PELT (not to be confused with PELTS, the Argento-helmed episode of MASTERS OF HORROR) is yet another derivative tongue-in-cheek slasher movie that mistakes crude for entertaining and confusing for clever. It joins the insufferable trend of modern low-budget horror films that tread through a tired formula under the illusion that drenching bad writing in irony transcends cliche.
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While not exploding into North American horror consciousness
quite the way J-horror flicks did in the early and mid-2000s, Scandinavian
genre cinema has found a foothold, courtesy of recent quality films such as
RARE EXPORTS and SAUNA from Finland and Sweden’s LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. Now on
DVD and Blu-ray is a Norwegian representative in the form of TROLL HUNTER,
courtesy of Magnolia’s Magnet imprint.
Grab your swords and put on those sandals, because the fine
folks at Shout! Factory have a two-DVD set of barbaric proportions coming out
today! It’s another Roger Corman’s Cult Classics title to add to your growing
pile—a SWORD AND SORCERY COLLECTION featuring DEATHSTALKER (1983), DEATHSTALKER
II (1987), THE WARRIOR AND THE SORCERESS (1984) and BARBARIAN QUEEN (1985). The
set features more cheesecake and beefcake than you can probably handle, being
released just in time to bank on interest in the new CONAN movie—exactly as
they did upon initial release!
Revenge-movie classics like MS. 45, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE and
THEY CALL HER ONE EYE have all had a major influence on up-and-coming
filmmakers. Some have paid tribute to these flicks by making their own features
in this particular genre, such as DEATH ANGEL DECEMBER: VENGEANCE KILL (on DVD
from Chemical Burn). While the idea sounded very promising, the film itself is
a total and utter letdown.
SUPERNATURAL: THE ANIME SERIES (now on DVD and Blu-ray from
Warner Home Video) represents a unique concept: it’s the first time a popular
live-action TV show has been reimagined in Japanese anime style. Exploring the
journey of Sam and Dean Winchester (original series stars Jared Padalecki and
Jensen Ackles) as they travel across the backroads of America, hunting monsters
while trying to save the world from the devil and searching for their missing
father, this is sibling rivalry at its best, giving horror fans a taste of
something stylistically fresh.
DRIVE-IN HORRORSHOW is an independent anthology (now out on
DVD from Midnight Releasing) consisting of five twisted short films about
torture, monsters and serial killers. Its mix of scares and humor grabs the
audience and holds them while the tone switches from one segment to the next.
New Hampshire 1940: the citizens of Friar begin a long trek down a winding brick road out of town. While the slaughtered remains of some would be found, most would simply disappear, and only one man, too lost in his insanity to tell the tale, would survive. Just what lies at the end of the YELLOWBRICKROAD?
Just when you thought it was safe to assume that all sharks
in independent genre flicks were harmless CGI specimens, here comes THE REEF (just
out on DVD and Blu-ray from Image Entertainment, and also showcased this past
weekend at Montreal’s 