// Category Archive for: DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews

DVD Review: Wakefield Poole’s Bible!

By Brad Henderson

When we see the rating X or XXX, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Hardcore porn? Or a film that has so much sexual content that it isn’t fit for an R rating? Sometimes neither of these things can be the case. Back in the 1960s and ’70s films that had sexual content were rated X because in that day and age it was considered too much. Those films are nothing compared to what we have today between porn and R-rated films that are deemed “extreme.”

Vinegar Syndrome is probably a name that you aren’t familiar with yet, but take note because these guys are true fans of vintage/art cinema. I was fortunate enough to watch one of their reissues, an X-rated film from 1974 called Bible! directed by Wakefield Poole. Just looking at the synopsis or reading about it you might think it’s a hardcore porno or maybe a sexplotation film. I’m here to tell you that it’s neither.

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DVD Review: Blue Caprice

By Less Lee Moore

Reviewing a narrative film based so closely on real-life tragedy is a challenge. If it were a documentary, it might be easier to analyze how the filmmaker’s possible agenda influences the way the events were presented and if the recounting of history was done responsibly.

Blue Caprice opens with what seems like a documentary cliché: a montage of news footage covering the Beltway Sniper attacks from 2002. Immediately, we feel a distance from the subject being addressed. Then, the film cuts to a series of scenes of a teenage boy in Antigua, trying to cope with his mother’s departure to find work in the United States. The visual dichotomy between grainy newsreels and the lushness of the Caribbean is as profound as the tonal one. There is no reporter documenting what we’re seeing so we’re forced to make sense of what’s going on.

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Blu-Ray Review: Argento’s Dracula 3D

By Brad Henderson

Let me start off by saying that I’m a huge fan of Dario Argento. Huge. He’s been a big influence in my life and is one of my favorite directors of all time. I’m sad to say this is the first Argento flick that I’ve disliked. (Yes, I like Giallo, so don’t bother asking.) Still, I didn’t go into this film with high hopes but it has Rutger Hauer and Asia Argento so I was thinking what could go wrong with something like that?

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DVD Review: Dark Touch

By Brad Henderson

It’s hard to keep up with horror films because there are so many. Between all of the indie and mainstream horror movies released, it is next to impossible to determine what to watch and stay away from. That is why there are people like us to help you decide what you need to watch right away or take your good ol’ time to get around to seeing.

Dark Touch is a film that I recommend that I actually didn’t care all that much about. Weird, right? I know. I’m one of those people that will recommend a film even though I disliked it because I can see many people digging this film and enjoying it quite a bit. The plot is very intriguing and it immediately got me interested: A little girl is the survivor of a massacre that took place at her home. The cops suspect vandals broke into the home and killed her parents but the little girl knows the truth of what happened on that horrific night.

My main problem with the story is that we know the truth of what happened right away. This kind of ruined the film for me because I would have rather been on the other side of the table with this one. The film is beautifully shot and well done, but that wasn’t enough to save Dark Touch for me personally. Even though it wasn’t for me I think this film will find its audience quickly . . . or not.

Dark Touch was released on DVD by IFC Midnight on January 28.

DVD Review: Stonados

By Brad Henderson

I often wonder how people come up with an idea for a disaster film. Not only do we have volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and everything else but also we now have other things combined with these normal disaster films. Just about every week it seems that there is either a weird shark film or a disaster film on television and it gets old. I know there’s a small market out there but where do they actually find the producers of these films? If someone handed me a script called Stonados I would laugh. I even laughed when I got an email about the release of the film, but since I’m a film geek I gave it a chance. I give anything a chance.

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DVD Review: Devil’s Pass

By Brad Henderson

Renny Harlin has brought us many great films throughout his career, making a name for himself through action films. So what happens when Harlin wants to do a found footage horror film? I’m down. Recently Harlin brought us Devil’s Pass, a.k.a. The Dyatlov Pass Incident, which was inspired by true events.

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DVD Review: The Banshee Chapter

By Brad Henderson

There are countless horror films released in a year and most of the good ones go unnoticed by the general public. Unless a horror film is in theaters these days, people just don’t see them. Thankfully VOD is getting more popular and the general public now has access to all the films that we film geeks love and try to promote. The VOD industry is very much like the home video boom in many ways. Independent and low budget films didn’t stand a chance at the theater in the days of the home video boom (and they still don’t), but once these movies hit the video store it became an equal playing field. The same goes for VOD these days: Indie flicks are in the same row as your big budget blockbusters.

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DVD Review: You’re Next

By Less Lee Moore

“Bidding war” are two words that filmmakers sometimes wait years to hear. In the case of You’re Next, though, it also meant that audiences would have to wait years to see the movie that caused the stir in the first place. If you saw You’re Next at TIFF’s Midnight Madness a few years back and wondered what happened to it, you’re in luck. It’s now out on DVD after a brief theatrical run at the end of last year.

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Blu-Ray Review: Blind Date

By Brad Henderson

There are many ’80s comedies that were popular in their time but are slowly fading away. Blind Date isn’t the funniest flick from the decade, but we get to see Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger in a slapstick comedy love story directed by Blake Edwards . . . yes, The Pink Panther guy.

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DVD Review: Rewind This!

By Brad Henderson

VHS is slowly coming back. It won’t be readily available in stores again but there’s still a huge market for it under the table. I’ve been collecting VHS for many years and have quite the collection. I adore VHS for many reasons and I know others have the same feelings about this dead format.

Rewind This! is a documentary that focuses on the VHS boom and the effects it had on the film industry. VHS changed many people’s lives and altered the industry forever. Laserdisc, DVDs, Blu-Ray, and other formats didn’t even come close to doing what VHS did.

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