EARTHSTORM -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 10/17/10

 

I really like imminent-doom-from-space movies like ARMAGEDDON, DEEP IMPACT, WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, and their directionally-inverted counterpart, THE CORE.  The makers of EARTHSTORM (2006) obviously like them, too, because their movie is very similar to these in several ways except a very obvious one: budget.  It's an epic disaster flick scaled down to barely the size of a Sci-Fi Channel movie (which, in fact, it is), with most of the drama taking place in--as Paul's very clean grandad from A HARD DAY'S NIGHT might have put it--a cheap CGI shot and a room, a barebones space shuttle interior and a room, and a room and a room.

After a title sequence that resembles the opening of "Star Trek:The Next Generation", the movie kicks off with the moon being struck by a huge asteroid.  Not only does this send a shower of huge meteorites raining down upon the Earth, but it also causes a gradually-widening crack that threatens to break the moon itself into pieces.  Worldwide weather chaos ensues as well, and we get to see the usual idiot newsguys standing in the middle of it as they breathlessly give us the play-by-play.  The CGI in the "meteors hit city" scenes is okay--not great, but not actually laughable, either.  It's a small-scale disaster, to be sure, but if you scale down your expectations to match, then it's not so bad.

Scientist Lara Gale (Amy Price-Francis) is summoned to the ASI, or "American Space Institute" (which is the equivalent of NASA in the alternate dimension in which this story seems to take place), by her colleague Dr. Garth Pender (John Ralston), to help whip up some kind of solution to the problem.  Lara's late father predicted that this scenario might someday occur and came up with his own theoretical remedy, based on his belief that the interior of the moon was composed mainly of iron.  This, however, was ridiculed by his peers in the scientific community, including the President's current Chief Scientific Advisor, Victor Stevens (Dirk Benedict), one of those characters whose sole purpose is to arbitrarily laugh off all the rational solutions proposed by our heroes and insist on doing things the stupid way.  Benedict, who was Starbuck on the original "Battlestar Galactica" and Face on "The A-Team", is used to playing stupid characters and does a pretty good job here.

The plan, as it is, consists of sending astronauts to the moon to blow up some nukes and cause the crack to collapse in upon itself.  In ARMAGEDDON, the fate of mankind rested on the world's greatest oil driller.  Here, it requires the expertise of ace building-blower-upper John Redding (Stephen Baldwin), who just happens to be the world's greatest demolition expert.  He gets summoned to ASI headquarters, and we just know that before you can say "Press the button, Stamper!", he's gonna end up having to go into space himself to make sure the job gets done right.  Upon hearing the plan, he protests, "I don't know anything about the moon!" to which Dr. Pender responds, "Nobody knows more about how things collapse in on themselves than you."  Well, you can't argue with that.

After a bunch of scenes consisting of people in rooms talking to each other, with a few "ehh" disaster shots thrown in here and there, we get to the film's most gripping sequence: the launch of the shuttle during a furious tropical storm.  With time running out and no backup plan, Redding and the two shuttle pilots must go for broke and take off even as various systems hover in and out of "no-go" status and the storm rages around them.  Things also get pretty tense during the shuttle's approach to the moon through a dense field of debris.  By this time, I wasn't expecting ILM-level effects, so I found these scenes visually adequate.  What sorta had me scratching my head, though, was the fact that they seem to have gravity on board the shuttle.  I guess you just can't simulate having a big lug like Stephen Baldwin floating around weightless without spending some serious cash.

Speaking of which, these Baldwin brothers really are a bunch of big lugs, aren't they?  Don't get me wrong--I like them.  But they look like the kind of guys you'd see hanging out at a Flintstone family reunion.  Alec used to be the slim, handsome one--his "Flintstones" character would probably be a movie star named "Rock Granite" or something--and Stephen was the lanky, kid-brother one.  Daniel, the middle Baldwin, was the original "big lug" type of the three.  Now, they're all starting to look more and more alike as Alec and Stephen's physical appearance begins to move closer toward the middle ground inhabited by Daniel.  A time-lapse montage of close-ups from their movies, in chronological order, would probably look like one of those transformation scenes in THE WOLF MAN.  One of these days we won't even be able to tell them apart, and they'll be able to star in an all-Baldwin remake of WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH.

Anyway, once Redding and the astronauts reach the moon, they discover that the nuke plan isn't going to work and that an alternate plan based on the theories of Dr. Gale's late father must be improvised (which will vindicate the old guy at last).  Take that, you dumb old President's Chief Science Advisor!  This leads to a sequence similar to one in APOLLO 13 in which the eggheads at mission control must devise a way to utilize only the equipment and resources available on board the shuttle to conquer the problem.  And a certain level of suspense is maintained as the shuttle is bombarded by debris while the clock ticks down to the point beyond which it will be too late to save the Earth. 

Stephen Baldwin does a good job and is likable in his Barney Rubble kind of way.  The supporting players are good, particularly Matt Gordon as "Albert", one of the eggheads running around mission control like a chicken with its head cut off, and Richard Leacock as "Ollie", the mission control guy who wants to abort the shuttle liftoff.  I also liked Redding's building-demolition helper, Bryna (Anna Silk).  She's very appealing in a "girl-next-door" kind of way.  Does Bryna get together with Redding in the end, like I wanted?  I'll put it this way--no.  GRRRRRRRR!!!  The final romantic pair-ups in this movie are infuriatingly wrong, and made me want to smash the DVD into little pieces, mix it with mashed potatoes and gravy, and eat it, thus symbolizing my total victory over this film and everyone involved. 

But on further reflection, I decided that such a course of action would probably be overdoing it a bit.  After all, EARTHSTORM is just a low-rent sci-fi actioner that is fairly entertaining if you catch it in the right mood, and it's not going to kill me if it doesn't end exactly the way I wanted it to.  But Stephen Baldwin's character and Amy Price-Francis' character ending up together?  Pffft--never gonna work.  Just wait'll she sees how much hair this guy's gonna leave in the tub every time he takes a shower.

EARTHSTORM -- Movie Review by Porfle

THE BLACK CAT/ THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 4/20/22



THE BLACK CAT (1966)



Stark, crisp black-and-white photography and a knack for embellishing Edgar Allan Poe's short story with a modern edge highlight THE BLACK CAT (Severin Films, 1966), a Dallas-based horror that transcends its low budget while still retaining that old bargain basement charm in a way somewhat reminiscent of CARNIVAL OF SOULS.

This time, a troubled young heir named Lou (Robert Frost), still holding a grudge against his dead father, eases his fractured psyche with alcohol and bad behavior while his faithful wife Diana (Robyn Baker) looks on in helpless despair.

Hoping to lessen his hostility, she gives him the gift of a black cat which he names Pluto. But the cat, who is a good judge of character, strikes out at Lou, who then cuts out the animal's eye in a fit of drunken rage.

 

Later, he tortures and then electocutes the cat, burning down his own uninsured mansion and ending up near-destitute.  Shock treatments and a stay in the psycho ward seem to get him back on the right track, but after returning home he reverts to his old drunken, violent ways and ends up committing a heinous act that readers of Poe will have anticipated since the first scene. 

Poe, thankfully, is well-served by this imaginative adaptation which pretty much hits all the main notes of his immortal short story while enriching it with interesting character studies and a few surprises. (I doubt if even Poe conceived of ending the story with a car chase.)

The brief use of gore is effective, with one shot of a hatchet lodged in someone's skull quite familiar to those of us who grew up reading Denis Gifford's "A Pictorial History of Horror Movies."

The acting is often rather unpolished but the enthusiasm of the cast makes up for this.  Frost is particularly intense and watchable in his portrayal of the slowly disintegrating Lou, while the lovely Baker elicits our sympathy.  Sadie French is effective as their concerned housekeeper Lillian.

Fans of another Texas-based production, Larry Buchanan's CURSE OF THE SWAMP CREATURE (also from 1966), should recognize that film's mad scientist, Jeff Alexander, as one of the two police detectives who visit Lou in his home in the final scenes. 

This is director Harold Hoffman's only directing credit, and he acquits himself well with a lean and briskly-paced effort.  Being a sucker for good black-and-white photography, I loved the look of the film.

 

One of the last existing 35mm prints is used here, with a few missing bits filled in from a more time-worn copy. The result is a mostly pristine picture with occasional defects, which, for me, only add to its nostalgic appeal.

The only problem I had with THE BLACK CAT is that, as a cat lover, I cringed at the apparent abuse of the cat in some scenes. I find such elements quite distressing, markedly lessening my appreciation of the movie.

That aside, THE BLACK CAT is the kind of low-budget 60s horror yarn that rises above its modest production values while still retaining an appealing low-rent ambience, a combination devoutly to be wished by conneisseurs of such delectably downbeat fare.



THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM (1967)



The second half of this double-feature would be a perfect choice for a festival of quintessential Halloween films.  THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM, aka "Blood Demon" (Severin Films, 1967), is like the most extreme carnival spook house you could imagine, and walking through it should easily supply you with double your daily dose of hokey horror.

This West German production takes place in the olden days of Europe and boasts a non-stop array of impressive found locations and lavish sets, especially when we get to Count Regula's dark, crumbling castle and all its subterranean passageways and chambers of horror.

The story begins with a flashback of the Count's public execution, a well-deserved one in that he has murdered twelve local girls in a quest for immortality which was thwarted by his inability to score the crucial thirteenth.

 

His punishment--to be drawn and quartered in the village square.  His final curse--to return and get revenge upon the descendants of the judge who condemned him and the woman who escaped his dungeon in order to report him to the police.

Flash forward thirty-five years, and we find those descendants drawn to the village by mysterious letters.  They are Roger Mont Elise (Lex Barker), a man searching for information about his own origin, and Baroness Lilian von Brabant (Karin Dor), who has been told that she has inherited the late Count's castle.

The two meet on the long coach ride to the castle and are smitten with one another even as the trip proves fraught with danger and growing terror.  With the saucy, gun-toting priest Father Fabian (Vladimir Medar) and Lilian's chipper servant Babette (Christiane Rücker), they arrive at the castle after an extended ordeal through a nightmarish forest filled with human body parts and hanging corpses.

 

Once there, the film lives up to its name with a castle whose creepy torch-lit tunnels lead from one chamber of horrors to another as each member of the group falls victim to Count Regula's wretched undead servant Anatol (Carl Lange) in a series of tortures from which each will barely escape. 

A worse-for-wear Christopher Lee finally makes his entrance as Count Regula about halfway through, setting into motion his plan to make Lilian the thirteenth victim in his bid for immortality. For this, her blood must be super-charged by terror, so she is placed into a pit of vipers while Roger suffers the threat of the slowly-descending pendulum blade (giving the film its tenuous connection to Poe) as the seconds to Regula's great regeneration tick inexorably away.

The cast is marvelous, including a distinguished Lex Barker (one of the many screen Tarzans) and Karin Dor of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE fame at her most charming.  Medar is a delightful comedy-relief Fabian, and Christiane Rücker as Babette is likable as well. As for the two villains, Lange's loathsome Anatol is ample support to the sinister Lee as they indulge in all manner of evil and sadism.

Taken from two collector's 16mm prints of the film, Severin Films' copy is quite satisfactory despite switching frequently between faded color and black-and-white.  It also alternates between good condition and somewhat worn, but as I've said many times, I like a print that looks like it has been around the block a few times. 

THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM is a cornucopia of spook-house imagery that's quite graphically gory for 1967 while still comfortably old-fashioned in its execution. The florid script by Manfred R. Köhler (with just a pinch of Poe) tosses in everything but the kitchen sink in order to give us the creepy-crawlies, and the whole thing is lavishly, enjoyably over-the-top.


THE BLACK CAT/ THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM (Hemisphere Box of Horrors Exclusive) Special Features:
Blood Demon Trailer
Black Cat Trailer
English subtitles

THE BLACK CAT/ THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE GREAT CHALLENGE -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 3/26/10

 

In THE GREAT CHALLENGE, aka Les fils du vent (2004), Burt Kwouk, who played Inspector Clouseau's constantly-attacking butler Cato in the PINK PANTHER series and was "Mr. Ling" in GOLDFINGER, is a millionaire business tycoon named Wong who's also a big boss in the Triad. He's giving an elegant garden party at the foot of the Wong Building in beautiful downtown Bangkok, when suddenly, in one breathtaking shot, the camera pans upward and zooms in on two black-clad figures doing a "Human Fly" routine up the side of the building.

In the next few minutes, one figure will engage three business-suited guards with fists, feet, and swords, while the other steals a priceless Red Dragon statue from Wong's office. Doffing their masks, they are revealed as brother and sister Kien and Tsu. The camera follows their slow-motion escape amidst gunfire as they dash toward a window, shooting holes in it as they go, and then crash through into the rain-drenched night. It's a nifty pre-titles sequence, and barely five minutes into the movie I was already impressed.

Kien and Tsu are half-breeds--only half-Chinese--and are rejected by all except the Yakuza, whose acceptance Kien is struggling to attain. Tsu, however, feels that their mother didn't raise no criminals, and acts as Kien's conscience, preventing her brother from giving himself over wholeheartedly to the dark side. Her rebelliousness, however, keeps them both in constant hot water with Kitano, the Yakuza boss who also just happens to be Mr. Wong's son-in-law and is scheming to take over control of the city from him. It appears that an all-out war between the Triad and the Yakuza is imminent.


Into this volatile situation come the Yamakasi, a real-life group of incredible athletes led by Laurent (Laurent Piemontesi), who wishes to open up a gym for street kids in Bangkok. Their sport involves running and jumping and flipping around the outside of buildings and stuff, often several stories in the air--you've got to see it to believe it--with emphasis on, as Wikipedia puts it, "aesthetics and complete freedom of movement from point A to point B." (This is the second film featuring the group--the first, YAMAKASI:LES SAMOURAIS DES TEMPS MODERNES, was released in 2001.) Their motto, it seems, might be "leap before you look." The title sequence illustrates this beautifully as two opposing groups compete to get from one rooftop to another first. It doesn't take long to notice that these people never heard of stairs, elevators, or caution, and watching them hurl themselves about from place to place over dizzying heights with total abandon is thrilling.

Unfortunately, Laurent has had unfriendly dealings with the Yakuza in the past and his new Yamakasi group is doomed to confront them. In an early scene they're having a workout on some bamboo scaffolding surrounding a building under construction, when Kien and some Yakuza thugs attack This leads to another amazing sequence of stunts, and when Tsu shows up to try and stop the fight, she encounters Logan (Charles Perrière), the Yamakasi she is destined to fall in love with. Their Romeo-and-Juliet romance will provide a lot of the drama between the fights, shoot-outs, etc. that appear frequently throughout the rest of the film.

They're all pretty exciting, too. The Yamakasi acrobatics give a new dimension to the usual martial arts displays and gunfights, and it's all thrillingly staged and performed. The wirework is only occasionally obvious--most of the time we get to see real, amazing stuntwork, and the best thing about it is that it's mostly done by the lead actors themselves. It's almost like watching a movie with an all-Jackie Chan cast. Some of it is tricked-up, of course, since the producers didn't want any of their lead actors getting killed or ending up in traction during filming, but for the most part, what you see is what you get.


Julien Seri directs it all with a great degree of style--some of his dramatic sequences come close to the aesthetic beauty of great anime', and the cinematography is often exquisite. Christian Henson's original score combines driving techno-style beats with lush orchestral passages that remind me of Joe Hisaishi's music for Hayao Miyazaki epics like SPIRITED AWAY. The editing, however, could've been a bit less frenetic in some scenes--the stuntwork and fight choreography are so good here that I'd like to have seen some of it play out without so many rapid-fire shots coming at me. Plus, the dubbing takes a bit of getting used to.

Most of the actors in this movie have interesting faces--they're fun to look at--and the director fills each scene with dramatic close-ups of them. In particular, Châu Belle Dinh as Kien and Elodie Yung as his sister, Tsu, have very expressive faces which dramatically convey their emotions. Charles Perrière is similarly intense as Logan, my favorite character among the Yamakasi. Santi Sudaros as Kitano, the Yakuza boss, is a formidable actor as well. And then, of course, there's Burt Kwouk as Mr. Wong, whose very presence makes the movie more fun to watch.

A plot by Kitano to kidnap Wong's only son and heir sets up the big finale, which will pit the collective muscle of the Triad and the Yakuza against each other in a wild free-for-all of guns, swords, and kung fu, with the Yamakasi right in the middle of it all, trying to fight their way out. It reminded me of The Bride vs. the Crazy 88's in KILL BILL, but without the ironic self-awareness or black humor--just tons of non-stop action. And the ending is pretty cool--everything's tied up nicely, and I felt thoroughly entertained.

THE GREAT CHALLENGE -- Movie Review by Porfle

TALES OF POE -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 10/23/16

 

For Edgar Allan Poe fans, film adaptations of his works have always been a mixed bag.  Even the most faithful ones can fail to capture the author's unique essence, while others take his familiar name and story titles in completely different, often inferior directions. 

Any feature-length screenplay based on his short stories, such as in the celebrated Roger Corman films, must use Poe's ideas as a starting point to be built upon and/or padded out, for better or worse.  This is sometimes true even for the anthologies such as TALES OF TERROR and TWO EVIL EYES.

TALES OF POE (2014) is an anthology made up of three short films which, while not strictly adhering to the original stories as written, do a great job of retaining their mood and feeling--along with certain basic plot points--while offering up a wealth of fascinating surprises.  The adaptations conjure a richly atmospheric mood that combines the subtlety of Poe's prose with moments that go shockingly over the top.

 

Directors Alan Rowe Kelly (director and co-star of THE BLOOD SHED)and Bart Mastronardi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Varrati, have come up with three totally fresh, creative adaptations that breathe new life into these oft-told tales without straying too far from the qualities that made them memorable in the first place.  A  once-in-a-lifetime cast of genre favorites and lavish production values (despite a low budget) help make the experience all the richer. 

"The Tell-Tale Heart" gets a sex change, with scream queen Debbie Rochon (MODEL HUNGER, THE THEATER BIZARRE) outstanding as a nurse-for-hire tending to wealthy invalid and former silent screen star Miss Lamarr (Kelly) in her spacious, museum-like estate.  Poe fans will know that the eccentric but otherwise harmless Miss Lamarr sports one blind, milky-white eye which the mentally-unstable nurse finds utterly repulsive to the point of plotting the old woman's murder in the dead of night. 

Rochon's character tells the story in flashback to her fellow inmates in an insane asylum, retaining much of Poe's original prose and adding just enough to keep things enticingly unexpected for the viewer.  Some well-rendered sex and violence also adds just the right measure of visceral impact for modern audiences.  Desiree Gould (SLEEPAWAY CAMP's "Aunt Martha") makes a strong impression as a malicious nurse.

 

Once again centering around one or two particular events that stoked Poe's imagination enough to create a story around them, "The Cask" takes the horror of being imprisoned alive behind a brick wall--while watching it being constructed brick by brick--and fleshes it out into a whole new yet equally chilling story.

This time, wealthy wine connoisseur Fortunato Montresor (Randy Jones, better known as the cowboy from The Village People) and his blowsy new bride Gogo (Alan Rowe Kelly again) are leading a flamboyant assemblage of wedding guests through his vast wine cellar when suddenly one of the women (Zoe Daelman Chlanda), a psychic, starts hugging the cold stone wall and having convulsions.  Apparently, she's foreseeing the horror that's in store for one of the newlyweds when the other proves to be, shall we say, "unfaithful."

Where "The Tell-Tale Heart" is unrelievedly Gothic and dark, "The Cask" mixes a bit more humor (nice and dry, like a good wine) with its chills, bringing to mind the "Something To Tide You Over" episode of CREEPSHOW.  Jones acquits himself very well, as do Brewster McCall as family friend Marco Lechresi and genre stalwart Susan Adriensen (PRISON OF THE PSYCHOTIC DAMNED, THE BLOOD SHED), always a pleasure to watch, as their creepy housemaid Morella.  But it's Kelly who once again impresses the most by playing the role of an overbearing woman to the point of caricature without going over.

The third and final story, "Dreams", is based on various poems by Poe and "A Dream Within a Dream" in particular.  Here, we get the most surreal and non-linear interpretation of his works in the story of a young woman (Bette Cassatt, MODEL HUNGER) whose dreamlike delirium while on her deathbed provides an endless flow of free-form imagery steeped in symbolism that's both poetic and repellent.  

Like a moribund Alice whose wonderland is the twilight world of her own life and death, The Dreamer wanders through ever-changing landscapes of her mind under the guidance of a benevolent Angel of Dreams (Caroline Williams, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2) while being plagued by an evil woman in black (Lesleh Donaldson, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, CURTAINS) who represents negativity and fear.

Even the woman's hospital room is a dark and foreboding place presided over by a scary nurse (Adrienne King of FRIDAY THE 13TH).  Other odds and ends from Poe's repertoire appear such as characters Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether.

Just as the plotless succession of images seems to be going nowhere, it's brought to a poignant conclusion thanks in part to a moving performance by Amy Steel (FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2) as The Dreamer's careworn mother.

The DVD from WildEye Releasing is in widescreen with 2.0 sound. No subtitles.  Extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette, an interview with director Bart Mastronardi, some very intriguing deleted scenes, and trailers.  

The perversely delightful TALES OF POE is brilliantly rendered by all involved and serves as an excellent primer for any contemporary viewer unfamiliar with Poe who might be wondering what the big deal is.  Dark, mesmerizing, sometimes intoxicatingly nightmarish, it's absolutely top-drawer indy filmmaking which I believe many devotees of the original author will find irresistible.

TALES OF POE -- DVD Review by Porfle

COLD FISH -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 9/22/11

 

The horrifically graphic gore and extreme perversion of COLD FISH (2010) is presented in such an offhand, matter-of-fact way that it's interesting to see what the next outrage will be and how the main character, a timid milquetoast named Mr. Shamoto, will react to it.  My own reaction was to gaze intently for almost two-and-a-half hours and marvel at what a delightfully whacked-out movie I was looking at. 

Nobuyuki Shamoto is a humble fish store owner with an unhappy wife, Taeko (Megumi Kagurazaka), and a violently bratty daughter, Mitsuko (Hikari Kajiwara), who despises both him and her stepmother.  He yearns for the ordered tranquility to be found at the local planetarium, but instead is cast into a living hell when he meets the charming and wildly gregarious Mr. Murata, owner of a vastly superior fish store.  Murata rescues Nobuyuki's daughter from a shoplifting charge and puts her to work in his own fish store, offering Nobuyuki a lucrative partnership as well.  But the gratitude Nobuyuki initially feels turns to horror when he discovers what kind of man Murata really is.

Murata and his sexually voracious wife Aiko turn out to be a gleefully sociopathic pair of serial killers who bilk people out of money, murder them, and make them "invisible" by disassembling their bodies in a mountaintop shack.  Shamoto gets sucked into all of this as a lackey and "apprentice", with Murata threatening to kill his family if he doesn't comply.  The "invisibility" process boasts some of the most graphic gore I've ever seen in a movie, but the two giggling psychos perform this grisly task with such lighthearted enthusiasm that the effect is strangely comedic.

Mitsuru Fukikoshi does a great job portraying Shamoto's growing fear and mortification as his association with Murata spirals ever downward.  As Aiko, Asuka Kurosawa deftly switches between playful sex kitten and intimidating killer and is the ideal companion in crime for Murata.  But it's (the singularly-named) Denden as Mr. Murata whose energetic, inventive, and wholly fascinating performance makes COLD FISH such a riveting film.  At times almost a fatherly mentor to Shamoto, Murata is also dangerously unstable and unpredictable, and we never know what the hell he's going to do, or who he's going to kill, next. 

Japanese director Shion Sono (LOVE EXPOSURE, SUICIDE CLUB) shows his sense of humor in the opening sequence by shooting, editing, and scoring Taeko's disinterested shopping and microwave dinner preparation as though it were a suspense scene, then jarringly cutting to the family eating in joyless silence and ignoring each other.  When Murata's initially clownish behavior turns to shocking acts of violence and debauchery, his utter brazenness has a comic edge to it.  And his tutoring of a nervous Shamoto on how to lie to some gangsters who come looking for a missing family member also elicits giddy laughs despite our sympathy for the terrified Shamoto. 

The story rushes headlong into a whirlwind of scary and over-the-top incidents until Shamoto finally reaches his breaking point, with Mitsuru Fukikoshi's performance taking on an unnervingly realistic tone even as Shamoto's actions become more wildly deranged.  While many viewers will have become numbed to the violence and gore by this point, some of the blood-soaked final encounters between the main characters are simply mindboggling.  Shion Sono catches it all with a fluid handheld camera, with some impressive long takes that allow the actors to play out certain scenes to the hilt.

The DVD from Vivendi and Bloody Disgusting is in 1.85:1 widescreen with 5.1 Japanese stereo and English subtitles.  The sole extra is a brief interview with director Shion Sono.

A frenetic, exhilarating experience for those in search of something completely different, COLD FISH is both realistic and just plain balls-out nuts.  It claims to be based on true events, and, while that doesn't mean much these days, I pity anyone who ever experienced anything even remotely resembling what happens in this movie.


Buy it at Amazon.com

COLD FISH -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE KING'S SPEECH -- DVD review by porfle

Originally posted on 4/8/11

 

I didn't know if I was actually going to like THE KING'S SPEECH (2010) or if it was just one of those movies that you're supposed to like.  What I really didn't expect was that it would not only tell such a warm and personal story but also blindside me with the kind of genuine and well-earned emotional reaction which brings on the waterworks. 

The story of any stammerer trying to overcome his affliction might make for a moving story, but here we see it at its worst with Albert, the Duke of York and eventual heir to the throne of England (Colin Firth), prodded into the public eye and forced to reveal his inability to speak before a packed Wembley Stadium and a radio audience of millions.  This early scene is one which anyone who's ever had a fear of public speaking can identify with as Albert struggles through his agonizing ordeal.

With the prodding of his sweetly supportive wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), Bertie seeks help from an eccentric speech therapist named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) whose methods are unconventional but effective.  Logue relates to Bertie with a familiarity and intimacy that shocks the future king at first, but eventually persuades him to dredge up painful memories that get to the root causes for his stammering.
 


These include his frightfully overbearing father, King George V (Michael Gambon), and irresponsible older brother Edward (Guy Pearce), who will sacrifice the throne for love and force Bertie to take his place.  To complicate things even more, England is on the brink of war with Germany and needs a strong, confident leader to rally behind--one who can speak well enough to help bolster the nation's resolve. 

Colin Firth plays Bertie with such wounded desperation, his face always haunted by fear, that we sympathize with him even when he uses his royal aloofness as a defensive mechanism.  It's his lack of genuine arrogance--he doesn't want to be a king, just a Naval officer--that helps make him endearing, especially when he finally breaks down from the pressure. 

Logue, then, comes across as nothing less than Bertie's savior, but a wonderfully humble and unassuming one as warmly portrayed by Geoffrey Rush.  A happy family man with a zest for life, Logue helps Bertie better understand the common man from whom he's always been insulated.  More importantly, he offers him something he's never known before, which is simple friendship.  This is what makes the story so heartwarming and, ultimately, emotionally cathartic.

 

The impeccable production design and Tom Hooper's interesting direction emphasize the intimidating, vertigo-inducing, and emotionally cold atmosphere in which Bertie has always existed.  This is well contrasted with the warmer and more intimate surroundings of Lionel and his family, where the future king eventually begins to find respite. 

Performances are uniformly fine, although Timothy Spall's take on Winston Churchill struck me as a bit of a caricature.  Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth and Guy Pearce as Edward are excellent, as are Claire Bloom as Queen Mary and Derek Jacobi as the Archbishop.  A sensitive score by Alexandre Desplat is augmented by some well-chosen classical pieces, particularly the second movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony which is used to great effect.

The DVD from Anchor Bay is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.  Subtitles are in English and Spanish.  Extras include a director's commentary, a "making of" featurette, a Q & A session with director and cast, a conversation with Logue's grandson (who discovered Logue's invaluable personal diaries), and two actual radio speeches by the real King George VI.  

The climax of the film is the King's 1939 radio speech announcing Britain's impending war with Germany, through which Logue guides him like a symphony conductor.  After all the suspense, this sequence beautifully juxtaposes Bertie confronting his greatest fear with the solemn faces of his listeners who, facing an uncertain future, are hanging on his every word for moral support.  If a film can make me cry, I've always felt, then it must be doing something right.  And so, especially in these last moments, THE KING'S SPEECH seems to be doing something very right indeed.


Buy it at Amazon.com:
DVD
Blu-Ray

THE KING'S SPEECH -- DVD review by porfle

Romero and Argento Classic "TWO EVIL EYES" Two Disc 4K UHD Blu-ray Set Coming August 24 -- Watch Trailer HERE!

 

"TWO EVIL EYES"

George Romero and Dario Argento's classic tale of horror and suspense gets the royal restoration treatment courtesy of Blue Underground

Two Disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray Set Coming August 24th

"Absolutely not for the squeamish… Romero and Argento fans are not likely to be disappointed by these tales of the supernatural!” – Los Angeles Times

A Double Dose of Terror from the Directors of DAWN OF THE DEAD and SUSPIRIA

 

PRE-ORDER NOW

The Masters of Modern Horror -George Romero and Dario Argento - bring you an unprecedented pair of shockers inspired by the tales of Edgar Allan Poe.

In Romero's The Facts In The Case Of Mr. Valdemar, a conniving wife (Adrienne Barbeau of THE FOG) and her lover use a hypnotic trance to embezzle a fortune from her dying husband, only to receive some chilling surprises from beyond the grave. 

 

Then in Argento's The Black Cat, a deranged crime scene photographer (Harvey Keitelof FROM DUSK TILL DAWN) is driven to brutal acts of madness and murder by his girlfriend's new pet. But will this cunning feline deliver a final sickening twist of its own?

Martin Balsam (PSYCHO), E.G. Marshall (CREEPSHOW), John Amos (THE BEASTMASTER) and Tom Atkins (NIGHT OF THE CREEPS) co-star in this wild horror hit that also features grisly makeup effects by Tom Savini (MANIAC). Blue Underground's acclaimed restoration of TWO EVIL EYES, scanned in 4K 16-bit from the original camera negative, is now presented with Dolby Vision HDR and a new Dolby Atmos audio mix, packed with hours of Extras!

 

NOTE: Publicity stills are NOT screenshots from the 4K master

Bonus Features:

    Ultra HD Blu-ray (2160p) Widescreen 1.85:1 feature presentation and Bonus Extras Blu-ray
    Audio: Dolby Atmos (English); 2.0 DTS-HD (English); 1.0 DTS-HD (French)
    Subtitles: English SDH, Francais, Espanol
    Audio Commentary with Troy Howarth, Author of 'Murder By Design: The Unsane Cinema of Dario Argento'
    Theatrical Trailer
    Poster & Still Gallery
    Two Masters' Eyes - Interviews with Directors Dario Argento & George Romero, Special Make-Up Effects Supervisor Tom Savini, Executive Producer Claudio Argento, and Asia Argento
    Savini's EFX - A Behind-the-Scenes look at the film's Special Make-Up Effects
    At Home With Tom Savini - A personal tour of Tom Savini's home
    Adrienne Barbeau on George Romero
    Before I Wake - Interview with Star Ramy Zada
    Behind The Wall - Interview with Star Madeleine Potter
    One Maestro And Two Masters - Interview with Composer Pino Donaggio
    Rewriting Poe - Interview with Co-Writer Franco Ferrini
    The Cat Who Wouldn't Die - Interview with Assistant Director Luigi Cozzi
    Two Evil Brothers - Interview with Special Make-Up Assistant Everett Burrell
    Working With George - Interview with Costume Designer Barbara Anderson

WATCH THE TRAILER:

Romero and Argento Classic "TWO EVIL EYES" Two Disc 4K UHD Blu-ray Set Coming August 24 -- Watch Trailer HERE!

Bela Lugosi At His Most Unhinged! "The Raven" (1935) (video)

In this bizarre thriller, Bela plays Poe-obsessed Dr. Vollin…

...the only surgeon who can save the life of Jean Thatcher (Irene Ware).

He also operates on an escaped convict named Bateman (Boris Karloff).

But instead of giving him a handsome new face, Bela makes him hideous.

Bela relishes gaining an advantage over others...
...and then torturing them mercilessly.

Bela's performance becomes more and more unhinged as the film progresses.

He pulls out all the stops in this one, and the result is glorious.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Bela Lugosi At His Most Unhinged! "The Raven" (1935) (video)

"TALES OF POE" Combines Classic Horror Stories and Iconic Scream Queens in New Trailer

Edgar Allan Poe Resurrected by Iconic Scream Queens
Wild Eye Releasing Brings Tales of Poe to DVD
And Digital HD October 11th

"A loving tribute to the work of one of history's greatest horror writers."
-- Rue Morgue Magazine

"A truly stylized take on Poe's work and just brimming with beauty,
elegance and downright horror." -- HorrorMovies.ca

"Something very special to the horror genre...
both beautiful and horrifying." -- Hacked in the Head
   
New York, NY - Wild Eye Releasing has announced the October 11th DVD and Digital HD release of the acclaimed horror anthology Tales of Poe.  Since the world premiere at the famous Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, Tales of Poe has been met with acclaim and awards on the festival circuit.  San Francisco Weekly called the anthology "a worthy successor to the Roger Corman/ Vincent Price Poe films" while Icons of Fright hailed the result as "downright stunning to witness...wickedly adventurous". 

Co-directed by Bart Mastronardi and Alan Rowe Kelly and co-written by Michael Varrati, Tales of Poe combines the classic horror prose with the star power of legendary scream queens Adrienne King (Friday the 13th, Friday the 13th Part 2), Caroline Williams (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Halloween 2), Amy Steel (Friday the 13th Part 2, April Fool's Day) Debbie Rochon (Model Hunger, Hell Town) and Lesleh Donaldson (Happy Birthday to Me, Funeral Home). 

Based on the timeless works of Edgar Allan Poe, three of the renowned author's most popular stories (The Tell Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and Dreams) receive unique retellings by directors Bart Mastronardi & Alan Rowe Kelly. Offering a compelling and shocking journey into madness and the macabre, Tales of Poe features some of the most beloved final girls in horror movie history in new and exciting roles.

               Tales of Poe (Official Trailer)


Order Tales of Poe on Amazon

The October 11th DVD release of Tales of Poe (SRP $19.95) will exclusively include a behind the scenes featurette, deleted scenes, an interview with co-director Bart Mastronardi, trailers and more.

"TALES OF POE" Combines Classic Horror Stories and Iconic Scream Queens in New Trailer

"TALES OF POE" Combines Classic Horror Stories and Iconic Scream Queens in New Trailer

TALES OF POE With Debbie Rochon and Iconic "Final Girls"

See the Trailer Now!

New York, NY - Wild Eye Releasing has unleashed a new trailer and artwork for the acclaimed indie anthology Tales of Poe.  Since the world premiere at the famous Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, Tales of Poe has been met with acclaim and awards on the festival circuit.  San Francisco Weekly called the anthology "a worthy successor to the Roger Corman/ Vincent Price Poe films" while Icons of Fright hailed the result as "downright stunning to witness...wickedly adventurous". 

Co-directed by Bart Mastronardi and Alan Rowe Kelly, Tales of Poe combines the classic horror prose with the star power of legendary scream queens Adrienne King (Friday the 13th, Friday the 13th Part 2), Caroline Williams (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Halloween 2), Amy Steel (Friday the 13th Part 2, April Fool's Day) Debbie Rochon (Model Hunger, Hell Town) and Lesleh Donaldson (Happy Birthday to Me, Funeral Home).  Wild Eye plans to release Tales of Poe on DVD and Digital HD in October.

Based on the timeless works of Edgar Allan Poe, three of the renowned author's most popular stories (The Tell Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and Dreams) receive unique retellings by directors Bart Mastronardi & Alan Rowe Kelly. Offering a compelling and shocking journey into madness and the macabre, Tales of Poe features some of the most beloved final girls in horror movie history in new and exciting roles.

Tales of Poe will premiere on DVD and Digital HD this Halloween season.

"TALES OF POE" Combines Classic Horror Stories and Iconic Scream Queens in New Trailer

POE BICENTENNIAL BIRTHDAY BASH IN BALTIMORE

From actor/filmmaker Mark Redfield's MySpace blog:

The Commission for Historic and Architectural Preservation, The Baltimore City Department of Planning, and The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum announce the world-famous Edgar Allan Poe Special Bicentenial--a two-weekend birthday celebration and Baltimore tradition since 1982--on Saturday, January 17 and Sunday, January 18, 2009, plus a second weekend of performances on Saturday, January 31 and Sunday, February 1, 2009.

Celebrated at the Westminster Hall, Burial Place of Edgar Allan Poe (519 West Fayette Street, Baltimore Maryland). Start making plans to kick off the Poe Bicentennial and part of Poe history by attending the Poe Bicentennial Birthday Celebration!

SPECIAL GUEST JOHN ASTIN: Back by popular demand, actor John Astin will present his special and unique Poe Tribute as only he can. You've waited years for Mr. Astin to return to the celebration and now he's back! You will not see this performance at any other venue.For more info. about John Astin visit http://www.astin-poe.com/

In addition to Mr. Astin's Tribute to Poe, we are pleased to present three of Poe's most unusual stories for your enjoyment:
"HOP FROG"
On Saturday, January 17th, Mark Redfield (creator of the film The Death of Poe) will present a theatrical performance of "Hop Frog" using live actors, masks and life size puppets. "Hop Frog" is a horrifying tale of revenge upon a cruel king and his seven ministers.For more information about Mark Redfield visit http://www.redfieldarts.com/
"THE TELL TALE HEART"
Performed by Tony Tsendeas (The Wire, The Death of Poe).
"SOME WORDS WITH A MUMMY"
On Sunday, January 18th John Spitzer of Fraudulent Productions returns to the Westminster stage with "Some Words With a Mummy". This comedy revolves around an Egyptian mummy that is brought back to life through electricity (shades of Frankenstiein!) and proceeds to spar with the doctors and scientists that resurrected him. In "Some Words With A Mummy," first published in 1845, Poe created the history's first reanimated Mummy. Poe was always keen to capitalize on the popular imagination, and the Egyptian craze had been steadily building in Europe and America for two decades.

In addition, it gave Poe a perfect vehicle for his acerbic social satire. Surprisingly, comedy comprises fully one-third of Poe's tales, and he was possessed of an exquisite and robust sense of humor. "Some Words With A Mummy" is a compelling mix of thrills and comedy, and is believed by many to be Poe's finest satire. In his living Mummy, Poe devised not only another literary first, but also a brilliant device to satirize our culture, and human nature itself.

Other surprises will be announced as they are finalized! Baltimore will be celebrating the Bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poethroughout 2009 with many events!

visit: http://www.poebicentennial.com/ for more information!

POE BICENTENNIAL BIRTHDAY BASH IN BALTIMORE