Folks were asking for my Conjuring review over the summer, and I've learned my lesson! Head on over to BadassDigest for my thoughts on Wan's OTHER haunted house movie this year, which I quite liked but with some reservations and concern as to how it will play to others who want more of the same. 

Also, speaking of writing for others, I'll also be increasing my output at Fangoria, so keep an eye over there for more BC-ness than ever before! That said, with Fantastic Fest and other stuff starting soon, things will be even quieter here than it has been, unfortunately. I truly do intend to update the site 2-3 times a week, but it's not always possible as I need to fulfill my obligations to the other sites first and foremost, since they pay me to do that. The important thing is that I'm not totally MIA - you just have to go to other sites to find me! And those have black text on white instead of the other way around, so you won't get a headache! Win-win!

And happy Friday the 13th!  

p.s. 4, 6, 2, 1, 5, 3, Remake, 8, X, 9, 7, VS.

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

GENRE: HAMMER, VAMPIRE
SOURCE: BLU-RAY (OWN COLLECTION)

Thanks, I assume, to various licensing issues, we've seen very few Hammer movies given proper blu-ray presentation here in the States - and even the ones that were announced took quite a while to get here. For example, Dracula: Prince Of Darkness was announced early in 2012 and released in the UK, with the original plan being to have it out in the US a few months after, but it's just hitting now - and the other titles they announced (such as Plague Of The Zombies, the first Hammer film I ever watched) are still without US release dates. Thankfully, if this set is any indication, it will indeed be worth the wait - and nothing greases the wheels like money, so I'm happy to say this is worth adding to your collection.

It's a bit odd to start what will hopefully be a series of releases with what is essentially part 3 of a franchise, but as explained on one of its bonus features, this Dracula is sort of the quintessential Hammer film, and thus it makes perfect sense. And lest anyone thinks they shouldn't start in the middle of the series, it starts off with a recap of how Drac got "killed" at the end of the first Dracula (he sat out part 2, Brides of Dracula), and I don't even think it's necessary - even in 1965 I'm sure audiences knew how these movies worked and thus wouldn't be confused as to where he was for the first 20-30 minutes.

Plus it's a pretty fun entry; as I mentioned in my review of the film, they might be working from a template of sorts, but if ain't broke why fix it? It's got the folks getting warned from going to the place that they're going to go anyway, the big castle, the horse-drawn carriage chase, the race to stop Dracula before the sun goes down... everything you'd want, plus Hammer's lavish sets and well-dressed ladies. But they do put some wrinkles into the formula; of course there are two potential "Brides", but since they're new characters (instead of Mina and Lucy) there's some suspense as to which one will become stake fodder and which one will be rescued in the finale. Also, there are TWO Renfield types to create a threat for when Drac's not around, and a team of monks instead of the usual investigators.

Also, there's no Van Helsing. Future Quatermass Andrew Keir fills in that role as Father Sandor, the head of the monks who assists hero Charles as they follow the path of their Dracula movie hero predecessors. But even though the change is minor, it's enough to give it some flavor; I only wish they spent more time with these folks instead of the more traditional elements, but as it had been 7-8 years since their first film, I can see why they wouldn't want to go too far off the beaten path with Lee's comeback to the role. It's a shame that they had to basically con Lee into appearing in the sequels (they'd pull on his heartstrings, basically, telling him that if he didn't do it he'd be putting a bunch of his hard-working friends out of a job), but anyone who puts in those painful red contact lenses sort of has the right to bitch about whatever he wants after the job has been done.

Speaking of the contacts, the shot where he has the red eyes and gnashes his teeth at the two girls is just one of many that kind of blew me away on this new transfer. Having only seen the film on a VHS tape, I spent most of my watching time just sort of fixating on details: the texture of a suit, the hairs in a beard, wallpaper... anything that would have just been a solid mush color on my previous viewing. There might be a touch more DNR than I'd like, and sometimes the color appears to be intensified a bit much making the actors look like George Hamilton, but nothing too problematic, and if you're watching a Hammer film you want vivid colors anyway, so whatever. It's a terrific looking picture, with a solid 2.0 audio mix to accompany it.

For bonus features, we get a brand new retrospective doc featuring a few of the surviving players (no Lee, sadly) and some Hammer historians to provide the backstory for the project, its place in the studio's history, etc. It kind of jumps from topic to topic, but considering that most of its makers are now dead I was surprised how thorough it was for a new piece, and it even includes a bit about the restoration process, which included a faithful recreation of the title cards. A separate piece offers some before/after comparisons of select shots from the movie, occasionally staying in split screen (old on the left, new on the right) so you can see how much better the film looks than it did on previous releases.

The other extras are ported over from other editions or older material; there's a 25 minute episode of a British TV show that honored certain icons - the episode devoted to Lee is presented here. Narrated by Oliver Reed, it's pretty short on biographical information, and despite being produced in 1990 it only includes films up to 1976's To The Devil A Daughter, so it's kind of pointless unless this is the first of his films you've ever seen. Then there's a commentary (recorded for the 1997 release) with Lee, Suzan Farmer, Francis Matthews, and Barbara Shelley, where the group (recorded together! Such a relief) enjoys revisiting the film, telling set stories and other anecdotes. It's a bit hard to tell the two women apart, and Matthews doesn't offer much, but it's a lot of fun to listen to them carry on, correct each others' faulty memories, and marvel at their youth. A trailer and some stills round things out, and if you're a good person and buying the disc instead of renting it, you'll get 5 collectible cards that resemble (smaller) lobby cards. Good deal.

I'd take out a small loan to have a boxed set of all the "A" Hammer titles (that is, their Dracula and Frankenstein series, and pretty much anything else with Cushing or Lee, plus the Quatermass films, Plague of the Zombies, etc.), but that's probably never going to happen. Hopefully whatever issues have caused the delays in getting the other titles released here will be smoothed out, and whoever owns the rights to the other titles either give them up to Studio Canal or does their best to match their efforts here for their own releases. At this time of year, these are the sort of movies I look forward to curling up on the couch with (now that I'm "free" of new entries to watch/write up), and I would very much like to have them presented as wonderfully as this.

What say you?

Tweet

One of horror history’s most recognizable icons is given the star treatment in a brand new 6.5 hour (!) documentary, Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (based on the bestselling book by Peter M. Bracke). Writer/director Daniel Farrands and producer Thommy Hutson, who previously teamed up for 2010’s award-winning Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, have assembled interviews on their four-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack (two of each) with approximately 150 cast and crew members from all twelve Friday the 13th films. (When purchased through the Crystal Lake Memories site, buyers will also receive a bonus DVD with nearly 4 hours of extended interview material.)

Corey Feldman (the original Tommy Jarvis) narrates Crystal Lake Memories, with a virtual who’s who of interview subjects including Kane Hodder, Robert Englund, Tom Savini, Danielle Panabaker, Sean S. Cunningham, Derek Mears, Betsy Palmer, Wes Craven, Robert Shaye, Alice Cooper and many more. The film will be officially released this Friday, September 13, 2013 via 1428 Films with a list price of $29.95

In the 33 years since the original Friday the 13th premiered in May of 1980, the slasher franchise has grown to include twelve feature films, a television series, novels, comic books, merchandise and memorabilia. In addition to staggering box office success, the films turned Jason Voorhees and his signature hockey mask into a pop culture icon. Now fans can get an in-depth look that spans the entire history from those involved.

Farrands and Hutson were kind enough to take a few minutes out from their breakneck schedule of applying the final touches to such a mammoth undertaking to chat with HorrorHound about everyone’s favorite tall, dark and gruesome boogeyman.

HorrorHound: What are your feelings now about your previous F13 documentary, His Name Was Jason (2009)?

Thommy Hutson: What is interesting about His Name Was Jason was its emphasis less on the making-of the Friday films as a franchise and more on the character of Jason. Although the crafting of the films as a whole was touched on in some way, the exploration of Jason Voorhees as a villain, and how and why he came to be so popular was interesting and, honestly, necessary since the show was mandated to a 90-minute running time. While we had fun making it, the parameters we were given left little room to truly dig deep like Peter Bracken's book did. With Crystal Lake Memories, we are able to finally do what we feel will tell the best, most in-depth story of the films and TV series and what went into creating them.

Daniel Farrands: Until Thommy and Andrew Kasch and I teamed up again a year later on Never Sleep Again, we honestly didn't know if a four-hour documentary would work, much less find an audience. Fortunately, it managed to do both. Now we've taken that same approach on Crystal Lake Memories by focusing on the making of every film in the franchise in chronological order. Given that this show pushes the seven-hour mark, I think it's safe to say that Jason has at last been given his due.

HH: Having presumably spent so much time researching the series, do you each still have a favorite F13 film?

DF: For me it's a toss-up between Parts 2, 3 & TFC. I felt Steve Miner brought some real polish – and genuine scares – to the second film. He carried over the sense of fear and isolation that Sean Cunningham established so well in the original and glossed it up a bit with his use of the Steadicam. Part 2 also introduced the strongest and, in my opinion, most intelligent and resourceful of all the final girls with Ginny Field (Amy Steel). I have a soft spot for Part 3 as well simply because of the cheesy-yet-effective 3D effects and of course the introduction of the hockey mask (compliments of my real-life friend and entertainment attorney Larry Zerner, who played Shelly in the film). Lastly, The Final Chapter was the perfect summation of the series and felt like a much bigger movie in terms of its scope and set pieces (hovering helicopters with searchlights, a kid named Tommy Jarvis who succeeds where all the adults have failed by doing in Jason ginsu-style?!). I feel the first four make up a solid "quadrilogy" of early ’80s slasher films and really set the stage for the rest of the series (with all its varied hits and misses).

TH: I would be doing a huge disservice to Sean Cunningham, the cast and crew of the original to not mention the first film as I feel it goes without saying the original in any franchise needs to be at the top of the list (otherwise, why are we watching the sequels!?). That said, I would probably say one of my favorites (sorry, I can't pick just one!) is Part 2: it's scary, fun and really is a great continuation of the original film and story (and, let's be honest, killing Alice off at the beginning – whether we agree with it or not – was shocking and unexpected). It also has a fantastic, strong and incredibly memorable heroine in Amy Steel's "Ginny." And baghead Jason will always be creepy to me. It's just a great sequel. Dan would be shocked if I didn't cop to my other favorite: Part 7. I just love the “Carrie vs. Jason” aspect (give me telekinesis against a villain any day), love the look of Jason, think Kane nailed the character and I find the movie so incredibly fun. If it is on, I am absolutely watching it.

HH: How much time do you spend on the F13 TV series, considering it doesn't really deal with the Jason Voorhees mythos? Did you like the show?

TH: While we admittedly don't spend as much time on the series as the films in the franchise, we definitely do take a nice look at how the series came to be, it's evolution and, ultimately, its cancellation. As a matter of fact, as Dan can attest, it's ending is almost (if not moreso) as fascinating as its beginning, having to deal far more with a group of people having the power to make decisions about what everyone should be allowed to watch than whether or not it was a ratings success; in fact, it performed well enough that it most likely would have stayed on the air.

DF: For me it was important to acknowledge it as part of the evolution of the franchise and how it came at the height of the Reagan era when the Friday films were being singled out – and ultimately butchered – by the MPAA. Ultimately, the TV show was targeted by a fundamentalist preacher and his followers, who astoundingly held enough influence to get the show pulled off the air even as it continued to perform strongly in the ratings. To me, the most interesting part of the television series isn't the individual episodes or the fact that it had nothing in common with the films other than the title and producer Frank Mancuso, Jr. Personally, I was more taken in by the underlying story of censorship and the danger of allowing a single group's definition of morality to impinge on anyone else's right to freedom of speech and expression. That, to me, is more frightening than any horror film.

TH: All that said, I am definitely a fan of the series. I found its concept interesting and a fun, thrilling week-to-week adventure. I always recall, though, not being able to find the show when it first ran since it was on so late at night in many markets. I didn’t even know I was even watching the pilot episode because it had nothing to do with Jason – I almost turned it off! Thankfully I was intrigued enough to keep watching. Ultimately, I wasn't disappointed. And it was a concept that clearly worked – take a look at Warehouse 13!

HH: Why do you think Jason resonates so strongly with the horror crowd?

DF: Jason, alongside Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and maybe even Chucky, has been a modern-day myth and an iconic bogeyman for two – going on three – generations. He's been called everything from a mongoloid mama's boy to an unstoppable force of nature. Behind that hockey mask is a character that we not only fear but in some ways understand. Jason, we can only infer from the random snippets of backstory we've gotten, was the underdog, the kid who was different, bullied, neglected and ultimately forgotten. First it was his mother who wouldn't let people forget. Then it was Jason himself. I think Ginny summed it up best in Part 2 when she said that Jason was "crying out for a return, for resurrection." (Little did she or anyone else know just how many resurrections that would entail!)

TH: Jason is that ghost story around a campfire that we all love to hear and be afraid of, but at the same time he's a character in some ways that can be feared as much as pitied. The recollection of his death in the first film is actually quite sad if looked at from a real world context. From there, Jason grew into a vengeful person who lived (and then died) to punish those who he perceived wronged him. There's almost a moral compass (albeit a twisted one!) that Jason lives by and I think many people understand that. There's also a sense that the Friday films and the character are a cautionary tale, much like Aesop's fables: don't go off the beaten path, or do something you shouldn't do, because there will be consequences. In the Friday films, Jason is that consequence. On the flip side, the films also showcase people (usually the oft-mentioned "Final Girl") overcoming fears, finding strength and defeating the monster which, in our world, can be taken to mean that if we need to, we can also conquer the things that scare us and come out stronger.

DF: On a more simplistic level, I think Jason appeals to our collective sense of wish fulfillment. He mostly takes out the cheerleaders, the jocks, the kids who seem to be caught up in their own ego-centric worlds and having the most fun. Anyone who grew up feeling like an outsider can relate to the idea of secretly wanting to take these stereotypes out. Plus, his hockey mask is just very, very cool.

HH: Bracke's book is such a terrific piece of work. How much new information were you able to get during your round of interviews?

DF: I actually served as editor on Peter's book so I have been part of the Crystal Lake Memories legacy since the beginning. The book was an amazing achievement and a testament to the incredible amount of work and dedication (and I might add vision) Peter brought to it. I think he really paved the way for all the horror retrospectives (including my own) that followed. At the time, his job was made even more challenging in that we hadn't yet hit the age of Facebook and social media. It wasn't as easy as typing in a name and finding out that you're only two degrees removed from Kevin Bacon (in this case, literally!). Most of Peter's detective work was done the "old-fashioned" way: writing letters to agents and managers and in many cases digging through old crew lists and personal phone books to locate people who had either moved away or left the business long ago. For our show, we were fortunate to be able to not only draw upon dozens of hours of unused footage from His Name Was Jason, but we also got to interview a slew of people who either weren't available back then or just weren't findable at the time.

TH: With over 150 interviews, it was wonderful to see that the cast and crew either elaborated on, or came up with new information to, each question. Dan did a fantastic job in finding a new way to tell an old story, or bring out the things we have never heard before. It's a great mix of the old and new, but put together and told in a way that is definitely refreshing, surprising and fun. I think the hardest part of any project like this is less getting the new and interesting stories as it is finding the cast and crew and putting them in the "hot seat." It's always rounds of calls, emails and letters explaining what we are doing and why it's a great project to be a part of. Lucky for us, we've succeeded in getting a fantastic roster of old and new faces across the entire film franchise and series.

DF: Ultimately, we were able to interview a number of people that haven't (yet!) made their way into the book, but of course there's a decent list of alumni who, without naming names, granted an interview for the book but weren't able (or chose not to) appear in the documentary. It's always a give and take, but I think between the book and now the documentary serving as its official companion piece, we've amassed the world's largest Friday The 13th archive.

HH: Were there ever times the interviewees' stories didn't jibe?

TH: Not really, no, which is great because it means that the cast and crew are really digging deep and giving us the true inside story. I always tell them that we are wholly independent on these shows so they are free to say what they wish. Knowing that, everyone really does tell it like it is, which is important if you want to craft something that has a resonance and doesn't feel like a PR piece.

DF: Because of that [independence], we feel less inhibited about asking the tough (and at times more personal) questions, and our guests tend to not editorialize themselves the way they might if they went if we were creating bonus content for the official studio release. Though I don't think anyone will ever truly come clean about who came up with the idea to hide Jason's with a hockey mask!

HH: Never Sleep Again came out just before the 2010 Nightmare on Elm Street remake, whereas here there's been a certain passage of time since the 2009 F13 reboot. What were your thoughts about the 2009 film and how much time is devoted to it in the documentary?

DF: The reboot is the one chapter we added to the documentary that does not (again I emphasize yet!) appear in the book. I think everyone has their thoughts and opinions about sequels, remakes and reboots in general, but what I can say is that everyone we interviewed from the cast and crew of the reboot came in with so much excitement and enthusiasm (and genuine affection for one another) that it was difficult not to get caught up in their revelry.

TH: I enjoyed the film because it brought the character of Jason Voorhees to a new generation of fans while working to bring back the power and scares of the earlier films, where Jason was a brutal force to be reckoned with. That had a lot to do with the man behind the mask, Derek Mears, who has proven his love for the character and has helped keep Friday the 13th in fans minds in recent years.

DF: Whether you loved or hated the film, I think many fans appreciated his portrayal of Jason, so it was a pleasure to be able to re-interview Derek and talk to him about the character and the film in greater depth than we did for His Name Was Jason (which was made just prior to the reboot's release, so everyone was limited in terms of the specific things they could say). We devote as much time to the reboot as we do to all the other films in the series. The remake/reboot may not have been the movie every fan wanted it to be (though it certainly has its fans – as does Part 5!), but it's still undeniably part of the franchise legacy. It was only fair that we acknowledged all the creativity, passion, frustration and flack that went into and followed it. In the end, it turned out to be one of the more interesting and entertaining chapters in the show, and I for one am glad we decided to include it.

HH: Do you think we'll ever see another Jason feature?

DF: Jason has spawned a cottage industry worth more than half a billion dollars, so I think it's safe to say we haven't seen the last of him. Maybe one day his mask and machete will even get immortalized in front of the Chinese theater. He's certainly earned it.

TH: Never, ever count Jason out! As one of my favorite movies stated, he was "a killer buried...but not dead!"

HH: Here's a tough one. What's your favorite F13 kill?

DF: I have a favorite kill from every film, but I think the grand prize has to go to the sleeping bag in Part 7. Simple, effective and brilliantly conceived – and executed – by Jason.

TH: It's a tie for me: The sleeping bag death in Part 7 is raw and brutal, but almost makes you laugh because you cannot believe it just happened. It's also a happenstance moment that occurred in editing the film down; one hit was so much more powerful than repeated whacks against that tree. The other is the liquid nitrogen face smash in Jason X. Who saw that one coming!? It was shocking and, no pun intended, very, very cool. We certainly never imagined that happening in science class.

HH: Any plans to document other horror film franchises?

DF: I have had a great time working on these shows and I'm eternally grateful for the opportunity to sit down with and even befriend so many of my childhood heroes. Ending this cycle with Crystal Lake Memories is like coming home in many ways (and being a bit of a homebody I think I'd like to hang out here for a while). I hope that as all these franchises continue, future generations of filmmakers who were as inspired by these films as we were will pick up the torch and continue the journey where we left off. Then again, I probably shouldn't rule out anything. I don't want to be another one of those guys who calls something "The Final Chapter" when everyone already knows there will be another sequel.

TH: I have decided that each time I complete one of these, I can't imagine gearing up for another, but after Never Sleep Again came Inside Story: Scream. After that came More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead. Now this. As far as documentaries, I can't say what's next. In the meantime, I am hard at work on the feature film Animal, which I am producing and that I co-wrote with my partner Catherine Trillo. It's executive produced by Drew Barrymore for Chiller Films and stars Keke Palmer, Joey Lauren Adams, Thorsten Kaye, Elizabeth Gillies, Amaury Nolasco, Jeremy Sumpter, Paul Iacono, Parker Young and Eve. It's a really fun, scary piece that is a blast to be part of. I also want to focus on writing, developing and producing more projects with my company, Hutson Ranch Media. As far as more horror documentaries, I think I'll have to simply say: never say never! I’m really lucky to have had the opportunity to explore so many of the films I grew up watching. Meeting the cast and crew of the movies I loved has been an incredibly rewarding and memorable experience.

Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th is now available for pre-order at CrystalLakeMemories.net

SEPTEMBER 8, 2013

GENRE: MAD SCIENTIST, MUTANT
SOURCE: BLU-RAY (OWN COLLECTION)

When I watched the original Scanners for this site a few years back, I was kind of disappointed with it - take out the headsplosion (which I had already seen) and maybe 1-2 other little bits, it was a fairly boring film, with Cronenberg's usual insistence of not having any fun weighing down a pretty goofy concept. Thus, it probably won't surprise anyone to discover I found Scanners II: The New Order and Scanners III: The Takeover to be more to my liking; neither of them are particularly GOOD movies, but they rarely bored, and director Christian Duguay dove headfirst into all the different ways a Scanner might use his or her powers, giving them an energy that satisfied me to a certain extent.

Scanners II focuses on a Scanner named David who is recruited into an organization where his kind are sent to the dirty work of various crooked politicians. Of course, it doesn't take long for him to realize this is a bad use of one's time and tries to free himself of their control, only to be chased endlessly. It's actually a lot like the first Universal Soldier, with the main evil guy from the organization constantly in pursuit - there's even a scene where our hero goes to his family home and gets some answers only for his adoptive parents to be put into danger. It's here that we find out how this connects to the original (spoiler): David is the son of the 1981 film's heroes, and has a sister to boot - though this a bit of a botched reveal, as he should only be about 10 years old instead of 30 or so (or the movie should be set roughly in 2013). I like movies that tie together, sure, but this connective tissue is flimsy and unnecessary, since it's not like the ones in the first film were the parents of ALL the scanners in this movie (or the next one), and thus we don't need to know why HE has the power. And the way the first film's heroes are killed is pretty weak - they apparently forgot about their powers since they just get taken out by a regular (non-Scanner) guy.

Once David goes on the run it improves; the first half hour is basically a remake of the original as we're introduced to the world of Scanners all over again, complete with a headsplosion that will end up on a highlight reel or one of those 100 best kills compilations on Youtube. I don't know what the budget of these things were, but it feels like a cable movie of that era; not overly cheap, but just BLAND, making it hard to get too involved as it just seems like everyone's going through the motions. Drak (this movie's Revok) is a fun wild card, but it's not until him and David are truly pitted against each other that the movie really takes off. There's some new stuff with the Scanners too (and thankfully no "body switching"), like when David and his sister team up to use their powers to mind-control a guy past some security checks in order to infiltrate a compound, and there's a goofy bit where Drak uses his abilities to kick ass at Operation: Wolf, an old arcade game. And no matter what issues I may have had with the film, they're all rectified by the end credits theme song, which is a ballad on par with Bonfire's "Sword and Stone" from my beloved Shocker.

Scanners III is even more action packed, to the point where it's barely even horror anymore. Sure, there's still a few headsplosions (including one under water!), but it's purely an action thriller, even cribbing parts from Rambo III. This time it has no relation to the others at all beyond the core concept (and someone even specifically says it's the 90s, so it's possibly a prequel to part 2, assuming anyone was putting any thought into it), but it offers the most intriguing good vs evil pairing yet - a man named Alex vs his sister Helena, with the former returning from Thailand to stop the latter when she goes nuts and begins decimating everyone involved with the study/creation of Scanners, including their father. The Thailand stuff is where it feels like a Rambo ripoff; he goes there to become a monk and live in seclusion after he accidentally kills someone at a party while being encouraged to show off his powers (so it can't be a prequel since the end of 2 set up the idea that Scanners aren't dangerous and just want to be left alone). There's some martial arts fighting and even an older mentor type a la Richard Crenna who comes to see him and encourage him to help take up the fight - the deja vu was laid on pretty thick, in other words.

Needless to say he eventually rejoins the world to take on his sister, though not before hooking up with his ex girlfriend and getting a haircut. Again, it's all a bit blandly shot (there's a reason Christian Duguay's filmography is mostly DTV/television work), but there's more action than even Scanners II, including a rooftop shootout and even a car chase, plus more scanner villains than usual (Helena gives them all these little discs that they can put on their necks and intensify their powers, and they form a little mob tasked with finding Alex). Plus they finally figure out that they can blow up something besides heads - one guy gets his finger "scanned" off, and Helena takes care of a pigeon that pooped on her as any Scanner should (and I love the bewildered expression on a character's face a few minutes later when he keeps finding feathers on the table). There's even a dance routine, for some reason - Helena gets pissed at her douchey boyfriend and scans him into gyrating around like an asshole at some fancy restaurant. Again, it's a completely goofy concept at its core, so the idea that Duguay and his writers aren't taking it very seriously and using it as a vessel for what amounts to typical B-movie action fare, to me, is better than being all dry and stuffy about it.

Scream Factory is putting these two out on Region 1 disc for the first time, I believe - there was a European release of the "trilogy" but that's about it, and this is definitely their debut on Blu-ray. As you might expect they're hardly reference worthy transfers - there's only so much a high def release can do with a cheap film - but they're quite good all the same, with fine audio (2.0) and no DNR tinkering. Sadly they lack any extras whatsoever - both films are on the same disc (there's a DVD packaged inside as well) and the menu only offers the choice between them - no scene selection menus are available, just chapter breaks. The Euro release had some interviews with Alan Jones, it's a shame that they haven't been brought over. But, for those of you who are like me and don't import discs, it's great to finally have them on disc instead of junky, inferior VHS tapes.

There are also a pair of spinoff movies under the Scanner Cop title; no idea how those are or if they're worth seeking out (no disc release for those either, far as I know), but as the only true franchise to be spun off from a David Cronenberg idea (can't really count Dead Zone or The Fly as those were other people's stories to begin with), it demands some attention. All of his peers (Carpenter, Craven, etc) saw at least one of their creations turned into total junk, so it's sort of like a rite of passage in a weird way. Maybe someday I'll give the original another chance - I doubt these will get put back in the player all too often, but I currently consider them better, and I'm not too comfortable with saying I'd rather watch a Christian Duguay movie than a David Cronenberg one.

What say you?

Tweet

Howdy folks,

Another long patch of time with not as many flicks, but the Doc’s hands have not been idle, I promise. The journey toward the completion of the new book, HIDDEN HORROR, continues to move inexorably forward, which required much of my focus over the past few weeks. But the good news is that things are shaping up nicely and we should have a lovely new addition to your bookshelf sooner than later. Keep you posted!

That said, it was a pretty good stretch of flicks and we’ve done our best to give them all their moment in the sun. I’m not going to give much ink to Edgar Wright’s The World’s End because, well, frankly you can read up on it elsewhere and I’m not feeling all that inspired about or by it. (Sorry, Simon. Being loud and muggy and obnoxious does not necessarily equal laughs. Hell, I liked you more in the Star Trek sequel that I didn’t really like.)

As always, feel free to leave us your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!


HORROR:

Battery, The (2012) (1st viewing) d. Gardner, Jeremy (USA)

No-budget done right
A zombie flick with real brains
Best since Pontypool

**CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW**

Don't Go to the Reunion (2013) (1st viewing) d. Goltz, Steve (USA)

Cheesehead slasher stuff
Fun clichés but nothing new
Needed better kills

Lords of Salem, The (2012) (2nd viewing) d. Zombie, Rob (USA)

Call it a Witch-Slap
Zombie’s most accomplished film
And still it falls short

**CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW**

World's End, The (2013) (1st viewing) d. Wright, Edgar (UK)

Slow warm up pays off
But still the least of the three
Frost better than Pegg





NOT YET AT SIXES AND SEVENS:

Scanners II: The New Order (1991) (1st viewing) d. Duguay, Christian (Canada)

Goofy sequel time
So-so morality play
Heads blow up real good


Scanners III: The Takeover (1991) (1st viewing) d. Duguay, Christian (Canada)

Saucy Scanner lass
Killing everyone in sight
Lot more fun this time

**CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW**

Psycho II (1983) (4th viewing) d. Franklin, Richard (USA)

Superb follow-up
Norman’s back at Bates Motel
So is Mommy dear

**CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW**

Psycho III (1986) (3rd viewing) d. Perkins, Anthony (USA)

Tony takes the chair
More gore checks in, brains check out
Franchise takes a dive

**CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW**




CIVILIAN:

Butler, The (2013) (1st viewing) d. Daniels, Lee (USA)

Episodic tale
Exam of race in U.S.
Distracting star cast

World's End: The Making of Day of the Dead, The (2013)
(1st viewing) d. Felsher, Michael (USA)

Solid doc of Day
If only George had stopped there
Choppy but worthwhile


**CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW**


2013 Totals to date: 207 films, 183 1st time views, 121 horror, 61 cinema