Film: Very Good Transfer: Excellent Extras: n/a Label: Turbine Medien Region: Region B Released: 2015 Genre: Science-Fiction / Horror Synopsis: After being promoted as CEO of a highly profitable arms corporation, Hayden Cale finds her rejection of a resident development whiz lethal when he unleashes his personal death machine – all teeth, no love. Special Features: Director’s Cut […]
Reviews of two Raquel Welch westerns – BANDOLERO! (1968) + 100 RIFLES (1969), and Twilight Time bids farewell!
Twilight Time’s stellar Blu-ray features one of the heaviest fact-filled commentary tracks by Cinema Retro’s Lee Pfeiffer, historian Paul Scrabo, and Dean Martin biographer Tony Latino…
This may not be the greatest western produced near the end of the decade, but it’s an important marker of several transition points – of the western being re-embraced by studios…
Review of Peter Lorre’s lone film as director – the grim & gripping DER VERLORENE / THE LOST ONE (1951), from Germany’s Arthaus.
A thinner Peter Lorre is Dr. Karl Rothe, rechristened Dr. Neumeister, administering routine prescriptions and treatments to war refugees in a daily grind that’s neither pressing nor interesting…
Adapted from the actual psychiatric examination records of Germany’s infamous serial killer of prostitute boys, this is one of the finest dramatizations of a shrink extracting information…
Alongside a podcast with CanCon film historian Jason Pichonsky are revised reviews of Julian Roffman’s THE BLOODY BROOD (1959) + John Huston’s PHOBIA (1980), both from KINO Lorber / Unobstructed View.
Review of Craig Baxley’s combustible cult classic I COME IN PEACE / aka DARK ANGEL (1990) on Blu from Scream Factory.
Craig Baxley’s expertise in delivering action was one reason he was hired, but his brilliant knack for extracting production value from the…
Welcome to The Pit: GREYHOUND (2020) + U-BOATS: THE WOLFPACK and B-17: THE FLYING FORTRESS (1987)
Two sides of a vicious WWII sea battle: GREYHOUND (2020) from Apple TV+ / Sony + U-BOATS: THE WOLFPACK and B-17: THE FLYING FORTRESS (1987) on DVD from BSX Entertainment
(Very Minor) Brilliance on a Budget: X-312 FLIGHT TO HELL (1970)
Jess Franco delivers decent action and enjoyable nonsense in the plane crash thriller X-312: FLIGHT TO HELL (1970) from Image.
Tribute to one of the greatest film composers, Italy’s Ennio Morricone, who passed away at 91.
Podcast: Jason Pichonsky on Restoring Julian Roffman’s THE BLOODY BROOD (1959) + PHOBIA (1980)
Alongside a podcast with CanCon film historian Jason Pichonsky are revised reviews of Julian Roffman’s THE BLOODY BROOD (1959) + John Huston’s PHOBIA (1980), both from KINO Lorber / Unobstructed View.
Podcast: ANNE WITH AN E composers Amin Bhatia & Ari Posner
Podcast interview with ANNE WITH AN E’s composing team Amin Bhatia and Ari Posner.
Podcast: Austin Wintory’s REMNANTS + ERICA (2019)
In a new podcast, composer Austin Wintory discusses scoring the interactive PS4 video game ERICA + the eclectic music on the compilation album REMNANTS.
DVD: U-Boats: The Wolfpack / B-17: The Flying Fortress (1987)
Very little is known about this (presumably) four-part documentary series produced by Midwich Entertainment over (presumably) 2 years, narrated by character actor and serious voice extraordinaire Edward Mulhare…
Originally produced by Sony Pictures and slated for a June 2020 theatrical release, Greyhound’s big screen debut was stymied when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and although Apple TV swung in to the rescue…
DVD: X-312 Flight to Hell / X312 – Flug zur Hölle (1971)
Jess Franco’s story featuring non-stop double-crossing characters is largely sound, if not ambitious…
BR: Cries of Pleasure / Gemidos de placer (1983)
Cries of Pleasure / Gemidos de placer (1983) focuses on a Libertine’s new girlfriend who soon meets his wife, newly released from – where else – an asylum, but Cries is credited as…
BR: Night of Open Sex / La noche de los sexos abiertos (1983)
That interplay between calm and vulgar could be the film’s most consistent element: for some easy cash, Moira (Lina Romay) is asked by a client to help him extract truth from Tina Klaus…
Written during his busiest period (1968-1970), Quincy Jones’ score for John and Mary was quite sparse, leaving obligatory space for the film’s myriad dialogue exchanges and source music, but the score is memorable for being atypical of the material Jones was writing at the time: action comedies (The Italian Job, The Hell with Heroes), comedies (Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,Cactus Flower), and the funky style of They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!
For some soundtrack fans, it was a bit of surprise to learn the composer of pioneering synth scores had begun his career with large orchestral scores for John Boorman’s Excalibur (1981) and Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal (1982)…
LP: Bourne Identity, The (2002)
The first film in the enduring franchise gave John Powell the perfect opportunity to write what remains both his definitive action sound, and the definitive action score of that decade, blending large orchestral sounds with layers upon layers of electronics…
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