Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Your enjoyment of 1991’s straight-to-video horror film The Boneyard will depend mostly on whether you consider the final 15 minutes to be unhinged near-genius or total bobbins. In the commentary accompanying this new 88 Films Blu-ray, producer Richard F. Brophy begins by saying he will “try to be serious but probably won’t make it” – which almost perfectly describes the movie itself. 

In The Boneyard, Detective Callum calls on now-reclusive and guilt-ridden psychic Alley to help out with a case involving a man who was holding three ‘children’ apparently hostage and feeding them human remains. The investigation eventually finds Callum, Alley and a few others trapped in a closing-down-soon police morgue with the three bodies of the children, who it turns out might not be either totally human or totally dead. The man might really have been hiding and feeding the ‘kids’ to protect the outside world from them. It’s a slow, almost dragging start to the film which takes some time getting to the morgue, but when it does eventually change up a gear there’s gloopy, gory video store treats ahead.

Writer-director James Cummins actually plays a pretty nifty double hand here. Inspired by Romero and the previous two decades of bloody horror, Cummins plays it totally straight despite what’s actually on-screen frequently being borderline silly. It’s shot as a serious horror film and the cleaned-up HD print here is very solid, with no real hint of damage and plenty of sharp imagery. That imagery also shows off the other part of Cummins’ film in the practical effects. As things get wild in the morgue we get an escalating mix of creepy kids, giant zombies and mutant animals that, for fans of practical work, is charming and at once remarkable nonsense, all of it intended by Cummins. There’s much to enjoy with good performances, likeable characters, some sterling Star Trek-style body double work, and a really great score by John Lee Whitener. If this era of horror film history is your thing, and you don’t mind a movie wedging its tongue resolutely in cheek as it heads to its conclusion, you’ll likely get a kick out of it.

Fans of the film are well-served, too. In addition to a quality print we get some archival interviews with stand-up comedian and actress Phyllis Diller (17 mins), Cummins himself (18 mins) and producer Brophy (12 mins). We also get that aforementioned feature-length commentary from Cummins and Brophy. It’s a glorious period for these films, often put out on VHS to make a buck during the rental boom and now finding a second existence on releases like this. Warmly recommended.

Special Features: Audio commentary / Interviews

THE BONEYARD / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: JAMES CUMMINS / STARRING: ED NELSON, DEBORAH ROSE, NORMAN FELL, JAMES EUSTERMANN, DENISE YOUNG, PHYLLIS DILLER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

To those unfamiliar with the relatively unknown talent behind Accident Man, it would be very easy to unfairly dismiss it as a belated Guy Richie knock-off. Scott Adkins, something of a hidden B-movie gem, plays Mike Fallon, the titular accident man and star of the comic strip series of the same name by Pat Mills and Tony Skinner on which the film is based. He’s probably best described as the same character Jason Statham has played in every film he’s ever made, but with hair.

Fallon is part of a ring of expert assassins – each with a particular style and personality to match. There’s Carnage Cliff (Ross O’Hennessy), who is, to put it bluntly, an axe-wielding maniac. There’s Poison Pete (Stephen Donald), whose style you should be able to guess from the name. There’s Jane the Ripper, a sword-wielding femme fatale modelled after Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. The characters are essentially a checklist sending up action movie archetypes. Fallon, himself, is called The Accident Man because of his skill for making murders look like particularly unlucky mishaps.

After the love of Fallon’s life – his pregnant ex-girlfriend portrayed by Brooke Johnston – winds up dead in an apparent open and shut case involving a pair of rampant crack addicts, Fallon recognises the telltale signs of his craft and realises that the murder was committed by one of his peers. What follows is essentially a series of live-action video-game boss fights as he takes on the murderous cartel to which he belongs.

Accident Man is far from perfect. The third act drags considerably (not helped by an odd structural decision involving an overlong flashback sequence), the ending feels somewhat anti-climactic and it’s impossible to deny that the film makes very heavy use of well-worn tropes that, perhaps, should have been assassinated years ago.

In spite of all that, there’s a constant madcap energy and sense of fun to the proceedings. The irreverence and wit largely carry the film through its rough patches and, perhaps most importantly for a film like this, the fight scenes are fantastic. Building a film around fight-scenes can often lead to action fatigue but giving each adversary a completely unique style keeps things fresh and inventive here. One minute, you’re watching traditional martial arts and the next you’re watching Fallon take on two gunmen at once.

At the helm of the film is Jesse V. Johnson, a stunt coordinator who seems to be moonlighting as a director. That can often have mixed results, but Accident Man is confidently crafted with a good deal of panache. Johnson could definitely quit his day job, should he ever want to.

As well as the film itself, the home release contains two unremarkable behind-the-scenes featurettes that feel very much like promotional pieces, as well as a legitimately insightful commentary featuring Adkins and the film’s co-writer Stu Small.

For all its flaws, Accident Man ultimately succeeds on the charms of its cast and by successfully landing jokes and punches in tandem.

Special Features: Audio commentary with Scott Adkins and Stu Small / Two behind-the-scenes featurettes

ACCIDENT MAN / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: JESSE V. JOHNSON / SCREENPLAY: SCOTT ADKINS, STU SMALL / STARRING: SCOTT ADKINS, RAY STEVENSON, ASHLEY GREENE, DAVID PAYMER, MICHAEL JAIE WHITE, RAY PARK, AMY JOHNSTON / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 16TH

Kenneth Branagh’s 2017 attempt to bring Agatha Christie’s most complex plot, most famous detective, and arguably most celebrated novel to a new audience came off the rails as far as most critics were concerned; many reviews suggesting that modern audiences simply wouldn’t respond to the old fashioned pace. But a worldwide gross of $350million (against a $50million budget) swiftly put eoufs on their faces. So, is it ‘all aboard’ for its home release or will this murder mystery leave you stranded?

A last minute passenger on the famed Orient Express, the world’s smartest detective Hercule Poirot joins a disparate group of society’s very well off and their staff on a trip from sunny Istanbul across Europe. But gaudy gangster Johnny Depp is viciously murdered as the train gets stranded by an avalanche, and it is up to Poirot to solve the mystery.

It’s true that the pace is slow to begin with but, much like the train, it soon starts to build up steam. Branagh crams the film with delights for the eyes, teaming it with sumptuous design, beautiful period detail and fabulous costumes, and he shows the odd directorial flourish. Performances too are trés bien, Michelle Pfeiffer in particular stealing every scene she’s in (although Daisy Ridley proves herself adept in her own galaxy for a change). And if you’re not familiar with the plot, there’s a lot to enjoy as the mystery unravels.

Filmed in glorious 65mm, it all looks fantastic on Blu-ray. The disc has a feast of extras, too. Many are in the form of one long documentary segmented in to different parts depending on the theme, so there’s a look at Agatha Christie which includes talks with her descendants who also manage her estate, a piece about the design of the film, interviews with all of the main players split into three parts, etc. There’s also a more in-depth look at the making of the film, plus the usual stills gallery, trailers, and some deleted scenes.

Best, though, is the commentary with Branagh himself and Michael Green, who adapted the novel for the screen. Likeable presences both, Branagh’s amiable personality, passion for the project and his general bon viveur shine through.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS / 12 / DIRECTOR: KENNETH BRANAGH / SCREENPLAY: MICHAEL GREEN / STARRING: KENNETH BRANAGH, PENELOPE CRUZ, WILLEM DAFOE, JUDI DENCH, MICHELLE PFEIFFER, DAISY RIDLEY, JOHNNY DEPP / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Jungle tells the real-life story of Yossi Ghinsberg, a man who found himself stranded in an uncharted jungle in the Amazon for three weeks in 1981.

The first hour of the film feels akin to sitting through a slideshow of photos after a relative has returned from holiday. It’s not boring but you’re definitely getting considerably less out of it than the people in the pictures.

Yossi (Daniel Radcliffe) meets Marcus Stamm (Joel Jackson) and Kevin Gale (Alex Russell) whilst travelling in Bolivia and they quickly form a strong friendship. Whilst in the market one day, a stranger, Karl Ruprechter (Thomas Kretschmann), picks Yossi out of the crowd as a tourist and proposes an expedition into an uncharted portion of the jungle to meet an Indian tribe that he supposedly has befriended.

The four of them head into the undergrowth and inevitably, things go wrong as Karl’s backstory becomes increasingly questionable. The characters are eventually separated following a rafting accident, at which point, the film changes gear and becomes a survival thriller as Yossi struggles to stay alive.

Although the film becomes a lot more entertaining thanks to this tonal shift, anyone who’s seen Radcliffe’s recent turn in Swiss Army Man will struggle not to recall his portrayal of a different character attempting to survive in the wilderness – one who just happened to be a farting corpse with an erection. Let’s just say having that in the back of your mind sort of takes the edges off of the more harrowing moments in this film.

Jungle really is a Daniel Radcliffe vehicle and his fans should be thrilled by it. He still hasn’t quite managed to turn out a great performance, but there is some serious dedication to the craft on show here as he dons a ropey Hebrew accent and loses over a stone before your eyes. Your initial instinct will likely be that there’s some digital trickery at play towards the end as he approaches skeletal proportions, but, as the behind-the-scenes material on the Blu-ray attests, he did it for real.

Really, the second half of the film is made up of a series of set pieces in which Yossi has to endure all manner of suffering thrown at him by Mother Nature. One sequence involving worms burrowing under the skin is particularly memorable, albeit very unpleasant.

Strangely, Jungle is a film that manages to feel very soulless and unemotional despite its best efforts. There’s a constant detachment from the characters on screen and so Yossi’s horrendous story never quite plays out as the emotional gut-punch that it seems intended to be.

That said, if only because it is an account of real life, it’s an interesting tale that’s very easy to sit through and it marks some of Radcliffe’s best acting to date as well as showcasing some gorgeous filming locations.

The Blu-ray features a couple of decent behind the scenes docs, a trailer and, inexplicably, the raw interview footage that was edited into those decent behind the scenes docs. Seeing what Radcliffe physically went through to make the film certainly helps you to appreciate it on another level – not to mention that, as ever, he comes across as the nicest man on the planet.

JUNGLE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: GREG MCLEAN / SCREENPLAY: JUSTIN MONJO / STARRING: DANIEL RADCLIFFE, THOMAS KRETSCHMANN, ALEX RUSSELL, YASMIN KASSIM / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The Cured, the debut film from writer and director David Freyne, is yet another film which shows the seemingly-infinite malleability of the zombie subgenre. The director casts his zombies as rampaging victims of an infection called the Maze virus, à la 28 Days Later, rather than the lumbering undead hordes of George Romero, which is a perfectly standard modern take.

However, where Freyne shines is looking at the aftermath of the outbreak, wherein 75% of the virus’ former victims as now the titular cured, with 25% seemingly immune to the antivirus. The cured are now monitored, catalogued, tattooed, and regarded as worse than second class citizens. If that wasn’t enough, they can remember every single thing they did while under the influence of the virus which turned them into murderous, cannibalistic monsters.

Within this milieu, we are introduced to Sam Keeley’s Senan, who has been cured, and moves in with his sister-in-law, Abbie (Ellen Page) and his nephew, Cillian (Oscar Nolan). Abbie’s husband – Senan’s brother – was killed by one of the affected by the virus. Senan has a dark secret hanging over his head which we see glimpses of in flashbacks, and it plagues him with nightmares.

The film shines at demonstrating the aftermath of a society ravaged by issues wherein the perpetrators are still walking around, and given the fact that the film is set in Dublin, one can’t help but see this as a zombie allegory for ‘the troubles’. It’s handled well, for the most part, and Keeley’s transformation from post-infection walking wounded into someone whose life might be on the mend, only to have it all rent asunder is pretty much heartbreaking.

The political elements are handled deftly, for the most part, although the rationale behind the big action piece which occupies The Cured’s final third is never really quite explained. Watching the cured being used and abused, though, it’s entirely possible those setting events in motion couldn’t necessarily put words to their own frustration, either.

For those who prefer their zombie films with more biting and less thinking, there’s a hefty amount of gore, although it’s not overdone. The Cured could’ve almost stood to have a touch more, honestly, as the flashbacks aren’t particularly graphic enough for the viewer to understand just why Senan is so affected. A touch more detail might’ve leant the film a more definitive sense of just what happened to the poor man, rather than focusing in on one specific event to the exclusion of all others.

In the end, The Cured is a film which will make the viewer think, jump at frights, and possibly cry twice during the last ten minutes. It’s effective and affecting in equal measures, and given that the only film dealing with the post-zombie world is the comedy film, Fido, David Freyne’s film is a much-needed examination.

THE CURED / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: DAVID FREYNE / STARRING: ELLEN PAGE, SAM KEELEY, TOM VAUGHAN-LAWLOR, STUART GRAHAM / RELEASE DATE: MAY 14TH (UK), OUT NOW (US)

What the hell has happened to Nicolas Cage? Originally, there was a time where when he was good, he was amazing to watch, and when he was bad, he was still amazing. He was one of the most entertaining people to watch no matter what he did, but then as time went on and the more movies he appeared in, the more that Cage magic was disappearing to the point where it wasn’t fun to watch him anymore. Looking Glass is sadly no exception to that. The plot (if there is even one) revolves around a husband and wife who are grieving the death of their child and buy a desert hotel. It’s only then when the husband discovers a secret room that has a secret two-way mirror and from there that mysterious events transpire.

This sounds like perfect B-movie material where we see a character go through a thought-provoking, soul-searching relationship that involves plenty of sleaziness, but the movie never truly delves into any of that. One character asks the main protagonist if he is indeed a voyeur, but he doesn’t seem to know, and neither does the movie, which further adds to the paint-by-numbers quality it has. Despite being billed as a suspense thriller, there is zero suspense throughout, questions that are raised never answered satisfyingly, and even as it throws a twist towards the end, there are so few characters here that you just don’t give a damn about, so when the real villain is finally shown you really just don’t care.

Looking Glass feels like an enormous drag, drifting and meandering along without anything going on that is exciting or captivating with all of the performances coming across as either tired or stilted. Director Tim Hunter is a TV veteran with many great shows under his belt, including Breaking Bad, Twin Peaks, and American Horror Story, but the direction he brings here comes off as lazy, which is also reflected in the subpar cinematography. Ultimately, this movie is just no fun at all, and further proof to just how low Nicolas Cage has fallen recently. It’s truly painful to see Cage go from being awesomely good/bad to just straight up bad, and with him doing mostly being involved with direct-to-DVD trash like this, it’s perhaps time to signal off the good old Nicolas Cage hype train. Maybe both Mom and Dad and Mandy can reinvigorate that hype and see Cage deliver another one of his most kick-ass performances yet seen since… well, Kick-Ass, but for now, perhaps it’s time to let that ship sail.

LOOKING GLASS / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: TIM HUNTER / SCREENPLAY: JERRY RAPP, MATTHEW WILDER / STARRING: NICOLAS CAGE, ROBIN TUNNEY, MARC BLUCAS, ERNIE LIVELY / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 23RD

My Hero Academia: Season 2 Part 1 collects episodes 14 to 25 of the anime, and includes 13.5, an introductory episode designed to help new watchers get up to speed on the story. It’s set in a world in which superpowers have become commonplace and follows a group of school kids who are being trained to become superheroes.

While western television is thought of in terms of seasons, anime is typically measured in story arcs or sagas. This collection covers the entirety of the UA Sports Festival Arc, so while it may not be a complete season, it still represents a complete story.

Said story revolves around the titular UA Sports Festival, and a school competition proves to be the ideal plot device for this type of show. Rooting the action in a school-wide competition gives a chance for a greater number of the cast to shine as each student does their best to reach the number one spot.

Multiple students get a chance to show off their respective abilities and how they use them in different situations. The audience also gets a look at the motivations of a few characters, seeing why they want to become heroes in the first place. The show benefits from this attention on the cast as a whole. It may be narrated by one main character, but by the end, it feels a lot more like an ensemble piece with a cast of equally important characters.

This release has a lot to offer when it comes to its special features. The inclusion of Episode 13.5 will help anyone who is new to the show and it is an enjoyable episode in its own right. Clips from the first season have been edited skilfully with a narration to create something that feels like a well-structured clip show. This is the standard that all catch-up episodes should aspire to.

The rest of the special features mostly fall into one of three categories, there is an interview, a chat with a few of the English voice actors, and a chance for people working on the show to talk about their favourite charities. Funimation has united these separate strands together with a single topic; asking each person involved what they think it means to be a hero. This added detail sets this content apart from typical anime special features; asking the viewer to think about the meaning of the show instead of just proving more details about how it was made.

My Hero Academia: Season 2 Part 1 takes an exciting, action-packed story arc full of compelling characters and combines it with some truly appropriate extra content.

Extras: Episode 13.5 – Hero Notebook / Textless Closing Songs / Inside the Episodes / Trailers

MY HERO ACADEMIA: SEASON 2 PART 1 / CERT: 15 / DIRECTORS & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: CHRISTOPHER R. SABAT, JUSTIN BRINER, CLIFFORD CHAPIN, SONNY STRAIT, JOEL MCDONALD, CAITLIN GLASS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

From directing music videos for The Sex Pistols and The Smiths to his experimental gardening, Derek Jarman had an eclectic life. He’s most admired, though, for pushing the boundaries of gay cinema; a Blu-ray set collecting films from the first half of his career has been released by the BFI.

We start with In The Shadow of the Sun, a collection of Super 8 films shot by Jarman between 1972 and 1974. Though intensely atmospheric with its orange glow and menacing score from Throbbing Gristle, it’s more of a video installation than a film. Play it in the background of a party. If you want to unnerve your guests.

Sebastiane (1976) is Jarman’s first feature, co-directed with Paul Humfress. Though it follows a lesser-known Christian saint, there’s no way this would be allowed in a Religious Studies lesson. Sebastian is banished to a remote Roman military outpost, where soldiers keep busy by taking every opportunity to shag each other. Brashly made for a gay audience, with its provocative nudity, it also has much to say about persecution, aggression and sexuality.

Jubilee (1978) is an odd one. It stars Jenny Runacre as Queen Elizabeth I, who travels through time to a dystopian 1980s in which the monarchy has been torn town and punk gangs rule the streets. Like a queer Clockwork Orange, it’s engagingly anarchic and satirical, though it does suffer from a lack of plot and from too little interaction between the time-travelling Queen Liz and the other characters.

While Shakespeare’s dialogue is intact, The Tempest (1979) nonetheless feels like a Derek Jarman film, with the eerie silences, slow music, and, of course, plenty of knobs and boobs thrown in. Those two styles thrown together makes a very unique watch, though the set design is jarringly non-cinematic – with Prospero seemingly living in a mansion, we never get a sense of the windswept remote island the play is set on.

The Angelic Conversation (1985) is another one for art installations. It consists of slow-moving images, with themes of alchemy, dreamlike rituals, and (you guessed it) gay shagging, along with a voiceover of Shakespeare’s sonnets read by Judi Dench. If you liked that description, you’ll like this. If you didn’t, you won’t.

Finally, Caravaggio (1986) is the highlight of the set. A fictionalised biopic of the Renaissance painter, it’s a poetic and heartbreaking bisexual love story of the sexually charged relationships between the painter and two of his models. There are some recognisable faces in here, including the film debuts of Sean Bean and Tilda Swinton, while Nigel Terry captivates in the title role. There’s also the neat (and not too over-the-top) device of including some twentieth-century props, such as cigarettes and a motorbike, just as Caravaggio would paint Biblical figures in Renaissance-era clothing.

The BFI have done an amazing job on this set, with the high definition restorations looking superb. To list the plentiful extras alone would take more than the word count of this review, but highlights include an early black and white print of Sebastiane, new interviews with various cast and crew members, a documentary about Jarman’s Egyptian period drama and sci-fi movie that never got made, and a fully illustrated eighty-page companion book.

Jarman’s movies are sometimes mesmerising, provocative, and powerfully romantic; and sometimes they’re esoteric to the point of putting off most viewers. If you’re a fan of this subversive and groundbreaking filmmaker, however, this box set is essential.

JARMAN VOLUME ONE – 1972-1986 / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: DEREK JARMAN / STARRING: JENNY RUNACRE, LEONARDO TREVIGLIO, TOYAH WILLCOX, NIGEL TERRY, SEAN BEAN, TILDA SWINTON, JUDI DENCH / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

This collection of two Dragon Ball Z specials are often placed with the Dragon Ball Z movies despite the fact that they were made for TV. Both specials present are focused on backstory; The History of Trunks depicts the life of Future Trunks before he travelled back in time to give Goku his medicine, and Bardock the Father of Goku sheds some more light on the destruction of Vegeta.

Apart from the credits, The History of Trunks is set entirely within the timeline in which the main character, Goku, has died from a heart virus. Unlike most Dragon Ball stories, this isn’t about watching Trunks become powerful enough to overcome the antagonists. Instead it is all about explaining how a character came to the actions that he is most known for making in the Dragon Ball Z series proper. Knowing beforehand that Trunks will lose the fights in this special imbues it with a sense of hopelessness that isn’t commonly found in Dragon Ball. Trunk’s journey transforms him from angry young man who wants to fight the androids, to someone who accepts that fighting head-on isn’t the solution, his arc is believable and sympathetic.

Bardock the Father of Goku is a redemption story. Redemption stories are not new for Dragon Ball; many people Goku would go on to fight alongside originally met him while trying to kill him, but this is the first to make such a character its protagonist. Bardock’s transformation from villain to hero is handled well and it occurs for understandable reasons that are conveyed clearly. Much like The History of Trunks, this special explains events that were long established in Dragon Ball canon at the time so the expectation has once again moved from seeing the protagonist win a fight as it is reaching a point in his personal journey.

There are no special features on offer but there is the option to watch with the Japanese dub (as is to be expected with these remasters) or the US dub with Japanese music. As was the case with an earlier release, the US music isn’t bad per se but it noticeably starts to drown out the dialogue in places and the Japanese music doesn’t.

Dragon Ball Z: The TV Specials Double Feature showcases two Dragon Ball stories that don’t end with their heroes emerging victorious. Instead, they stand out with their focus on internal character change. In doing so they are able to tell a very different kind of Dragon Ball story than the one that the series is usually known for. Both stories have aged well over the years and make for a collection that is worth checking out.

DRAGON BALL Z: THE TV SPECIALS DOUBLE FEATURE / CERT: 12 / DIRECTORS & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: SONNY STRAIT, LINDA YOUNG, CHRISTOPHER SABAT, ERIC VALE, DAEMON CLARKE, TIFFANY VOLLMER, CHUCK HUBER, MEREDITH MCCOY / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 16TH