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Director Paul Lynch gives star Jamie Lee Curtis 75% of the credit for Prom Night ’s success. And he’s not being overly generous. After Halloween , which became one of the largest grossing independents ever, having Curtis’ name attached to another film in the horror genre was like winning the lottery. And Prom Night (1980) got the most out of her girl-next-door image as a masked killer stalks the students of Hamilton High during their disco-themed special night. A prologue introduces us to young Nick, Wendy, Kelly and Jude who accidently push one of their playmates from a three-story plate glass window. They take a vow of silence to never reveal what they did. But fast forward six years later to senior prom: someone knows who was responsible for the tragedy and is making sure they pay the price. Prom Night is more of a mystery than a slasher per se. There are no on-camera kills until the final 30 minutes and even those are relatively tame by later standards (with one notable...

When it came to his adventures on the big screen, Elvis Presley was at the mercy of forces largely beyond his control. He was a “performer,” not an actor. And nearly every project he appeared in was manufactured to reinforce a well-established image. But sometimes the right material comes along at just the right time. Such is the case with Follow t hat Dream , the 1962 musical which takes a detour from the traditional Elvis formula, blessed with a amusingly laconic performance from Presley with no hip-shaking required. In fact, the King is pretty darn sedentary as Toby Kwimper, one member of an adopted family of modern-day pioneers who run out of gas on a new stretch of Florida highway. When government officials try to run them off, Pop Kwimper (Arthur O’Connell) decides to homestead the land, building a rudimentary house, malfunctioning privy and successful start-up charter fishing business. Their success lures other opportunistic folks hoping to take advantage of the loophole i...

One could view Gary Busey as a casualty of today’s celebrity obsessed culture or a shrewd manipulator of the same. Like a reality TV star, his fame springs from a twisted version of his own personality. Just how twisted is the question. A motorcycle accident in 1988 left him with serious brain damage and his eccentricities began to define him more than the roles themselves. So much so that popular culture has almost wiped his best performance, as Buddy Holly in The Buddy Holly Story (1978), from its collective consciousness. Rebounding from a cancelled project that had cast him Holly’s drummer, the actor lost 33 pounds to take on the lead role as the rock and roll phenomenon who died in a tragic plane crash at the age of 22. The film’s most energetic scenes feature Busey performing several of Holly’s songs live in various settings. No lip-synching, no back-up tracks, just Busey and his fellow actor / musicians (Don Stroud and Charles Martin Smith) belting out raucous versions ...

Despite good intentions and decent box-office returns, the latest American attempt to reboot Godzilla (2014) was a self-important dud. Director Gareth Edwards got the monster right, but saddled him with human sub-plots that were worse than just about any film in the series to date. Even the 1998 Matthew Broderick version at least cracked a smile now and then. Almost forgotten in the annals of Godzilla history is Godzilla: 2000 (or Godzilla: Millennium in Japan), the big guy’s onscreen comeback that kicked off a new series of releases in his native country before he officially “retired” in 2004. Part of Sony’s hi-def Toho Godzilla Collection, the film gets a spiffy new blu-ray edition that includes both the longer Japanese cut and the re-edited, re-jiggered American version which made its way into a limited theatrical release across the U.S. Neither version of the film manages to elevate the material above average, but it’s a treat to see both edits finally pop up…on hi-def, no ...

There’s something wildly exciting about watching a Brian De Palma movie. Of all the USC gang to emerge from the 1970s – including Spielberg, Lucas and Scorsese – his early films were the most revolutionary and counter-culture connected. But it wasn’t until he gave into his show-off Hitchcock obsessions that audiences began to take notice. After his attention getting thriller Sisters , the director moved on to a long gestating project, Phantom of the Paradise (1974), which was his last real middle finger to Hollywood before embracing the industry with open arms. Winslow Leach (William Finley) is a sheltered composer who passes along his life’s work to a diminutive but larger-than-life record producer, Swan (Paul Williams), who promptly passes off the material as his own. In an attempt to get revenge, Winslow is horribly disfigured and sabotages the grand opening of Swan’s new musical venue, The Paradise. But in a Faustian twist, he makes a new deal with the devilish producer to...

In the extras for Synapse Films’ new blu-ray special edition of Curtains , actress Lesleh Donaldson describes the Canadian slasher - filmed in 1980 but reshot, recut and finally released three years later - as an “endearing mess.” The same could be said for a lot of horror movies of that era, but Curtains is a true melting pot of old-school melodrama, art house aesthetics and typical teenagers in peril. The fact that there’s no possible way to make sense of it all only sweetens the deal. Samantha Eggar ( The Brood) plays an accomplished actress who has herself committed to an insane asylum as research for an upcoming role. But the film’s director (John Vernon) leaves her on the inside, staging an invite-only casting call at his snowy northern estate for six other actresses instead. Only five arrive, the other falling victim to a masked psycho accompanied by a creepy doll who seem intent on crashing the party…and killing off the competition. Shot with a surprising amount of panac...

Oh, Blue Underground, where have you been?! There are only a handful of independent home video companies that have weathered the digital dust-up of the last few years. And the very idea of collecting movies seems to be going the way of vinyl, consisting of either die-hard film aficionados or newly converted hipsters who snatch up collectible covers and limited editions with a gleeful giddiness that rivals the laserdisc era. Blue Underground was one of the first to bring Italian horror obscurities to the masses, but things had gotten pretty quite for a while there. So the blood-soaked Blu-ray double feature Hell of the Living Dead and Rats: Night of Terror is like a siren call to those who seek out bad cinema with the best presentation possible. Although both films credit director Vincent Dawn, the man behind the camera is actually Bruno Mattei, the Italian filmmaker also responsible for Women’s Prison Massacre and a slew of other genre knock-offs. His pseudonym was supposedly...

“What I really want to do is direct!” It’s a quote attributed to pretty much everyone in the film industry, from screenwriters to extras to craft services employees. But after creating the visual effects for Aliens and Predator back to back, Stan Winston actually earned his shot in director’s chair with Pumpkinhead (1988) . Truth be told, Winston had nothing to prove and a lot to lose, especially considering he was working in C-movie territory with no stars and a low budget. But his little under-the-radar horror movie shows he had skills that went beyond the latex workshop that made him an industry legend. Somewhere in the deep South (which looks conspicuously like California), Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) is a humble country grocer who ekes out a living with his young son running a roadside stand. Their peace is interrupted by a noisy group of vacationers on their way to a family cabin. As fate would have it, Harley’s son winds up dead and he begins a quest for vengeance that...

Even though he doesn’t have much name recognition outside of the field, Richard Matheson was a giant in the supernatural, fantasy and science-fiction genre, having been responsible for some of the most memorable Twilight Zone episodes in the ‘50s, the Vincent Price / Edgar Allen Poe films in the ‘60s, Steven Spielberg’s Duel and Somewhere in Time in the ‘70s, not to mention the myriad attempts to adapt his novel I Am Legend to the screen. And if you still need some convincing, he was also one of the few novelists Hollywood-savvy enough to bring his own work to the screen on a regular basis. Such is the case with his screenplay for The Legend of Hell House (1973), based on his own novel published two years prior. Like much of Matheson’s work, the supernatural elements of the story are mixed with a modern approach, sending a scientific team of ghost hunters into the “Mt. Everest of haunted houses” with the goal of proving life after death. For their troubles an eccentric millio...

It’s sad that we live in a world where one feels obliged to apologize for enjoying a John Wayne movie. Political correctness seems to demand an acknowledgment of all the Duke’s sins before admitting such a thing. But Wayne remains a towering figure in Hollywood history and, in most cases, deservedly so. Only a few of the nearly two hundred films on his resume called for him to step out of his comfort zone, but even the roles Wayne made look easy, he never phoned in a performance. Such is the case with Brannigan (1975), one of the actor’s final films and a last ditch effort to keep the actor relevant to an audience that had tired of playing cowboys and Indians. Working from a French Connection / Dirty Harry formula, Wayne plays the titular Chicago cop sent over to London to extradite a criminal kingpin (played by Animal House ’s John Vernon) who has a personal vendetta against our big Irish fish-out-of-water. But just as Brannigan is ready to slap on the cuffs, the bad guy himsel...

On paper puberty is terrifying: bleeding, cramps, hormonal impulses, tufts of hair sprouting in strange places. Without parental guidance, one might be actually convinced that it was all part of some Cronenbergian transformation into an entirely different organism. Which is in fact exactly what happens in Ginger Snaps (2001), a clever Canadian horror / satire which walks the same black comedy high school halls as Heathers but with a bit more maturity. Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigette (Emily Perkins) are pair of morbid sisters who relish their role as social outcasts, swearing a lifelong suicide pact if things ever get too hairy. And they do when Ginger is attacked by a werewolf in their suburban neighborhood. This comes on the heels of Ginger’s “monthly visitor” which she gets for the first time, changing her from a mousey misfit into a sultry seductress tempting the hottest guys in school. Almost overnight, the sisters’ relationship sours as Brigette is left to determi...

Throughout his career director David Cronenberg has earned the horror / sci-fi genre some much needed critical legitimacy. Although his films were full of the same exploitation elements that popped up in Roger Corman quickies, there was a grand design behind it all, an almost scientific fascination that peeled back layer after cinematic layer. Cronenberg’s films weren’t simply drive-in fare. They were genuinely disturbing drive-in fare. After trying his hand at “safe” commercial success with the car race film Fast Company , the director dove back into his particular brand of weirdness with Scanners (1981), the story of rival mutant telepaths created and recruited by shadow corporations to be used as human weapons for the purpose of international espionage. Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) is brought into the fold and taught to control his powers for the greater good. Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside), however, refuses to be manipulated and lashes out in a most dramatic fashion, leadin...

A chip off the old block of filmmakers like John Ford, Sam Peckinpah and John Milius, the work of director Walter Hill is so full of testosterone watching one of his movies is akin to having hormone replacement therapy. His characters are pumped up men of action who survive in a world that eats its own young. They understand what it takes to survive and rarely lend a hand to those who don’t share their worldview, which – far from being black and white – is one endless shade of grey. That’s pretty deep for a guy who made Eddie Murphy a comedic superstar in 48 Hrs (although truth be told Eddie really stole the movie from top billed Nick Nolte). But Hill’s shout-outs to revisionist Westerns and the savagery versus civilization theme pop up in just about every flick he makes, none more so than Southern Comfort (1981), which also works well as a Vietnam allegory despite his comments to the contrary. A National Guard squad on backcountry exercises in bayou country runs afoul of some l...

The found footage genre has expanded into almost all areas of storytelling: comedies ( Project X ), cop dramas ( End of Watch ), science-fiction ( Europa Report ) even kids’ movies ( Earth To Echo ). But with its modern origins in horror ( The Blair Witch Project ), the budget-friendly, seat-of-your-pants production style still seems best suited for the scary stuff. And while the latest entry, Afflicted (2013), doesn’t exactly break new ground, the caught-on-camera format does speak to a new generation of horror fans for whom YouTube is more real than reality itself. Filmmakers Derek Lee and Clif Prowse play themselves (a la Catfish ) as a pair of childhood pals who plan a trip around the world, documenting the journey via webcam and updating friends and family through live streams. In Paris, Derek, who suffers from a potential brain aneurysm, hooks up with a one-night stand that leaves him confused, bloody and physically changed. Super-strong, super-fast and super-sensitive to su...

The auteur theory, which posits that one individual - usually the director - is the primary “author” of a cinematic work, is great fun to discuss, debate and analyze. Trouble is, it’s rarely proven true. There are so many cooks in the Hollywood kitchen that only a select group of individuals have the wherewithal to command complete control over every aspect of their films. And would they really want to? Wes Anderson is the exception that proves the rule. Each film in his oeuvre is like the next page in a ridiculously elaborate pop-up book, with The Grand Budapest Hotel being his most elaborate yet. Using all his previous directorial tricks – and improving on most of them – the film feels like the natural culmination of a decade’s worth of accumulated quirkiness. And, like the theory says, it’s got his signature all over it. Told in wraparound fashion, the story concerns the relationship between concierge supreme M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) and his lobby boy in training, Zero (...

The evolution of the cinematic hitman from grizzled street-thug to well-manicured aesthete began with Charles Bronson as contract killer Arthur Bishop in The Mechanic (1972). From his elegantly decorated home to his meticulously planned working habits, Bishop surrounds himself with all the finer things in life…bought and paid for by ending the lives of others. It’s a portrait that’s been embellished by other filmmakers time and again, but rarely with as much pathos as Bronson brings to the role. After a brilliant 16-minute dialogue-free opening sequence that exemplifies the character’s modus operandi for staging executions that look like tragic accidents, Bishop is hired to kill family friend, and fellow criminal, Harry McKenna (Keenan Wynn). Once the job is done, he feels a certain connection with the Harry’s son, Steve (Jan-Michael Vincent, Airwolf ), who he grooms to be his successor. But their “teacher-student” relationship is tenuous at best. And Bishop just might be unwitti...

Before a zombie apocalypse became de rigueur, eco-horror was king of the box office with animals being the most frequent culprit when it came to destroying the world. Nightwing (bats), Wolfen (wolves), and Phase IV (ants) predicted that super-intelligent or genetically mutated critters were all but a foregone conclusion and mankind’s clock was ticking. Add to that list Deadly Eyes (1982), a Canadian production based loosely on James Herbert’s novel The Rats , but more closely modeled after Joe Dante’s Piranha , with a nest of oversized rodents scurrying through the Toronto subways. Directed by Robert Clouse ( Enter the Dragon ) and scripted by Charles Eglee (now a seasoned TV vet with Dexter and Walking Dead his most recent credits), Deadly Eyes is pre-wrapped b-movie junk food from beginning to end. Of course, the most famous story surrounding the production is the creation of the rats themselves: a mix of puppets, animatronics and dachshunds in rat suits. You might want to b...

As the final collaboration between director Anthony Mann and star Jimmy Stewart, The Man from Laramie (1955) takes a decidedly more conservative approach than their previous groundbreaking films like Bend of the River or The Naked Spur , Westerns that eschewed a conventional hero and cast Stewart in roles defined by rage, paranoia and downright insanity. Here he’s simply a wandering ex-army officer on a quest for justice on the edge of the frontier…with his own theme song , no less! But the fact that The Man from Laramie plays it safe, so to speak, should in no way diminish one’s enjoyment of it. Mann’s Shakespearean horse opera gathers a great deal of momentum as the story moves along, and Stewart peppers his performance with glimpses of some slightly unhinged character traits still lurking in the stables. Making his way through Indian country to deliver supplies to a small New Mexico town, Will Lockhart (Stewart) has a secret agenda: to find the gunrunner responsible for his b...

Dying is easy. Comedy is hard. And a horror comedy is darn near impossible to pull off. Mixing genres can be a rejuvenating cinematic experience ( Shaun of the Dead) or an obvious attempt to make the scares “safe” for a mass audience ( Arachnophobia ). With a pedigree including writer David E. Kelly ( L.A. Law, Ally McNeal ) and director Steve Miner ( Friday the 13 th Part Two ), 1999’s Lake Placid at least laid the creative groundwork for success. And, as giant monster movies go, it’s a pleasant 82 minutes of blood, banter and oddball characters culled straight from the ‘90s TV playbook. In fact, the film feels a lot like Kelly’s other series, Picket Fences , only with an oversized Asian crocodile thrown into the mix. Bridget Fonda plays the spunky city-girl sent to investigate a prehistoric tooth found at the scene of a scuba diver’s death at an isolated Maine lake. Brendan Gleeson is the cantankerous but lovable Sheriff. Oliver Platt is a quirky, billionaire croc hunter....

Fate is the Hunter (1964), adapted from the novel by Ernest K. Gann, proves that “almost” is good for something besides horseshoes and hand grenades. Director Ralph Nelson comes awfully close to crafting a unique and truly meaningful film but misses the mark by loading the overhead bins with a bit too much melodrama. Dated moments aside, what remains is a jack-of-all-trades production that is pretty good at a lot of things, but just can’t stick the landing. Glenn Ford plays airline executive Sam McBane, bucking for a big promotion that is all but cast aside when one of his planes goes down soon after take-off, killing everyone aboard except one flight attendant (Suzanne Pleshette). Blame for the tragedy is immediately laid at the feet of Captain Jack Savage (Rod Taylor), McBane’s wartime rival who had a reputation as a hard-living playboy type. Despite all evidence (or lack thereof) to the contrary, McBane begins investigating Savage’s actions right before take-off…then the day ...

Considering the massive amount of directorial credits on his resume, John Ford has been very well represented on home video. Those of us lucky enough to own the Ford at Fox box set probably have the best vantage point, but Warner has put out a few impressive collections of their own, including several versions of The Searchers , Ford’s most respected film in the modern era. How ironic then that one of his least respected films, Two Rode Together , a sequel to The Searchers in most respects, now moseys onto blu-ray in a 3000-copy limited release courtesy of Twilight Time, a company whose creative principals were the driving force behind many of those aforementioned special editions. Released in 1961 at a low point in Ford’s professional career, the film is just as loose and sloppy as many critics make it out to be. But with that much filmmaking experience behind him, even on cruise control Ford navigates the choppy story towards a few interesting vistas and memorable moments bet...

It’s hard to appreciate what’s truly great about Red River (1948) without some familiarity with the work of John Wayne. The Duke always had charisma and an imposing screen presence, but it seemed part and parcel of the same package. There was no deviating from the studio-imposed norm of who the character of John Wayne was “supposed” to be. Until Red River . As the hard-nosed and rather ruthless Texas cattle baron Thomas Dunson, Wayne doesn’t just stick a toe outside of his comfort zone, he becomes the villain for a large part of the film, until a “safe” Hollywood ending brings him back in the fold. Montgomery Clift, in an offbeat pre-James Dean type performance, plays his adopted son Matt Garth, a ranch hand who’s quick with a gun, but slow to take a stand against his single-minded father figure. Directed by Howard Hawks in a style that meets halfway between his usual studio-bound screwball comedies and the more open, naturalistic techniques used by John Ford, Red River is a p...

There’s quite a lot to like about Ravenous (1999), the Guy Pearce / Robert Carlyle cannibalism opus set in the high mountains above California during the Gold Rush of the 1840s. And considering the troubled production history (three different directors, difficult shooting conditions and constant creative sparring) that’s a surprise in and of itself. That it could have been a much better film also goes without saying. But what’s here is an authentic-looking horror story with an incredibly engaging first act marred by supernatural meanderings that leave a bad taste in one’s mouth. His first role of any prominence after co-starring in L.A. Confidential (and just before popping up in Christopher Nolan’s Memento ), Guy Pearce barely makes an impression as a cowardly soldier assigned to an isolated Army outpost; partly due to the script which provides him with almost no dialogue. And partly due to the overwhelming nature of the performance by Robert Carlyle, whose cannibalistic conve...

Despite being the decade that launched Star Wars , science fiction films in the 1970s were a much more literate bunch than they are today. It was as if producers were still trying to grasp all that Stanley Kubrick showed was possible (both technically and thematically) in 2001: A Space Odyssey while maintaining the escapist façade handed down from magazine covers like Amazing Stories . They aspired to social commentary, critique and prognostication. And even if those ambitions sometimes exceeded the material at hand, it made for some interesting cinematic experiments. Rollerball , for example, adapted from a short story by William Harrison, struggles to carry the weight of all social and political demands placed upon it by director Norman Jewison ( In the Heat of the Night ). There’s really not enough plot there to support an entire movie. But the cream that rises to the top is a powerfully understated performance by James Caan and an eerily prescient vision of a future wherein ...

Hours of bad dubbing, exaggerated sound effects and unnecessary camera zooms await in Shout Factory’s latest Martial Arts Movie Marathon , featuring four titles of questionable quality but guaranteed entertainment value. While each film lifts quite a bit from the Shaw Brothers and/or Bruce Lee playbook, this new volume dips a toe into grindhouse territory, inserting a bit more racy material to compete with similar drive-in fare. The Skyhawk is pretty straightforward stuff and justifies most of its kung-foolery with a traditional revenge story, pitting Carter Huang ( Big Trouble in Little China ) against his former fight club. Sammo Hung pops up - as he does in two other films in the collection - to add some personality to the proceedings as one of a pair of students to Wong Fei Hung (the Skyhawk himself) out to make their teacher proud. The Manchu Boxer incorporates more of a classic Western feel with Liu Yung as a wandering exile caught up in defending the family honor of a vaga...

Although he’ll always bear the burden of being Ron Howard’s less successful, less good-looking, less charming (pretty much less “everything) younger brother, Clint Howard has had a pretty good run. Starting with his early lead role as a child actor in TV’s Gentle Ben (1967-69) right up to the seven movies he’s currently slated to appear in this year alone, Clint is more just a working actor, he’s a veritable film industry unto himself! And, like his brother, that work ethic probably springs from a Roger Corman aesthetic that no work is truly beneath him. After his appearance in Corman’s Rock ‘n’ Rock High School , Howard earned the lead in Evilspeak (1981), a kitchen-sink horror film that whips together bits of Carrie and The Omen with a technological-gimmick based around the new fascination with personal computers. But not just any PC. These are the early Hollywood versions that predicted we’d be able to type in a question like “How do you properly stage a Black Mass” and get...

The latest addition to Synapse Films’ Hammer Horror Collection, Countess Dracula (1971) is a good news / bad new proposition. On the bright side, the hi-def transfer brings out all sorts of depths, colors and details in director Peter Sasdy’s work. And the extras combine enough old and new bits (audio commentary, featurettes and an audio interview) to make it a more than worthy replacement for the old MGM double feature DVD. The downside? It’s all in support of a film that is probably Hammer’s most toothless vampire production. Ingrid Pitt stars in this variation on the Elizabeth Bathory tale, accidently discovering that bathing in the blood of young virgins will restore her youth and beauty. But only for a short while. And each time she reverts to a more aged and decrepit version of herself. Imprisoning and then impersonating her own daughter, the Countess seduces a handsome Lieutenant and forces her staff to keep the blood supply flowing so she can remain forever young. Pit...

Even by slasher standards, Sleepaway Camp is more than a little twisted. Everything about it feels slightly askew: the confusing boat accident prologue, the muscle head camp counselors, the skin tight shirts and pants worn only by the men in the cast and, of course, the notorious surprise ending that’s still creepy even if you know what’s coming. Even compared with the most lurid entries in the genre, Sleepaway Camp stands out in the crowd. Writer / director Robert Hiltzik’s film might have passed as a straight-up scary movie in 1983, but it’s aged into an entirely different sort of “camp” experience. The kind with quotation marks. The story of Angela (Felissa Rose), a dangerously shy first year camper, sent off with her more experienced cousin Ricky (Jonathan Tierston) to Camp Arawak is the perfect template for a serious serial killer buffet. Audiences had already seen it before in Friday the 13 th , which by this time was on its second installment. But Sleepaway Camp puts ...

For those who think film criticism is easy, try coming up with more than one snide paragraph to write about I, Frankenstein , starring Aaron Eckhart as the immortal monster caught in an eternal war between demons and gargoyles. Sure, it’s easy to pick on the bad casting (Eckhart, dude, what were you thinking ?), derivative storyline (be honest and call it Underworld 5 , already!) and the just a hair better than SyFy Channel digital effects. But now what? Well, one might courageously admit that – in a fan fiction sort of way – the movie is actually enjoyable. The monster mash scenario could have been piped in from the imagination of any Comic-Con attendee with an ambitious Kickstarter plan. It shouldn’t work…and mostly doesn’t. But the energy expended to pull off such a misguided idea is intriguing all the same. A quick prologue informs us that Frankenstein’s creation survived through the centuries, despised by mankind and hunted by a pack of demons that want to study his body t...

As the first film adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula , director F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922) was masterpiece of early cinema. It was also completely unauthorized by the Stoker estate and all prints were ordered destroyed. But its influence (and more than a few copies) survived and left the world with a truly unique vision of the vampire, one far removed from the more celebrated and suave performance by Bela Lugosi nine years later. In 1979, Werner Herzog announced a remake. As the figurehead of the small German filmmaking movement, it seemed an odd choice for a director whose subject matter was typically more spiritual than supernatural. But once the obligatory Stoker plot points fall away and Murnau is given his proper respect, Herzog’s Nosferatu becomes it own creation; one that finds a tragic beauty in its monster’s cursed existence and artistic ambitions in a genre that rarely reach that far. Like Stoker’s novel, the film is split into two halves: the first taking place...

It’s a safe bet that the upcoming Godzilla will bear little resemblance the 28 Toho films that came before it (yes, we’re discounting the 1998 American version entirely…although it’s not without its charms). With that many onscreen appearances, the only truly consistent element of the franchise is its miniaturized special effects and man-in-suit creations, which are laughably out-of-date for most modern audiences. “Most” meaning those who would have absolutely zero interest in the eight remastered blu-rays just released by Sony covering the big G’s adventures from 1991 to 2004. Beginning with the return of Godzilla’s most famous nemesis in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah and ending with the all-out kung-fu insanity that is Godzilla: Final Wars , each film is given a significant bump in quality along with the correct aspect ratio and original Japanese language tracks. Collectors will simply buy them all in bulk, but if you’re a bit more choosy, here’s the lowdown on which double featur...

An amateurish mix of Halloween and Animal House produced at the height of the slasher craze, Final Exam (1981) is nevertheless an appealing sort of horror film comfort food. With minimal flashes of nudity, barely any blood and a killer who couldn’t even afford a hockey mask, the film won’t earn many thrills or chills. But its nostalgic appeal is inherent in the cast of stereotypical jocks, nerds, sluts and virgins who make up the slasher mythology. In fact, the opening sequence – with two co-eds getting busy in the backseat of a car – plays almost like the genre spoof Student Bodies which came out the same year. But Final Exam is more earnest in its attempts to craft a compelling story. That it fails to do so at almost every turn is what makes it so entertaining. After a fraternity stages a phony terrorist attack during pledge week, the local sheriff isn’t taking calls about serial killers very seriously. Which is too bad, because a psycho actually is stalking the campus, p...

Although Jaws (1975) is credited as the first modern blockbuster, director William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973) actually got there first and created the some sort of theatrical phenomena. While Spielberg was able to use his film a springboard to further his career, Friedkin just treaded water. By the time Sorcerer (1977) was released four years later, the industry had changed. Audiences wanted escapism, and Friedkin’s sprawling remake of Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear (1953) was simply not marquee material. But as is the case with so many films that fail to find an audience in their own era, Sorcerer has earned back a large degree critical respect. In fact, it’s aged better than the film it was based on, crafted with a rough documentary-style approach and a series of arrhythmia-inducing suspense sequences that hold up as some of the best work of the 1970s…by any director! Featuring an international cast and an impressive amount of foreign locations, Sorcerer stars Roy Schneide...

Even die-hard Godzilla fans will admit that the idea of a 60-meter tall turtle stomping across Japan is patently ridiculous. Not to mention that he breathes fire and travels through the air like a jet-powered Frisbee. And yet that’s part of the charm of the Gamera series, the only legitimate contender to Toho’s “King of the Monsters” crown. Popping up for years on TV creature features across the country (and appearing in a slew of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes), the Gamera films seemed to know they were second-best when it came to giant monster movies…but damn if they weren’t going to have a good time! In 2010, Shout Factory came to the digital rescue by scooping up the rights to all of Gamera’s screen appearances and releasing them on a series of stand-alone and double-feature DVDs with extras like audio commentaries and a half-hour retrospective. Fast-forward four years later and Mill Creek Entertainment is releasing the same eight movies across two blu-ray collection...