Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Although it never equalled the Harry Potter films, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – the first of five planned J.K. Rowling-penned prequels to the boy wizard series – was a fun, if undemanding reintroduction to the wizarding world. In many ways it was similar to Harry Potter’s debut, The Philosopher’s Stone, providing a gentle, child-friendly introduction to the characters and the fantastical world they inhabit, while hinting at greater dangers and darker times ahead.

But whereas Philosopher’s Stone was followed by the superior Chamber of Secrets, The Crimes of Grindlewald falls short of both Potter’s sophomore outing and its own immediate predecessor. It follows Chamber, both in telling a more expansive story and a proper appearance by the series’ chief villain (both Voldemort and Grindlewald are present but disguised throughout their first appearances). But where its predecessors had strong, coherent stories to tell, this latest adventure tries to tell too large a story and comes somewhat unstuck along the way.

When we last left them, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) was departing New York to continue work on his book (the titular Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them), leaving behind romantic interest, American witch Tina (Katherine Waterston), her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol) and her possible no-maj (that’s muggle to you and I) paramour Jacob (Dan Fogler). Grindlewald (Johnny Depp) was in the custody of MACUSA, and Credence (Ezra Miller) – a powerful Obscurus who’s important to Grindlewald’s plans – may or may not have survived.

If none of that makes a lick of sense to you, then Crimes of Grindelwald isn’t your place to start with the wizarding world. It makes no concessions to non-Potter initiates (and ten films in, nor should it). Picking up in 1927, a year after the first movie, it will come as little surprise to learn Grindelwald’s incarceration doesn’t last long, with the dark wizard escaping in an impressive early set piece.

From there, our gang all congregate in Paris, accompanied by Newt’s brother Theseus (Callum Turner) and fiancée Leta Lestrange (Zoë Kravitz). Credence has reappeared, very much alive, and working in a circus alongside Nagini (Claudia Kim), a Maledictus, destined to transform permanently into a snake. Following the events of the first movie, Credence – who was adopted as a baby – is keen to resolve the mystery of where he came from, and why he’s so important to Grindlewald’s plans.

Another mystery we’re presented with is why Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) refuses to join in the fight against Grindelwald, instead recruiting a reluctant Newt Scamander to act on his behalf. Rowling’s previously stated that Dumbledore and Grindelwald were lovers in their youth, and the film’s attracted some criticism for shying away from that relationship. It’s hinted at, and one suspects it’ll come into play later, but for now it’s not the focus of an already over-crowded story, nor the reason Dumbledore is keeping out of the fight.

Also controversial is the casting of Depp. His brief appearance in the first Fantastic Beasts was shortly after various allegations about his private life, and the filmmakers attracted some criticism for not recasting the role. That aside, his part is greatly expanded here, and considering he’s playing an all-powerful dark wizard, he’s more restrained, and effective than we’ve come to expect from him. His Grindelwald is an interesting character, and looks to be more complex a villain than Voldemort. Grindelwald also wants wizarding kind to dominate muggles, but unlike Voldemort, his desire is not based purely on beliefs of superiority. And – as with Thanos – once the reasons behind his genocidal beliefs are revealed, you kind of have to agree that he’s got a point.

Where the film falls down, unusually for master storyteller Rowling, is the script. It feels unfocused, flitting from one set of characters to another, so much so that Newt – the nominal lead – at times feels lost in his own story. We never get to spend enough time with anyone to get to know or care about them. You get the feeling that a novel may have been the more natural home for it, allowing Rowling’s expansive story to breathe. It’s the weakest of the ten films to date; by no means bad, but far less than fans have come to expect. Still, those baby Nifflers are seriously cute though.

The Blu-ray comes with a fun, if uninspiring set of extras, including a few deleted scenes, a few behind-the-scenes featurettes, and J.K. Rowling interview.

FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: DAVID YATES / SCREENPLAY: J.K. ROWLING / STARRING: EDDIE REDMAYNE, KATHERINE WATERSTON, JOHNNY DEPP, JUDE LAW / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Did you all know that horror maestro Wes Craven made a comic book movie? This was at a time that funny book adaptations had only just started to form thanks to the success of the first two Superman movies. Hollywood decided that the next big superhero to follow the Man of Steel would be… Swamp Thing. Yeah, rather than go with more iconic DC characters like Wonder Woman or Batman, the monstrous ‘Protector of the Green’ would be the next hero to follow suit, and the results are interesting to say the least.

The film roughly follows the same comics origin story for Swamp Thing, which involves a scientist that researches and cares for plant life until a fatal incident with enemy forces results in him getting transformed into a plant/human hybrid monster, and what we have in this film version is an admirable attempt by Craven to make Swamp Thing a compelling character even if the film as a whole suffers from some wobbles along the way. In a way, this sees a bold, fresh departure for the director after being so heavily tied down to his horror roots. Instead he opts for a fantasy story that delves into the dramatic themes of love, beauty, tragedy and revenge. The film’s mise-en-scène is wonderfully vibrant and atmospheric thanks to its bold uses of colour, lighting, and sound that captures the world perfectly. The realisation of Swamp Thing was a solid attempt that looks faithful to the character’s iconic design, but there’s no disguising the fact that the hero constructed out of plant matter just looks like a big dude that’s covered in rubber, and it doesn’t get any better later on when other creatures enter the fray.

Later in the third act, the super-duper secret formula transforms some of the baddies in this flick into very absurd monsters, including a big strongman that randomly gets turned into a pig-headed midget, but the worst has to be what happens to the principal villain of the piece. He could’ve been transformed into something that’s scary or imaginative, but instead, is turned into a cross between a baboon and a werewolf that wields a sword, which only makes it look like Goldar’s scruffy-looking cousin. Also, the juxtaposition between the swampy wilderness and the luxury mansion in the film’s last act is noticeably jarring, especially considering that the place looks like a mixture of a high-class restaurant and some trashy strip-club, even with the added addition of unnecessary nudity. Oh, and Jude, the kid sidekick, is totally pointless and serves no function to the narrative whatsoever.

Despite its faults, you can’t knock Wes Craven for trying to do something that was different from his usual horror milieu, and the result is not bad, but it could’ve been better. The swampy locations are great, the cast game (including Adrienne Barbeau in a DC role before voicing Catwoman in Batman: The Animated Series), and it’s an admirable attempt to capture the basics of the character. Plus, if this film didn’t exist, the character might not have found life beyond this, thus Alan Moore’s acclaimed run in the comics probably wouldn’t have happened, as would the character’s involvement with the Justice league Dark, nor would we have the forthcoming TV series. What we have here is pretty decent overall, and if you are curious to delve more into Craven’s filmography, then this is worth a look.

SWAMP THING (1982) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: WES CRAVEN / STARRING: LOUIS JOURDAN, ADRIENNE BARBEAU, RAY WISE, DAVID HESS / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 25TH

Going by the name alone, one might assume that this was going to be some sort of bawdy drug-fuelled 1970’s sex comedy. We’re in the right era, at least, but everything else is much less titillating than we might have hoped. Starring Cliff Richard in his final film role before abandoning the silver screen, 1973’s Take Me High is an inoffensive Sunday afternoon film that serves as part romantic “comedy” and part… travelogue.

Our Cliff plays Tim Matthews, a slightly self-centred banker who has all the money he could ever need or want. After falling out with his girlfriend over a potential promotion and move to New York, he receives word that he won’t be moving abroad after all. His boss is sending him to the much less glamorous city of Birmingham in the West Midlands, where he meets a new lady (played by Deborah Watling, previously known as Victoria Waterfield, Peter Troughton’s Doctor Who companion) and sets about making a new life for himself.

Apart from being given away as a newspaper freebie almost 20 years ago, Take Me High has never been available on DVD or Blu-ray before, and honestly it’s pretty easy to see why. Its only real draw is its star, but even then we’re not exactly talking primetime Cliff. Known as the English Elvis Presley in his younger rock n’ roll days, by the time the early 70s rolled around he’d found Jesus, gone all middle of the road, and hadn’t yet started churning out those late 70s / early 80s bangers that we’re all so very fond of. This is reflected in the film’s soundtrack, which provides the backing for many of Cliff / Tim’s thoughts and often plays over montages of him walking through the streets of Birmingham. It does contain a couple of undeniable toe-tappers, but largely consists of hospital radio-friendly muzak for the mums and grans.

The Blu-ray includes options to watch the regular film, only music with vocals, or music only with no vocals. There’s also a trailer and image gallery, and an incredibly dry and humourless 20 minute interview from 70s ITV chat show Russell Harty Plus, where Cliff voices some rather bold and po-faced opinions about religion and his fellow musicians. It’s all a bit “moral guardian of the masses”, and probably shouldn’t be watched before the film because the only takeaway from the interview itself is that Cliff seems a bit of a berk. The best part comes when he mentions chatting to “blokes in sauna baths”, which is immediately followed by a look that says “ooh no, definitely shouldn’t have said that”. The appearance ends with a performance of the film’s main theme, where Cliff appears to be desperate for a wee while he marches on the spot, and does that slow turnaround move that he still does in concerts today (probably counts as a high spot for him, these days).

All things considered it’s a bit of a baffling release, and one that it’s difficult to imagine too many people going crazy for. Might be worth picking up for grandma for Christmas though.

TAKE ME HIGH / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: DAVID ASKEY / SCREENPLAY: CHRISTOPHER PENFOLD / STARRING: CLIFF RICHARD, DEBORAH WATLING, HUGH GRIFFITH, GEORGE COLE / RELEASE DATE: 18TH MARCH

Ruggero Deodato’s classic 1980 cult horror film Cannibal Holocaust remains the only one worthy of being called a video nasty. Even for strong-hearted horror fans it is a truly challenging experience, not to mention being the first to exploit the found footage idea in a modern film. However, its plot is quite ingenious for a film of its ilk, and one that makes you think about what you are viewing. Inevitably, during that introductory high of the emerging video cassette market, there were a fair amount of imitators that fans of the early 80s video store would seek out in the UK pre-regulation, perhaps confused by friends who said it was Deodato’s film, rather than the one they paid a couple of quid to rent – and so it goes with the 1980 French attempt Cannibal Terror, which did find its way onto the DPP list at the time.

A trio of petty thieves, two male and one female, kidnap the daughter of a rich couple and promptly find themselves on a plane near the border where their guide, Mickey, informs them that the area is also a haven for cannibals. Mickey drives them to a save haven run by gangster Don Antonio but, on the way, the vehicle’s radiator overheats. She goes off to get water, only to be kidnapped herself and turned into Pepperami by the cannibal tribe she mentions. Clearly, there is more to this so-called safe haven than meets the eye.

A kidnap plot coupled with a fight to survive against the primitive forces in the jungle makes a very tasty concept, and given that this film was made around the same time as Cannibal Holocaust would, in the right hands, have made a suspenseful (and perhaps equally notorious) effort.

Unfortunately, Cannibal Terror is not that film, and remains one of the sorts of films that Mary Whitehouse and co used to fret about back in the day when these films seemed a lot more real and shocking to the tabloids. As time marches on, we see clearly beyond the notoriety and into the heart of the what the film is really trying to say.

The filmmakers felt that plopping some admittedly bloody gore effects here and there, whilst throwing in the obligatory naked shower scene, would have invited enough punters to watch. Throwing in a few inserts of monkeys and birds in trees do not a good cannibal movie make, either. Add a shoddily-edited and staged final battle sequence between man and cannibal, and you definitely hope that these cretins are served up for sacrifice.

It’s not the best remastering of an old film and the dirt from the original 35mm can be glimpsed at times, as well as the cue dots signifying the change of reel (which strangely here can be seen at the bottom, rather than top, right of the screen).

However, there is a redeeming extra on the Blu-ray, a 47-minute documentary called That’s Not The Amazon! that assesses the history of production company Eurocine’s exploitation history in the context of the Deodato and Umberto Lenzi’s Cannibal Ferox, as well as Jess Franco’s own creative output. It certainly gives Cannibal Terror some foundation, but it is still a shame that such a great and informative extra should be on a sub-standard horror film. Still, if you want to learn more about it, then purchase Cannibal Terror for that purpose alone.

CANNIBAL TERROR / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: ALAIN DERUELLE / STARRING: SILVIA SOLAR, GERARD LEMAIRE, PAMELA STANFORD, OLIVER MATHOT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Can you feel it deep within? That creeping fear of a dark past that until now has been hidden away? That’s Possum (or as we like to call it, “WHAT’S IN THE BAG!?”) in a nutshell.

British Writer/Director Matthew Holness’ stunningly chilling debut stars Sean Harris as Philip, a troubled man with an incredibly dark past who returns to his childhood home to confront his creepy stepfather/uncle Maurice (Alun Armstrong) armed with a brown bag containing a physical embodiment of his trauma, a puppet known as Possum.

Possum takes a truly dark subject matter of troubled childhood, embeds it in the audience’s brain and body from the opening, and allows that terror to blossom in the most natural way possible. Like Philip, the audience are left wondering what is truly real and what all in his broken and damaged mind.

The best way to describe Possum is “poetic yet relentlessly terrifying”. Sean Harris’ performance as Philip is categorically the best performance in a horror film since Toni Collette in last year’s Hereditary. Every expression on his face tells a story, and the terror feels so legitimate and nuanced. As he delivers the lines of his poem about Possum whilst the frankly impeccable score accompanies it, one cannot help but feel the hairs on one’s arm stand on end. Even though the film comes in at just shy of 90 minutes, the story is so deeply constructed that there is just enough there to guide you along whilst leaving some profound questions lingering once the credits begin to roll.

The design of Possum itself is astounding. It accurately depicts natural human fear in its creature-like form while possessing features that also make it feel very human – a choice that was wonderfully realised by Holness. To some, Holness may have produced a puppet that will haunt your nightmares for years to come – not just because of its appearance, but also its meaning and purpose in the context of the narrative.

Possum, in the future, will be surely known as a British horror classic that deserves all of the praise that it receives. Holness has approached a horrific subject matter and treated it with care and attention, being mindful to not offend but instead bringing what some people must have experienced to light in a truly spine-chilling fashion unlike anything you’ve seen before.

POSSUM / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: MATTHEW HOLNESS / STARRING: SEAN HARRIS, ALUN ARMSTRONG, SIMON BUBB / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Before it acquired its current name, Dawson City was Tr’ochëk, a small settlement where the Klondike meets the Yukon. The site was an important summer gathering spot for the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nations people, until gold was discovered at Bonanza Creek in 1896 by American prospector George Carmack and his First Nations wife Kate. As was the way with such things, the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in were moved off their ancestral lands, and a claim was staked to build a town by Joseph Ladue, who grew rich off the goldrush.

The town’s fortunes waxed and waned over the ensuing decades, from the ‘Paris of the North’, a conglomeration of theatres, bordellos, and dancehalls at the end of the trail, to a dwindling after the Alaska Highway was built in the 1950s. By 1978, Dawson was a sleepy town of less than a thousand people until another discovery revived interest in the area, and that is what brings us to Bill Morrison’s feature-length documentary film, Dawson City: Frozen Time.

When a digger-operator unearthed a cache of silent-era films behind Diamond Tooth Gertie’s casino, historians’ hearts were set racing. Once the find had been sorted, over five-hundred film reels from the first two decades of the twentieth century had been secured, many of which thought lost to time and some of which lost to record. Alongside serials, shorts, and features starring Lionel Barrymore and Douglas Fairbanks, was footage of the 1919 ‘Black Sox’ baseball scandal, clips of which open Morrison’s movie.

Using the recovered film, alongside other contemporary footage and still photography, Morrison weaves a narrative not only of the discovery of the films but of the complete story of Dawson City, the gold rush, early cinema, and more, contextualising and giving weight to the cache outside the interest of film historians.

He does this using techniques that would have been familiar to early filmmakers. Outside a few voiced interviews with surviving witnesses from the Dawson of 1978, the film is told as if it were a silent movie, with evocative music and on-screen captions giving meaning to the vintage images. The music is stunning, provided by Sigur Rós collaborator Alex Somers, rising and falling with the plot, atmospheric and tangible, and the captions weave a tale that features some infamous, larger-than-life figures, such as Klondike Kate Rockwell, Fred Trump (Donald’s grandfather, who began the Trump empire in Dawson), and Sid Grauman, who built the famous Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles but got his start in the frozen north.

It’s not always a happy tale; besides the First Nations people, and the sad story of their land being stolen, disaster strikes often. The Yukon was not a place for the fainthearted, and many died even trying to make it to a place where life could be hard. With so many people crammed into what we would now call “shanty towns”, fire was a constant threat, especially in the picture houses where the super-flammable film reels would often burn quick and hot, causing the deaths of many pleasure-seekers. Morrison does not shy away from these events, making good use of the photographs of Eric Hegg to illustrate the aftermaths.

The result is a beguiling, often hypnotic documentary, overstepping its initial premise into unexpected territory, much like the initial prospectors had done over a century before. Morrison is a master filmmaker; the film’s two hour running time falls away as you are drawn into the story and it’s easy to see why his previous feature, Decasia, was the most recent film named to the Library of Congress National Film Registry. Dawson City: Frozen Time is a recommended watch for fans of documentaries, history, and film – or just anyone who fancies a couple of hours in another time, another place.

DAWSON CITY; FROZEN TIME / CERT: E / DIRECTOR: BILL MORRISON / SCREENPLAY: BILL MORRISON / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

February 19th marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of Derek Jarman, a pioneer of queer cinema, and the BFI marked the occasion with this second bumper box set of his work. Included are his final seven films, produced during a creative spree that followed his HIV diagnosis.

The first three features here are experimental, non-narrative productions, more at home in an art gallery than in a conventional cinema. The Last of England captures his anger at Thatcher’s Britain and Section 28, a melancholic montage of imagery accompanied by extracts from poets including T. S. Eliot and Allen Ginsburg. If that’s not your thing, skip this and the following two films, but you’ll be missing out on two men shagging atop a giant Union Jack.

War Requiem is an adaptation of Benjamin Britten’s sombre orchestral work of the same name, a series of wartime scenes following an English soldier and a nurse during World War I. It features Tilda Swinton, Sean Bean, and the final film role of Laurence Olivier, brief though it is.

The Garden has a loose narrative about a gay couple who are arrested and tortured, but takes Jarman’s patchwork filmmaking to an extreme; it’s an arthouse sketch show with themes of homosexuality and Christianity. Some of these scenes are entertaining, including the surreal adaptation of the Nativity and the ‘Think Pink’ musical number; others test the patience.

With Edward II, an adaptation of Christopher Marlowe’s play, Jarman returned to narrative filmmaking. The eponymous king’s relationship with nobleman Piers Gaveston leads to members of his court plotting against him. It’s a powerful story with some strong performances, not least Swinton as the scheming Queen Isabella; she appears in all the films on this set but gets a particularly substantial role here. Jarman adds contemporary touches such as a 1990s-esque gay rights march.

Wittgenstein is, like Edward II, Caravaggio and Sebastiane before it, a biopic of a historical gay man, in this case the Austrian-British philosopher. Shot against a black backdrop, it’s heavy on philosophical discussion, but if you can put up with that, there’s a lot to appreciate – Jarman at his wittiest and most playful.

Blue is one of Jarman’s most unique and challenging works. A single shot of saturated blue (the filmmaker was losing his sight at the time) is accompanied by narration about Jarman’s struggle with his illness, plus a soundscape of music and effects. Mournful and insightful, this is as genuine an insight into AIDS as you’ll get.

Finally, Glitterbug, broadcast after Jarman’s death, is a collection of the director’s home movies. Though ponderous at times, it’s only 55 minutes long and offers some behind the scenes insights into his film sets that will be of interest to fans.

What’s remarkable about this box set is the wealth of special features. To list them takes more than two pages of A4, but highlights include: ten newly recorded interviews with Jarman’s collaborators; the surrealist short film Dead Cat; composer Simon Fisher-Turner’s collage of audio clips recorded with Jarman; a 70-minute interview with the director about filmmaking; and a 100-page book of essays. It’s a seriously impressive collection, as comprehensive as there will ever be.

So for Jarman fans, this is an absolute must, even though the more experimental films here won’t be to all tastes, and the overall quality of the features doesn’t quite live up to Volume 1. Nevertheless, Jarman’s singular filmography is well worthy of such a high quality presentation.

Extras – click here

JARMAN VOLUME TWO – 1987-1994 / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: DEREK JARMAN / SCREENPLAY: DEREK JARMAN, KEN BUTLER, TERRY EAGLETON, STEPHEN MCBRIDE / STARRING: TILDA SWINTON, STEVEN WADDINGTON, KARL JOHNSON / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

With 2015’s Creed having provided a refreshing sequel-cum-reboot for the Rocky franchise, Steven Caple Jr.’s follow-up to that movie, Creed II, is now hitting Blu-ray and DVD. Is this another impressive effort worth your time or is it merely one round too many for this long-standing franchise? Let’s step in the ring and take a look.

As the action picks up here, we’re quickly sped through Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed working his way up the ranks and toppling Danny “Stuntman” Wheeler (Andre Ward) to become the WBC World Heavyweight Champion. Things are going well for Adonis; the World Champ, marriage to Bianca (Tessa Thompson) on the horizon, and global fame in his grasp. Of course, we all know that can only mean one thing: something bad is waiting just around the corner.

That bad? That’s the imposing threat of Florian Munteanu’s Viktor Drago. Franchise veterans will be well aware of the Drago name, for Vikor’s father Ivan (Dolph Lundgren) famously killed Adonis’ pops Apollo in the opening act of Rocky IV. Now, Ivan and his son have their sights on Adonis and his title belt as they look to drag themselves out of the squalor and shame they suffer in their homeland of Russia. You see, while the Rocky IV aftermath only served to further propel Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa to superstardom, Ivan was deemed a disgrace and disowned by his nearest and dearest. Here, through his unstoppable, unrelenting son, Ivan Drago has a shot at getting his life back on track and reclaiming the respect he so desperately craves.

The public challenge from the father and son Drago duo to Adonis is, obviously, merely a cheap PR trick to launch themselves into the spotlight, and Jordan’s Donnie knows this. But still, there’s far more at play here as this time it’s personal (isn’t it always in a Rocky movie?) for the ghost of Apollo Creed lingers large over his son. To throw a spanner into the mix, mind, everyone else can see that this is a fight that Donnie should steer clear of for a multitude of reasons; Rocky, Bianca and even Donnie’s mother (the returning Phylicia Rashad) butting heads with the stubborn Heavyweight Champ over this issue. Even more so, given that Bianca is expecting a baby. Is this a fight that has too much emotion for Adonis? Is it a fight that he can even win? Could he end up suffering the same fate as his father? And if he were to take on such a battle, is it worth the potential cost to him, both personally and professionally?

And to think, that extensive write-up you’ve just scrolled through is just the tip of the iceberg for Creed II, with there plentiful other twists and turns along the way. Fear not, though, for the execution of this ever-evolving narrative is masterfully handled by director Steven Caple Jr. (replacing Creed’s Ryan Coogler on directing duties after Coogler was tied up with the stunning Black Panther). Caple Jr. manages to effortlessly let the film breathe and develop at a slow and steady pace, yet when the action comes it is electric, explosive and will have you feeling every body blow.

Michael B. Jordan once again steps into the Adonis Creed/Donnie Johnson role and is just pitch-perfect as we see the character go through a whole range of emotions; from ecstasy, to anger, to the lowest of lows, and to slowly building himself back up once again. Jordan consistently proves himself to be one of the best actors of his generation, and Creed II only backs up that reputation. Away from the titular Adonis, however, it is yet again Tessa Thompson’s Bianca who is the emotional heart of the movie. Much like Adrian was always the heart of the Rocky movies – even managing to continue to be that after the character was killed off! – it’s Thompson’s Bianca that holds the picture together and is the voice of reason, the emotional core of the tale, and the anchor that so often keeps things grounded.

You can’t not talk about a Rocky franchise feature and make no mention of Syl Stallone, of course, and Stallone continues to bring that loveable, bumbling everyman charm to Rocky Balboa. A wry smile here, a mumbled one-liner there, and always with the best of intentions, it never fails to impress to think how far both Stallone and Rocky have come together; the action icon wearing his most famed creation like a second skin.

On the opposite side of the fence, Dolph Lundgren’s Ivan Drago is an intense, demanding presence, yet the character wisely never gets to take too much of the spotlight from his son Viktor. As Viktor Drago, we have amateur boxer and fitness fanatic Florian Munteanu. Think a living, breathing He-Man, for Munteanu is a man mountain chiselled out of granite. Much like how Ivan Drago was utilised in Rocky IV, each and every blow landed by Munteanu’s Viktor will have audiences wincing. For what is needed, Munteanu is a perfect fit as the monstrous machine positioned as the polar opposite of Adonis; the sons of two former fighters who have ended up on completely contrasting, yet eerily similar paths.

If you’re a fan of the Rocky, and now Creed, franchise, you will absolutely adore Creed II. Is it cheesy? Hell yeah. Is it predictable? Possibly. Is it oozing with machismo? A tad. But that’s part of the fun with the Rocky franchise. Take the great performances on display, add in a strong, emotional story, throw in plentiful nods and references to what has come before, and this is as Rocky a movie that there’s ever been. And for all the detractors, a Rocky movie is nothing if not brimming with heart – which is again the case here with Creed II.

Full of moments that will have franchise fans watching through teary eyes at the first sniff of an emotional beat or fist-pumping anthem, Creed II is a worthy sequel to an absolutely fantastic movie, and we can only hope that there’s more to come from Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis.

In terms of special features, the easy standout is the grin-inducing Rocky Legacy featurette that takes a look back through the franchise and why it’s so special to so many – complete with input from various cast and crew, plus the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard.

Special Features: Three featurettes / Deleted scenes

CREED II / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: STEVEN CAPLE JR. / SCREENPLAY: SYLVESTER STALLONE, JUEL TAYLOR / STARRING: MICHAEL B. JORDAN, SYLVESTER STALLONE, TESSA THOMPSON, FLORIAN MUNTEANU, DOLPH LUNDGREN, PHYLICIA RASHAD / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 25TH

Not to be confused with Eli Roth’s The Green Inferno, this 1988 Italian film from writer/director Antonio Climati, also titled Natura contro, seemingly takes cues from Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust. It was even released as Cannibal Holocaust 2 in the UK on VHS, but features zero onscreen cannibalism and was never intended to be a sequel. The schlocky adventure plot divulges cultural insights into the Columbian setting and rainforest tribes but is mired by colossal flaws in key areas. An abating narrative, abysmal performances, histrionic dialogue, and scanty suspense render it predominantly slapdash and calamitous, despite the consequent comedy as a result of its defects.

Green Inferno’s taut set-up presents brash protagonists. A pilot (Merlo), anthropologist (Pio Maria Federici) and journalist (Deseligny) steal a plane then fly to a jungle (near Uaupes) in search of Professor Korenz (Roberto Ricci), who went missing while hunting for treasure belonging to a mysterious tribe called The Imas, who were shirking Spanish Conquistadors. Clumpy dubbing contributes to the overall disarray along with an unsuitably bouncy Casio pop score by Maurizio Dami, which is almost as discordant as Riz Ortolani’s rousing main theme to Cannibal Holocaust. Ortolani’s music clashed massively with the punishing violence, but is now one of the film’s most revered assets.

Considering Cannibal Holocaust‘s controversy, mostly due to it featuring real animal killing, the fact this so-called sequel contains zero cannibalism, makes it outrageous in a completely different way. An oddly harmonious documentary air evokes an unusual authenticity; a heightened reality which strengthens the screenplay, for which six writers are credited, but makes the film’s blundered facets seem more preposterous. Research strengthened context is no substitute for a well mapped narrative, but it keeps Green Inferno from tipping into totally abysmal terrain.

Journalist Jemma interviews a local doctor who specialises in shrinking severed heads and talks her through the process. Anthropologist Pete resuscitates a wounded monkey in exchange for fuel and there’s a daunting assortment of spiders, snakes, manatees, and piranhas slung into the protagonists’ paths like crawly deterrents. The groundwork, detail, and general sagacity ironically makes Green Inferno work better as a documentary than Cannibal Holocaust‘s fictional one at the centre of its narrative. Like its found footage aspect, Green Inferno is a straight-up yet paradoxically wonky work of fiction that also happens to be the worst cannibalism film ever made (by marketing default), simply because it doesn’t feature any.

Scenes featuring bug eating, frog racing, anaconda water wrestling and an anthropologist yanking an electric eel out of a distressed villager’s anus, make the film more than the cockeyed sum of its parts. There’s another great moment where bandits hold an angry snake face over a captive’s penis and demand information. But while all of the above may make it almost warrant a watch, Green Inferno’s defects massively outweigh its lopsided pros. If it’s gnarly cannibalism and repugnance you’re after, watch Eli Roth’s The Green Inferno instead.

Disc extras include: a half hour documentary called Scenes from Buried Alive: The Rise and Fall of Italian Cannibal Movies in which film-makers Umberto Lenzi, Ruggero Deodato, and Sergio Martino discuss the stories around their key work. While this is mainly spliced talking head interviews and film footage, their stories make this an interesting feature for fans of their work. Also included is a trailer and the option to watch the film with original Italian credits.

GREEN INFERNO (1988) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: ANTONIO CLIMATI / SCREENPLAY: FRANCESCO PROSPERI, ANTONIO CLIMATI, FEDERICO MOCCIA, LORENZO CASTELLANO / STARRING: MARCO MERLO, FABRIZIO MERLO, MAY DESELIGNY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW