he becomes the beginning of the family’s nightmare in their new home. The man is a child serial killer, an unwilling agent of the Devil, who believes children are the Devil’s candy and when he can’t muffle out the continuous chanting in his ear, he must obey the commands to supply his master with more hacked up adolescence. A couple of near miss encounters with the painter’s young daughter put the family on edge and into police witness protection but that won’t stop him from coming for her.

Sean Byrne, the Australian filmmaker who debuted with the insane prom queen killer in “The Loved Ones” and who turned Jai Courtney into a shark-obsessed serial killer in “Dangerous Animals,” directed “The Devil’s Candy” in between those two productions and is his only solely U.S. produced film to date. The 2015 film that mirrors the Satanic Panic era with its heavy metal and its unspecified yet strongly suggested 1980’s motif is written by Byrnes to symbolize the contentious efforts to divide family bonds in the best and worst of times with the killer representing the invasive and dangerous wedge when the painting father suddenly develops a muse for his work, losing track of time while working and neglecting his family responsibilities. “The Devils Candy” is produced by Jess Wu and Keith Calder (“You’re Next,” “The Guest”), Chris Harding (“You’re Next,” “The Guest”), and Roxanne Benjamin (“Southbound”) under HanWay Films and in association with Snoot Entertainment.

Ethan Embry is an interesting casting choice to be play principal father Jesse, a father-painter with a heavy metal music edge who becomes possessed to paint disturbing images of upside crosses and children burning. Embry, who has the softest, puppy-dog eyes in the industry, fits remarkably as the likeable Jesse, sporting a long hair wig overtop his scruffy facial hair and athletic and muscular toned body that becomes a character in itself to display his intensity as a normal painter and more so as a possessed painter but never leaning toward being malevolent under the influence of possession, just a bad dad to daughter Zooey (Kiara Glasco, “Maps to the Stars”) that jeopardizes their close bond. I found it curious that Shiri Appleby, “The Killing Floor”) is mostly out of the narrative picture as wife Astrid. There are a couple of heart-ot-heart scenes between her and husband Jesse but from the most part, Astrid is absent working across town and leaving much of the family relationship strain in the hands of Zooey and Jesse without Astrid weighing on Jesse’s lapse in judgements: forgetting to pickup Zooey from school, leaving the door open late at night while painting, etc. Astrid is written with too much understanding and not enough mother bear ferocity. My personal favorite supporting actor, who has been around for decades and here has a bigger antagonist role, is Pruitt Taylor Vince finding and exhibiting his inner calling to kill children. “The Identity” and “Mississippi Burning” actor with noticeable nystagmus that moves his eyes involuntarily, mostly side to side, has in his firm grip one of the more subtle yet disturbing characters with layers, struggling with the Devil’s speak commanding his ear and becoming violent went his attempts to subside the viperous, chanting tongue hit roadblocks. “The Devil’s Candy” rounds out the supporting pars with Tony Amendola (“The Curse of La Llorona”), Leland Orser (“Alien Resurrection”), Craig Nigh (“Terror Birds”), Oryan Landa (“Hollow Scream”), Jamie Tisdale (“From Dusk till Dawn: The Series”), Mylinda Royer, Marco Perella, and Sheila Bailey Lucas.

Satan and heavy metal are nearly synonymous in the horror assemblage – Charles Martin Smith’s 1986 “Trick or Treat,” John Fasano’s 1987 “Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare,” Jason Howden’s “Deathgasm,” and even “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” blends Hell with Rock ‘n’ Roll! – and all give a villainy credit to the God antithesis known as the Satan. “The Devil’s Candy” is a poster child for the Metal and Satan genre, as part of the dubbed “Metalsploition” or “Rocksploitation.” Yet, the Sean Byrne film plays a different kind of setlist, one that doesn’t slap Satanic right into your face but rather plays to the tune of possible mental illness with a subtle flavor of supernatural forces at work, behind the veil of derangement and delusion. Hell and brimstone, corporeal demons, or any kind of the depths emerging from the fiery pits of the underworld are greatly and purposefully omitted from “The Devil’s Candy” and that is a welcome change from the aforesaid films, grounding this terrifying exchange more onto the fabric reality, as seen in news reports of child kidnapping and murder. This instability doesn’t only apply to the Pruitt Taylor Vince’s Devil whispered, child-killing character but also applies to Embry’s Jesse, a family man with a metal edge who flirts with temptation, tempted to the darker side of metal, by being influenced with a malevolent muse to draw disturbing images and skirting responsibility that threatens the stability of his family, causing trust severing discord. He also toys getting in bed with an artist curator who thrives and lusts after dark, provocative, profane art, with his gallery name being Belial – another name used for Satan in other cultural and religious beliefs. Jesse must resist fame, fortune, and the guile techniques of Satan on Earth, another pointblank theme mentioned in the movie with a televangelist and return to his roots of connecting with his daughter and wife instead of selling his soul, or selling out, to the Devil.

Second Sight Film’s dual format, 2-disc, 4K UHD and Blu-ray set of “The Devil’s Candy” is a tremendous gift to the physical media world. The HVEC encoded, 2160p resolution, BD100 and the AVC encoded, 1080p resolution, BD50 are strikingly peak picture quality for their respective formats. The limited edition contains a new, producer-approved 4K restoration of the original digital print and, while there’s likely not a massive different between the digital master and the restoration, Second Sight’s imaging for the release is superb, nonetheless. Hovering a settled moody and low-key tone, creating an abundance of shadows and underexposure, Simon Chapman’s cinematographer creates the necessary anxiety that nowhere is safe away from a maniac driven by the dark Lord. There’s beauty in the hard contrast with a cooler tone in more lit areas with details coming through greatly in these scenes that warrant them. Skin tones and fabric textures have organic tactile and reflective presence. Both formats are presented in a widescreen 2.40:1 aspect ratio that gives it a tighter yet lengthier exhibition for the high-def resolution. The English audio on the both discs is an encoded lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and it rocks! Metal is master for the metalsploitation picture with great emphasis on the low-tone and harsh electric guitar strumming while a heavy rock soundtrack, consisting of metal band tracks from Metallica, Goya, Slayer, Pantera, and Machine Head to name a few, is infused with the satanism scenario and Jesse and Zooey’s metalhead lifestyle. Dialogue is clean and clear with prominence above the layers where appropriate, never conflicting with the metal rock. Range and depth play a factor with off-screen action told through key non-diegetic sounds that can almost paint a picture in your head, and this also goes toe-to-toe with the non-diegetic chanting inside the mind/ear of our principal characters because of its omnipresence, which seemingly engulfs the entire space in frame and then some. Optional English subtitles are available. All the special features are encoded on both discs, which is quite unusual for a UHD to have the full list of extras and perhaps suggests a more efficient HVEC compression. These extras include an audio commentary with director Sean Byrne, Into the Fire a new intro interview by director Sean Byrne, new interviews with actor Ethan Embry Those Fragile Things, director of photography Simon Chapman Devil in the Details, editor Andy Canny The Cutting Room, production designer Thomas S. Hammock A Big Step Forward, and Sean Byrne’s short films: “Advantage Satan” and “Work?” Like other limited edition sets from Second Sight Films, “The Devil’s Candy” receives a rigid slipbox with warm illustrated art by graphic artist Huan Do that extends beyond the slip box onto the bi-fold UHD and Blu-ray tall jewel case, a front and center lobby card of six with the rest being images from the film, and the book, a 120-page read of new essays from Aton Bitel, Reyna Cervantes, Becca Johnson, Joe Lipsett, Mary Beth McAndrews, and Zoe Rose Smith. The book also includes production artwork of potential paints, cast and crew credits, and physical media acknowledgements. This is a heavy (metal) set! The UK certified 15 release for strong threat, violence, and language has a region free UHD and a region locked B standard Blu-ray with a runtime on both discs clocking in at 79 minutes.

Last Rites: “The Devil’s Candy” is a hard-rocking, hard-hitting thriller on the cusp of Satanic Panic but submerged fully in dangerous mental illness surrounding the welfare of children.

“The Devil’s Candy” 4K UHD and Blu-ray Is Now Available from Second Sight Films!