Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

REVIEW: AIRWOLF – THE COMPLETE COLLECTION – SEASONS 1-3 / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: VARIOUS / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: JAN-MICHAEL VINCENT, ERNEST BORGNINE, ALEX CORD / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

For those of you not lucky enough to grow up in the ’80s, Airwolf is a cold-war era action adventure drama centred around a high-tech vehicle and its plucky crew. Whereas its imitators such as Knight Rider and Street Hawk were essentially cop shows with a silly high-tech twiddle, Airwolf was a spy-fi thriller. Its main characters are gritty, broken people who do what they can in a world gone mad. They’re a plucky team of veteran professionals who save the world again and again, despite their wounds and differences. Stringfellow Hawke (the show’s main protagonist) is the very model of brave yet deep, whereas his comrade in arms Dom Santini provides comic relief by being Sancho Panza to Hawke’s Don Quixote. It’s a classic ’80s-style pairing and a memorable one at that.

Nostalgia seekers should be aware that the show is very much of its time; the pacing is much slower than modern thrillers and the plots are quite samey in places. This should not put you off however; they simply don’t make shows like this any more. Without Airwolf, there would have been no shows like JAG or NCIS – this is the grand-daddy of modern American espionage series.

Being a complete collection, the good is lumped in with the not-so-good. That means we get dull ‘disaster movie’ clunkers like Flight #093 Is Missing mixed in with Bond-like stories such as Horn of Plenty and cop show style thriller Sweet Britches.

Airwolf: The Complete Collection: Seasons 1-3 is interestingly titled. It only contains the first three seasons of the show. There is a fourth season of Airwolf and its absence may seem a bit odd to those not in the know. However, it’s universally disliked by fans of the series; the fourth season is a low budget take on the whole thing, with a different cast and storyline, pretty much being Airwolf in name only. Given that some refuse to acknowledge its existence, it’s easy to see why the last and least season has to be acquired separately. Another thing missing from this boxed set is anything in the way of extras; we get some cast biographies, some series notes and not much else. If you’ve gotten to the end of this review without humming the theme tune then this box set might not be for you. Those of you who are, however, will love this blast from the past.

Extras: Cast bios / Notes

Review: The Professionals – Mk1 / Cert: 15 / Director: Various / Screenplay: Various / Starring: Gordon Jackson, Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins / Release Date: March 31st

A massive hit when it debuted in 1977, this classic piece of cult TV gets an astonishing HD makeover thanks to Network.

Bodie (Collins) and Doyle (Shaw) are two hard-hitting agents of CI5, an elite force who are above the police and work outside their boundaries. Headed by George Cowley (Jackson), they attempt to stop terrorists and high-profile murderers by any means possible.

It’s easy to see why the show was such a success, the fast moving, uncomplicated plots and likeable leads make for fun viewing. Not every episode is a classic, and as would be expected with the format, the ‘threats’ are dealt with in a timely manner, quite often ending with a three-shot of the leads having a good old laugh over a single malt. Created by Brian Clemens (who also wrote many of the episodes, and had previously co-created ’60s hit The Avengers) it is, effectively, a heightened reality (one episode even has an assassin fire a rifle at a range of 2 miles) version of shows like The Sweeney. But while those were grounded within the realms of the law, the ‘no bureaucracy’ angle of the fictional CI5 allows the leads to be as brutal as the villains they face. The yin and yang of Bodie and Doyle (one an ex-SAS mercenary, the other a former beat bobbie) gives just the right amount of friction between the team. Jackson’s Cowley – quite a different character to what TV audiences had been used to him playing – is just as bad-ass as his recruits, not afraid to get his hands dirty himself if needs be. Throughout this first series (we didn’t call them seasons back then) there’s a wealth of brilliant British character actors popping up, from the likes of David Suchet and Roger Lloyd Pack to Diane Keen (ask your dad) and the performances are always of a high standard; even the oft-criticised Collins is not as wooden as people say.

As is often the case with vintage TV, there is occasionally some jaw-dropping casual sexism, and in Klansmen, an episode pulled from the original broadcast, some racist behaviour which makes for very uncomfortable viewing. That episode aside, it’s never too violent, and the sight of the team rolling around on the floor and throwing themselves over car bonnets in their tight-fitting trousers while funky wakka-wakka music is played is more likely to raise a smile than offend. The fact it spawned several tie-in annuals and even a comic strip in the short lived Look-In rip-off Tops is testament to its ‘family’ appeal. And the theme tune is still fantastic.

Network’s restoration of the original negatives (made possible by the practice of shooting ’70s drama shows on 16mm film) is superb, breathing new life into the image, and giving it a ‘just filmed’ look (fashions not withstanding), and the sound is clear as a bell, in both the original mono and new 5.1 mix.

Extras: Exclusive book written by archive television historian Andrew Pixley, fully detailing the history and production of the first thirteen episodes / All episodes feature original Assault Course titles (and Cowley narration on the first three episodes) / All episodes are presented in their original production order/Brand-new Dolby 5.1 mixes along with original as-broadcast mono and music-only tracks / Without Walls: 1996 Channel 4 documentary on The Professionals / HD image galleries including shots of Anthony Andrews as Bodie/Raw title sequence, original ad bumper and series two titles demo / Additional footage / PDF material

Review: Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell / Cert: 15 / Director: Terence Fisher / Screenplay: Anthony Hinds / Starring: Peter Cushing, Shane Briant, Madeline Smith, Dave Prowse, John Stratton, Patrick Troughton, Bernard Lee, Charles Lloyd Pack / Release Date: April 28th

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is just another Hammer Horror. Of course, that’s exactly what it is, but it’s actually a rather interesting one in the context of the Hammer canon. Neither fondly nor well remembered, and seldom seen on TV even in the days when an old Hammer was Saturday’s post-pub viewing of choice, this humble horror movie actually represents something of a last hurrah for a much loved genre.

It was released at a time when most Hammers were unrecognisable from the Gothic origins of Curse of Frankenstein (1957). The studio was dabbling in (lame) comedy and (rather good) thrillers. All the horror output seemed to consist of was the sexed-up Karnstein trilogy and Big Chris’s Dracula travails transplanted to groovy ’70s London. So the Curse trio of Hinds/Fisher/Cushing were going back to basics with a Frankenstein set in a 19th century lunatic asylum. Dear Lord, there was even less sex in this one than a ’50s Hammer. So was it any good? Well, up to a point, yes.

The recently-bereaved Cushing might not look too chipper but he’s still in fine form in the role he created and even manages a bit of Van Helsing-esque physical heroics, while Shane Briant is disturbingly good as the handsome yet appropriately-odd Frankenstein acolyte. Madeline Smith doesn’t get to do too much except stand around looking demure (this reviewer will watch anything with Madeline Smith in it, nevertheless) but there’s even a cameo from Patrick Troughton as an alcoholic grave robber in the cracking cemetery opening. And while we’re on the subject of stock Hammer-types, both the asylum staff and inmates are excellent with a good dose of dark humour (even if it’s all a bit politically incorrect by today’s standards). But it’s not perfect Hammer.

There are those of us who reckon the whole Frankenstein story is, frankly, a bit limited and the twists here (brain of a genius; hands of a craftsman; body of a psychopath, in case you’re wondering) had all been done before. Furthermore, the traditionally minuscule Hammer budget shows with an unrecognisable Dave Prowse in a rubber suit as the rubbish monster. Why did he keep getting these weird gigs? The body parts and “Kensington Gore” look good (along with the inexplicable-yet-ever-present spinning-wheel thing in the lab) but the long shots of the asylum use a cardboard model that looks like it was made by the kids in year 3. That wasn’t like Hammer; they were always good at hiding the cheapness.

But on balance, it’s engaging, fun and it really got the atmosphere of classic Hammer at a time when that was often sadly absent. In the end, you really have to love it despite the total absence of Michael Ripper who, one assumes, was unwell that day.

Extras: Taking Over The Asylum – The Making Of Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell / Charming Evil – Terence Fisher at Hammer / Audio commentary by Shane Briant and Madeline Smith, moderated by Marcus Hearn / Animated stills gallery

Review: White of the Eye / Cert: 18 / Director: Donald Cammell / Screenplay: Donald Cammell, China Cammell / Starring: David Keith, Cathy Moriarty / Release Date: March 31st

Donald Cammell’s reputation hinges on just four movies. It’s slim pickings, for sure, but the work is distinct and infused not just with a brash, paradoxical absurdity, that mirrored Cammell’s own rather bleak view of the world, but also with quirky framing, off-the-wall editing techniques and playful compositions that keep the films’ realities constantly in flux and never settled.

White of the Eye (released in 1987) was the Scottish filmmaker’s penultimate effort and an adaption of the novel, Mrs White (1983) by Margaret Tracy. As with the others, shifting identities and a mass of contradictions abound, this time within the filmic study of an insane man. It isn’t just a serial killer movie, oh no, but a story that wishes to attain transcendence from generic strictures.

Paul White (Keith) is murdering housewives in and around Tuscon, Arizona. His wife, played by Cathy Moriarty, an actress who excels in tough cookie and brassy dame roles, is initially clueless and thinks he’s having an affair. Joan White, however, comes to the realisation that her hubby is hiding something much more insidious than an occasional extra-marital tryst.

Paul’s reason for killing women isn’t just plain old hatred of the female form either – it’s cosmically existential; a philosophy that marries misogyny to the strains of Schopenhauerian musings on art and aesthetics. The ghoulish scene in which Paul drowns a victim in a bathtub, holding a mirror to her face so she can see her dying reflection, outdoes anything dished out by Argento in his sadistic pomp.

Arrow Video’s dedication to re-releasing cult and forgotten gems is exemplary. This might turn out to be one of the best releases of 2014. The restoration, taken from original 35mm materials and scanned in 2k resolution, was headed by James White at Deluxe Digital Cinema and has retained the kooky stylistic bleached-out effects that might look like accidents or uncorrected mistakes, but were very much part of the photographic conception devised by the director, Larry McConkey (cinematographer) and Alan Jones (lighting cameraman).

The extras are meaty and in-depth. There’s the inclusion, too, of the 1998 BBC documentary about Cammell’s career and life. He committed suicide in 1996, at the age of 62, leaving behind at least one highly regarded classic (Performance, 1970) and three cult pictures.

Extras: Deleted Scenes / Audio Commentary / Into The White featurette / Restoration comparison / Booklet / Donald Cammell – The Ultimate Performance feature-length documentary / Alternate Credits / The Argument short

Review: Skinwalkers / Cert: 15 / Director: Devin McGinn / Screenplay: Adam Ohler / Starring: Taylor Bateman, Steve Berg, Michael Black, Erin Cahill, Carol Call / Release Date: Out Now

Paranormal Activity with aliens. Is that enough? . The DVD cover boasts “based on true events” but one can only hope that the ‘true events’ were a damn sight more interesting and exciting than this lame found footage runaround which barely has enough meat on its bones to stagger over its pitiful sixty-odd minute running time. Seriously, the found footage thing is on its knees now; we’re all heartily sick and tired of watching ramshackle documentary makers journeying out into Hicksville to investigate some unexplained local legend before eventually being picked off one by one by something we never see properly as some clown of a cameraman insists on recording everything despite being chased by monsters/vampires/Big Foot (delete as applicable).

Skinwalkers, to give it what due we can, does at least shake the basic format up a bit by throwing alien abduction into a confused and confusing mix which also offers up the more typical ghosts, possession and monsters so fundamental to the ’found footage’ subgenre. Following the sudden disappearance (in a flash of light) of the eight-year-old son of ranch worker Hoyt Miller, a crack troop of investigators from MDE (Modern Defence Enterprises) set off to the Skinwalker Ranch with their cameras and CCTV equipment to investigate not only the boy’s disappearance but other unexplained phenomena in the area. In best PA style the ranch is decked out with night-cameras and before long the weird stuff is happening and everyone’s running around shouting ‘Oh my God’ as the camera image conveniently breaks up just before anything interesting or scary appears on screen.

Although Skinwalkers uses actual reported events (we’ll refrain from calling them ‘true events’, if you don’t mind) as its basis (the real-world Skinwalker ranch, in Utah, became the focus of much agitation amongst the paranormal community in 2010), it’s entirely unable to do anything particularly inventive with them. There’s a desperate air of cheesy unbelievably in the on-camera interviews with locals, the MDE bunch are utterly unmemorable and the constantly interrupted camera recordings just leave the viewer frustrated. Relying far too much on tropes popularised by the likes of Paranormal Activity and Blair Witch, no amount of blazing lights, screeching and vaguely extraterrestrial-looking creatures prowling around in the shadows can help distinguish Skinwalkers from an endless tiresome tide of found footage movies. The genre has just become a cheap and cynical gimmick rather than the interesting storytelling experiment it might once have been a very long time ago and Skinwalkers is just the latest in what’s now a thoroughly-inessential and exhausted fad. 

Extras: None

Review: Ender’s Game / Cert: 12 / Director: Gavin Hood / Screenplay: Gavin Hood / Starring: Asa Butterfield, Abigail Breslin, Harrison Ford / Release Date: Out Now

Orson Scott Card’s novel, Ender’s Game, took many of the pressing concerns of the ’80s and flung them into the future, from overpopulation to technology encroaching on daily life. In 2014, these concerns are even more demanding, making Ender’s Game feel far more relevant today than on publication.

For much of the film though, you can’t help but feel cheated, as if you’re watching a sports movie posing as sci-fi. In between the ‘games’ there are some impressive interstellar depictions and with 2001 pretensions and the ‘games’ themselves, it looks more like ballet in space.

While Asa Butterfield is making strides in his acting career as the eponymous protagonist, it’s Harrison Ford who commands the screen in every scene he’s in, with a strong and sincere performance. Ben Kingsley, too, is highly entertaining and watchable during his brief time on-screen.

It’s entertaining and stirring to see how Ender inspires loyalty in his teammates during the ‘game’ sequences. The CG ‘mind games’ are a particular stand-out, looking like an underrated indie gem in the Playstation Store.

The film does throw the odd narrative curveball and raises ethical and moral questions about wartime and whether it’s justifiable to put mass responsibility on the shoulders of children. Whatever the agenda, the film makes sure the audience walks away knowing there are always causalities and consequences during war.

The film moves far too quickly however, the succession of quick cuts often jarring and never lingering long enough for any real connection. During the scenes where the camera takes a backseat and the characters get all teary-eyed, the dialogue is often wooden and unnatural.

Without giving the whole plot away, the film does put some interesting spins on common sci-fi tropes, but praise is due more to the source material than the film itself. The real story begins with the end of the film, which while tantalising is far too abrupt. Card’s Speaker for the Dead answers many of the questions thrown up by the films ending, but, unfortunately is set some 3000 years after Ender’s Game.

Extras: None

Review: Sparks / Cert: 15 / Director: Christopher Folino, Todd Burrows / Screenplay: Christopher Folino / Starring: Chase Williamson, Ashley Bell, Clancy Brown, William Katt, Jake Busey, Clint Howard / Release Date: April 7th

Adapted from Folino’s graphic novel of the same name, Sparks is a low-budget, gritty, noir superhero story that is a delightful change of pace from the big summer superhero blockbusters that we’ve become accustomed to. Not to say that those epic extravaganzas are a bad thing, it’s just refreshing to see somebody make something so fulfilling for such a relatively small cost – and that is where Sparks comes into its own.

Set in the 1940s, the story follows titular hero Ian Sparks (Williamson) in a tangled web of action, romance and atmospheric charm. After a horrific accident leaves Sparks orphaned, we get to see the young hero-in-waiting taking his first baby steps towards protecting the innocent. During this time, we also get to meet Sparks’ supportive grandmother (Lynne Marie Stewart) and a concerned police officer, Archer (Brown). Sparks is a hero who has no superpowers to speak of, just the ability to fight the good fight and take one hell of a beating. Starting in his local town, taking down minor thugs, it’s not long before Sparks sets his sights on something bigger.

Graduating to the streets of the big city, Sparks begins to team with Lady Heavenly (Bell), a sultry, sexy ass-kicker who quickly becomes Sparks’ significant other. Joined by Sledge (Busey), the team do their best to keep the streets clean, although the apparent reappearance of the twisted, perverted Metanza (Katt) sends Sparks off the deep end, losing everything that he holds dear and sending him down a path of self-destruction. Out to clear his name and erase his demons, Sparks’ story literally unravels before our eyes as he tells his tale to the Daily Chronicle’s editor (Howard).

Sparks succeeds where so many bigger budget movies fail – anybody remember The Spirit? – in that it manages to balance style and substance. Aesthetically pulling from the likes of Sin City and Watchmen, the movie is a unique entity. Using low-fi SFX work to give a gritty, rough-around-the-edges feel, Sparks makes the best of what it has. With a well-delivered, intriguing story combined with multi-layered characters and a tone that makes Gotham City’s gargoyles look like singing angels, Sparks is the superhero genre’s dirty little secret.

Full of great performances from a fantastic cast, particularly the ever-charismatic Clancy Brown, Sparks is as stylish as it is disturbing, and Foloni and Burrows’ film delivers a villain as sadistic as they come. Throw in a Hans Zimmer-esque score and you have a gem of a film. Whereas other low-budget superhero flicks, like All Superheroes Must Die, often come off as low in quality, Sparks gets the most out of everything at its disposal, creating a massively satisfying and enjoyable movie that’s worth hunting down.

Extras: Audio Commentary / The Making of Sparks / Deleted Scene.

Review: MurderDrome / Cert: 18 / Director: Daniel Armstrong / Screenplay: Daniel Armstrong, Louise Monnington / Starring: Kat Anderson, Daisy Masterman, Amber Sajbeny / Release Date: May 12th

Roller derby has an odd place in the geek culture. It’s an internationally popular sport dominated by all-female amateur teams from all walks of life, but despite Hollywood attention, it is regarded by many as not part of the mainstream, bringing with it a sardonic and mocking aesthetic that draws steadily on the worlds of sci-fi, fantasy and horror that sets it apart from less interesting sports.

MurderDrome draws upon this close-knit counter culture as inspiration to create a marvellously messy and weird little exploitation horror movie. The tale revolves round a band of plucky Roller derby girls who, thanks to a cursed artefact, get caught up in the affairs of demonic roller girls who have crawled out of hell itself. Chaos ensues and lots of fake blood gets fountained all over the place. As you might expect, the main characters all have roller derby-style nicknames (Cherry Skye, Trans Em, etc) and this helps lend a cartoon-like quality to characters, making the entire thing a rather light-hearted if gory movie.

Make no mistake, MurderDrome is a truly terrible film. It’s poorly directed, badly shot, the pacing is terrible and the plot makes no sense, becoming incoherent at times. It’s so low budget that it almost begs for change, though this is part of its charm. However, the actual dialogue is really good. It’s filled with quotable lines that, taken out of context are really funny and clever, it’s just that they’re delivered poorly by a clearly under-rehearsed cast.

This mix of funny lines, exploitation kitsch and sub-culture setting almost guarantees that it will become a cult classic. It’s not a good movie in the slightest but given that the entire thing cost less to produce than the price of a family car, that’s to be expected. If you’re a roller derby junkie who likes dumb horror movies with a punk rock and horror aesthetic, or if you’re just looking for something to put on in the background after a successful bout then this is likely to make you giggle.

Extras: Gag reel / Picture in Picture Commentary / VFX / Music videos / “From Parts Unknown” short

Review: The Stuff / Cert: 15 / Director: Larry Cohen / Screenplay: Larry Cohen / Starring: Michael Moriarty, Andrea Marcovicci, Garrett Morris / Release Date: Out Now

With the likes of It’s Alive, God Told Me To and Q – The Winged Serpent under his belt, Larry Cohen has ever been the master of high concept. A highly addictive mass-marketed dessert that takes over your mind and eats you from the inside? Sold! But if you know Cohen, you’ll also know that this was never going to be quite the ride you were expecting it to be.

In a characteristically eccentric performance, Cohen’s preferred leading man Moriarty plays a sacked FBI agent turned industrial saboteur extraordinaire nicknamed Mo (‘because when people give me money, I always want mo’) who’s hired by a shady consortium of dessert tycoons to find out what exactly the Stuff is and halt production, before its unprecedented popularity puts all their asses out of business. Teaming up with Jason (Scott Bloom), a young boy who’s lost his family to Stuff addiction, and Nicole (Marcovicci), the deadly dessert’s head ad exec until she witnesses its effects, Mo gradually discovers the gruesome extent of the threat the Stuff poses to mankind, with results in equal portions horrific and hilarious.

Yep, this is every bit as cheesy as it sounds, and Cohen absolutely revels in it. So should you. From the ultra-’80s Stuff TV ads, to Paul Sorvino leading a comedy right-wing private army against a mass of gelatinous white goo, you just never know exactly where this unhinged narrative is going to go next. But despite being so off the wall, The Stuff also plays today as the quintessential American ’80s horror flick, encapsulating all their throwaway silliness and bravura splatter tendencies (albeit with white goo replacing the usual claret) in one barking mad 92 minute swoop.

Of course, the film’s satirical message – on how massive multinationals keep themselves stinking rich by selling us products that addict and slowly kill us – is just as pertinent today as it was then. A scene where we clearly see a McDonald’s right next to where a dedicated Stuff kiosk is been blown to smithereens serves to remind us how nothing has really changed in this respect.

Get some Stuff into your life today – “Enough is never enough!”

Extras: ‘Can’t Get Enough of The Stuff’ Documentary / Darren Bousman Trailer commentary / Original trailer

Review: Dolls / Cert: 18 / Director: Stuart Gordon / Screenplay: Ed Naha / Starring: Ian Patrick Williams, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Carrie Lorraine / Release Date: Out Now

The ’80s were a boom-time for horror. The explosion of home video meant that a plethora of genre titles were released weekly, cashing in on the new format. One person who took advantage of this was Charles Band, who produced a whole slew of cheap terror films during the period. One of those films was Dolls.

The plot is simple enough – a storm maroons a group of strangers at an old mansion, where they are welcomed in by the elderly owners and they settle down for the night. However, they are not alone, as the titular figures start picking them off one by one. Told you it was simple!

It’s cheap and cheesy and reminds you of exactly why you loved horror films as a kid, but now you can see the cracks and gaps. Apart from the fact that the only characters to die are the ones who deserve it, there seems to be little to the film.

There are perhaps the two most annoyingly accented British characters in a horror film ever, sub-par special effects (it seems amazing that this was released the same year as Child’s Play) and some of the worst acting this side of the Razzie Awards.

The release itself is bare bones as you can get. Apart from a commentary (with Gordon and Naha), there are no extras, not even the original trailer. The sound mix appears to be off, as a lot of the dialogue is so low that you have to turn the volume up to try and decipher what part of the scenery is being chewed. In this day and age, with older films getting releases that they deserve, packages like this are pretty unacceptable.

The film is worth a viewing just to see how cheaply some of these films were put together before CGI came along, but be warned that it’s a film you’ll only need to watch once. And to think that this was directed by Stuart Gordon and part produced by Brian Yuzna, who both had hands in the classic Re-Animator. Shudder.

Extras: Audio commentary.