Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

DOCTOR WHO: FURY FROM THE DEEP

PLATFORMS: DVD, BLU-RAY | RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 14TH

Broadcast just once in the UK in 1968, its tapes wiped (along with well over a hundred other early Doctor Who episodes) in the 1970s, Fury from the Deep has a special place in the affections of long-time fans of the series. Recovered censored clips from Australia – included on this new three-disc set – suggest a creepy, atmospheric story which, unusually for the series at the time, took its inspiration from events in the contemporary world.

With North Sea Gas offering plentiful supplies of cheap energy for the UK in the late 1960s, the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his friends, Jamie (Frazer Hines)and Victoria (Deborah Watling), pitch up in timely fashion at a coastal refinery installation (giving the Doctor an opportunity to wield, for the very first time in the series, the sonic screwdriver device which would slowly, over the years, become a ‘get out of jail free’ magic wand) where the Doctor detects what sounds like a heartbeat inside a huge pipeline. The trio is quickly captured by the base’s security guards and fall foul of its short-tempered boss Robson (Victor Maddern) who is himself distracted by the fact that they have lost contact with one of the connected drilling rigs and that there is an unexplained drop in the feed line from the rigs. The Doctor discovers that the pipeline has been infiltrated by a hideous alien parasite weed creature that thrives on the emergent gas and uses it as a weapon as it prepares to overwhelm first the base and, ultimately, the world. It’s no surprise, then, that Victor Pemberton’s lively six-part serial has been selected as the latest in the BBC’s strategy of animating missing episodes from the show’s canon.

Inevitably, though, this new release is very much an interpretation of the serial rather than a recreation. Crystal clear off-air audio recordings are married to visuals that are clearly far grander and more spectacular than a 1960s BBC TV budget could manage and yet despite a few recurring animation niggles from previous releases – many characters just stand around twitching and wiggling their eyebrows – this is actually a much-improved and more assured production. Character movement is generally more fluid and naturalistic and the format allows many of the serial’s best-remembered moments – oceans of foam rolling around the base, one character walking into the sea to her apparent doom, humans infected by and sprouting patches of hostile weed – are revisited and lose none of their chill factor in animated form. A hectic helicopter escape from a sea rig is surely far more elaborate and spectacular than it ever appeared on screen, with the Doctor’s copter ducking and diving between huge tendrils of weed that rise up from the broiling sea. Fury From the Deep is classic Doctor Who in so many ways, combining the ‘base under siege’ format so popular in the era with the ‘corrupted, possessed humanity’ trope that the show has always utilised so effectively.

Previous animated releases such as ‘The Macra Terror’ and ‘The Faceless Ones’ failed to properly engage due to inferior scripts and animation that wasn’t quite able to do justice to the story or else took too many visual liberties but this is a pacey, hugely watchable realisation of one of the great 1960s Doctor Who serials which even manages to deliver a tear-jerking finale the 21st-century series itself would be proud of as the Doctor’s companion Victoria (Deborah Watling) takes her leave of the TARDIS, a moment nicely seeded throughout the serial as she continually bemoans her lot and despairs of a lifestyle composed of little else but running, screaming, and shrieking in terror. Decent extras include an interesting documentary on the making of the animation and a fun feature in which cast and crew return to the original windswept locations, even visiting the crumbling sea fort where action scenes in the last two episodes were filmed. There’s also the usual collections of commentaries and galleries with the main feature presented in colour and black-and-white for the die-hards.

ATTACK OF THE UNKNOWN

CERT: TBC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (US), TBC (UK)
An elite SWAT team swoop on a group of criminals, apprehending one of the main men. While transferring hard nut drug lord Miguel (Robert LaSardo), their van loses power and it sounds as though there’s a large scale assault happening outside. Leading the SWAT team is Vernon (Richard Grieco), who having just been diagnosed with terminal blood cancer is even wearier of everything than usual, who assumes someone is attempting to break the prisoner out, and they close ranks, trying to get him to the nearest police station. Upon leaving the van, they see what’s really happening: an all-out alien invasion.
Low-budget queen Tara Reid makes an appearance as the legend of the alien visitors is recounted (how lucky is it that the one bad guy they saved has heard of them?), and to keep things up to date, a YouTube blogger happens to have made it to the police station for safety so it along for the ride (and comedy value).

The title and aliens scream cheap ‘50s sci-fi but the action is straight out of the action film playbook, and the clash of genres doesn’t always work. Make no mistake, though, writer/director Brandon Slagle appears to know the film’s limitations and plays it purely B-movie. From the dialogue to embracing the clichés, it never seems to take itself too seriously, despite the earnestness of the actors. Which is probably where the charm of the picture is. It may feel as though the most generic cop thriller has been edited into a cheap knock-off of Independence Day at times, but it’s all harmless fun.

NAIL IN THE COFFIN: THE FALL AND RISE OF VAMPIRO

Nail In the Coffin tells the story of Vampiro, the wrestler, and Ian Hodgkinson, the man behind the face paint. We follow his life from his early days in the music industry, where working with Milli Vanilli exposed young Ian to being around things that aren’t quite what they seem, to the birth of Vampiro, a persona that only a man with Hodgkinson’s innate rock star charisma could pull off.

From there, Vampiro’s career takes him through a hugely successful stint with AAA in Mexico in the early ’90s, rough times in WCW (whose viewers – and, indeed, fellow wrestlers – didn’t quite get on board with the character) and, most recently, a life split between working in Mexico and raising a teenage daughter (Dasha, who also participates in the documentary) in Canada. Many stories are told about breaking into the business, using wrestling as an escape from reality and, thankfully not quite as depressing as it might sound, what can happen when your time in the spotlight is over.

Vamp’s home life is very much the main focus of the documentary, grounding the overall narrative with a story of a single father grappling with fame, notoriety and everything that entails. A vast amount of archive home video footage and more recent material from modern-era AAA and the criminally underappreciated Lucha Underground provide a wealth of fascinating insight for wrestling fans, and some familiar faces pop up here and there to provide some extra context. Engaging, thoughtful and heartfelt, Nail In The Coffin is a worthy examination of both a legendary figure in the wrestling world and the man behind it.

Nail In The Coffin is available on Blu-ray from Epic Pictures, and also on demand from most major streaming services.

WIDOW’S POINT

CERT: 15 / PLATFORM: DVD, DIGITAL / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 14TH

Adapted for the screen from Richard and Billy Chizmar’s 2018 novel of the same name, Widow’s Point is a time-flipping ‘supernatural horror’ that’s agreeable enough but unlikely to give many viewers’ sleepless nights. Novelist Thomas Livingstone is researching a new book about the grim, body-strewn history of the titular lighthouse. As a promotional gambit, he agrees to spend a weekend alone on site, videoing his experiences and delving further into the place’s cautionary past.

Isolated haunted buildings have an obvious appeal to budget-conscious indie filmmakers. The real-life Dunkirk Lighthouse on New York’s Lake Erie provides a suitably atmospheric setting although, as a piece of architecture, it’s a functional rather than an awe-inspiring example of the form. While director Gregory Lamberson’s screenplay fleshes out the Chizmars’ more solitary tale with extra characters, most of the weight of Widow’s Point rests on the shoulders of Craig Sheffer as Livingstone. Before the focus shifts almost entirely to the foolish author, several scenes re-enact the lighthouse’s dark backstory. In these more populated segments, the overall acting quality dips noticeably.

As Livingstone loses contact with the world outside, and spooky goings-on impact on his perception of reality, his psyche begins to unravel. Sheffer does not hold back in depicting Livingstone’s disconnected, dissociated state. These are the film’s strongest moments, their impact reinforced by some tight editing. The glimpses of ghoulish spectres, ghostly hands reaching out to grasp unsuspecting flesh, and the eerie sounds of disembodied voices: all of this is competently done, but none of this build-up is particularly scary. And even Sheffer’s determination to give it his all is not enough to salvage the rushed and underwhelming finale.

THE COMIC (1985)

CERT: 15 / FORMAT: BLU-RAY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Such is the length and breadth of the history of film that the occasional masterpiece slips through the cracks, and Arrow Films have unearthed more than their fair share of hidden gems. But art is subjective, and one man’s masterpiece is another man’s headscratcher, and Arrow’s Blu Ray release of the 1985 dark comedy The Comic Is very much the latter.

Set in a near future where everything seems to have gone to shit – 2020, perhaps? – The Comic is the story of Sam Coex, a struggling stand-up comedian who will do whatever it takes to make it. The world Sam inhabits is strange, and threatening, bordering on the surreal, and the piece tries so hard to earn its artistic chops that you almost have to admire its audacity.

The stylistic choices made by the director, however, are not backed up by his script, not the performances of the cast, most of whom attack their scenes with an unspoken intent to reinvent the artform, regardless of whether the world is ready for it. This leaves The Comic looking like a ninety-minute pop video, and very much of its time, with the quality you’d expect from such a stretched endeavour.

With a less than perfect transfer, the end result leaves you wishing that, while Arrow can generally be relied upon to curate a catalogue of treasures, some things are better left buried. The Comic may trigger memories of tapes found at the local video shop after the Saturday rush, but it’s unlikely to find much of an appreciative audience outside of that tiny, tiny niche.

MORTAL

CERT: 15 / PLATFORM: DIGITAL, DVD / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Norwegian director André Øvredal has been impressing mainstream audiences with movies such as Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, though STARBURST readers will remember him from the 2010 cult-smash Trollhunter, which took Norwegian mythology and dragged it into the modern era.

Mortal is a return to form for Øvredal. This is a story set in Norway that leans heavily on the old myths and beliefs for its inspiration. The plot revolves around Eric (Nat Wolff) a young American whose holiday to Scandinavia has ended in disaster. We find Eric homeless and afraid, following a house fire of which he is the sole survivor. Every time Eric is in danger, strange phenomena occurs and tragedy follows.

Eric is arrested and ends up bonding with psychologist Christine (Iben Akerlie), and the pair attempt to figure out where Eric’s power is coming from, whilst evading the authorities as well as a shadowy American agency. This is a supernatural horror thriller, similar in style to The Omen or The Medusa Touch, but dressed up a gritty superhero story such as Brightburn or Chronicle.

Mortal’s main issue is its central character. Eric spends so much of his time yelling, screaming and curling up into a ball that it becomes hard to empathise with him. Wolff does such a good job of playing an out-of-his-depth weirdo that we don’t care too much about him. It also suffers from Trollhunter‘s problem in that the conclusion of the movie promises a much more interesting follow up story that we’ll likely never see. Mortal is an antidote to the superhero blockbuster, but it could have been so much more.

BUSTER KEATON: 3 FILMS (VOLUME 3)

CERT: U / FORMAT: BLU-RAY / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 24TH

Those lovely folks at Eureka have once again graced us with another bountiful boxset of Buster’s box office beauties. As with Volume 2, this are presented from new restorations, two of which are from 2k and Go West, which is presented from a 4k restoration.

Our Hospitality is the earliest work on display here and follows Keaton as William McKay, a hapless (Of course) chap who pops down to the south to view his inheritance. The storyline is a simple one that Keaton will return to on numerous occasions, but its hardly the story you came for, right? While it seems odd to define this work as ‘early’ in a nine-year career high, it most certainly is, and the delight is in seeing the seeds planted that will grow over the next six years. College, on the other hand, is brilliant but lacklustre. It feels at this point that Keaton has found, albeit a winning formula, a rather formulaic one. Still worth your time.

The reason to buy here is Go West. Whilst sadly not soundtracked by The Pet Shop Boys and a Welsh male voice choir, this is something very different in the Keaton oeuvre. Ditching the inevitable boy meets girl, Keaton opts for boy meets bovine. Keaton plays Friendless- perhaps his take on Chaplin’s Tramp – a loner whose friend, Brown Eyes, is off to the slaughter unless Friendless can save her. The result is that cattle stampede through L.A.

All three films offer something different and the image quality is impeccable. However, just try playing the song Go West over the movie of the same name, particularly the stampede scene and tell us that old Buster wouldn’t have added ‘80s electronica had he the chance.

A NIGHT OF HORROR: NIGHTMARE RADIO

CERT: TBC / FORMAT: DVD, VOD / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 1ST (US), TBC (UK)

The world needs more anthology horror movies. Scary stories tend to suit a shorter narrative and it’s a great opportunity for script-writers and film makers to show what can be done with very little. A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio is essentially a showcase of some of the more interesting horror talent out there, held together by a very thin framing device.

The premise is that late-night DJ Rod Wilson is a talk-show radio host who tells creepy stories well into the night. People call Rod with their own stories and then Rod out shines them with some of his own. These are the shorts. We get an interesting mix of stories. Post Mortem Mary is a creepy Wild West tale of death and photography. The Disappearance of Willie Bingham is a slow-burn tale of crime, punishment and horrific torture. We get a few variants on urban myths, including ‘the call from inside the house’ and the more than a few remixes on the near-invisible lurking monsters.

The problem is that this is, in part, a true anthology. They’ve gathered together short-films from scene and put them into one package. This means that there’s no real theme across the stories; a clever take on the ‘hunter in the woods’ is followed by another ‘monster in the closet’ story and the framing device struggles to keep the stories connected in any way.

If you’re the sort of person who likes their scary stories short but doesn’t spend their time at movie festivals or scouring YouTube, then this is what you want. We hope to see more stuff like this in future.

MR VAMPIRE (1985)

CERT: 15 / FORMAT: BLU-RAY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Horror and comedy have gone hand in hand for years, from Abbott and Costello to Ghostbusters and even Scream. Yet, some of the greatest horror comedies of all time are still criminally underrepresented. One of the deepest and most rewarding wells of the sub-genre is easily the ‘80s offerings of East Asian directors like Sammo Hung and Ricky Lau. Lau’s first horror comedy, Mr Vampire, is the latest film in Lau’s filmography to receive a restoration from Eureka!

Master Gau (Lam Ching-Ying) performs complex magic to keep the undying corpses of vampires, eternally at rest. After accepting a reburial job from a wealthy businessman, Gau stumbles across a powerful vampire, and takes him home to study. Whilst Gau works to keep the vampire at bay, his two inept apprentices Man-choi and Chau-sang, work hard to woo the daughter of the wealthy businessman.

After the success of Sammo Hung’s Encounters of the Spooky Kind, horror comedy became a more bankable venture in Hong Kong and Chinese markets. So much so that Hung produced this film for Lau in 1985, five years after Hung’s breakthrough film. The goofy roots of Hung’s humour are easily spotted in Lau’s Mr Vampire, as is the fondness for sheer camp, folklore, and slapstick. From scene one, Mr Vampire is a farce in every possible way, its story spurred forward by sheer misfortune and stupidity. Its characters are a mixture of classic pantomime archetypes caught in a fateful duel with pure evil. The results are inconsistent but so easily enjoyable the film is a worthwhile venture.

Though made in the ‘80s the period setting and cosiness of the humour is very reminiscent of the old Hollywood Abbot and Costello films. The dark gory roots of ‘80s Chinese horror cinema lie with auteurs like Chang Cheh, but Lau’s is a world of family friendly thrills. Whatever horror might have been in the original folklore is all but stripped out in favour of slapstick and stupidity. Which isn’t a bad thing at all. Lau carefully balances his goofy comedy with fascinating folk magic and action set pieces bound to entertain even the most hard core fans of East Asian cinema. It’s also a wonderful starting point for potential new fans of the subgenre.

SUPERMAN: MAN OF TOMORROW

CERT: 12 | PLATFORM: DIGITAL, DVD, BLU-RAY (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 23RD (DIGITAL), SEPTEMBER 7TH (HOME VIDEO)

With the phenomenal Justice League Dark: Apokolips War bringing the DC Animated Movie Universe to a close earlier this year, the world of animated DC pictures is a fresh canvas in every possible way. And now, the formative days of the Big Blue Boy Scout’s rise to herodom gets an all-new adventure in Man of Tomorrow.

In Man of Tomorrow, we find a Clark Kent (Darren Criss) who is serving as an intern at the Daily Planet while also moonlighting as a masked hero. Unsure of himself or his place in the world, this is an angle to Clark that’s rarely been focussed on in an animated feature as the film pulls plentiful elements of characterisation from the fantastic Superman: Birthright comic book run, and screenwriter Tim Sheridan does a marvellous job in hitting the right beats for such a tale.

While it’s always initially a little jarring to hear new voices in roles so synonymous with other dulcet tones, the cast of Man of Tomorrow all deliver wonderfully. Darren Criss makes for a stoic but vulnerable Superman – with one particular scene bringing genuine goosebumps to the arms – Alexandra Daddario’s Lois Lane is forever fiery in hunting down the big stories of the day, Zachary Quinto devilishly devours every scene his Lex Luthor is in, Ike Amadi absolutely nails the calm demeanour of the Martian Manhunter, Brett Dalton shows great versatility as his Rudy Jones gets put through the wringer more than most, and Ryan Hurst’s gravel-drenched delivery is an inspired choice for Lobo.

It’s not just the cast who are new here, for director Chris Palmer and animation veteran Butch Lukic have developed a vibrant, smooth style for characters and landscapes that are very much in the wheelhouse of Archer – and it works brilliantly for Criss’ Supes and his supporting players, with the look of the movie making its moments and characters personable yet powerful, while the distinct visuals simultaneously distance Man of Tomorrow from previous Super-flicks.

Elsewhere, this release is rounded out by two great featurettes each showcasing Lobo and the Martian Manhunter, a grin-inducing early look at ‘70s-set martial arts picture Batman: Soul of the Dragon, two classic offerings of Superman: The Animated Series, and a couple of other fun bits and pieces.

All in all, Superman: Man of Tomorrow is a great all-round package, with the main feature film proving to be a poignant, action-packed tale of discovery that lays bare what makes the Man of Steel tick.