6/28/06

Bad Dreams (1988. USA. Anchor Bay. Directed by Andrew Fleming. Cast: Jennifer Rubin, Richard Lynch, Bruce Abbott, Harris Yulin, Dean Cammeron, and E.G. Daily. 1.85:1 widescreen. Stereo. 84 minutes. Extras: Making of featurette, audio commentary with Andrew Fleming, special effects, behind the scenes, original ending, trailer, and screenplay DVD ROM). Not only has Anchor Bay made this horror fan happy with the DVD of Cemetery Man, but they’ve just released Bad Dreams--always a personal favorite. Jennifer Rubin plays the lone survivor of a mass suicide (by fire) that was done by a Rev. Jim Jones styled cult her family was involved with. After thirteen years of being in a coma, she awakes. Now in a psychiatric hospital, doctors try to find out why she’s still having bad dreams/visions--not aware that the dead leader of the cult (Richard Lynch) is still after her. Or, is it something even more diabolical? Besides genre faves Jennifer Rubin and Richard Lynch, Bad Dreams also features Bruce Abbott and E.G. Daily. It’s nice to be able to toss my well worn VHS copy of Bad Dreams into the trash. Thank you Anchor Bay!

Blood Bath (1976. USA. Subversive. Directed by Joel M. Reed. Cast: Harve Presnell, Doris Roberts, P.J. Soles, Norman Bush, and Sonny Landham. 1.85:1 widescreen. Stereo or Mono. 1 hour 23 minutes. Extras: Commentary with Joel M. Reed, interview with cast/crew, trailers, and bios). Joel M. Reed is best known for directing the sicko masterpiece Bloodsucking Freaks. But, his fans have been antsy for someone to release his 1976 horror anthology Blood Bath. Not only has Subversive taken care of their needs but it’s overflowing with extras. Was it worth it? It all depends on how one views things. Is this as good or as outrageous as Bloodsucking Freaks? No. Is it as good as the Amicus anthologies of the same time period? No. However, it is entertaining. The wrap around story has a horror director and his cast/crew eating dinner while each tells a “horrific” tale (ranging from weak to actually okay). A few effects look good, the acting is uneven (look for P.J. Soles in her debut performance), and this might feature the worst kung-fu fight scene ever staged. Blood Bath is hardly essential, but it should please collectors of Joel M. Reed and seventies drive-in/grindhouse obscurities.

Cemetery Gates (2006. USA. Graveyard. Directed by Roy Knyrim. Cast: Peter Stickles, Aime Wolf, Nicole Duport, Kristin Novak, John Thomas, and Reggie Bannister. Widescreen. 5.1 and stereo. 91 minutes. Extras: making of featurette, monsters/mayhem special effects, and running with the devil.) Despite featuring one of my favorite actors, Reggie Bannister, in a key role--my expectations weren’t very high for Cemetery Gates. Turns out it is worth checking out. Cemetery Gates is fun, entertaining, and moves along quite nicely. Besides how many movies star the Tasmanian Devil these days? Like the beginning of 28 Days Later, two activists are trying to free some lab experiments (conducted by scientist Reggie Bannister). One just happens to be a Tasmanian Devil--who, soon afterwards, escapes. When not munching on humans, the creature hides in some tunnels beneath a graveyard--where the scientist’s son is currently shooting a zombie film with some college pals. Cool effects, nudity, and plenty of spirit not only kept me watching--but it made me overlook its hokey conclusion.

Cemetery Man (19993. Italy. Anchor Bay. Directed by Michele Soavi. Cast: Rupert Everett, Francois Hadji-Lazard, and Anna Falchi. 1.66:1 widescreen. 5.1 and stereo. 99 minutes. Extras: 8 page booklet, trailer, Soavi bio, and Death Is Beautiful featurette.). Well, it’s about damn time Cemetery Man got an official Stateside release. This 1993 feature by Michele Soavi (Stage Fright/The Church) has done a brisk bootleg business but could never secure an official American issue. Well, you can throw away those boots and upgrade, because Anchor Bay has finally given us a wonderful looking DVD of this modern classic. Francesco Dellamorte has been hired by the mayor of a small village to be the watchman of a cemetery. Apparently, it’s not people breaking in, but, instead, coming back to life seven days after being buried. These zombies are mean and hungry and Francesco and his mentally challenged assistant, have to re-kill/rebury the walking dead. Complicating matters is Francesco falling in love (with Anna Falchi, who plays three parts), contemplating the meaning of life, and trying to escape his existence only to find he can’t. Cemetery Man mixes traditional horror themes with black comedy and art film mentality. It’s well paced, beautifully shot, and has fine performances from all. While there’s a really nice eight page booklet and a must watch featurette, one only wishes Anchor Bay had provided more extras. It’s actually a small complaint, as it’s just nice to have a DVD of Cemetery Man that looks and sounds this good. It’s a must purchase.

Lifespan (1974. UK/Netherlands. Mondo Macabro. Directed by Alexander Whitlaw. Cast: Klaus Kinski, Hiram Keller, and Tina Aumont. 1.85:1 widescreen. Mono. 85 minutes. Extras: Interview with director, commentary track, trailer, and Mondo Macabro trailers). This film has both its detractors as well as rabid supporters. Obviously, this slow moving film isn’t for everyone, but, if given a chance, one might appreciate it for the gem it is. A young American scientist (Hiram Keller) is in Amsterdam (beautiful location shots) working on developing a drug that will make people live forever. He’s gone to Amsterdam to try to work with a scientist who has nearly perfected this formula. Unfortunately, the man suddenly commits suicide. Now, the American is falling in love with the dead scientist’s mysterious mistress (Tina Aumont) and is being followed by a creepy/sinister industrialist Nicolas Ulrich (Klaus Kinski)--who is willing to pay anything to beat death. Lifespan’s biggest flaw might be for a relatively low budget movie, it tries to be too much. It’s equal parts, horror, science fiction, thriller, and erotica (who could ever forget the bondage scene with Tina Aumont). I should also mention it has a very trippy musical score by Terry Riley. As usual, Mondo Macabro has done a fine job with this DVD (looks/sounds great and obviously lots of work has gone into the extras.).

Shadow: Dead Riot (2005. USA. Shriek Show. Directed by Derek Wan. Cast: Tony Todd, Carla Greene, Nina Hodoruk, and Andrea Lang. 1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen. 5.1 or stereo. 90 minutes. Extras: Behind the scenes, photo gallery, cast/crew interviews, and trailers.). Shadow: Dead Riot is a lot of fun. It’s a women in prison (aka WIP) film that adds in zombies and Tony Todd as Shadow, an occult obsessed inmate who was executed in this prison years before. Now he’s returned to do more damage. Lots of great/twisted inmates, decent-to-awesome acting, gallons of blood, well done kung fu scenes (choreographed by the great Tony Leung), lesbians, numerous shower scenes, perverted doctor, sadistic wardens, and even a sick tribute to Larry Cohen’s It’s Alive. Michael Gingold’s screenplay is a loving tribute to the WIP genre--and it could’ve only been written by someone who has spent way too many hours watching Caged Heat, Reform School For Girls, and Jack Hill directed jungle prison features. We here at VC are grateful that Michael Gingold decided to invest so many hours of research for his art. Shadow:Dead Riot captures the spirit and raunch of the WIP genre--plus it has Tony Todd and zombies!.

If you have a DVD for review, please send it to Chip Lamey c/o Video Crypt, P.O. Box 54, Stone Harbor, N.J. 08247.