It’s been said that sometimes in order to go forward we need to go back … and, to a degree, that’s what Paramount has finally done with its long-running space franchise Star Trek: with Strange New Worlds, they’re dipped back into what made the property special at its inception, crafting a new iteration that will once again explore the weekly morality play along with an awful lot of the usual theatrical bells and whistles.
 
Alas, I don’t run on household with a wealth of disposable income, so I’ve been adamantly opposed to purchasing each and every new streaming platform as they go live.  As a consequence, I’ve had to wait some time for these new adventures of the Starship Enterprise to come out on home video.  Thankfully, the wait wasn’t too unbearable: Strange New Worlds launched on May 5, 2022, and its Blu-ray and DVD release finally ‘streeted’ on March 21, 2023.  Now that I’ve had some free time, I queued up the first disk and – like so many – finally went where no man has gone before.
 
As fate and screenwriters would have it, the pilot episode also shared the name of the program: “Strange New Worlds” saw Starfleet Captain Christopher Pike ordered out of his self-imposed exile to investigate just how a First Contact mission involving his Number One officer went so horribly awry.  While this was not the first time we’d seen this particular captain in action with a good complement of this particular crew, the hour still served as a solid jumping-on-point both for audiences shuttled over from Star Trek: Discovery as well as interested newcomers.
 
How does it go?
 
Well, the simple answer is that, despite a few burdensome moments here and there, I found much of Strange New Worlds to be a welcome return to form for the decades-old space saga.
 
Thematically, Captain Pike isn’t all that much different from the deservedly revered Captain James T. Kirk as embodied by the great William Shatner.  Both play their respective leaders a bit bigger than life along with a bit of braggadocio here and there.  Plus, this incarnation – unlike Discovery – actually has a great deal aesthetically in common with the original version of the program that aired famously on television between 1966 and 1969.  Sadly, scriptwriter Akiva Goldsman (who also directed the installment) doesn’t bring much originality to the whole affair in the story department, but he still dishes out a compelling premiere with enough spit and polish that it just might stem the tide of Trekkies, Trekkers, and general Trek enthusiasts who’ve left the franchise for other pursuits.
 
Still, regular readers of this space know that I’ve always gravitated toward answers that are a bit more complex.  For those of you truly interested in my in-depth analysis, buckle up for Warp One.
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(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
As I stated above, Strange New Worlds isn’t actor Anson Mount’s ‘first rodeo’ in the center seat as Captain Pike.  His character was originally produced as part of Star Trek: Discovery’s second season.  That show rather famously twisted long established Trek canon by giving Starfleet’s highly decorated first officer Mr. Spock (played by Ethan Peck) an adopted foster sister in Michael Burnham (played by with an awful lot of scripted tears by Sonequa Martin-Green).  Essentially, Discovery’s second season was a chance to tinker a bit more in the saga’s fictional timeline with characters and circumstances that might’ve been more familiar to the wider Trek viewing family; and it ended up with a season finale that propelled Discovery’s crew into the distant future (thus kinda/sorta removing Burnham from continuity problems that fandom kept uncovering and reporting upon via the web) while cleverly setting the stage for SNW’s inaugural episode.
 
A wise man once said, “Think beforehand about afterwards – whatever you decide to do, think ahead about the consequences.”  So far as storytellers are concerned, one of the greatest extrapolations of that law regarding unintended consequences is that – invariably – one good deed might very well screw up a whole universe.  In “Strange New Worlds,” audiences learn that the galaxy-saving maneuver in the big finish to Discovery’s Season 2 actually sent a rather nasty ripple through Pike’s present: apparently, scientists of a nearby planet observed the ships, the battle, as well as the resulting phenomenon, and they were somehow capable of reverse-engineering warp technology from it.  Rather than put this science to productive use by venturing out into space (something they’ve not achieved), they instead turn their focus dastardly inward, crafting something called a ‘warp bomb’ with which they intend to destroy a planetary adversary.
 
Always on the lookout for cultures achieving warp capability, Starfleet recognizes the technology’s signature and dispatches a – cough cough – paltry three officers for a galactic meet-and-greet with an invitation for the people of Kiley to join the community of the stars.  As tends to happen in serialized storytelling, things don’t go as planned, and all contact with the starship and its away team is lost.
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​Now: without getting too deeply into the weeds here and perhaps even risking showing my age, this construct as designed by Goldsman does bear a striking similarity to one of Science Fiction and Fantasy’s groundbreaking films of the 1950’s, often considered the ‘Golden Era’ for such entries.  It reminds one of 1951’s The Day The Earth Stood Still in which alien Klaatu (Michael Rennie) was similarly dispatched by his governing galactic authority to issue a warning proclamation to the people of Earth: if you’re going to venture into the heavens, then you’re going to have to leave your warring ways on your world.  Space people have no use for war; and – if you don’t play nice – well, then we’ll have to destroy you.  (Notice the irony?)  Meant to be a cautionary tale about how science in the wrong hands can be monumentally risky, The Day The Earth Stood Still resonated with audiences so much so that it endures to this day.  In 1995, the film was inducted into the U.S.’s National Film Registry, an organization that seeks to preserve films for their lasting and continuing cultural, historical, and aesthetic contribution to history.
 
In SNW, Goldsman doesn’t stop at just suggesting Stood Still as a construct for this pilot hour.  He even resorts to having Pike watching the film on television in the opening, having the man admit to a female companion (who seems much too young for him, if I don’t say so myself) that the motion picture is one of his favorites.  Heck, Goldsman even recreates the final scene in which Klaatu issues his somewhat dire proclamation in the episode’s closing moments.  The significant difference here is that Pike practically encourages this faltering civilization to go to war with one another before giving them the alternative of becoming a member world within the United Federation of Planets.
 
So … as I also stated above … in order to truly move forward, Goldsman and his cast and crew have really gone back to a SciFi original.  On that front, Strange New Worlds is neither strange nor new; it’s admirably familiar to territory that’s long been some terrific stomping ground for all of Science Fiction.  Others might find that distracting as it’s a sentiment that’s long been explored by many a movie and television show; I found it refreshing because it made me believe – if even only for a few moments – that the past mattered.  Thankfully, the episode was filled with other callbacks – big and small – to Star Trek of the distant past, and I felt like I had come back home once again.
 
Setting that appeal aside, however, SNW – the episode – literally trampled over Trek’s Golden Rule repeatedly, only now being properly named (within the show’s continuity) as the ‘Prime Directive.’  What helps all of these various worlds come together as a governing body is their adherence to rules.  You see, folks, although this is all fiction, it still has guidelines the writers are supposed to follow as these parameters help underscore the workings of the world these characters inhabit.  Much like in fiction as we are in reality, a people are only as good socially, politically, and culturally as they’re willing to abide by certain laws.  Star Trek’s big rule is that under no circumstances is any crew to interfere with the development of another world, and yet Goldsman’s script has Pike incessantly not really – erm – giving a damn about that rule.  While the circumstances are afforded greater context than just right or wrong (Starfleet has already unintentionally interfered by unintentionally giving the planet access to a technology far superior to anything they’ve created on their own), Pike still forges ahead non-stop at each and every opportunity, so much so that it got a bit grating to this long-time Trek aficionado.
 

Hey, I’m all for a good story.  Conflict is required, as are great characters.  The inclusion of some big puzzle that needs to be solved ethically has long been something Star Trek has put to great use.  The various versions of the franchise have won accolades and awards built on the back of such narrative proselytizing, and maybe even I should cut this early hour a bit of slack for shaking up the status quo in this manner.  There are books published that both dissect and applaud the lessons of critical thinking brought to small screen life across these various shows.  Who knows?  Maybe one day even Strange New Worlds will get that literary postmortem.  Time, as they say, will tell.
 
Still, I do hope the screenwriting room won’t make a habit of violating Starfleet protocols on a weekly broadcast basis.
 
Can I just add that – to a minor degree – I’m actually capable of overlooking the breach because it came from Anson Mount?
 
Though the actor hasn’t had what I’d call a storied career, he truly grew on both me and my wife with his portrayal of ‘Cullen Bohannon’ in the Historical Drama Hell On Wheels which lasted for an incredible five seasons on AMC.  (Mark my words: much like only Clint Eastwood could’ve played ‘the Man with No Name’ and only John Wayne could’ve played ‘Rooster Cogburn,’ only Anson Mount could’ve played Cullen Bohannon.)  The award-winning exploration of the great American West was appointment viewing in our household, and that’s entirely because of Mount’s work on the show.  A flawed man who was trying to set things right at a time when morals were enforced at the end of a gun, Bohannon committed himself to finding peace when everything else around him was falling apart.
 
Casting a face so already familiar with taming wild frontiers in the role of a Starfleet captain at a time of similar chaos only tempered by a passion to explore strange new worlds?
 
Why, that’s a stroke of genius, it is.
 
Highly Recommended.
 
I’ll admit that there were some bits and pieces of “Strange New Worlds” that didn’t go down with me as easily as others, but still I appreciate this ‘return to form’ as a fabulous place to start an all-new iteration within one of television’s biggest and boldest space franchises ever.  There’s a generous helping dished up with vastly more respect than the other shows on Paramount+ (don’t get me started on Star Trek: Discovery or the first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard), and – finally – this bodes well for a positive future … and maybe that’s exactly what Gene Roddenberry would’ve wanted.  It has its imperfections … but don’t we all?

​-- EZ

1957’s Curse Of The Demon is a Horror/Fantasy that’s honestly come up an awful lot in my genre reading over the years.  I’ve read accounts from critics who’ve dubbed this curious little oddity one of the better outings of the 1950’s; and – while I’d stop short of giving it that high praise – I do think it’s a film worth seeing, even if only taking in its brief magic and mystery on only a single occasion.  In some ways, the script feels like a 50’s era episode of Fox TV’s incredible The X-Files, though it certainly lacks the dynamic duo polish shepherded by FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
 
What does it have in their place?
 
Well, how about one of the more popular photogenic leading men of his era, Dana Andrews?  In the role of Dr. John Holden, Andrews is on his way to a paranormal psychology convention in England where he’ll serve as the chief debunker to phenomenon that may or may not be going bump in the night.  (These things always have a conventional explanation, don’t you know?)  In his quest to uncover just what dark fate may’ve befallen a fellow researcher, Holden teams up with the man’s niece, Joanna Harrington (played by a comely Peggy Cummins).  After she convinces him that something sinister may be afoot, the two will race against the clock to unravel the mystery as it would appear that Holden’s immortal soul might very well depend on it.
 
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“American professor John Holden arrives in London for a parapsychology conference, only to find himself investigating the mysterious actions of Devil-worshiper Julian Karswell.”
 
Having thought about, talked about, and written about films since the 1980’s, I really have butted heads with an incredible number of folks over the years.  I’ve always found it fabulous to share my love of the cinema with so many, many people.  While I may not always have the same opinion of a project that they do, I hope that they’ve appreciated that I take my love of film very seriously … but I rarely, if ever, take my particular assessment of any picture as being definitive.  We’re all allowed to like what we like; that’s just the way I’m wired.
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Still, I’ve found it challenging to come across fans who appreciate older flicks as much as I do.  Certainly categories – like Science Fiction and Horror, for example – haven’t quite aged well; and the general consensus of today’s audience is that scary projects of the 1940’s and 1950’s just aren’t all that … well … frightening.  These storytellers in many cases were constrained to the limitations of the special effects craftsmen and women of those eras, so I can appreciate that maybe these pictures just don’t age well.  Balancing one’s likes and dislikes against the reality that many behind-the-scenes technicians truly had to invent their special effects helps me appreciate what the storytellers were trying to accomplish, and I suspect that’s largely why I have a bit more patience and fondness for the work than others.
 
As I mentioned above, Curse Of The Demon is a film that comes up quite often in my research.  Having now sat and watched the entire affair on my DVR I think I can fully understand why.
 
The shooting script – as crafted by Charles Bennett and Hal E. Chester – is actually an adaptation of “Casting The Runes,” a tale by M.R. James (aka Montague R. James).  From what I’ve discovered on Wikipedia.org, “Casting” was a short story published in a collection of them all the way back in 1911.  Without dissecting the particulars, it does appear as if the screenplay truly sticks to the premise of that original tale and goes in slightly different direction as to how the associated ‘curse’ plays out between its characters.  Wiki also reports that the short story has been adapted a few times for British television as well as undergoing a few different radio dramatizations as well.
 
But evolving from literature might be Curse’s greatest strength: it gives its various characters vastly more depth than other filmed haunts of the day, and the script takes the audience logically through its creepy vibe of with natural and nuanced progression.
 
Furthermore, director Jacques Tourneur is no intellectual lightweight here.  As a storytelling steward, his career to this point had already garnered him two Hugo Award nominations: he enjoyed a nomination in 1943 in the category of ‘Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form’ for bringing Cat People (1942) to the silver screen, and he backed that effort up only one year later with a 1944 nomination (in the same category) for his work on I Walked With A Zombie (1943).  IMDB.com reports that Curse Of The Demon would eventually go on to garner him a bit of praise from a screening at the Faro Island Film Festival, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself in that respect.  I’m also aware of Tourneur as the director of the film noir Out Of The Past (1947) with Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas.  (While that one clearly isn’t of the SciFi and Fantasy variety, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that it’s one of my all-time film favorites as well.)
 
From what I’ve read elsewhere, I recall that Tourneur was opposed to showing Curse’s central monster on the silver screen.  I believe his position on this (going from memory) is that he didn’t believe that such a creature was necessary and might even be a distraction from the story’s central questioning of whether or not the alleged curse was real or merely a creation of circumstances.  The director has even been quoted on record (per Wikipedia.org) as insisting that the scenes created with the lumbering gruesome giant were done without his participation; though there’s ample evidence to suggest that may not have been the case, I can still understand how anyone in his position may’ve assumed that more suggestion and less spectacle makes for a superb thriller.
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Essentially, the monster’s arrival properly bookends this tale – it’s present in the opening, and it shows up in even greater glory in the last reel.  Any speculation that Tourneur may’ve wanted left up to the audience’s imagination is completely gone, though the finale is staged in such a manner as to leave it open to interpretation by the characters.  As constructed, the people in the film don’t see it – only the viewers do – so the characters are left in such a way as to get to choose how the lead villain Niall MacGinnis inevitably ‘met his maker.’  You and I?  Well, we aren’t afforded such luxury.
 
I’ve often written that one of the reasons I do prefer older films is that the characters are actually given some very good dialogue with which to move a story forward.  Players actually talk about what happens, and we – as voyeurs – get to glean from it an awful lot of substance, motivations, foreshadowing, etc.  In that respect, the script quite masterfully gives Dr. Holden and young Joanna some fabulous exchanges.  While some might find them a bit too short and maybe even a bit light on subtext, I think they worked perfectly; in no small way, their occasionally witty exchanges do mirror some of the effectiveness to those debates Mulder and Scully had on the aforementioned The X-Files.  Holden’s clearly a skeptic, and Joanna fully accepts that there’s dark magic at work here.  This spine – and their growing friendship and acceptance of each other’s perspective – elevates this Curse to the level of respectability its earned over the years.
 
What matters to many in an authentic Horror is the scares, and here this would involve those sequences wherein the Demon enters our world through the veil of darkness.  Yes, yes, and yes: the effects are understandably primitive when compared with anything from, say, the 1970’s onward, but that doesn’t diminish the theatrical effectiveness.  The actors in those scenes conveyed their own respective astonishment – chiefly Maurice Denham (as Henry Harrington) and MacGinnis (in the finale); and they sell the sizzle as perfectly as roasted mutton when the time comes.
 
Curse Of the Demon (aka Night Of The Demon) (1957) was produced by Sabre Film Productions.  For those who like to know this kind of minutiae, I watched the film via standard cable from an airing on Turner Classic Network.  As for the technical specifications?  This black-and-white chiller actually looks very, very good: there are a few sequences wherein the special effects of the day might make for a bit of – erm – obviousness that images have been altered to achieve the proper scare, but it’s all handled surprisingly solid.
 
Highly Recommended.

​-- EZ

Honestly, folks, it’s never been a better time to be a fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
 
Why, it seems like almost every day one platform or another – one production house or a group of fledgling intellectual property creators – are trying to establish some space saga for the modern age.  The explosion of entertainment options – both streaming or traditional cable (though we’re told that’s in its dying stages) – has only opened more doors than perhaps ever before for genre series to take hold, try to build an audience, and launch audiences into the heavens and/or beyond.  Granted, not all of these new excursions are at the same level of quality or interest, but it’s nice to know that fans truly have opportunities these days to step aboard one ride wilder than the last, to buckle up, and settle in for sights unimaged.
 
2023’s Colonials is an all-new adventure property directed by the team of Andrew Balek and Joe Bland.  Written for the screen by Bland and Cyrus Cheek, the adventure stars Greg Kriek, Jamie Bernadette, B.A. Tobin, Daniel Roebuck, and Jeremy John Wells in key roles.  The action takes place in space and on the planets Earth and Mars in the distant future; and it’s all meant to be a clever action/adventure yarn about a young pilot whose fate might very well be tied to whether or not he can ignite a revolution on what remains of our fallen world before evil can truly mire itself in our reality.
 
While I think the feature really could’ve used a bit more development behind-the-scenes – the story isn’t as clearly and precisely told as it could’ve been with, perhaps, more money and less special effects trickery – I believe it’s still mildly diverting enough to find either an audience of young’uns, gamers, or SciFi enthusiasts (such as myself in that last regard).  Though it never quite rises above the level of its obvious imperfections, it still has something to offer as a pleasant diversion for the length of its roughly 80-minute run-time.
 
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
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From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A space colonist traveling from Mars crash lands on Earth to save a Resistance stuck in the dark ages from an advance Moon enforcer – and the galaxy from human extinction.”
 
It isn’t always easy to make something of an all-new SciFi property.
 
Right out of the gate, audiences require a reasonably easy-to-follow set-up – one not all that overripe with exposition – along with a respectable level of world-building.  Enough of the foundational particulars have to be both set-in-stone as well as relatable otherwise storytellers run the risk very early on of crafting a universe that, sadly, may not be compelling enough to both ignite and sustain growing interest.  Characters should be well-defined – no one should have to put much thought into who the heroes are much less the villains – and an understandable ‘hero’s quest’ should underscore every one of these early steps, placing viewers alongside the lead characters for what looks to be a vicarious thrill ride.
 
In its early scenes, Colonials doesn’t quite set the world up as efficiently as was necessary.  While the opening section hints to the fact that Earth has been left in ruins by what looks to have been an alien invasion, it really takes some time for the current state of affairs to come into perspective.  Some of this might be owed to Joe Bland and Cyrus Cheek’s script getting into some comic relief a bit too soon – a floating droid whizzes ‘robot urine’ on our young hero to wake him from a restful slumber – without firmly giving the boy so much as a back story.  Whereas Star Wars chose to introduce its Luke Skywalker starring longingly at twin suns while he wishes he could be somewhere else in the galaxy, Colonials’ Silas (played by Greg Kriek) wakes up to a mouthful of piss.
 
Whether you like it or not, this moment tells me that – thematically – this is an unimportant character whose destiny is likely far more humorous than it is heroic, an aesthetic I believe that the screenplay tries to reset in the opening action sequence rather quickly.  But, again, what the audience sees is some alleged pilot who can’t even seem to get his ship out of the cruiser’s launch bay.  It isn’t but a few short minutes later that the big transport is destroyed, our hero’s friends killed (people we never really got to know anyway so there’s no emotional resonance to their deaths), and Silas and his urinating droid plummet to Earth below.
 
Sadly, this herk-and-jerk start-and-stop progression never really improves.  I felt tugged along the story – not eased into it nor encouraged to follow along out of caring for these characters – and instead of a narrative what unspools feels more like a video game adaptation than it does an authentic tale.  Here’s where our hero loses his memories.  Here’s where the hero discovers one chapter of his legacy.  Here’s where the hero earns a friend.  And here’s where it all goes to sh#t (instead of urine!) for the hero.  No person who joins him on this supposedly epic quest is every lifted from two-dimensions, and even the villains end up feeling like stereotypical baddies all in search of a plot.
 
Visually, Colonials does offer up some interesting sights that might serve as a momentary distraction from the drudgery of modern-day life, and sometimes that’s the best one can expect.  Occasionally – though not often enough – it reminded me of TRON: Legacy (2010), a critically-drubbed project that I enjoyed for the way it rather effortlessly blended live action with effects work.  Similarly, Colonials is chock full of wizardry – most of it some obvious computer-generated robots, soldiers, spacecraft, and backgrounds – so much so that there’s a jarring effect once real location photography begins on the devastated planet Earth.  The difference between what’s authentic and what’s been added in post-production is blatantly, so painstakingly obvious here, and it’s for this reason that I and many other reviewers loathe what CGI has done to film, creating visible layers of quality to wind up pulling us out of watching the film because our eyes can’t be convinced that this movie set is tangible.  It isn’t, so – gasp – there’s no resulting tension with its loss.  It was all pixels anyway.
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As for its players?
 
Meh.  No one truly hits any performance out of the park here, but I think that’s probably owed more to the script’s uneven pursuit of a unifying idea here.  The reliable Daniel Roebuck – a character actor I’ve always had great respect for – does try to give his scenes a bit of gravitas; as a Martian senator, he’s standing against his planet’s status quo to send more forces to rescue Earth.  Alas, nothing really emerges from his good works, and even he can’t elevate this space opera above B-Movie status.  Heck, in an even curious bit of bad casting or uninspired make-up, three different female players all look so hauntingly alike in the film that I began to wonder what the picture was trying to imply about our future: will all stunning ladies be decked out in black with shoulder-length hair?  (And here I thought blondes had more fun!)  It was as if casting was asked to locate a ‘Trinity’ type (Carrie Anne Moss from The Matrix franchise), forgot which character was supposed to be her, and instead cast every female role with the same look!
 
Lastly, Colonials dabbles with popular tropes a bit too often – wacky droids, lightsaber-style technology, long-winded exposition, and Apocalyptic imagery – leaving its one inviting idea – that of a souped-up hovercraft that looks like a decked-out muscle car – sidelined after finally creating a spark all of its own.
 
Colonials (2023) was produced by Bland Productions and Colonials Film.  Google.com reports that the film is presently available online for streaming on a variety of platforms including Epic Pictures own website.  (link) As for the technical specifications?  This is a reasonably well-produced Science Fiction and Fantasy flick, but there are some widely varying video and audio differences between what’s obviously ‘live action’ photography versus rendered computer graphics.  While occasionally a bit jarring (at least, for this viewer), it isn’t all that distracting: anyone experienced in computer gaming is probably very well equipped for this experience.  Lastly, as I viewed this via a streaming platform, there were no special features available.
 
(Mildly) Recommended.
 
Because I’m a genre junkie, I can appreciate a budding franchise opportunity as much as anyone; and, yet, I can’t ignore that Colonials felt extremely overloaded by the weight of its ambition as compared to what storytellers Balek and Bland were ultimately able to deliver.  Regular readers know of my stance on projects overloaded with CGI, and Colonials requires a ton of it.  Some of the special effects work is very well done.  Other bits?  Not so much.  It all ends with some closing credits looking as though the production was a set-up for a possible gaming spin-off; I’ll keep my eyes peeled to see if that develops.  In the meantime, the flick is reasonably kid-friendly, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Epic Pictures Group provided me with complimentary streaming access to Colonials by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review; and their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

​-- EZ

The whole idea behind Grindhouse films was that these motion pictures – made on the cheap – could be slickly packaged and basically thrown into theatres (preferably drive-ins, where they could be attached as a B-picture to some larger draw) to make a quick buck.  While they never truly had the star power to maximize the return on the investment, many were still made by writers, producers, and directors who still had a vision that could translate into a finished product.  Through the years, many of them get dismissed into the trash heap of cinema history, but, every now and then, one comes along that gets rediscovered, is awarded another lease on life, and maybe – just maybe – cries out for re-booting, re-invention, or remake.
 
I could make a hundred arguments for why the time is ripe for a casual flick like Wonder Women (1973) to get modernized by some innovative filmmakers.  Until that happens, why not sit back and enjoy a film that knew a thing or two about being truly original?
 
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and characters.  If you’re the kind of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last three paragraphs for my final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
Curiously, the world’s best athletes have started disappearing.  When mankind’s most favored Jai alai competitor vanishes after a tournament in the Philippines, Lloyds of London is about to lose their investment: good for them that crack private investigator Mike Harber (played with brilliant 70’s appeal by Ross Hagen) happens to be in Manila!  And he’ll stop at nothing – not rain, sleet, hail, nor beautiful gun-toting bikini-clad karate-chopping henchwomen – to uncover the conspiracy that threatens to bring mankind to its knees!
 
Sure, I exaggerate a little, but that’s the brilliance behind enjoying such camp / cult escapism as Wonder Women.  Based on a story by Lou Whitehill and adapted/directed by Robert V. O’Neil, Women feels like a really bad hard-boiled novel brought to silly life.  It was the 1970’s, after all, so pointed collars, bell-bottoms, and leisure suits had to be part & parcel of the film’s charm, but whoever had the idea to throw in a bevy of bosomy beauties deserved a Nobel Peace Prize!
 
Indeed, a man with as much machismo and chest hair as Harber almost cried out for an arch-nemesis, and the evil Dr. Tsu (the lovely Nancy Kwan) is a dream come true.  Her diabolical plan has no equal: she’s re-cycling the bodies of these abducted athletes on behalf of elderly millionaires who purchase life eternal for the highest price possible!  Throw in her own personal police force – the ‘wonder women’ of the film’s title – and the memorable Sid Haig in a lesser role as her villainous accomplice (named only ‘Gregorious’) in a fluffy pirate shirt and VOILA!  Camp movies, here we come!
​

It all ends up feeling more than a few parts of The Island Of Dr. Moreau for the groovy, jet-set crowd.  The science of the picture never amounted to much more than a bunch of blinking lights and chrome (think Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek without all of the cerebral influences, and you get the idea), which is perfectly fine in keeping with the light-hearted undercurrent of the story, but there’s an adequate amount of skin (compliments of some very lovely ladies in minor roles) and scares (an industrial fridge full of human body parts) to keep the confident heterosexual males in the audience more than casually interested.  It ends with the promise of a sequel as well as the most erotic game of chess ever committed to celluloid!
 
Wonder Women (1973) is produced by American National Enterprises and General Film Corporation.  DVD distribution is being handled through Bayview Entertainment.  As for the technical specifications, well keep in mind this is an older Grindhouse-style flick shot on film, so it’s best that you’re not expecting much; still, I’ve seen far worse copies and heard far worse sound – if you get through the tin-sounds of the dialogue, you’ll do just fine.  Also, Bayview has offered up a solid release with a wealth of extra features: there’s a director’s commentary, some on-set home movies, radio & TV spots, a nice gallery of stills, some missing (but not really all that revelatory) European clipped scenes, an interview with stuntman Erik Cord, and some exclusive scenes from the Warrior Women sequel.  Seriously, films in production today don’t get as many bells ‘n whistles, so cult movie fans really have something to rejoice here!  (Arguably, the quality of some of the supplementals isn’t all that great, but it’s nice to have, nonetheless.)
 
Mildly recommended, but …
 
… if and only if cult-style classics and/or 70’s Grindhouse flicks are seriously your thing; otherwise, the excitement, fun, and unintentional frivolity that is all 81 minutes of Wonder Women will be completely lost on you.  In fact, I have to wonder if Mike Myers didn’t have quite a bit of Women stuck in his fertile imagination when he conceived the whole ‘Austin Powers’ thing.  The two films have some basic similarities that go beyond the hot ladies, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out if Myers had seen the thing and used it as an inspiration.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Bayview Entertainment provided me with a DVD screener copy of Wonder Women (1973) by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review; and their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

​-- EZ

​Today’s audiences have shown a growing yet (hopefully) benign fascination with films involving torture.
 
Online critics are quick to associate much of this modern trend back to the Saw franchise of flicks – bloody puzzle pictures all centered around a mysterious puppetmaster who puts his players through increasingly gruesome physical ordeals – but methinks it’s probably gone on since legitimate splatter films built an audience throughout the 1970’s and early 80’s.  One thing’s for certain: if you’re not cringing or looking away, then you’re possibly drawn into the relentless twists that produce harm, fractures, and bloodflow.  We’re not judging you here at SciFiHistory.Net but just stating the obvious.
 
And, if that’s your thing, you’d do well to pick up a copy of Would You Rather (2012).  Directed by David Guy Levy from a script from Steffen Schlachtenhaufen, it may not end up being more than a passing fancy, but you could do far worse with 93 minutes, that’s for sure.
 
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and characters.  If you’re the kind of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last three paragraphs for my final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
Iris (played with curious detachment by Brittany Snow) finds herself desperate to make ends meet when she gives up her college career in order to care back home for her terminally ill brother.  Distraught further to learn that she’s no match to his needed blood marrow transplant, she responds to a telephone call from his doctor with a great surprise: a millionaire philanthropist named Shepard Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs) believes he may be able to offer the young woman an opportunity to see all of her prayers answered.  Lambrick asks Iris to join her at his estate for dinner, where she and others will be appealing to the Lambrick Foundation for assistance.
 
The catch: only one of those in dire need can and will be helped.
 
Would You Rather begins much like it sounds, presenting the ultimate ‘what if’ scenario to dinner guests all hoping for a hand-out.  They’ve all been told previously that, after their meal, they’ll be taking part in a game to determine which of them will be the lucky winner, and, on that level, the film tries hard to appeal to even the audience’s benevolence: clearly, this “game” can’t be all that it’s been made out to be, and these guests find themselves essentially in a sadist’s version of ‘truth or dare’ that more likely resembles ‘dare or dare’ if not ‘dare to die.’  One by one, they’re offered two choices – harm yourself or harm the person on your left (or right) – and, as much as screenwriter Schlachtenhaufen and director Levy would have you believe they’ve crafted a game of wills, it’s hardly that.
 
Simply argued, it can’t be a true game of wills when a player is forced to choose between two truly bad choices.
​

The story tries to work toward some depth of individual convictions.  Where it fails is that we’re only truly given Iris’s background – in fact, we’re shown what her life looks like with flashbacks featuring her and her brother – so the other guests at the table never become more than just … well … other guests at the table.  They’re little more than faces in a crowd.  Sure, there are a few hints to some of the obstacles they’re possibly facing, but, as the narrative device gives viewers little chance to understand or identify with them, they end up being nothing more than hapless victims slowly draining the life from one another.  There may be some nice ensemble chemistry at times, but, without any emotional attachment to these others, it ends up feeling a bit flat.
 
What does work is Combs’ palpable menace.
 
A screen veteran of some regard – especially in wares like this and beyond – he commands the screen whenever he’s offered.  Having followed his career since the 80’s, I’ve always had great respect for his obvious theatricality in nearly every role.  It’s nice to see him getting some material that, despite its weaknesses, truly gives him something to do.  As a character, one could argue he’s far more interesting than even Ms. Snow (the obvious lead), but, again, a somewhat hackneyed script never produces much hint of substance as to what’s made the nefarious Mr. Lambrick into the nefarious Mr. Lambrick.  Villains without motivation work only in thrillers, but they’re soon lost to memory once it all fades to black and the credits roll.
 
Lastly, there’s a clever little twist brought up in the film’s closing sequences.  From what little I’ve read (in other critiques), it appears to have generated a modest amount of controversy, some claiming it kinda/sorta negates the whole message inherent in what came before it (the twist).  I’d argue that that’s far from the case; rather, I see it at instilling yet another lesson to those who “play” with life in the way that these fortunate and unfortunate dinner guests did.  It’s far too precious to be reduced to a ‘what if.’  Too bad that’s something the screenwriter missed when he conceived of all this.
 
Would You Rather (2012) is produced by Periscope Entertainment and Social Construct.  DVD distribution is being handled through MPI Media Group.  As for the technical specifications, it all looks and sounds very solid throughout.  As for the special features, there’s an audio commentary track featuring the director and writer along with a poster gallery (???) and the theatrical trailer: it’s a small collection, but it’s there for those inclined to explore the subject matter further.
 
Recommended.
 
If I can give you no better reason to see this indie killer/thriller, then it would be to watch the incomparable Jeffrey Combs as the undeniably demented Shepard Lambrick.  Would you rather go back and watch him in Re-Animator (1985)?  Or what of his spectacularly nuanced work as ‘Weyoun the Vorta’ on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1994-1999)?  Or how about his wonderful turn on USA Network’s The 4400 (2005-2007)?  He’s a master of his craft, and, if anything, Would You Rather gives him some appropriate scenery to chew as a sadist with a mission: to play a game with the lives of the players truly in the balance.  He’s the ultimate ‘dungeon master’ in this contemporary spin on The Most Dangerous Game (1932)  – the ringleader in the most bizarre circus you’ll see today.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at MPI Media Group and IFC Films provided me with a DVD copy of Would You Rather (2012) by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review; and their contribution to me in no way, shape or form influenced my opinion of it.

(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“When the world is under attack from terrifying creatures who hunt their human prey by sound, 16-year-old Ally Andrews, who lost her hearing at age 13, and her family seek refuge in a remote haven.”
 
Have you ever stumbled across the random Horror film, watched it from start-to-finish, and only then realized the only reason this thing likely got made was because it somehow attached itself to legitimately talented actors and actresses?
 
That’s my impression upon viewing The Silence, a bit of a monster movie mash-up that looks to have ended up being swept up by the streaming giant Netflix (of all places).  It stars the venerable Stanley Tucci, the critically-praised Miranda Otto, and strongly-emerging Kiernan Shipka.  Now, if you had told me those names were signed to headline a motion picture and nothing else, then I would’ve assumed that the project was likely going to be some mainstream entry about a wise yet fussy middle-aged couple trying to get their incessantly wry yet precocious daughter into law school or some such premise.  But … a Horror movie?  Really?
 
Now, I don’t say any of that to be mean, because – as a viewer – I recognize talent when I see it, and Tucci, Otto, and Shipka score some reasonable high marks in what modest highwater marks get achieved aboard The Silence.  It’s just that I never would’ve picked that ensemble to launch a frightfest much less a frightfest as underwhelming as this one.
 
Directed by John R. Leonetti – a minor master of let’s call it low-brow Horror – the script by Shane Van Dyke and Carey Van Dyke.  (For the record, theirs is an adaptation of a 2015-published novel of the same name by Tim Lebbon.)  The Van Dykes – and, again, I mean no disrespect – certainly don’t have the street cred associated with some of Hollywood’s bigger efforts.  In fact, I know them best from their association with The Asylum, a production outlet best known for producing second- and third-tier B-Movie often ‘knocking off’ the latest and greatest box office sensation.  Having watched some of these films, I haven’t found any of them to be … erm … material I’d normally ascribe to a talent like Stanley Tucci, but … hey.  Art is art.  Am I right?  I will add – politely – that it helps going into the film with lower expectations, and maybe you’ll have more fun with it.
 
Setting aside those issues, the other significant item of note is that The Silence bears more than a passing resemblance to another creature feature: from what I’ve read, A Quiet Place (2018) was in production nearly at the same time as this one, and I’m a bit gobsmacked that Mr. Lebbon maybe didn’t try to sue the pants off writer/director John Krazinski as the similarities are exceedingly significant.  Young family?  Check!  Trying to escape the city in favor of a rural setting?  Check!  Deaf family member?  Check.  Well-known and bankable Hollywood talent in key roles?  Like I said, anyone could watch these two back-to-back and wonder how a lawsuit never emerged, especially when A Quiet Place Part 2 (2020) goes even a bit deeper into the same end of the pool.
 
But I digress …
​

Of the players suffering through The Silence, Tucci certainly elevates the work to the point of watchability.  He’s one of those established industry professionals who gives each project his undivided attention, rather easily making ‘Hugh Andrews’ a bit of an everyman the audience is willing to root for especially in the gravest of circumstances.   He sells the premise, and the audience is all-too-happy to take this dark journey on his behalf.  Otto does good work as his wife and the mother of his children, but she’s hamstrung through a significant portion of the plot that requires her to be bedridden from bat attack.  While Shipka does admirable work here, she never quite conveyed the level of fear and desperation I think a younger woman would under these circumstances.  A good deal of the tension is hardwired to her deafness, a malady easily forgotten about as she seems to live an otherwise normal existence with family and friends.  The only downside for her?  Well, she gets picked on at school … but didn’t we all?
 
Sadly, The Silence also suffers from the appearance of an all-new villain in the third act: it would appear a cult-like group has comfortably taken up existence in this quiet place, and their new membership drive is Hell bent on seizing Shipka’s ‘Ally Andrews’ because – you guessed it – she’s fertile.  (???)  Apparently these parochial finger waggers have no idea how much racket babies make, otherwise they’d come up with some other means to repopulate the planet in their severed-tongues image.  (Noises bad!  Noises very bad!)  Hollywood loves to cast regular churchgoers in villainous cloth, and perhaps I won’t condemn such lazy thinking, writing, and discrimination on the Van Dykes as I have read this was a significant component of Lebbon’s book.
 
Alas, it’s a muddled development that stinks loudly in the last reel, diverting the film away from its middling grasp as horror in favor of slinging cheap shots at fellow Americans.  After that, the picture gives way to a fabricated happy ending along with anything remotely resembling closure.  We’re left with Ally’s narration about who’ll survive quicker: man or beast.  I’m hoping it’s the audience.
 
The Silence (2019) was produced by Constantin Films and EMJAG Productions.  It is currently available for streaming on Netflix.  As for the technical specifications?  This thriller/chiller has many sequences that rather expertly make use of some reasonably budgeted special effects, so kudos to all the craftsmen and women who made this one work as well as it did in those sequences.
 
(Mildly) Recommended.
 
At its core, The Silence (2019) isn’t so much an authentic Horror film as much as it is a traditional monster movie.  Though this monster is (seemingly) everywhere (as opposed to, say, Frankenstein, who can only be at one place at one time), these bats-on-steroids fulfill many of the same requirements of the popular sub-genre.  Yet, they don’t play on our sympathies the way the Wolfman or a familiar neighbor being bitten by a zombie might.  Here, you’re supposed to only feel for the victims, so it helps that the movie is populated by a trove of familiar faces.  (You know … the bald guy from that one flick?  He’s too big name a star is die in this.  And he doesn’t.  Neither does she.  Or the kid.  Everybody else?  They’re goners, for sure.)

-- EZ 

Now, kids: yours truly has taken an awful lot of flack over the years for my love of certain genre films, but one of the biggest I gave up trying to defend a decade or two ago was 1982's Swamp Thing.

​Written for the screen and directed by the late Wes Craven, I saw the film multiple times in theaters, and I did so not because I thought it was the best thing to hit the silver screen ever.  I did so because it kinda/sorta came along at a point in my life when my love of genre entertainment had been firmly cemented, and I damn near fell in love with anything that looked like what I thought a comic book movie should look like.  No, it was never perfect.  No, it was never something that should be necessarily emulated.  But it was good.  It was wholesome.  It represented to me the possibilities of bringing a comic book to life in a way that might please fans and those just discovering comic book films, and -- even though it's filled with imperfections -- it deserves to be celebrated.

Well, wow ... what better way to celebrate it than giving this 1980's gem some new life with an incredible collection of special features on home video?

MVD is spearheading those efforts, and I just received the press release regarding their upcoming July re-issue of this nifty little flick.  It's being -- literally -- packed to the green gills with an assortment of extras new and old; and I couldn't be happier to share the news with you about it today.  I'll be doing the obligatory cut-and-paste below, and I challenge you to show me a genre classic getting this measure of love out there in cyberspace today.  It's jaw-droppingly awesome ... and well overdue.

Just take a look ...
​

Swamp Thing is a 1982 American superhero horror film written and directed by Wes Craven (A Nightmare On Elm Street, Scream), based on the DC Comics character of the same name created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. It tells the story of a brilliant scientist, Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise, Robocop) and a government agent, Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau, John Carpenter’s The Fog) who have developed a secret formula that could end world hunger and change civilization forever. Little do they know, however, that their arch nemesis, Arcane (Louis Jourdan, Octopussy) is plotting to steal the serum for his own selfish schemes. Looting the lab and kidnapping Cable, Arcane douses Holland with the chemicals and leaves him for dead in the swamp. Mutated by his own formula, Holland becomes “Swamp Thing” - a half human/half plant superhero who will stop at nothing to rescue the beautiful Cable and defeat the evil Arcane ... even if it costs him his life. 
  
Released theatrically in 1982 and featuring a supporting cast that includes David Hess (The Last House on the Left), Nicholas Worth (Barb Wire) and Dick Durock as “Swamp Thing” (who reprised the role in the 1989 sequel The Return of Swamp Thing and the 1990 – 1993 “Swamp Thing: The Series”), SWAMP THING became a cult hit upon its release on home video back in the 1980’s and its countless airings on cable television in the 80’s and 90’s. Critic Roger Ebert loved the film, giving it three out of four stars saying, “Swamp Thing had already won my heart before its moment of greatness, but when that moment came, I knew I'd discovered another one of those movies that fall somewhere between buried treasures and guilty pleasures.”  
  
With classics such as The Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes under his belt, following Swamp Thing, screenwriter and director Wes Craven’s career skyrocketed as he became a master of the horror genre with both the smash hit A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream franchises, along with cult classics such as Deadly Friend, The People Under The Stairs, Shocker and more. According to John Wooley’s 2011 book “Wes Craven: A Man and His Nightmares,” regarding his experience on Swamp Thing, the late director was quoted as saying, “Swamp Thing was an extraordinary experience because it was the first time I was given a budget that was decent. It was the first time I had a really good cast, and it was the first time I was shooting on location in a really beautiful area. So, it was very pleasurable in that sense. The downside was that it was an extremely difficult shoot because we were in a swamp, and it was hot, and there were mosquitoes and snakes and alligators. It was just an extremely difficult environment to work in, but we had a lot of fun.” 
  
Overseeing Swamp Thing for the MVD Rewind Collection was MVD’s Director of Acquisitions Eric D. Wilkinson, who says, “As the producer of all things 'Rewind,' I couldn’t be more proud of this release. We licensed the title from MGM more than a year ago and my first order of business was to clear the rights of the 'unrated international cut' so we could release it here in North America. Adrienne Barbeau was lovely and gracious and her management team was a pleasure to work with. MGM gave us access to the film materials and we worked closely with Duplitech overseeing the 4K high definition 16-Bit scan of the original camera negative along with the remastering and restoration of both versions of the film. I then proceeded to license the rights to all of the great archival supplemental material which includes a commentary from director Wes Craven, a second commentary from makeup effects artist William Munns, interviews with actors Adrienne Barbeau and Reggie Batts, along with comic book writer / editor Len Wein (who created Swamp Thing for DC Comics), archival making of featurettes, documentaries and more. Of course we have our 'Retro-VHS' themed packaging for Blu-ray, and because this is our first 4K Ultra HD format release, 
we’ve created a sister brand I’m calling MVD Rewind’s 4K LaserVision Collection with a new line-look that pays homage to RCA’s long retired SelectaVision VideoDisc format from the early 1980’s. With a new Swamp Thing movie on the horizon from DC Studios from Executive Producer James Gunn and writer James Mangold, our timing couldn’t be better to reintroduce fans to this classic film with a definitive version on both Blu-ray and Ultra HD formats.”
​​

RELEASE DETAILS:  
  
MVD LaserVision Collection #1 
TITLE: Swamp Thing (2-Disc Collector’s Edition) [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray] 
SKU: MVD12567UHD 
UPC / Barcode: 760137125679 
MSRP: 49.95 
STREET DATE: 7/25/2023 
  
DISC 1: SWAMP THING 4K LASERVISION COLLECTION – SPECIAL FEATURES: 
  
• 2023 4K Restoration (16-Bit Scan of the Original Camera Negative) of both the US Theatrical PG Version and Unrated International Version of the film presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio in Dolby Vision / HDR 
• Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, Spanish Mono 
• Optional English Subtitles 
• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Wes Craven moderated by Sean Clark (Theatrical / PG Version) 
• Audio Commentary with Makeup Effects Artist William Munns moderated by Michael Felsher (Theatrical / PG Version) 
• Collectible “4K LaserVision” Mini-Poster of cover art 
• Limited Edition “4K Laservision” Slipcover (First Pressing Only) 
  
DISC 2: SWAMP THING REWIND COLLECTION BLU-RAY – SPECIAL FEATURES: 
  
• 2023 HD Restoration of both the US Theatrical PG
Version and Unrated International Version of the film presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio 
• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Wes Craven moderated by Sean Clark (Theatrical / PG Version) 
• Audio Commentary with Makeup Effects Artist William Munns moderated by Michael Felsher (Theatrical / PG Version) 
• DTS-HD Audio 2.0 Mono, Spanish Mono Audio 
• Optional English Subtitles 
• "Tales From the Swamp" (Remastered) with Actress Adrienne Barbeau (HD, 16:56) 
• "Hey Jude" with Actor Reggie Batts (HD, 14:30) 
• "That Swamp Thing" with Len Wein, Creator of Swamp Thing (HD, 13:19) 
• "Swamp Screen: Designing DC's Main Monster" featurette (HD, 20:32) 
• "From Krug to Comics: How the Mainstream Shaped a Radical Genre Voice" featurette (HD, 17:34) 
• Posters & Lobby Cards - Photo Gallery 
• Photos from the Film - Photo Gallery 
• William Munns’ Behind the Scenes Pictures - Photo Gallery  
• Behind the Scenes Photos by Geoffrey Rayle – Photo Gallery 
• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:31) 
• "REGION A" LOCKED 
  
MVD Rewind Collection #51 
TITLE: Swamp Thing (Collector’s Edition) [Blu-ray] 
SKU: MVD8554BR 
UPC / Barcode: 760137855484 
MSRP: $39.95 
STREET DATE: 7/25/2023 
  
SWAMP THING MVD REWIND COLLECTION BLU-RAY – SPECIAL FEATURES: 
  
• 2023 HD Restoration of both the US Theatrical PG Version and Unrated International Version of the film presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio 
• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Wes Craven moderated by Sean Clark (Theatrical / PG Version) 
• Audio Commentary with Makeup Effects Artist William Munns moderated by Michael Felsher (Theatrical / PG Version) 
• DTS-HD 2.0 Mono Audio, Spanish Mono 
• Optional English Subtitles 
• "Tales From the Swamp" (Remastered) with Actress Adrienne Barbeau (HD, 16:56) 
• "Hey Jude" with Actor Reggie Batts (HD,14:30) 
• "That Swamp Thing" with Len Wein, Creator of Swamp Thing (HD, 13:19) 
• "Swamp Screen: Designing DC's Main Monster" featurette (HD, 20:32) 
• "From Krug to Comics: How the Mainstream Shaped a Radical Genre Voice" featurette (HD, 17:34) 
• Posters & Lobby Cards - Photo Gallery 
• Photos from the Film - Photo Gallery 
• William Munns’ Behind the Scenes Pictures - Photo Gallery  
• Behind the Scenes Photos by Geoffrey Rayle – Photo Gallery 
• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:31) 
• Two-Sided Artwork 
• Collectible MVD Rewind Collection Mini-Poster 
• Limited Edition Slipcover (First Pressing Only) 
• "REGION A" LOCKED 
​
​About MVD Rewind Collection 
MVD Rewind Collection is MVD’s exclusive collector’s brand and boutique label of classic movie and retro physical media releases best described as “cult classics and more from the video store” in special edition Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD collector’s sets in collectible packaging loaded with special features. 
  
About MVD Entertainment Group 
MVD Entertainment Group is an independent studio and full service entertainment distribution company, exclusively representing an extensive catalog with thousands of audio and visual products and content for digital, VOD and packaged media worldwide. 
​

​Under SciFiHistory.Net’s ‘Monsters Of A Sort’ category, I take a look at features that kinda/sorta dabble in sensibilities very close to (if not downright demonstrative of) film noir and/or the unconventional screen mystery.  Despite maintaining a heavy (and near constant) diet of genre projects, I’m not always satiated by just SciFi, Fantasy, and Horror; so I do like – from time-to-time – to add a little substance from these other realms.  It helps widen my perspective.  It helps cleanse my palate.  It keeps me fresh … and a ‘fresh me’ is good for all of you, my faithful readers.
 
Today’s distraction is titled AmnesiA.  This 2001-produced Dutch language picture has been advertised as a Drama/Mystery that incorporates both a noirish slant along with some dark humor.  Written and directed by Martin Koolhoven, it starred Fedja van Huet, Carice van Houten, Theo Maassen, and Sacha Bulthuis in the most prominent roles.  At the 2001 Nederlands Film Festival, actor van Huet took home top honors in the category of ‘Best Actor’ while Bulthuis had to settle for the honor of a nomination alone in the category of ‘Best Actress.’
 
As per my usual format, the film’s synopsis appears below.  My two cents on its construction follows.
 
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A photographer returns to his paternal home because his mother is seriously ill.  The confrontation with his past leads to panic in a surreal, stylized psychological drama.”
 
Having seen a respectable share of foreign releases, I wasn’t all that much surprised by AmnesiA.  Suffice it to say – without going into a great discussion – family secrets tend to figure into their dramas a great deal of the time; and the typical feature rather effectively pulls back layer after layer before leaving its central characters bare in the closing images.
 
Essentially, AmnesiA is the story of two twin brothers – Alex and Aram – and the curious and tragic circumstances that led to both who they are and what they cannot escape.  One has stayed home, inheriting the business from their late father, and gotten involved in a life of crime in their tiny village.  The other went off to the city in pursuit of a career in photography, but he’s curiously found himself unable to deal with people, preferring instead to deal in pictures of – say – still life.  Van Huet plays both roles – and he does so with an almost chilling attention to detail that one might wonder how he kept it all straight in his own head.  Neither are all that particularly relatable – certainly not the way most audiences appreciate – but, come the ending, Koolhoven’s script reveals the dark secret they shared that ultimately turned them into these disconnected and somewhat fragmented siblings.
 

However, I’d caution audiences who go into this character study of a relationship involving identical twins expecting all of it to make perfect sense, or they’re likely to be disappointed.  Koolhoven has crafted this tale with some absurdist moments – like an all-new character showing up in the backseat of a car or the occasional acts of arson by the film’s resident pyromaniac or why no one insists on having a shooting victim get medical assistance immediately – and methinks his intention was for viewers to make of it what they will.  Life has – as a consequence of merely living it – a corrosive and destructive potential – especially with those working hard to repress past memories; amnesia can be suffered by choice is the operative point here, and who knows what symptoms it’ll create if left unexposed for too long?
 
In one of her earlier roles, Van Houten is particularly impressive as the kinda/sorta female catalyst ‘Sandra’ that both sets these brothers at odds as well as invites them behind her own curtain of contemplative insanity.  Though she spends a good number of moments saying very little, her eyes convey a struggle going on within – a constant reminder for anyone smitten by her charms.  In the role of the mother of her two conflicted boys, Bulthuis rather effortlessly conveys the obliviousness that quite probably put her children (and her late husband) on the path to self-destruction.  Developments late in the picture suggest she might be suffering from some early stages of dementia but given Koolhoven’s unwillingness to commit to certain narrative elements that may’ve just been intended for laughs, though it’s still quite dark.
 
Still, there’s an awful lot of good and bad that collide in welcome measure in AmnesiA.  The players make for a solid ensemble, but I can’t help but wonder what some of the lesser scenes were truly meant to mean.  Does pissing on a grave have deeper context, or was that only meant for a cheap laugh?  What was it that the thieves stole – resulting in one man getting shot – and why were we never told?  What were all of the fires supposed to suggest about Sandra, or were they just demonstrating how quickly everything can go up in flames?  And do the Dutch really just bury their dead in the side yard or out front by the steps when they pass?
 
I might never know.
 
But was I supposed to care?
 
AmnesiA (2001) was produced by Motel Films.  DVD distribution (for this particular release) is being coordinated by the good people at Cult Epics.  As for the technical specifications?  This film looks very good from start-to-finish with some high-quality sights and sounds.  As for the special features?  This two-disc collection will likely keep fans busy for some time.  Disc 1 includes an all-new 4K HD Transfer (from the original camera negative); an introduction from Koolhoven; an audio commentary by Koolhoven and actor Fedja van Huet; a conversation with Koolhoven and star van Houten; a making-of short; some behind-the-scenes materials; and the theatrical trailer.  Disc 2 includes two other films from Koolhoven – Suzy Q (1999) and Dark Light (1997) and their associated trailers.
 
Recommended, but …
 
I suspect some audiences will experience a bit of frustration – as I did – in calculating just what to make of Amnesia.  At times, it feels very much like a David Lynch film, though the humor doesn’t always work because character motivations remain mostly out of reach.  Some scenes are, simply, too long for the minimal weight they carry; and I believe Koolhoven may’ve been reaching toward a bit of absurdity here and there that didn’t quite ring true.  Given this was one of the auteurs earlier features, I’m wondering if his still-growing command of structure and image may’ve occasionally obscured what a tighter edit could’ve achieved.  Good, often funny, and still makes you think.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Cult Epics provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of AmnesiA (2001) by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review; and their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

​-- EZ

If I’m being perfectly honest, then I’ll admit that I’d never even heard of the series Slasher before yesterday.
 
From what I’ve come to understand, Slasher – now in its fifth highly-rated season – is a Fantasy program not unlike FX’s American Horror Story.  Each season, its creative cast and crew come together to craft a single narrative that’ll stretch through all of those episodes, allowing a bit of longer form storytelling to shine a bit of light on one particular story.  Though I’m uncertain on this point, I suspect this also means that it gives the showrunner Aaron Martin the opportunity to essentially work with a revolving door of talented actors and actresses, all of them bringing their gifts to this shared universe of wider haunts.  Indeed, IMDB.com reports that the show has garnered a bit of positive praise in awards circles, and that always speaks volumes, especially to a humble scribbler such as me just getting into its various wares.
 
This fifth season is apparently subtitled “Ripper,” and it seeks to fathom the depths of Canada’s own experiences with a ‘Jack The Ripper’ style lunatic.   Again, don’t hate me if I’m incorrect on this point, but I believe all of this might very well be based on an authentic true crime experience, though I suspect some names, places, and events might be altered for artistic license.  Such is the case when storytellers weave yarns, and this new season got off to a fairly successful launch with its first episode (on Shudder) titled “The Slaughterhouse.”
 
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the program’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Toronto’s elite are thrown into panic when a member of the upper crust is badly murdered; a killer dubbed the Widow is on the loose; Detective Kenneth Rijkers is assigned to the assignment to help the victim’s wife Regina Simcoe find closure.”
 
Ouch!  Though that synopsis is a bit poorly worded, it still encapsulates the bare bones structure of this first episode of Slasher’s fifth season.  A bloody murder is committed – Alistair Simcoe (played by Shaun Benson) – is gutted violently in the streets.  Despite the fact that his past is troubled with some rather nefarious shenanigans, he’s still been part and parcel of Toronto’s high society; and they’re all understandably alarmed when it appears – at the onset – that this cold-blooded murderer might very well be targeting the upper crust.
 
Now, just how everyone suddenly jumps to that conclusion isn’t very clearly spelled out.  Ian Carpenter and showrunner Martin’s script veers in that direction quickly, so quickly in fact that I backed up the feed twice to see if I had missed it but didn’t find it.  (I occasionally struggle with some accents, so maybe it’s in there somewhere.)  So, perhaps it’s more accurate to say that this conclusion is hinted at by the cultural betters of the show (which I did catch) – there are suspicions voiced fairly early on that a very specific group might be the intended victims – but I didn’t see the linkage spelled out as did the cast.  (Maybe you had to be there?)
​

Regular readers of SciFiHistory.Net are well aware that I’m willing to wander into the occasional controversy here and there, and – in that respect – Ripper seems to be operating on that current socio-cultural trend of the entertainment industry to – ahem – right the wrongs of the past and cast persons of a particular race in one particular set of roles while leaving the rest to – ahem – folks from another spot on the color spectrum.  While I’ve no problem with that whatsoever, I’d honestly have to mention that I’ve not seen it so blatantly obvious elsewhere: Ripper seems committed to cast only a particular subset of mankind as the intellectually measured, internationally well-read, artistically-inclined, and culturally-sophisticated while leaving – ahem – let’s just say putting ‘the white folks’ in roles relating to everything that’s wrong with civilization.
 
Other programs – HBO Max’s stellar Warrior comes to mind – have handled such efforts to explore race relations with greater balance, nuance, and delicacy, perhaps showing the rights and wrongs of all who lived in these bygone days of social inequity.  I’ve no problem with the underlying history lesson; all I ever ask of storytellers is to (first) get history accurate and (second) be respectful of everyone.  (Yes, I do realize that may be too much to ask these days.)  Unlike other critics, I don’t watch television for its propaganda, though I’m willing to endure anything so long as it’s still entertaining.  But Martin and his creative crew seem to be pounding on the drum with a sledgehammer in Ripper (at least, that’s my impression from this first episode), and – alas – none of it feels authentic as a result.  (Nor will that drum survive long!)  Hopefully, this aesthetic will evolve as the show goes on, so I’ll keep an eye on it in the subsequent episodes.
 
Still, first episodes are – in my opinion – the toughest to ‘get right,’ but I think there’s a lot to enjoy in “The Slaughterhouse.”  There’s a solid central mystery all swirling around this character of The Widow, and it has buckets of blood and even a pound of flesh here and there to a Horror fan’s delight.  The production details are quite good, though I’d suggest that many of the street scenes could use a bit more dressing as they appear all-too-obvious like studio backlots being lightly decorated to represent the Victoria Era.  I’m not quite buying Gabriel Darku in the role of the lead detective: his performance is far too nonchalant for my tastes, but I’ll give him time to grow into it.  Also, Clare McConnell as the murdered victim’s wife ‘Regina Simcoe’ seems far too unmoved by her husband’s recent death … might I suggest early on that it’s appearing as if she might’ve had something to do with it?
 
Slasher: Ripper is produced by Chiller Films, Shaftesbury Films, and Super Channel.  From what I’ve read online, it appears that the program airs on Canada’s Super Channel, Netflix, Shudder, and Chiller, though which seasons actually air where remains a bit of a mystery (like the show itself!).  As for the technical specifications?  This is an exceedingly well-produced anthology-style program with some very good sights and sounds for those who tune in for the excitement.
 
Recommended.
 
Though I generally prefer my anthologies to the short-form ‘Twilight Zone’ variety, Slasher: Ripper has a good vibe.  It’s a talented cast – though the early moments are all a bit too melodramatic for my tastes – and a nifty mystery surrounding the upper class.  “The Slaughterhouse” mixed blood with bluster, and I’m hoping subsequent episodes develop these thinly drawn characters with a bit more clarity.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Shudder provided me with complimentary streaming access to Slasher: Ripper by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review; and their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

​-- EZ

I realize that there is a solid contingent of SciFiHistory.Net readers who practically worship at the trough of all things Luc Besson.

Now, don't hate me: I've always found his stuff a bunch of hit-and-miss.

Again, let me clarify: this isn't to suggest in any way that I don't like his work.  But as a discrminating viewer I do find problems with an awful lot of what he produces.  Sometimes the stories don't work for me that well.  Other times, I struggle with the characters he tries bringing to celluloid life.  Rarely have I found what I believe to be the right balance between these elements, and the end result for me is a lot of impressive-looking gibberish that moves at the speed of light.  Well done?  Of course.  Compelling?  Meh.  Not so much.

​Still, there are some early efforts of his that have always drawn my attention when I stumble across them in my reading for SciFiHistory.Net.  The best examples are 1983's The Last Battle (which he wrote and directed, and I believe it might be one of his very first films) and 1986's Kamikaze (a SciFi/Comedy that definitely sounds of merit).  Though I've kinda/sorta been warned off of The Last Battle, I've opted to keep it on my proverbial Bucket List, meaning I need to come up with the funds to secure myself a watchable copy; and that's not likely going to happen any time soon.  But I just received word (via email) this afternoon that Kamikaze is coming to home video this May compliments of the good people at Kino Lorber.

Here's the flick's plot summary as provided by our friends at IMDB.com:

"A crazy old and bored scientist invents a system which allows him to reach through the airwaves and transform live TV cameras into weapons to kill whoever is being filmed."

Presently, all I can say regarding Kamikaze is that I've seen a few snippets of sequences from it online, and it has the potential to be clever.  Humor doesn't always translate that well from culture to culture -- especially when the only means to truly 'get the joke' is by reading the sub-titles -- but it's always been the kind of thing that has piqued my curiosity.  Who knows?  Maybe I can secure a copy in the days ahead, and I'd be thrilled to pen a solid review.

In any event ...

I'm posting the materials below on behalf of the distributor.  Interested parties can follow the links to pre-order a copy today ... if you're so inclined.
​

​Prebook Date: 4/11/2023
Street Date: 5/9/2023
Label: KL Studio Classics
Format: BLU-RAY
BD SRP: $29.95
BD Item #: K26269
BD UPC: 738329262693
Genre: Sci-Fi, Crime, Thriller
Year: 1986
Rating: NR
Runtime: 90
Language: French
Director: Didier Grousset, Luc Besson
Cast: Richard Bohringer, Michel Galabru, Dominique Lavanant, Romane Bohringer, Etienne Chicot, Kim Massee


From co-writer/producer Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, Léon: The Professional, The Fifth Element) comes the sharp and sumptuous sci-fi/comedy/thriller Kamikaze. Michel Galabru (Subway) is Albert. He’s old, bored, batty and unemployed…but brilliant with computers. Albert embarks on a mission to get rid of the people he hates most—the televised kind—and invents a way to kill TV announcers, on air, from the comfort of his own home. Police are baffled, but Richard Bohringer (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover) as Inspector Romain Pascot dedicates himself to the chase. Also starring Dominique Lavanant (Roberto Benigni’s The Monster), the cult ’80s classic Kamikaze bursts with slick widescreen visuals by cinematographer Jean-François Robin (L’Amour Braque) and pulsing musical soundscapes by composer Éric Serra (GoldenEye), complementing the explosive satire on couch-potato culture.

Bonus Features:
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Eddy Von Mueller | Au coeur du cinéma: Interview with Director Didier Grousset (25:37) | Objectif Kamikaze: Documentary (34:04) | Theatrical Trailer | In French with Optional English Subtitles 

Kino Lorber website (link)

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

​-- EZ