DVD and Blu-Ray Releases for June 8, 2010
Well fiends, this week is very slim pickins’. Just a few DVD’s to purchase and one Blu-Ray. As always, if you decide to purchase any of these films through Amazon, please do so by clicking on the links provided as it goes to help DTB’s drug ha….web fees.
Bloodlock
2010
d. William Victor Schotten
starring: Debra Gordon, Gregg Biamonte, Karen Fox, and Ashley Gallo
Format: DVD
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A secret basement room, a solid titanium door, an intricate locking mechanism never meant to be unlocked An innocent, emotionally wounded wife, her husband in sexual deceit with her sister, an honest, helpful locksmith, an old couple greedy for immortality, an evil entity trapped behind the door.
Not Available on Netflix
Cryptic
2009
d. Danny Kuchuck and John Weiner
starring: Johnny Pacar, Nicole Cannon, Toby Huss
Format: DVD
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The feature film Cryptic is a supernatural thriller that evokes the spirit of The Twilight Zone within an explosive family struggle. Shot on location in Los Angeles in the summer of 2007, it features a cast of veteran character actors and stunning debut performers, all portraying a darkly dysfunctional family in meltdown. It’s a story of puzzles, ghosts, time-travel, brilliantly evil plots, and twists that fold back on themselves, defying your expectations and creating an unlikely hero. It’s a film that gives deep significance, finally, to the phrase “Be careful or you might put your eye out.”
Long Pigs
2007
d. Nathan Hynes, Chris Power
starring: Anthony Alviano, Phyllis Cooper, Paul Fowles, Shane Harbinson, Nathan Hynes
Format: DVD
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Long Pigs is a “documentary” by two desperate young filmmakers who stumble upon the ultimate Anthony McAllister, who agrees to let them document every aspect of his horrifically violent lifestyle. Initially terrified, the filmmakers get to know Anthony as a person, and even begin to identify with the ecological and philosophical justifications for his cannibalistic lifestyle. It’s only when they investigate further that the filmmakers begin to doubt Anthony’s accounts of his past. Tensions noticeably rise as the filmmakers confront Anthony about his conflicting stories and ever-changing philosophies. As the film reaches its conclusion, Anthony begins to become uncomfortably aware of the how much of his life he has revealed to the filmmakers. In the final interview with Anthony, a deadly confrontation erupts and all that remains is a broken camera…and this footage. DVD includes Feature, Director’s Commentary, Special FX Featurettes “The Making of Lucy’s Body” and “The Process of Simon’s Corpse,” Bonus Footage, Trailers, Coming Attractions. Special effects by Chris Bridges, known for 300, Max Payne, Dawn of the Dead, Blade II, and Silent Hill.
Not Available on Netflix
Metal Man
2008
d. Ron Karkoska
starring: Reggie Bannister, Leah Grimsson
Format: DVD
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Kyle Finn is just an ordinary college kid. He bites off more than he can chew when he accepts a position working with Dr. Arthur Blake, a bio-mech engineer. Kyle tests the new metal helmet and suit for Blake. But the experiment goes wrong and Blake is murdered by evil weapons dealer, Sebastian Reed. Kyle is locked in the suit and can t get out. Blake appears to him as an A.I. program in the helmet and helps Kyle escape. Now, Reed will stop at nothing to find Kyle and the Metal Suit. He murders Kyle s parents and kidnaps his girlfriend, Julie. Only the beautiful Dr, Marissa Lee, who also wants revenge on Reed for killing her father, can help Kyle. Together, they will learn the awesome powers of the suit, force-fields, invisibility, morphing and more! But they will need them all to fight off Reed s ninja henchman and his ultimate secret weapon, the Mecha Terror robot, programmed for one thing… to destroy Kyle Finn… a.k.a. Metal Man!
Shutter Island
2010
d. Martin Scorsese
starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo
Format: DVD| Blu-ray
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Martin Scorsese puts Leonardo DiCaprio through the wringer again in Shutter Island, a gothic adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel. Leo’s character, a Federal Marshal named Teddy Daniels, is first seen vomiting and jittery aboard a ferry; he and his new partner (Mark Ruffalo) are being taken across the water to investigate an escape from a prison for the criminally insane, located on a forbidding rock called Shutter Island. From the first, Scorsese treats the place as though it were Skull Island in King Kong, worthy of ominous music cues and portentous camera angles. This might not be an easy assignment for the sweaty, anxious Daniels, who is haunted by his memories of German concentration camps and the loss of his wife (Michelle Williams, appearing in ghostly hallucinations). The audience will likely feel just as unnerved as Daniels, given the destabilizing nature of Robert Richardson’s swooping cinematography and Thelma Schoonmaker’s crazy-making editing scheme (it feels as though fractions of seconds have been removed from the timing of simple conversations, giving the movie a strung-out edginess–it’s like watching Ray Liotta’s cocaine meltdown sequence from GoodFellas for 138 minutes). Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow are staff psychiatrists, suspiciously eager to talk about lobotomies, and Ted Levine and Patricia Clarkson appear for small but potent turns. Scorsese appears to be “doing a genre picture” here, borrowing happily from influences such as Val Lewton and Samuel Fuller, and the film has a resultingly put-on atmosphere: a great deal of old-dark-house Sturm und Drang whipped up in service of a gimmicky little premise. The fade-out achieves some measure of real eeriness, and the whole shebang is certainly a kicky night out at the movies–if you can shake the sense that a talented filmmaker is working a couple of rungs beneath his level. –Robert Horton
Also for nostalgic reasons, I will list the following kids show because I enjoyed the hell out of it as a youngin’:
Ghostwriter: Season One
Jamal is just an ordinary kid in Brooklyn, playing on his computer, when he begins receiving strange and mysterious messages. Who or what is trying to communicate with him by manipulating letters and words? It must be a Ghostwriter! Luckily, Jamal is not alone. Lenni, Alex, Gabby, Tina and Rob can also see Ghostwriters messages! The teens team up to solve a rash of mysteries plaguing their neighborhood. What is a Thabto? Who burned down Mr. Brinkers store? Why is everyone at the community garden getting sick? Following the clues and solving these mysteries puts them closer to helping Ghostwriter figure out who he is.
Developed by the Children’s Television Workshop, the creative force behind Sesame Street, Ghostwriter aired on PBS between October 1992 and February 1995. Created to improve literacy and writing skills, the shows intelligent blend of thrilling adventure and friendship captured the imagination of a generation of readers!
Andy Triefenbach
Andy Triefenbach is the Editor-in-Chief and owner of DestroytheBrain.com. In addition to his role on the site, he also programs St. Louis' monthly horror & exploitation theatrical midnight program, Late Nite Grindhouse. Coming from a household of a sci-fi father and a horror/supernatural loving mother, Andy's path to loving genre film was clear. He misses VHS and his personal Saturday night 6 tape movie marathons from his youth.