An EVIL Assassin Battle Royale! “Mean Guns” reviewed! (MVD Visual / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on May 16, 2024

“Mean Guns” on MVD Rewind Collection Blu-ray! Purchase Here!

A Crime syndicate mid-level enforcer named Vincent Moon invites professional hired killers and syndicate affiliates to a new, urban-centric prison constructed by the organization the day before grand opening. The reason for this elaborate invitation is simple: all those invited have betrayed the syndicate in one way or another and are brought into the locked down prison to battle royale to the death. The rules of the competition clarify no one will leave the premises, unless being gunned down by a rooftop sniper is acceptable to them, and three contestants must survive the game to claim the prize, the prize being a three-way split of ten million in cash. As guns, ammunition, and melee weapons are dumped onto the battle grounds, a scramble ensues, and factions are made with 6-hour clock to kill nearly everyone in sight to live and be rich or to be slaughtered by Vincent Moon. However, there’s no honor amongst thieves and thugs and the rules bend in a rigged high-stakes game of kill-or-be-killed.

The late director Albert Pyun was an ambitious, fast-paced, and prolific director who dominated the late 1980s through much of the 1990s with eclectic, science-fiction action. The “Cyborg” and “Nemesis” writer-director severed the line between reality and the alternate that brought science fiction to a more grounded realism, such as we see in the aforementioned films, mostly because Pyun was always short on funds and short on time to deliver a final, finished feature. With his 1997 actioner “Mean Guns,” Pyun severed into another layer on the existential plane and took hold of different kind of alternative reality, one that is plagued by an all-powerful crime syndicate that has its insidious hands in everything, even in the personal and professional lives and secrets of its own employees and hired contracts. Andrew Witham wrote the script that was produced by longtime Pyun collaborating producers Tom Karnowski (“The Sword and the Sorcerer,” “Cyborg”) and Gary Schmoeller (“Hong Kong 97,” “Omega Doom”), together the trio founded Filmwerks which became the production company under “Mean Guns.”

Pre-“Law & Order: SVU,” which would define his career in the film and television industry, rapper Ice-T worked himself in from behind a mic to in front of a camera mostly beginning in the 1990s with “New Jack City,” an urban gangster film that matched his on stage musical presence and starred opposite Wesley Snipes (“Blade”), Chris Rock (“Jigsaw”), and Mario Van Peebles (“Jaws: The Revenge”). Ice-T found cult status in more pulpy thrillers with exploitation “Surviving the Game” as a homeless man hunted down by a group of rich sport hunters and playing a post-apocalypse beast in the graphic novel adapted “Tank Girl,” but his gangster persona had stuck with him, leaving him the legendary rapper seemingly encircled in the same kind of urban gangster films. This is the case with “Mean Guns” as he portrays a philosophical, upper-level syndicate criminal Vincent Moon spearheading a game of wetwork for the unscrupulous wetworkers associated with his organization. Not the most prolifically dialogued or screen timed role, Ice-T does what he can to bring Vincent Moon into the fold of much more colorful characters. “Highlander’s” Christopher Lambert receives co-top of the bill as a psychotic assassin looking to atone for a careless sin. Lambert is wonderfully unhinged while calculating as he integrates his “Highlander” sword skills and maniacal grin into his character of Lou, who through flashbacks had accidently killed a child on one of his hits and retrieves his biological daughter for an abusive stepfather to start life anew. More pragmatic is Lou’s rival Marcus, stoically portrayed by Albert Pyun regular Michael Hasley (“Dollman,” “Nemesis 2”). Together, Lou and Marcus must team up, along with the coldhearted D. (Kimberly Warren, “Blast”) and syndicate accountant turned informant Cam (Deborah Van Valkenbugh, “The Warriors’), to survive against the fray of likeminded killers. “Mean Guns” cast fills out with Tina Cote (“Nemesis 2”), Thom Mathews (“Return of the Living Dead”), Yuji Okumoto (“Robot Wars’), Jerry Rector (“Vampire’s Kiss”), James Wellington (“The Evil Inside Me”), and introducing Hunter Doughty.

Like many of Albert Pyun’s caffeinated action films, “Mean Guns” is the epitome of vehemently slick dipped in a 90’s glaze of an alternative, unchecked free-for-all of bad hairdos, trench coats, and guns. Lots of guns in a pre-computer-generated muzzle flash with real recoil and really bad, but good, one-liners. What’s more surprising about this Pyun is that, unlike his previously mentioned films, “Mean Guns” is virtually bloodless albeit the shoot’em up melee violently lays waste to nearly 100 bad guys. Pyun integrated a liberal use of blood squibs in his other guns-blazing and contentious conflicts, but “Mean Guns” takes a step back to a less severe tile like “Unkind Guns” with a comically coated film pulled straight out of a cheesy graphic novel. For example, a combatant, thinking they just scored the briefcase full of millions, finds their head aflame and their face covered in black powder loony toon style after the opened briefcase explodes offscreen. These moments provide a reality check to the already outlandish, yet highly entertaining, every man for himself game of death made willingly subjectable by its limited principals and Pyun style action.

Getting ready to kill for this new Blu-ray of Albert Pyun’s “Mean Guns.” The MVDVisual release, a part of their MVD Rewind Collection, is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, AVC encoded onto a 1080p, high-definition BD50. Pyun and director of photography George Mooradian, who collaborated on many of Pyun’s films, such as “Cyborg” and “Nemesis” as well as standalone projects with “Bats” and “K-911,” utilized a spherical lens with steep drop-offs around the edges of the frame, almost looks like everything around the left and right sides should be falling. IMDB states anamorphic lens but judging from the complete focus of the background and the severe oval-like nature of the frame, I’m leaning toward a spherical lens. For vast landscapes where length is nearly limitless, a spherical lens would be ideal to unify depth and main focus but since confined to a prison interior, compact hallways are squeezed in beyond a reasonable limit and often side-stance characters are warped in frame. Details are generally fine with the hi-def pixel count that translates skin tones naturally pleasing with a few moments of corrective coloring aside from the occasional red hot temperature flashbacks that bath everything in color-varied reversal exposure. The transfer isn’t perfect either with a couple of noticeable damage blips on the 35mm print. The uncompressed English LPCM 2.0 stereo is a mambo-ladened, bullet-whizzing, melee-skirmishing, and depth-exacting design that’s well balanced and layered. Dialogue remains free of audible blights and courses prominent throughout. Optional English and French subtitles are available. Special features, including an Albert Pyun introduction that’s encoded into the Play Film as well as the bonus content and to which had to be shot well before his death judging by the appearance of his rather healthy person in the video, includes an audio commentary by the director, a new interview with producer Gary Schmoeller, a new interview with executive producer Paul Rosenblum, and a new interview with composter Anthony Riparetti.. The original theatrical trailer is also included. I’m always elated to see the MVD’s throwback package design and the 59th Rewind Collection release continues the theme with a cardboard slipcover in mock disrepair with a corner edged torn and exposing the corner of a VHS tape cassette. Not to forget to mention the designed rental stickers to heighten the effect. Underneath the slipcase is a clear Blu-ray Amaray case with reversible cover art, each side promoted with a scaled down poster art bordered and backgrounded with a similar coloring shade. Inside, the disc is smartly pressed with a VHS-façade while the insert side has a mini-folded poster of the primary cover art. The region free release comes rated R and has a runtime of 104 minutes, which when watching the feature one can see perhaps some cuts were made for timing. Perhaps, Pyun had a longer version and had to edit and cut down for time.

Last Rites: A romping mayhem, “Mean Guns” is ballistically ceaseless and entertaining, if not also the touchstone of 90’s cheesy action, and is presented well here with in the latest, and greatest, MVD Visual Rewind Collection Blu-ray.

“Mean Guns” on MVD Rewind Collection Blu-ray! Purchase Here!

EVIL is Only in Your Nightmares. Or is it? “Retribution” reviewed! (Severin / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on November 5, 2021

Severely depressed artist George Miller attempts suicide by jumping off from his apartment building. During the exact same time, a low-end gangster is brutally killed by cruel loan sharks. Being both born on Aril 1^st and dying at the same time, the tortured spirit of the gangster possesses the meek artist’s body right before being resuscitated by EMTs. After a long recovery filled with horrific nightmares, the affable artist returns to his apartment building where he’s welcomed by fellow tenants and an overly warm landlord. Still plagued by nightmares that have seeped into his awake conscious state, George medicates himself to sleep but the nightmares continue as he sees himself using psychokinetic powers to kill random individuals with extreme malice. The nightmares are so real he wakes up in a sweaty panic to find out that that exact person was killed the night before the very way it played in his dreams. When George realizes the gangster has inhabited his body for revenge, he and his friends take measures to put an end to the vindictive carnage.

Santa Maria. Mother of God. Help me!!! That phrase, attached to the very last seconds before a gruesome death and announced blankly from fiery, dagger eyes, has forever been seared into the recessed corners of my eardrums as the death cry that echoes throughout Guy Magar’s 1987 gory and visceral possession identity crisis, “Retribution.” Magar’s ultra-violent and super-chromatic film is the filmmaker’s grand inaugural entrance as a full-length director following up behind a string of director chaired television episodes, including episodes from “The A-Team,” “Blue Thunder,” and “The Powers of Matthew Star” that regularly contained quickly charged, action packed sequences. The Egyptian-born director translates those intense moments of frenzied disturbance into his mean-spirited and unforgiving vindicator of a script cowritten with then first time screenwriter, Lee Wasserman. Shot in Los Angeles, “Retribution” is a virtual tour of the city, using the streets of L.A. and real locations, such as the Don Hotel for George’s residence and the nearby House of Neon Art, as a lively, eclectic, and wallet-saving convenient giftwrap for the film’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde complexion that feels totally normal compared to L.A.’s divergent glamour. Magar and Wasserman produce the film with Renegade and Unicorn Motion Pictures serving as the production companies and presented by Taurus Entertainment, formerly connected with United Artists.

There are probably many actors that could been imagined for the role of George Miller, the suicidal artist plagued with visions of him committing murder, but it’s hard to imagine that venomous stare of complete satisfaction in madness spread across the face of anyone else other than Dennis Lipscomb. No disrespect to the “Eyes of Fire” and “Wargames” actor but Lipscomb isn’t a chiseled-jawed and muscular leading man; in fact, Lipscomb is quite the opposite, but his range into mild-manner, all around nice guy George Miller into the lust for hatred and murderous revenge George Miller hangs on with complete chasmic permanence. However, George’s love interest with the street working prostitute and fellow Don Hotel resident, Angel (Suzanne Snyder, “Return of the Living Dead II,” “Killer Klowns from Outer Space”), hardly ever seems natural in not only in the characters’ surreal age-yawning dalliance but also the chemistry looks and feels flat between Lipscomb and Snyder. Magar and Wesserman neglect diving more into that bond between them but their enamored gleamy eyes for one another is apparent and strong without the context to back it up. “The Dungeonmaster’s” Leslie Wing also is placed as a George Miller sympathetic advocate in her role as hospital psychologist Dr. Jennifer Curtis, but Dr. Curtis has more background to contend with in comparison to the suddenly conjured fondness from Angel as Curtis is a mental health professional caring for a suicidal patient from at his rock bottom worst to a complete positive turnaround in his mental transformation. Curtis has more skin in the game with George’s supposed delusions of actually killing people in his nightmares as she defends not only George’s unique supernatural circumstances, but, in a way, herself as a licensed medical profession following HIPAA laws. “Retribution” holds many dear and unforgettable characters that essentially captures the entire 1980’s spectrum of personalities and, even for a brief scene, the cast gives each role their all, including performances from Susan Peretz (“Dog Day Afternoon”), Clare Peck (“Teen Wolf”), Chris Caputo (“Ghost Warrior”), Danny Daniels (“Voodoo Blood Bath”), Ralph Manza (“Godzilla”), George Murdock (“The Sword and the Sorcerer”), Mike Muscat (“Hunter’s Blood”), and Hoyt Axton who doesn’t stray too far from his good intentions, but naïve, father role in “Gremlins” to being a detective tracking down suspect George Miller.

I’m in total awe of Guy Magar’s “Retribution.” That opening scene of the suicide attempt with Alan Howarth’s building tension score drops not a single piece of dialogue yet opens with a gripping life and death situation, musically synced to progress toward a harrowing climax, and every frame is dripping with vintage 80’s appeal. Magar definitely knew what strings to pull to get the blood pumping, to get you excited, and to drop an excellent mystery right in the lap, or the middle of the street in this case with George Miller’s body after it flops off the car it just smashed onto. From that point on, “Retribution” peddles forward following the recovery, recouping, and ruination of George Miller’s life at the unseen hands of an exploiting, malevolent spirit that seeks to track down the top-tiered gangsters that shot and burned him alive and exact his own brand of harsh psychokinetic justice. Does it matter how George and this gangster, both born on the same day and both nearly died at the same time, came to fuse transcendently together? Don’t worry. Magar didn’t think it was important either and he’s right! “Retribution” snags all the attention for the sole purpose of the ride and that ride being a beautiful, color-coded daymare. The one aspect that ultimately retracts the buzzing high, stemmed from most 80’s films, is the sluggish love interest subplot between George and Angel stutter stepping into an awkward phase of interactions that hard stops much of core plot and though the plot is neurotically nonsensical to begin with, George and Angel’s desires for each other are about as cringeworthy as they come. Stick with the gore by honing in on Miller’s subconscious alter ego of a gangster serving his killers their just desserts via Kevin Yagher (“Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge”) and his highly effective special effects on a low end budget that, along with a brilliant showing of cinematography by Gary Thieltges, tips into the categorical likes of “The Evil Dead” or “The Exorcist.”

“Retribution” delivers a fervency unlike ever seen in one of the utmost, must-see, shamefully overlooked horrors films of the 80’s. Now, with a deserved boost and in style, “Retribution” gets the royal restoration treatment with a jammed-packed and sleek 3-disc Blu-ray set from Severin Films and distributed by MVD Visual. Disc one’s theatrical cut, clocking in at 107 minutes, comes from the recently discovered 35mm pre-print elements, shot on an Arriflex 35 BL3 per IMDB, and has been digitally scanned in 2K, presenting the region free film in 1080p Full High Definition inside the original widescreen 1:85:1 aspect ratio. “Retribution’s” image pleasingly pops with fine delineating attention to the details that reach out to the point where they’re nearly tactile textures. Every single setup of Robb Wilson King’s production designs are rich to begin with but are even figuratively injected with a smoother compression growth enhancing hormone, adding more layers of surface level details that personify and personalize the space. Magar’s chromatically fluorescent vision is a literal tilt-a-whirl palette blast of phantasmagoria. Disc tow is the extended Dutch video version that adds back in the extended seconds on the longer, gorier kill scenes. The English language DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 is the sole mix on the release and, honestly, sates the need with the dual channels. You obviously don’t get the surround sound, which considering this release would have been ideal, but the stereo mix, as well as the dialogue track, is still full-bodied, identifiable, and spotless of blemishes. John Carpenter understudy Alan Howarth scores his solo synth-laden story on tenterhooks with a tinge of a Miami Vice theme as well as setting tonal moods that add depth to character layers. If you want the entire OST, you’re in luck! The third disc is a compact disc of the entire soundtrack. Special features includes over two hours of content with Severin exclusive looking back at the experiences with the late director Guy Magar and the ins-and-outs of making “Retribution” interviews with co-writer Les Wasserman Writing Wrongs, actress Leslie Wing Shock Therapy, actress Suzanne Snyder Angel’s Heart, actor Mike Muscat Santa Maria, Mother of God, Help Me!, soundtrack composer Alan Howarth Settling the Score, special effects artist John Eggett Visions of Vengeance, artist Barry Fahr The Art of Getting Even, production designer Robb Wilson King Living in Oblivion. Other special features include Guy Magar’s student film “Bingo,” stills and poster galley, and the theatrical trailer all packaged under a cardboard slipcover and a reversible snap case cover. Severin Film’s “Retribution” release is a triumph, a proper regenerarcy of revenge cinema, with all the gory details being the star of the show.

Own this Amazing 3-Disc set of “Retribution” from Severin Films!

When the EVIL in Your Dreams Terrorizes You…”Nightwish” Reviewed!

Posted by Steven Lewis on September 22, 2019

A graduate dream research group experiment on paranormal and sensory deprivation sleep patterns involving controlling their own dreams, even if their terrifying, and examining their own deaths but when they pivot to investigate supernatural activity inside an isolated compound mansion in the midst of an arid desert, the four students and their eccentric teacher conjure malevolencies that include satanic rituals and alien encounters. With their professor spearheading an underlying motive to use them for his diabolical plans, the hesitant and scared group must decide to either force their participation or try and escape their instructors madness, but when the lines of reality blur, friend becomes foe and foe becomes friend with casualties in the middle on all sides as grisly depictions of death and suffering question whether their nightmares are spilling into reality.

Subconscious surrealism on an ultimate terror coaster from writer-director Bruce R. Cook with an unspeakable horror in every corner, from flesh eating extraterrestrials to disillusioned Mad Doctors, in the nightmare-inducing “Nightwish!” The 1989 made and 1990 released “Nightwish” is produced by Paul White and Keith Walley, both of whom collaboratively funded through their Wild Street Pictures production company the early 1990s horror which included another Unearthed Classics release, spine #2, “The Dark Side of the Moon” and, also, put a little cash into the Jeffrey Combs cult favorite, the Brian Yuzna sequel of “Re-Animator,” “Bride of Re-Animator.” However, the real star of the filming crew is none other than Sean McLin. Before going full fledge into being a camera operator, especially around the early days of Power Rangers’ television series, McLin had a short stint as director of photography and his cinematography beyond divine that engrossed to draw audiences into odd angles, mind-boggling depth play, and just colors after colors of spectre ghoulishness. McLin provided a pure motley of mental macabre of the Gregory Nicotero (“Day of the Dead”), Robert Kurtzman (“Lord of Illusions”), and Howard Berger (“In The Mouth of Madness”) powerhouse effects team.

The central characters essentially encompass four graduate students – Bill (Artur Cybulski), Jack (“April Fools’s Day’s” Clayton Rohner), Donna (“Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood’s” Elizabeth Kaitan), and Kim (Alisha Das) – along with their stern professor played by the solemn faced Jack Starrett (“Grizzly II: The Concert”). Relatively low on the totem poll names when considering a main cast; hell, I only know Clayton Rohner from his role in the mid-80’s teen transgender appropriation film, “Just One of the Guys” as well as being Admiral Jameson on one episode of Star Trek: TNG. Yet, the combination of crew talent along with the chiseled define facial features of a one Brian Thompson (“Cobra”), the meshed cast suffer no visible calamities or outright fumbles of performance as they each carrier about equal weight into a floating, weightless, construct of boiling human antagonizing fear. The cast rounds out with colorful supporting performances of a muscle head henchmen by Robert Tessier (“The Sword and the Sorcerer”) and the nitwit gate keeper, also animal feeder, Wendall played by Tom Dugan. Yet, Thompson tops the more colorful performances as Dean whose Kim’s ruggedly, manly boyfriend that’s more confident jock without the loss of brain cells. Thompson’s at the height of career, sporing a tank top for most of the film that puts his muscular form on display, but he isn’t the only actor to bare skin as Elizabeth Kaitan and, especially, Alisha Das bare a bit of flesh for the sake of providing a sexual desire to story.

“Nightwish” understandably has a hard chronicle to follow because any film, regardless of genre, incorporating dreams or delving into the state of madness is definitively ambiguous at best, hard to follow, and puts minds into high gear to either understand the just what the hell is going on or to make sense of the chain of events to deduct a reasonable explanation. Sure, over thinking “Nightwish” as a complex construct can be dead wrong. There could be simplicity strewn about and, maybe, we’re too dense or too complicated ourself be aware of the obvious, but Cook certainly knew how to piece together a disjointed storyline that distinctly defines part A of the plot, but parts B and C are so well blend together that the clarity of part A starts to disintegrate and more questions than answers starting whizzing through our think box. “Nightwish” epitomizes the resemblance of nightmare residue and is best left open for personal interpretation.

Spine #3 from Unearthed Films Classics label comes “Nightwish” onto Blu-ray distributed by MVD Visual. The Blu-ray is presented 1080p in a widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio through a newly restored 4k transfer, but the transfer, perhaps from the best negative possible, has some minuscule wear with faint scratches and dirt impressions; however, the definition and the color palette ultimately overrun the set hard grain with the minor damage also being an after thought. The uncompressed English 2.0 PCM has a better grade in comparison to the video with clear dialogue and a robust soundtrack throughout to which the ambience is nearly overshadows by but does present itself despite the lack of inertia to progress. Special features include a commentary track with Wild Street Pictures producer Paul White and the president and founder of Unearthed Films Stephen Biro. Also available is a photo gallery, trailers, and an extensive cast and crew bio booklet filled also with production notes and a slew of high resolution stills that’s great to flip through. As another judiciously placed classic for Unearthed Films, “Nightwish” is a dream come true for viewers that combines the effects talents of Nicotero, Kurtzman, and Berger with the terrifying ferocity of facing death through in the dark subconsciousness.