Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

by Rich Cross

The brutal French cult horror Frontière(s) should win some fresh – and much-deserved – recognition courtesy of a new Blu-ray package from Second Sight. It’s the type of release in which the label’s excitement about the material shines through in the attention paid to the commissioning and presentation of the special features. More than fifteen years on from its original cinematic release, the film’s political speculations also retain an unsettling prescience.

A group of young activists mobilising against the violent authoritarianism of a new far-right French government are forced to flee Paris as the authorities close in on them. Seeking temporary sanctuary deep in the French countryside, they make the unfortunate decision to check in at a farmhouse bed-and-breakfast that butchers the meat for its table from unexpected sources. So begins a gory and frequently barbaric battle for survival as this nest of Nazis tries to refill their freezers and refresh the breeding stock for their inbred family. Writer-director Xavier Gens knows his blood-soaked horror references, but Frontière(s) is much more than a homage to the greatest hits of the genre. His script relishes taking unexpected (and often gruesome) turns, and his talented visual effects crew rise to the challenge of keeping things visceral and nasty.

Landing somewhere between Delicatessen and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, this neo-nazi-cannibal bloodfest still possesses an impressive, distinctive spirit of its own. As the defiant, resourceful Yasmine, Karina Testa leads a stellar ensemble cast, all of whom had to endure the intense physical privations of their characters’ fates on set. Insightful interviews with Testa and other actors and crew members are the highlights of a rich package of extras.

FRONTIÈRE(S) is released on limited edition and standard Blu-Ray by SECOND SIGHT FILMS on July 24th.

by Christian Jones

In 1938, orphaned sisters Thomasina and Martha create the world’s first and only chronovisor, LOLA. LOLA, named after the sisters’ mother, can receive radio and television broadcasts from the future. They are immediately entranced by the sights and sounds that they witness, particularly those of David Bowie and Bob Dylan. At the outbreak of World War II, Thomasina and Martha use their invention to inform the British military of the enemy’s forthcoming attacks, a well-intentioned decision that leads to devastating, world-altering consequences.

LOLA is directors Andrew Legge’s debut feature, but it’s such an assured piece of work you wouldn’t know it. Thomasina (Emma Appleton) and Martha (Stefanie Martini) are delightfully eccentric characters but not to the point of becoming parodies. Appleton and Martini really give stand-out performances, and they play their roles with total conviction. A highlight of the film sees Thomasina and Martha at a serviceman’s dance belting out a rendition of The Kinks’ You Really Got Me.

The only extra contained on this home release is a commentary track, but it’s a great insight into the making of the film. Legge reveals his fascination with found footage films, early cinema, and ingenious inventions. LOLA was filmed on 16mm film and period cameras. The result is that it really does look as though it was filmed during the 40s. Legge added the scratches and drop-outs to the film himself, and very subtle CGI cleverly intersperses the Luftwaffe’s and Wehrmacht’s assault on Kent with newsreel footage. The design of LOLA itself could have been inspired by the Flash Gordon serials.

LOLA breathes new life into the tried-and-tested time-travel and found footage genres. Despite the micro-budget, Andrew Legge’s imagination transports us to a cleverly imagined past. We can’t wait to see what he has in store for us next.

Lola is out now on Blu-ray and digital.

by Jacob Walker

Mr Vampire (1985) was responsible for popularising the Jianshi (Chinese Vampire) genre, with its unique mix of horror, comedy, and Kung Fu. Eureka has produced a fine box set that captures the best of the inevitable sequels and spin-offs. Unfortunately, the love put into the package can’t disguise the diminishing quality of the films.

Mr Vampire 2 (1986) sees Lam Ching Ying reprise the role of Uncle Kau (A Taoist priest turned vampire hunter), this time in modern-day Hong Kong (the other films are all set in the early 20th Century), this time dealing with a family of vampires. Disappointingly, the film concentrates on the child of the family being befriended by a small girl.

Mr Vampire 3 (1987) features supernatural bandits attacking Lam’s village. The comedy comes from the late Richard Ng as a fraudulent priest who carries around friendly ghosts in an umbrella (as you do), the action is great, but it doesn’t feature any vampires!

Mr Vampire 4 (1988) is a Chinese version of the odd couple and the only film not to feature Lam. After arguing for the entire movie, two Taoist priests must team up to defeat a group of vampires.

Vampire vs Vampire (1989) is probably the strongest and most interesting entry, as it features a European vampire buried in a Christian church. Lam must entrust the help of some local nuns to defeat the creature of the night.

The disc features the usual plethora of commentaries, a great booklet by James Oliver and modern artwork bathed in glorious green. The real draw is two video pieces, one concerning the popularity of the genre, which interviews a real Taoist priest, and another detailing the rituals practised in the film. This is the perfect companion for anyone who wants to explore the genre further, even if that exploration will ultimately end in disappointment.

by Jacob Walker

1974’s Violent Streets is a solid addition to the ‘yakuza genre’; available for the first time on Blu-ray, it typifies the griminess of the decade, and if you are unfamiliar with this genre, don’t worry, you are thrown in the deep end with no life jacket!

The premise is a simple one, a retired yakuza member, Egawa (a wonderfully cold-hearted Noboru Ando, who himself was involved with the underworld, complete with facial scar), is happy with his parting gift of a Spanish-themed bar. However, he is dragged back into his old life when his girlfriend’s brother is involved in a kidnapping gone wrong. The gang frame Egawa’s old rivals -The Western Alliance, which sparks a gang war. What may not be familiar is how this is presented, director Hideo Gosha sets the tempo from the beginning, complete with receipt spike to an eye, and continues setting up interesting and violent action scenes – mannequins are destroyed in a car park, and the final shoot-out takes place in a chicken coop, some poultry probably being harmed in the process. Hideo never lets up on images of sex, depravity, and Spanish salsa! We even get a transgender hitman brandishing a razor blade.

The disc contains a talk from Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns, which add some useful context to the madness you’ve just witnessed, even if the style of a long-form talk to camera is a little dated. It also includes a film essay by Jasper Sharp that plays over selected clips, which address key moments more directly. Both are a welcome addition. Violent Streets could be described as unpleasant and exploitative but never not entertaining.

by Martin Unsworth

One of the more obscure horror entries that came in the wake of the likes of The Wolf Man (1941) and Cat People (1942) sees a controversial writer arriving back in the French capital following a stint in the Tropics. He’d contracted a fever while there and is now suffering headaches and blackouts, and each time he awakes, someone is dead!

Set in the late 19th century, there’s plenty of atmosphere in this short but sweet film from The Vampire’s Ghost director Lesley Selander. The film owes more to Universal’s often overlooked Werewolf of London (1935) in execution than Jacques Tourneur’s masterpiece and manages to wrong-foot the viewer while keeping them waiting for the creature/maniac reveal. At least it doesn’t cop out like many of the other ‘cat’ creature pictures did (we’re looking at you, The Cat and the Canary)!

Imprint’s Blu-ray release features the film looking and sounding fantastic and boasts a new commentary from the always entertaining Kim Newman and Stephen Jones and an interesting video essay on masculinity in the film by Kat Ellinger. A 32-year-old (and it looks it!) documentary on Republic Pictures rounds things out and reminds us how slight (no matter how lengthy) these things were back then. It’s still an impressive package for an oft’ forgotten movie.

by Iain Robertson

As premises go, it’s hardly the most complicated: bear snorts a shitload of cocaine, goes on a drug-fuelled rampage, and people die. Very loosely based on a true story (where a load of coke was tossed out a plane, found and eaten by a bear who, well, just died), it’s a great premise for a fun, low-budget B-movie.

And yet, Hollywood, in its infinite wisdom, threw a load of money at it. Whenever studios try and make a big-budget B-movie, it takes some of the fun out of it. It’s the Snakes on a Plane syndrome, where throwing in an A-list cast, director, and state-of-the-art effects, gives the film a shine that detracts from its premise. Part of the charm of this type of movie is the lo-fi, schlocky feel. Actors slumming it, cheap effects, sex, violence, a guy in a bear suit, and, more often than not, a director who thinks they’re making a masterpiece. Here there’s an impressive cast (Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O’Shea Jackson and the late, great Ray Liotta in one of his final roles) who are in on the joke and know this is beneath them. And director Elizabeth Banks is both a talented comic actor and director of mainstream comedies (Pitch Perfect 2 and the recent Charlie’s Angels).

Cast-wise, O’Shea and Ehrenreich are fun as a couple of gangsters are sent in to retrieve the cocaine. Russell is a mum looking for her kid (and sporting a hideous pink jumpsuit – it is set in the ‘80s, something the film only occasionally remembers), and Liotta plays the kind of gangster he was typecast in pretty much everything he made post-Goodfellas. They all equip themselves admirably. Meanwhile, the rest of the cast, especially Margo Martindale and Jesse Tyler Ferguson as a Park ranger and weird conservationist type, respectively, give performances so comically broad that they seem to be in a completely different movie. Banks is a competent director, but her humour doesn’t have the dark edge the material calls for – imagine the twisted fun a Sam Raimi or Dead Snow’s Tommy Wirkola could have with a concept like this. Instead, what you end up with is a comedy horror where the laughs aren’t particularly funny, and the scares are non-existent. Hollywood laughing at, instead of with the genre. It’s all strangely neutered, schlock with all the hard edges smoothed out to make it accessible to a mainstream audience. Basically, it’s a bit of a mess: fun, but it could have been so much more.

Extras-wise, there’s a fairly standard package. A fun commentary from the husband and wife team of Banks and producer Max Handelman; an alternate ending and deleted scenes – all of which were wisely left out, and a couple of featurettes, which suggests all involved had a blast making the movie. The highlight of these, though, is the on-set footage of the poor guy playing the bear, running around on all fours in a black leotard and arm extensions. Unfortunately, it’s a lot more entertaining than most of what’s in the actual movie.

Cocaine Bear is available now on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download.