MOTHRA - Mill Creek Blu-ray Review

THE TAKE / BLACK GUNN - Mill Creek Double Feature Blu-ray Review (youtube)

Check out Mill Creek Entertainment and this release is available HERE

FLORA (Mill Creek Blu-ray Review)

Canada/2016
Directed By: Sasha Louis Vukovic
Written By: Sasha Louis Vukovic
Starring: Teresa Marie Doran, Dan Lin, Sari Mercer
Color/100 Minutes/Not Rated
Region A
Release Date: August 7, 2018
Blu-ray/Digital

The Film
Set in 1929, a team on an expedition to an uncharted forest to map the terrain and document the local plant life finds the team that arrived before them have gone missing. They realize that the native flora contain a deadly bacteria and that their lives depend on escaping the mysterious forest with limited supplies as they're being attacked by nature itself.

FLORA is an ambitious debut project for writer/director Sasha Louis Vukovic who was pretty freshly out of film school when this production went underway. Not only did he take on a period piece but he focused the film on an invisible antagonist which makes the audience focus entirely on the story and doesn't give himself any wall to hide behind as he could have with a more special effects driven horror movie. And to his credit I think Vukovic is largely successful. FLORA is a tense thriller, with fleshed out characters who have genuine intentions and purpose within the film. There are a few moments where the direction gets a bit too into itself and goes for flare over simple effectiveness. I chalk this up to a new director trying to show what he's capable of and I understand that but it's not always necessary. Sasha Vukovic is a young director and I think he'll be able to dial in his style and feel out when to reel it in a bit in the future.

The cast is comprised of a group with limited experience and like their director, there's more to praise than to critique. Instances of stilted performances are spread amongst a believable ensemble who are more than up to the task of not only a dramatic but at times a physical performance as well with plenty of sprinting and carrying heavy equipment through the actual Canadian forest this movie was shot in. A period piece is only as believable as the set dressing and wardrobe and that is tough to accomplish with millions of dollars let alone with the $120,000 (Canadian) budget that the film had according to IMDB and I never once questioned that this film was taking place in the late 1920s. I applaud the Vukovic's writing and costuming of Olivia Ball to make sure the characters spoke and wore the era.

FLORA isn't perfect but it is quite good. Sometimes less is more and in separate instances FLORA both adheres to that rule and breaks it. The script has questionable character decisions and potential plot bumps if not holes regarding this unseen organism but I found myself engaged, entertained and totally invested by this adventure in minimalist horror that reminded me of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening if The Happening if Shyamalan had written a script that was worth a damn. FLORA is a debut that avoids many of the stumbling blocks a young rookie director and writer fall victim of and is a promising start. I hope Sasha Vukovic works more in the horror and thriller genres in the coming years.

The Audio & Video
Mill Creek gives FLORA a home on Blu-ray and it looks very nice. The digital photography shines in the 2.00:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer with the lush greens of the forest popping and engulfing the screen. Skin tones look fleshy and natural with no signs of waxiness or pink coloring. There are no noticeable issues with black levels clumping up or becoming pixelated. The 5.1 DTS-HD audio mix sounds fantastic with the beautiful score shining through when it needs to be more in the foreground but blending nicely with the dialogue the rest of the time. The audio is crisp and clear with no distortion issues.

The Extras
Bonus features include a short behind the scenes featurette which provide a bit of insight into the development of the film and its production. Also included are deleted scenes and an audio commentary track with writer/director Sasha Louis Vukovic and stars Teresa Marie Doran and Dan Lin.

The Bottom Line
FLORA had success on the festival circuit and deservedly so. It now has a very respectable home on Blu-ray and I think it deserves a place on every horror fan's watch list.

FLORA is available HERE

BAND OF THE HAND (Blu-ray Review - Mill Creek Entertainment)

USA/1986
Directed By: Paul Michael Glaser
Written By: Leo Garen & Jack Baran
Starring: Stephen Lang, James Remar, Michael Carmine
Color/110 Minutes/R
Region A
Release Date: January 10, 2017

The Film
A group of five teens who are among the worst juvenile delinquents in the system are due to be processed as adults if they don't participate in a rehabilitation/survivalist program led by a Native American Vietnam War veteran named Tiger Joe (Stephen Lang) in the Florida Everglades. The group must learn teamwork, loyalty, trust and togetherness to survive their trials. Upon completion the group is awarded with a home in a violent Miami neighborhood to rebuild and start a new life. However the house is used as a drug den and a prostitute hideout by the local gang leader Cream (Laurence Fishburne). The group must fight for their new home and for each other in a violent and over the top series of fistfights, shootouts and explosive encounters with the drug pushers.

BAND OF THE HAND didn't start out quite as I anticipated. I expected a more straight forward action exploitation film but the time dedicated to developing the teen characters and their relationships with Tiger Joe really paid off and make BAND OF THE HAND a better overall film that really engages the viewer and gives them a reason to really care about these reformed troubled youths. I expected a lot of shoot outs and fights, which there are plenty of but the excitement early on is more of an adventure film with quicksand, deadly snakes and wild boars attacking the group as they learn teamwork and loyalty.

Producer Michael Mann has made some classic action and thriller films such as Heat and Manhunter and undoubtedly had a hand in helping director Paul Michael Glaser make not only an exciting film but one that is also a really solid production. The acting is good, including James Remar who made his name as Ajax in The Warriors several years earlier and Michael Carmine who unfortunately only made a handful of other appearances in films and television. The young Laurence Fishburne is also notable for his time on screen as Cream the head of the local drug game. He shows the talent that would make him the Hollywood staple he has since become.

BAND OF THE HAND eventually becomes the action film it promises to be as the third act is nearly one long action sequence that gets bigger and bigger and in true 80s fashion does become a bit campy and over the top but never to the point where the film falls off and loses you. It pulls the theme together and makes BAND OF THE HAND a piece of 80s brotherhood action that deserves to be seen. If there's a subgenre called "Protect-Your-'Hoodsploitation" BAND OF THE HAND will fit right in and if there's not there should be.

The Audio & Video
Mill Creek gives BAND OF THE HAND it's first proper home video release after a cropped full screen DVD and a MOD DVD-r we finally have an anamorphic widescreen, factory pressed release and in HD no less. The 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer looks sharp with good detail level and vibrant colors. Skin tones look healthy and natural while black levels are handled well and are pretty deep. The audio is handled with a Dolby Digital mix that is crisp and well balanced. There's virtually no issues with any sort of damage or distortions. I'm very pleased with how this disc turned out.

The Extras
Bare bones disc with reversible cover art.

The Bottom Line
BAND OF THE HAND is a mashup of the best 80s action and revenge tropes blended together for a movie ripe for rediscovery. Mill Creek's release is sadly void of any special features but the quality A/V work is enough to warrant a recommendation especially at its bargain bin price point.

BAND OF THE HAND is available HERE

Jean Claude Van Damme 5 Movie Collection (Blu-ray Review) - Mill Creek

USA/1996-2006
Directed By: Various
Written By: Various
Starring: Jean Claude Van Damme
Color/481 Minutes/R
Region A
Release Date: March 15, 2016

The Films
MAXIMUM RISK
The film to start this package off is a perfect example of a mid 90s action flick starring an action star who had already made his best films years before. Unfortunately for the rest of this collection JCVD is our star in every film so I'm afraid that fact will remain sadly true. That said, the film has no shortage of action though it feels like it was made with weekend cable screenings in mind. The high point being the scene in the subway station where we get to see a dummy hit by a speeding subway car. The story of mistaken identities, and finding out family history feels rehashed but a couple nude scenes with co-star Natasha Henstridge keeps things interesting when the action is at a lull. An average but harmless flick.

DOUBLE TEAM
There are some things that don't make sense to me about this movie. Things like why the opening credits look like they were made with a label maker? How the hell did Dennis Rodman make it into a major motion picture? What is Mickey Rourke up to these days? You know, life's hard hitting questions. The action comedy mash up is filled with explosions, shoot outs and fantastic fight choreography but the action is the only thing keeping my attached. The story is weak, the acting is weak (how many lines can Rodman mumble his way through?) and the promise of Van Damme fighting a tiger ends up being a letdown. Oh and let us not forget how much Coke product placement there is and that our heroes are literally saved from a massive explosion by a fucking vending machine.

UNIVERSAL SOLDER: THE RETURN
The 2nd theatrical film of the series followed a pair of made for TV films and bombed at the box office and is no longer considered canon to the series. How could a JCVD vehicle from 1999 that was the fourth film in a series that had already went to TV productions for sequels twice and co-stars Bill Goldberg bomb at the box office and essentially be written out of the franchise's history you ask? It looks and feels like a video game that was already outdated by the time it was completed. I'm not at all familiar with the UNIVERSAL SOLDIER series so I don't know how this fits in but since it has been disowned I suppose it doesn't really matter. There's plenty of action but most of it feels like an amusement park thrill ride. It's always nice to see Michael Jai White and the soundtrack has some solid metal bands on it so I guess there's that.

THE HARD CORPS
A lumpy headed (seriously, what is that giant lump on Van Damme's forehead?) Van Damme plays a depressed former Army Special Forces soldier suffering from PTSD who gets a gig protecting a former boxing champion from a violent thug he sent to prison. Too much is asked of Van Damme here. He's not a great actor and it shows throughout this one but to be fair just about everyone else in this movie gives weak performances too. There's nothing funny at all about PTSD but the scene of Van Damme at the rap concert is unintentionally hilarious and that shows how much of a failure this movie is.

SECOND IN COMMAND
The final film of the set redeems things a bit after the low point that was THE HARD CORPS. SECOND IN COMMAND is an entertaining war film starring Van Damme who leads a small group of US Marines who are fighting in Eastern Europe to protect the president of Moldavia from being kidnapped. The setting is interesting giving us a tight urban environment filled with shoot outs and tense moments. It's competently written and directed and the acting is okay. This is probably the most violent film in the collection.

The Audio & Video
The first disc features the first three films reviewed above and they all looking pretty good. The picture quality is sharp with nice colors and good detail level throughout. Black levels are generally handled well with very few issues of blocking or compression. Audio is crisp with no damage or background noise. The second disc features the final two films on the set so you'd imagine image quality would fare a bit better or at least be as good. That isn't the case as THE HARD CORPS and SECOND IN COMMAND use obviously dated masters and don't look much better than an upconvert to HD. Detail lacks and colors don't shine like they would in a proper HD transfer. SIC is rather hazy and soft as well. Oddly enough the worst looking movies in the set are the most recent productions. The audio on this disc is fine, comparable to the first disc.

The Extras
None.

The Bottom Line
The films are a mixed bag with some good, some bad but mostly everything is in the middle and just okay. If you're a big JCVD fan the set is a no brainer and at the bargain price point that Mill Creek is offering this collection of films at if you're even remotely interested in it you'd be a fool not to give it a chance.

JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAMME 5 MOVIE COLLECTION is available HERE