DVD Review: The Legend Of The Psychotic Forest Ranger

By Brad Henderson

Eighties throwback films are getting more and more popular every year. Some of these films are pretty incredible while others fall flat and just don’t hit the notes. You sometimes have a film that falls in between and that is exactly where The Legend Of The Psychotic Forest Ranger ends up.

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VHS Visions: Deadly Dreams (1988)

By Brad Henderson

Back in the ’80s there was an actress named Juliette Cummins who has remained one of my favorites until this day. Bringing up her name probably won’t ring a bell, but she was in such flicks as Friday The 13th Part 5: A New Beginning, Psycho 3, Slumber Party Massacre 2, Running Hot, and Deadly Dreams. (Psst. . . this post is about Deadly Dreams.) Ever since I can remember, Juliette Cummins has been a favorite of mine and I love every film she is in. Yeah, the films are pretty badass to begin with, but she makes the films better.

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DVD Review: Birth Of The Living Dead

By Brad Henderson

When I was little, one of the first films that I can remember seeing and buying on VHS was Night Of The Living Dead on the Blockbuster Exclusive label. You know the one; the one with the big red label on the side. . . Night Of The Living Dead is one of the most important and influential films that exists. It has impacted not only the film industry but also the world, inspiring many people along the way. First Run Features recently released a documentary based on the events leading up to the making of this important film. Birth Of The Living Dead sheds a lot of light on the making of Night Of The Living Dead including stories of its successes and mishaps.

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VHS Visions: Valet Girls (1987)

By Brad Henderson

Sex comedies are my forte. I’m in love with them, even the bad ones. It doesn’t matter to me if they’re bad because I find something enjoyable out of each of them. There are a lot of sex comedies but there are some real gems hidden about all the boobs and sand. One of those flicks is Valet Girls.

With these films you can’t go on expecting a plot. Usually there’s a very simple story with lots of boobs and running from the villain or trying to overcome some obstacle and having to raise money for it. Valet Girls is about a singer who wants to make it big so she becomes a valet girl? What?

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DVD Review: Concussion

By Less Lee Moore

The tagline on the DVD for Concussion is the kind of lurid text that implies we’re going to watch a Lifetime movie from the 1990s: Wife. Mother. Escort. When you examine the plot—middle-aged wife and mother gets hit on the head and then creates a secret life as a prostitute—it doesn’t do much to dissuade that notion. Yet Concussion isn’t a cautionary tale and the head injury doesn’t produce dissociative fugues; no one gets blackmailed, kidnapped, or murdered. It’s a frank examination of dissatisfaction and desire that could easily be transposed onto a heterosexual relationship, but in Concussion the married couple are lesbians with two kids.

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DVD Review: Violet & Daisy

By Less Lee Moore

With more than 300 films screening in a ten-day time period, the Toronto International Film Festival makes time management a challenge. Rumor has it that some film critics will leave a screening after ten minutes if they’re not fully engaged. I’m going to bet that there were quite a few who walked out on Violet & Daisy at TIFF 2011. That would have been a big mistake.

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VHS Visions: The Kindred (1987)

By Brad Henderson

Like I’ve said countless times already, there are thousands upon thousands of movies that have never been released on DVD or Blu-Ray. That’s kind of the whole point of this VHS Visions feature: to make people aware of some amazing films that have never seen the light of day and hopefully shed some light on them, so that distributors are aware that there is a market for these movies.

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DVD Review: The Invoking

By Brad Henderson

Making a film is hard no matter what subject matter or genre you tackle, but some genres are harder than others. When it comes down to it, I believe most people would rather watch a bad horror film rather than a bad drama or comedy because watching a bad horror film is just easier on certain levels.

Indie horror is something hard to pull off for many reasons. The story and acting have to be solid or you will just bore your audience. If you have special effects in the film—either CGI or practical—they also have to look solid or you have a problem. I’m pleased to say that The Invoking is an indie horror film that gets things right.

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The Unseen: The Forsaken, Asylum Blackout, The Party Animal

By Brad Henderson

We all have those films that have slipped under our radar or those that we just didn’t get around to seeing yet. These films could be blockbusters, indie flicks, or just films that weren’t publicized or spoken about enough. In this feature, I’m going to be discussing three films you need to see that you probably missed or maybe even forgot about.

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