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Category:    Home > Reviews > Horror > Monster > Creature > Giant > Camp > Zombies > Comedy > Aliens > > Werewolf > Giant From The Unknown (1958/Film Detective Blu-ray)/Love and Monsters 4K (2020/Paramount 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Six Days In Roswell (1999) w/Suckers (2001/Synapse Blu-ray)/Wolf Of Snow Hollow

Giant From The Unknown (1958/Film Detective Blu-ray)/Love and Monsters 4K (2020/Paramount 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Six Days In Roswell (1999) w/Suckers (2001/Synapse Blu-ray)/Wolf Of Snow Hollow (2020/Warner Blu-ray)



4K Ultra HD Picture: A- Picture: B+ Sound: B+/A-/B+/B+ Extras: C+ Films: B/C+/C/C+



Now for some new horror releases, including a few restorations....



We'll start with the B-Movie classic Giant From The Unknown (1958) is available on Blu-ray now from The Film Detective in a stunning new remaster that looks as if the film was shot yesterday. Featuring makeup from the Universal Monster makeup master Jack Pierce, Giant From The Unknown has some fun movie monster moments with the giant Vargas, and follows the classic archetypes that fans have come to love! This collectible Blu-ray disc is definitely one that Monster Kids will want to pick up and add to their collection!


The film stars Ed Kemmer, Sally Fraser, and Bob Steele with direction by Richard E. Cunha.


An ancient axe wielding creature named Vargas is unearthed from his centuries worth of slumber and brought back to life! As he terrorizes a scientific research team, they soon come face to face with the vicious monster despite being warned by many. Of course, there's a lot of rock throwing and damsel in distress moments that make these films so beloved.


Giant From The Unknown is presented in a VC-1 Codec in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio and an English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix. The black and white film looks very nice here in this 4K remaster which is the best this film has ever looked on disc!


Special Features:

Audio Commentary with Author/ Historian Tom Weaver and Guests

Audio Commentary with co-star Gary Crutcher

'YOU'RE A B-MOVIE STAR, CHARLIE BROWN' - An all-new interview actor/screenwriter Gary Crutcher

'THE MAN WITH A BADGE: BOB STEELE IN THE 1950'S' - An all-new interview with author/film historian C. Courtney Joyner

Still Gallery

Restoration trailer

and a Collector's booklet written by author/historian Tom Weaver



Next, Love and Monsters 4K (2020) is a mix of romantic comedy meets B-movie bug horror and places us in a future where bugs and earth's little creatures have grown enormously in size and are now a constant threat. With the lot of mankind wiped out, humans have resorted to living in various bunkers in small groups in order to survive. One young man named Joel (Dylan O'Brien of the Maze Runner series), is still hung up on a girl that he was separated from seven years prior, and decides to finally work up the guts to go and see her. The only problem is that he's not much of a hunter and around every corner, there's something that wants to eat him.


The film also features Michael Rooker, Jessica Henwick, Ellen Hollman, and Melanie Zanetti. Direction is by Michael Matthews (Five Fingers for Marseilles).


Love and Monsters employs strong feats of digital effects, however, most of them still look a bit fake even though they are highly detailed. In some moments, this film reminds me of an updated Ray Harryhausen film where humans are pitted against giant crab creatures and the like. However, this can't escape the sappy voice over and overall mediocre acting from its lead and not enough Michael Rooker! There's some fun moments to be had throughout the piece, however, but it's mainly a forgettable popcorn muncher aimed at a teen audience.


Love and Monsters has a beautiful presentation here on 4K UHD with a codec of HEVC/H.265 and a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and an lossless English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit). The film looks fantastic here and is enhanced by Dolby Vision and HDR (High Dynamic Range), which makes it a very enjoyable watch. The film's effects are sharper and much more vivid than in the also included 1080p Blu-ray disc with similar widescreen / audio specs as the 4K UHD that is also included. The film definitely has a decent budget and feels like it was a sizable production.

Special Features:

Deleted Scenes

Bottom of the Food Chain: The Cast of Love and Monsters featurette

and It's a Monster's World: Creating a Post Apocalyptic Landscape featurette


Love and Monsters is a cute and flashy Hollywood movie, but ultimately isn't anything that special that we haven't seen before. Still it's too bad that the film didn't get a chance to play in theaters due to the coronavirus pandemic as it could have played well. The 4K UHD presentation here, however, is nothing to scoff at.



Two films have been nicely restored to HD and presented here on one Blu-ray disc: Six Days in Roswell (1999) and Suckers (2001).


In Six Days In Roswell, Director Tim Johnson goes to Roswell, New Mexico during an alien convention in the town and with star Rich Kronfeld asks the locals and otherwise why they believe in the alien phenomenon. The film has some credible interview subjects in the field, but is mostly a mockumentary starring Kronfeld and is more than a little bit silly. There are some interesting ideas presented in the film, but it tries too hard to make fun of the subject and the people that believe in it instead of really embracing it and taking a scarier or more thrilling route.


Suckers is a screwy indie comedy with Lori Loughton (Full House alumni recently in the news as of this posting for off-screen reasons) in a supporting role and makes light of the lives of some used car salesmen. While they are scummy on the lot they are even more so in their private lives. The film centers mainly on the art of the deal and how far some dealers will go to get the cash. Suckers also features Joe Yannetty, Jake Johannsen, and Daniel Benzali.


Both Suckers and Six Days in Roswell are presented in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec and widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with audio mixes in lossless English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo. The films have been scanned nicely in HD and look great on disc here.


Special Features:

Audio Commentaries for both films

Making of Six Days in Roswell

Deleted Scenes (Suckers)

Raw Takes (Suckers)

and Trailers for both films.



Finally...


Pretty decent for a recent werewolf movie, The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) finds its way on disc courtesy of Warner Bros. A small town falls victim to several vicious killings at the hand of a werewolf. Skeptical and overwhelmed in his personal life, the town's local Sheriff attempts to track down and kill the culprit of the murders, to which he refuses to believe is this supernatural creature. A mix of horror and comedy, the film is interestingly made but doesn't have too many lovable characters.


The film stars Jim Cummings (who also writes and directs), Riki Lindhome, and the late Robert Forster.


The Wolf of Snow Hollow is presented in 1080p Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec and a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and paired with a lossless English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit). The film is shot very nicely, particularly the scenes that feature the werewolf, which do a good job of showing just enough to make it look realistic.


Special Features:

The Story and the Genre - featurette

The Impetus - featurette

Working with Jim Cummings - featurette

and The Design of the Werewolf - featurette


There's some interesting moments in The Wolf of Snow Hollow that makes it worth checking out for wolf fans, even if its climax leaves a little to be desired.



- James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/


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