The Quiet Ones (Blu-ray Review)
Hammer Horror’s followup to The Woman In Black came a few months ago with The Quiet Ones. Its another spook show, but this time based on real events. That real event was “The Philip Experiment”. In short, in 1972 some Canadian parapsychologists tried to create a ghost as they believed the power to do so may have been in the human mind. While they could never get “Philip” to physically appear before them, they were successful in making contact and some communication with this ghost. The film based off the events was less successful, taking in under $10 million in US box office and $17 million worldwide. Could it be that people are over ghosts/possession movies or was it that Occulus that came out just before this one gave audiences their fill? I don’t know the answer to that, but we can go ahead and take the journey for ourselves in this review. Continue reading ‘The Quiet Ones (Blu-ray Review)’
The year 1989 is seminal year in my life in film. It had the summer that saw my love of film grow exponentially with such franchise films at Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and License To Kill. One conversation concerning 1989 seems to have sort of been forgotten over the years. That year had five films involving deep sea science fiction adventures. Most notably remembered is James Cameron’s The Abyss, but there was also DeepStar Six, The Evil Below, Lords Of The Deep and today’s film we’re here to discuss; Leviathan. Leviathan is surprisingly the first one of these films to make the jump to Blu-ray (DeepStar Six will make its debut on the format in Japan on November 5 of this year). While not under the Collector’s Edition banner, Scream Factory has still given this underappreciated film some great extras. 
The Muppets was a ceremonious return of our Jim Henson puppeteered crew of Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzy Bear, Gonzo and all our Muppet pals. It was also a pretty sweeping success, so of course with there was going to be a sequel. However, Jason Segel made it clear he was one-and-done so he was out. Where to go next? Well, they decided the Muppets are the star so lets just make a movie more focused on them. The budget was kept similar but the results didn’t yield as much of the success as the former. It managed to make just under half the what the first one did worldwide. Luckily, as I said the budget was kept in check. Will this be the last we see of our beloved Muppets for a while or is there enough belief to give it another go? We’ll have to see. But today, let’s talk about this sequel, Muppets Most Wanted. 
When I moved to Austin, TX over a year ago from Cleveland, OH I expected my change of scenery to be quite stimulating and invigorating, but you all know that whole grass is always greener on the other side thing, right? While the skies may not be grey all the time like in Cleveland, I would take that downtown skyline any day over the mini buildings that litter downtown Austin. However, I say that not to be mean or derogatory, but only to illustrate a point because the same comparison can be made when analyzing recent DC super hero films to Marvel ones. Although I believe the Nolan Batman trilogy to be some of the best superhero films ever made, I can clearly see where comic book purists can get off complaining that the onscreen events are too dark, brooding and unconventional in terms of how a comic book movie should look, pop and shine on the big screen. I can accept that, so can most people, but also many cannot. So where exactly am I going with all this nonsense? 
Blue Underground is returning to the Blu-ray business and kicking things off with a double feature. A double feature from a pair of films featuring the collaboration of director Bruno Mattei and Claudio Fragasso, director of…Troll 2? Yes, THAT Claudio Fragasso. Hell Of The Living Dead and Rats: A Night Of Terror were films that Fragasso wrote and then co-directed with Mattei. As a double feature, they are perfect for each other as they both feature groups trying to survive being hunted by a pack of vicious creatures out to eat them. Double features are sometimes enough for these obscure releases, but Blue Underground has gone and attained some new interviews for this disc as well! 
The Railway Man is based on the World War II memoir of Eric Lomax, who is our character of focus in the film. I found the film to look and feel a little like those “safe” movies due to its gloss, polished aesthetic. But with the power of its performers and events depicted in the film, it proves to be a bit more than that. For what it was, I thought it was an engaging and pretty strong film. I was surprised in my research afterward to see how many critics found it to be merely decent and judged it as primarily that “safe” film I thought I was getting, but wasn’t delivered. While based on a true story and a memoir, I really didn’t want to get into spoiler territories with the review, as I think not knowing what lied ahead, or how things resolved were better off a surprise when watching the film. 
For me, Without Warning is one of the most exciting releases of 2014. No, its not Twin Peaks or Batman 1966 finally coming out, but its up there. Had I heard much about it before this release? No. I really dig the fact that Scream Factory has gotten this 34 year old film that’s never seen a home video release and are putting it out on Blu-ray and putting bonus material on it to boot. I’m all about film preservation and restoration. I’m not one who likes films to be forgotten no matter how bad they could be. Without Warning has pretty much been forgotten for a long time. How many people have been able to see this one since 1980? I’ve heard there have been bootlegs over the years, but the answer is not many. And of those, who remember it? Well, paint me with excitement as I finally got to see one of those truly “lost” films of horror yesteryear. 
As I mentioned in the press release for the Blu-ray release of Motel Hell from Scream Factory, I have never seen Motel Hell before. However, when you say the title, I can describe every detail of its VHS box art for you. This thing was an absolute staple in the horror section at VHS rental stores back in the 80s and 90s. Even the tape rental section at the local grocery stores carried this one. And at every video store I always had the goal to watch every horror movie in the horror section. But, I’ve obvioulsy failed as I never ever picked this one up. I have no idea why, I just might have thought the box looked more weird than scary. Back then I always went home with whatever I thought would frighten the living bejeezus out of me. 
Another month, another remake, director Phil Alden Robinson’s The Angriest Man in Brooklyn is a remake of a 1997 Israeli film The 92 Minutes of Mr. Baum. Both films deal with the idea of anger and mortality. The new version has a recognizable cast of Robin Williams, Mila Kunis (who is also an Executive Producer), Melissa Leo, and Peter Linkage. The story deals with a bitter Henry Altmann (Robin Williams) who is bridled with anger and has to cope his life choices when a bitter and mentally beaten down medical professional (Mila Kunis) accidently gives him an incredibly small time table to live. The film takes you on what could be Henry’s final moments in life while the people who care for him are scrambling to find him in Brooklyn. 
Video game movies have yet to really “take off” like the comic book ones. There’s many attempts, but aside from the Resident Evil franchise, none have really taken off. They don’t usually dominate the box office and are usually met with mixed critical reviews at best. However, fans will tell you, these games have such great stories at the video game stage but they just don’t quite translate for some reason to the big screen. I don’t know what it is, but maybe they’re just more cinematic at the console level with interaction instead of being a feature film. Who knows. Back in the spring, we got an adaptation of Need For Speed. Its something that seemed like you could translate and then infuse your own touch as a filmmaker with. It was open for a story to be added to the car racing. However, this one didn’t quite stick with America, but it did do quite well with overseas audiences. It now comes to Blu-ray where maybe it will pick up some people that didn’t get to the theater to see it. 
