Showing posts with label DVD. Show all posts

Win! Rob Zombie's latest horror The Lords of Salem on DVD

lords of salem rob zombieA haven't seen Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem, but I am looking forward to it. Just the other day after seeing Evil Dead I was thinking about the state of American Horror films. And one of the names that came to mind as an accomplished filmmaker bringing some originality to well used horror tropes - is Rob Zombie.

Rob Zombie returns spectacularly to form with The Lords of Salem which hits DVD on 22 April 2013. The film is an ode to 1970s horror cinema and is visually and aurally stunning! To celebrate the film's release we have a copy to giveaway to one lucky winner

I rate both his first features House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects as really well made and decent additions to the extreme horror genre. I may not have enjoyed his ambitious Halloween films;  Halloween and Halloween II as much - but I respected what he was attempting to achieve with them.

Rather than just making weak carbon copies of the films, like so many others have attempted and failed miserably (including the sequels after the second) he made them his own and brought both depth and an original take on the well worn tales.

Having said that I know I'll re-watch them again at some point to see if I enjoy them more. There are many remakes and sequels that I curse myself for attempting to watch once, never mind a second viewing.

So I am hoping that The Lords of Salem is a decent watch and he brings some interesting ideas to the fore in his tale centered a young former drug user and has to presumably involve witchcraft given the title and imagery in the trailer.

The Establishing Shot: This week & the mail: Submarine, Missing Pieces, London Movie Guide: Walks, Tours and Locations and Shaolin

ShaolinApologies for the lack of posts this week, but I have been flat out with BIG SCREEN coverage as it was rather damn awesome and it looks like studios have been holding out and are now releasing all the good stuff in one go for summer.

The Establishing Shot: The Lost Bladesman, Crazy 4 Cult: Cult Movie Art and a Stella Artois Box Set

stella artois DVD in every packYowsers! A veritable smorgasbord of goodness has arrived in the mail this week. Let's dig in:

The Lost Bladesman
Well, any film starring and fight choreographed by master Martial Artist Donnie Yen is worth a look but The Lost Bladesman is also made by the guys behind the Infernal Affairs trilogy - Alan Mak and Felix Chong, the first part remade as The Departed by Martin Scorsese and goes back to the timeless story of the Romance Of The Three Kingdoms which has been used as the basis for many films over the years. The only bad bit is I have not had a chance to actually watch The Lost Bladesman as yet. So a review will be going up next week in the meantime - later today we have the exclusive reveal of the UK Trailer for The Lost Bladesman so keep an eye out for it. It is epic!

The Lost Bladesman
The Lost Bladesman
The source material for several screen adaptations over the years (including John Woo’s “Red Cliff” and Daniel Lee’s “Three Kingdoms: Resurrection Of The Dragon”), Luo Guanzhong’s classic historical novel “Romance Of The Three Kingdoms” provides the inspiration for the sumptuous period martial arts epic and Chinese box office smash, The Lost Bladesman.

Co-written and co-directed by the duo responsible for the “Infernal Affairs” trilogy, Alan Mak and Felix Chong, and starring Donnie Yen (14 Blades; Bodyguards And Assassins; Ip Man), Jiang Wen (The Founding Of A Republic), Alex Fong (Triple Tap; Once A Gangster) and Sun Li (Fearless), with stunning action choreography by Yen, the film has been described as “an emotionally-charged, high-octane adventure [and] a couple of hours of rip-roaring entertainment in the company of one of history’s greatest badasses” (Twitch Film).

Yen stars as the legendary warrior Guan Yun Chang, sworn brother of the great warlord Liu Bei, who, on becoming separated from his friend during the tumultuous warring period of the Three Kingdoms, is taken prisoner by and agrees to fight temporarily alongside Liu Bei’s enemy and rival warlord, Cao Cao.
The Lost Bladesman (cert. 12) will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on 8th August 2011. For more info about The Lost Bladesman head to http://www.cult-labs.com/lost-bladesman/


Crazy 4 Cult: Cult Movie Art
I love film art particularly when it re-imagines iconic visuals or passionately reinterprets the films I love. So when the I heard about Gallery 1988’s Crazy 4 Cult projects I was keen to see what it was all about. And when a copy of Crazy 4 Cult: Cult Movie Art was fortuitously dropped off with our concierge earlier this week I was ecstatic.

IN THE MAIL: JUNE 1: EATERS: RISE OF THE DEAD, KEEPING THE BRITISH END UP: FOUR DECADES OF SAUCY CINEMA & VAMP

VampEaters: Rise Of The Dead. Presented by cult writer-director-producer Uwe Boll (House Of The Dead; BloodRayne; In The Name Of The King), Eaters: Rise Of The Dead is a smart, stylish and ambitious indie horror movie from first time directors Luca Boni and Marco Ristori.


Eaters: Rise Of The Dead Trailer

Taking an old-school approach to the genre that thematically and atmospherically recalls the post-apocalyptic terrors of George A. Romero’s classic “Day Of The Dead”, Eaters: Rise Of The Dead combines brains (in every sense of the word!) and gratuitous gore in one neat bloody package that will satisfy even the most demanding zombie movie fans.

The world has been devastated by what has come to be known as the Great Epidemic, the result of a deadly global virus deliberately spread by an anonymous psychotic terrorist called the Plague Spreader. Essentially turning its victims into the living dead, the epidemic has produced a Hell on Earth in which even the Pope has committed suicide in order to escape the unfathomable horror.

Still surviving the madness going on around them is a small group comprising two zombie hunters, Igor (Alex Lucchesi) and Alen (Guglielmo Favilla), a scientist named Gyno (Claudio Marmugi), and Alexis (Rosella Elmi), a former colleague of Gyno’s and girlfriend of Alen, who is somehow still alive despite being infected by the virus. Gyno believes that Alexis could be the key to finding a cure that could save the human race but for his research he desperately needs “guinea pigs”, undead test subjects that Igor and Alen are more than happy to provide in exchange for food, beer and board at Gyno’s lab.

Searching the local countryside for suitable zombie candidates, the two fearless zombie hunters cross paths with an insane artist, a group of neo-Nazis led by a midget Fuhrer, and a mysterious teenage girl who they believe may be the daughter of the Plague Spreader himself. As Igor and Alen routinely risk their lives fighting and trying to capture the undead, unknown to them, Gyno is secretly working to a completely different agenda – one that could have even more terrifying consequences than the problems created by the Plague Spreader.

Excellent gore effects, impressively stylish cinematography and a fitting music score (by Justin Bennett of Skinny Puppy and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult fame and Stefano Rossello of Italian experimental industrial band Bahntier) combined with the script’s very dark vein of black humour make Eaters: Rise Of The Dead a chilling but hugely entertaining ride through a near-future world overrun by zombie flesh-eaters.

Eaters: Rise Of The Dead (cert. tbc) will be available on DVD from 13 June 2011.


Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema
Keeping The British End Up traces the history of the British sex film from its coy beginnings in Nudist Paradise through to its boom years with the Confessions series, and its demise in the early eighties.

Keeping the British End Up
Written by acclaimed journalist and broadcaster, Simon Sheridan, with a foreword by the actress Sue Longhurt and afterword by Johnny Vegas, this new edition includes an expanded filmography and previously unpublished interview material and stills.
The British tradition of ‘saucy postcard’ humour is perhaps best exemplified by the long running Carry On movies. But there is a forgotten cinema of saucier ‘X’ certificate films.
Joan Collins and Joanna Lumley were among those who appeared in such films. Most famously, Robin Askwith, Fiona Richmond and Mary Millington became seventies superstars in movies that put boobs on screen and bums on seats.


Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema is available from all good book stores from
22 April, 2011


Vamp
Vamp a personal favourite of mine is finally available on Blu-ray. The 80s were full of films exploring high school and college high jinx, but right from the opening scene Vamp sets it self apart from the others by being genuinely humorous, clever & avoiding most clichés and then the fangs come out. Despite it's relatively low budget values Vamp shines as a genre bending tale.

Vamp Trailer

Flesh hungry freaks, exotic vampire dancers and black comedy combine in one of the great cult video store hits of the 1980s... VAMP

At school, getting into the right fraternity can be a matter of life or death. Keith and AJ need to hire a stripper to entertain the brothers or their college days are over. In a shady after hours joint they find an adult entertainer like no other when they step into the world of sharp-fanged Katrina. Have these two freshmen bitten off more than they can chew? Stuck on the wrong side of town, on a dark night and surrounded by a plague of alien blood suckers... The answer is definitely yes!

With a cast including the gorgeous Dedee Pfeiffer and the frighteningly beautiful Grace Jones, this oddball combination of blood, laughs and vampire hotness is a must have for all lovers of the undead.

Vamp


Vamp is available on Blu-ray from
21 April, 2011



The Establishing Shot: IN THE MAIL: JUNE 1: EATERS: RISE OF THE DEAD, KEEPING THE BRITISH END UP: FOUR DECADES OF SAUCY CINEMA & VAMP

The Establishing Shot: SAW: The Final Chapter (Extreme Edition) Review

SAW: The Final ChapterSAW the highest grossing horror franchise comes to an end - with a bang and not a whimper. I’m pretty sure anyone reading this has seen or at a very minimum is aware of one of the 7 SAW films as well as who Jigsaw is, such is its proliferation into popular culture’s consciousness that it has spawned console games, multiple theme parks, fan events as well as a comic.

SAW: The Final Chapter

The story of SAW started back in 2004 when Australian filmmakers James Wan and Leigh Whannel pitched their idea to Hollywood. After making a short film as proof of concept, they were given the green light and £1.2 Million. They made SAW in 23 days. The rest is history.

As a refresher below is a brief summary of the SAW saga up to SAW 7 aka SAW 3D or rather SAW : The Final Chapter or SAW 3D: The Final Chapter. As well as an infographic showing the SAW characters and which of the SAW films they are in.

SAW
Two men wake up with a dead body lying between them. The men must follow various rules and objectives if they wish to survive and win the deadly game set for them.

How far would you go to save your own life? Prepare yourself for a gut-wrenching trip into the heart of terror with SAW, Lions Gate Films’ gripping horror film starring Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter and Leigh Whannell. Obsessed with teaching his victims the value of life, a deranged, sadistic serial killer is abducting morally wayward people and forcing them to play macabre games for their own survival. Faced with impossible choices, each victim must struggle to win back his/her life, or else die trying…

Stars: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell and Danny Glover


SAW II
“Hello, Michael. I want to play a game…”

Jigsaw is back. The brilliant, disturbed mastermind who wreaked havoc on his victims in last year’s SAW is back for another round of horrifying life-or-death games. When a new murder victim is discovered with all the signs of Jigsaw’s hand, Detective Eric Mathews (Donnie Wahlberg) begins a full investigation and apprehends Jigsaw with little effort. But for Jigsaw, getting caught is just another part of his nefarious plan. Eight more of his victims are already fighting for their lives – and now it’s time for Mathews to join the game…

Jigsaw locks a few unlucky people in a booby trapped shelter and they must find a way out before they inhale too much of a lethal nerve gas and die. But they must watch out, for the traps Jigsaw has set in the shelter lead to death also.

Stars: Donnie Wahlberg, Beverley Mitchell and Franky G


SAW III
With his new apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith), Jigsaw, the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police, has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Doctor Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) and Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) are unaware that they are about to become the latest pawns on his vicious chessboard.

Jigsaw kidnaps a doctor to keep him alive while he watches his new apprentice put an unlucky citizen through a brutal test.

Stars: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith and Angus Macfadyen


Saw IV
Jigsaw and his apprentice Amanda are dead. Now, upon the news of Detective Kerry's murder, two seasoned FBI profilers, Agent Strahm and Agent Perez, arrive in the terrified community to assist the veteran Detective Hoffman in sifting through Jigsaw's latest grisly remains and piecing together the puzzle. However, when SWAT Commander Rigg is abducted and thrust into a game, the last officer untouched by Jigsaw has but ninety minutes to overcome a series of demented traps and save an old friend or face the deadly consequences.

Stars: Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson and Louis Ferreira


Saw V
In the fifth installment of the SAW franchise, Hoffman is seemingly the last person alive to carry on the Jigsaw legacy. But when his secret is threatened, Hoffman must go on the hunt to eliminate all loose ends.

Following Jigsaw's grisly demise, Mark Hoffman, the final apprentice to the serial killer is deigned a hero. Meanwhile, Agent Strahm continues to track Hoffman while another group of strangers are put through a series of gruesome traps.

Stars: Scott Patterson, Costas Mandylor and Tobin Bell


Saw VI
Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw's grand scheme is finally understood.

Stars: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor and Mark Rolston


Which brings full circle to SAW: The Final Chapter


I have seen all the SAW films and went from being impressed that someone managed to get Cary Elwes and Danny Glover in an innovative fairly hardcore horror film. Look I’m sure it has a more appropriate sub genre categorisation but I’m old school, and if the film has a creepy puppet and a twisted guy setting up death traps it’s Horror. Anyway I went from impressed to being mildly interested. Even though at one point I had a Saw-athon and watched 6 of the Saw films back to back. But in all honesty couldn’t tell you what happened after the third film.

I think they did an admirable job, stayed innovative and stuck to the core principals that made the first one interesting while exploring the Jigsaw universe.

By the last chapter we have come full circle: “As a deadly battle rages over Jigsaw's brutal legacy, a group of Jigsaw survivors gathers to seek the support of self-help guru and fellow survivor Bobby Dagen, a man whose own dark secrets unleash a new wave of terror.”

Firstly let me say I saw, SAW: The Final Chapter (Extreme Edition) so I can’t vouch for the regular version but this version was pretty brutal & bloody. I’m pretty sure it is the most gruesome of the series so far as probably way up on the list of hardcore visual horror.


In a nice touch SAW: The Final Chapter starts where the first SAW ended. And we are reminded where it all began. We are then taken to a packed public square where in a large glass display room? In the room we see two guys and a girl locked into a Jigsaw deathtrap. Turns out the girl has been seeing both guys. The guys have to decide whether to kill each other or the girl dies. What follows is classic Jigsaw. A moral dilemma that can only have a completely gruesome ending either way it goes. I saw the first 8 minutes of SAW: The Final Chapter in 3D and can say the 3D brought a whole new level of gross to SAW.

There is almost a dual narrative going on in the Final Chapter. In one story we pick up right where SAW VI ended with the same characters fighting it out, that is Jigsaw’s protégé Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and Jigsaw’s ex-wife Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell) Jill exposes Mark Hoffman. This raises the stakes of their cat & mouse game and sparks off a new player trying to stop “Jigsaw”.

In the second story we explore the universe of SAW a little further and are introduced to Bobby Dagen played by Sean Patrick Flanery. Bobby is one of the few living survivors of a Jigsaw death trap. He has subsequently written a book on his experience and has become a fairly famous. He is also an inspiration to many after surviving the ordeal. I’m pretty sure you already know where this is going. Unfortunately Bobby drags his close circle of associated into the firing line with him.

Both stories merge fairly early on around the casualties of another gruesome Jigsaw deathtrap. Again I can’t say what the regular edition is like but in the Extreme Edition this trap inflicted upon some racial supremacists is pretty gruesome. The rest of the film pretty much follows the SAW formula; the police try stop “Jigsaw” whilst a group of victims try survive a deathtrap against a clock with some surprises along the way.

I enjoyed SAW: The Final Chapter much in the same way I enjoy a decent burger. Fairly good at the time but after a little while you don’t really remember it. Even though SAW: The Final Chapter has the highest production budget, it does feel a little lower budget than previous efforts. I’m guessing this had a lot to do with paring down the visuals to make the 3D more effective. But if you are not watching it in 3D it loses some of the previous viscerality while it brings the series to a close. Or does it? If you watch SAW: The Final Chapter with the producers commentary on they are more than happy to hear your ideas for the next one.

SAW: The Final Chapter (Extreme Edition) DVD includes:

- Producers' Audio Commentary which does have some interesting bits of info from across the SAW series.
- Writers' Audio Commentary
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
- Music Videos

SAW: The Final Chapter
Director: Kevin Greutert
Stars: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor and Betsy Russell

The last chapter in the world’s most successful horror franchise in history SAW : The Final Chapter (Extreme Edition) is available DVD & 3D Blu-ray as of yesterday Monday 7th March.

Also available from 7th March is SAW: The Final Cut - the Limited Edition Ultimate Collection of all 7 movies!

SAW: The Final Cut


To purchase SAW : The Final Chapter (Extreme Edition) or SAW: The Final Cut - the Limited Edition Ultimate Collection of all 7 movies! head over to Play

SAW: The Final Chapter (Extreme Edition) Review

The Establishing Shot: The brilliant Lymelife is coming to DVD!

Infidelity, family feuds and first love combine in the Network Releasing DVD debut of LYMELIFE, available to rent and own on 23rd August 2010.


I was fortunate enough to catch a preview screening of Lymelife. I say fortunate as this bitter sweet film is wonderful. A warm slice of 70s American life. Told from the point of view of Scott Bartlett (Rory Culkin) a "shy Star Wars loving teenager obsessed with feisty girl next-door Adrianna (Emma Roberts)". It really captures the nostalgia of the 70s, coming of age, family life, the consequences of adult decisions and their impact.

All round the acting is superb and impressively under stated but the real star of Lymelife is the world that Writer/Director Derick Martini creates it will sweep you away and keep you engaged. There are some hear warming moments that will make you smile while easing you into the tension building to it's conclusion. A great little film with powerhouse performances.


Executive produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by Derick Martini, this semi-autobiographical tale about the American Dream gone wrong is set in the late 1970s in Long Island, New York. Scott Bartlett (Rory Culkin) is a shy Star Wars loving teenager obsessed with feisty girl next-door Adrianna (Emma Roberts). Adrianna’s deer-hunting father loses his job after contracting Lyme’s disease from a tic, a brain wasting illness. He hides losing his job from wife Melissa (Cynthia Nixon) by getting stoned in the basement while she embarks on an affair with her real estate boss played by Alec Baldwin, who happens to be Scott’s father and her daughter’s friend. Tension mounts when things become all too obvious to Scott’s mother, played by Jill Hennessy, which coincides with Scott’s journey to manhood…

An excellent ensemble cast make this a powerful drama with many darkly comic moments. It will appeal to fans of quirky independent films such as American Beauty and The Ice Storm.

Director: Derick Martini
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Cynthia Nixon, Kieran Culkin and Timothy Hutton & Emma Roberts

USA, 2008, 95 mins, English

The brilliant Lymelife is coming to DVD!

When:
Lymelife will be available to rent and own on 23rd August 2010, RRP £14.99.

More info: Over at the Network Releasing microsite
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