The story of David DeCoteau’s THE PIT & THE PENDULUM is a little different than the one I read by Edgar Allan Poe. Actually, file that one under the “giant understatement” category. In DeCoteau’s new-to-DVD (from here! and E1) release, seven good-looking college athletes—well, really six; one is a storm chaser—come to the house of a mysterious woman who plans to push each through the pain barrier via the use of hypnosis.
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We’ve been hearing about POSSESSION for years. Literally, it’s been that long since the film’s release was announced. First set to play theaters in 2008, POSSESSION was bumped to January 2009, then to a straight to-disc debut in May 2009. Now, finally, it’s arriving on DVD and Blu-ray, and I wish I could say it’s been worth the lengthy wait. Although it has some strong points, the film ultimately plays less like a horror film and more like a slightly intense Lifetime TV movie.
The Asylum is known for its blatant ripoffs of popular films. From SNAKES ON A TRAIN to TRANSMORPHERS to PARANORMAL ENTITY, these “mockbusters” have ga
rnered it a certain notoriety. So it’s no surprise that after Guy Ritchie’s SHERLOCK HOLMES blockbuster, the company would do its own version—with a twist.
The documentary accompanying THE DOUBLE BORN on Celebrity’s recently released DVD explains that writer/director Tony (HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II) Randel’s motivations for making the film involved his weariness of shallow big-studio product. There’s no doubt this is a noble intention—many of us have the same issues with Hollywood and safe, big-budget horror fare—but this was not the way to go about retaliating.
The trouble with a moral compass is failure to acknowledge shifting poles. When I’ve made statements like “sacred cows beg for slaughter,” and “the very concept of a taboo subject invites irreverence,” all I’m really saying is, “I am completely lacking the foresight to predict a movie called INCEST DEATH SQUAD and the possibility that I will be asked to review it.”
I must confess that when I was offered the chance to review I AM VIRGIN, I was a little upset when Fango’s managing editor added, “You’d be perfect for it!” Jeez, Mike, I’m just saving myself for the right lady. Can’t a guy be chaste and unsullied in this day and age without being made fun of? And I have had sex. Yes, only with myself, but that still counts for something, don’t it?
If you know the name Kazuo “Gaira” Komizu, it’s probably as director of the super-slimy and super-gory ENTRAILS/GUTS OF A VIRGIN/BEAUTIFUL WOMAN films, which feature (can you guess?) entrails, guts, beautiful women and a phallus monster. His 1991 film BATTLE GIRL: THE LIVING DEAD IN TOKYO BAY (just out on DVD from Synapse Films) is another story.
THE WRAITH hits you in the face with the ’80s so hard that after watching Lionsgate’s special-edition DVD (coming March 2), I had to double-check and make sure that I hadn’t gone BACK TO THE FUTURE.