Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

To this day, Jean-Claude Van Damme is one of the most beloved figures in the action game. With JCVD’s latest effort Kill ’em All, longtime stunt and fight choreographer Peter Malota steps behind the camera to make his directorial bow. But is this actioner simply a cheap sucker punch that relies on the Muscles from Brussels’ iconic reputation, or is this a picture that high kicks its way to success?

Plot-wise, the film centres around a hospital that just so happens to find itself in the middle of a bloodbath. Explained through flashbacks by Suzanne (Autumn Reeser), a nurse who saw the whole ordeal play out, we see how Philip (Van Damme) was one of several victims brought to the medical facility after an assassination attempt went awry. From there, we see how Daniel Bernhardt’s angry gun-wielding Russian turned up, knocking up the ante in the process as several would-be assassins descend on the hospital with Philip in their sights. Where Suzanne comes further into this is in how she ends up alongside JCVD’s Philip as he has to fight against the odds to make it out of this hellhole situation. As Suzanne narrates her account of events to a couple of FBI agents – Maria Conchita Alonso and cult favourite Peter Stormare – who aren’t necessarily buying what she’s selling, they begin to allude further to the backstory of this battle’s key players. Was Philip successful? What was the real motive of these nefarious sorts? Just how many of Jean-Claude’s patented roundhouse kicks do we get to see? And will any of this make any sort of sense?!?!

Of course, this being a low-budget effort from a first-time director, some may go in with caution upon viewing Kill ‘em All. With that said, there are actually some impressive elements to Malota’s debut picture in the director’s chair. Autumn Reeser is on strong form as the guiding hand through this tome, and Peter Stormare is as scene-devouring as ever. As for the brutality, some of the action scenes snap, crackle and pop with a ferocity that would rival any bigger budgeted actioners. Unfortunately, though, there are ample, ample problems that ultimately take away from Kill ‘em All’s plus points. For example, those aforementioned great fight sequences? Well, there’s a whole slew of poorly acted-out other action scenes to cancel them out. Then there’s the dialogue, which is truly awful. Sure, a sense of cheese and quipping wise is always to be expected in such a picture – and we love us a good dose of cheese here at Moonbase Alpha – but the lines spouted out here are often groan-inducing and delivered in a brutal fashion by certain players. Throw in some awful faux accents, and several unwanted genre tropes – disposable rent-a-villains, anyone? – are starting to be ticked off. And as ever, twists and turns begin to unravel as the film plays out; some twists that are maybe trying a little too hard to be clever at times.

What about the main man himself, though? Well, Jean-Claude Van Damme is a mixed bag here. As longtime Van Damme fans, we’re always rooting for him in the plentiful pictures he puts out these days. In Kill ‘em All, however, JCVD doesn’t look all that bothered. And who can blame him, considering the dialogue and script he has to deal with. Action-wise, Van Damme’s scenes largely shine brightly, making up for the lethargic performance given in the more dialogue-driven moments.

For first-time director Peter Malota, there’s moments of promise to see here, and it’s clear that his strong suit is obviously the action side of things. Certain slowed down shots and edits are poorly judged, mind, and the script he has to work with would be problematic for any director.

While many will be swayed by kicks to faces, guns, knives, Eastern European assassins disguised as strippers, and the prospect of Jean-Claude Van Damme doing what he does best, all of these elements are unfortunately overpowered by a stinker of a script, some absolutely hideous performances from certain supporting players, and an overall feeling of nonplussed ‘meh’ – which is never good. One for the Van Damme purists only, we’re afraid.

KILL ‘EM ALL / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: PETER MALOTA / SCREENPLAY: JESSE CILIO, BRIAN SMOLENSKY, CRAIG STEWART / STARRING: JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME, AUTUMN REESER, PETER STORMARE, MARIA CONCHITA ALONSO, DANIEL BERNHARDT, PAUL SAMPSON / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Thought your upbringing was rough? Down on his luck depressed dad Glenn lives in a tent in the Virginian woods, with young daughter Sophia and the wider community of homeless woodsmen around them. What their lives lack in glamour they recoup in the tenderness of their close relationship, not distracted by things like modern life, family or having a house, or any money whatsoever. The spirits that reside within the swamp, however, tormenting little Sophia… they are a pretty big distraction.

We’ve had the haunted child movie in the likes of Insidious and Poltergeist, and we’ve had The Spooky Woods movie in The Blair Witch Project and its ilk. The Ballerina gives us the haunted child movie in the spooky woods. Surprisingly, it doesn’t rely on a single jump scare.

Director Steve Pullen is more concerned with atmosphere and emotion than the usual screaming, shouting and scenes of people being dragged away into the darkness by unseen forces, to the extent where The Ballerina’s ghost story almost feels like an afterthought. That’s fine though, as the soft, sad tale it does tell is far more interesting than the ones we’ve seen so many times before elsewhere. The real mystery isn’t the one with the ghost, it’s the unfolding question of what our useless dad did to destroy their lives so.

The slow-burn story, obvious lack of budget and grubby visuals may highlight Pullen’s relative lack of experience, but this is an impressive debut; even more so when one realises that he wrote, directed and starred in the thing himself, with real-life daughter Isabella playing Sophia. The relationship lends itself to a tender, often raw chemistry, sidestepping the usual wooden acting that tends to plague genre cinema of this level. It skews a little too close to the melodramatic side for comfort, but the pair do astonishingly well. If only all low-budget horror movies were so well-acted and thoughtful.

With The Ballerina, Pullen (the one with the beard) has marked himself as one to watch, juggling multiple duties with a confidence that’d put even famed cinematic multitasker Robert Rodriguez to shame. It may sometimes lack poise and grace, but it pirouettes around the pitfalls of budget filmmaking on the strength of its emotional resonance alone.

THE BALLERINA / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: STEVE PULLEN / STARRING: DEENA DILL, THOMAS MIKAL FORD, ADELLA GAUTIER, MORGAN CRYER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Fire up your streaming service of choice and somewhere near the bottom of endless categories, past the ‘suggestions for you’ and further on than Bob Ross you will find the living fire channel. Press play and there, in eye-popping HD or retina melting 4K, is a roaring log fire. This will play indefinitely, nay until the embers of civilisation wink out of existence, basking your room in a heady glow with all but the life-sustaining warmth that fire breathes.

This brings us neatly to The Housemaid. The film’s credentials are impressive, written and directed by noted playwright Derek Nguyen, The Housemaid is reportedly Vietnam’s highest ever grossing horror. Nguyen’s direction is solid, even making the eroticism of the piece work. Though a few slightly lingering shots leave you feeling like he may have a touch of the Tarantinos.

Lil’ orphan Linh is hired as a housemaid at the rubber plantation home of Captain Laurent in 50s Indochina, where the locals are still very much second rate citizens to the wealthy western landowners/grabbers. When Ol’ Cap is shot and saved by eastern medicine, it falls to Linh to aid him through his convalescence. What neither realises is that our old friend the ‘dead wife turned mad by the death of her baby’ is lurking around the corner, looking for all the world like a Korn fan walking home from a gig in the pouring rain.

The look of the film is its high point. A little like if Samara crawled out of that TV and onto the set of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The forest scenes are so well shot and lit, every leaf and inch of mutilated tree bark sings. The Captain’s home betrays its opulence with curtains fraying at the edges, signposting the beginning of the end of its colonialist origins. Cinematographer Sam Chase is the star here, having started out as an electrician; he shows an incredible talent that needs to be seen.

And then, alas, we have the plot. We really don’t need another two hours of the dearly departed terrorising her husband and his new beau. In fact, cut out the horror element and you are left with something approaching a sweet love story, albeit a re-tread in itself of a pseudo-Miss Saigon. The characterisations are heavy-handed. Here, the shy maid, the alcoholic Captain, the downtrodden cook and the envious unstoppable spectre are all drawn with the heavy hand of a crayon-wielding toddler. The scares are there, but all too often in the Hollywood style, rather than anything approaching the brooding menace the movie is aching for.

So, it’s our old friend style over substance again. Like our 4K fire channel, it’s all about the look and lacks any depth or even warmth, which is an odd criticism to make of a horror movie but you still need to feel something for your leads’ to even begin to invest in the story or lack thereof. The Housemaid is certainly worth your attention but probably in a few years’ time, when you’ve finally caught up on all the other incredible genre stuff being made at the moment. Or for the same effect, try watching the fire channel, while listening to The Exorcist soundtrack and spraying water in your face.

THE HOUSEMAID / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: DEREK NGUYEN / STARRING: KATE NHUNG, JEAN-MICHEL RICHAUD, KIM XUAN / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 19TH

When reviewing low-budget films, you have to take into account that the resources with which the filmmakers are working make it unreasonable to expect them to look as seamlessly slick as big-budget Hollywood productions. Usually, the goal is to focus on ideas and characterisation so that the story remains interesting enough for the viewer to forgive any ropey visuals, but Battalion attempts to deliver spectacle as well as intimacy, and utterly fails at both.

The plot, such as it is, involves a faceless alien race laying waste to the planet for reasons the film never bothers mentioning, while a squad of newly-trained marines are sent on a mission in the South Pacific, all the while, the action is punctuated by flashbacks to the early days of the war. The general feel is something akin to an Asylum version of Starship Troopers, but without the satirical swipes at the militaristic priapic exuberance of the glory of war which made that bastion of ‘90s overkill so enjoyable.

Things are supposed to be kept exciting by squad members being periodically killed in skirmishes with the aliens, but we are afforded too little knowledge about who they are to mourn their passing, and anyway their deaths are preordained by their non-appearance in scenes from close to the climax seen via ill-advised editing that jumps the action back and forth in time. There are some genuine attempts to develop the characters in it for the long run, but the poorly written dialogue delivered by wooden performances do little to make you care about those spouting it, and really isn’t helped by a discordant score that frequently drowns out what’s being said.

From a distance. the effects work of the alien ships doesn’t look too unconvincing, like something copied with limited imagination from futurism sci-fi art, but the seams start to show whenever they actually move, or when any attempt is made to integrate them into real-world location shots or CG facsimiles thereof. The jerky amination of the aliens themselves comes off like half-rendered sequences from a video game cut scene, and some go as far to wordlessly suggest an overlying plan behind the invasion that is maddeningly ignored.

The shoddy effects and stilted acting might just coalesce into something vaguely fun if you’re the kind of person who enjoys watching trashy films in the company of like-minded friends for the entertainment value of their sheer awfulness, but it’s difficult to recommend the film to anyone else. It seems spiteful to relentlessly criticise every aspect of an independent film made with limited funding, but even when that is taken into consideration, there isn’t any way you can justify, explain away or disguise the fact that Battalion is quite simply a really, really bad film.

BATTALION / CERT: TBA / DIRECTOR: MICHAEL MILLER / SCREENPLAY: MICHAEL MILLER / STARRING: JESSE RICHARDSON, ELLEN WILLIAMS, MICHAEL THOMSON, JAMES STORER, NAVEEN VARGHESE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (US), TBC (UK)

When renowned scholar Faustus is honoured with a Doctorate at the University of Wittenburg he reflects on his academic achievements. A master of all he has studied, his life feels empty and lacking in worldly pleasures. His excessive pride and arrogant self-belief mask the concerns of others when he turns towards the dark arts for fulfilment, his interest in magic soon turning into a fully-fledged affair with necromancy.

Summoning Mephistopheles from hell itself, Faustus sells his own soul to Lucifer in exchange for 24 years of unlimited knowledge and base pleasures. But all too quickly the years pass and when it is time for the bargain to reach its reckoning, Faustus realises too late how much he has squandered his life, damning his soul to an eternity in hell.

Wow. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? And, given that Marlowe wrote this somewhere around 1590, pretty ahead of its time. One of the greatest mortality plays ever written, Dr Faustus has influenced so much of what we consider to be the horror genre. And a good version can still scare the bejeesus out of you.

This 1967 film co-directed by and starring the late, great Richard Burton is not a good version…

Lifeless, lacking in atmosphere and bound by its theatrical roots, this Dr Faustus is about as scary as jam biscuit but, to be fair, it’s actually a filmed record of a stage version which Burton performed with the Oxford University Dramatic Society, a run which itself garnered mediocre reviews. That the members of that society perform the other roles in the film explains why the acting isn’t exactly riveting, although the one performance which does shine is that of Andreas Teuber as the tortured Mephistopheles. The sets look theatrical as does the lighting and heavy make-up. What cinematic choices are utilised look gimmicky and the whole doesn’t gel as a piece of theatre or cinema.

Oh, and then there’s Elizabeth Taylor. She crops up as the spirit of Helen, the most beautiful woman who ever lived, all heaving bosom and longing looks, given that she has no dialogue, and looking like she’s stepped out from the set of Cleopatra. If it wasn’t so dull it would camp but it doesn’t even achieve that.

What’s more, this DVD release has no extras.

This theatrical masterpiece of its age, easily on a par with some of the best of Shakespeare, deserves a decently cinematic version but this, sadly, needs a good doctor to pump some life into its veins.

DOCTOR FAUSTUS (1967) / CERT: / DIRECTOR: RICHARD BURTON, NEVILL COGHILL / SCREENPLAY: NEVILL COGHILL / STARRING: ELIZABETH TAYLOR, RICHARD BURTON, ANDREAS TEUBER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Pulling No Punches is the tale of a local-Aussie boy done well.  By most people’s standards, Rod Taylor had a pretty great career, including starring roles in Hitchcock’s The Birds and the original The Time Machine and all the way through to working with Tarantino.  Before the likes of Russell Crowe et al here was an Australian who looked at Hollywood and thought yeah, he could do that too.  This documentary tells of how Taylor’s journey took him from his home country to America to seek fame and fortune.  He’d work with Hitch and act opposite Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Maggie Smith, as well as a few high-profile relationships that found him featured in the press.  Along the way in recounting all this we get plenty of recent input (Taylor died in 2015) from a spry and entertaining Rod himself, and it’s evident that apart from a slight American twang he remained in large part unaffected by a long time spent in the USA.

Pulling No Punches manages to draw together a lot of people who obviously had a lot of affection for Taylor.  Smith is gracious and appreciative for her time spent working with him.  It was some of her earliest roles and by all accounts, he helped her feel comfortable and was supportive in their scenes.  There are contributions from the likes of Angela Lansbury, Tippi Hedren, and Veronica Cartwright.  The most interesting aspects, however, come from his fellow Australians.  Actors like Bryan Brown talk about the effect it had on them knowing Taylor was also Australian and had gone to Hollywood and made it big.  Directors like Stephen Elliott (who Taylor acted for in Welcome to Woop Woop) and Baz Luhrmann similarly describe the impact Taylor had on them, encouraging them to believe they could do it too.

It’s no salacious biography, so you’re not going to find any mention of scandal or any dark side to the dream Taylor went after.  It’s instead more a celebration of his achievements and as such is going to be of most interest to Taylor’s fans.  That’s not to say it isn’t a well-made, captivating enough film to have broader appeal, but more the inevitability of any documentary that focuses on one subject.  As for the disk, the picture is fine for all recent interviews and it comes with a couple of supplements.  One is a short joint interview with Taylor and Hedren where it’s clear there was plenty of affection between the two.  The other is a Q&A from the Burbank film festival in 2017 with some of those behind the film that runs for about 15 minutes.  Overall, worthwhile for fans of Rod.

ROD TAYLOR: PULLING NO PUNCHES / CERT: E / DIRECTOR: ROBERT DE YOUNG / SCREENPLAY: STEPHEN WELLINK, ROBERT DE YOUNG / STARRING: MAGGIE SMITH, TIPPI HENDREN, ANGELA LANGSBURY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

If our recent review of Japanese maverick director Seijun Suzuki’s Taisho trilogy whetted your appetite and prompted you to seek out a copy of the trio of films in that release, then you will need no further prompting to purchase a copy of what could be equally anticipated when it arrives in your possession.

This writer also wants to reach out to those who were bemused at the prospect of watching that collection and make the time to seek out his new quintet of films, which are available for the first time on Blu-Ray outside of their native Japan.

Made all before the previous release, The Early Years Vol. 1 contains a sterling and stunning mix of youth-oriented tales that hold tremendous cross-over appeal to Western fans who have enjoyed classic Hollywood fare like Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story. You might also find value in seeing these if you have been fascinated by the likes of Japanese-themed Hollywood dramas like The Yakuza, Rising Sun, and Black Rain.

The collection kicks off with The Boy Who Came Back (1958), the tale of a female probation officer attempting to tame a wayward youth, but whose emotional conflicts begin to affect the objectives set by her superiors.

Fans of recent hits La La Land and Hugh Jackman’s Barnum extravaganza The Greatest Showman will find much to enjoy with The Wind-Of-Youth Crosses The Mountain Pass (1961), the heart-warming and infectious tale of a travelling student in Japan who hooks up with a down-on-their-luck circus troupe – and who is himself desperate to part with and peddle ladies underwear in order to pay his way forward.

Teenage Yakuza (1962) focuses on a teenager who gets drawn into extortion and conflict with mobsters from a neighbouring city and has to face up to the reality of his friendship with a long-term mate. British fans of 1960s cinema will get much appreciation from a film that taps into the coffee shop social culture of the time, which spawned the British musical ‘skiffle’ craze – and unleashed the likes of The Beatles.

Fans of the Taisho trilogy will definitely be drawn to the last two films in the collection, The Incorrigible (1963) and Born Under Crossed Stars (1965), set in the ‘Taisho Period’ but which provide a more narrative-driven and less artistic experience. The Incorrigible is the tale of a recently expelled youth from a prestigious academy who is left with a relative by his mother and has to wake up to his emotional concerns. Born Under Crossed Stars focuses on life in a grammar school and the life of one conflicted individual who clearly feels he is above those he is surrounded with.

We would heartily recommended using this collection as a start-off point of reference for Suzuki’s work and Arrow Academy are to be applauded for bringing a second collection of the director’s work, which may well prove to be even more popular than the earlier release.

SEIJUN SUZUKI: THE EARLY YEARS. VOL.1: SEIJUN RISING: THE YOUTH MOVIES / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: SEIJUN SUZUKI / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: AKIRA KOBAYASHI, SACHIKO HIDARI / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 12TH

Attack on Titan takes place in a kingdom where mankind is beset by titans (giant, flesh-eating monsters). The people live in a city surrounded by giant walls. Unfortunately, the titans have breached the wall, and it is up to the military to fight them back. Season Two starts with the titans breaking through another one of the walls.

Season Two has 12 episodes in total, down from Season One’s 25. Having a shorter episode count fixes the pacing problems that affected the show’s first season. The storyline doesn’t feel stretched out this season, and individual episodes are able to have more impact on the story than they would have with a longer episode count.

Attack on Titan has a large cast, but the episodes on display here manage that cast size size by focusing on a core group of characters. Some old favourites don’t get the attention they got last season, but the characters that do get the spotlight benefit from room for fleshed-out character arcs and a few surprise reveals. Early on, Sasha gets an episode dedicated to her that shows off her skills, examines her character, and explores how dangerous even one titan can be.

The one aspect that may prove to be the most disappointing is the plot. Without going into spoiler territory, it is debatable how much this season goes towards expanding the plot of the show as a whole. What prevents this from being a bigger issue is that the show is at its best when it gives its cast room to act within the world and plot scenario. This, combined with the few nuggets of new information the audience does get, is enough to make Season Two feel like a success.

In the age of streaming, it is easy to doubt the appeal of a physical release. This is typically where special features come in, and the special features present here are fantastic. There is a wealth of extra content that is rarely found on an anime DVD/Blu-ray.

Two of the episodes come with commentary, some of the cast get interviewed, and more of the cast take part in Attack on Titan-themed challenges. Between them, these features offer both comedy and an insight into the inner workings of the show. The one negative  is that the challenges performed by the cast refer to website polls that are no longer running, though this doesn’t affect the enjoyability of the videos themselves. Marathon play and the ability to watch the Japanese dub are both present, giving fans multiple ways to enjoy the series.

Attack on Titan – Season Two improves on its predecessor and makes up for that season’s key failing. It does enough to advance the plot and provides plenty of opportunities for its characters to shine. The show itself is backed up by a selection of special features of such quality that it should be considered the gold standard for such collections. Attack on Titan – Season Two is what an anime season box set should be.

Special features: Episode Commentaries (episodes 30 and 31) / Anime Expo 2017 Interview with Trina Nishimura / Interview with Tetsuya Kinoshita & Yui Ishikawa / Interview with original creator Hajime Isayama / Inside the Episode / Eyecatch Gallery / Promo video / Textless Opening & Closing Songs

ATTACK ON TITAN – SEASON TWO / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: VARIOUS/ WRITER: VARIOUS/ STARRING: BRYCE PAPENBROOK, JOSH GRELLE, TRINA NISHIMURA, JESSICA CALVELLO, ELIZABETH MAXWELL, MATTHEW MERCER/ RELEASE DATE: 26TH FEBRUARY 2018

 

Stephen King adapted his own novella Cycle of the Werewolf for this 1985 horror, which came hot on the claws of The Howling and An American Werewolf in London and, whilst it isn’t as good as either, this Dino de Laurentiis production gets a very clean transfer, is great fun and the disc’s extras have a bit of bite.

In a small town plagued by a series of violent murders, terrified and angry locals clash with the police who seem to have no leads into the brutal killings, whilst the local preacher keeps a close eye over his congregation. Meanwhile, young wheelchair user Marty (Silver Bullet is the name of his souped-up motorised chair) and his sister Jane must put their squabbling aside when a visit from their Uncle Red brings them an ally, someone who will at least listen to their suspicions that the murders are the work of a werewolf.

As is typical of Stephen King, what gives Silver Bullet its charm is its depiction of a small town and the characters inhabiting it. His writing has a knack of making even the briefest of characters feel fully formed, thanks also to the casting of some great character actors in small roles. The main cast are great fun, a young Corey Haim showing why he made such an impact so young, and an older Gary Busey giving Uncle Red the film’s best lines and, alongside Megan Follows as Jane, providing a family unit we really do care about.

Which is a good job because you can sense the different approaches the film battles with, as referenced in the audio commentary from first-time director Daniel Attias. He always felt that the film worked best as a teen adventure, whereas de Laurentiis wanted more gore and horror. Consequently, Silver Bullet doesn’t fully achieve either the scares to make it a horror classic or the cares to embed it in your heart.

That director commentary is compelling, a chat which takes us through Attias’s memories of the actors and locations rather than examinations of individual scenes. There’s a straight-forward but interesting interview with Martha de Laurentiis, an unspectacular one with actor Everett McGill and also an animated chat between SFX artists Michael McCraken Jnr and Matthew Mungle.

The set piece scene of a mass transformation inside a church gets discussed, which is fascinating, but what becomes very clear is the struggle the production had to get Carlo Rambaldi to create a werewolf which didn’t just look like a big bear. Rambaldi never really pulled it off, which is another reason why Silver Bullet is fun rather than terrifying.

STEPHEN KING’S SILVER BULLET / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: DANIEL ATTIAS / SCREENPLAY: STEPHEN KING / STARRING: GARY BUSEY, EVERETT MCGILL, COREY HAIM, MEGAN FOLLOWS