Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge may have had the blueprint for a fun time but I found parts to be pretty bland, including the Phantom himself who wasn’t at all frightening or someone I felt sorry for.
The Hills Have Eyes is by no means a favorite horror movie of mine despite being directed by the great Wes Craven, but it is certainly watchable with some respectable production value for the low budget along with decent enough performances.
Children of the Corn is by no means a good movie or anything, but the cheesiness does make it entertaining even if there isn’t anything particularly scary.
Deep Red, flaws and all, is a top-tier giallo film co-scripted and directed by horror-maestro Dario Argento, featuring some impressive gore and make-up effects.
Legend is an odd film compared with others directed by Ridley Scott and while the characters are thin and underdeveloped, this is almost compensated with great production design and the make-up and prosthetics are all well done.
Death Screams is a film that some may find charming as a “regional” independent film, having been shot in North Carolina. For me, I thought a fair portion was rather dull with characters that failed to resonate.
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.