For those not too familiar with the character, Inspector Maigret is a French police detective who is not unlike Sherlock Holmes, Charlie Chan and Hercule Poirot. Maigret has been in many books, short stories, and films. Kino Lorber has been releasing many Inspector Maigret movies and television shows onto home video in recent years and…
Programmed to Kill Blu-ray review
Programmed to Kill aka Retaliator is a science fiction action thriller directed by Allan Holzman that stars Robert Ginty and Sandahl Bergman with the latter that becomes a lethal cyborg with the desire to kill. Yes, it’s another movie that borrows some elements of The Terminator. In this movie, ex-CIA agent Eric Mathews (Robert Ginty,…
Warning Shot (1967 film, Kino Lorber) Blu-ray review
Produced and directed by Buzz Kulik, Warning Shot is 1967 mystery film about a cop who kills a man in self-defense, but the gun of the person he shot is missing, which makes the cop look as if he killed him for no reason and could be accused of murder! The film has a lot…
Ghost Warrior (Kino Lorber) Blu-ray review
J. Carroll’s Ghost Warrior (aka Swordkill) is the story of an ancient samurai brought back to life and must learn how to live, cope and survive in modern day Los Angeles which at this point was the eighties. Yoshi (Hiroshi Fujioka, Kamen Rider, Yamato Takeru) is a 400-year-old samurai warrior that is discovered in Japan…
French Noir Collection Blu-ray review
For those that like French films and Noirs, Kino Lorber has assembled a trio of French Noir films for a Blu-ray release, called the French Noir Collection, which houses Speaking of Murder, Back to the Wall and Witness in the City. This is their first French Noir set offering on Blu-ray from Kino as far…
Fancy Pants Blu-ray review
Comedy icons Bob Hope and Lucille Ball team-up in the 1950 Technicolor film Fancy Pants, directed by George Marshall, where Bob gets in over his head with some crazy impersonation shenanigans. The film is a musical version of Ruggles of Red Gap. Fancy Pants was the second pairing of the two icons, as in 1949…
Peking Express Blu-ray review
For those who have seen Shanghai Express, Peking Express is a remake of that film. It is actually a second remake, as Night Plane from Chungking was made in 1943. Peking Express is a 1951 crime action thriller with a great director and a marvelous cast. Doctor Michael Bachlin (Joseph Cotton, Shadow of a Doubt,…
Detective Story Blu-ray
Detective Story is a 1951 classic crime drama directed by William Wyler and starring screen icon Kirk Douglas and host of screen legends in William Bendix, Craig Hill, Cathy O’Donnell, George Macready, and Gerald Mohr. It’s the story of a day in the life of a few criminals, officers, and detectives, but on this day,…
The Diamond Wizard Blu-ray review
The Diamond Wizard aka The Diamond is a 1954 British film noir crime film starring Dennis O’Keefe, Margaret Sheridan and Philip Friend. It is based on the 1952 novel Rich Is the Treasure by Maurice Procter. There seems to be an issue as to who directed The Diamond Wizard. According to the British Film Institute…
The Blood Beast Terror Blu-ray review
I remember reading John Stanley’s Creature Features movie guide where Peter Cushing calls the 1968 horror movie The Blood Beast Terror his worst film. While it may not be his best, I really don’t think it’s his worst. I don’t even think he was ever in a truly bad movie but that is for viewers…