
Crimson
Peak
(2015/regular edition*)/Hills
Have Eyes, Part Two
(1985/*both MVD/Arrow Blu-rays)/IT
Chapter Two 4K
(2019/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Mary
(2018/RLJ Blu-ray)/Savage
(2018/Well Go Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B+/B+/B/B/B+ Sound:
B+/B+/B+/B/B+ Extras: B/B+/C+/C/D Films: B+/C/C+/C+/B+
The
mysteries and thrills here include two sequels and more...
Director
Guillermo Del Toro is a rare breed in Hollywood today. A Director
with a unique visual style and an equally strong writer as well. One
of his lesser celebrated films, Crimson
Peak
(2015), sees its second (and best) release on home video courtesy of
Arrow Video in this single disc edition.
Crimson
Peak
stars Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, and Jessica
Chastain.
A
unique ghost story set in the 1800s, Crimson Peak is a gothic romance
centering around Edith (Wasikowska) who falls for the handsome Sir
Thomas Sharpe (Hiddleston) after the mysterious death of her father.
She moves to be with him in his bizarre family estate known as
Crimson Peak with his odd but alluring sister Lady Lucille
(Chastain). Despite being warned by the ghost of her mother at an
early age to 'beware of Crimson Peak', she ends up discovering that
the house has many horrors and sinister secrets hiding within it...
some that involve her new family.
I
feel that this film will get a cult following in the years to come
and will be remembered as a unique landmark in Del Toro's career.
While it's not as strong as The
Shape of Water
or Pan's
Labyrinth,
the film is closer to the tone of some of his Spanish film
productions like The
Devil's Backbone,
but has more of a horror element akin to a Hammer horror film than
other works he has created. Speaking of, there's several shout outs
to Hammer throughout, including the main character's last name
'Cushing' (of course referring to Hammer horror actor Peter Cushing),
which fans will snicker at. It's too bad Christopher Lee wasn't
still alive to have made an appearance.
Special
Features include:
Audio
commentary by co-writer and director Guillermo del Toro
The
House is Alive: Constructing Crimson Peak,
a feature-length documentary with cast and crew interviews and
extensive behind the scenes footage
Spanish
language interview with Guillermo del Toro
The
Gothic Corridor, The Scullery, The Red Clay Mines, The Limbo Fog Set;
four featurettes exploring different aspects of Allerdale Hall
A
Primer on Gothic Romance,
the director and stars talk about the key traits of Gothic romance
The
Light and Dark of Crimson Peak,
the cast and crew talk about the film's use of color
Hand
Tailored Gothic,
a featurette on the film's striking costumes
A
Living Thing,
a look at the design, modeling and construction of the Allerdale Hall
sets
Beware
of Crimson Peak,
a walking tour around Allerdale Hall with Tom Hiddleston
Crimson
Phantoms, a featurette on the film's amazing ghosts
Kim
Newman on Crimson Peak and the Tradition of Gothic Romance,
an interview with the author and critic
Violence
and Beauty in Guillermo del Toro's Gothic Fairy Tale Films, a
video essay by the writer Kat Ellinger
Deleted
scenes
Image
gallery
Original
trailers and TV spots
and
a Reversible Sleeve featuring original and exclusive artwork by
Artist Guy Davis
I'm
a big fan of Guillermo Del Toro and of this film. I am happy that
Arrow got a hold of it and gave us this great release to tide us over
until the eventual 4K UHD disc. However, the limited edition from
Arrow that was released last year is the same disc, but has lobby
card reproductions, a poster, and a collectible booklet. If you
don't care as much about those goodies then this single disc release
is fine.
Wes
Craven's follow-up to his controversial original film and shot before
A
Nightmare on Elm Street,
The
Hills Have Eyes, Part Two
(1985) has been released on disc yet again, though this time in its
most definitive version yet from the good people at Arrow Video.
Sporting a shiny new transfer, new extras, and other goodies, this
new Arrow set will be a coveted collector's item for fans of the late
horror director.
The
film stars Michael Berryman, Janus Blythe, Robert Houston, Susan
Lanier, Kevin Spirtas, and Tamar Stafford to name a few.
Disowned
by its director, this mediocre follow-up to the original has a
similar storyline. Bobby (Houston) is haunted by memories of he and
his family being attacked by scary cannibals in the desert. Told
through many flashbacks from the original film, Bobby attempts to
overcome the trauma, but ends up right back where he started when he
sponsors a motor cross race that goes down in the desert, along with
Ruby (Blythe) who also survived the first film.
Special
Features include:
Blood,
Sand, and Fire: The Making of The Hills Have Eyes Part II
- brand new making-of documentary featuring interviews with actor
Michael Berryman, actress Janus Blythe, production designer Dominick
Bruno, composer Harry Manfredini and unit production manager/first
assistant director John Callas
Still
gallery
Original
Theatrical Trailer
6
Postcards mimicking original lobby cards
Reversible
fold-out Poster with new Paul Shipper art and original theatrical
poster artwork
Limited
Edition 40-page booklet featuring new writing on the film by Amanda
Reyes and an archival set visit from Fangoria
and
a Reversible Sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
by Paul Shipper
A
nice companion piece to Arrow's release of the first film on Blu-ray
disc last year, The
Hills Have Eyes, Part 2
isn't one of Wes Craven's better films by a long shot, but is worth
revisiting in this new limited edition set. If you're a fan then
you'll definitely appreciate all of the goodies enclosed.
To
read a previous review of this film on DVD check out this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11551/Dark+Shadows:+The+Best+Of+Barnabas+++Fan+
Next
up is IT
Chapter Two 4K
(2019), the hit sequel to the huge hit big screen remake of the hit
Stephen King novel that originally also scored well as a TV
mini-series. Though I was not a big fan of the first film, it was at
least consistent in its gross humor and sardonic approach to horror,
something the sequel continues. It is now, years later as the
friends who encountered the horrors of the killer clown Pennywise
(Bill Skarsgard back and effective as ever) who feeds on fear and
more.
At
about 2.5 hours, it checks all the sequel boxes and leaves nothing
uncovered to freak out its established audience, but those who did
not see or like the first film will more likely be lost, though those
familiar with book or mini-series might be at least bemused. The
cast sure gives it its all and the money is on the screen, plus I was
amused by a few moments, but I did not buy it much more than the
previous entry, so ti is for fans only and they turned out very
strongly. It is worth a look if you are curious or a King
completist, so I can add that at least it is one of the better King
movies by default as so many of them turned out bad over the decades.
The
cast also includes Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Finn
Wolfhard, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan and more.
Extras
include Digital Copy, while
the discs add a feature length audio commentary track with Director
Andy Muschietti, plus featurettes Pennywise
Lives Again!, This Meeting of the Losers Club Has Officially Begun,
Finding the Deadlights, The Summers of IT: Chapter One, You'll Float
Too
and The
Summers of IT: Chapter Two, IT Ends.
Michael
Goi's Mary
(2018) does its best to be a creepy ship tale includi9ng demonic
possession and stars Gary Oldman as a worker and sailor who suddenly
buys the title ship thinking he and his family could make money on
it, but or course, there is something wrong with the ship and it is
not defective manufacturing!
Emily
Mortimer is his wife and the horrors that ensue are told in flashback
(which weakens the impact in this case) as we find out how it caused
the family (et al) all kinds of trouble. Unfortunately, we get
nothing new they go through that we have not seen in dozens of
similar films, but Jennifer Esposito's turn as the interviewing cop
helps add to the believability and it seems all thought they could
get this to add up into something truly creepy. Unfortunately, the
good acting and ambition just never adds up. Nice try though and
more ambitious than most such films of the last few years.
Extras
include two Behind The Scenes featurettes: The
Making Of MARY
and Family
At Sea: The Cast Of MARY.
Finally,
a policeman, a stolen shipment gold and three robbers get trapped up
on a mountain in a middle of a huge blizzard. When they all get
caught in the blizzard they must find shelter or freeze to death.
However, the question is ...can they set aside their differences or
will they kill each other first in writer/director/star Siwei
Cui's Savage
(2018).
When
three robbers stole a truck full of gold, they hid the gold in the
mountains and decided to wait until things cooled off. Officer
Kanghao vows to catch the robbers who stole the gold and killed his
partner. After a year of searching, Kanghao learns where they have
been hiding on the mountain, but there is a mega blizzard coming.
The robbers had planned to use the blizzard to literally cover their
tracks and escape before the storm.
Kanghao
catches the robbers in the middle of moving their hidden gold and
they begin fighting one another, but then the blizzard hits and the
gold is stolen by a mountain poacher who would let them freeze to
death and take the gold. Wounded, freezing and the gold missing they
all eventually end up in the same shelter in the mountains in which
they are forced to have uneasy truce. In the end, the police can't
let the robbers escape and the robbers can let go of the gold and
even in the shelter from the storm, they still end up fighting for
the gold.
This
was a revenge/survival story with a police officer who wants revenge
for his fallen brother-in-arms, robbers who will kill for the gold
and the officer's doctor/girl friend comes looking for him only to
get mixed up in the storm with them. Things get more complicated
when characters start to decide to betray one another and nobody
knows who to trust. When it comes down to survival, what is more
important ...gold or your life? Extras include trailers.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, Dolby Vision/HDR
(10+; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced 2.35 X 1 Ultra High Definition image
on IT
Chapter 2
just edges out the rest of the releases on this list with its amazing
color in its best shots (the carnival in particular) and looks as
good as its predecessor. The 1080p 2.l35 X 1 digital High Definition
image on the Blu-ray still holds its own, but just does not have the
detail and color range, or some of the depth of the 4K version. Both
disc versions offer Dolby
Atmos 11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 for older systems) lossless sound mixes
that are edited for best impact and sound as fine as anything here,
though these other films sound good too.
Crimson
Peak
is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video in 1080p high
definition on Blu-ray disc with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1
and an original 7.1 DTS:X and 2.0 DTS Headphone: X audio mix, along
with a mix in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless
format. This is a gorgeously photographed film and is a perfect
candidate for 4K UHD, which I'm sure will happen at some point.
Comparable to Universal's release in 2015 in terms of presentation
(the specs are the same on both), this is a fine looking presentation
of a visually stunning film.
The
new 2K restoration presents The
Hills Have Eyes, Part Two
on Blu-ray in 1080p high definition with a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect
ratio and a LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit) audio mix. The soundtrack by
Harry Manfredini is a highlight and sounds very similar to early
Friday
the 13th
films. The image is considerably cleaner than previous versions on
disc and the overall presentation is recommendable for Blu-ray.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Mary
tries to come up with its own visual atmosphere and sometimes
succeeds, but despite consistency, it never completes what it tries
to start. Shot on 35mm film by the director who is a professional
Director of Photography as it turns out, it is still easily one of
the best-looking thrillers of the last few years.
The
1080p 2.65 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on
Savage
is a solid HD shoot that also looks really good throughout with
decent color and maybe it will be a future 4K release, but the color
and definition are nice throughout just the same. The frame hardly
makes it Ultra Panavision 70, but its good enough.
Mary
and Savage
(in Mandarin) both offer impressive DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
lossless sound mixes that have solid, consistent soundfields that
will not disappoint anyone who plays it on an optimal home theater
sound system.
-
Nicholas Sheffo (It
4K,
Mary),
Ricky Chiang (Savage)
and James
Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/