Dune wasn’t a movie that I found incredibly engaging or even entertaining from a story or character standpoint, however I can at least appreciate some of the more technical aspects with respectable effects work for its time, and some even stand out today.
The Cat o’ Nine Tails arrives on 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video on August 24th. This horror-mystery-thriller stars James Franciscus, Karl Malden and Catherine Spaak and ports over all the features from the 2018 Blu-ray release.
Blind Beast arrives on Blu-ray from Arrow Video and includes an audio commentary, introduction, video essay, trailer and photo gallery.
All in all, even as someone who doesn’t gravitates toward the western genre, I found these four films part of the Vengeance Trails box set to all be well made films, all with revenge as a central theme.
Major Dundee, starring Charlton Heston and Richard Harris, arrives on Blu-ray including both the Extended and Theatrical Versions, and a good selection of bonus features.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage to me isn’t a great giallo movie but is notable being Dario Argento’s feature debut and has great style to it even when character actions aren’t entirely believable. Still, any Argento or giallo fans will get a kick out of this film.
This Weird Wisconsin collection has some… not so good movies from filmmaker Bill Rebane. I would guess those who have an appreciation for these shoe-string budgeted films, or are from that region, might get something out of this.
Irezumi comes to Blu-ray through Arrow Video and features a new 1080p transfer along with a new commentary track, introduction and more.
12 Monkeys is a unique time-traveling sci-fi drama that features some great performances from Bruce Willis (showing what he can do when he cares), Madeline Stowe and Brad Pitt in one his more unique roles.
Django may not be a favorite of spaghetti western in my book but it’s still well done with a good performance from lead actor Franco Nero and features some good fight and action sequences.
The Switchblade Sisters has an uneven story but I still found it to be entertaining and the lead actresses were pretty fun in their roles, Joanne Nail especially.
There’s no doubt filmmaker Nico Mastorakis marches to his own drum which is commendable, but Death Has Blue Eyes was some… thing. I’m not sure what I was watching, I wouldn’t suggest watching alone, this movie deserves to be viewed in a group setting.
Southland Tales no doubt was ambitious and back in the day, based purely off of Donnie Darko, I looked forward to it, but the blend of political satire/commentary and end-of-the-world science fiction never gelled.
Shogun’s Joy of Torture isn’t a movie for everyone, probably not for me either, as it doesn’t have much substance to offer and forget about much entertainment value.
Silent Running comes to Blu-ray through Arrow Video and stars venerable actor Bruce Dern and comes with new video and audio transfers alongside a good selection of bonus material.