Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

With the final moments of Arrow’s fifth season throwing the future of pretty much 90% of the series’ key players up in the air, the genre fave’s sixth year was certainly a hugely anticipated one. Now out on home release, was Arrow’s sixth season worth the wait or was it ultimately a missed opportunity for the Arrowverse originator?

If you remember back, the end of Season Five saw Stephen Amell’s Emerald Archer’s world go up in literal flames, as uber-baddie Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) blew up the island of Lian Yu with a whole host of Oliver’s nearest and dearest on it. Sure, Ollie safely had his son in his arms as that explosive finale played out, but audiences were left with the cliffhanger of just who made it off Lian Yu alive and what repercussions were to follow. Truth be told, said fallout really wasn’t all that much.

The potential death and carnage of that fifth season finale is revealed to not be that major after all when Season Six begins. Yes, there is some sort of fallout, but that finale is not the cast-devouring event that many had anticipated. The biggest change in the show, mind, is that Oliver now has custody of his son, William (Jack Moore). Add full-time parenthood to his other jobs as Star City’s Mayor and the city’s hooded protector, and that’s quite the plates to keep spinning for the Emerald Archer. Then, of course, there’s the nefarious Cayden James (Michael Emerson) and his plans to cause all kinds of chaos.

Littered throughout Arrow’s sixth year are the themes of choices and responsibilities, of balancing the many facets of one’s life, of prioritising what is truly important. Those are the constant troubles facing our beloved Master Bowman, and in typical Oliver Queen fashion, he doesn’t always make the right decisions. But that’s part of his charm; that he does mess up at times, that he does make mistakes. Oh, and that he does get really, really angry and decide to beat the tar out of Star City’s criminal element as a result. Where said criminal element is concerned this time out, it’s hard to fully discuss that matter without veering towards spoiler territory. So with that in mind, let’s just say that the sinister threat to Ollie and Team Arrow becomes far, far better as Season Six progresses. Those coming in to this latest season and expecting great things early on, yeah, maybe not so much. After a relatively slow start – not helped by the so-so handling of the fallout from Lian Yu’s explosion – this season really does begin to rocket along as twists, turns, break-ups, make-ups, and constant inner turmoil bubble away nicely.

Season Six of Arrow was pegged as a game-changing one for the show, although the sort of tonal shifts and readjustment of key players that many fans were hoping for doesn’t exactly happen here. That’s not to say that this isn’t some pretty brilliant television at times, mind, and the season becomes utterly gripping towards its latter stages. Again, no spoilers, but things get all kinds of intense as the worlds of both Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow face the sort of threat that has rarely been seen in Arrow. And along with that, there are very real consequences as this season plays out.

Arrow’s sixth season most certainly does see the series veer off in a slightly different direction – largely down to Ollie’s newfound reputation as a full-time father – but it’s not quite the radical change-up some were expecting. It is, however, another season of this genre favourite show that has far, far more ups than downs for viewers, with the action more brutal than ever, the villain one of the series’ very best, and a fascinating look at the mindset of Oliver Queen. Elsewhere, the rest of the show’s main players all step up to the plate as ever, and Juliana Harkavy’s Dinah Drake is the standout of the bunch as she goes from strength to strength with each passing episode; Harkavy again marking herself out as one of the most interesting, entertaining parts of Arrow.

In terms of the bonus material included on this release, the four featurettes included are hugely enjoyable. As is always the case with each season of Arrow’s home release, there’s some great footage from last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and then each of the other featurettes explore the Arrowverse-wide Crisis on Earth-X crossover, the villainous Cayden James, and then the ridiculously popular Slade Wilson (who may or may not pop up in this latest season…).

Is Season Six Arrow‘s best yet yet? No, no it’s not. That honour still goes to the show’s second season – a season which ranks right up their as an all-time great of genre TV. But while this isn’t Arrow at its very best, it’s still a show that is hugely enjoyable for the most part. It just seems as if every year teases the return to a more minimalist approach in terms of the amount of characters highlighted in the series, only to throw even more heroes and villains into the mix. By the time that Season Six comes to an end, though, it really does appear that maybe, just maybe, it’s going to be a lonely old road for Oliver Queen in the soon-to-premiere seventh season.

Special Features: Four featurettes

ARROW: THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: STEPHEN AMELL, EMILY BETT RICKARDS, DAVID RAMSAY, PAUL BLACKTHORNE, JULIANA HARKAVY, MICHAEL EMERSON, KIRK ACEVADO / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

There may be a little confusion imminent for British horror fans, given that the title of this 1983 cult classic (released originally by Lloyd Kaufman’s Troma Team) shares its title with the 1974 Pete Walker classic. However, before the yelps of disappointment from those of you expecting the British film subside and you head for the nearest DVD exchange store (or go eBay-ing for blood), please do take a moment to give this cult gem from the 1980s a look, as there is every possibility that it might just be of equal interest.

Confusion may well continue as the film opens, as Frightmare plays with its original title of The Horror Star on this entry in 88 Films’ Slasher Classics Collection. Those who have bought previous releases in the series like The Bogey Man, Nightmares In A Damaged Brain and X-Ray, will certainly want to add to their growing collections here.

Ferdinand Mayne plays veteran horror star Conrad Razhoff, whose legacy is tested to the limit by a director of a new commercial he is appearing in – and then even further when he pushes the director off the balcony of the building in which they’re shooting. However, his earlier horror films are getting some appreciation from a student horror film society who appreciate his work. After he visits their school, Conrad suddenly dies. The students, on a dare, decide to steal Conrad’s body from the tomb where he resides but, before long, they become involved in a very nightmarish and real rendition of one of his classic films…

Frightmare / The Horror Star is very much of its time, and that is to be expected given how some films from the 1980s date quicker than others because of the hair and fashions. Yet the basic idea at the heart of it would actually make for a pretty good reboot or remake today if the right director or writer could rework it.

Stylistically, it is reminiscent of some of those classic Hammer House of Horrors and Phantasm, and it does retain some good old cultish charm throughout. This certainly will have some appeal for many, particularly newer fans who are checking out older titles for the first time. Fans of the 1980s sex comedy classic Porky’s can also see a detective in this film played by the late Chuck Mitchell, who played the title character who screwed over those Angel Beach High teens.

Picture and audio are first rate, taken from the original 35mm camera negative via a 2K restoration. Other virtues in this Blu-ray update include a host of extras, commentaries, and interviews with the cast and crew.

FRIGHTMARE / DIRECTOR: NORMAN THADDEUS VANE / SCREENPLAY: NORMAN THADDEUS VANE / STARRING: FERDY MAYNE, LUCA BERCOVICI, NITA TALBOT / CERT: 15 / RELEASE DATE: 10TH SEPTEMBER 2018

Since The CW’s Arrowverse came to life back in 2012 with Arrow, this ever-expanding TV realm has become a must-watch part of many a genre fan’s viewing habits. And now, one of the very best parts of the Arrowverse’s last year is heading to DVD. Yes, the fourth annual crossover – Crisis on Earth-X – is now available on home release.

As alluded to, this is the fourth straight-up crossover spectacle between these shared universe shows, and the big question going in to Crisis on Earth-X was how could you possibly top the alien invasion angle of last year’s crossover event. For that, the minds behind Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow decided to take the action to a literal other world. A parallel world, to be precise. Or an alternate Earth, if you will. Laying the foundations for all of these heroes and villains coming together, Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and Iris West (Candice Patton) decide to finally tie the knot – and everyone’s invited! Of course, a spanner is soon thrown into the works when the group’s evil doppelgangers from Earth-X arrive to crash the wedding.

Not only are these doppelgangers from an alternate Earth, but they also happen to be Nazis. Led by Stephen Amell’s Dark Archer and his wife, Melissa Benoist’s Overgirl, the mission objective of this group is essentially to steal the heart of Benoist’s Supergirl and give it to her nefarious alt-world doppelganger. Before you know it, our established heroes of the Arrowverse find themselves on Earth-X, locked up in a concentration camp – because in this world, the Nazis were the victors of World War II – and a whole host of skewed versions of familiar heroes and villains are on display as our core group look to fight the good fight and make it back to their own Earth. Old favourites return, new faces are showcased, and plentiful fists meet plentiful faces as the four-episode Crisis on Earth-X arc shuttles through a true roller coaster of a ride.

For those familiar with the Arrowverse to date, Crisis on Earth-X delivers everything you’d expect. There’s stunning spectacle, there’s fist-pumping adrenaline, there’s grin-inducing humour, and there’s a story that runs through every possible emotion you can think of. Make no mistake about it, there are stakes here – extremely high stakes – and this is a tale that is never afraid to deliver a gut punch mere moments after having you championing our heroes as they look to overcome the odds. And let’s face it, for as long as we can all remember, readers and viewers have always loved to see distorted, alternative versions of their favourite heroes; DC Comics and the use of their multiverse being a major favourite of many. And here, we gloriously get to explore that concept in live-action television.

In terms of bonus content, Crisis on Earth-X only includes one piece of extra material – but it’s a humdinger! Bringing together executive producers Marc Guggenheim (Arrow), Todd Helbing (The Flash), Robert Rovner (Supergirl), and Phil Klemmer (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), we’re treated to a 40-minute roundtable of sorts that explores how this crossover came together. The featurette flies by at a pace that would impress even Barry Allen, as four of the Arrowverse’s key players give an energetic insight at creating such an all-encompassing televisual spectacle.

Crisis on Earth-X is never anything less than fun, being a perfect example of how to bring the energy, action, and emotional heart of a comic book-style story to life on the small screen. The only problem now is, how could this December’s crossover possibly manage to top this brilliant adventure? Well, introducing Batwoman and Gotham City into the fold is a more than solid start…

Special Features: Crisis on Earth-X: Inside the Crossover featurette

CRISIS ON EARTH-X / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: STEPHEN AMELL, GRANT GUSTIN, MELISSA BENOIST, CAITY LOTZ, WENTWORTH MILLER, EMILY BETT RICKARDS / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 3RD

Remember when you were a child, settling into bed and all you wanted to send you off to sleep was a good story? Well, if you’re unlucky enough to have an uncaring uncle (Michael Mesmer) like Little Brian (Brian DePersia), you probably won’t get a sweet tale. You’ll be told one of the Deadtime Stories, a Troma-style retelling of beloved fairy tales.

To start, we get two witches and their assistant who is charged with finding them innocents to be killed and harvested to aid in spells, but the tables turn after he falls for one beautiful victim. Secondly is Red Riding Hood which casts Red as a young teen and the wolf as a leather-clad bad guy, and throws itself into a sexual awakening subtext. And lastly is Goldie Locks and the three bears, where two of the bears are fresh from the mental institution and Goldie is a serial killer with psychic powers and a strong libido.

Deadtime Stories wears its silliness with pride – it’s out to entertain, but it only just manages it. The two very 80s theme songs are the only lasting things you’ll really take from it, though it does have some solid practical effects, especially in the first story. It nips along at a fair pace, with a running time of only 83 minutes, but it never makes an impact.

It’s difficult to know who Deadtime Stories is for. It doesn’t have the cult credentials of others films of its time like The Toxic Avenger or its much better known compendium contemporaries like Creepshow, and it’s difficult to imagine many people rooting around to find a copy. It doesn’t have the scuzzy nastiness to make it a morbid-must-see, and the self-consciously silly pun title will only attract so many. It’s not exactly a genre classic crying out for the special release treatment. Whoever it is for, though, are served well by this edition from 88 Films. The limited edition is packed with features starting with the high-def transfer from the original negative and reversible sleeve to audio commentary and interview with the co-writer, director, and comprehensive booklet notes.

Deadtime Stories is a slight if mildly entertaining entry in the horror compendium genre. The release has a good host of extras but it’s not a film that will stick in the memory.

DEADTIME STORIES / DIRECTOR: JEFFREY DELMAN / SCREENPLAY: JEFFREY DELMAN, J. EDWARD KIERNAN, CHARLES F. SHELTON / STARRING: SCOTT VALENTINE, NICOLE PICARD, MATT MITLER / CERT: 18 / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

A bizarro mix of cannibalised elements of every decade of the horror genre pre-1970 and a Scooby-Doo episode without either the talking Great Dane or Shaggy but instead a sex-obsessed Mystery Inc. crew, Miss Leslie’s Dolls is an intriguing oddity from the Grindhouse era. Unashamedly mashing up the old dark house horror, the psycho-thriller and the Gothic amongst many others, there’s not an original idea to be found. Despite this, it’s off-kilter and agreeable fun.

When their car runs out of gas in the middle of a vicious storm (rolling to a stop in a graveyard), a teacher and her three students take refuge in the only nearby building, the home of the titular recluse. Miss Leslie it turns out is some kind of kook, but it’s either bunk down for the night there or take their chances outside. Besides, there’s beds in the house and all four have various physical unions on their minds. For her part, Miss Leslie is concerned more with a spiritual transfer of sorts, and the nubile young women now in her home give her an opportunity she can’t pass up.

What follows takes elements from other, better films like Psycho, Universal horrors of the 1930s, and the Gothic drive of the 50s and 60s, and meanders along with a fairly languid pace until ramping up for a suitably bonkers conclusion. There’s no sense of urgency to proceedings, most of the small cast don’t exactly give their all, and you’re never really sure whether the air of weirdness that permeates the film is something that was done on purpose or just a by-product of don’t-know-better ineptitude. It has a serious Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood vibe. And yet, just like that film, it’s often hypnotically odd, so much so that regardless of whether it’s arguably good or bad, it is definitely interesting. It also has its biggest asset front and centre with Salvador Ugarte’s admirably committed performance as Miss Leslie.

Miss Leslie’s Dolls was considered a lost film for many years, when in actual fact it was more a case that it hadn’t been found, with a few prints still remaining. For this Network Blu-ray release the film has been cleaned up as much as possible from the prints available. It’s not the most dynamic of films in terms of visuals (apparently the director credited doesn’t even remember making it, and probably didn’t) but we do get for the most part a remarkably sharp and detailed picture. There’s a photo gallery but no other extras so it’s only the film you get here, but for fans of the somewhat outré horror thriller, it’s certainly worth your time.

MISS LESLIE’S DOLLS / DIRECTOR: JOSEPH G. PRIETO / SCREENPLAY: JOSEPH G. PRIETO, RALPH REMY JR / STARRING: SALVADOR UGARTE, TERRI JUSTON, MARCELLE BICHETTE / CERT: 12 / RELEASE DATE: 3RD SEPTEMBER 2018

In the mid-80s, Troma Entertainment gained a reputation for their super-cheap and super-nasty exploitation pics, most notably 1984’s splatter-tastic The Toxic Avenger, now a cult classic. But they outdid themselves – at least in the cheapness and nastiness stakes – with 1987’s Surf Nazis Must Die.

Surf Nazis is set in a near-future California, shortly after an earthquake that we’re told was devastating but the main effect of which is that the beaches have become a warzone of rival surfer gangs. If you’re struggling to make sense of that, you’ll want to brace yourself before trying to follow any more of the “plot”.

The most prominent gang is – you guessed it – the Nazis. They give themselves names like Adolf and Mengele and adorn their surfboards with swastikas, and they also have a hideout with rude words like “DICK”, “HEROIN”, and “SPIT” graffitied on the walls, in case you were in any doubt they’re a bad lot. As the Nazis gain territory, they push other gangs out; one scene sees Mengele murder a bearded hippy called Jesus and crack “there’s no room for Jesus on the New Beach, that’s our final solution”, in what is, depending on your point of view, either the most tasteless line of dialogue you could get, or simply the most talentless.

But at least it provokes a reaction, unlike the more tedious section of the movie that sees various generic surfer gangs fighting back against the Nazis and invariably losing out. The fight scenes are bland, with the gangs both undermanned and lacking in memorable characters. What may stop you switching off at this stage, however, is that we know what’s around the corner. The Nazis have murdered the son of Eleanor “Mama” Washington, an aging African American woman. Played with relish by Gail Neely, Mama doesn’t play by the rules of her retirement home and decides to go vigilante. Mama’s vengeance is the campy shoot-‘em-up fun that you want from a Troma movie; it’s just a shame it takes the film most of its 82-minute run time to get to it.

This Blu-ray release from 88 Films is an odd product. Like many of its era, the perfect home for Surf Nazis was probably the VHS rental shelves, and restoring the picture to HD only draws attention to the poor camerawork and the graininess of the surfing footage. Nevertheless, for exploitation enthusiasts, there’s a fair selection of extras, notably a brand new interview with actor Tom Shell. There’s unintentional comedy in the pair of archive interviews with director Peter George, who it turns out is as cringe-inducingly incompetent on camera as he is behind it, while producer Robert Tinnell comes across a little better in his brief spot. Plus the usual deleted scenes and trailer.

Special features: Smeg’s Lament: A 2018 Interview with Tom Shell, Deleted Scenes with Audio Commentary, Interview with Director Peter George, Interview with Producer Robert Tinnell, Scenes From the Tromaville Café, Original Trailer

SURF NAZIS MUST DIE / DIRECTOR: PETER GEORGE / SCREENPLAY: JON AYRE / STARRING: GAIL NEELY, BARRY BRENNER, DAWN WILDSMITH, MICHAEL SONYE / CERT: 18 / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 27TH

Ever wondered what Spooks might have been like had it been made on the border between North and South Korea? Probably not, but now’s your chance to find out anyway, because 88 Films has just released the movie edit of Iris (a hugely popular twenty-episode TV series broadcast in the autumn of 2009) for the first time on Blu-ray here in the West. Basically it’s South Korea’s answer to the aforementioned Spooks. Or perhaps J.J. Abrams’ Alias, to which it actually bears a greater resemblance.

Iris stars the immensely charismatic Lee Byung-hun as Kim Hyun-jun, a special agent with the National Security Service (NSS) who’s sent on a black ops mission to Hungary in order to perform a tit-for-tat assassination. Little does Kim know that it is in reality a suicide mission, and when he survives, a chain of events is set in motion that ultimately leads to the threat of a nuclear bomb detonating in Seoul.

The similarity to Alias comes when Lee discovers he’s not actually a pawn in a game of espionage between the South and North, but that there’s a third party involved – the eponymous organisation Iris – with ties to both sides and with a vested financial and political interest in stirring up war between the nations. All this is happening against the backdrop of Lee’s relationship with co-worker Choi Seung-hee (the rather fetching Kim Tae-hee), a secret affair that gets tested far beyond any ordinary limits during the course of the film. Fans of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service might like to try and second-guess how this all pans out, but there’s major chemistry going on between the two actors.

Iris on TV was directed by Kim Kyu-tae, and shot concurrently with this two-hour movie version (overseen by Yang Yun-ho), which whittles a twenty-hour story down to just a tenth of that length – to greater and lesser degrees of success. It’s incredibly fast-moving, with sequences that you can imagine might have filled an entire television episode lasting mere moments in the movie version. The relationship between Kim and Choi perhaps suffers most, despite the editors’ attempts to keep it front and centre of the story. And keen eyes will notice the frequent but thankfully brief shots that have been speeded up – mostly during the equally frequent action sequences.

On the other hand, if you’ve ever sat in front of episodic serial TV and wished it would get to the point a bit more quickly, this is the perfect antidote. Several instalments’ worth of narrative set and filmed in Hungary is over within the opening half an hour, and things just accelerate from there. It’s perfectly easy to follow, but brutally quick. And surprisingly entertaining.

Extras: none

IRIS – THE MOVIE / DIRECTOR: KYOO-TAE KIM, YUN-HO YANG / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: BYUNG-HUN LEE, TAE-HEE KIM, SEUNG-HYUN CHOI / CERT: 15 / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

After Hatchet III it seemed that Victor Crowley had finally been laid to rest for good. But for reasons his creator Adam Green explains in the 25-min ‘Raising the Dead…Again’ interview featurette that accompanies this release, between that 2013 film and this fourth in the series from last year, a lot of things happened in Green’s personal life that eventually led him back to Crowley.

The film begins with Andrew Yong, the survivor of the original massacre, pimping his book about the tragedy some 10 years later. Desperate to finally break free of the events that have followed him through the last decade, and shake off the accusations of a group that consider him the real killer, Yong is convinced to accept a life-changing deal to lead a television crew’s expedition back into the swamp to catalogue the horrors that took place. At the same time, a naive young trio of wannabe filmmakers have also headed into Crowley’s old neighbourhood, and it’s not long until the hack-happy madman is back and literally crushing people.

Green and his cast and crew achieve exactly what they set out to do with this film. There’s zero pretence, just a desire to make a slasher film for the fans with the gore dial turned up to 11. Along the way, there’s plenty of humour and it never takes itself too seriously. Despite this, Green tries and mostly succeeds at pumping a bit of emotion into proceedings when it’s called for. Made for a comparatively small budget, the action is wisely kept to just a handful of locations which allows Green to focus on his preferred off-kilter character beats and – the most important thing here – a series of wildly gloopy and gory kills. This film is not going to change your life, but if you’re a fan of the Hatchet series or slashers in general you’re probably going to have a good time. For a film loaded with blood and smashed up bodies, it’s oddly inoffensive.

As for the disc itself, along with the aforementioned interview, there’s an hour-plus making-of documentary that covers pretty much anything you might want to know about the production. If you do want however, there are also two commentaries – the first with the cast and the second with crew. It’s a comprehensive set of supplements indicative of Green’s desire to please the fans, and none the worse for it. That describes the film too, and if you’re after a good time horror that will make you chuckle, you should check it out.

HATCHET 4: VICTOR CROWLEY / DIRECTOR: ADAM GREEN / SCREENPLAY: ADAM GREEN / STARRING: BRIAN QUINN, KANE HODDER, LAURA ORTIZ, KALI COOK / CERT: 18 / RELEASE DATE: 3RD SEPTEMBER 2018