The Don is Dead may not be top-shelf in the mafia crime-dramas but the performances for the most part were pretty good, headlined by Anthony Quinn, and some so-so suspenseful scenes, it’s just nothing overly memorable.
Runaway Train is a great suspense-thriller and one of the few success stories from the Canon Group, garnering strong reviews and even two Academy Award nominations for Voight and Roberts.
Hard to Hold is a poorly written romance-drama that at least was made somewhat watchable with the nice chemistry between Rick Springfield and Janet Eilber, though that doesn’t mean both give consistent performances.
The Allnighter isn’t exactly a quintessential movie from the 1980s, probably not even second tier either, and while it’s pretty safe but it’s light-hearted entertainment.
Crash isn’t a movie I found all that great though my interest was mainly for some of the controversy and honestly as strange as the “plot” and characters were, it’s not that out of bounds at least nowadays.
The Underneath isn’t a strong film from Steven Soderbergh but has its moments and the performances from Peter Gallagher and Alison Elliott were quite noteworthy.
Dark Intruder isn’t anything special other than its history as a failed TV pilot released theatrically and now on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber and includes a few features along with solid video and audio transfers.
Stretch is a movie that unfortunately gone under the radar thanks to it going straight to streaming (before it routine) six years ago. Patrick Wilson is pitch-perfect in the lead and Chris Pine shows off his comedic prowess.
So Evil My Love is a well made, and very well acted, crime-drama-romance headed by Ray Milland, playing a scummy charmer, and Ann Todd going from innocent to criminal in no time, yet still works.
The Suspect is an all around entertaining and oft suspense-filled crime-drama with some film nourish elements and features two great performances from both Charles Laughton and Ella Raines.
Buried Alive is a fun, if not simplistic, horror-dark comedy featuring some good performances from its core cast with Tim Matheson, Jennifer Jason Leigh and William Atherton.
Trafficked is a Lifetime-like made-for-TV movie that does tell an important tale, though I’ve seen this plot many times before. The movie stars Dean Cain and Kristy Swanson.
The Train is an all-around well made war-thriller from director John Frankenheimer and features great performances from Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield.
Tintorera was a disappointing film, looked like it could be a cheesy B-movie Jaws rip-off and while the poor dubbing can be funny, the rest was pretty boring and a chore to sit through even with the short 87-minute running time.
The Maya Deren Collection release from Kino Classics and Re:Voir has eight films from the prolific independent filmmaker and includes new 2K restorations alongside a good selection of bonus features.