Week of Saturday Dec 30 2006 through Friday Jan 5 2007

Saturday, December 30, 2006
The Quick and the Undead – 2006

I’m SO happy to see Anchor Bay pick up this title. As many of you will remember, I saw this film (and met several of the cast and crew) at the Texas Frightmare Weekend last February. It’s an excellent zombie flick. It has everything, including originality. Don’t believe the trolls on IMDB that say this movie sucks. They probably think all zombie movies suck. (And we know where people who think that can go!)

There are, alas, no subtitles, but there is a commentary by the Director (Gerald Nott) and the lead actor (Clint Glenn). This is one of those “for the amateur movie maker” commentaries, with lots of good tech and low budget ideas.

There are several more extras as well (it is Anchor Bay, after all). An excellent “Making of” featurette, outtakes, deleted scenes, and more! Nice.

If you have any interest in zombie movies, then this intersection of zombie and western is a “for-sure” renter at the very least.

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Sorry, the family and I went to Sean & Tracy’s house to usher in the new year with some serious trivia. No movie today.

Monday, January 01, 2007
5ive Girls – 2006

Ron Perlman! And listen to this description from IMDB:
“Five wayward teenage girls are sent to a reformatory and discover they possess unique powers to battle the ancient demon, Legion, which holds thrall over the sinister institution”

Does this not sound AWESOME? Teens, demons, Ron Perlman. What’s not to like?

Well, it’s not too shabby, but it’s not as great as its description, mainly due to a serious lack of T&A. We need nudity to really push it over the top and make it an instant classic. It’s good, but not great.

Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Chinese Ghost Story 3 – 1991

Subtitled, without an English soundtrack, so folks who don’t mind reading need only apply. And, it’s a disappointment, as it’s not a continuation of I & II. As pointed out in IMDB (and NOT mentioned in the Netflix description, but a bigger rant on THAT issue later), it’s basically a remaking of Chinese Ghost Story 1. Tree demon, super tongue, the only thing missing is the little song Swordsman Yen sings. Disappointing.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Dead Girl Walking – 2004

Japanese TV Show episode, so it’s only 48 minutes long. Pretty irritating that it’s all alone on a DVD. Still, it’s pretty twisted. A girl dies, but doesn’t stop moving. And she’s treated terribly by her family and friends (just because she stinks, and keeps dropping body parts. You’d think she could find someone who was into necrophilia to hook up with, but I digress).

Masters of Horror: Larry Cohen – Pick Me Up – 2006

A serial killer turf war. Poor, with a little gore to try and punch it up. This is certainly not Larry’s best effort. It may have something to do with the fact that he didn’t write it.

His (Larry Cohen, director of such cool flicks as Q, The Stuff, and It’s Alive as well as writer for Maniac Cop 1-3, Phone Booth and Cellular) commentary is actually better than the movie itself. A technical commentary, explaining where things were changed on the spot, ad-lib’d, how shot and why framed, etc. A 10 13 hour day shoot.

Of course, like all the MOH discs, there’s a butt load of extras, including the standard Working with a Master (Larry Cohen bio), Making of, Interviews, etc.

Thursday, January 04, 2007
The Descent – 2005

From the man (Neil Marshall) who gave us the excellent Dog Soldiers, a movie about a group of girl friends who are tricked into exploring an unexplored cave. Fair plot, good acting, nice gore, and subtitles make this a pretty great flick. And it has two commentaries.

Commentary #1 is Director and Crew. More technical, but not enough for me. It was interesting that the film was shot in sequence. That’s not done very often. Commentary #2 is Director and Cast. More fun, but some technical too.

Extras include a behind the scenes featurette, an interview with the director, deleted and extended scenes, and outtakes.

Friday, January 05, 2007
Karate: Hand of Death – 1961 (SWV)

This has to be the dullest martial arts movie EVER! But I did learn something interesting. You can tell if someone is into Karate by looking at their hands, as it gives you F’d up knuckles. Huh. Never noticed that in any of the other martial arts movies I’ve seen.

Too many scenes without any dialogue at all. There was one very funny line in the movie. One character continuously steals another’s cigarettes. At one point, he actually says “Would you care for one of your cigarettes?”

Only other extra is “The Incredible Martial Arts – Mayhem – Kung Fu Trailer Show”. Dozens of trailers, any one of which has more action than the entire movie previously seen. Actually, this featurette was better than the movie on almost every level.