Animation History on DVD

Last month I reviewed the DVD release of CABIN FEVER, one of the better horror films of recent years. The delightfully packed disc includes among its extras a record FIVE audio commentary tracks. That nutty director Eli Roth did one commentrak, then hosted four others with various members of the cast and crew, and even called his parents during one. You'd think that this would be overkill, but in this case the movie is good enough and the tracks themselves are entertaining enough that it's worthwhile listening to all of them. The potential problem is that this raises the bar for every DVD we're already seeing more and more discs with multiple commentraks, so it's inevitable that somebody will try for even more sometime soon, cramming on as many tracks as the format will allow. How much is too much? Surely that's up to individual taste for individual releases, and I'm not even sure that there's not a limit on how many audio tracks can be added to a DVD. But it might make for an interesting art project, like releasing the Zapruder Film with individual commentraks from as many surviving witnesses that can be rounded up...

I first saw films by Charley Bowers, a former MUTT & JEFF animator gone independent, back in 1980 at the Ottawa International Animation Festival and was blown away. Hopefully, this disc will blow you [IMG2R]away, too.

(O) CHARLEY BOWERS: The Rediscovery of an American Comic Genius (Image) Couldn't agree with that subtitle more Bowers was an animator and comic of incredible talent who has been forgotten for too long. His shorts from the 1920s and '30s are not only classics, but still amazing and darn funny. This two-disc set presents restored editions of his complete surviving filmography, plus a documentary on Bowers' 1960s rediscovery.

(O) ANDROMEDA Volume 3.3 (ADV Films) Episodes 310-313.
(O) BLOOD OF THE VIRGINS (Mondo Macabro) By presenting this "banned in Buenos Aires" 1967 vampire feature, Mondo Macabro does for Argentina what they did for Pakistan with THE LIVING CORPSE. Includes documentary [IMG3L]on Argentina's horror movies and more.
(O) BLOOD SISTERS OF LESBIAN SIN (Troma) Say, I've always suspected that lesbians were actually demons from Hell out to dominate the entire world. Includes all the usual Troma extras.
(O) BRONX WARRIORS (Media Blasters) In this Euroshocker, Vic Morrow and Fred Williamson survive the apocalypse in 1990 (remember?), but can they survive the Bronx? Includes interviews with Williamson and director Enzo Castellari.
(O) CHAPPELLE'S SHOW: Season One Uncensored (Paramount/Comedy Central) A comedy variety show starring Dave Chappelle. With 30 minutes of deleted scenes, interview, commentrak on five episodes.
(O) CHARLES BRONSON FILM COLLECTION (Passport) Actually, a collection of trailers for the late action star's movies.
(O) CREEP (Sub Rosa) Adult video star Kathy Willets stars in this cult horror fave about brother and sister serial killers vs. father and daughter cops. Two commentraks, feature length Making-Of, interviews, bloopers, deleted scenes, etc.
(O) CRYPTZ (Shadow) Rappers encounter the undead at a mysterious strip club.
(O) DED GRRL (Sub Rosa) A co-ed murdered at a frat party comes back for bloody revenge, leading an army of zombies. Includes director commentrak, bloopers [IMG4R]and more.
(O) DICK VAN DYKE SHOW: Season 3 (Image) Without drawing much attention, Image has been seasoning one of the best sitcoms ever in really nice box sets. The third season was the highest rated, with some incredibly funny shows. Come on, doesn't everyone enjoy a little Dick VD? Includes commentraks with Van Dyke and Carl Reiner, interviews, rehearsals, commercials with the cast, and lots more.
(O) EXOTIC TIME MACHINE (Shadow) Every few years somebody makes a softcore exploitation feature about boinking through history. Here's the latest.
(O) FEAR OF THE DARK (Universal) Another 2003 feature about kids whose night terrors are from something supernatural, only this one went direct-to-video. Includes filmos and interviews.
(O) FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE (Blue Underground) A black family is held hostage by a trio of racist escaped convicts in this exploitation legend, now restored and uncut for the first time on home video. Includes director commentrak and more.
(O) FLESHEATER (Media Blasters) Bill Hinzman directs and returns to his role as the premiere zombie ghoul from NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD in this 1994 feature. Includes interviews, Hinzman as a zombie in a pizza commercial, and more! Delayed from December.
(O) GEORGE BURNS & GRACIE ALLEN COLLECTION (Passport) Five-disc set of episodes from George & Gracie's ahead-of-it's-time 1950s sitcom.
(O) GIANTS & TOYS (Fantoma) Amazing 1958 Japanese satire about how an ugly duckling girl becomes a national obsession when she becomes the mascot of a candy company.
(O) I MARRIED JOAN: Collection 1 (VCI) Two-disc collection of 12 episodes from the early 1950s I LOVE LUCY competitor that starred Joan Davis as a screwball housewife married to sarcastic judge Jim Backus, with Davis' daughter Beverly Wills playing her sister(!).
(O) JACK BENNY COLLECTION (Passport) Five volumes of the still hilarious JACK BENNY PROGRAM.
(O) GUTPILE (Sub Rosa) A hunter accidentally shoots another and covers it up by burying the body in the woods. But on the next hunting trip, he finds that the dead won't stay that way. Includes behind-the-scenes featurette, trailers and two short bonus features.
(O) INVINCIBLE FIGHTER / CRIME FORCE (Ground-Zero) The first film in this two-disc set is some sort of documentary on Jackie Chan. The second is a retitling of the bizarre 1983 GOLDEN QUEEN COMMANDO, with Brigitte Lin, Moon Lee, Sally Yeh, Elsa Yeung, and Conan Lee in kung fu action, with Chan in a cameo role.
(O) KEIKO EN PELIGRO (Vanguard) (KEIKO IN DANGER) Years before appearing in FREE WILLY, the late Keiko the whale was a beloved Mexican movie star. Here, Keiko's an alien sent to Earth to explore survival on our world, but is captured and gets sick from pollution. No really.
(O) THE KISS (Columbia TriStar) A tween girl is excited to learn her fashion model aunt Joanna Pacula will be attending her confirmation but things get too exciting when it turns out the aunt is a vampire.
(O) LONG ISLAND CANNIBAL MASSACRE (Image) 1980 grindhouse horror insanity from Nathan Schiff features a chainsaw duel and plenty of 'quality kills' as a suburban cult preys on local residents. Includes director commentrak, interviews and more.
(O) MARTHA (Fantoma) Psychological horror mixes with black comedy in this 1973 feature from Rainer Werner Fassbinder, in which a spinster is victimized by a seductive sadist. Includes a feature length documentary on [IMG5L]Fassbinder.
(O) THE MISSING (Columbia TriStar) Frontier single mom Cate Blanchett turns to estranged father Tommy Lee Jones for help when a psycho sorcerer kidnaps her daughters in this unusual thriller from Ron Howard. "Have you seen my new DVD?" "Is it MISSING?" Widescreen and fullscreen two-disc versions both come with director commentrak, three alternate endings, 11 deleted scenes, 11 Making-Of featurettes, and more.
(O) MYSTERIOUS MUSEUM (Full Moon) Juvenile fantasy in which a brother & sister are transported into a museum's paintings.
(O) NAKED WEAPON (Hart Sharp) Madame M kidnaps athletes Maggie Q and Jewel Lee and trains them to be top assassins. Includes Making-Of and more.
(O) ONE STEP BEYOND Volumes 1-12 (Delta) The 1959-61 weird-but-allegedly-true anthology series. Four episodes each, available separately or as a 12-disc set.
(O) PTERODACTYL WOMAN FROM BEVERLY HILLS (Troma) Beverly D'Angelo is a Hollywood wife who becomes a were-pterodactyl in this Philippe Mora comedy that even Troma kept on the shelf for years.
(O) RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (DECEASED) (A&E) The first 13 episodes of this British series about a pair of detectives, one of which is a ghost, shown on TV in the USA as MY PARTNER THE GHOST. Includes the London episode of HAUNTED HISTORY and more.
(O) RED BLOOD (MTI) David Midthunder stars as an Aborigine comedian who gets chased back to the reservation by hit squads after crossing the New York Mafia (aka THE HOMECOMING OF JIMMY WHITECLOUD).
(O) SCARLET DIVA (Media Blasters) Asia Argento stars and directs an account of an actress' journey through the underbelly of show business. Includes director commentrak & interview in R-rated and unrated editions.
(O) SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER (Buena Vista) Third entry in this fun series goes completely over the top into a videogame world as the kids try to stop the evil Sylvester Stallone. Includes glasses for the many 3-D scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, [IMG6L]games, etc.
(O) STAR TREK: VOYAGER Complete First Season (Paramount) A Federation ship is lost in space in this fourth Trek series. Includes interviews, documentary featurettes, etc.
(O) THEY DON'T CUT THE GRASS ANYMORE (Image) A pair of psycho Texas gardeners kill yuppies from up north in this sick 1985 horror rarity from director Nathan Schiff. Includes director commentrak, interviews, and Schiff shorts.
(O) TOP FIGHTER / SECOND STRIKE (Ground-Zero) An old video documentary compiles footage of various martial arts stars, while the second feature (aka KICKBOXER and FINAL RUN) is a better than average Phillip Ko action feature from 1989.
(O) TOTEM (Full Moon) Six teens are drawn into an ancient ritual against their will.
(O) TWISTED JUSTICE (Troma) 1990 DTV feature in which auteur David Heavener stars in a knock-off of DEMOLITION MAN. Extras include music videos and a short directed by co-star Karen Black.
(O) ULTRAMAN: Nowhere To Hide (Funimation) Uncut episodes.
(O) WEASELS RIP MY FLESH (Image) The title alone should be enough to attract a crowd to the first of a series of nanobudget horror flicks by New York filmmaker Nathan Schiff. The plot concerns a mad scientist, a crashed space probe, and a mutant killer rodent. Nutty stuff for a selective audience (you know who you are). Includes director commentrak, interviews, and six of Schiff's short films.
(O) WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP (Home Vision) During the 1890s, a small Wisconsin town experiences a plague of insanity. Includes filmmaker commentrak, deleted scenes, and deleted scenes.
(O) WRONG ARM OF THE LAW (Shanachie) Peter Sellers leads a band of thieves in this British crime comedy.
(O) ZATOICHI (Media Blasters) After starring in 25 classic films in the blind swordsman series, Shintao Katsu attempted to revive the character by directing this 1989 rehash, with mixed results. A must for fans of bloody swordplay action, with liner notes by our buddy Ric Meyers.

And finally, we close off each weekly list with a rundown of the constant stream of anime from around the world:

(O) AERO-TROOPERS (Monarch) A boy finds adventure in a world above the clouds.
(O) ANIME TEST DRIVE: PATLABOR, PING PONG CLUB, RECORD OF LODOSS WAR, NOW & THEN HERE & NOW, MAZE, LEGEND OF HIMIKO (Central Park) First episodes of each series available on low priced discs, plus discount coupons on the full length versions.
(O) BEST OF CRAPSTON VILLAS (Troma) Five episodes of the British TV series about perverted slum dwellers. Extras include an infamous episode of the TOXIC CRUSADERS series in which Toxie [IMG7R]gets married.
(O) BETTY BOOP: Her Wildest Adventures (Goodtimes) Dear Playboy Forum...
(O) BETTY BOOP: The World's First Female Superhero (Goodtimes) 10 classic cartoon shorts from the 1930s.
(O) BEYBLADE Volume 7: Euroblade Battle (Geneon) 5 episodes. Your battling top is tre magnifique!
(O) EXTREME FAIRY TALES (Goodtimes) The PR material just lists this as having narration by Boris Karloff, so this may be those late 1940s Czech shorts that were released as THE EMPORER'S NIGHTINGALE in the USA.
(O) GREATEST SCI-FI CARTOONS OF ALL TIME (Goodtimes) ...that are in the public domain and available for cheap cartoon compilations.
(O) HAIBANE-RENMEI Volume 4: Day of Flight (Geneon) Includes interviews, previews and mini pencil board.
(O) IDOL PROJECT PACK: Super Pop Anthology (Media Blasters) A teenage girl battles aliens, monsters and (worst of all) her competitors to win a pop singer talent contest. Complete series on two discs.
(O) KINO'S JOURNEY: Idle Adventurer (ADV Films) A young man travels the world on his talking motorcycle. Four episodes based on the bestselling novels of Keiichi Sigsawa.
(O) MAO-CHAN Volume 3: Song of Defense (Geneon) Three little girls continue to fight an invasion of pesky aliens. six episodes, plus bloopers, outtakes and interviews.
(O) MEMORIES (Columbia/TriStar) Anthology of three segments directed by some of Japan's hottest anime talents. Includes featurettes, [IMG8L]interviews, and more.
(O) POPEYE: Fists of Fury (Goodtimes) Popeye discovers that smugglers are using the icehouse as a cover for their drug trade. Includes 1960s toy commercial.
(O) POPEYE: Greatest Tall Tales and Heroic Adventures (Goodtimes) Popeye invents the polio vaccine. Two DVDs of restored, uncut Popeye cartoons
(O) SADAMITSU THE DESTROYER Volume 2: Crash Down (Media Blasters) Super powered street punk vs. aliens. Episodes 5-7, with interviews, voice acting lesson, and more.
(O) SAMURAI DEEPER KYO Volume 5: Fire & Ice (Media Blasters) Episodes 19-22. The Mibu clan attacks again. Includes author interview and outtakes.
(O) STEAM DETECTIVES: Case 4 (ADV Films) Supervillains attack.
(O) SUPER DIMENSION FORTRESS MACROSS TV Volume 3 (Viz) Four episodes.
(O) 10 TOKYO WARRIORS (Media Blasters) All six episodes on two discs. Ten warriors try to protect the city from the Demon King.
(O) TRANSFORMERS ARMADA: Best Battles (Rhino)
(O) YU YU HAKUSHO: The Seven (Funimation) In edited and uncut editions.
(O) YU YU HAKUSHO: Terrible Truths (Funimation) In edited and uncut editions.