Blu-Ray Review: Assault on Precinct 13 (Collector’s Edition)

By Brad Henderson

“It would be a privilege if you’d walk outside with me.”
—Lt. Ethan Bishop in Assault on Precinct 13

When I was younger I discovered John Carpenter. I was obsessed with Halloween and The Thing; this made me try to track down everything that he had done. Keep in mind that this was the middle of the ’90s so certain titles on VHS were scarce and DVD hadn’t hit it big yet. Tracking down Carpenter titles was very difficult for a little kid that loved obscure films.

I would go with my parents to every flea market that we could so I could scour the depths of boxes trying to find any horror or action titles that existed. Assault on Precinct 13 was one of those titles that I was searching for. I was determined to find it and consume it.

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DVD Review: All Hallows’ Eve

By Brad Henderson

A year or so ago I was introduced to a short film called “Terrifier.” It was one of the most horrific shorts I’ve ever seen, about a girl haunted by a terrifying clown. No matter where she goes, he is there. “Terrifier” is the type of nightmare we have as children when we can’t do anything or run anywhere because the nightmare is always there. That was the basic reason why I liked the short so much: it didn’t have a story or anything, but was just pure terror.

All Hallows’ Eve is the feature by the team that brought us “Terrifier” and it is equally terrifying. Don’t go thinking that it will be the scariest film you will ever see, but if you haven’t seen this filmmaker’s work before, you will be in for a treat.

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Blu-Ray Review: Big-Ass Spider

By Brad Henderson

Why wouldn’t you want to watch a film called Big-Ass Spider?

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Blu-Ray Review: The Act Of Killing

By Brad Henderson

I really wouldn’t even consider this a review; I consider this a plea for people to watch a recently released documentary called The Act Of Killing. It’s been on many Top 10 lists this year and when I first heard the buzz about it, I was expecting to see something else. I’m not sure what that was, but in my mind I was expecting something not so gut-wrenching.

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DVD Review: Sanguivorous

By Brad Henderson

What would be your definition of an experimental film? I honestly think all definitions are B.S. I say this because of the actual definition of experiment: a scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact. I don’t think any of these apply to film.

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DVD Review: Mischief Night

By Brad Henderson

One of my favorite things in film is the home invasion subgenre. I think it’s one of the scariest real-life events that can take place. Because there have been many great home invasion films, when I saw the trailer for Mischief Night I got a little pumped. I actually turned off the trailer halfway through so it could be a surprise.

Mischief Night has the elements of a great film and does many things right in order to create a suspenseful film. The beginning of the film is a little silly and that’s because they put Charlie O’Connell in it and tried to make him a badass. I’m not sure what they were going for but Charlie doesn’t cut it. Once that dissolves, we are presented with Em, who suffers from psychosomatic blindness and her night alone during a Halloween tradition called Mischief Night.

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Best Of 2013: Brad Henderson

1. Blue Ruin
I could go on for days on how much this film means to me and how emotional I became watching it. Not only one of my favorite flicks of the year, but also of all time. I can’t wait to hear about the general consensus of this one.

2. The Conjuring
I’m a horror fan for life and I have lots of love for James Wan. I’m also a huge fan of The Warrens and their work so this is an obvious film for me to put on my list.

3. The Lords Of Salem
Don’t care about the hate for Rob Zombie. Zombie is a genius through and through and shows his true love for film in this one.

4. The Battery
Best $6K zombie movie ever made. Also, one of the best zombie movies ever made.

5. Jug Face
Read my review on this one. The Pit Wants Want It Wants.

6. Furious 6
You can call it whatever you want, but the title card said Furious 6, and it’s also the best in the franchise.

7. Maniac
One of the best remakes ever. Also, Elijah Wood plays a brutal serial killer and we take him seriously? Yep, it worked.

8. Mud
Great flick. It is very basic, but the way it’s presented is outstanding.

9. Spring Breakers
I’ve always disliked Korine and thought this film was going to be garbage. As it turns out, it became a favorite of mine and I think about it every single day.

10. Broken
Heart breaking and super emotional, this film hit me hard.

Blu-Ray Review: Streets Of Fire

By Brad Henderson

I believe Streets Of Fire is a film that has to grow on you. I don’t mean that in a negative way but unless you like complete cheese, you may just think Streets Of Fire is at most, OK. My best friend introduced me to this movie for the first time a couple years ago. I enjoyed the film but it didn’t hit me hard like I thought it would. I didn’t yearn to watch it again although the music did stay with me. This past year I saw the film for a second time at the theater with some hardcore fans in the beauty of 35mm. Then it hit me. Seeing this film presented to me in that format made me feel differently.

So when I heard Second Sight Films was putting out a Blu-Ray my interest was piqued and I got excited . . . really excited.

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Blu-Ray Review: Paradise

By Brad Henderson

Diablo Cody hit it big a few years ago with Juno and everyone and their mother flocked over to her fan club. I watched Juno and admit I enjoyed it, but it was so filled with pop culture one-liners that it became boring. People said it was fresh and new but to me it was someone just trying way too hard. After that, Cody wrote Jennifer’s Body, which I was a fan of because of the silliness and how the film actually presented itself. Of course, people didn’t like this one and it was easily dismissed by critics. Cody wrote another “hit” called Young Adult which was just OK by me and many others.

Recently a new film called Paradise has surfaced that Cody wrote and directed. This is actually her directorial debut and the project she decided to helm first. First off, let me say this film feels like a total passion project for Diablo Cody. I could be wrong, of course, but Paradise falls flat and is so boring it doesn’t feel right.

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Blu-Ray Review: Bounty Killer

By Brad Henderson

Exploitation is a term that isn’t used with newer films, although every so often we get a film that looks like it’s from today but has the throwback feel. Bounty Killer is one of those films. However, Bounty Killer never claims that to be a throwback and that’s what I really enjoyed about it. If you are mainly inspired by older films and want to really hit hard with the audience who loves that type of thing, do not call your film a throwback. It ruins everything.

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