Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

To many of you out there, the mere mention of The Dark Crystal will conjure up childhood memories from a far simpler time. Innocent, good natured, and delivered with a warmth and charm that made it stand out from the pack, this is a film that has stayed with many a genre fan since it was first released back in 1982. And now, this childhood favourite is getting a swanky new 4K release that may or may not have been nicely timed to coincide with the Dark Crystal TV series that’s planned to premiere later this year.

In terms of plot, the basic premise of The Dark Crystal ultimately revolves around a young hero who is tasked with finding a legendary relic. What’s at stake if said artefact can’t be found? Oh, y’know, just the fate of the entire universe. Taking place in a truly wondrous realm that showcases the imagination and creative genius of the minds behind it, The Dark Crystal didn’t take long to become thought of as a classic of its day as Geflings and Skeses became commonplace terms on the school playground.

Of course, there’s a ridiculously good chance that you’re well aware of The Dark Crystal and its charms. As such, the main appeal of this new release revolves around what added sauce it has to mark it out above the plentiful previous releases of Jim Henson and Frank Oz’s famed 1982 favourite. On that front, the obvious major difference is the new 4K restoration. Never has The Dark Crystal felt so vibrant and alive, with the meticulously clear 4K transfer allowing for every single piece of detail from Henson, Oz, Brian Proud and their team to be observed in unmatched clarity. This opens up a whole new world for The Dark Crystal, with viewers able to fully appreciate the master craftmanship that went in to designing the characters and locales which make up this magical world.

Elsewhere, the one new piece of bonus material is The Myth, Magic and Henson Legacy featurette. While this is only just over ten minutes in length, it is a fascinating watch as it looks back on the production of The Dark Crystal and its lasting legacy – complete with input from Lisa Henson (daughter of Jim) and Terry Proud (son of iconic designer Brian). For those hoping for information on the upcoming The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance TV show, however, there’s no mention of that prequel series anywhere on this release. Still, there is a huge amount of other special features included, though. As alluded to, the rest of the features have already been included on previous releases of the film, but it’s the 4K transfer and The Myth, Magic and Henson Legacy that are the main selling points here.

The Dark Crystal is well and truly a classic of its time, and it’s a classic that’s most certainly stood the test of time. A heart-warming tale for the ages, this childhood favourite of yesteryear has never looked better, and this is a release that should certainly be on the must-have list for longtime fans of this iconic 1982 effort.

Special Features: All-new The Myth, Magic and Henson Legacy featurette / The World of the Dark Crystal documentary / Audio commentary with Brian Froud / Reflections of The Dark Crystal featurette / Storyboard track / Original Skeksis language scenes / Deleted scenes / Photo galleries / Trailers / 30-page booklet

THE DARK CRYSTAL: ANNIVERSARY EDITION / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: JIM HENSON, FRANK OZ / SCREENPLAY: DAVID ODELL / STARRING: STEPHEN GARLICK, LISA MAXWELL, BILLIE WHITELAW, PERCY EDWARDS, BARRY DENNEN, JIM HENSON, FRANK OZ / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 5TH

Ozploitation is a subgenre hardly given enough recognition. There have been many fine examples, but more often than not some gems have been swept away in a wave of political correctness. Occasionally, they are recognised (by people such as Quentin Tarantino in the excellent documentary Not Quite Hollywood, for example) and that leads to rediscovery, which is what has happened with this new HD transfer from Umbrella of a forgotten eighties Aussie classic that ticks all the boxes of what we’ve come to expect from Down Under.

If your appreciation of Australian cinema begins and ends with Mad Max, you might be pleased to hear that souped-up cars play a role somewhat in Fair Game. Indeed, the catalyst for the events that unfold is a dangerous bout of road rage, dismissed by the perpetrators as ‘high jinks’. The unfortunate victim here is Jessica (Delaney), who looks after the nature reserve and dabbles in a little bit of painting. The offenders are a bunch of hunters who’ve been supplying the local businesses with kangaroo carcases. Jessica suspects they may be trespassing on her reserve and killing her animals, but the local police won’t get involved without evidence.

When Jessica has the sass to stand her ground at the trio, particularly when they set up camp within her grounds, a tit-for-tat battle begins with each side attempting to rattle the other enough for them to give in. Jessica welding the group’s rifles into a work of surreal art is the final straw, though, and they take their fun and games too far; moving from dumping a dead ‘roo in her car to stripping her and mounting her as a hood ornament on their monstrous truck. Enough is enough, and she takes a stand to rid her place of the foul team.

Fair Game is arguably pitched between Straw Dogs and Wake in Fright, with the obnoxious poachers running riot for the most part, but getting their comeuppance in fine style. Oddly for the predominately sexist Australian cinema at the time, it’s a very strong feminist film. Much like I Spit on Your Grave, in which the female victim must stand up to her oppressors in whatever extreme fashion that may be, the protagonist in Fair Game is left alone without any outside help for the most part. She will only be able to protect herself and home by using her own courage and ingenuity.

The villainous, utterly unlikeable, trio show as little respect for the law as they do for the animals they slaughter for personal gain. Whether it’s the ‘ocker’ culture or pure malice, they invade Jessica’s nature reserve knowing full well that the authorities will not intervene. We feel her frustration as much as her humiliation and anger at the situation, and it’s this empathy that propels the film above the usual exploitation tropes.

It’s an often tense and terrible drama that leaves us in no doubt who to root for and gives us no pleasure in the horrendous crimes committed. Beautifully shot and making the most of the Outback location, had it not had the occasional scene that takes place in the town, it could easily be mistaken for post-apocalyptic in scope.

The Australian Blu-ray release (multi-region should you wish to import it) is a great package, too. With both contemporary interviews and location shots and recent retrospective interviews (many offcuts from the aforementioned Ozsploitation documentary), there is plenty to dive into and enjoy. It’s well worth checking out.

FAIR GAME (1986) / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: MARIO ANDREACCHIO / SCREENPLAY: ROB GEORGE / STARRING: CASSANDRA DELANEY, PETER FORD, DAVID SANDFORD, GARRY WHO, DON BARKER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Everyone has that one film. That one film you were far too young to see. That one film that invariably forced a small Malteser shaped poo into your nine-year-old self’s Doctor Who/Star Wars/He-Man/Rainbow Bright pants. Whether it be staying up late with a mum or dad to watch RoboCop, Alien or (god forbid) Harley Davidson and the Marlborough Man, these are undoubtedly the films that awoke that dormant spirit in you that now consumes every piece of genre entertainment it can lay its ever discerning mitts on. These illicit childhood viewings made us.

For many, one such film is Wishmaster. The premise is simple. A Djinn from the farthest stretches of time is brought to the present day by some funky gem based shenanigans, intent on granting three wishes to the poor soul that unleashed him in order that his hordes of minions can wreak hell on earth. It’s that simple. There are no twists to speak of and the dialogue itself is as ripe as a ball of stilton kept in a pair of old socks. The direction is pretty poor too, with the same style and aesthetic as a first series episode of Buffy.

The acting follows this trend, aside from Andrew Divoff as the Djinn, who chows down on the scenery like it’s his last meal. True, he may look like a Power Rangers villain, but we won’t hold that against him.

Somehow, though, through all this Wishmaster is a joy to behold. It’s a perennial worry that revisiting a movie like this can be an exercise in nostalgia-fuelled disappointment, but Wishmaster stands up based on its sheer energy alone. It’s a film that knows it is ridiculous. It knows it isn’t high-brow and embraces its failings in script and performance. The kills are inventive, bloody and for the most part entirely practical. There are a plethora of cameos from horror icons, including one Mister Tony Todd and a certain Kane Hodder.

It is because it doesn’t aim to be clever, or attempt to be a genre classic that makes it a genre classic. This is a date night movie. This is Friday night after the pub movie. This is a horror and a comedy. This is something to watch with your mates. It is a film that will leave you grinning like a fool.

While it would be remiss to place it up there with the likes of Alien or RoboCop, not all of us were fortunate enough to discover this world of the weird and wonderful through the ‘classics’. Instead, some of us started our journey with Wishmaster and through its unbridled sense of silliness; it is our ‘classic’, our entrance to the genre. What more could we wish for?

WISHMASTER (1997) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: ROBERT KURTZMAN / SCREENPLAY: PETER ATKINS / STARRING: TAMMY LAUREN, ANDREW DIVOFF, ROBERT ENGLUND / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 26TH

Ken Russell might be (rightly) held in higher regard these days as a truly creative one-of-a-kind but at the time of The Lair of the White Worm in 1988, it was most certainly not the case. The Devils and the censorship row that followed in the early seventies cast Russell out for the most part into the critical wilderness. Following the home release success of Russell’s earlier Gothic in 1986 he was encouraged to make another horror film and he decided to very (very, very) loosely adapt Bram Stoker’s final novel.

The plot finds Peter Capaldi’s archaeological student Angus Flint working on his own dig on land owned by Hugh Grant’s newly-minted Lord James d’Ampton. His ancestor, as legend has it, defeated a giant snake-like creature many centuries ago.  Flint is staying with the Trent sisters in their house. The sisters’ parents disappeared without a trace a year before.  Meanwhile, Amanda Donohoe’s Lady Sylvia Marsh has returned early from her ‘winter hibernation’. When Angus digs up the skull of a snake-like creature it will set off a chain of events that brings everyone together in a tale of vampirism (of a kind) and human sacrifice.

It was made for nowt but Russell turns that into an asset and doesn’t let it temper his ambition as he simultaneously tells an admittedly silly horror film (but with a knowing nod and plenty of humour) and comments on paganism versus Christianity, with a few sequences of the ‘outrageous’ imagery he had become known for.  A caveat for those unfamiliar with Russell’s work is that you might wonder what it’s all about and very possibly consider this all a bit rubbish. But if you’re a Russell fan you should know what you’re in for and, overall, it’s a well-constructed, entertaining film. And the cast are great, with a seductive Donohoe the stand out performer.

The picture is sharp and clear on this release and shows off Russell’s imaginative direction, and the beauty of the scenery (cheap it may be but Ken could do wonders with very little).  This release also comes with a good number of extras. There’s a lively, information-packed and funny commentary with the witty and great fun Russell recorded some years ago, as well as a new commentary with Lisi Russell and historian Matthew Melia. For featurettes, we get a couple of short pieces, on the editing and an interview with producer Dan Ireland.  There’s a 15-minute interview with actress Sammi Davis and a 25-minute piece on the films’ effects work. Add in the trailer and a stills gallery and it’s a fine package for fans of the film and comes recommended.

THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM (1988) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: KEN RUSSELL / STARRING: AMANDA DONOHOE, HUGH GRANT, CATHERINE OXENBERG, PETER CAPALDI, SAMMI DAVIS / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 26TH

Regardless of whether you’ve seen all the films, you’ll likely have an opinion on the Saw franchise. Occasionally gratuitous, undoubtedly extremely gory, it remains difficult to argue against their ongoing popularity with audiences. With Saw III (2006) a high point, there had been a steady decline in box office returns when the seemingly endless annual releases ended with Saw 3D in 2010. The franchise was, like its central ‘killer’ John Kramer, dead.

But if the horror genre has taught us anything, it’s that franchises don’t stay dead forever, and 2017 brought the release of the eighth film in the series and the first to feature the name of its antagonist, Jigsaw. This time, though, something is a little different.

If you chopped up the director of one of the previous films in a Kramer-esque trap their bones would display the word Saw like a stick of rock. James Wan who kicked the whole thing off is still attached as a producer, Darren Lynn Bousman helmed three films from 2005 to 2007, David Hackl who directed Saw 5 (2008) was a production designer on the previous three, and Kevin Greutet who had the honour on six and seven edited all the other films including this new one. One big, bloody family.

This time, however, the producers looked outside the spring-loaded box and hired auteur filmmakers Peter and Michael Spierig, better known for their thought-provoking sci-fi films Daybreakers (2009) and Predestination (2014). For the producers, this was a risk, in allowing outsiders control of their most prized possession. For the brothers, this was the first time they hadn’t written, produced, and directed their own project. And yet, it works.

The approach from the Speirigs is the key to Jigsaw. Instead of simply following a format that had yielded diminishing success, they approached this new film as more thriller than horror, something the initial film Saw (2004) had set out to do. Yes, there are still the traps and yes, there is still plenty of gore to keep fans happy. But there is something different here, a ‘whodunit’ that succeeds in keeping you guessing. There are times when you think you have a handle on things, but the various clues repeatedly contradict whatever theory you reach, and as such the finale is both bloodily extravagant and intellectually satisfying.

The Spierigs have also brought a different visual aesthetic to the franchise, with style very much matching substance, and their skill with the cast has drawn strong performances from Matt Passmore (Son Of The Mask, 2005), Callum Keith Rennie (Warcraft: The Beginning, 2016) and Laura Vandervoort (Ted, 2012). Most impressive, although somewhat predictably so, is Tobin Bell as the titular trap-master. There is something in Bell’s careful, thoughtful delivery that sets his character as one that should rightly enter genre annuls as one of the most interesting and terrifying, and Bell inhabits him wholly.

With few extras to speak of, aside from the usual commentaries and a documentary that is so routine, it could be for any film, the only true benefit of this Blu-ray release comes from the beauty garnered in the macabre surroundings. The deaths feel so, well, alive, and the locales so real you can almost taste the dried blood.

While largely one for fans of the franchise there is more than enough here to appease genre fans of all opinion. And given the working title for Jigsaw was Saw: Legacy, you can bet this is the last we’ll see of John Kramer.

JIGSAW / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: MICHAEL SPIERIG, PETER SPIERIG / SCREENPLAY: PETE GOLDFINGER, JOSH STOLBERG / STARRING: MATT PASSMORE, TOBIN BELL, CALLUM KEITH RENNIE, HANNAH EMILY ANDERSON / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 26TH

The return of ‘90s thriller director Jing Wong, to the grounds he so well established, is a thing of excitement for those familiar with his work. The prolific director’s workflow has rarely slowed, but his success over the past twenty years has wobbled with repeated ventures back to his own classic films. Chasing the Dragon is a stylish latest from Wong starring Donnie Yen as the infamous Hong Kong mobster Crippled Ho.

If the idea of Donnie Yen in a ‘70s set Hong Kong crime caper floats your boat then look no further. Yen is the leading man and carries it with trademark charisma, but the die-hard martial artists out there probably won’t be sated by the film’s action sequences. Though pleasantly raw, they don’t exploit Yen’s trademark skills as a bad ass action hero.

Co-directing with cinematographer Jason Kwan was a smart move. Wong’s visual practicality paired with Kwan’s style results in something effortlessly watchable. The low-key action always looks great and what the film lacks in period detail it makes up for in good camera work.

It’s a cool film. Undeniably so, but then what else do you expect when you unleash Donnie Yen on unsuspecting 60’s Hong Kong. As a gangster film. it covers all the bases, achieving the density of a political thriller whilst managing bigger Gangs of New York style brawls and intimate character arcs that draw parallels with Scarface‘s Tony Montana or The Godfather Part 2‘s Vito Corleone. The characterisation is thin though and never really breaks free of the trope.

Yen was reportedly scouted by Jing Wong whilst he filmed XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, intrigued by the minimal fighting and focus on performance, Yen agreed, and we’re glad he did. It’s a perfect match oddly enough, with Yen’s dangerous skill hidden beneath a façade of a glamorous gangster. Kung-Fu stardom has evaded Yen with Western audiences until recent years () and though this kind of film probably won’t catch on, it’s a fair show-case for Yen’s depth as an actor. Similar can be said for Andy Lau whose return to the character of Liu Lok makes a great counter-part to Yen’s Ho. But as mentioned previously makes this film feel like a Wong mash-up as opposed to a solid stand-alone film.

There’s a couple really nifty wee fights courtesy of XXX action choreographer Hua Yan, directed by Yen himself. It always works best when the performer directs themselves and this is no exception. Chasing the Dragon doesn’t go for the big set-piece showdowns usually attached to Yen, instead, blending street fighting with an epic long-haul crime story for fewer but weightier scenes of violence.

The problem is that you’ve seen it all before. By the end, Chasing the Dragon feels like a stylish retread of Jing Wong’s early hits, full of great performances from dependable talent, but missing the scuzzy edge that made his early films so strong.

CHASING THE DRAGON / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: JASON KWAN, JING WONG / SCREENPLAY: JING WONG / STARRING: DONNIE YEN, ANDY LAU, PHILIP KEUNG / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

There honestly couldn’t have been a better time for a BFI release of Raymond Briggs’ peculiar disaster film When the Wind Blows. Briggs is well known for the enchanting yuletide fable The Snowman and similarly sweet short film Santa Clause, yet When the Wind Blows is a significantly darker cautionary tale released slap-bang between the two in 1986. In it, an old couple deal with the ramifications of nuclear war from their ‘cosy country home’.

After the delight of The Snowman, When the Wind Blows must have come as a shock: it’s an angry, highly political, film about the dangers of nostalgic nationalism. Director Jimmy T. Murakami proves a dab-hand at investing our attention in a familiar sleepy British atmosphere, then bulldozing it to the ground. So much of this film works because of how well the British fairy tale is constructed.

First off, the casting couldn’t be any more perfect. Peggy Ashcroft (A Passage to India) and John Mills (Tunes of Glory, Ryan’s Daughter) lend venerable weight and Brit-centric star power to their respective archetypes. The blending of drawn and constructed elements is playfully involving, whilst the live-action prologue (edited to David Bowie’s ‘When the Wind Blows‘ no less) sets this up as a more ‘real’ experience than perhaps expected. The same cosy disarming style that made The Snowman a perennial Christmas staple, is used to lure us in, disarm, and then assault us with harsh reality.

What begins as a comfy film about an old (if stubborn) British couple in their twilight years becomes a scathing attack on apathy. Even whilst the two succumb, quite gruellingly, to radiation poisoning, they keep calm and carry on, failing to grasp the ramifications of nuclear fallout. Made in the 80s with a particular eye to US/Russia tensions, When the Wind Blows dives under the skin of the public’s relationship with war, especially the generation who grew up during WW1 or WW2.

The two doddery old folks yearn for the days of the Great War: when the good guys were easily distinguishable from the bad: good vs evil in an old-timey British bulldog kind of way. For the modern viewer, it will be stupid at best, depressing at worst. Perhaps even gross, especially in 2018. It’s a blistering attack on nostalgia in all its forms and for the post-Trump/Brexit world it’s disturbingly on-point.

So yes, When the Wind Blows has never been more appropriate. And its cultural impact has been overlooked for too long, something this release does its utmost to readdress via a dense package of revealing special features. Show it to the retrospective dreamer in your family for max effect.

WHEN THE WIND BLOWS (1986) / DIRECTOR: JIMMY T. MURAKAMI / SCREENPLAY: RAYMOND BROOKS / STARRING: JOHN MILLS, PEGGY ASHCROFT, ROBIN HOUSTON, JAMES RUSSELL / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

When a 10-year-old boy, his best friend, and older sister are left at home for the weekend, they accidentally open the gateway to hell which is unexpectedly underneath their house and garden. Hallucinatory episodes turn into nightmare realities though as evil little minions, a dead guy who lives in the walls and a big bad demon surface to take over the world. Can the kids’ force them all back to their hellish domain in time for Mum and Dad to get home?

There’s a lot to like about The Gate. Made in 1987, it’s like a cross between Poltergeist and Gremlins, but with a quarter of the budget and half the charm. Like both of those films, it takes its time to establish its characters before things go monster shaped and it’s actually some of those earlier scenes which work best. Even so, the nostalgia evoked if you saw the film on its original release is what gives it a warmth which you may not feel if you’re coming to it anew.

Stephen Dorff is a likeable presence in the main role and both Louis Tripp as his heavy metal loving friend and Christa Denton as the older sister impress enough to create a trio we root for as they face more and more PG horrors. Whilst the latter part of the film suffers slightly from things that make no sense at all, (such as why the mythical man in the wall is real after all, or why the dog comes back to life at the end), it’s easy to be distracted by the visual effects, some of which still amaze.

Given the film’s $2.5m budget it’s incredible what was achieved here. As we learn from the disc’s extensive extras, the minions were a combination of stop-motion animation and men in suits and, when it was the latter, large sets and forced perspectives using foreground and background performers were used to create a believable, authentic effect.

As for the extras, there’s plenty to get your teeth into with three separate commentaries including from director Tibor Takács chatting to writer Michael Nankin (who would go on to produce and write for shows like The Exorcist and Battlestar Galactica), another concentrating on the visual effects and one accompanying the isolated score for the film. Sadly the main commentary is a little rambling and chatty providing an easy 85 minutes but not really offering much depth or insight. There are several shorts of the ‘making of’ variety which are fun, a stills gallery and a behind the scenes film from 1987 which is so dated it looks like a parody.

Fun, but no classic.

THE GATE (1987) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: TIBOR TAKÁCS / SCREENPLAY: MICHAEL NANKIN / STARRING: STEPHEN DORFF, CHRISTA DENTON, LOUIS TRIPP / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 26TH

If you have recently lost your kitten and orchestra practice is driving you over the edge, you just might be Jessica (Esther Maria Pietsch), the lead character in Jakob M. Erwa’s psychological drama Homesick. When she and her partner Lorenz (Matthias Lier) move into their new home and Jessica is nominated to represent Germany at a prestigious classical music event, everything seems peachy. That changes as the pressure mounts, and she suspects her elderly neighbours have some vendetta against her.

The film waits until the halfway point for anything major to happen. Until then, it’s a lot of scene-setting and generational rifts, age being a prominent factor in Erwa’s script. A lot of the opening half an hour is Jessica’s elders expressing their disdain or telling her what to do – apart from her neighbour Hilde, who ends up bearing the brunt of Jessica’s spiralling paranoia. The first forty-five minutes or so will leave some twiddling their thumbs, but then maybe we’re to blame if arguments about wallpaper don’t do anything for us.

If the beginning is foreplay, then the second half wastes no time in getting down to business. After a tracking shot that could have come straight out of The Shining follows some blood upstairs, Jessica’s mind gives up on her almost entirely. Great care is taken in blending reality with illusion so you genuinely do not know until the very end who you should believe. It becomes far more tense and captivating.

It is in the film’s last moments that Maria Pietsch really shines, seemingly growing into her character as the film progresses. Jessica’s final degeneration is captured masterfully to the blood-pumping sound of J.S. Bach (what else?), and the film stops on a note no-one could expect. An uneventful opening is soon forgotten as you wrap your head around a very clever final scene, completed by one of the most darkly ironic onscreen dedication messages imaginable.

Homesick is not about keeping you up at night or making you hide behind the sofa. It is a dramatised but grounded depiction of what happens when stress becomes unbearable and the effects it has on everyone involved. It’s this reality that makes Homesick so chilling and that gives it an ominous flavour – this could very easily be your neighbour. It forgoes flamboyance and stylisation in favour of the basics; an ordinary couple subjected to ‘unordinary’ things. It’s the fundamentals of a psychological thriller executed with precision and purpose.

Thought-provoking it is, and while perhaps it could have been more, Homesick is a fine watch. Disturbing but not unbelievable; a film of two halves that surpasses your expectations as it nosedives towards its violent conclusion.

HOMESICK / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: JAKOB M. ERWA / SCREENPLAY: JAKOB M. ERWA / STARRING; ESTHER MARIA PEITSCH, MATTHIAS LIER, TATJA SEIBT, HERMANN BEYER, JANUSZ CICHOCKI / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW