Deathrow Gameshow

Remember the glory days of trash tv.  Geraldo, Morton Downey, even Donahue were all in on it.  They it was taken to a whole new level with The Jerry Springer Show, a show so staged it makes WWE look real. Well all the way back in 1987 a little known film came out called Death Row Game Show.  Which was a game show trash tv satire, that when you really think about it was well ahead of its time.  It featured a tagline of “Chuck Toedan want you to Die…..Laughing!”

To call this a film would not really be accurate.  Its more of a series of sketches that are intertwined.  That’s not a bad thing it fits the format that is laid out.  It centers around the game show called Live or Die.  The premise of this show is Death Row Prisoners get a chance to compete and win prizes, sometimes for their family and provide entertainment before being killed on camera. For instance if a prisoner who is about to die via Guillotine has his head land face up his family wins a nice cash prize.  The show is high rated and even though it has lines of protesters who constantly harass host Chuck Toedan its high rated.

Unfortunately one day one of the contestants end up being the head of the Spumoni crime family.  His death does not bode will with the rest of the family and they hire the best hit man in the world, Beano Agundez to take out Chuck Toedan.  He has no problems taking this hit as his mother once wandered onto the set of the game show in a striped shirt and was forced to play and be killed as he shirt had everyone convinced she was a prisoner.

As all this is happening we also meet Gloria a spokesman for the group “Woman Against Anything Men Are For!” she disapproves of the show and confronts him on a daytime talk show discussing it.  She goes to his office for a meeting just as Bean Agundez shows up to whack Toedan.

I love this film, always have always will.  Like I said it’s a series of skits which work as its set in the realm of television.  Its considered a horror film due to the general content, and the fact people are being killed for entertainment, but its very much a wacky comedy in my opinion.  It has slapstick humor very reminiscent of a Zucker Brother film.  The murders are all over the top hysterical, even the announcer who talks before the killings, always says something very un-pc yet hysterical non the less.

The acting is good, as are all the practical effects.  As it is paced out like a sketch show it moves along at a breathtaking pace never once slowing down.  Everything hits you and you only get a few seconds before the next cut.  If you had cable tv in the 80s this played from time to time late at night.  It had an old VHS release but now the negative found its way into the hands of the fine folks a Vinegar Syndrome.  And as you can imagine it looks great.

A brand new 2K transfer and cleaned up audio make this a pleasure to watch.  Every scene comes to life and the executions and crowd noises flow perfectly out of your speakers. And as Vinegar Syndrome never skimps on the extras you get a ton of extras

Region free Blu-ray and DVD combo pack
Scanned, restored & preserved in 2k from 35mm original camera negative
Commentary track with director Mark Pirro, John McCafferty (actor) & Robyn Blythe (actress)
“Revisiting Deathrow Gameshow” – 32 minute making-of documentary

2015 director’s cut of DEATHROW GAMESHOW
Multiple director introductions
“Buns” 1978 (short film directed by Mark Pirro)
“The Spy Who Did it Better” 1979 (short film directed by Mark Pirro)
Original theatrical trailer
TV spot

Image gallery
Director bio
Reversible cover artwork
English SDH Subtitles

Overall any fan of satire, horror, game shows, basically any fan of movies and tv in general need to go out and pick this up.  It’s a blast from beginning to end and worth every penny.

Overall 4 out of 5 Stars!

Killbillies

In the realm of horror pictures you need something to grab the audiences eye.  A really cover picture on the cover of your DVD and or a cool name.  This film actually has both.  Presented by Artsploitation Films, Killbillies has an ear catching name and an eye popping cover featuring a big nasty deformed hillbilly holding a giant blade.  Just looking at this made me know I was in for a treat, and seeing as how I was home sick anyway I threw it right on and was treated to a great time. Better yet I was going to watch the first horror film to come out of Slovania. 

It’s the story of a group of very annoying models.  We first meet them in an overly long opening sequence in a bar where we get to see that they are not the type of girls to be messed with after one has an altercation with a drunk pervert in the bathroom.  Cut to the next morning and there off to the county for a photo shoot.  In a scene really out of nowhere they stop when they see a weird kid playing an accordion siting with a woman.  The models stop and ask if they can buy some booze from them?!!  Anyway they set up there equipment and right away you get the feeling that they are being watched.

Turns out they are, by the Killbillies.  2 grotesque looking large men who run down to the shoot, because its on their land.  They grab the cameraman and the girls and when we next see them they are locked up in a giant shed.  It’s there that the Killbillies begin there killing.  Smashing ones head to a bloody pulp on a wall, knives to the throat, axes, you name it.  It all leads to the inevitable climax in the woods after some of the women make an escape.

The film is fun.  However I must state is a foreign release so you will have to read the subtitles.  Don’t worry though its not overly complicated Quinten Tarentino dialogue your reading here.  With that said it plays out like a grand throw back to 80’s shot to video films.  Don’t get me wrong it does not look cheap, in fact some of the practical effect are really well done.  But it has that look and feel of and old school horror film that I love.  The claustrophobic scenes when the models are captured to the frantic paced scenes in the woods.  I really enjoyed the cinematography as it kind of that’s you back to those old 35mm Drive-In Movie days.  The acting was very well done as well.  The Killbillies come off as creepy and nasty as they need to too and the girls all play their parts to perfection.

The pictures looks really good despite being a dvd.  I would go as far as to say it looks better than a few Blu-rays I have seen lately.  The sound is perfect and the subtitles pop out perfectly.  That is a big mark of respect for me as so many films have washed out sub titles, or they use the wrong color so you miss some of the words on outside scenes.  Not here. They are presented dead in the center with breaks between characters and all.

The Killbillies look great, deformed perverted mangled up hillbilly killing machines match that with the fact they are going after attractive models and you have a definite winner on your hands here.  I would recommend picking this one up.

Overall 3 out of 5 stars

Burial Ground

Too be honest I shouldn’t have to write but a few words to not only convince you this film is good, but that you should run out and buy it now.  Those words are “Zombie Breast Feeding Scene!”  yes you read that correctly.  I must say that is not something you see in many films, actually in any the more I think about it.

Burial Ground aka Zombie 3 aka Nights of Terror aka The Zombie Dead is a combination zombie exploitation film from Italy.  It gained some notoriety back in the 80s when it was released on VHS and received 13min of cuts in the UK and was branded a “Video Nasty”  I can see that brand, not only for Zombie Breast feeding, but nudity, extreme gore, violence, sexuality, incest, you name it.  As this is 2016 and some of it is shocking image watching it in the 80’s

Burial Ground is the story of a scientist who was experimenting with an old crypt beneath his mansion.  During his studies he ends up unleashing a curse causing all the corpses to reanimate.  After they dispatch of him they begin rising up and turning their attention on the 3 couples he has invited to stay at his mansion.  They all fit the ear, swingers, young frisky couples so to speak.  One of them, a very attractive mother has a creepy son, that I could not tell if his was mentally challenged, or just a mommas boy.  What’s really creepy is he reminds me of someone my wife knows.  They walk around the mansion having sex, taking pictures and making out outside until all the zombies start rising up from the ground.

Now even though they move slow they are not the typical film zombie.  They use items to break open doors, and weapons on occasion to kill the couples in very graphic ways.  Everyone decides to take shelter inside, downstairs in a very Night of the Living Dead style hideout when the huge zombie siege begins.

The zombies look slightly dated when compared to today's, but these are all old school practical effects, and they still hold up well to this day.  The kills scenes are also all done in practical make up and work very effectively.  The kill to the maid by scythe and the smashing of one’s head stand out the most to me.

Severin Films has done an outstanding job scanning the original 35mm print on this film to 2K.  The audio and video quality are outstanding especially considering the obscurity of this film as of late.  It’s got a nice amount of extras as well.

   Villa Parisi - Legacy of Terror: Featurette on the historic house location

Peter Still Lives: Festival Q&A with actor Peter Bark

Just for the Money: Interview with actor Simone Mattioli

The Smell Of Death: Interviews with Producer Gabriele Crisanti and Actress Mariangela Giordano

Deleted/ Extended Scenes/ Shots

Theatrical Trailer

The film still packs quiet the punch and for those who have never seen it is well worth a watch.  If you’re a fan and own one of the DVD release from years back do yourself a favor and pick up this Blu-ray edition

Overall 3 out of 5 Stars!

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