Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Many years ago, Russian scientists conducted underground experiments on unsuspecting civilians. The program was called ‘Patriot’ and the experiments, although gruesome, endowed many of their recipients with astonishing superpowers. But then one of the scientists went rogue and the program was shut down. As for the superhumans the experiment created – well – they disappeared without trace, scattering themselves to the furthest corners of what-used-to-be the Soviet Union. Except now the rogue scientist is back (looking like a cross between Batman’s Bane and the X-Men’s Magneto) and he’s got a cunning plan to control all of the world’s machines and military satellites, bringing humanity to its knees. All that stands between him and global domination are four ageless superhumans, tracked down surprisingly easily by the newly-reinstated ‘Patriot’ organisation: a man who can levitate rocks, a beautiful woman who can control her body temperature and make herself invisible, another man with two massive swords who can move at the speed of light, and a third guy who can turn himself into a were-bear and is concerned that one day he’ll be stuck inside the bear’s body for good. They are the Guardians and this film is, surprisingly, not that bad at all.

True, there’s nothing new to see here: the script is ropey, the CGI is a bit haphazard, the super powers are questionable and you don’t have to think too hard to realise the ingenious villain’s masterplan is actually deeply stupid. But there’s also a strange kind of charm to it, a sort of admirable ‘little engine that could’ determination to take Marvel on at their own game (which sometimes succeeds because Guardians is waaaaay better than the recent Fantastic Four fiasco) and a sense that everyone who was involved with this project realised they were pushing something smelly uphill so just decided to enjoy the process and have a good time. And the performances are pretty good for a film of this type (not that playing a superhero has really challenged anyone’s dramatic range) with each character getting a minute or two to show some angst and then do something ridiculously gung-ho (the invisible girl’s moment, when they attack the villain’s transmitter, is priceless).

As for the DVD, it’s a barebones disc but thankfully it does offer two ways to watch the movie: either with its original Russian audio (with English subs) or in an English dub. Choose the Russian audio: the subtitling isn’t the best and it’s sometimes impossible to read but it’s eminently preferable to the English audio track which sounds like it was recorded by an amateur theatre group sleepwalking inside an echo chamber.

The Guardians of the Galaxy don’t have much to worry about but this is definitely more fun than watching Batman v Superman again…

GUARDIANS / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: SARIK ANDREASYAN / SCREENPLAY: ANDREI GAVRILOV / STARRING: SEBASTIEN SISAK, ANTON PAMPUSHNYY, ALINA LANINA, SANJAR MADI, VALERIYA SHKIRANDO, STANISLAV SHIRIN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

As the rotting corpse of the zombie subgenre shuffles on, with no small thanks to the TV behemoth The Walking Dead, low-budget filmmakers continue to pick over the bones for any morsel of meat to entertain us with. With its commercially schlocky title, Granny of the Dead could easily be relegated to the forgotten world of the bargain bin, but there’s a little more here than its throwaway image suggests.

The unlikely setting for this macabre adventure is Wales, and our ‘heroes’ are a group of young friends who have come to realise that the world (or at least there part of it) has become stricken with an outbreak of the undead. Strangely, it appears to be localised to the old folk as Ed (Carroll) finds out when he wakes up to find his Nan in the kitchen frying his pet cat. Ringing around his mates, they attempt to come up with a plan to get to safety and avoid being munched on by the false teeth-wearing septuagenarians

Although largely being marketed as a comedy horror film in the vein of Shaun of the Dead, what we actually have here is a little less broad in the humour department; there are certainly some moments that will raise a smile, but nothing to make you laugh out loud in the lads’ banter. However, it certainly doesn’t let up when it comes to the gore and shocks. It’s barely ten minutes in when we’re confronted with our first wrinkled zombie and although the pace of the narrative wavers a little, there’s very little let up in the action. Writer/director Tudley James manages to use some tried and trusted cinematic techniques to make the clearly low-budget film feel like a blockbuster, even if the shot-on-digital quality betrays it. It doesn’t shy away from the gore, either, with some impressive prosthetics and passable CGI meaning we get an array of dismembered body parts and a bitten-off penis for good measure.

As one would expect with a low-budget effort, the acting is variable, but nothing too jarring and the cast certainly have a lot of energy and give it their all. That extends to the game old folk who are plastered in make-up and get to have lots of fun attempting to kill and eat the teens.

You might be amused and lured by the quirky title, but Granny of the Dead has much more going for it. It might not reach the lofty commercial heights of Edgar Wright’s classic, but neither does it simply ape or riff on it.

GRANNY OF THE DEAD / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: TUDLEY JAMES / STARRING: MARCUS CARROLL, ABIGAIL HAMILTON, OLIVER FERRIMAN, WILLAIM HUW / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The cinematic importance of Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind can’t be underestimated. Coming off the back of the monster success of Jaws and in development before he took to the water to make the shark epic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind confirmed his arrival in the upper echelon of Hollywood. Already a star on the rise, a member of the legendary movie brats that included George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Brian DePalma among others, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (or CE3K as it’s often abbreviated) was a risky and costly project to embark upon. Greenlit by the struggling Columbia Pictures, the movie cost $20 million dollars to make and ultimately brought in a worldwide haul of $337 million worldwide, no small feat for a film released in the same calendar year as Star Wars.

CE3K is rightly regarded as one of Spielberg’s greats, sitting comfortably alongside such classics as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws and E.T. Imbuing the film with a sense of unease, mystery and wonder, Spielberg balanced the urban drama of Roy Neary (Spielberg’s ‘70s muse Richard Dreyfuss) and Jillian and her toddler son Barry Guiler (Melinda Dillon and Cary Guffey) with the government cover-up led by French scientist Claude Lacombe (François Truffaut) and his interpreter David Laughlin (Bob Balaban). Accompanied by a masterful score by John Williams, deep in his 1975 – 1985 hot streak, starship designs by Ralph McQuarrie and visual effects by Douglas Trumbull and you had the recipe for a film that mixed the paranoia of Watergate with the post-May ’77 wonder evoked by Star Wars.

November 2017 sees the 40th anniversary of the release of the film and this expansive Blu-ray collection packs in as much as it possibly can into the set. All three versions of the film are included. The original 1977 Theatrical Version, the misguided 1980 Special Edition which infamously included new effects showing the inside of the mothership and Spielberg’s restorative and more satisfying 1997 Director’s Cut. Also included are Close Encounters of the Third Kind Making-of Documentary, “Steven Spielberg: 30 Years of Close Encounters” featurette, Deleted Scenes and the classic 1977 Featurette “Watch the Skies”. Also included is Storyboard to Scene comparisons, an extensive Photo Gallery, “A View From Above” and the Theatrical Trailers but new to this gorgeously packaged set is the “Three Kinds of Close Encounters” Featurette, a brand new interview with Spielberg on the legacy of Close Encounters of the Third Kind plus interviews with J.J. Abrams and Denis Villeneuve about the impact of the film.

Arguably the most fun inclusion is the “Steven’s Home Movies & Outtakes” featurette which includes rare and never-before-seen home movies and gags from the set of the film but ultimately the film itself is the real treat of this box set, a movie which continues to engage audiences forty years on.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND – 40TH ANNIVERSARY / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: STEVEN SPIELBERG / STARRING: RICHARD DREYFUSS, TERI GARR, MELINDA DILLON, FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT / RELEASE DATE: 18TH SEPTEMBER

In a remote rural backwater of Southern Italy, a serial killer is targeting local teenage boys. The investigation takes in a range of suspects including the village voyeur (Vito Passeri), a tragic, self-proclaimed witch (a barely recognisable Florinda Bolkan, star of director Lucio Fulci’s previous giallo, Lizard in a Woman’s Skin) and a beautiful young woman from the city with a shady past (Barbara Bouchet), before the truth finally reveals a savage darkness at the heart of a peasant community mired in superstition and religious fervour.

Immediately unsettling from its opening juxtaposition of a modern raised motorway bisecting the rural, seemingly forgotten community below, Don’t Torture a Duckling rips up the increasingly dog-eared giallo playbook of chic designer violence, swish city settings and fashionable people to deliver a new and shocking level of brutality and a cast of characters that represent the opposing poles of encroaching modernity and entrenched, old-fashioned belief in good and evil. It’s a tension manifested in a killer who, in a change of pace for your average Catholic priest, seeks not to sexually abuse pubescent boys, but to render them in a state of grace, lest they grow up to be corrupted by the modern world.

The picture transfer on this dual DVD/Blu-ray package is sympathetically grainy and richly colourful, honouring Sergio D’Offizzi’s immaculate cinematography. It’s one of the great ironies of Fulci’s career that most people’s experience of his 1980s splatter-king heyday came courtesy of ratty pan-and-scan rental tapes that largely obliterated his mastery of widescreen composition; this is another grand restoration – in more ways than one.

Extras are as comprehensive as we’ve come to expect from Arrow. A pair of ‘video essays’ on the social function of the giallo within working-class Italian society and accusations of misogyny in Fulci’s work are, despite their academic bent, engagingly on-the-nose. Cast and crew interviews yield some priceless anecdotes, not least from Florinda Bolkan, subject of the movie’s notorious chain-whipping scene. Having never actually seen her truly heart-breaking demise, she gamely watches it for the first time on-camera. It’s fair to say she’s a bit shocked, but recovers enough to praise Fulci who she adored…sort of (“Lucio was very peculiar…he really was…”).

Best of all is an extensive audio recording that Fulci made himself in 1988 in response to a series of written questions from a journalist. If you’ve ever wondered how such an immensely cultured chap ended up making Zombie Flesh-Eaters and The New York Ripper, his genially honest testimony makes for essential listening. Effortless quoting everyone from Virginia Woolf to Kafka, he takes an odyssey through his own career and its place in the wider history of film, emerging in old age with poor health and a poor bank balance, yet feeling immensely rich for having made the journey. As self-assessments go, it’s wonderful.

Cruel, beautiful and all the colours in between, Don’t Torture a Duckling is a compelling and beguiling work from a greatly underrated filmmaker.

DON’T TORTURE A DUCKLING / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: LUCIO FULCI / SCREENPLAY: LUCIO FULCI, ROBERTO GIANVITI, GIANFRANCO CLERICI / STARRING: FLORINDA BOLKAN, BARBARA BOUCHET, TOMAS MILIAN / RELEASE DATE: 25TH SEPTEMBER

With a budget of $40m and a return of less than $200k, it’s fair to say that animated kids’ movie Spark failed to ignite the interest of a cinema audience. While it’s easy to see where the film’s problems lie – its attempts at charm and idiosyncrasy are as derivative of better movies as is every last beat of its plot – the three-year-old we used as a test audience was nevertheless captivated throughout. And if most parents, certainly those who’ve sat through any of the Star Wars films, will have seen it all before, the story is sufficiently appealing for the under-three-foot-high contingent, and just about engaging enough to mean it’s no real chore for their accompanying grown-ups either. 

Spark is separated from his family as an infant, after his father the King is deposed by the diminutive General Zhong (Peterson, having tremendous fun), intent on usurping the rulership of the beautiful, peaceful planet Bana and taking power for himself. Thirteen years later, we join the now adolescent monkey (voiced by TV’s Henry Danger Jace Norman) as he’s living with cuddly porcine handyman-cum-scientist Chunk (deLeeuw) and spiky dominating vixen Vix (Biel) on one of the asteroid-like shards created when Zhong used the black hole-forming abilities of a rare space kraken to break up the planet Bana. Zhong now wishes to extend his powers further, but with Spark on the cusp of adulthood he’s about to embark upon a mission that will reveal to him his true heritage and pit him against the deranged despot for control of Spark’s birth-right.

Spark isn’t nearly as over-complicated as any synopsis might suggest – presumably the impenetrable sounding plot being a reason for the lack of audiences – with both the relationships and the situation being carefully spelled out during some languorously paced sequences that might account for the fairly slight film’s 90-minute-plus running time. And if there’s nothing especially original or defining about the central trio, they are at least relatively likeable, and the introduction of Patrick Stewart’s Scottish Captain midway through is enough to revive any flagging interest.

There isn’t anything particularly either funny or inspired for a viewer to hold onto, though, the watchword for the movie being Moderate. The character animatics are Moderately Good, the landscapes and architecture are Moderately Interesting, the jokes are Moderately Amusing and the story is Moderately Involving. There’s a complete lack of imagination present, which means that all the good work produced by both actors and animators can get you only so far. 

It is a relatively good-looking film that doesn’t outstay its welcome, however, one not to avoid rather than one to seek out. We definitely recommend you take your inner three-year-old along if you do, though. 

Special Features: trailer

SPARK / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: AARON WOODLEY / SCREENPLAY: AARON WOODLEY / STARRING: JACE NORMAN, JESSICA BIEL, ROB DELEEUW, ALAN C. PETERSON, SUSAN SARANDON, PATRICK STEWART, HILARY SWANK / RELEASE DATE: 18TH SEPTEMBER

Black Gunn was made during the incredibly prolific Blaxploitation boom time of the early ‘70s. It’s a retooled noir-crime film given the scene’s window dressing (including much dirty, venomous racism) to fit in with what was popular at the time. It stars icon Jim Brown as Gunn, a nightclub owner in L.A. who is keeping himself busy as a successful businessman. His younger brother Scott (played by first-incarnation Battlestar Galactica’s Boomer, Herbert Jefferson Jr.) is not long back from Vietnam and consumed by thoughts of revenge and sticking it to ‘the man’ using violence.

To this end, Scott is leader of a militant black action group who rip off an Italian mob bookie’s shop to get the funds to buy weapons. Outraged, the mob directs West Coast head honcho Capelli (Martin Landau) to track down and punish those responsible. He’s helped out in this by barely-hinged psycho right-hand man Kriley (Diamonds Are Forever’s Bruce Glover). As the mob hunts for Scott and his accomplices, things start to escalate out of control and notwithstanding Gunn’s best efforts, when his brother turns up tortured and dying, the stage is set for revenge.

It’s not a particularly great thriller and even at 96 minutes is too long. But there are a few things that save it from being a bust. First, Brown is a solid lead; sure, he’s no Fred Williamson, but he’s still pretty compelling as the proud, tough Gunn. Next up is director Robert Hartford-Davis, from whom also came the original story for the film. Hartford-Davis was an English director who worked in TV and film (notably exploitative horrors The Black Torment and Corruption) before making the move to the US. A very interesting director, he often added a definite style to his films and this one is no different. What could have been a very workmanlike movie is enriched by this approach, including some great location shooting and moments of levity and sweetness not usually found in these films. Landau might be in it for about 10 minutes total, but he’s reliably good. As for Glover, he did sweaty, nervy psychotics better than most. Despite all these good points, it’s still not an essential film and likely only going to be of interest to those who really must catch every entry in the subgenre.

The release here from Fabulous Films is bereft of any extras too, which is a shame, though it does boast a fine transfer that’s sharp for DVD and helps shows off that style of Hartford-Davis. If you really want to own this film, it’s certainly decent and comes recommended but the film in good shape is all you get.

BLACK GUNN / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: ROBERT HARTFORD-DAVIS / SCREENPLAY: FRANKLIN COEN, ROBERT SHEARER / STARRING: JIM BROWN, MARTIN LANDAU, BERNIE CASEY, HERBERT JEFFERSON JR / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Made in late 1930 and released in the same year as Universal’s Dracula, like Bela Lugosi’s vampire count, Little Caesar gives us an iconic early sound performance. Here it’s Edward G. Robinson providing a template for innumerable on-screen gangsters and impressions of the archetype. Robinson plays Caesar Enrico “Rico” Bandello, a small-time hood with big aspirations. Rico’s best pal is Joe (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) who has fallen in with his friend’s crimes but really wants to be a dancer.

Both men move to Chicago where Joe finds success at a nightclub and Rico picks up work for a gang boss. When Rico uses his friend to gain access to the club and knock it over, it starts a chain of events that takes Rico to the top of the criminal world and finds Joe trying to find his way out with the help of girlfriend and dance partner Olga. In a punchy 78 minutes Rico goes from a cheap thug doing jobs on gas stations to the crime boss of Chicago before his inevitable decent to the gutter. It’s a decent, tough thriller that makes good use of the limited music to ramp up the sound of gunshots and general brutality, and was strong stuff for audiences of the time.

Robinson is great as Rico and it’s no wonder his performance struck with cinemagoers leading to stardom as various tough guys. It’s the little physical tics he gives Rico as well as the bundle of emotions throughout that mark this out as still a very fine show by Robinson. The film comes across as a little stodgy these days, and despite some good sequences the direction by Mervyn LeRoy is somewhat flat. Strong performances all round plus a good, classic gangster narrative maintains its reputation. It’s also remarkable for a studio picture of the time to have what appears to be such a blatant homosexual subtext in the relationship between Rico and Joe, as well as his men. Certainly, it’s an interesting and often exciting film.

As for this release (dual-format being a HMV exclusive) it’s fine. The transfer doesn’t match up by any standard to say, the Universal Monsters set, but it’s relatively damage-free and detailed enough. The soundtrack is clear which is vital for a film that relies on dialogue and sound effects to such a degree. Warner has always supported their gangster classics with a decent ‘Night at the Movies’ set of features, plus a commentary and a roughly 20-minute featurette. All of these have been released before so there’s nothing new for those who own a previous release, but nevertheless still nice to have out on Blu-ray.

LITTLE CAESAR / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: MERVYN LEROY / SCREENPLAY: FRANCIS EDWARD FARAGOH, ROBERT LORD, DARRYL F. ZANUCK / STARRING: EDWARD G. ROBINSON, DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS JR, GLENDA FARRELL / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

The Veil (or Barbarian: Rise of the Warrior as it is called in the UK) is a bona-fide medieval fantasy movie with a side of sci-fi to go with it. An unnamed warrior (William Levy) is left for dead by his battalion. He is then healed by a princess – whose tribe believes he is destined to fight in a final battle – and he trains the tribe members to prepare them for the upcoming fight. 

An immediate problem with The Veil is the warrior’s reasons for staying to help. He is a superior fighter to any of the tribesmen who have taken him in. He could escape at any point, clearly being weirded out by those around him, yet decides to stay. His charitable offer to help is never really explained, beyond occasional allusions to destiny and purpose that are never given the time or exploration they deserve. Jeff Goldberg tries to cram a lot into a 90 minutes or so running time, and isn’t too successful, with character motivations and details of tribal beliefs never probed in much detail.

Some things in the film simply confuse. Mystical visions and a mind-altering woollen hood make about as little sense as a giant planet appearing in the sky (something else this film has and does not explain especially well). While these do make a little more sense in hindsight, it ruins the experience when the audience are scratching their heads the whole time as opposed to enjoying an intriguing storyline.

On the more basic fronts however, The Veil does more than enough to be enjoyable. It is a strong lead performance from Levy, who is well suited for the role of a hardened swordsman with iron-forged pecs, these being shown off at almost every opportunity. The costume is impressive too, especially the beastly look of the Dominion tribe, whose animal facemasks and heavy black armour perfectly capture their ferociousness and savage nature.

There is some very nice cinematography in places as well, particularly the few shots that leave the fighting aside and spend a few fleeting seconds looking down at some leaves, or up at the tree branches. There is a strange beauty in these moments that sadly are too short. While the giant planet may not make much sense on a logical level, visually it is quite something to look at the points where it seems to get closer to the warrior’s world.

Not a perfect film, but definitely enjoyable for those already a fan of this genre. There is some strong work both on and off the camera evident here which is let down by its short running time and some inadequately explained details. 

BARBARIAN: RISE OF THE WARRIOR (THE VEIL) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: BRENT RYAN GREEN / SCREENPLAY: JEFF GOLDBERG / STARRING: WILLIAM LEVY, SERINDA SWAN, WILLIAM MOSELEY, NADIA COMANECI, BILLY BLAIR / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (DVD)