Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: DAVID GREGORY / STARRING: AL ADAMSON, STEVEE ASHLOCK, FRED OLEN RAY, SAMUEL SHERMAN / RELEASE DATE: JUNE 1ST

Al Adamson’s films may not have the instant cult recognition as the likes of Ed Wood or Russ Meyer, they do have their fans. This documentary of the life, work, and sad murder of one of cinema’s underdogs is a worthy tribute and an eye-opening, entertaining celebration of the director.

As you’d expect, the bulk of the film takes in Adamson’s upbringing and film career, but it’s in the final act that the story takes its dark turn. By the time we get to story of his shocking murder, we’re given enough testimony through talking heads and archive interviews with the director himself to form a positive opinion of the man and even gain a new perspective on his films, which were more often than not dismissed as low budget trash. This is a story of independent cinema; a man who got things done regardless of the lack of funds. It’s this tenacity and likeability that makes his fate all the more tragic.

The Blu-ray release contains several entertaining stories cut from the finished documentary. These are rather substantial and interesting in their own right, including more background on Al’s father, who had a successful and controversial career as an actor in westerns in the dawn of cinema, and how the director inadvertently got connected to the Manson Family. The biggest ‘extra’ here though is one of Al’s films, included here in full (as this disc also makes up part of the mammoth Al Adamson Masterpiece Collection released by Severin). The Female Bunch was filmed in 1968 but not released until 1971 and features a rough-and-tumble group of ladies who have their own rules to their ranch hideout and are not afraid to uphold them. It marks one of the last screen appearances of Lon Chaney Jr, who appears bloated and gravel-voiced due to treatment for his throat cancer. It’s a tragic vision, but despite his relatively small part, he’s still a commanding presence. The film itself could be an extension of Russ Meyer’s Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill with its gender empowerment message but does stray rather gloriously into prime exploitation territory.

This is a documentary anyone interested in cinema should see. Al Adamson may not have been Fellini or Welles and never made anything that would wow the Academy, but his films hold an important place in history and his story is an important one to tell. David Gregory’s film treats the subject with respect and reverence throughout, and doesn’t resort to sensationalism in the unfortunate conclusion.

You can read our interview with the director here.

CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: CHRIS SANDERS/SCREENPLAY: MICHAEL GREEN / STARRING: HARRISON FORD, OMAR SY, DAN STEVENS, KAREN GILLAN, BRADLEY WHITFORD / RELEASE DATE: JUNE 15TH

This brisk and lively latest adaptation of Jack London’s best-selling 1903 novel of wide-open-spaces animal adventure was hit by a double whammy of the coronavirus cinema closedown that scuppered its box office potential and a generally poor critical response. The over-all consensus appeared to be that its over reliance on computer generated animation – most of the expansive landscapes and heady action sequences were realised on soundstages against green screens and all the animals have a slightly creepy, not-quite-real quality to them – made it a cold and distancing experience. Perhaps now, though, months after it crashed and burned in theatres, this bright, breezy, and colourful romp will find a more appreciative response from a stay-at-home audience desperate for a dose of family friendly old-school adventure and a reminder of what it’s like to be actually outside enjoying some fresh air.

Chris Sanders’ The Call of the Wild, from a script by Michael Green, is easily the most faithful adaptation of London’s book (although a little less harsh and brutal than the text) in terms of its narrative. The film very much resembles those feel-good Disneys of days gone by – The Incredible Journey, Swiss Family Robinson, etc. – in its tale of heroism and derring-do in a wild, inhospitable environment. Set largely in the Yukon during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, Call of the Wild tells the story of Buck, a mischievous young St Bernard/Scotch Collie, who is abducted from his life of luxury in Santa Clara and sold to the owners of a dog sled mail service hurtling across the snow and ice. Initially very much the underdog (geddit?)Buck soon gains the trust of his fellow hounds but when the delivery service is closed down, Buck is sold on to cruel gold prospector Hal (Stevens) and his sister Mercedes (Gillan) before being rescued by the kindly, grizzled Thornton (Ford – never more grizzled, in fact) and the pair set off to pan for gold in remotest Yukon. But Hal, having lost his entire expedition, bears a grudge and is out for revenge.

Call of the Wild, 2020-style, is very much a ripping yarn, real boy’s own stuff (with a few obligatory concessions to modern expectations, inevitably) full of races, chases, and thrills and spills in the great outdoors. There is a certain creepiness in the animal animation, though, that may be a little off-putting; the dogs are a bit too expressive to be utterly convincing and despite the technical brilliance of the animation itself, it still doesn’t look quite right and it does occasionally distract from the story. Harrison Ford is clearly having a good time (for a change) as Thornton and Dan Stevens is eminently hissable as the determined, ruthless Hal. All in all this is a hearty, old-fashioned film, a vibrant treat on Blu-ray, which delivers genuine ‘fun for all the family’ and that might even moisten the odd eye from time to time.

CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: FRED DURST / SCREENPLAY: FRED DURST, DAVE BEKERMAN / STARRING: JOHN TRAVOLTA, DEVON SAWA, ANA GOLJA, JACOB GODNIK / RELEASE DATE: JUNE 8TH (DIGITAL DOWNLOAD), JULY 20TH (DVD)

John Travolta continues to emulate Nicolas Cage, by producing multiple non-cinema releases, each with an increasingly outrageous hair piece. In The Fanatic, he sports a ridiculous grey mullet to portray an obsessive fan with an unconfirmed mental illness. The film isn’t as funny as it sounds, but nor is it terrible, actually portraying an interesting take on the stalker genre, in which the star is the ultimate villain. It is poorly handled by director Fred Durst (yes the Limp Bizkit front man), however, with a clumsy voice over, which distracts from the story rather than enchanting it and some time-lapse drawings that don’t seem to add anything to the unfolding narrative.

We are introduced to Moose (the legendary Travolta) traversing Hollywood on his moped; he frequents a comic book store and displays his mental health issues by swaying and not looking people in the eye. We have to assume it is some kind of autism, but it is never addressed. Moose is obsessed with action star Hunter Dunbar (Sawa, barely seen since Final Destination, who looks surprisingly good, more muscular and better looking than the fresh-faced kid he was introduced to audiences as). Hunter is doing a signing at the store, so Moose buys some expensive memorabilia and turns up at the event, only for Hunter to leave early, due to his ex-wife needing him to look after their child. Hunter is immediately rude to Moose and refuses to sign his expensive items, even though he had time to do so. Moose’s BFF (his phrase not ours) is a female photographer called Leah (Golja), who foolishly tells him about the ‘Star Maps’ app – not something an obsessive with social issues needs to know about. She also provides the films pointless commentary, telling us things we already know and superfluous information. She fails to mention what affliction Moose has, or why a young girl is friends with a man in his mid-‘60s. Buoyed by access to Hunter’s house, Moose continues to try and get an autograph, with increasingly violent consequences.

The central relationship between Moose and Hunter is well handled, and we are made to feel sorry for Moose, with Hunter revealed to be a nasty person, described as ‘mean’ by Moose. Hunter is shown to be violent whereas Moose, is ultimately harmless. The Fanatic is keen to press the idea that stars are nothing without their fans, and even if they are a little odd on the surface, they keep the star in business. If Hunter would have just signed his memorabilia and been pleasant to Moose, there wouldn’t have been an issue. The rest of the film doesn’t work though. The bullies who work on the Hollywood boardwalk along with Moose are unrealistic and non-threatening. They make fun of him, but twice ask him to help them pickpocket, what use would he even be? A subplot with Hunter’s maid is also forgotten about, coming back to haunt the star at the end, a situation he could easily get out of with an alibi and DNA evidence. The Fanatic may become a fun curiosity, due to Travolta portraying a man with limited capacities, but it doesn’t grace so-bad-it’s-funny territory. It’s a passable portrayal of a familiar theme that has been done better elsewhere, namely 1996’s The Fan.

CERT:15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: NICOLAS PESCE / STARRING: TARA WESTWOOD, JUNK BAILEY, DAVID LAWRENCE BROWN, ANDREA RISEBOROUGH, ZOE FISH / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (VOD), TBC (DVD)

After the monochrome nightmare of The Eyes of My Mother and the psycho-sexual farce of Piercing, Nicolas Pesce has proven himself a daring, unique, voice in genre filmmaking. Odd then that he was scouted by producer Sam Raimi as the man to take a franchise like The Grudge into the ‘20s.

For most folks, a Grudge reboot will feel a bit left-field. The 2004 film starring Sarah Michelle Gellar was fine but sat in the shadow of the Gore Verbinski-produced Ring remake. This has been a long-term issue for the franchise: constantly being compared with pretty much the only other Japanese horror franchise exported to the western mainstream. But Ju-On has time and time again proven its mettle garnering 11 releases (including a Ring crossover, Sadako vs. Kayako), novels, graphic novels, and a video game. So, there’s a strong and loving core fan base waiting for decent sequels.

Like most of the original Grudge films, Pesce’s reboot has an almost anthology style approach. Since Shimizu’s original short films in 1998, the focus has always been on the insidious way Ju-on’s curse clings like a virus. One step over the threshold and that’s it, the gargling inky-haired ghost will terrorise you until death. Pesce deserves credit for the ambition he brings to the project, interweaving different stories and time periods via three separate groups of characters. For the most part, we focus on Andrea Riseborough’s Detective Muldoon, a single mother who has returned to the force after losing her husband to cancer. After discovering a mutilated corpse on an unused country road, she is drawn into a nightmare which has already poisoned the lives of many, including Detective Goodman (Demian Bichir) her seasoned partner.

What Pesce manages to do is bring heart and humanity to the horror, just as he did with The Eyes of My Mother. It’s a double-edged sword though since the scares often feel rushed and surprisingly clichéd for the story being told. Part of that is down to the big-budget scare-a-minute formula deployed by studio horror. For the most part, though, it’s actually Pesce’s own geekery and super fandom that arguably gets in the way. Not long into The Grudge, you might start feeling like this is all a bit familiar and you’d be right. There are a lot of call-backs, easily spotted even for a layman. An Easter egg feature on the home release reveals that some of the film’s finest moments are recycled from the graphic novel, game, and original Grudge films/remake. Even the infamous Sarah Michelle Gellar shower gag is remade. Though, even with remade scares, it’s worth noting that Pesce’s reputation for nasty visceral gore is upheld grotesquely by The Grudge. There are some really nasty surprises in here.

All in all, Pesce’s reboot comes across as a loving bit of fanfare; a nightmarish play-session in The Grudge sandbox populated with some damn fine performers and shocking gore. We mean, find us a film where Lin Shaye, Frankie Faison, Jacki Weaver, and William Sadler are all introduced within minutes of each other and then terrorised into the grave, and we’re there. It’s the best cast Pesce has worked with so far and bodes well for whatever future projects he may have planned. Whilst the new Grudge might sport an arguably derivative recycling of franchise hits, it does have ambition, heart, solid chills, and is easily the best-looking entry in years.