Reviews of three Walter Hill films: his diretorial debut Hard Times (1975) + the superb car chase film The Driver (1978), newly minted on Blu-ray from Twilight Time; and Bullet to the Head (2012) from Warner Home Video, his return to the director’s chair after a 10 year absence from feature film directing. Also: William Friedkin discusses the looming release of his long-ignored masterwork, Sorcerer (1977) after turining 78 this week.
Review of Synapse’s new Blu-ray / DVD combo edition of Hammer’s bloodiest film, Hands of the Ripper (1971).
Yup, they’re finally up – a film review of Antiviral (Alliance / EOne) and soundtrack review (Lakeshore Records) – plus some editorial thoughts on assorted projects present, future, and in the works.
Reviewed are Impulse Pictures / Synapse Films’ latest crop of Nikkatsu Roman Porno entries – Female Teacher: Hunting / Onna kyôshi-gari + Female Teacher: In Front of the Students / Onna kyôshi: Seito no me no maede (both from 1982) – and for some contextual reference for all this period smut, I’ve added a review of Sadistic and Masochistic (2000), Hideo Nakata’s 2000 documentary on Nikkatsu’s prolific house director Masaru Konuma.
Part 1 in this series contains a pair of comparative reviews of the 1949 and 1980 fiilm adaptations of Henry De Vere Stacpoole’s Victorian novel about two cousins stranded on a lovely tropical island where they eat coconuts, fish, and eventually sleep together. Tthe 1949 film version of The Blue Lagoon starred Jean Simmons and Donald Houston and remains unavailable on home video, blast it; whereas the 1980 version with Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins was released on Blu-ray by Twilight Time. Read the Editor’s Blog for authentic nit-picking blather, and then check out the reviews.
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