Super Storm (Blu-ray Review)
August 1st, 2013 by Brandon Peters
Super Storm, formerly known as Mega Cyclone, is yet another exploitative Saturday night SyFy Channel movie. These usually feature vaguely familiar faces, over the top concepts and some good unintentional and sometimes “in on the joke, too” laughs. There’s an audience for these. Likely those making the choice to watch it are well aware of what they’re in store for. Those fooled by a cool box or just perusing to be curious are usually left ticked. Either way, as long as there’s an audience, you keep turning them out. Luckily, I’m of the type that every now and then one of these movies can hit the spot if I’m looking for some goofy fun. Continue reading ‘Super Storm (Blu-ray Review)’
1980-1983 is known as the “Golden Age” of the slasher film. This horror subgenre got so popular there was almost a new one every week in theaters. Slashers were cheap to make and brought in big returns. Some studios built up and became something because of these films. However many studios crashed and burned. A lot of these films were lost or forgotten due to studios going out of business. One of those studios was the well known Cannon films. Scream Factory has gone in and saved 2 of these early slasher films that have never even had a DVD release. X-Ray and Schizoid are making their first appearance in the home video market since VHS. Being a fan of slashers and never having seen either, I was excited to dig in to this release! 
Trance is one of those 2013 films like Stoker where I had every intention of seeing it theatrically, but for one reason or another the stars didn’t align properly and ultimately plans fell through. Simply put, I call that the hardships of life. And much like Stoker, movie goers and critics alike have given Trance higher than average regards thus giving me slightly elevated expectations. So that says something to me, right? Of course it does! My mind works in both quantifications and justifications. So on average I should have anywhere from a 60 to 70 percent chance of liking both films. However, unlike Stoker, it wasn’t a letdown to me and I really enjoyed being “hypnotized” by Danny Boyle’s Trance. Wanna know why? Come on! You know you do. 
Everybody seems to want to get into the zombie business these days. And if you want to be different or above that, you go and call them “infected”. Back in the early 1980s, everybody wanted to cash in on the slasher genre. They were cheap to make and could win you a healthy profit at the box office. In this last decade and still going now, the zombie film seems to be the modern day slasher in those terms. With the advent of being able to do CG or easily seclude people and bloody up some extras, every seems to have a story to tell. And the zombies do sell very well. So why not? Anchor Bay brings us another example of this with their new release, The Demented. It’s a film that has a solid finish, but pitter patters on its way there. 
When it comes to Rick Springfield, “Jesse’s Girl” immediately plays in 99.9% of our brains. A few less may recall his days on the daytime soap General Hospital. And all of this was back in the 1980s. It’s been a long time since Springfield fever was sweeping the nation. But for some, it never left. And for Rick Springfield, he still continues playing on, knowing his prime has past but all is not lost. An Affair Of The Heart documents the latter part of Rick Springfield’s career and the fans that have stayed loyal and devoted throughout. The documentary is a celebration of a man overcoming himself, touching the lives of others and everything culminating in the joy of his music. Apparently he had more songs than “Jesse’s Girl”. Who knew? 
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Bruce Lee’s big Hollywood film debut, Enter The Dragon. Of course it was his only true Hollywood film, as he died just a month before its premiere. His personal filmography may be very light, but his legacy is one of the largest Hollywood has ever seen. He inspired an entire generation of action films, bringing the kung fu genre to the forefront. There have been many imitators and many trying to become take what he started to a whole new level. Not only did he have, still to this day, an amazing physique but also an amazing mixed martial arts skill set to break wide open the fight scenes in his films. Before getting his big Hollywood break, Bruce had moved back to Hong Kong and started making kung fu films there which later became big hits in other countries. To celebrate 40 years of Bruce’s biggest film, Shout! Factory is releasing The Legacy Collection, gathering his first 3 films that led to Enter The Dragon and Lee’s final appearance Game Of Death. Also, this set is chalk full of extras, including 3 feature length documentaries. 
“They” say that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is coined the savior of franchises as of late with his propelling inclusion in the almighty, righteous Fast Five and now the sequel to 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, aptly titled G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Now I may be in the minority here, but I don’t feel the 2009 entry entirely needed saving. Sure it’s goofy and ridiculous, but that ‘s exactly the right kind of fun we want with these G.I. Joe films, isn’t it? However, what it all boils down to is the fact that I welcome the man with open arms because I waited my entire life to see the Joes get a real live action adventure on the big screen and if it means bringing someone in to save the franchise, then so be it. With that being said, The Rock is a much welcome addition to the already ensemble cast that sees Channing Tatum, Arnold Vosloo, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce and Byung-hun Lee reprising their roles from the first film. Where’s Sienna Miller and Ray Nichols? Good question! Come on in. The water’s great. 
John Carpenter hit success big with Halloween in 1978. Following up that first big success is always a challenge. He was dubbed the “next Hitchcock” and there was a lot of anticipation for his next film. But with that, studios offering him deals wanted him to tackle the horror genre again. Carpenter had no problem accepting that challenge as he loved to get people on the edge of their seat and make them jump. Wanting to stray from a “knife picture” like the one he just completed, John opted to do a gothic ghost story. The Fog may not have been the greatness or had the success of Halloween, but it is still a terrific horror film and has deservingly found its following shortly after its release. Scream Factory brings their “royal treatment” to The Fog and gives it the kind of treatment any fan could hope a movie they love could get. 
It’s surprising it took so long to get a film based on Jackie Robinson joining “white baseball” produced. For many years, auteur Spike Lee had attempted but not been able to get one off the ground. 2013 finally gave us a Jackie Robinson film. 42 boasted the highest grossing opening weekend and the 2nd highest total gross for a film about baseball (A League Of Their Own is first). Veteran writer Brian Helgeland brings to life this historical moment, not only in sports, but in American history. The movie goes the route of being a traditional uplifting, motivational, what-have-you story. Everything from its look, to the dialogue, to the score bring that sense and feeling that movies such as Remember The Titans bring along. A movie that makes you think its bringing about big harsh challenges, but in reality is playing it pretty safe, but still managing to deliver on that same emotion and result that most audiences will be satisfied and feel the film earned it. 
SCREAM FACTORY returns The Incredible Melting Man to life for the first time on DVD or Blu-ray in the US. A 10 year old Region 2 DVD was previously the only digital way to own this film. Scream Factory once again resurrects another film thought lost in the annals of VHS. This film is exploitation in pretty much its only concept; cool gore make up and effects. The intent of the writer is that he wanted to be a comedy that paid its tribute to the classic monster movies that Universal used to put out. However, the further the production went, the more of a straight horror film he was challenged to alter and when he didn’t comply, the producers forced with their own hand during reshoots. The result is rather on oddity as it has been the source of both inspiration and comedy. Either way, the film has a nice cult following. And Scream Factory is there yet again to give royal treatment to a classic film that would barely even be given a thought from any major studio. 
This past winter, America witnessed a resurgence of the classic action genre from the 80s and 90s. In January and February, mainstays Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Jason Stathom all had new releases within weeks of each other. To top it off, in March Olympus Has Fallen (a “Die Hard in the White House” movie) was released. Most of these films failed to make a dent and tanked or fell below expectations financially (at least domestically). This review is about Stallone’s film Bullet To The Head. Stallone had begun his comeback back in 2006 with Rocky Balboa. He followed it with Rambo and 2 Expendables films which were sold on being the ultimate team-up films. Bullet To The Head features Stallone’s first foray away from franchise action pictures and “on his own” in a long time. 
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