God Told Me To (Blu-ray Review) - Blue Underground

USA/1976
Directed By: Larry Cohen
Written By: Larry Cohen
Starring: Tony Lo Bianco, Deborah Raffin, Sandy Dennis
Color/90 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: February 10, 2015

The Film
A man sits perched atop a water tower in New York City armed with a rifle and opens fire on the lunch time crowds on the streets below, striking well over a dozen victims without a single miss. When detective Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco) ascends the tower to try and talk the shooter down he asks what has made him commit this crime and the shooter responds simply with "God told me to." before hurling himself off the tower to his own death. Thus begins one of the strangest experiences you're ever going to have with a film.

Detective Peter Nicholas continues to investigate a bizarre string of killings plaguing the city where all of the murderers claim that God has instructed them to kill. Nicholas' investigation takes him on a strange journey of alien abduction and insemination, virgin births, unholy faith and more violence. It is only when he discovers his true connection to it all that he will be able to stop it.

GOD TOLD ME TO is a film that may only have been able to be made when it was made. Larry Cohen may have been king of the drive-in film with works such as The Stuff, Q The Winged Serpent, Black Caesar and the It's Alive trilogy to name just a few. GOD TOLD ME TO may be his best work however and quite possibly his weirdest. In what plays out like any detective crime story, we're thrown through a whirlwind blender of demonic horror and off the wall science fiction twists. Cohen's writing certainly had a more is more attitude with this film and it somehow all comes together and works. His tight, moody and sometimes stylish direction aids in that. In a film that perfectly shows off New York City's grittiness of the period it's worth noting as an accomplishment that he's also able to pull off perfectly lit and artistic shots with some heavy handed use of colored lighting.

Tony Lo Bianco and the rest of the cast that reads like a who's who of various eras of Hollywood, give everything they have to bring Cohen's script to life without a single ounce of cheese, ham or overacting. This film would fail if the actors corn balled up their performances and it is something that Larry Cohen wouldn't have allowed, especially with the talent he had on board. From Andy Kaufman's first screen appearance to Richard Lynch and Sylvia Sidney nobody misses a beat.

The fashion in which the story progresses will have the viewer fully locked in and engaged wondering just what the hell will happen next. It may take a minute (or more) to process some of the big turns the film takes but you know what? It's a blast and somehow Cohen pulls it all together for a fucking awesome piece of bizarre drive-in cinema.


The Audio & Video
Blue Underground's release of GOD TOLD ME TO is absolutely stunning. The 16x9 anamorphic widescreen transfer has been scanned in 4K from the original negative and the results couldn't be nicer. The print is clean and in excellent condition. Colors are vivid and pop off the screen in breathtaking fashion. There's substantial detail shown in textures, surfaces and close ups. Black levels are deep and inky and handled with skill as there's no blocking up whatsoever. Skin tones are healthy and natural without any sign of waxiness from excessive DNR.

The English audio track is handled with a 7.1 DTS-HD mix that is pretty much perfect. The mix is boisterous and powerful while featuring subtlety that allows for a perfect balance of dialogue and score. There's no damage to the track such as popping or crackling and there's no background noise. Frank Cordell's score was in perfect hands for this disc.

The Extras
A fairly extensive lineup of special features are included:

-Audio commentary with Larry Cohen
-"Heaven and Hell on Earth": An interview with Tony Lo Bianco
-"Bloody Good Times": An interview with special effects artist Steve Neill
-"God Told Me To Bone" - Q&A with Larry Cohen at the New Beverly Theater
-Lincoln Center Q&A with Larry Cohen
-Extensive selection of TV spots and trailers for the film's ad campaigns under both titles "God Told Me To" and "Demon"
-Poster and stills gallery

The Bottom Line
This will be a disc that future drive-in era exploitation film Blu-ray releases will held to. The incredible A/V presentation with a healthy selection of extras makes this Blue Underground release essential to any fan of horror, exploitation, or oddball cinema.

GOD TOLD ME TO is available HERE

Poker Night (Blu-ray Review) - XLRator Media

USA, Canda/2014
Directed By: Greg Francis
Written By: Greg Francis
Starring: Beau Mirchoff, Ron Perlman, Giancarlo Esposito
Color/104 Minutes/Not Rated
Region A
Release Date: February 10, 2015

The Film
Newly appointed detective Stan Jeter is invited to his first poker night with some of the best detectives on the force. The group uses their poker nights to swap stories and give insight to the new guys as much as for a night of fun and harmless gambling. Jeter quickly learns of their triumphs and failures and the lessons and knowledge they all learned from various stories and he'll immediately have to put them to use to try and match wits and survive being captured and held in a basement while tortured for weeks.

POKER NIGHT starts off with great intensity and tension. The killer's menacing look adds to the fear quickly being imposed in the viewer. The stories being shared around the table by the veteran detectives are all interesting and well done in their flashbacks and montages. Jeter's predicament features some very nasty and violent scenarios but unfortunately the back and forth from Jeter's situation to the poker table draws the viewers attentions elsewhere and the focus is put on the other stories which are frankly more interesting than Jeter's.

The performances are all very good, including a much larger role for Ron Perlman than I had predicted. The direction is stylish and the editing is tight. Unfortunately it is the writing from Greg Francis that let's his own direction and overall film down quite a bit as the film's most interesting parts are not based around its main character. POKER NIGHT remains a pretty well done film, and it is violent and entertaining from start to finish and while the meat and potatoes of the film aren't the most interesting part the villain is a smart and pretty well thought out killer.

The Audio & Video
XLRator Media's 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is stunning. Detail levels are high in surfaces, textures and close ups, while colors are vivid. Skin tones look fleshy and natural and black levels are deep and don't suffer from pixelation or blocking up. The source material is crystal clear and clean as can be. The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is crisp, clear and dynamic. The mix job is excellent letting the dialogue and score channels mix nicely. There's no damage or audible annoyances to speak of.

The Extras
A trailer is the lone extra

The Bottom Line
POKER NIGHT has some interesting scenes and some well done moments that make it worthwhile.

POKER NIGHT is available HERE

Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide Part 2 (DVD Review) - Severin Films

UK/2014
Directed By: Jake West
Written By: Jake West
Color/97 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: February 10, 2015

The Film
Jake West follows up his acclaimed 2010 documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape, which documented the 80+ horror and exploitation films that the BBFC cut, edited and outright banned from home video distribution. West is back with the follow up, VIDEO NASTIES: DRACONIAN DAYS an equally entertaining and even more poignant look at the British Board of Film Classification's work during the mid-80s after the initial "scare" of these ostracized films up through 1999 and the overall impact it had on British culture.

DRACONIAN DAYS is packed with interviews from those who lived through the decade plus of abhorrent censorship that is quite difficult to believe happened in a fully developed first-world country as recently as 20 years ago. From film makers, to critics and fans who had their homes raided by police and their property seized as evidence, even to people that worked under the Director of the BBFC, James Ferman, who made it his personal mission to keep the morals of Great Britain safe and secure.

Censorship in the UK became so extreme that any weapon that was outlawed in the country, from ninja throwing stars, to nunchucks and cross bows had to be edited out of films, regardless of their content because of their imitability by children. This means that even the opening scene in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret Of The Ooze, a PG rated film made for kids of all ages was heavily cut because one of the heroes uses nunchucks to fight some villains. If you've seen the movie you know that the violence on display, especially that with the weapon in question is lighthearted, and comical, far from anything threatening to the minds of the beloved children.

In fact, that is what it seemed to boil down to - Will the purchase and viewing of these films in the home (whether a home has children or not was of no difference) leave the children at risk. The answer, at least to James Ferman, was "yes!". Ferman's power reached a tyrannical breaking point when he suggested that any film that could of questionable content to the youth be banned from private ownership on video and from private home viewing. Again, the question of whether a home had children living there did not matter. This proposal did not care on the purpose of a film or its artistic merit (I'll leave the debate of one film's artistic merit vs another film's for another day). This means that films widely held as classics like The Godfather or Schindler's List would be illegal for an adult to buy and watch in the comforts of their own living room. Luckily Ferman's team realized the wide reaching and frankly damning implications this would have and talked him out of it.

The fact remained however that many horror and exploitation films were just too damned violent, vile and disgusting for anyone to own and view in their uncut nature. Films underwent such heavy censorship that very little if any of the actual horror remained. What was left was some odd minutes of a totally illogical and disjointed group of scenes. Not only was the gory, nudity and violence removed the film itself had been destroyed in many cases. This didn't stop fans from seeking out these video tapes and acquiring them of course. Uncut releases from Germany and other areas of Europe were smuggled through customs and passed their dogs and fans would post ads in fan published magazines and newspapers with lists of what titles they had for sale or trade or their wishlists. The bootleg market boomed at this point and many video rental stores even had secret back rooms for trustworthy customers to get their fix.

This black market boom in illegal video tapes led to police raiding many homes, businesses and trade shows. Anywhere these contraband tapes were being stored, swapped or duplicated was subject to search and seizure. The accounts with this documentary are funny at times with many first hand accounts of collectors having their home raided and the police having no real idea of what they were doing with my personal favorite example being from contributor David Flint, author of "Babylon Blue" when he was raided and some 70 or 80 tapes were seized including some properly certified PG rated kids titles but hardcore porn was skipped over and "Nudie-Cuties" was taken but "Nudie-Cuties 2", which was right next to it on the shelf, was skipped over! 

James Ferman's hold on the BBFC ironically came to an end in 1999 shortly after he lifted the ban on hardcore porn. Yes, dear reader, the ownership and home viewing of pornography was illegal in Great Britain until 1999. In the years since Ferman resigned from his position the majority of the Video Nasties and the dozens upon dozens of titles associated with them have been passed uncut for home video in the UK and have received rather lavish releases on formats ranging from VHS and DVD to high definition Blu-ray.

THE VIDEO NASTIES: DRACONIAN DAYS is a must-see documentary for any horror and exploitation fan as a piece of history for the genres but more importantly it is a work that all artists should view regardless of their medium to show that we'd be damned to let history repeat itself with this type of censorship. Jake West has made an important film that will stand the test of time as an article and example of what once was and hopefully will never be again in the world of censorship and art in the home.

The Audio & Video
Severin Films has released a nice overall set here with an anamorphic widescreen transfer that is sharp and has good color reproduction. The sit down interview footage obviously looks better than footage shot 15-30 years ago but even the older footage still looks fine. There's no damage or dirt with the source material. The English audio is handled through a mono track which is nothing special but it gets the job done with no background noise, popping or crackling. While the audio isn't dynamic it gets the information across perfectly which is what's important.

The Extras
Disc 1
-Fanzine Flashback - A gallery of classic covers from the prominent fanzines of the video nasties era.
-DPP 72: The Final 39 - A still gallery of video cassette covers of 39 of the 72 films that were successfully prosecuted and anyone found with these tapes would be liable for prosecution.
-DPP 82 - A still gallery of the "Section" 3 tapes that were not prosecutable despite being liable for seizure.

Disc 2
-Section 3 Films A-L: Trailers for each of the 82 "Section 3" films with lengthy introductions (optional). These introductions are closer to mini commentary tracks than simple intros!

Disc3
-Section 3 Films M-Z: Trailers for each of the 82 "Section 3" films with lengthy introductions (optional). These introductions are closer to mini commentary tracks than simple intros!

The Bottom Line
Every genre of film has a documentary or two that is essential viewing for that genre. THE VIDEO NASTIES: DRACONIAN DAYS is essential viewing for fans of exploitation and horror movies and will make an excellent addition to your collection especially next to Video Nasties: The Essential Guide previously released by Severin.

VIDEO NASTIES: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE: PART 2 is available HERE

HI-8: Horror Independent 8 (DVD Review) - Wild Eye Releasing

USA/2013
Directed By: Tim Ritter, Marcus Koch, Tony Masiello, Ron Bonk, Chris Seaver, Todd Sheets, Donald Farmer, Brad Sykes
Written By: Ron Bonk, Donald Farmer, Matt Hill, Alaine Huntington, Marcus Koch, Tim Ritter, Chris Seaver, Todd Sheets, Brad Sykes
Starring: Baker Chase, Alexis Codding, Travis Hoecker
Color/98 Minutes/Not Rated
Region 1
Release Date: December 16, 2014

The Film
Shot on video horror was huge in the 80s and churned out some really dreadful movies that somehow managed to land distribution simply because it would sell. Occasionally though, some of these movies were actually pretty good, or entertaining at the very least. The format was cheap but had a distinct look that brings back quite a bit of nostalgia today. There's no doubt that it opened the door to almost anyone to make a movie. So what would happen if a group of modern day indie horror directors went back in time to use HI-8 cameras and tapes to film a horror anthology? The result is HI-8: HORROR INDEPENDENT 8.

It's pretty easy to figure out why there are eight chapters to this anthology film, with everything from zombies to slashers and rapists. Each director makes their own retro styled horror tale, some serious, some overly cheesy. This film feels like it could be straight out of 1989 with wild gore and creature effects and a genuine excitement that can be felt through the screen.

Yes, there is plenty of camp and cheese and this isn't Hollywood level stuff but it isn't meant to be. This is horror lovers making horror movies for nothing else but the love of doing it. This is the type of movie that you sit back with a few friends and a few beers, kick up the recliner and just enjoy. There's something for every taste in HI-8 whether you like the straight forward stalk and slash, or if you prefer monsters or if you're in the mood for something a bit weirder, it's all here and the movie flies by. HI-8 is a whirlwind of shot on video fun.

The Audio & Video
Wild Eye Releasing has given HI-8 a home on DVD and the results are solid. Taking into account that this was filmed entirely on video the DVD looks great. The picture quality is clean and as sharp  as you'd hope. Colors look good as well. The stereo audio track sounds good as well with quality mix jobs. There's no damage or excessive buzzing or popping.

The Extras
-Audio commentary with producers Brad Sykes and Josephina Sykes
-The Making of HI-8
-Teaser trailer
-Promo clip for "Gang Them Style"
-Promo clip for "The Scout"
-Promo clip for "A Very Bad Situation"
-Behind the scenes image gallery

The Bottom Line
HI-8 is a project full of fun and love by film makers that love horror and put their heart and soul in to everything they make. HI-8 may be low budget but it's extremely high energy and definitely worth checking out.

HI-8: HORROR INDEPENDENT 8 is available HERE

Frankenstein vs. The Mummy (DVD Review) - Image/RLJ Entertainment

USA/2015
Directed By: Damien Leone
Written By:  Damien Leone
Starring: Max Rhyser, Ashton Leigh, Robert MacNaughton
Color/114 Minutes/Not Rated
Region 1
Release Date: February 10, 2015

The Film
What do you get when a doctor obsessed with prolonging life, his monstrous creation and an ancient Egyptian king mummy all obsess after the same woman? Well... just read on to find out.

Victor and Naihla are professors at the same university, Victor as a doctor and philosopher of medicine and Naihla as an archaeologist. The young and attractive pair begin dating after Naihla returns from an expedition in Egypt where she unearthed a 3000 year old mummy of a rather vile king who of course has some sort of curse attached to his body. Another professor working on the mummy with Naihla gives life back to the mummy by spilling blood onto him.

Not to be outdone, Victor has been obsessed with re-animating dead flesh and has been paying a rather undesirable man to bring him body parts and when he needs a fresh brain the man decides to up his pay day substantially by blackmailing Victor. After a struggle, Victor kills his body snatcher and uses his brain to complete his project. The problem? It's smarter and stronger than Victor could have ever predicted and has the soul of his body snatcher who wants to kill Victor and capture Naihla. Oh, and the mummy king wants Naihla as well after he sees her necklace of an old Egyptian symbol. And Victor isn't ready to let some undead monsters take away his girl.

FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE MUMMY actually started out pretty decent. Sure, it had some melodramatic romance moments but the movie was building to a pretty decent albeit standard mummy and Frankenstein horror movie. The mummy had a classically scary look to him, and the professor who did his bidding was a major creep. I actually enjoyed where the movie was heading through the point where Victor had to murder his body snatcher. It had all been done before and in better ways but again, it wasn't bad. The acting and effects were solid and we were well on our way to a decent DTV horror movie. Then we see the Frankenstein monster who looked like he belonged to a really douchey rock band and sounded like he was giving his best impression of Regan from The Exorcist. It was laughable.

The romantic moments from early on became the driving factor of the rest of the movie and it turned into a Lifetime network Halloween special. I can imagine the tagline now... "Will she choose the timeless love of the monsters, or the human touch of the man?" Get real. My eyes were rolling fast and furiously by the third act. You may be wondering about the title, surely we get some badass moments of the mummy and the monster battling it out, right? RIGHT!? Well, we do get one. I definitely wouldn't call it badass and it doesn't last for more than 90 seconds. For a movie with the title FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE MUMMY at least give the audience some fucking scenes of the monsters fighting. It would have been the only redeeming factor.

FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE MUMMY jumped off a cliff. Yeah, it suffered from some hammy acting and we're supposed to believe that these two beautiful single professors that don't exist in real life just found each other at this university, that's fine. I can deal with that. Special effects were pretty damn good and there was even some decent music and cues in the movie. So why in the blue hell did it all go wrong? Who decided it was a good idea to turn this in to a giant "take me to prom" episode of The Brady Bunch where "something suddenly came up" and these monsters are so pissed off about Marcia Brady (Naihla) that they're going to kill Victor? Sorry for that random tangent but that's what it feels like to me, like the writer (who also directed) felt he had a decent setup of classic horror themes and wasn't satisfied with that and wanted to make something that would be his own and royally fucked it all up.

Oh well. When all is said and done I'm not really surprised that this was a let down.

The Audio & Video
Image/RLJ give this movie a nice presentation on DVD with a 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Colors are vivid and represented nicely especially in the muted color palettes in Victor's lab. Sharpness is pretty good but darker scenes do block up a little bit but not terribly. The audio is handled with a 5.1 Dolby Digital that sounds nice and has a great mix. Music and dialogue never fight for space and compliment each other nicely. Clarity is very good and there's no damage or background noise.

The Extras
-An audio commentary track with writer/director Damien Leone and cinematographer George Steuber

The Bottom Line
If you're a more forgiving fan of horror films and love the classic monster you might consider giving this one a rental. If you're smarter though you'll pass and watch something better.

FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE MUMMY is available HERE

Ouija (Blu-ray Review) - Universal Pictures

USA/2014
Directed By: Stiles White
Written By: Juliet Snowden, Stiles White
Starring: Olivia Cooke, Ana Coto, Daren Kagasoff
Color/90 Minutes/PG-13
Region A
Release Date: February 3, 2015

The Film
 Best friends Laine and Debbie have played with Ouija boards since they were little girls. Now as they're getting ready to graduate high school, Debbie uses one alone and is disturbed by what she experiences and attempts to burn the board and planchette. After talking to Laine but not letting her inside Debbie's eyes turn white and she hangs herself.

With the tragic death of their friend lingering over them Laine and four other friends gather at the funeral and later decide to have a seance to attempt to talk to their friend, and make contact with a spirit that calls itself "D". The group stops playing after being spooked but each get a message of "Hi friend" and decide to return to the board as they think it is Debbie communicating with them. Quickly they find that it is not Debbie speaking to them but a malicious spirit with their mouth stitched shut and another named "Mother". One by one the friends begin to suffer similar fates to Debbie as their eyes turn white and are killed in mysterious ways. That is when Laine finds out the truth behind the board they're using, the spirits they've encountered and the living relative to the spirits and that intentions aren't always good. Laine and her sister attempt to end the evil by burning the board with the body of the evil spirits that haunt it.

About an hour in to OUIJA I thought to myself "Why is this rated R?". I quickly realized it wasn't. I have nothing against PG-13 horror films as I feel film makers can achieve a proper level of dread, suspense and horror in that rating if they're creative and skilled enough. Unfortunately OUJIA barely deserves the PG-13 rating. A few spooky looking ghosts or bodies is really all I can see separating it from a lesser rating. The film is bland as can be and plays out like a late 90s Scream clone but instead of being a slasher film it is a supernatural horror film. Exchange a fish hook wielding killer for this nasty spirit and I don't think the comparison is to see.

The characters are boring and paper thin, sure they seem like nice kids but none of them are the least bit interesting. Lin Shaye appears in yet another supernatural horror film and she's becoming more common in these types of films than Troma's Lloyd Kaufman is in Z-grade no budget schlock. I like the woman and think she's a fine actress but it's getting old seeing her in these films. The scare and shock moments of the film are laughable. Check out the dental floss scene and try not to laugh. The others are generic paint-by-numbers junk that was all the rage a decade ago. Are we back to it? I sure hope not.

The Audio & Video
Universal Pictures' Blu-ray of OUIJA is downright beautiful. The anamorphic widescreen 2.40:1 aspect ratio has great clarity and strikingly vivid colors. Detail level is very high in textures and surfaces while skin tones look natural and healthy. Black levels are deep and inky with no blocking or pixelation.  The English audio track is a DTS-HDMA 5.1 mix that sounds excellent. The mix is full and boisterous when it needs to be. Dialogue and score are complimentary of each other and there's no background noise or imperfections to speak of.

The Extras
-"The Spirit Board: An Evolution" (Blu-ray Exclusive) - A brief 4 minute look at the history of spirit boards and their place in our culture.
-"Icon Of The Unkown" (Blu-ray Exclusive) - Another four minutes spent looking at the experiences Ouija board users have had that influenced the film.
-"Adapting The Fear" - How about another four minutes? This time with a look at the cast and crew's opinion on Ouija boards.

The Bottom Line
To put it simply, OUIJA is not a good film. It is boring and mundane in every way and would be hard pressed to get a scare out of even the most novice horror viewer. 

OUIJA is available HERE

RPG: Real Playing Game (DVD Review) - Arc Entertainment

Portugal/2013
Directed By: Tino Navarro, David Rebordao
Written By: Tino Navarro
Starring: Rutger Hauer, Cian Barry, Alix Wilton
Color/102 Minutes/R
Region 1
Release Date: February 10, 2015

The Film
Ten very well off people who are old and dying are given the opportunity to pay a large sum of money and pick a new body to play a game in which a player must die every hour and the last person standing wins another chance and being young and healthy. The catch within the game is that when you kill an opponent you must properly identify the hologram of their true, old person self or you too will perish. With everyone from famous actors to computer wizards and special security there is a wide array of personalities playing made even more difficult to ID since each player could select a body of any gender or race.

As the game starts, the players wake up unaware of their surroundings and of the puropse of the game initially. Quickly they're refreshed as to what they're doing and what is at stake. Alliances are formed and broken, rules and boundaries are challenged and eventually 9 players perish. When the winner wakes up and empties his bank account for a chance at being young again he doesn't realize that reality and perception are not always the same.

RPG: REAL PLAYING GAME has an awful title. Let's not mince words there, it fucking sucks. Luckily the movie itself is a bit better. It plays out like a round of the classic board game Guess Who? mixed with the plot of Battle Royale. There's been a number of movies over the last decade, even some huge blockbuster series, with similar plots and RPG manages to be entertaining enough that the audience isn't groaning and asking themselves "this again?". Rutger Hauer co-stars and lends the film a big name as he plays Steve Battier, one of the aging players. Hauer doesn't have much screen time unfortunately as the vast majority of the film is spent with the younger bodies playing the game. Those ten players are all capable of their various roles and accents so the film avoids being hammy thankfully.

Unfortunately RPG doesn't do much to really set itself apart from similar movies. Yes, it is entertaining, mildly, but there's just nothing really original about it. The time spent on the game has long periods of down time. The kill scenes are mostly unexceptional and the writing has a few moments that are obviously meant to be big moments or twists in the game that really have no affect on anything. The moments set in the high-tech future, or present as it is, are meant to be socially profound but lacks the depth to make any real significant impact on the viewer. 

The Audio & Video
RPG looks wonderful on this DVD from Arc Entertainment. The transfer features 2.35:1 aspect ratio and a crystal clean look. Sharpness is quite good for standard definition and colors are very vibrant, especially in the futuristic scenes. The English 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track is mixed very well with levels complimenting each other. The track is steady and stable with no fluctuations that will have you reaching for the remote. Audio is crystal clear with no damage or background noise.

The Extras
A trailer is the lone extra

The Bottom Line
The movie is best viewied as entertainment for a night's viewing but probably won't have you standing up to applaud. A solid movie worth a rental but nothing more.

RPG: REAL PLAYING GAME is available HERE