Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Tobin Bell and Lin Shaye – a pair of horror veterans – shine in this intriguing tale of retribution.

Chris (Chester Rushing) is the new kid in town who falls in with a group of kids led by Tanya (Erin Sanders) and her on-off boyfriend Zack (Mike Manning). Chris tags along with the group while they commit a bit of harassment on the house of Edith and Edward (Shaye and Bell, respectively). Edith had been the owner of the day-care where Tanya’s younger sister disappeared. Everyone assumed Edith had something to do with it, but there was no evidence. Regardless, Tanya sees it her duty to torment the woman as often as she can. Unfortunately, after this altercation, Edith has had too much and takes her own life. Several weeks later, the grieving Edward invites the gang to the house and tells them that Edith has left each of them a large sum of money; all they have to do is call a number on his office phone and stay on the line for a minute. Thinking it’s a cinch, they agree but on the end of the line is Edith and she has scores to settle.

The Call is set in 1987, and in almost every way (save for the CGI effects), could have been made in that era too. It has the flavour of films of the time and is bolstered by the horror veterans’ appearances. Tobin Bell, in particular, is suitably chilling as the widower of the accused childminder. Fans will get a thrill from hearing him tell the kids that he ‘wants to play a game’, but once the group start their separate journeys to the office and making the call, he has little else to do. The eighties setting allows the conceit to work – no smartphones or Googling going on here – and there’s an interesting denouement when the final youth picks up the receiver on the phone.

Director Timothy Woodward Jr delivers perfectly timed jump scares along the way, and it’s an undemanding, fun watch that doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Release Date: January 11th

It’s 1945, and survivors from a hospital ship torpedoed in the North Atlantic climb aboard an abandoned warship in the opening minutes of new Australian indie historical horror flick Blood Vessel. It’s a disparate and ill-at-ease bunch of nationalities and professions that hope to find salvation on the seemingly empty German minesweeper. But while this Kriegsmarine ship is steaming through the ocean without a crew, it is carrying a secret cargo and some below-deck passengers who are themselves very far from being alive.

Blood Vessel mixes up an interesting blend of some familiar ingredients: a ghost ship, a vampiric curse, nefarious Nazi occultism, and a lifeboat full of squabbling and distrustful passengers who discover that their hoped-for rescue is anything but. The characterisation of the multinational misfits is not the most subtle (the brooding Russian, the venal Brit, the resentful Yank and so on). But if these are close to being ciphers, that’s something in keeping with the B-movie enthusiasms of scriptwriters Justin Dix and Jordan Prosser.

The gore is good, and the creature make-up and art design are both striking. The ship is a suitably cramped and cavernous location, with the production able to make extensive use of a real-life floating museum for the shoot. Cinematographer Sky Davies lights and frames the film to great atmospheric effect, mixing up the in-your-face horror shots with glimpses of things in the shadows.

There are some edgy moments during the build up to the larger monster reveal; not least the discovery of strange young orphan Mya who seems to have been abandoned aboard ship. But while there’s a good sense of tension throughout, Blood Vessel turns out to be more of a fun than an especially scary horror. One reason for this is the constraints imposed by filming aboard the HMAS Castlemaine.

The tight narrow corridors and compartments certainly increase the sense of containment and entrapment. It’s the reason that wartime submarine movies can be so palpably tense. But once everyone is aboard the ship, Blood Vessel becomes quite static. The lack of room means that it’s difficult to stage fight-or-flight sequences, building up the heart-pounding visceral terror of the monster in pursuit of its next victim. Instead, the vampires declaim and then strike. It’s all done with conviction and no little style, but there’s nothing to leave the viewer reeling. It’s a film that it’s difficult to dislike (and which deserves a big tick for its witty title alone), but it’s not a vampire horror likely to take your breath away.

The special features on Umbrella’s Blu-ray include two entertaining episode commentaries (marred somewhat by a tendency for everyone to talk excitedly over everyone else). The highlights of the extras are the informative ‘making-of’ documentary and the production diary. Rather than the usual contractual-obligation promo fluff, these films provide an intriguing insight into the practicalities and challenges of bringing an indie genre flick to the screen. Both pieces also reaffirm that, in such circumstances, enthusiasm, teamwork, and a willingness to go above and beyond are as essential as raw creative talent.

Even before COVID-19 came along and laid waste to the 2020 cinema release slate, Josh Boone’s The New Mutants had already suffered multiple delays. The last hurrah of Fox’s X-Men franchise has been long coming and, after a muted cinema release in August, finally receives it home video debut. The main question is, was the wait worth it?

The New Mutants begins with Dani Moonstar (Blu Hunt) running from her village as it is ripped apart by an unseen enemy. When she wakes up, she is in some kind of hospital setting, with Dr Reyes (Alice Braga) there to greet her. She meets her fellow patients and starts to ask questions about what is going on and where they actually are.

It turns out that the establishment is more of a home for mutants, albeit without the niceties that you’d expect from Xavier’s school for the gifted. Reyes runs a tight ship, surrounding the hospital with a force field and is prepared to put the teens into isolation if necessary, but is happy for any of the mutants to move on up accommodation run by her benefactor.

Dani finds out more about the other teens – Rahne (Maisie Williams), Illyana (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her dragon puppet, Sam (Charlie Heaton) and Roberto (Henry Zaga) – and together they start to piece together exactly what Reyes has planned for them and decide to fight back. It doesn’t help that Dani doesn’t know what her power is, but when the group do find out what it is, it puts them all in danger. Can they come together and put their disparity aside, or will they look after themselves first?

Although this is still basically a superhero film – and so you can probably guess the answer to that previous question – it is very unlike the others that have come before, even in the X-Men universe. The continual delays have sucker-punched any momentum the film may have had, so it’s a real shame that something so different in the subgenre comes across as so underwhelming.

Introducing horror into the equation should have been exciting, instead it looks almost like an afterthought, like they agreed to it and then backed off (hopefully, Raimi’s Doctor Strange sequel will not suffer the same fate). Even simple scares are subdued, so it comes across more One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest than The Exorcist III.

A missed opportunity, perhaps, but then Fox’s approach to the whole franchise has been inconsistent at best, so we probably shouldn’t be surprised. Points for trying something new, but it’s now nice to know that the future of the franchise is now safely back in the hands of Marvel.

THE NEW MUTANTS is available on digital from December 28th and on DVD, Blu-ray™ and 4K Ultra HD™ on January 4th 2021

Amongst the extras on this new Arrow Video’s 4K restoration Blu-ray edition of Crash, an archive interview with star James Spader sees him answer the question, “What is CRASH about?” The reply isn’t the in-depth intellectual one you expect after having watched the film. “It’s about sex and car crashes,” says Spader and, although he elaborates a little, he’s not wrong. David Cronenberg’s Crash is indeed about sex and car crashes.

A married couple in an open relationship, James and Catherine Ballard, (James Spader and Deborah Kara Unger) seem to be in search of something to replace the lack of intimacy in their lives. Sex is their preferred method of communication as well as their hobby, whether with each other or with others. But it isn’t love. After he’s involved in a serious car accident in which Holly Hunter is involved, he becomes exposed and drawn to a group of people, led by the charismatically attractive and dangerous Elias Koteas, who find that the eroticism they seek can only be found in the interplay between people and cars, with car crashes acting like the ultimate climax. As the thrill of ever more dangerous situations is sought, Catherine becomes involved in her husband’s new ‘kink’, but will it bring them closer together or kill them?

Crash caused a huge stir when it was released. It was condemned as immoral, depraved, described as pornographic, had censors and councils shaking in their board rooms and was even banned in some parts of the world. People all over who hadn’t seen the film were outraged, boosting the film’s notoriety and box office. Twenty four years on, is Crash still so shocking?

Never intended or designed to titillate, Crash offers a deep dive into a world of sexual cultism, dangerous eroticism and extreme fetishisation, in a brilliant adaptation of a novel that is as cold as an unheated leather passenger seat in winter. As you’d expect from Cronenberg, his exploration of a particular sexuality doesn’t rely on sensationalism and holds back on emotion. Cronenberg is the observer rather than the commentator. He doesn’t celebrate, doesn’t condemn, he just shows it.
Consequently, the film itself is also a cold affair; cerebral and detached, and you watch it absorbed and fascinated, but not particularly moved.

Cronenberg’s direction is immaculate. Everything, every shot, scene, situation, contributes to sex, cars, and crashing; there is nothing more. The performances are superb, oddly distant but absolutely perfect and even brave, the actors throwing themselves fully into scenes of sex straight, gay, disabled, and automotive.

There’s no denying that the film has its horny moments, but not in the traditional sense, as if we too are beginning to get involved in the bizarre cult we’re witnessing (there’s a pretty racy car wash scene that gets the pulse racing even if the car is moving slowly). And it’s interesting that in most of the sex scenes the characters face away from each other so that there’s a distinct lack of kissing or eye contact, the things that might suggest intimate connections. As an audience, we can’t take Crash from behind – it’s a full frontal experience, and yet Cronenberg still manages to keep his feet on the brakes, ensuring that we leave any sense of intimacy outside on the drive.

The disc comes with a splendid array of extras, including the already mentioned archive interviews, some new interviews including with producer Jeremy Thomas, Howard Shore (his score is brilliant), and cinematographer Peter Suschitzky, a 1996 Q&A with Cronenberg and J.G. Ballard, and a wonderful TIFF conversation from last year with Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen. A new commentary from film scholar Adrian Martin can’t live up to a longed-for Cronenberg one, but there are several short films as well, including two by the director himself.

All in all, it’s enough to take you over the limit!

CERT: 15 | PLATFORM: DIGITAL + DVD | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

An American Pickle‘s Wikipedia page is funnier than its script. On paper, writer Simon Rich’s brine-soaked rags-to-riches story is goofy, endearing, sad, and laugh-out-loud funny. But director Brandon Trost’s attempt to bring all of that to the screen is remarkably self-defeating, mainly because it doesn’t lean hard enough into its absurdity. There are glimpses of a fun movie here, and as fleeting as they are, they do lend themselves well to its initial appeal.

After spending a century preserved in pickle brine, European ditch-digger-turned-rat-smasher Herschel Greenbaum awakes in modern-day Brooklyn, where he is unceremoniously thrust into the care of his great-grandson, Ben. Herschel’s archaic rigidity quickly clashes with Ben’s new-age struggles, resulting in the former striking out to prove Ben wrong and bring success to the Greenbaum family.

Like Rogen’s fish-out-of-water character, the film is big-hearted, well-meaning, and confused. It struggles to balance its narrative ambitions with its attempt to balance its warring tones, resulting in a lopsided product that never quite resonates the way it means to. There are chuckle-worthy moments, sure, but it’s all undercut by the fact that the movie frequently forgets how to have fun. The entire thing feels like a showcase for Rogen’s talents (which are, as usual, amazing), but it somehow doesn’t bolster him in a way that will endear him further.

Still, while An American Pickle doesn’t leave a lasting impression, it does divert and distract long enough for viewers to indulge its good-natured silliness. The film does have a heart, one that beats loudly and proudly. It may be undercooked and poorly seasoned, but An American Pickle brings up lessons about legacy that don’t end up being the point but are worth their weight in cucumbers anyway.

 

CERT: 15 | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (VOD), JANUARY 4TH (DVD, BLU-RAY)

Every six years, a team of expert fighters comes together to fend off alien invaders using the ancient art of jiu jitsu. Yeah, like Space Jam, but with martial arts instead of basketball. But when their best fighter (Alain Moussi) takes a blow to the head and loses his memory, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. Can his old pals and mentor Wylie (Nicolas Cage!) restore the meathead’s mojo before it’s too late, or is humanity doomed? And what the hell is My Name is Earl’s Crab Man doing here?

One can’t fault Jiu Jitsu for its ambition – a sci-fi martial arts picture that brings together such notable movie badasses as Tony Jaa, Frank Grillo, Rick Yune and the one and only Nicolas Cage… and Nicolas Cage’s stunt double. While director Dimitri Logothetis doesn’t take the story too seriously, the action is played straight, and its fight sequences are impressively frantic. It’s essentially Predator, if the Predator was an expert martial artist.

But what separates the bad movie aesthetic from a plain bad movie? There’s a line, and, intentionally or not, the film crosses it – the overreliance upon CGI blood, a mixed-bag cast, and charisma-free leading man. Cage hams it up in classic Cage fashion, easily stealing the film from its star, and getting all of the best lines. But the rest of the performances are one-note and charmless (or, in the case of Eddie Steeples, annoying). For Cage completists and fans of ’80s action, it’s worth a shot, but Jiu Jitsu is a hash of badly managed ideas, technical flaws and Predator rip-offs.