Cemetery
Man 4K (1993 aka
Dellamorte
Dellamore/Severin 4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Halloween
II (1981/ViaVision
Blu-ray Set)/Madame Web
(2024/Marvel/Sony Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/B/B+ Sound: B/B/B+
Extras: C+/B/B Films: C+/B-/C-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Halloween
II Limited Edition
Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at ViaVision
Entertainment in Australia, can play on all 4K and Blu-ray players
and can be ordered from the link below.
Here's
some creepy, wild releases for you to know about...
Michele
Soavi's Cemetery
Man 4K
(1993) was part of a cycle of graphic horror comedies that Raimi's
original Evil
Dead
helped set off, but is also known as the film that was an unusual
choice in the acting career of already leading man Rupert Everett,
who was mostly known for being the male lead in a series of
respectable dramas. One of our writers is a big fan of the film and
way back when Anchor Bay issued it on DVD, he expressed his
frustration with finding a good copy or even any copy of the film.
You can read more about that here...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3997/Cemetery+Man+(Dellamorte+Dellamore
Playing
a man at a cemetery who has to keep killing the dead risen again as
zombies becomes, as we see early on, too typical to living there to
the point of being boring. Still, it is one of the better films from
the cycle and still has not totally found the audience that is out
there for it. He feels doomed and cannot find a way to leave on
several levels, while the screenplay keeps the focus on his
suffering, some of the only living human suffering going on here.
Severin
has picked up the cult item and issued it in this 4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray/Blu-ray
set that far surpasses the old DVD with ease and might be the first
time in its three decades of existence that it has received the
deluxe treatment fans would have wanted from back in the day.
Though
I do not love the film and am not a big fan of it, I can see its
appeal, the supporting cast is good, as are the make-up effects and
how it is show. Soavi knows her way
around the genre, as she proved in Stage Fright and the
two films she made before this one, The Church (both reviewed
elsewhere on this site) and The Sect, so she was in full swing
when she got to this one. Though it might not appeal to fans beyond
the genre, Everett (more than still active, just appearing in Ridley
Scott's underrated Napoleon film) has made it a curio since
day one, so those interested should catchy it now all restored so
well.
We
get more extras this time and they include...
Audio
Commentary By Director Michele Soavi And Screenwriter Gianni Romoli
At
The Graves: Interview With Michele Soavi
Of
Love And Death: Interview With Actor Rupert Everett
She:
Interview With Actress Anna Falchi
and
an Archival Making-Of program.
Rick
Rosenthal's Halloween
II
(1981) is the first of what turned out to be many, many follow-ups to
John Carpenter's 1978 classic Halloween
and picks up immediately where the film was ending (in the pre-home
video era, they repeat the last few minutes of the first film to
'remind' audiences of what they saw) and then it is that same night
as Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) is still recovering from the brutal
attack of the night before at a local hospital. Dr. Loomis (the
late, great Donald Plesence) is not far behind, knowing 'The Shape'
is still on the loose despite opening fire on him that resulted in
multiple gunshot wounds.
Of
course, he wants to finish killing Laurie and decides to get practice
on unsuspecting hospital employees, et al, so here comes more
bloodshed. The film does what all horror sequels should do, increase
the murders and suspense, making them more vicious and shocking.
Jaws 2
understood this, Exorcist
2 and
many others did not. That does not mean the script needs to be as
strong or original and the horror sequels get criticized for that and
in this case, that a different actor playing the killer made a
difference that did not help the film. Carpenter was just
lucky his
attempt to do an unofficial continuation of Bob Clark's remarkable,
original Black
Christmas
(1974, reviewed elsewhere on this site) worked out as well as it did.
This is easily the best of the Halloween films after and after so
many and so many bad ones, it was great to see it again.
Extras
are many and include the 3D lenticular cover and 6 art cards, while
the discs add...
NEW
Audio Commentary by Dustin McNeill, co-author of Taking Shape:
Developing Halloween From Script to Scream (2024)
Audio
Commentary by director Rick Rosenthal and actor Leo Rossi (2012)
Audio
Commentary by stunt coordinator / actor Dick Warlock (2012)
''The
Nightmare Isn't Over!: The Making of Halloween II''
2012 documentary
''Horror's
Hallowed Grounds: The Locations of Halloween II''
2012 featurette
Alternate
Ending
Deleted
Scenes
Theatrical
Trailer
TV
Spots
Radio
Spots
and
a Still Gallery.
The
film has had a 4K release in the U.S. we'll catch soon, while the
original film has been one of the few to get TWO 4K releases, both
sadly with issues. Even in the face of the many DVD and Blu-ray
versions before it, several of which we have covered over the years,
I prefer the out of print Anchor Bay 4K Halloween over the
other, but the film needs more work. Halloween
II has been mastered more
correctly and accurately and now, everyone can really enjoy it!
Lastly,
Dakota Johnson stars in Madame
Web
(2024) a Marvel superhero film produced by Sony (and which does not
fall under Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Spider-Man's
world). The film feels, like other Sony Marvel Spider-man films like
Venom and Morbius, that it came out a few years too late as it's a
bit too goofy for its own good, and is a prequel to the Spider-man
series with only a baby Peter Parker present. One could say that
this is in its own universe now that the whole multi-verse has
happened.
Raised
in the jungles of the Amazon by a group of Spider-people (yes
really), Cassandra Web was moved there as a child and now (Johnson)
lives in modern-day New York with no recollection of her previous
life. Web starts to uncover her hidden super powers of being able to
see glimpses into the future and possible outcomes which culminate
into her meeting an unlikely group of young super ladies who plan to
stop the evil Spider-Man look-a-like.
Admittedly,
Madame Web does have a few fun characters and moments
(including breakout star Sydney Sweeney as Julia Cornwall), and also
stars Isabela Merced, Adam Scott, and Emma Roberts. I won't go as
far as most online reviewers have in saying that the film is a total
wash, but it certainly could have used a more solid direction overall
and maybe stayed a bit closer to its source material in some regard.
Special
Features include a Gag Reel, Easter Eggs, Deleted Scene and four
featurettes: Future Vision, Casting the Web, Oracle of the Page
and Fight Like a Spider.
Madame
Web gets a few things right, but ultimately needed more
connection to the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe to win over the
majority of Marvel movie fans. It feels too far removed from the
Spider-Man movie canon and has a lot of silly moments that equate to
something you would see on a network like the CW instead of being
able to stand aside previous Spidey film outings which were more
crowd pleasing.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265,
1.66 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High
Definition image on Cemetery
Man
shows some flaws missing on the 1080p 1.66 X 1 digital High
Definition regular Blu-ray, but they are the same transfer and the
film has not looked this good since its theatrical release. Save if
those flaws could be removed with much more money spent, this is the
best this film will ever look. Lossless
soundtrack choices include a surprisingly good Dolby Atmos (Dolby
TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) upgrade that is not bad for its
age and a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mix that also works well.
Guess the original sound materials were in better shape than most
such indie productions and horror productions of their time, so fans
should be very happy.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Halloween
II
rarely shows the age of the materials used, is likely the same decent
new master used for the U.S. Shout! Factory release and is a decent
use of the scope frame to create suspense and follow the look of the
first film. This is mostly color correct and we suspect would look
better in its 4K edition, yet this still looks really good and better
than all other previous home video versions.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo lossless mixes are as
good as this film will ever sound and that is a good thing. Those
used to lesser sonic presentations over the years of the film will be
pleasantly surprised, as it foes nto ring false too often.
Madame
Web is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an
MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and a lossless
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) mix. This review is
only for the standard Blu-ray edition and not the 4K HDR edition
which is also available on the market that we'll get to eventually.
That being said, the high budgeted film looks great on Blu-ray disc
and tests the limits of the format with a solid sound and picture
presentation that few will complain about.
To
order the
Halloween
II
Limited Edition
import Blu-ray, go to this link for it and other great exclusives:
https://viavision.com.au/shop/halloween-ii-1981-limited-edition-3d-lenticular-hardcase-art-cards/
-
Nicholas Sheffo and James Lockhart (Madame Web)
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
