The late 70s and early 80s were considered the golden age of the slasher film. With a saturated market of low-budget slashers, a lot of well-crafted horror movies did not get the attention that they normally would have. The Ghost Dance is a slasher that revolves around a Native American killer with supernatural elements that…
The Cat and The Canary (1927) [Eureka! The Masters of Cinema Series] Blu-ray Review
The Cat and the Canary is a 1927 silent film based on a stage play by John Willard. The film version is described as being in the “horror/comedy” genres. There are multiple film adaptations of this play, one including Bob Hope. The 1927 version was directed by Paul Leni, a German director responsible for Waxworks,…
The Warrior and the Blind Swordsman/The Warrior and the Ninja [Mondo Macabro] Blu-ray Review
The Warrior series started off with a bang. When I saw the opportunity to review the sequels, I jumped at the chance. Mondo Macabro released them both in a Blu-ray double feature. The first of these sequels is “The Warrior and the Blind Swordsman”. The character of Jaka Sembung is back but the movie focuses…
The Shape of Water [Criterion Collection] 4K UHD Blu-Ray Review
Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is a mute cleaning woman at a top secret government facility who becomes fascinated with a humanoid amphibian creature (Doug Jones) that is being held captive and tormented by the sadistic Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon). When her feelings of fascination grow into something more akin to love, Elisa, with the help of…
The Warrior (1981) [Mondo Macabro] Blu-ray Review
The Warrior is an Indonesian fantasy/action film about a noble warrior (Jaka Sembung) fighting for all of the right reasons against the oppressive Dutch Colonial Government. Not only is he a super-human fighter, he is also a symbol to the people struggling against colonial rule. Unable to capture the resistance leader, the Dutch representative hires…
The Searchers UHD review
Legendary director John Ford’s The Searchers is the story about an American Civil War veteran who goes on a long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother’s family is attacked and murdered during a raid on their farm in Texas. The journey takes several years and has many…
A Chinese Torture Chamber Story Part 1 and 2 [Vinegar Syndrome] Blu-ray Review
A Chinese Torture Chamber Story Part 1 and 2 (ACTCS1 and ACTCS2) are a pair of movies that use torture as the centerpiece of the film, as implied by the titles. They were Category 3 films made by the Hong Kong film industry, which was a severe rating indicating graphic sex, violence, or triad rituals….
Slap the Monster on Page One [Radiance Films] Blu-Ray Review
Giancarlo Bizanti (Gian Maria Volontè) is the editor-in-chief of the fiery Italian newspaper “Il Giornale”. When a teenage girl is found murdered, the far right-leaning owner of the paper works with Bizanti to undermine the police investigation by casting doubt on the main suspect, influencing a key witness and leading a conflicting campaign against a…
Mr. Lucky Blu-ray review
Directed by H.C. Potter, Mr. Lucky is a 1943 romantic comedy drama starring screen icon Cary Grant as Joe Adams, a swindler and smooth-talking gambler out to launch a casino after taking money from a charitable organization. Not the most noble role for Grant, at least at first! Told in flashback, the story is about…
Super Soul Brother and the Films of Rene Martinez, Jr. [AGFA] Blu-ray Review
There are many categories of movies. I like to think of it as a four-square matrix. One axis is good/bad in terms of technical execution. The other axis is good/bad in terms of enjoyment. So, there are movies that are well executed and entertaining (good/good) and movies that are poorly made and boring (bad/bad). Occasionally,…