Apprentice To Murder (1988*)/Deadly Manor (1990*)/Mon Mon Mon Monsters! (2017/RLJ Blu-ray)/One Missed Call Trilogy (2003, 2005, 2006/*all MVD/Arrow Blu-rays)/Teorema (1968 aka Theorem/Criterion Blu-ray)

Picture: B+/B+/B+/B+/B Sound: B+/B+/B+/B+/C+ Extras: B/B/D/B/B- Films: C+/C+/B/B+ B- C+/B

The following thrillers sometimes cross over into other genres ands gritty reality...

Donald Sutherland stars in Apprentice to Murder (1988), which is a horror period piece that fans of folk horror might enjoy. Based on a true story, Dr. Reese (Sutherland) practices as a healer in a small Pennsylvania town, but unbeknownst to them he has a four year history in a mental hospital. When a young neighbor boy befriends the Murderer and seeks his help to 'cure' his abusive alcoholic father of his ailments, things start to get a bit sticky.

The film also stars Chad Lowe, Mia Sara, Rutanya Alda, and Eddie Jones to name a few.

Apprentice to Murder is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and an original lossless mono soundtrack. This new 2K high definition transfer is direct from the original 35mm positive looks and sounds fantastic on disc. This is certainly better than its looked in the past as Arrow has done an outstanding job here as usual.

Special Features:

New audio commentary by author and critic Bryan Reesman

New video interview on religious horror cinema with Kat Ellinger, author and editor-in-chief of Diabolique Magazine

New video interview with cinematographer Kelvin Pike

New video interview with makeup supervisor Robin Grantham

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Haunt Love

and FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated Collector's Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Paul Corupe

An interesting performance by Donald Sutherland, Apprentice to Murder, is fun to revisit on disc thanks to Arrow Video.

From Spanish filmmaker Jose Ramon Larraz, who also directed Vampyres (1974), Edge of the Axe (1988) and The Coming of Sin (1978), comes Deadly Manor (1990). Much like Edge of the Axe (reviewed elsewhere on this site and also currently released by Arrow), this low budget horror flick has an '80s slasher vibe that echoes mainly classics, mainly Halloween and Friday the 13th. The plot is paper thin and the characters aren't too interesting, but the film has some interesting murder sequences that '80s slasher fans might enjoy. Remastered here from Arrow Video, Deadly Manor gets a second life on Blu-ray disc.

A group of teens take refuge on a long trip to a deserted house in the middle of nowhere. As they hang out there for the night, they discover coffins in the basement and that they aren't alone. The house's previous resident, a once beautiful but now horribly disfigured woman, is out to kill and take revenge on anyone in radius, convinced they are responsible for her current situation. Can her bizarre husband aide his wife in keeping the manor cleansed from evil unwanted teenagers? Likely. Expect to see lots of dead bodies popping about in this flick!

The film stars Jennifer Delora, William Russell Liz Hitchler, Douglas Gowland, Jerry Kernion, and Mark Irish.

Deadly Manor is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc and sports a new 2K restoration from original film elements that is quite impressive. Accompanied is an original uncompressed mono audio mix. There's no visible flaws in the sound or the image throughout the presentation.

Special Features:

Brand new audio commentary with Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan

Newly-filmed interview with actress Jennifer Delora

Making a Killing - a newly-filmed interview with producer Brian Smedley-Aston

Extract from an archival interview with Jose Larraz

Original "Savage Lust" VHS trailer

Image Gallery

Original Script and Shooting Schedule (BD-ROM content)

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais

and First Pressing Only: Collector's Booklet featuring new writing on the film by author John Martin.

Giddens Ko's Chinese horror flick, Mon Mon Mon Monsters! (2017) is a thrill ride from start to finish. Horror fans that subscribe to the streaming channel Shudder have already been able to take a look at the film, but it now arrives in HD on Blu-ray disc courtesy of RLJ. The film centers around some teenagers who capture a female ghoul and suffer her wrath as a consequence.

The film stars YuKai Deng, Kent Tsai, Carolyn Chen, and Eugenie Liu.

Mon Mon Mon Monsters! is presented in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and audio mixes in original Mandarin DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 (with optional English subtitles) and a dubbed English mix in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mixes. The presentation here is strong for Blu-ray and everything looks and sounds pretty good throughout the presentation.

Sadly, no extras.

This could be a fun film to get an American remake in the future as the concept is pretty fresh and interesting. This is definitely one that horror fans should check out, the monster here is very creepy and effective!

As you can see, Arrow has become the ideal label to remaster and distribute popular J Horror films as they proved recently with their incredible box set of The Ring trilogy. Continuing the trend, Arrow has now put out the One Missed Call Trilogy, another famed J- horror film series like The Ring and The Grudge that also spawned an American remake. All three films are presented together here in 1080p high definition in this great new two disc set.

Imagine if you got a call from your future self that told you (or showed you via picture) that you were going to die? This is one eerie moment in One Missed Call (2003), which is directed by Takashi Miike (Itchi the Killer) and is one hell of a horror movie! A horror murder mystery centered around Japanese folklore, One Missed Call is an effective and nail biting film that shouldn't be missed!

As with most horror franchises, the sequels aren't quite as powerful as the original, yet are still interesting on their own. One Missed Call 2 (2005) is directed by Renpei Tsukamoto and takes the concept a step further. This time the entity is able to take its supernatural threat viral and ends up calling the whole phone’s contact list! The final film, One Missed Call: Final (2006) is a fine conclusion and is directed by Manabu Asou.

The film series stars Ko Shibasaki, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Kazue Fukiishi, Renji Ishibashi, Hisashi Yoshizawa, Mimura, Maki Horikita, Meisa Kuroki, and Jan Keun-Suk to name a few.

The One Missed Call Trilogy is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and Japanese audio tracks in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo lossless sound with English subtitles. The films look and sound fantastic here and certainly best the previous releases on standard definition.

Special Features:

The Making of One Missed Call, an hour-long archival documentary on the film's production

Archival interviews on One Missed Call with actors Ko Shibasaki, Shinichi Tsutsumi and Kazue Fukiishi, and director Takashi Miike

Archival interview on One Missed Call with director Takashi Miike

Archival footage from the One Missed Call premiere

Live or Die TV special

A Day with the Mizunuma Family

One Missed Call alternate ending

The Making of One Missed Call 2, a half-hour archival documentary on the film's production

Gomu, a short film by One Missed Call 2 director Renpei Tsukamoto

One Missed Call 2 deleted scenes

One Missed Call 2 music video

The Making of One Missed Call: Final, an hour-long archival documentary on the film's production

Maki and Meisa, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette on One Missed Call: Final with actresses Maki Horikita and Meisa Kuroki

Behind the Scenes with Keun-Suk Jang, an archival featurette with One Missed Call: Final's

South Korean star

The Love Story, a short film tie-in for One Missed Call: Final

Candid Mimiko, an archival location tour with the series' iconic villain

Theatrical trailers and TV spots

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin

and First Pressing Only: Collector's Booklet featuring new writing on the films by Anton Bitel.

Finally, we have a newly upgraded version of Pier Paolo Pasolini's remarkable film Teorema (1968) in time for the success of Oscar-winner Parasite. Like that film, class division and the peacefulness of those who have get interrupted by those who do not. This time, it is the late, great Terence Stamp (The Limey, The Collector, Superman: The Movie) asa the visitor who not only disrupts, but gets intimate with each person, one by one.

We have reviewed the film twice before, going into detail in this earliest review of the long out-of-print U.S. DVD at this link:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3294/Teorema+(1968/Pasolini/Koch+Lorber+U.S.+DVD)

The film goes further than most such 'unwanted guest' films and can get very creepy (think James Losey's The Servant) as Pasolini gets symbolic and political as the creepiness increases. Remarkably observant of human behavior and character, this remains one of his few successful films commercially (almost everything he made is considered fine filmmaking to the end) and it is nice to see the film get this upgraded treatment. If anything, the film only gets better with age and the supporting cast (including the always interesting Silvana Mangano) do some 0of their best work ever here.

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image comes from a new 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative and it outdoes the previous DVD editions with ease, including better depth, definition and color range. It looks like a high quality film print that held up well with some demo shots and has aged very well. The PCM 2.0 Mono sound comes from an optical mono soundmaster and sounds as good as possible, but it still shows its age. Still, I doubt it will ever sound any better than it does here.

Extras are the most for any version of the film issued to date and include a paper pullout with an essay by film scholar James Quandt, while the disc adds a feature length audio commentary from 2007 featuring Robert S. C. Gordon, author of Pasolini: Forms of Subjectivity, Introduction by director Pier Paolo Pasolini from 1969, Interview from 2007 with Stamp and new interview with John David Rhodes, author of Stupendous, Miserable City: Pasolini's Rome.

- Nicholas Sheffo (Teorema) and James Lockhart