Cabin Fever: Patient Zero (DVD Review) - Image/RLJ

USA/2014
Directed By: Kaare Andrews
Written By: Jake Wade Wall
Starring: Ryan Donowho, Brando Eaton, Sean Astin
Color/95 Minutes/Not Rated
Region 1
Release Date: September 2, 2014

The Film
A small group of friends have planned a bachelor party for their friend on a gorgeous yacht and secluded island in the Caribbean. It doesn't take long for the party of lifetime to turn into the party from hell. A dive into tainted waters reveals hundreds of dead and decaying fish which quickly begins eating away at our partyers. The rest of the group stumble upon an old research facility where they find out the secret testing responsible for the tainted water and the death it has caused.

Now up to its third installment, this particular entry being a prequel, CABIN FEVER is a film I never thought would turn in to a franchise. The first film, Eli Roth's debut, was good. It had some tense moments, plenty of gross out factor and even a few laughs along the way. It was a solid movie on its own. Then came the first sequel, "Spring Fever", directed by Ti West who would eventually try to have his name taken from the film because of how much studio interference there was and what a giant ball of shit it turned in to. That movie should have killed the thought of turning CABIN FEVER in to a franchise.

But no, CABIN FEVER is alive and well, well alive anyways, with PATIENT ZERO. Instead of making another sequel this time the filmmakers decided to show us the origins of the sickness and in what better way than to randomly set it in a beautiful paradise location. It makes no sense really, but the franchise already sucks so why the hell not? CABIN FEVER: PATIENT ZERO does nothing new or exciting. It feels like it could be the prequel (or sequel) to just about any recent horror franchise just having moved the setting somewhere exotic. There's plenty of gore, so if that's all it takes to please you then jump on in but other than that it is painfully generic in every way.

The Audio & Video
The DVD of this prequel from Image/RLJ looks quite good. There is a nice sharpness to the picture which makes the attractive exotic locations look gorgeous and the dark scenes are handled very well. Overall it's a nice 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. A 5.1 Dolby Digital track is the lone audio option and it has good clarity and a great mix. There's no background noise to speak of.

The Extras
Bare bones.

The Bottom Line
If you're a super fan of the franchise then you'll probably be interested in checking out this prequel but other than that the only people I can see really appreciating PATIENT ZERO are lovers of direct-to-video franchises.

CABIN FEVER: PATIENT ZERO is available HERE

Doctor Mordrid (Blu-ray Review) - Full Moon

USA/1992
Directed By: Albert Band, Charles Band
Written By: C. Courtney Joyner
Starring: Jeffrey Combs, Yvette Nipar, Jay Acovone
Color/74 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: September 23, 2014

The Film
DOCTOR MORDRID is the story of two rival sorcerers and their long running battle over Earth. Mordrid has sworn to protect Earth from Cabal who wants to turn the planet it a burnt pile of nothing. Cabal sends his minions to distract Mordrid while he works on freeing the demons from the Fourth Dimension who are locked away and patrolled by Mordrid's friends to help with his plan of destroying Earth. Mordrid and his neighbor who works for the police department must rush to stop Cabal from getting the Philosopher's Stone, the final piece Cabal needs to unleash hell. The museum that houses the stone turns into a battleground between two experts in magic.

DOCTOR MORDRID is one of the most underrated Full Moon films there is. It moves incredibly fast and is ridiculously entertaining. Jeffrey Combs takes the cheeseball movie and turns in a fantastic performance, as he has done numerous times in his career. He's a brilliant genre actor, one of the best this generation has to offer. There's some fun early 90s special effects which are obviously dated but still bring a smile to my face. The Band family (directed by Albert and Charles and scored by Richard) do a great job making a movie that far exceeds its budgetary constraints in terms of fun and quality. The stop motion animation is awesome and the battle between the T-Rex and the Mastodon is one of my favorite scenes in Full Moon history.

There's no secret that Full Moon isn't high art but DOCTOR MORDRID was made during the years I like to refer to as the "Golden Age" for Full Moon which I think ran until about the mid-90s. This time period had some fantastic B-movies being released from the company and MORDRID is one of the best.

The Audio & Video
In comparison to the old DVD put out by Full Moon this new Blu-ray is a revelation. The film is finally available in an anamorphic widescreen print and features great PQ. The detail level is high, especially in skin tones and textures. Colors are vivid and vibrant while remaining realistic and not overly enhanced. There's a few instances where the film is a bit soft but they are few and far between. There's no signs of edge enhancement or DNR. Two audio options are available, a 5.1 surround track and a 2.0 stereo track. The 2.0 track sounds good with no hiccups or background noise or damage to the track. The very good soundtrack by Richard Band is mixed beautifully with the dialogue to compliment the film. 

The Extras
-Audio commentary with Charles Band and Jeffrey Combs
-Original Videozone featurette
-Over 90 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage
-Vintage interview by William Shatner with Jeffrey Combs, Stuart Gordon and Barbara Crampton
-Trailers

The Bottom Line
Full Moon has done a great job with the majority of their Blu-ray releases and DOCTOR MORDRID is no exception. It is one of the most underrated films from Full Moon and it finally has a home video release that does it justice.

DOCTOR MORDRID is available HERE

Cry For Cindy/Touch Me/Act Of Confession (DVD Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/Various
Directed By: Anthony Spinelli
Starring: Kim Durey, Amber Hunt, George "Buck" Flower
Color/229 Minutes/X
Region FREE
Release Date: September 9, 2014

The Films
Cindy is a classy girl who loves her man enough to work as a prostitute to earn money to put him through medical school. The only problem is he doesn't know what she's doing for this money until he finds her at her pimp's apartment. Cindy breaks down and ends up killing herself. At her funeral friends gather to share stories of Cindy and to CRY FOR CINDY. There's plenty of sex in the stories though none of it is all that hot or memorable. It is easy to see how a softcore version was released.

TOUCH ME features a group of sexually hung up young adults who go to a retreat to work out their problems. Featuring a married couple, a playboy, a reserved girl and a man who is ashamed of his size among others, this varied group offers up quite a few different encounters and situations for the viewer to enjoy. Things are a bit more sinful in ACT OF CONFESSION where a nun who has just taken her vows struggles with her sensual urges and dreams along with another newbie who is more than willing to act out some lesbian desires with her. There's not much to the story here but where else will you see Jesus walk on water to get a blowjob? Hallelujah. 

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome delivers these three golden age pornos with good audio and video quality. The audio tracks are presented with their original Mono English tracks. The tracks do have some background noise and instances of popping and crackling but it never becomes overbearing or distracting. The films are all presented in their original aspect ratios and all have pretty good clarity. There is some print damage and debris on the prints but colors are strong and skin tones are fleshy.

The Extras
A softcore version CRY FOR CINDY is included.

The Bottom Line
Three different and altogether sexy and entertaining movies on this 2 disc set make for a solid entry into the Peekarama Collection.

CRY FOR CINDY/TOUCH ME/ACT OF CONFESSION is available HERE

Stunt Squad (Blu-ray Review) - Raro Video

Italy/1977
Directed By: Domenico Paolella
Written By: Domenico Paolella, Dardano Sacchetti
Starring: Marcel Bozzuffi, Vittorio Mezzogiorno, Riccardo Salvino
Color/96 Minutes/Not Rated
Region A
Release Date: September 23, 2014

The Film
Shopkeepers and businesses are being extorted and forced to pay for protection by a crime ring in Italy. Bombings, shootings and other forms of violent crime are way up and the crime bosses are taking advantage of it. The normal police force is unable to do much of anything to stop it so they secretly train a special squad of officers known as The Stunt Squad. This special unit is trained in dirtbike pursuits, shooting from moving vehicle and while performing acrobatic stunts among other special skills that will help them bring down the crime rings being run by the ruthless Valli. The pursuits on Valli prove deadly for not only the police and the crime rings but innocent bystanders as well. The public has had enough with living in fear and make their move when the police have Valli cornered.

THE STUNT SQUAD features some of the most extreme and nasty violence in any Euro crime film I've seen to date along with some exciting chases and ridiculous training sequences. The film's title may be a bit misleading as the Stunt Squad doesn't show up until about halfway through the film and there is quite a bit of social commentary about that particular time in Italy. The title is a bit lighthearted for what the movie holds but the story is a good one and the direction from Domenico Paolella gives us some great action scenes. Vittorio Mezzogiorno steals the film as Valli and the scene in his hideout/home with his birds is purely brilliant. I have read that Valli may be the most vile character in all of Euro crime films and I think he certainly would be in the discussion at the very least.

A review of THE STUNT SQUAD wouldn't be complete without mentioning the score by Stelvio Cipriani which is quite good and allows the viewer to groove through the city streets with it. Cipriani was one of the best at scoring genre films and he didn't slack off here. 

The Audio & Video
Raro Video gives STUNT SQUAD a home on Blu-ray with a 16x9 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Overall the transfer is pretty good. Detail level is pretty strong while colors are realistic in their presentation. Sharpness is above average though there are some moments of softness and unremarkable visuals. There's also a bit of ghosting early on in the film. There are two audio options, Italian and English, both 2.0 tracks. The Italian track features English subtitles and while I think it sounds slightly better than the English track with a bit better and fuller mix the subtitles are awkward to read as they seem to have been translated literally and not fixed to read properly in English. The English track which is how I watched the film after finding out about the subtitles is still good, a bit thinner than the Italian track but it is clear, and free of background noise. The levels compliment each other nicely.

The Extras
A 6 minute video introduction and a full color booklet by Euro Crime historian Mike Malloy are included

The Bottom Line
Crime film fans, especially those who prefer the Italian crime film variety will want to add STUNT SQUAD to their collection. A decent transfer for a film packed with violence and excitement should sell fans of the genre quite easily. 

STUNT SQUAD is available HERE

The Dead 2 (Blu-ray Review) - Anchor Bay

UK/2013
Directed By: Howard J. Ford, Jonathan Ford
Written By: Howard J. Ford, Jonathan Ford
Starring: Joseph Millson, Meenu Mishra, Anand Krishna Goyal
Color/98 Minutes/R
Region A
Release Date: September 16, 2014

The Film
Nicholas is an American engineer working on turbines in India when a zombie outbreak hits. His mission turns from fixing turbines to safely crossing the 300 miles to Mumbai to rescue his pregnant girlfriend Meenu, who is trapped in the middle of the zombies and a firefight. Nicholas pairs up with a young orphan boy to help him traverse the harsh and dangerous landscape while Meenu struggles to stay alive as the monsters outside fight to get inside.

THE DEAD 2 is a sequel to the 2010 zombie horror film set in Africa. While it was far from perfect, the first entry into this series featured a bit of tension and a very interesting setting for a zombie film. It was mildly entertaining and ended up being worth a viewing. THE DEAD 2 feels like a lazy retread of that film. The Ford Brothers move the action to the deserts of India here which is interesting for a setting but really offers little else to the movie other than the initial thought of "Cool, India.". The zombies are slow which I prefer, yes it is true that faster zombies are more of an immediate threat than the slow, plodding zombies but the tension that can be built over a period of time with these classic style zombies is what can turn a great zombie movie into a a great movie. THE DEAD 2 is sadly missing out on any tension. There's very little attempt at building it and whenever it seems like things might take a step in the right direction as far as chills and tension go, it ends up in a cheap and telegraphed jump scare.

The acting is quite good from everyone involved, that is probably the film's strongest point. Unfortunately good acting is wasted on lazy writing. THE DEAD 2 suffers badly from lazy writing as it is very much just a road trip movie across a zombie filled road. Little of consequence happens to Nicholas and his version of Short Round along the way, they get to know each other a bit and kill some zombies. There is one scene toward the end that proves to be emotional and powerful. It's a shame there isn't more scenes like that. There's also some really questionable decisions made by characters and some overlooked details. Like when Nicholas hits a zombie with his jeep and just abandons his Jeep to set out on foot with no sign of damage to the vehicle. Or when he picks up a revolver and later on mysteriously has a 9mm style pistol. It's just lazy and upsetting.

The Ford Brothers have potential, as directors, they've shown it before and there are some positives here, the movie is violent and gory and the zombies have a neat look to them but THE DEAD 2 is nothing that the original film didn't do and do with more passion.

The Audio & Video
The Blu-ray from Anchor Bay is very nice. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer simply shines. Colors are vibrant and lively while black levels are deep and handled nicely. Skin tones are natural with no signs of waxiness or excessive DNR. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio mix is excellent. There's no background noise and dialogue and soundtrack levels are perfectly on point. From gunshots and explosions to conversations on the phone you really can't ask for better.

The Extras
Special features include a "Making Of" featurette and a selection of deleted scenes

The Bottom Line
Zombie movie fanatics will be the ones who enjoy THE DEAD 2 the most. Is it a great horror film? No, but is it worth at least a watch on a boring night? Yeah, there's some fun to be had.

THE DEAD 2 is available HERE

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (40th Anniversary Blu-ray Review) - Dark Sky Films

USA/1974
Directed By: Tobe Hooper
Written By: Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper
Starring: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger
Color/84 Minutes/R
Region A
Release Date: September 16, 2014

The Film
What can I say about THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE that hasn't been said a thousand times already? This maniacal film about a group of young adults looking for a fun weekend at their grandparents old house who are terrorized and tortured by a depraved cannibal family in a small secluded Texas town is among my top 15 favorite films of all time. It is a perfect film in every way. It is violent and sick but notably light on blood or gore. There's no need for shock value here as all of the film's scares lie in the writing and performances by a group that was being driven to the brink of insanity by an endlessly oppressive Texas summer heatwave and the stench of real rotting animal corpses dressing the set. This actual madness that the cast had descended into is easily felt through the screen by the audience and I'm hard pressed to come up with another film quite like it in that way.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is as scary, weird and gross as it was 40 years ago when it was unleashed on the world. It is also as perfect in every way. Age has not cracked the film's shell and exposed flaws or dated it in any way. This film is timeless and I have no doubt it will be as effectively horrifying at its 80th anniversary as it is today at 40.

This film has received incredible amounts of merchandising over the years from video games on the Atari system to action figures, drink mugs, artwork, t-shirts, Halloween costumes and more. Of course home video releases rule and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE has been released on every format from Betamax to Laserdisc and even had a CED release. Perhaps most of all though, it has had numerous releases on DVD and Blu-ray including Collector's Editions, Anniversary Editions, Ultimate Editions, Special Editions... you name it and it probably had an edition. I've owned a few of these editions and while many of them are quite nice as far as technical presentation of the film and special features are concerned, none of them hold a candle to this new 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-ray set.

The Audio & Video
Dark Sky Films has done great work with TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE in their past editions of the film but they've now given us the definitive edition. The new 4K presentation of the film takes the pretty damn good looking previous Blu-ray and blows it out of the water. There's a beautiful film quality to the picture which has a very sharp look with a lovely natural color palette. Skin tones look fleshy and healthy and the anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1 transfer has come from source material that was in excellent and very clean condition. There are a number of audio options, including a Dolby TrueHD 7.1, 5.1, 2.0 and the original Mono mix. Depending on if you want to work out your home theater system or listen to the original mix you're in for a treat. The mixes are all well done and crystal clear. There's never any instances of levels fluctuating and there's no annoying background noise or popping or crackling. I'll sum up my thoughts on the A/V with a resounding "hell yes!"

The Extras
Disc 1:
-Audio commentary with: Tobe Hooper, actor Gunnar Hansen, Cinematographer Daniel Pearl
-Audio commentary with: Actors Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger and Paul A Partain and Production Designer Robert Burns
-New audio commentary with Tobe Hooper
-New audio commentary with Daniel Pearl, Editor J. Larry Carroll and Sound Recordist Ted Nicolaou

Disc 2:
-The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Shocking Truth
-Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories Of The Saw
-A Tour Of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre House with Gunnar Hansen
-Off The Hook with Teri McMinn
-The Business Of Chain Saw: An interview with Production Manager Ron Bozman
-New deleted scenes and outtakes
-Grandpa's Tales: An interview with John Dugan
-Cutting Chain Saw: An interview with Editor J. Larry Carroll
-Deleted scenes and outtakes
-Blooper reel
-Outtakes from "The Shocking Truth"
-Horror's Hallowed Grounds
-Dr. W.E. Barnes Presents "Making Grandpa"
-Still gallery
-Trailer selection
-TV spots
-Radio spots

Discs 3 and 4 are DVD versions of the film and special features

The Bottom Line
By now do you need to hear anything else? I sure hope not because a perfect film with a damn near perfect presentation and a metric shit ton of extras shouldn't take too much thought. Go get it. 

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 40TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTOR'S EDITION BLU-RAY is available HERE

Prisoner Of Paradise (DVD Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/1980
Directed By: Bob Chinn, Gail Palmer
Written By: Gail Palmer, Jeffrey Fairbanks
Starring: John Holmes, Seka, Sue Carol
Color/78 Minutes/X
Region FREE
Release Date: September, 9 2014

The Film
John Holmes stars as an American G.I. who gets stranded on a tropical island after his ship is bombed during WWII. He quickly finds out that a small Nazi outpost rand by one SS man along with a couple Nazi women (one named Ilsa... of course) and a Japanese military woman have kidnapped a pair of US women, one a military nurse. Holmes tries to save them but is quickly apprehended. The Americans are tortured, mainly sexually by the Nazi women as the fat, sleazy man of the SS looks on with sick enjoyment. The Japanese woman falls for Holmes and helps him destroy the outpost and escape with the American women.

A war epic, a porno and a piece of Nazisploitation, PRISONER OF PARADISE has it all going on. This is such a crazy idea that totally works. The genres blend perfectly for a sleazy ride. Hell, even the closing credits are ridiculous! John Holmes is the perfect guy for this role and the women are beautiful. The only shortcoming is that I wish there was a bit more Nazi torture going on, but I guess a porno is a porno for a reason and they'd sell more tickets with more sex and less crazy Nazisploitation situations.

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome does what they do and that is give films that other companies wouldn't touch a top notch presentation. This DVD looks great with a 16x9 anamorphic widescreen transfer taken from a clean print that has been kept in pretty solid condition. Colors look good and there's a nice clarity and sharpness to the overall image. The audio sounds good with a clear track free of any obtrusive background noise like popping or crackling. 

The Extras
The lone special feature is the original theatrical trailer

The Bottom Line
This is one of the more exciting and unique pieces of exploitation and smut that Vinegar Syndrome has released to date. The blend of genres makes for a really fun time and the vintage smut fans and Nazisploitation fans will both enjoy this one.

PRISONER OF PARADISE is available HERE