Week of Saturday, March 24 through Friday, March 30, 2007

Saturday, March 24, 2007
Blackwater Valley Exorcism - 2006

Hot damn, another Jeffery Combs movie. Alas, he's not proud of this one, as it's terrible. Acting, plot, effects, all subpar. Nothing original, nothing interesting. Jeffery's part is also the best part of the whole thing.

No subs, but the commentary has Ethan Wiley (director) & Cameron Daddo (Jacob). Almost no technical details, just a rambling discussion about actors and acting. Joined after 40 minutes by cinematagrapher, who they don't name, but refer to as "the rebel". There is no listing in IMDB, which is kinda weird. Still pretty damn dull, sorta like the movie.

Other extras include a making of, called "Low Budget Demonology", which was fair. Sadly, it's probably the best part of the disk.

A waste of $1M and 11 days.

Skip, unless you love JC!

Secrets of the Serpent - no known date, no listing in IMDB

Gnosis (last week) was "In Search of the Sacred Past - This is The Key to Our Sacred Past". More from the man who gave us Gnosis. In fact, it looks like the same video of him wandering around, so stained glass windows. However, this one is at least has some facts and concrete details about it. In the first few minutes, we've already had more solid scholarship thatn all the previous show.

And boy! Does he tear apart the DaVinci Code. Not that THAT's so hard.

Rent only if the escorteric and occult interest you.

Sunday, March 25, 2007
Amazing Screw On Head - 2006 (TV Show)

Very cool. Alas, only 25 minutes long. Was originally thought of as a pilot for a SciFi Channel show. That would have been cool. Sad it didn't work. There are, however, lots of extras to make up for the short nature of the feature.

There is a commentary with Chris Prynoski (director) and Bryan Fuller (writer/producer). It's kinda of short on details, sort of like the show is short.

Other extras include Storyboard Comparison (interesting), From Comic to Cartoon - Making Of, which details the unbelieable amount of work for less than 30 minutes of video.

A definite renter. Just make sure you got something else to watch afterwards.

The Gathering - 2002

This UK film is a little slow at hte beginning, but last half hour is worth the wait. There are subtitles, but no other extras whatsoever. Still, the 3rd act is SO worth the rental. The cover says it's a Blockbuster Exclusive, but that hasn't worked out very well for them, as it's available from all other rental avenues.

Dark Reality - 2006

Well, this isn't what I was expecting. Basically, we have a B/W roughie. Women are captured and tortured. Basically, the entire movie takes place in a basement. Very dark, very depressing. Not very enjoyable, really.

Commentary features Christopher Hutson (director) and Chris Kazmier (writer/composer). They admit that this movie is totally guerilla, and that it was virtually entirely improvised. The rest is pretty technical, given that this movie is an improvisational study in horror. Other extras are a Behind the Scenes, epk (interviews with cast and crew. What the hell is epk?)

Monday, March 26
It Waits - 2005

An American Indian demon is released, and toys with and then tears apart folks in the woods. Features Dominic Zamprogna - he was in Tru Calling (that I watched last year) and it looks like he's in the new Battlestar Galactica (I know, I'm the only geek on earth not watching this. And the discs are too expensive. Maybe I'll add them to my Blockbuster queue).

Also, the ever-hot Cerina Vincent (was in Cabin Fever, but started life as the Yellow Power Ranger. Was also in Murder-Set-Pieces & 7 Mummies, which I just saw last week) is the heronine. Wish we'd seen her assets better. I don't remember them from Cabin Fever, but she looks great.

Not a bad flick, but the ending is laughably bad and predictable. Commentary features director Steven Monroe and Cerina. You know it's gonna be bad when they don't even introduce themselves, but were obviously already talking among themselves when they started recording. And they then spend the rest of the time just describing the action on the screen. Then, after 30 minutes, Cerina leaves to audition for a part on Monk. Finally, towards the end, he gets technical.

Only other extra is Blood on the Pines, which is a making of featurette. We learn more in it than we did in the commentary. A 20 day shoot with 2 days of pick ups. Stephen Cannel (producer) more involved than usual for a Producer. Finally, the director states that handheld = audience "in the movie". Is this true? Wonder if anyone ever studied this?

Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Eight Immortals - can't find an entry on IMDB

Eight chinese gods/heros battle a demon who is terrorizing the countryside. Obviously a product of the 70's. It's all good. Rent if you love these wacky chinese kung fu spectaculars.

Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner - 2006

Pretty funny, but you'd better have a strong tolerance for bad language and off-color comments. And what the heck are Betty White and Farreh Fawett doing here. But there's the greatness of Artie Lange (from the Howard Stern radio show and Beer League).

Wow! Farreh is trashed! There is no way she's that good of an actress. She is drunk. And Clint Howard was the alien in the original series episode The Corbanite Maneuver! He reprises this role excellently. And George Takai kicks ass, perhaps better than many of "professional comedians".

Truly fun, if you can tolerate the "worse than R" language and topics.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Are You Scared - 2006

Reality TV meets Saw. I'm VERY happy this was subtitled, as some of the people mummbled WAY too much. Some of the traps/choices are fiendish. If you liked the original Saw, this movie will please you. And there's gore aplenty. Gotta like that. Big time renter.

The Butcher - 2006

Another juicy movie. If you're into the grue, these make an excellent double feature. A $750K budget, according to IMDB the director has done 23 shoftcore movies before this one. And he's made a Texas Chainsaw Massacre clone, with teens chased and killed by a deformed madman.

It's funny that the Freddie character (if the group was the Scooby gang) is the coward, and the Thelma character is BOTH the brains and the brawn.

And then, in the third act, we suddently shift into People Under the Stairs, and we end with another stupid CG (Computer Generated) fire. Doesn't anyone burn down houses anymore?

Thursday, March 29 - Friday, March 30
Dr Who, Season Two
Disc 1
Christmas Invasion - all the right elements. Excellent. With subtitles and a commentary. And the commentary is a type I've never seen before called In-vision, where a small window opens up (sort of like Picture In Picture) and we see the folks talking, doing the commentary. That's really entertaining. Wish more movies had this. Only problem is that the commentary itself is dreadful. WAY too much nicey-nicey.

New Earth - Dr Who & zombies. Return of Cassandra the skin-sheet and the Face of Boe from Season One. There's an audio commentary only for this where we learn that the episodes are typically a 12 day shoot.

This disc also has other extras, including an outtake feature that's pretty funny, but has a lot of spoilers.

Disc 2
Tooth and Claw - a werewolf story, featuring Queen Victoria. This is also where we set up the arc of Torchwood that started in Christmas Invasion, and continues clear thru to the Finale. Very nice. I love a good story arc, don't you?

School Reunion - Sarah Jane Smith!!!!! Perhaps the most beloved "classic" companion returns in an episode that is sure to make every geek dance with joy. Yes, it's Elizabeth Sladen, and she looks awesome. I sure hope I age half as well as she has. She still looks fine!) And who's she got with her? Why, K-9, of course. (yes, it's even the original voice. So very excellent!). And who's the bad guy. None other than Anthony Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). If you love Dr Who, you will watch this episode over and over again.

The Girl in the Fireplace - wow, this is the most emotional Dr Who ever. And he gets "snogged". See, this is educational. We're learning French history (and amazingly, there's no surrender in the episode. :-> )

Commentaries in all, but I didn't listen to them all, except for the Fireplace one, which was In-vision again. And it's much better than the first, with more details on how they did stuff.