Grabbers
(2013/MPI/IFC Midnight DVD)/I
Am Zozo
(2011/Image DVD)/Maniac
Cop 2
(1990) + 3:
Badge Of Silence
(1992/Blue Underground Blu-rays w/DVDs)/The
People Under The Stairs
(1991/Universal/Arrow Region B Blu-ray)/Pin
(1988/ArrowDrome Region 2 PAL Import DVD)
Picture: C+/C+/B &
C+/B & C+/B/C+ Sound: C+/C+/B & B-/B & C+/B-/C+
Extras: C-/C/C/C/C+/C Films: C-/C+/C/C/C+/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
People Under The Stairs
Region B import Blu-ray and Pin
Region 2 PAL import DVD con only be played on machines that can
handle those versions of their respective formats, are only available
from Arrow Video in the U.K. and can be ordered from the links below.
Now for some new horror
releases, including some cult items on Blu-ray and a few smaller
films you should know about...
Jon
Wright's Grabbers
(2013) is an Irish horror film that starts out as a simple police
procedural until the dead bodies that turn up are mutilated in ways
that do not have anything to do with simple murder. Soon, the police
realize they are up against something more and it turns out an
invasion of reptilian alien water creatures are invading and must be
stopped. The result is an Irish answer to every formulaic monster
movie we have seen lately and too often in the digital HD era.
The amusing moments are
few and opportunities missed many. Now you know what you are in for,
but the highly curious may still check it out no matter what we say.
Extras include a Behind The Scenes featurette and Original Theatrical
Trailer.
Scott
Di Lalla's I
Am Zozo
(2011) is a better throwback to the genre when some teens (smart ones
who are developed as people for a change) play with a Ouija board,
only to unleash the murderous character of the title. A novel idea
that could have worked very well, the script here is laid back more
than it should be, but the cast, look and mood of the film (shot
nicely on Super 8mm film negative, looks like they only used Kodak
Vision 3 200T stocks when a few more Kodak makes would have helped)
make it more watchable than it should be.
It also never gets
stupid, silly or insults the intelligence to the audience. Too bad
the great situation here is not capitalized on as much as it should
be, but it is worth a look for all serious horror fans and is one of
the best-looking independent Horror films we have seen in a good
while.
Extras include a Behind
The Scenes featurette and n interview with Darren Evans claiming to
have encountered a real version of Zozo.
Maniac
Cop 2
(1990) and Maniac
Cop 3: Badge Of Silence
(1992) are mixed sequels to William Lustig's original Maniac
Cop
(1988) we reviewed on Blu-ray a while ago at this link that includes
a link to our review of the earlier DVD version:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11177/Hickey+&+Boggs+(1972)/Incredible+Melting+Man+
Created
by Lustig with Larry Cohen, it has some parallels with Paul
Verhoeven's Robocop
(1987, see our Blu-ray review elsewhere on this site) in its sardonic
treatment of law & order as the title characters become victims
of the system they were originally were sworn to protect and both
were great cops before the betrayal, though the one in this trilogy
was explicitly betrayed by bad cops, so he is back to kill them and
anyone else in their way. However, despite Lustig directing the
second film and Cohen involved in writing on all of them, the
original film only had so much to say and the sequels have no point
except to be franchises by the men's own admission and that is why
they are weak and eventually led to the early death of a would-be
series.
Blue Underground's
Blu-ray/DVD sets are as deluxe as they are going to get on these
films, but they are just not that necessary and despite Robert Davi
appearing in both, there is not much to see or do and the third film
becomes a campy spoof of itself in unintended ways. Both are
graphically violent and you will see blood, but the scripts are
increasingly weak and the final film had more than one director, thus
the Allen Smithee tag.
Look for Bruce
Campbell, Michael Learner, Clarence Williams III and Charles Napier
in the first sequel and Julius W. Harris, Robert Forster and Jack
Earle Haley in the last.
Extras
with both sequels include Deleted & Extended Scenes, Poster &
Still Galleries and Original Theatrical Trailers, with 2
adding a feature length audio commentary track by Director Lustig and
filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, an Isolated Music Track, Cinefamily
Q&A clips with Lustig and featurette Back
On The Beat - The Making Of Maniac Cop 2,
while 3
adds an original text synopsis of the film Larry Cohen first proposed
and Wrong
Arm Of The Law - The Making Of Maniac Cop 3
featurette.
Wes
Craven's The
People Under The Stairs
(1991) had some more political points with its own sardonic horror
tale that equated Reagan's America with a sick, sad, real life story
of parents who never let their children out of the house, keeping
them locked in the basement. More surreal than realistic, the film
is a mixed bag, but one that still comes up. I am surprised this is
making it to Blu-ray in the U.K. first via Arrow Video and yet
another one of their deluxe releases we'll never see in the U.S.
market, but her it is and it is everything fans could want.
Craven,
who also wrote the script, wants to be funny and frightening, but the
mix is not always effective and it pales as compared to John
Carpenter's They
Live
(1988) when addressing the same territory. Still, it is ambitious,
Brandon Adams as the young African American who breaks into the wrong
house is a situation as relevant now as ever. Everett McGill and
Bing Rhames are good along with the rest of the cast and it is a film
worth revisiting, even though it has aged oddly.Everett McGill and
Ving Rhames are good along with the rest of the cast and it is a film
worth revisiting, even though it has aged oddly.
The
political specifics would need a separate essay, but some of them are
touched upon in the extras which include a collector's booklet inside
the Blu-ray case with new essays with illustrations and reversible
cover, while the Blu-ray adds a feature length audio commentary with
star Brandon Quintin Adams, moderated by Calum Waddell, Fear,
Freud and Class Warfare
Director Wes Craven Discusses the Timely Terrors of The People Under
the Stairs, Behind
Closed Doors
Leading Lady A.J. Langer Remembers The People Under the Stair, Silent
But Deadly
Co-Star Sean Whalen on The People Under the Stairs, Underneath
The Floorboards
Jeffrey Reddick, creator of The
Final Destination
series, recalls the lasting impact of The People Under the Stairs and
the Original Theatrical Trailer.
Finally
we have Sandor Stern's Pin
(1988), a creepy tale about two young children whose doctor father
(Terry O'Quinn) has them talking to a full-sized body mick-up of a
man whose insides you can see, named after Pinocchio as Pin for
short. The bother and sister become a little too attached to each
other and when both parents die earlier than expected, inherit the
house and bring Pin home to keep them company. They talked to him
then and continue to as young adults, but the mental illness of both
will soon manifest itself in blood.
We
have seen creepy sibling films before and this can be as creepy, but
despite good performances by unknowns David Hewlitt and Cynthia
Preston, the script has the same issues as the similar Goodbye
Gemini (1970,
reviewed on DVD elsewhere on this site) where the story cannot equal
the situation, but this film falls even shorter in adding up. Still,
it is a creepy curio all serious horror ans should see once.
Extras include a
collector's booklet inside the DVD case and an Original Theatrical
Trailer on the disc.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on People
and Maniac
Cop 2,
plus 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Maniac
Cop 3
are the HD presentations here and despite their respective transfers
sometimes showing the age of the 35mm film materials used, look fine
for their age, have some good shots in each to offer and could not
look much better than they do here. I would add that this is as good
as they have ever looked and as authentic and close to the best
materials I have seen o the three since their original theatrical
releases. The anamorphically enhanced DVDs of the Maniac films are
decent for their formats, but no match for the Blu-rays.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Zozo,
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image on Pin
and anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Grabbers
tend to be on par with those Maniac
DVDs and look just fine for their standard definition presentations,
though Zozo
and Pin
might benefit from Blu-ray releases.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 7.1 lossless mix on Maniac
Cop 2
and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Maniac
Cop 3
are derived from their original sound stems and Ultra Stereo analog
presentations and are the best sonic presentations here despite both
films showing some age and harmonic distortion in parts from their
original recordings. They also both offer D-BOX motion bass tracks
for those who have that as part of their home theater system. People
is here in lossless PCM 2.0 Stereo with Pro Logic surrounds from its
original Dolby A-type analog theatrical release, which is a system
superior to Ultra Stereo for its time. It is not as dynamic all
around as the DTS Maniac
mixes, but is second-best in presentation here and just fine.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the Maniac
DVDs have EX back tracks, but are no match for their DTS
counterparts, while regular Dolby 5.1 can be found on Grabbers
(lacking
a true soundfield) and Zozo
(which has a laid back older horror film sounding soundtrack, but is
spoiled by one too many moments of sweetened sound that ruins the
integrity of the mix, though it has a weak soundfield too) and can be
more than matched by the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on Pin
which
was also a Dolby A-type theatrical stereo release, but weaker than
People
due in part to its budget.
The
People Under The Stairs
Region B import Blu-ray and Pin
Region 2 PAL DVD can be ordered among other great titles and label
exclusives from Arrow U.K. at
this link:
http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/
- Nicholas Sheffo
