Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Hitler and The Third Reich’s noted interest in the occult has provided inspiration for a myriad of filmmakers over the years, and so the trend continues with Mark Nuttall’s debut feature Soldiers of the Damned. Charged with accompanying old-flame-with-secrets Professor Anna Kappel (Miriam Cooke) to co-ordinates behind enemy lines, decorated soldier Major Fleischer (Gil Darnell) is understandably concerned. As his “elite” band of brothers is to be joined by two particularly unpleasant SS officers, and as the mission leads them deep within an apparently haunted forest, Fleischer will face enemies from within his team as well as whatever dangers lurk among the trees.

To his credit Nuttall doesn’t focus on zombies, although there is a little playing around with life after death. The Dead Snow films and numerous other less impressive releases have focussed entirely on reanimating soldiers, but Nuttall has taken a different approach, entering the realm of the supernatural rather than that of the undead. Ancient spirits and the existence of a pure Aryan race are foremost in the minds of the SS here, which does make a change from the usual zombies-in-uniforms genre staple. There is also the added tensions created by the blinkered, and satisfyingly unlikeable, SS officers mixing with regular German soldiers. While this sub-plot is not entirely successful, it being a little too obvious at times in its conflict, it gives the film more depth, offering a different dynamic to the usual good versus evil stand-off.

There is also a style to Soldiers of the Damned that gives the film an almost arthouse aesthetic. The woodlands in which the soldiers find themselves are bleached in appearance, giving them an uncomfortably sinister quality generating a haunted atmosphere that seems to linger in the background of every shot. Nuttall also doesn’t hold back on the gore when necessary, with effects that are both brutally realistic and flinch-inducingly raw. Blood flows freely but it never threatens to overshadow the film or turn it into a routine splatter movie.

There are issues sadly, and ones that do pull you out of the drama at times. The performances are often frustratingly clunky, with occasional lines of unconvincing dialogue being delivered with unavoidable awkwardness. Some of the characters are also a little stereotypical, almost like a group that auditioned for Inglorious Basterds but didn’t make final selection.

Soldiers of the Damned is generic in its plotting, but with some interesting spins on the familiar, and as a debut film it contains real potential. Nuttall has tackled the subject matter with an enthusiasm that is clearly evident, and if he can refine his obvious talent then it will be extremely interesting to see what the director produces next.

SOLDIERS OF THE DAMNED / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: MIKE NUTTALL / SCREENPLAY: NIGEL HORNE / STARRING: GIL DARNELL, MIRIAM COOKE, LUCAS HANSEN, TOM SAWYER / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 17TH

 

A Shatner-led documentary telling the tale of the tumultuous time spent trying to get Star Trek: The Next Generation off the ground. A cheery, gossipy little number made even more enjoyable by the ruddy-cheeked presence of Shatner himself, who gets plenty of face time out of the gig. This is no mere voiceover. Well, we all know the Shat won’t pass up any excuse to get himself in front of a camera. Even more so if Star Trek is involved.

Things we also know: that Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, genius as he may have been, was hardly the easiest person in the world to work with. Chaos on the Bridge deals with the specifics, delving into the nitty-gritty minutiae of the bickering which went on behind the scenes of The Next Generation. Even better, familiar faces such as Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes and Gates McFadden all show up to testify as to how difficult things were at the time. Favourite story to come out of Chaos on the Bridge: that before Roddenberry would even let Stewart read for the part of Captain Picard, he insisted he wear a wig – and that poor Stewart had to have the thing Fed-Ex’d over from England ‘specially. How did Picard wind up bald, then? “Hair doesn’t mean anything in the 25th Century.”

Other, more well-documented events covered include the hasty exit of Tasha Yar (Crosby revealing that the cast had to steal food from the set of Cheers, so penny-pinching was the production) and the replacement of Doctor Crusher with the less popular Doctor Pulaski (better actress, but no chemistry whatsoever with the crew). That everyone from the production team to the writers and cast seem to remember events slightly differently puts an interesting spin on things, even if there is a slightly bitchy tone to the documentary as a whole (from the production team, anyway – the likes of Stewart and Frakes are delightfully cheery and frank).

It’s no surprise, then, that the first two series of The Next Generation wound up (and I say this with love, as a fan) a patchy affair, to put it mildly. Thankfully, from these first faltering steps did emerge one of sci-fi television’s best series of all time and a worthy successor to Star Trek. And now, all these years after the fact, we’ve got a pretty good documentary out of it all too.

WILLIAM SHATNER PRESENTS: CHAOS ON THE BRIDGE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: WILLIAM SHATNER / STARRING: WILLIAM SHATNER, DENISE CROSBY, JOHN DE LANCIE, JONATHAN FRAKES, PATRICK STEWART / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
 

The topic of AI isn’t exactly new to science fiction (as a coffee break game, try to count how many times it’s appeared in recent films and TV). But Channel 4’s Humans has an intriguing approach to the subject – following various characters in a parallel 2015 in which household androids are commonplace – which works extremely well because, importantly, it feels not too distant from reality.

In a world in which we commonly hear about industries replacing workers with mechanised processes (Ocado recently announced plans to introduce robot engineers to its warehouses, for example), and in which household gadgets are becoming ever more complex, Humans plays on genuine fears of what further rapid developments could lead to.

We’re introduced to Humans’ London through the Hawkins family, who purchase “synth” Anita (Chan) to help out around the house. But mum Laura (Parkinson) grows distrustful of Anita’s relationship with the kids, and the family’s lives begin to spiral further out of control due to the gradual dawning that Anita is no ordinary synth but is able to consciously think and feel.

Meanwhile, fugitive Leo (Morgan) and a gang of synths are searching for Anita, having known her in a past life, and are themselves hunted by government scientist Hobb (Webb). And this all somehow links to Dr. George Millican (Hurt), a retired scientist who clings on to his malfunctioning synth against the wishes of a stern NHS-provided synth nurse.

It’s a lot to take in, and Humans does juggle a lot of characters, but on the whole, it does so effectively. The domestic drama gives us a relatable in-point to the world. Leo’s more thriller-esque story provides excitement, even if the action sequences are short and unflashy. And Dr. Millican’s story of old age and grief has some of the series’ most touching dialogue. All of these strands come together effectively to explore the series’ themes and ask very important questions about, for example, the way we treat those different to us and whether technology is dehumanising society.

If there’s one thing to criticise, it’s that certain strands of the domestic drama don’t work as well as others, particularly the withholding of information about Laura’s past – early on, we learn that she has a big secret, but the reveal is dragged out, and when it does come, feels largely irrelevant to the story Humans is trying to tell.

But despite occasional flagging, Humans manages to tap into current issues and extrapolate them into eerie, fascinating sci-fi, giving us compelling domestic drama and character-driven thrills. Its finale ties the story up satisfyingly while leaving threads hanging for the recently commissioned second series, which can’t come soon enough.

Special Features: BTS Featurettes 

HUMANS / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: VARIOUS / SCREENPLAY: SAM VINCENT, JONATHAN BRACKLEY / STARRING: KATHERINE PARKINSON, COLIN MORGAN, GEMMA CHAN, WILLIAM HURT, DANNY WEBB / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 17TH
 
 

Given a superficial glance this Swedish ten-part drama is little more than another slick crime thriller from the recent stable of gritty ‘nordic-noir’ that has brought us the likes of Borgen and The Killing; and so it was billed in TV listings when it premièred in the UK on ITV Encore a couple of months ago, giving little away as to the true nature of this unique and compelling genre mash-up.

The opening scenes introduce our main protagonist Eva Thörnblad, a police detective tormented by the disappearance, presumed drowning, of her daughter seven years ago – played hauntingly by Mao Gammel whose performance, like the rest of the cast, has a sincerity and gravitas in keeping with the programme’s solemn themes and gives the whole thing a naturalistic feel that makes the later twists and developments all the more surprising. Early on in the story, Eva has cause to return to her childhood home to deal with the estate of her recently deceased father from whom she became estranged after her tragic loss and it is here, in the town of Silverhöjd and its mysterious surrounding forests that the rest of the drama plays out and where things get very interesting.

By the end of the first episode it becomes clear that this is a singularly remarkable debut from creator Henrik Björn who has taken the conventional bleak crime drama format that the Scandinavians do so well and infused it with magic and mystery drawing on a wealth of Norse mythology and folklore while at the same time managing to keep it engaging and plausible. We have corrupt businesses plotting grand conspiracies here and a cat and mouse chase with a sinister killer there – ancient secrets and mysterious characters abound with echoes of David Lynch and the whole thing is very reminiscent of The X-Files at its dark, brooding best.

One of the most endearing things about Jordskott is how all the revelations and surprises are directed with an underplayed subtlety so that the story never descends into ridiculous fantasy while at the same time offering enough to elevate it above other, more conventional, shows. The editing is, at times, a bit too snappy – jumping from one scene to another like an impatient child but at least Björn could never be accused of resorting to the kind of clumsy plot explanation devices so often employed in, for example, American dramas so that the viewer is compelled to keep their eyes on the screen and their brains in gear. 

All told, from its beautifully rendered opening titles to the satisfying conclusion, Jordskott is ten hours of fantastic drama that you won’t want to miss.

JORDSKOTT / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: HENRIK BJÖRN, ANDERS ENGSTRÖM / SCREENPLAY: DENNIS MAGNUSSON, FREDRIK T. OLSSON, ALEXANDER KANTSJÖ / STARRING: MOA GAMMEL, GÖRAN RAGNERSTAM, RICHARD FORSGREN / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 17TH

 

Riki-Oh, what a time we live in. In an age where every old cult genre movie is getting a special edition Blu-ray re-release with all of the trimmings, The Most Insane Prison Movie Ever Made finally gets its shiny upgrade.

Dropped in a prison full of sadistic governors, wardens and inmates, buff superman Riki (Fan) is systematically tortured and abused by a series of ever-worsening antagonists. Thankfully, Riki himself is no defenceless Tobias Beecher – indeed, to paraphrase Watchmen’s Rorschach, one quickly begins to get the sense that he’s not locked in there with them, but rather… well, you get the idea. Given the amount of walls Riki punches his opponents through and things (mostly bodies, admittedly) he tears apart with his bare hands, it’s evident from the off that Riki could probably just punch his way out of prison was he so inclined.

Thankfully for us, the oiled muscleman seems content to wait and react, the prison giving him no shortage of things to punch off or through in defence of either himself or others. The film’s reputation is true; packing an incredible level of gore and violence (think the likes of Braindead and Evil Dead 2) it’s at once exhilarating and repulsive, the prison movie The Human Centipede 3 wishes it was. If Riki is an underwritten blank slate of a hero, its villains are a wonderful set of malevolent monsters, ranging from bulky henchmen to gruesome gluttons and… well, whatever the governor is! Bill Boss, eat your heart out.

There have been DVD releases before, but the film has never been as clear as in Mediumrare’s Blu-ray (and standard definition DVD) restoration. The blood and gore pops from the screen just like the eyeballs and body parts. An interview, commentary and a featurette aside, it’s a little paltry when it comes to special features though, making it a less comprehensive release than it could have been.

Apart from those small niggles, (and bearing in mind that this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea) The Story of Ricky is a fantastic re-emergence of one of cult cinema’s most exciting flavours. Riki-Oh, you’re so fine.

RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY (1991) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: NGAI CHOI LAM (SIMON NAM) / STARRING: SIU-WONG FAN, MEI SHENG FAN, KA-KUI HO / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

It’s been 65 years since small town Texarkana was terrorized by a masked serial killer. These attacks were known as The Moonlight Murders, carried out by the Phantom Killer and never solved, leading to the small town being surrounding in infamy. Present-day Texarkana embraces their terrible history on Halloween by showing a film based on the murders at a local drive-in. On the very same night, history begins to repeat itself and the Moonlight killer is back.

High schooler Jami (Addison Timlin) has her own dark past and soon becomes the next victim, though she isn’t killed by the masked murderer but she is certainly terrorized by this vengeful slasher after a very close encounter. Stalked and threatened, Jami is desperate to end the killing sprees and her own torment. In doing so she uncovers some town secrets that have a deep connection to the murderer. From there on, things start to get very dangerous as she gets close to uncovering the mystery behind the murders.

This remake of a classic slasher/horror isn’t afraid to acknowledge its original predecessor as it plays out as more of a sequel, and the decision to show footage from the original 1976 film to mark the town’s history was a very smart idea. The original film is also based loosely on a true story, which gives the film layers of history and fear. It’s a meta film that director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon has really been able to sink his teeth into, showing his love for the genre and the filmmaking process with a beautiful style and look. Having directed TV shows from Glee to American Horror Story, Alfonso has definitely had experience in building up lots of tension with added drama. The Town That Dreaded Sundown is his first feature film and it is not a shy away from his previous work, and Alfonso has definitely got his own style of directing; he has given a lot of depth to the characters and has a knack for pulling off dark humour and lightening the tone of a very sombre subject. Despite having a lot of connection to the original film, it is in fact very different in tone, which is a light cocktail of terrifying horror and awkward humour.

Although set in the present day, there is a classic ‘70s-style reminiscent of a lot of slasher horrors from that particular decade. John Carpenter’s Halloween certainly comes to mind, but also revenge horrors such as I Spit on Your Grave. There’s some great tension-building with classic gory murder scenes without showing too much, keeping the imagination running. Due to a recent mass revival of this era of slasher films, The Town That Dreaded Sundown is no fresh take on the genre as it plays by the rules and tropes of our favourite slasher films, but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. It’s a very intense creep show that’s worth a watch by anyone who is a fan of the genre.

Special Features: Interviews with cast and crew

THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (2015) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: ALFONSO GOMEZ-REJON / SCREENPLAY: ROBERTO AGUIRRE-SACASA / STARRING: ADDISON TIMLIN, TRAVIS TOPE, VERONICA CARTWRIGHT, ANTHONY ANDERSON, GARY COLE, EDWARD HERMANN / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 17TH

 

For anyone outside of the anime loop and looking in, giant fighting robots are what it’s all about. There is some truth to that, with the mech subgenre effectively serving as the backbone, and every new season usually packs one mech effort. Captain Earth is a tepid entry, with enough interesting ideas to keep it ticking over.

Second year lickspittle Manatsu Daichi is questioning his place in the world and his lot in life, staring down the inevitability of adulthood. His dad died in mysterious circumstances, and the only comfort is the knowledge that it was an act of heroism.

When a strange circular rainbow appears over the island Tanegashima, speculation and rumour grip the country. But for Daichi, it brings him back to childhood where he first crossed paths with Teppei Arashi, an odd boy from the other side of a security fence. Recognising the rainbow as the same singularity that Teppei himself produced, Daichi makes his way back to the military island complex. After an alarm sounds the impending arrival of invading aliens Kill-T-Gang, he chances his way to Captain status and seems to have a fundamental understanding control of the mech, Earth Engine Impactor.

Globe, the enigmatic defence organisation, teams Daichi with likeminded and similarly willed individuals to form the Midsummer Knights to combat the aliens. Teppei, Daichi discovers, is a former Kill-T-Gang member whose memories were wiped and whose consciousness was stowed away in the body of a teenage boy. The daughter of the base commander, Akari Yomatsuri is a quirky hacker and self-proclaimed ‘Magic Girl’. Peculiar Hana Mutou and her side kick critter Pitz, is inexplicably connected to the ship Blume.

Writer Yōji Enokido doesn’t plumb the same depth as the scripts he penned for Neon Genesis Evangelion, and that’s symptomatic of the entire series. The animation is good but not great, the characters are fun but unmemorable. There’s some cunning ideas, but it hasn’t got anything on the intelligence of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet. The brash mech combat isn’t as good as Knights of Sidonia, and not nearly as much fun as Full Metal Panic. There’s plenty of brazen sequences, especially the elaborate transformations where the central part of the mech flies through space gates and combines with its limbs. The end result looks like it just zipped out of any of the myriad Gundam series.

Episode 5 makes a change of pace and setting with some slow burn espionage aboard Globe’s space station Tenkaido. It’s an all too brief detour from the bulk of the series, but a reminder of its potential. Part 1 might not inspire you to fork out for the next instalment, but there’s enough here to enjoy.

Special Features: Clean opening and closing / Trailers

CAPTAIN EARTH PART 1 / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: TAKUYA IGARASHI / SCREENPLAY: YOJI ENOKIDO / STARRING: MIYU IRINO, HIROSHI KAMIYA, AI KAYANO, KOTORI KOIWAI, RINA HIDAKA / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 10TH

 

There’s nothing you won’t have seen before in this Irish entry into the found footage canon. The usual tropes are all in place; five teenagers fetch up in an apparently abandoned island hotel just off the country’s west coast, much drinking and pot-smoking ensues, until one of them suggests they create an ad hoc Ouija board and we discover that the island is supposedly haunted. A slide has already revealed that the friends disappeared without trace, and all that’s left to tell is in what order they meet their ends and how.

That’s not quite the whole story, as there are a couple of things going on here which set this film apart from some others of its ilk. Firstly, the entire cast are going by their given names, helping to blur the line between reality and fiction. Then there is the camerawork, which often in this kind of film will be a touch too “professional” to convince of its amateur nature. The pictures here are blurry and juddery, the cameras shaking all over the place; initially this is distracting, but ultimately it’s what gives the film its verisimilitude. Finally there’s the cast; there are in fact only two established actors among the five, and it’s impossible to tell from the universally convincing performances which those might be.

And that’s Invoked’s biggest asset and concomitantly its biggest flaw; the performances are all so natural and credible that the first half feels like an extended home movie – surely the point, but unfortunately in this instance there isn’t enough that is “cinematic” (in either the writing or production) to prevent the experience from feeling like being stuck in a tedious neighbour’s front room as they force you through all the dullest bits of their holiday films. Once the story really kicks in, your involvement in the picture is likely already to be lost.

There’s a heavy Ringu influence, too over-familiar in the seventeen years since the Japanese horror first appeared, to the visuals, which is probably enough to take anyone who knows their onions right out of the film. But for anyone who is still engaged enough to care, there are certain moments during the last half-hour which are genuinely unnerving. The last ten minutes in particular will have your hairs standing on end.

Brazilian director Humberto Rosa has an interesting background in shorts (two of which are included in the package), but it’s a shame he’s chosen the found footage genre for his first full feature in the English language. There might have been an interesting way to tell this story, with a little extra background detail, but sadly there’s very much a sense instead of having seen it all before.

Special Features: Two short films / Trailer

INVOKED / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: HUMBERTO ROSA / SCREENPLAY: AARON GIBSON, HUMBERTO ROSA / STARRING: PATRICK MURPHY, CIARA ROSE BURKE, LYNN LARKIN, CRAIG GRAINGER, AARON GIBSON / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 17TH

Originally known as Red Machine before changing the name to Endangered and Grizzly, this film finally settled on a title that doesn’t sell its premise that well, and that’s just for starters.

Rowan (James Marsden) returns to his home town at the request of the partner of a tracker who has gone missing in the woods. His brother, Beckett (Thomas Jane), is now a cop and is wary of his jailbird brethren turning up out of the blue. Beckett’s partner, Michelle (Piper Perabo), is a conservationist who is photographing wildlife in the woods. Add to this heady mix a rogue grizzly bear that is not one that is being tracked with a GPS collar and is killing both humans and other wildlife, and you’ve got a recipe for a Jaws sequel… sorry, disaster.

There is also a hunter, Douglas (Billy Bob Thornton), and the local Sherriff (Scott Glenn) who is receiving backhanders for allowing hunters to illegally hunt the bears, and Michelle is also deaf, by the way.

The main problem with the film is that even with a damn fine cast and a plotline stolen pretty much straight from 1975, it’s a bit of a jumbled mess.

Backstories are either rushed or just forgotten; characters are given little to do except argue and run except Perabo, who can just run or sign excitedly. There doesn’t seem to be any real purpose for her character to be deaf. Douglas is clearly supposed to be a Quint-like character, but he rings his performance in, and Glenn seems to be rehashing his moments onscreen from Backdraft.

The CGI near the end is deplorable and makes the final battle laughable. If there was an extra ten minutes or so added on to the running time to fill out a few unresolved issues, including the hunters that are with the tracker Johnny Cadillac at the beginning, then we’d have a halfway decent movie.

As it is, it feels rushed. Normally if the action kicks straight in, as a viewer you’re happy, but there is no set up here, no real juxtaposition. Even the opening scene with Rowan and Beckett as children feels unrelated when it should leave you feeling empathy for their characters and maybe able to understand why they grew apart into very different lives.

Hackl has one other major title in his directing belt – Saw 5 – need we say more?

A real missed opportunity here. Not so much hair-raising as hairball.

INTO THE GRIZZLY MAZE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: DAVID HACKL / SCREENPLAY: GUY MOSHE, J.R. REHER / STARRING: JAMES MARSDEN, THOMAS JANE, PIPER PERABO, BILLY BOB THORNTON, SCOTT GLENN / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 17TH

 

If reality is indeed less than television, then David Cronenberg’s undulating opus exists in the netherworld between dreamscape and rationality. For Channel 83 CEO Max Renn (James Woods), his first encounter with the Videodrome signal ushers in a hallucinogenic journey into the cognitive heart of darkness, programmed by cancer and corporate greed like a venereal riff on The Manchurian Candidate. Since its release, Cronenberg’s television musings have snowballed to encompass all mass media, for a decidedly more political and prophetic story some thirty years later. But perhaps mass media is politics, and politics less than mass media.

Channel 83’s CIVIC-TV showcases softcore pornos and violent movies to win over viewers hungry for something fleshy and red, rather than outwardly competing with the larger networks. Renn, a television libertarian, believes it’s a cathartic and healthy outlet for our violent and sexual fantasies that might otherwise manifest in reality. His sleazy network is providing a public service, and he believes this public to be after something altogether more visceral. Having a pirate on your payroll is advantageous, especially as Harlan (Peter Dvorsky) is able to access all kinds of provocative broadcasts. When he first introduces Max to a new recording, 50 seconds of plotless torture, Max realises that Videodrome is just what his punters are after.

Despite the irony of watching Videodrome on Blu-ray, Arrow’s release has scrubbed up tremendously, with the restored high-definition digital transfer allowing the viewer to pick out individual fibres of Woods’ jacket and appreciate the bright picture quality over various gloomy DVD iterations. The attention to restoration, however, has led to the work of Rick Baker and his EFX team put under the most unflattering of circumstances. The moment Woods’ pistol biomechanically morphs with his hand, an effect which the team were never satisfied with, looks particularly dated with the cold digital gaze glaring at it. The scene in which corporate despot Barry Convex (Leslie Carlson) is devoured in a mass of tumours, on the other hand, is still eye-wincingly effective.

Woods’ Canadian lilt and heavy hooded eyes add to the character’s ambivalence and the wonky moral line he walks. Co-star Debbie Harry is terrific in her first feature film role after striking out on her own from Blondie. The supporting cast especially, many of whom are first introduced on television screens, really help to sell the strangeness of the movie. Julie Khaner’s affectionate assistant Bridey is a ray of sunshine in the otherwise violent cathode ray nightmare, with Peter Dvorsky providing some light relief with great timing and sharp delivery. While Sonja Smits is charismatic and commanding as the daughter of Videodrome architect Brian O’Blivian (Jack Creley).

Visual metaphors and motifs echo throughout the films surreal turns, blending sex and violence with what begins as a smudge of sauce on a photograph and culminating in the bloody effects. It leads, in no small part, to the innumerable ways to read the film’s events, with the ending taking on different meanings depending on your own interpretation. Author and critic Tim Lucas argues that the film is circular, with the suicide pre-empting the beginning, and the beginning forever doomed to repeat the suicide.

The glut of special features illuminate the production and durability of the film, with the 1997 BBC documentary Cinema of the Extreme and the roundtable discussion with Johns Carpenter and Landis are particular highlights. The deleted scenes, taken from the dreadful TV cut, offer a more tangible sense of Videodrome and its origin. And then there’s the inclusion of Cronenberg’s early works, which anticipated the wonderful weirdness to come.

Special Features: Audio commentary / Cinema of the Extreme documentary / Forging the New Flesh documentary / Fear on Film roundtable discussion / Brand new interviews / Four of Cronenberg’s early works / Camera short film / Four featurettes / Deleted scenes / Trailer / 100-page hardback book

VIDEODROME / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCRENPLAY: DAVID CRONENBERG / STARRING: JAMES WOODS, DEBORAH HARRY, PETER DVORSKY, LESLIE CARLSON, SONJA SMITS / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 17TH