Another week of movie magic approaches us and our DVD and Blu Ray players. Lots of fun stuff returns to the shop once again and some for the first time. Here is this week’s list my friends and let’s hope something catches your eye. Cheers!
A bloody black comedy involving grisly medical malfeasance when a shady nurse’s sideline in illicit organ harvesting going seriously awry. Brea Grant, 2020.
A man finds himself trapped and used for medical experiments in an abandoned mental facility, the surgical tortures allow him to experience a new level of pain, sadness and reality he has never felt before. Marcus Koch (2015)
Suffering and death await a group of party-goers at a water park in this horror comedy from Quebec. Renaud Gauthier, 2019.
Documentary, inspired by the bestselling book, investigates the rise of asshole behaviour across the world & asks: What does it mean to be an asshole, and more importantly, how do we stop their proliferation? John Walker, 2019.
A romantic getaway for two troubled college sweethearts turns into a struggle for survival when unexpected guests – and the surrounding environment – exhibit signs of a mysterious infection. Liana Liberato, Noah Le Gros, Jake Weber, Jeffrey A. Brown, 2019
After Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) die in a car accident, they find themselves stuck haunting their country residence, unable to leave the house. When the unbearable Deetzes (Catherine O’Hara, Jeffrey Jones) and teen daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) buy the home, the Maitlands attempt to scare them away without success. Their efforts attract Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a rambunctious spirit whose “help” quickly becomes dangerous for the Maitlands and innocent Lydia.
a team of American martial artists facing a team of South Korean martial artists in a martial arts tournament. Several subplots pop up in the story — moral conflicts, the power of the human spirit triumphing over adversity and the meaning of life are some themes.
Special edition blu-ray release with soundtrack of the insane gorefest masterpiece by Italian gore auteur Lucio Fulci. 1981.
Bob Clark’s cult Canadian slasher classic about series of Christmas-time murders in a sorority house. Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, Andrea Martin.
Very loosely based on the Japanese film Zatoichi Challenged, in this film Rutger Hauer stars as a blind Vietnam Vet / sword master to rescue the son of fellow soldier. Terry O’Quinn, Brandon Call, Phillip Noyce, 1989.
Two cannibalistic brothers kill various young women to use their flesh as part of a new special dish at their run-down restaurant, while also committing blood sacrifices to awaken a dormant Egyptian goddess.
Seminal Slasher classic where Todd is institutionalised for a murder his twin committed. 10 years later, on Thanksgiving, Todd escapes and a killing spree begins in his neighbourhood. John Grissmer (1987)
A lone sailor is locked inside the head of a sailboat that is underway — and on autopilot.
Attacks by a brood of mutant children coincides with a husband’s investigation into the therapy techniques used on his institutionalized wife. Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, David Cronenberg, 1979.
Underground cult classic where a bizarre series of murders in New York City seems to point toward the existence of a race of mutant cannibals living under the streets. Douglas Cheek (1984)
A military experiment to create a race of super-warriors go awry, and legions of murderous zombies are unleashed upon a surburban neighbourhood. David Irving(1989)
A cocaine dealer and an anthropology student fall victim to cannibalistic Colombian natives.
After many failed attempts to establish themselves as rappers, Albert (Chris Rock), Euripedes (Allen Payne) and Otis (Deezer D) get their big break when nightclub owner Gusto (Charlie Murphy) is arrested. Albert assumes his name and criminal past, becoming MC Gusto, and the trio rises to fame by pretending to be recently released felons. As their fame increases, so do tensions within the group. When Gusto escapes from prison, he is furious at having his identity stolen and vows revenge.
Based on the popular board game, this comedy begins at a dinner party hosted by Mr. Boddy (Lee Ving), where he admits to blackmailing his visitors. These guests, who have been given aliases, are Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan), Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren), Mr. Green (Michael McKean), professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd), Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn) and Col. Mustard (Martin Mull). When Boddy turns up murdered, all are suspects, and together they try to figure out who is the killer.
Thinking this will prevent war, the US government gives an impenetrable supercomputer total control over its nuclear missiles, but the computer holds the world hostage and takes its creator prisoner. Joseph Sargent (1970)
Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) is the prince of a wealthy African country and wants for nothing, except a wife who will love him in spite of his title. To escape an arranged marriage, Akeem flees to America accompanied by his persnickety sidekick, Semmi (Arsenio Hall), to find his queen. Disguised as a foreign student working in fast food, he romances Lisa (Shari Headley), but struggles with revealing his true identity to her and his marital intentions to his king father (James Earl Jones).
A plane carrying a secret biological weapon crash-lands in a small rural town. Infected with a virus that sends them into a homicidal frenzy, the locals turn on each other in an orgy of bloody violence. George A. Romero (1973)
Guillermo del Toro’s feature debut about a kindly antiques dealer who finds himself possessor and victim of the sinister, addictive powers of a device which grants immortality. Federico Luppi, 1993.
A classically trained guitarist goes on a journey to find a lost Robert Johnson song. Ralph Macchio, Walter Hill, 1986.
A party of eight Norwegian medical students travel to a remote Arctic mountain for an Easter weekend filled with skiing and relaxation. After one of their group disappears while on a solo cross-country hike, a mysterious local resident (Bjørn Sundquist) tells the remaining visitors that, in the waning days of World War II, a battalion of Nazi soldiers disappeared into the nearby woods after the residents turned on them, and that their zombified corpses remain on the prowl in the area.
Dr. Paul Kersey is a surgeon who often sees the consequences of the city’s violence in the emergency room. When home intruders brutally attack his wife and young daughter, Kersey becomes obsessed with delivering vigilante justice to the perpetrators. As the anonymous slayings grab the media’s attention, the public begins to wonder if the deadly avenger is a guardian angel — or the Grim Reaper itself.
Based on Gô Nagai’s manga, about mild-mannered teenager who merges with a demon to fight other demons. Hisato Izaki, Yûsuke Izaki, Ayana Sakai, 2004.
Hard-boiled detective Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty) is searching for evidence that proves Alphonse “Big Boy” Caprice is the city’s most dangerous crime boss. He may have found the key to unraveling the crimelord’s illegal empire in Breathless Mahoney (Madonna), an enigmatic barroom singer who has witnessed some of Caprice’s crimes firsthand. However, she seems more set on stealing Dick away from his girlfriend, Tess (Glenne Headly), than helping him solve the case of his career.
In the conniving world of politics, even a professional shyster like Thomas Jefferson Johnson (Eddie Murphy) can find himself outmatched. After using name recognition to get elected, Johnson enjoys many of the same financial perks as other politicians. However, while investigating the connection between electric companies and cancer in young children, he unexpectedly develops a conscience. Unfortunately, fellow Congressman Dick Dodge (Lane Smith) isn’t about to let him rock the boat.
Early 90s cult favourite about a family terrorised by a doll possessed by a vengeful Native spirit. Rip Torn, Maria Lease, 1991.
The ultimate mausoleum of movie madness unleashing a stupefying serving of delightfully depraved and garishly gory trailer trash from the defining decade of Decadence! Erupting with almost 4 hours of a non-stop body and breast count.
The residents of a rural mining town discover that an unfortunate chemical spill has caused hundreds of little spiders to mutate overnight to the size of SUVs. It’s up to mining engineer Chris McCormack (David Arquette) and Sheriff Sam Parker (Kari Wuhrer) to mobilize an eclectic group of townspeople into battle against the bloodthirsty eight-legged beasts.
A middle-aged man dealing with both unemployment and divorce, William Foster (Michael Douglas) is having a bad day. When his car breaks down on a Los Angeles highway, he leaves his vehicle and begins a trek across the city to attend his daughter’s birthday party. As he makes his way through the urban landscape, William’s frustration and bitterness become more evident, resulting in violent encounters with various people, including a vengeful gang and a dutiful veteran cop (Robert Duvall).
A sweet collection of four of Ray Harryhausen’s feature films!
4 Japanese crime thriller masterpieces starring Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood, Stray Cat Rock) charts the vengeance of “Scorpion,” becoming an avatar of vengeance and survival. (1972/1973)
In this South American scifi thriller, a young woman goes on the search for her missing father who’s disappearance may be related to the UFO phenomena he was investigating. Gabriel Díaz, 2020.
A group of forest rangers go camping in the woods, and trespass into an area where a backwoods mama likes to kill people who come onto her turf. John Friedrich, Adrian Zmed, Ernest Harden Jr., Andrew Davis, 1983.
It is based on Travis Walton’s book The Walton Experience, which describes an alleged extraterrestrial abduction. The film stars D. B. Sweeney as Walton, and Robert Patrick as his best friend and future brother-in-law, Mike Rogers.
Children are hidden away in the attic by their conspiring mother and grandmother. Jeffrey Bloom (1987)
Once an architect, Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) now passes himself off as an exorcist of evil spirits. To bolster his facade, he claims his “special” gift is the result of a car accident that killed his wife. But what he does not count on is more people dying in the small town where he lives. As he tries to piece together the supernatural mystery of these killings, he falls in love with the wife (Trini Alvarado) of one of the victims and deals with a crazy FBI agent (Jeffrey Combs).
After surviving a shark attack a young woman is plagued by nightmares of being stalked in the dark sea by a ravenous predator, and hallucinations of visits from her sister and boyfriend, both who were killed in the attack. Angelica Briones, Flea Cullom.
Two death-obsessed sisters, outcasts in their suburban neighborhood, must deal with the tragic consequences when one of them is bitten by a deadly werewolf. Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Kris Lemche, 2000.
Mark Hamill (Star Wars) and the team behind horror classic Re-animator join forces for this electrifying live-action adaptation of Yoshiki Takaya’s celebrated manga series! 1991
When she was assaulted by her doctor, Claire Bartel (Annabella Sciorra) reported him to the police, and rather than go to prison for his crime, he killed himself. The shock of the accusations and suicide caused the doctor’s pregnant wife, Peyton (Rebecca De Mornay), to have a miscarriage. Driven mad with rage, Peyton poses as a nanny for the Bartel family. Her plan: to tear Claire’s life apart, seduce her husband (Matt McCoy) and eventually murder the woman she blames for ruining her life.
An unfaithful wife encounters the zombie of her dead lover; the demonic cenobites are pursuing him after he escaped their sadomasochistic underworld. Clive Barker (1987)
Amongst the finest of the college-based stalk-and-slash flicks marking TV star Daphne Zuniga’s debut in a leading role – now finally restored in glorious High-Definition! Larry Stewart (1984)
A horror-comedy about a man-child avoiding commitments and growing up who has a chance meeting with a violent “friend” from his past. Charles Gould, Quinn Jackson, John Anderson, Nicholas Santos, 2020.
Two teens witness a gang of homicidal alien-clowns landing in town, but the cops are sceptical. Soon reports are coming in from other anxious residents detailing similar run-ins with the large-shoed assailants. Stephen Chiodo (1988)
Fully remastered in high definition! Motown’s Berry Gordy produced this wigged-out kung-fu disco extravaganza, featuring head-spinning break dancing, mild martial arts and goofball storyline. Taimak, Vanity, Christopher Murney, 1985.
Bernardo Bertolucci’s Academy Award-winning 1987 epic about the life of Emperor Pu Yi. Ryuichi Sakamoto, Joan Chen, Peter O’Toole.
Meek flower shop assistant Seymour (Rick Moranis) pines for co-worker Audrey (Ellen Greene). During a total eclipse, he discovers an unusual plant he names Audrey II, which feeds only on human flesh and blood. The growing plant attracts a great deal of business for the previously struggling store. After Seymour feeds Audrey’s boyfriend, Orin (Steve Martin), to the plant after Orin’s accidental death, he must come up with more bodies for the increasingly bloodthirsty plant.
A radio DJ (Sheri Moon Zombie) in Salem, Mass., is plagued by nightmarish visions of vengeful witches after she plays a record by a mysterious group known only as “The Lords.”
Seven years after the Monsterpocalypse, Joel Dawson, along with the rest of humanity, has been living underground ever since giant creatures took control of the land. After reconnecting over the radio with his high school girlfriend, Aimee, who is now 80 miles away at a coastal colony, Joel begins to fall for her again. As Joel realizes that there’s nothing left for him underground, he decides to venture out to Aimee, despite all the dangerous monsters that stand in his way.
In this noir classic, detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) gets more than he bargained for when he takes a case brought to him by a beautiful but secretive woman (Mary Astor). As soon as Miss Wonderly shows up, trouble follows as Sam’s partner is murdered and Sam is accosted by a man (Peter Lorre) demanding he locate a valuable statuette. Sam, entangled in a dangerous web of crime and intrigue, soon realizes he must find the one thing they all seem to want: the bejeweled Maltese falcon.
Ingenious adolescent Paul Stephens (Christopher Collet) learns about the grim prospects of nuclear aftermath when his mom becomes romantically involved with government scientist John Mathewson (John Lithgow), who is currently experimenting with the ingredients for atomic warfare. Shaken by what he sees, Paul decides to nab the destructive materials and make a small-scale display of their horrible powers at the New York Science Fair, but the Secret Service isn’t pleased with his actions.
teen gamer Sarah finds an “easter egg” and accidentally opens a portal into her favorite side-scroller and to escape, she must finish the game with help from her not-so-savvy friend on the outside… Scott Adkins, John Hannah, Lashana Lynch, 2020.
Stars legendary stand-up comedian and actor Jackie Vernon as Donald, a disgruntled construction worker whose wife’s predilection for haute cuisine drives him to cannibalism. Wayne Berwick (1983)
Three people receive an anonymous package with a camera and instructions inside it: If they stop filming, someone will die.
A mother and daughter must confront a terrifying monster when they break down on a deserted road. Bryan Bertino (2016)
Cult homage to the Universal monster matinees of the 1940s. Duncan Regehr, Tom Noonan, Fred Dekker, 1987.
A very strange, personal film from the author of the Ecorcist that is sort of Sam Fuller’s Shock Corridor set as an episode from The Twilight Zone. Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson, Jason Miller, William Peter Blatty, 1980.
Italian quasi-sequel to the cult Ozploitation film Patrick about a bedridden psycho who is compelled by bad vibes to commit horrors via telekinesis. Mario Landi, 1980.
When his mother, Renee (Darlanne Fluegel), dies, young Jeff Matthews (Edward Furlong) moves back to his hometown with his father, Chase (Anthony Edwards). Jeff grows friendly with Drew Gilbert (Jason McGuire) at school, who tells him about the Indian burial grounds that bring people and animals back to life, which led to the deaths of the Creed family who used to live in town. Desperately missing his mom, Jeff ignores warnings and buries her corpse, only to have her return in deadly zombie form.
Looking for the father (Ray Walston) who deserted him as a baby, a sailor named Popeye (Robin Williams) journeys to the port town of Sweethaven. Popeye befriends an assortment of eccentrics and falls in love with Olive Oyl (Shelley Duvall), who already has a suitor, the bully Bluto (Paul L. Smith). Popeye also discovers an abandoned baby, Swee’Pea, whom he raises as his own. But when the spurned Bluto kidnaps Olive and the child, Popeye takes action, with the help of his magic spinach.
In this gory and disturbing thriller assassins use a mind-control device which shunts the consciousness of the victim in a dark recess when taken over. Brandon Cronenberg, 2020.
After returning to his childhood home, a disgraced children’s puppeteer is forced to confront his wicked stepfather and the secrets that have tortured his entire life. Directed by Garth Merengie himself, Matthew Holness 2018.
If behind every great man is a great woman, then Harvard psychologist and inventor Dr. William Moulton Marston has the good fortune of having two — his wife Elizabeth and their mutual lover Olive Byrne. In addition to helping him perfect the lie detector test, the two women also inspire him to create one of the greatest female superheroes of all time — the beloved comic book character Wonder Woman.
Horror favourite, Psychics find themselves plotted against by a former colleague, who committed suicide after discovering animated, murderous puppets. David Schmoeller (1989)
Japanese horror. A reporter and her ex-husband investigate a cursed video tape that is rumored to kill the viewer seven days after watching it. Hideo Nakata (1998)
An astonishing film variously described as “Bat-Shit wonderful”, “Bat-shit crazy” and, most simply, “Bat-shit”. Audience fave at Toronto After Dark. Quentin Dupieux, 2010.
A sewage worker becomes trapped in a septic tank and undergoes a hideous transformation. He teams up with a docile giant to confront the murdering madman known as Lord Auch.
Gonzo arthouse exploitation film from about an aging porn star who is roped into making an “art” film which proceeds to have him commit increasingly demented and depraved acts. Srdjan Spasojevic, 2010.
Eight people are invited to their old high school for their ten-year reunion where a fellow former student, disfigured from a prank gone wrong, is out to seek revenge. George Dugdale (1986)
In the small South American town of Porvenir, four men on the run from the law are offered $10,000 and legal citizenship if they will transport a shipment of dangerously unstable nitroglycerin to an oil well 200 miles away. Led by Jackie Scanlon (Roy Scheider), the men set off on a hazardous journey, during which they must contend with dangerously rocky roads, unstable bridges, and attacks from local guerillas. The four fight for their lives as they struggle to complete their dangerous quest.
Sorority boss Babs (Robin Rochelle) orders pledges (Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens) to steal a bowling trophy, but they drop it and free an imp
The Russian equivalent of Apollo 13, the gripping adventure film chronicles the Soviet Union’s touch-and-go efforts to achieve the first ever spacewalk in 1965. Dmitriy Kiselev, 2017.
Young Jason is the only one who doesn’t love The Stuff, and everyone who eats it has started acting really weird… Now Jason must put a stop to The Stuff or face a gooey, gloopy demise. Larry Cohen (1985)
After a clown is killed in a party mishap, he comes back from the dead to seek revenge on the people responsible.
A nerd gets himself in hot water with the new bully, a quiet bad boy who challenges him to fight on the grounds of their high school after the day’s end. Phil Joanou (1987)
Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen narrate this collection of snippets from landmark horror, crime and science-fiction films from the 1930s to the 1980s.
A vengeful policewoman (Eihi Shiina) battles an army of cyborg creatures that showcase horrific mutations.
A masked maniac terrorizes the same small community where a murderer known as the Phantom Killer struck decades earlier.
Upper-crust executive Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and down-and-out hustler Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) are the subjects of a bet by successful brokers Mortimer (Don Ameche) and Randolph Duke (Ralph Bellamy). An employee of the Dukes, Winthorpe is framed by the brothers for a crime he didn’t commit, with the siblings then installing the street-smart Valentine in his position. When Winthorpe and Valentine uncover the scheme, they set out to turn the tables on the Dukes.
Carl Theodor Dreyer’s unsettling, dreamlike horror film about an occult student assailed by various supernatural haunts and local evildoers in a village outside Paris. 1932.
Aussie thriller featuring Donald Pleasence where a down and out schoolteacher is marooned in a town full of crazy, drunk, violent men who threaten to make him just as crazy, drunk, and violent. Ted Kotcheff (1971)
Mind-bending horror comedies where murderous animated wax figures manifest demonic evil. Anthony Hickox (1988,1992)
Supernatural horror trilogy follows an evil warlock from the 17th to the 20th century who works to unleash Satan. WARLOCK (Steve Miner 1989) WARLOCK: THE ARMAGEDDON (Anthony Hickox 1993) WARLOCK III: THE END OF INNOCENCE (Eric Freiser 1999)
Classic folk horror remastered! A young soldier seeks to put an end to the evils caused by a vicious witch-hunter when the latter terrorises his fiancée and kills her uncle. Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Rupert Davies, Michael Reeves, 1968.
Hillbilly mutant goodness with the first five Wong Turns in one set.
John Tunstall (Terence Stamp), a distinguished British gentleman, employs downtrodden youths to tend his herd on the New Mexican frontier. When Tunstall is gunned down by the crooked Lawrence G. Murphy (Jack Palance), a ragtag group of cow hands — including Doc Scurlock (Kiefer Sutherland), Richard Brewer (Charlie Sheen) and young William “Billy the Kid” Bonney (Emilio Estevez) — ride forth in search of bloody vengeance for the death of their beloved mentor.
A group of students goes into the woods to study birds, and soon the dead begin to rise to devour the living. Robert Vaughn, James Villemaire, Joe D’Amato, 1987.
Cult Australian film about deviants who are held at a rehabilitation fortress until they’re sent into a deadly game of survival, in the hopes of returning to world society. Brian Trenchard-Smith, 1982.
Americans in the Caribbean take a tour of a nearby island at night and watch a local voodoo ritual. Soon after, they find themselves stranded on the island and under attack by unseen foes. One by one they meet violent ends. John N. Carter (1984)
And there we go guys. Another week of fine cinema coming at you hitting the videostore shelves in a few days. As always hope there is something that makes you smile and grab a flick, make some foods, and grab a drink. Winter is still here but the movies will keep you warm. Cheers!
