Lights Out

I won’t lie, I was a little skeptical putting this film in last night.  I love James Wan but he was only the producer.  Ghost stories, as everyone here knows are not really my favorite type of film.  My wife however loves them, so sometimes it’s entertaining to watch her jump and scream.  So after my son went to bed I popped in Lights Out and sure enough about 2min in my wife screamed and jumped.  Sadly this woke up my son so we had a nice 10min wait until we could resume.  Finally when he fell back to sleep we turned it back on and I began watching my wife get nervous. With every flicker of screen.

Lights out is the story of a family.  Older Daughter Rebecca (Theresa Palmer) young son Martin (Gabriel Bateman) and mother Sophie (Maria Bello)  Rebecca lives above a tattoo parlor having moved out years back to get away from her mother.  She is called on day by the school councilor about her little brother falling asleep in class.  The school could not reach his mom who has been experiencing severe depression and manic tendency’s due to the death of her husband. To make things even worse she has stopped taking her meds which is not good as her late husband was becoming so worried that he was thinking of having her put away to get help.  Rebecca takes Martin home and when she asks how mom is he tells her she keeps talking to “Diana”.  This triggers something in Rebecca who tells her mom she is taking Martin to her apartment until her mom gets back on her meds.

“Diana”, without giving to much away is the name for the evil ghost creature that only appears in darkness.  She is mostly viewed as a Silhouette but the shots you see her are in fact very creepy.  She drags her feet almost like a zombie but moves at a breakneck pace.  Quick fast shots of her face when the lights appear are quite ghastly.  She made my wife jump more than once.  ‘Diana” first appeared when Rebecca was a girl so she knows all too well what her brother is going through. 

Throughout the film we learn the origin of Diana, her connection with the family, and what makes her evil.  I won’t give any of that away but I will say I enjoyed the back story tremendously.  It was, not a shocker by any means, but it was different than the typical ghostly attachment story we have all seen before.  Its due to this, and the strong performance of the cast, in particular Maria Bello and Gabriel Bateman as the mom and young son that the film not only holds your interest but allows you to make a connection with these characters. That, and the fact the final act is out of this world in terms of intensity will have you hooked.

Even though James Wan was only one of the producers you can definitely see his involvement with the film.  The dark, yet at the same time bright colors with every shot, the tight cut scenes and pacing are all used by Wan in his films.  The interesting thing is Wan, who loved director David Sandberg’s short film was not convinced that it could translate into a full length film. But Sandberg was able to do it, and on a rather modest budget of 4.9 million dollars.  The film ended up grossing 148 million worldwide so it was a box office hit.

The Blu-ray looks great crisp colors great frame rate and fantastic audio which is nothing new for Warner Brothers, as they have Blu-ray specs down to a science.  The film itself clocks in just a little over 90min, but seems to fly right by.

Overall I would have to give this a high recommendation.  As I have stated countless times I am not a big fan of films like this as I feel they are all about the same, but the few new twists, the great cast, and the fantastic creepy Diana made this a highly enjoyable film.  I won’t lie, it made me jump twice.  My wife on the other hand was truly terrified by the end and now needs a touch up on her hair as some of it is now grey.

Overall 3 out of 5 stars!

Special Effects

Larry Cohen is a name film lovers know very well.  Q: The Winged Serpent, and The Stuff being 2 of the more prolific of the 80s.  Very B style and campy.  I liked both of those films, I liked one he did in the 90’s called Ambulance as well.  Turns out in 1984 he made a lesser known one, to me anyways titled Special Effects which was a far different cry than the others I have mentioned.

Special Effects is a very dark satire on the film industry according to some.  I find it more like a standard sleazy exploitation film.  Nothing wrong with that, just a bit weird as it has a fair amount of comedy sprinkled in.  Its about a small town hick named Keef.  He’s from the great Sooner state of Oklahoma but he heads out to NY to find his wife Mary, who left for NY to become an actress. 

He finds her, but instead of doing movies she is just doing nude porno shoots.  She tells him she doesn’t want to come back with him as she is going to be the star in the new Christopher Neville film.

Well turns out Neville has just been let go from the project as he keeps going over budget on his special effect and his last few films have bombed at the box office.  He doesn’t tell Mary that and tricks her into sleeping with him.  She finds out however that he is videotaping them and gets infuriated, insulting him and his films.  He flips out and kills her, then dumps the body. 

When the cops find her Keef of course becomes the main suspect and is arrested.  Luckily for him Neville bails him out and tells him that he wants to make a film all about Mary and that Keef is going to play himself in the film.  I mean why not he already has her death filmed for the ending.  Keef doesn’t want to but Neville says he will pull the bail and have him arrested.  He even makes Keef reenact scenes depicting their failing marriage.

This film, although a work of fiction borrows a lot of elements from Star 80.  Granted Star 80 was a sad true story but the whole make it famous tragic murder plays into both films.  Keep in mind this is just my opinion.  If you dig Cohen’s work this is worth checking out because of the difference in tone and style.  Like I said the others films he’s best known for are campy B films.  This plays out like a sleazy, dirty, exploitation mystery.  That’s not a bad thing, in fact it’s a nice change from a lot of current films I have seen.

Olive Films has just released this on Blu Ray and the transfer looks great.  It has the sleazy feel, but the colors used really stand out.  The new cover art looks great, as the old dvd version had just a photo of Mary on it.  This gives it more of a Horror/Art House look to it.  It’s a great film with a nice amount of twists and turns that is well worth checking out.

Overall 3 out of 4 stars!

Miami Vice: The Complete Series

Ok full disclosure here.  Until last night I had never seen an episode of Miami Vice.  Sure I was familiar with it.  Hell to this day I appreciate the fact that 5 o’clock shadows were made popular by it as I hate shaving. Now before you judge me keep in mind I was a little kid, so a crime drama was not really my thing.  I always saw the commercials, the ads, heck I remember all the soundtrack albums that came out to go along with it but I never saw the show.  So last night I decided to pop in the Miami Vice complete series blue ray set, and once again I must thank insomnia because I ended up watching about 5 episodes.

For the few out there like me who have never watched it, it centers around 2 Miami Vice cops named Crockett and Tubbs.  They masquerade as drug dealers, who run the product off of Crockett’s cigarette boat.  I dig the fact that the cigarette boat back them was an amazing speedboat whereas now they are everywhere.  Crockett, played by Don Johnson lives on a boat that is guarded by his pet alligator.  They set up scores as buyers and sellers to bust drug dealers.  Its all set to the gorgeous back drop of Miami in the 80s, which in all honesty is where allot of trafficking took place. Most of these meetings take place in the hot clubs or on the beach.

The 1^st episode is the 2hr pilot showing how they meet, become friends and team up.  We get introduced to the captain, the other cops, Crockets soon to be ex-wife, even his pet alligator.  After that the episodes I watched featured a lot of the same plot.  In part 2 they were after a crocked FBI officer, they went after an arms dealer (played by Bruce Willis), a racketeer, and of course more drug dealers.  Even the main drug Dealer from the 1^st episode returns.  Even though things are referenced this was before the era of linear television, so if you miss an episode here or there you were ok as they were self-contained for the most part.

One thing that stuck out was how the show looked.  It was like Neon Film Noire. Everything was bright, paisley, shark skin, pink, peach, white, blue, every color of the rainbow.  If there wasn’t a synth score playing in the background it was usually pop music from the biggest bands in the 80’s  Everyone looked cool, acted cool, and dressed like they were going to a high rollers club.  In essence the show looked really slick.  Now I am saying it looked slick in 2016, I can see why it was considered so cutting edge back in its day.  I give props for these Blu Rays keeping the original music.  When 21 Jump Street came out a few years back on home video they could not get music rights and the episodes lost something because of it. 

The presentation on this set is flawless.  Great picture quality, which considering the majority takes place outside is great as usually outside shots are hard to fully clean up.  The sound is excellent and blasts through the speakers.  Sometimes its too good as I had to keep turning down the score only scenes then turning it back up for the talking scenes.  I like once again how it’s a nice standard blu ray case inside a standard cardboard slip cover case.  Sometimes cheap packaging can ruin these sets, but Mill Creek did a great job on this one as well.

If you, like 90% of the population are a fan then this is a must own set.  If you have never seen it before like myself and the other 10% of us I recommend picking this one up.  These are full shows not the edited syndication versions and they have the original music.  It’s a great throwback to the loud colorful world of the 80’s, a decade that I wish would come back because after watching 5 hours of this I feel the need to go and buy a white pair of pants and a peach colored jacket.  It would work, as I haven’t shaved in 3 days anyway.

Overall 3.5 out of 5 stars!!

Knight Rider: The Complete Series

Insomnia, people that have it always complain, and bitch, and moan.  I have it.  Sure I need extra coffee in the morning but it provides me with extra TV time.  After my wife and son are fast asleep I simply go downstairs, turn on the tv and watch movies or old tv shows.  Right now I am grateful for not only the insomnia but for Mill Creek for putting out my favorite show as a kid, Knight Rider.  Now the insomnia has really paid off as I can relive all of the Hoff’s great moments.

For those of you to young, or that lived in a cave during the 80s.  Knight Rider was the coolest show on tv.  It stared David Hasselhoff as Michael Long , a police officer who is shot in the face.  He is given plastic surgery and a new identity as Michael Knight.  The man who did this for him is Wilton Knight a billionaire who is starting his own law enforcement division.  He recruits Michael to lead this and gives him KITT, the Knight Industries Two Thousand.  It’s a computerized Pontiac Firebird.  Its bullet proof, has weapons, talks, has artificial intelligence, everything a nerd would want in a super car. 

I could not wait for Sunday Night when I was little.  No matter what I was doing I had to be home, changed into my pajamas in my room and ready to watch Knight Rider.  Even as a little kid I knew the Hoff was James Dean cool.

Every show something bad happens and Michael and KITT drive in and save the day and get the girl.  In season 2 we meet Goliath, which is an evil semi-truck made out of KITTS special metal shell.  The guy driving it is played by David Hasselhoff in a cool duel role.  He plays Garth Knight, William Knight’s evil estranged son.  I watched that one last night as well.  I always remembered being really worried when Goliath smashed up KITT, but its ok, because KITT got re modded and came back even cooler than before.

  I watched about 7 episodes total last night scanning a bit of each disc. And I must say Mill Creek did a great job with this blue ray set.  Its packed in a nice slip box and each season is individually packed in standard blu ray cases. Which alone makes it worthwhile as some TV sets lately have really skimped on the packaging aspect buy using the cheap plastic shells in a big box.  These are actual blu ray cases.  The picture quality is fantastic as is the sound.  If my son would not have been asleep my sound bar would have been blasting the amazing opening theme.  In fact when he woke up it did. 

Now I know there are lots of people out there who will argue that the show is lame by today’s standards but I disagree.  I found that after spending my night watching it that it hold up really well.  If you were a fan of the series from back in the day this is definitely a must own set,  I’ve watched random episodes in syndication when they pop up but the quality is bad.  I really can’t stress how amazing this one looks, even the flashing back and forth red visor when KITT talks just glows on the screen.  The car chases come to life with not only the picture but the sound as well.

Another thing is that this not only a show that holds up over time for you to still be able to enjoy, but it also is a good one to watch with your kids.  When I explained to my 7yr old about the computerized car his first question was “Does it talk”  when I replied yes, his next question was “Can I watch it?” to which I also replied yes. 

Mill Creek is known for putting out amazingly large tv series set and this is no exception.  It’s all 4 seasons, on 16 blu rays.  If you loved it growing up buy it, show it to your kids and let them experience the joy that you don’t really get in modern day television.  I’ve always said Baywatch would have been much better had Hasselhoff rode around in a talking dune buggy.  Sadly he did not, but he did in Knight Rider, except it wasn’t a dune buggy, but we covered that.  

Bottom line this is a must own.  And remember titles like this tend to go out of print so I would pick this up now and start reliving this great show from the 80s

Overall 4 out of 5 stars

Little Fauss and Big Halsy

I dig Biker Film, they were a nice piece of the exploitation genre that sadly went away too soon.  They were usually the variation of two types of plot.  Bikers must fight someone, or rival bikers fight each other.  Sometimes you got a cool twist where the bikers were monsters. 




Well in the case of this film Little Fauss and Big Halsy you get more of a character drama set against the racing circuit.  It stars Robert Redford in one of his lesser know roles.  Over the years however it has developed a pretty big cult following.  Google Little Fa and it pops up before you finish typing out Fauss. Well the kind folks over at Olive Pictures are releasing this for the first time ever on Blue Ray on October 18th.  And I must say the quality is out of this world stunning for a lost film of the 70's




Its the story of the hard drinking womanizing Big Halsy, played to perfection by Robert Redford.  See Halsy has been banned from the pro racing circuit for his drunken antics and hot temper.  Its at a small amateur race he meets Little Fauss.  A young naive rider who starts to idolize the way Halsy lives his life. His parents hate Halsy and think he's a bad influence, what with him being a drunk jerk.  But they strike up a friendship non the less.

Now as Halsy cant compete he has the idea of racing but using Fauss's name, and Fauss will help him by being his mechanic. The plan works except for the fact that Halsy treat Fauss like dirt.  It doesn't help when a woman named Rita Nebraska shows up who they both are attracted to.  Needless to say you can pretty much guess where it goes from here, as the fragile friendship they have is torn apart when she chooses to be with Big Halsy

Of course this all cumulates with a big race at the end in which the two go head to head.  Sure there are things that happen before this but if I told you everything there would be no reason to watch, and you really should
.


I'm not a huge Redford fan but man doe he scream James Dean cool in this film.  He plays the troubled care free smooth talking Halsy to perfection.  The whole cast is good but its all Redford's film.  He chews every scene to perfection, and shows why he has been an active player in Hollywood all these years.




I really have to put Olive Films over again for this fantastic transfer.  The outside scenes all pop with little to no grain visible.  Sound quality is outstanding as the race scenes scream through your speakers.




If you a fan of biker films, drama, 70s films, or Robert Redford this is a must watch film that I highly recommend.




Overall 3 out of 5 stars!

Vamp

Ever hear the term  “ahead of its time”?  I hate that term.  Its usually used to refer to something that was a failure.  You know this really stunk but its so ahead of it time if it came out now it would be a huge hit.  Movie people say it all the time.  Vamp is often referred to that way.  But the fact is, it was not ahead of its time.  It was a great film, just an odd hybrid of horror, comedy, and soft erotica all built around Grace Jones who was getting her 15min of fame at the moment. 

You see this was in the era of over the top horror films, mostly slashers that took themselves seriously.  Sure they were unintentionally funny but never played for laughs unless you count a parody like Student Body’s, and even those were nearly nonexistent.  Vamp never takes itself seriously.  It truly is a horror comedy that was promoted the wrong way.

It’s the story of a couple of guys who hook up with a rich kid with a car, played to perfection by Sixteen Candles standout Long Duck Dong.  Who was also getting his 10min of fame.  Sorry Dong, Grace had an extra few months under her run.  They head out to pick up strippers for a party and go to a seedy club where they get to witness Grace Jones perform.  To this day it is still scary to watch that.  Turns out the club is for Vampires.  One of the kids gets turned they have to fight their way out, they end up in a sewer, battle with head vampire, twist to it the end.

I’m not trivializing it, in fact I love it.  It ranks in my top 5 vampire films of all time.  Its number 3 to be honest.  It’s just really hard to go into detail because for me it’s hard to write about comedy.  When one of the kids is turned he keeps thinking of going to night school and figuring out what types of jobs her can work at during the night because he obviously can’t be in sunlight.  I mean sure there are great gore shots, amazing practical effects, nudity, and blood galore but the humor is what makes this film flow.

All the actors do an amazing job and play there parts to perfection.  Grace Jones is great in her role as the stripper vampire.  And yes if you’re thinking “This sounds familiar” it is a film that Tarentino does enjoy.  His screenplay for From Dusk Till Dawn plays homage to this film.  He will tell you that himself.

The film never really got a great release but Arrow has changed all that.  It’s pretty loaded.  Here is what you get

High Definition digital transfer

Original mono audio

Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

One of those Nights: The Making of Vamp - a brand new documentary featuring interviews with director Richard Wenk, stars Robert Rusler, Dedee Pfeiffer, Gedde Watanabe

Behind-the-scenes rehearsals

Blooper Reel

Image gallery

Dracula Bites the Big Apple (1979) - Richard Wenk s celebrated short film

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil

Overall this is a hell of a great film and a must have for any collection and this print is absolutely amazing.

Overall 3.5 out of 5 stars!

Tenebrae

Tenebrae by Dario Argento has always been one of the few Giallo films I have actually enjoyed.  It has a great story and mystery that anyone can get behind.  Great acting and beautiful directing By Argento make this one of my favorite horror films.  Argento was actually inspired by a series of incidents which saw an insane fan telephone him to criticize him for the damaging psychological effects of his previous work. The telephone calls culminated in death threats.  Argento used this experience, plus the random violence he encountered in LA to write Tenebrae


It centers around Peter Neal an American Horror writer who goes to Italy to promote his latest book entitled Tenebrae.  As he's arriving a young woman gets her throat slashed by a black glove assailant.  This killer sends Neal a letter informing him that his novels are what is inspiring to commit murder. And boy does he, a nice handful or grizzly murders take place which is more than enough to satisfy the gore hounds reading as they are filmed quite grotesquely.  One of the best is the murder by axe.


All of these murders in question revolve around the chapters of Neal's book. Which leads to Neal and his assistant going off in search of the killer themselves.  Its through a series of events we learn that these murders are not at all what they truly appear to be.


Argento is famous for using themes in his films.  I still say that Susperia is a remake of Alice in Wonderland but what do I know.   According to James Gracey, author of a book about Argento's work, Tenebrae"explores some of his most reoccurring themes and preoccupations, such as Freudian psychology, sexual deviancy, repressed trauma, voyeurism, audience spectatorship and the fetishisation of violence and death.


Tis film received many many cuts to avoid is original NC-17 rating. Almost every gore shot had to be trimmed down actually butchered would be a better word. Sure bootlegs were around for years on the underground VHS market, or imported laserdisc for the more hardened film collectors.  Anchor Bay put out a pretty nice transfer to DVD years back but due to the color scheme Argento uses the print really didn't do the film much justice.


Now finally after all these years Synapse has released it on Blu Ray with a brand new transfer that finally does it justice.  Every single color pops just as Argento intended it to.  The Goblin soundtrack is cleaned immaculately and pumps throughout the film adding to the tension.  Plus its loaded with special features.


All-new Synapse Films supervised color correction and restoration of a 1080p scan from the original camera negative, presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1
Dual English and Italian language options with newly-translated English subtitle tracks for both
Audio commentary track featuring film critic and Argento scholar, Maitland McDonagh
Rare high-definition 1080p English sequence insert shots, playable within the film via Seamless Branching
Feature-length documentary, YELLOW FEVER: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE GIALLO by High Rising Productions, chronicling the Giallo film genre from its beginnings as early 20th century crime fiction, to its later influences on the modern slasher film genre
Original UNSANE (U.S. version of TENEBRAE) end credits sequence
Alternate opening credits sequence
International theatrical trailer
Japanese SHADOW theatrical trailer


There is a limited edition 3 disc Steelbook set that includes the soundtrack as well as a collectors book.  It had a very limited run and as of this writing is not even listed on the web site.  If your able to I would suggest picking that one up.


There is a reason why this film is so well regarded in the world of not only Italian Horror but all Horror markets.  Its considered Argentos last truly great film.  If your a fan you have to buy this version as its the must see print.  If you have never seen or experienced Tenebrae then its a must purchase.


Overall 4.5 out of 5 Stars!!