B-Movies, Sequels, and Animation.

There's something for everyone in this weeks video and DVD releases.

By John Thonen     September 06, 2000

There's something for everybody this week as classics, 'B' Movies, sequels, and animation vie for your hard-earned rental dollars. Up first, my nomination for the scariest release of the week, month, yearhell, the millennium, which goes to Warner's video release of Billboard Dad starring those barely pubescent, distaff antichrists, the Olsen twins. I mean it. These two are the spawn of Satan, and all those little girls who buy and repeatedly watch the dozens of videos these far too wholesome clones have churned out, are far more frightening a cult than anything Charlie Manson ever dreamed of. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

On a more pleasant note, multiple murders with pointy objects are once more the stuff of pointed satire with Universal's VHS/DVD release of American Psycho. While not really a horror film, the subject matter, title and source material here, is such that it guarantees most stores will market it as such, thus making it, in effect, the major new genre release of the week. This long-delayed film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' controversial 1990 best seller is far more successful at achieving the black satire for which the book aimed, but while it may unnerve a few, it's unlikely to scare anyone. At one time, Leonardo DiCaprio was set to play New York stock broker, and misogynistic serial killer, Patrick Bateman, but its hard to imagine Leo could have delivered any better a job than Christian Bales delivers here. Sadly, the DVD offers scant extras beyond an interview with Bales, a short 'making of featurette' and the expected theatrical trailer and cast-crew bios. A commentary from director Mary Harron would have been welcome. There's also an unrated version, though gore hounds should be warned that what pushed this cut past an 'R' rating was some kinky sex and not additional deaths. American Psycho is not for all tastes, but if you like your humor as dark as the space between George W. Bush's ears, and thought the 'Me' era of the '80s was one of the low points of our civilization, then this one might be for you.

On the opposite end of the entertainment spectrum is Fox's release of a unique classic from a unique directorial talent, Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands. Most of Burton's films, even the wonderful Sleepy Hollow, fall just a little south of greatness, but this slightly skewed modern fairy taleabout a semi-artificial teenager with large scissors in place of his fingersis Burton's most perfect creation as a director, and his most touching realization of his recurring theme of the 'outsider.' The film is winningly cast; from Vincent Price's cameo as Edward's creator-father, to Dianne Weist, to Winnona Ryder and on to Johnny Depp, as Edward. The DVD sports trailers and a 'making of featurette,' along with commentary tracks from both Burton and his frequent soundtrack composer, Danny Elfman. Burton is still a relatively young filmmaker, and Sleepy Hollow certainly proved that he hasn't lost his chops, but I somehow doubt he'll ever surpass Edward Scissorhands.

The other major release for the week is Columbia's feature packed DVD of Barry Sonnenfeld's mega-hit, Men In Black. Columbia offers a 'Collector's Edition,' which features commentaries from the director and star Tommy Lee Jones, extended and alternate scenes, artwork, storyboards and photos, and a newly produced documentary on the film. But for a mere $10.00 more, you can grab up the 'Limited Edition,' a two disc package adding commentary from makeup master Rick Baker and members of the ILM effects team, even more artwork and photos and an intriguing interactive feature designed to allow viewers to re-edit several sequences from the film, compare it to Sonnenfeld's cut, and hear his explanation for his cut. This one is pretty much a must-have for most of us.

Columbia will also release a VHS two pack of a pair of ambitious, if not wholly successful, Jim Henson features: 1982's all puppet fantasy, The Dark Crystal and 1986's Labyrinth, which added pretty Jennifer Connelly and freakish David Bowie as the lone humans in an otherwise all artificial cast. Both films are worth seeing, and make one realize that, if puppets can work this well, the idea of films featuring all-CGI created characters, may not be such an outlandish idea after all.

Halloween is still weeks away, but the good folks at Fox and MGM home video are already rolling out the titles, most as budget priced VHS releases. Kicking off MGM's slate for the week is the thoroughly enjoyable Killer Klowns From Outer Space, the producing, writing and directing debut of the trio of effects wizards known collectively as the Chiodo Brothers. This one is pretty indescribable, but shouldn't be missed by any true fan. MGM also unveils Roger Corman's twisted 1959 comedy, A Bucket of Blood, wherein master character actor Dick Miller first created his Walter Paisley character, one he would resurrect in other films throughout his career. Equally funny, though not intentionally, is Konga, a 1961 travesty about a giant ape in England. Equally bad, but not particularly amusing is The Amityville Horror, which was inexplicably one of the biggest hits of 1979 and spawned two theatrical sequels, three DTV follow-ups and a TV movie. None of which are particularly better than the original.

Back in the 1980s, director Michael Laughlin made two-thirds of a promised, but never completed, 'strange' trilogy, starting with Strange Behavior and followed by Strange Invaders, the latter of which reappears on video this week after too long an absence. Rife with humor, heart, effects and fine acting, this tale of aliens in the Midwest, is a forgotten gem well worth rediscovering. Scream and Scream Again earned some attention in 1970 for teaming up horror greats Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, but only Lee and Price appear in any scene together, and then only briefly. Cushing also pops up in The Vampire Lovers, a 1970 release from Hammer studios, however the actor took a backseat to the gorgeous and sexy Ingrid Pitt, who helped launch the second wave of Hammer hits, in which sex and nudity often overpowered the horror elements. Speaking of vampires, AIP found a surprise hit in 1970's Count YorgaVampire, so they rolled out a sequel the following year calledwhat else?The Return of Count Yorga, which arrives this week from MGM. In what really ought to be an amazingly bad movie double feature, MGM will separately offer Edgar Ulmer's lame The Amazing Transparent Man, from 1960 and 1978's The Incredible Melting Man, which does, at least, boast early Rick Baker effects.

Speaking of double features, Fox, this week, launches the first of a promised series of DVD offering two titles per disk. To kick off this new concept, Fox is offering a wonderful pair of pulp-oriented titles from the '60s, Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and director Richard Fleischer's still impressive Fantastic Voyage (1961 and 1966, respectively). Both are comic book nonsense of the highest order and might be viewed as precursors to the big budget 'B' movies that dominate theaters today. Fox also pairs up the original 1958 The Fly and it's not-bad 1959 sequel, Return of the Fly. Then, Fox carries that idea on into another double DVD, this one featuring David Cronenberg's brilliant 1986 re-thinking of The Fly and its less impressive sequel, the imaginatively titled, Fly 2.

Fox is also offering a VHS 4-pack (or individual tapes or DVDs) of the long-running Omen series, featuring all three theatrical films, plus a TV movie that, mercifully, failed to relaunch the franchise. Like The Amityville Horror, the original film was an unexplainable hit, and for those who liked it, the 4-pack is the way to go. The one title not to miss in Fox's lineup for 9/5/00 is their budget-priced tape of one of the best, and most original, genre items of recent years, Antonia Bird's Ravenous. If you missed this gem during its brief run in the theaters, don't miss it now and if you saw it in the theaters, you already know you want it.

Image Entertainment offers up a couple of moldie-oldies with their DVD releases of Stranger From Venus, a well intentioned but dreadfully dull1955 rip-off of Robert Wise's classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Far worse is 1961's The Beast of Yucca Flats, a zero-budget piece of dreck that tries to cover its bad acting by having most of the film narrated.

Image also offers a U.S. debut with 1997's Wax Mask, a not bad recent example of Euro-horror, which may always be remembered more for what it isn't than what it is. The film , produced by no less than Dario Argento, had been intended as the return of director Lucio Fulci, but instead became the directorial debut of Italian makeup artist Sergio Stivalleti, when Fulci died after working on the script. One will always wonder what the often erratic Fulci might have made of this gothic tale, but Stivalleti does well enough to make one wish the once prolific Italian horror movie industry would itself, return from the dead.

Star Trek: Voyager fans, may want to tear themselves away from fondling their Seven-of-Nine action figure long enough to check out Paramount's release of five episodes of the inexplicably long-running series as they hit video. A far better choice for fans eager to add their favorite TV shows to their home video library, would be the Simpson's Trick or Treat Treehouse, a three-pack of tapes, or DVD, featuring all six of the animated series wonderful Halloween episodes. The Simpsons remains one of the best written shows on television, and their annual Halloween shows are among the best of the best. The episodes, two to each tape or disc, are also available separately, butdoh!why not get them all?

Next week, bad movies from bad directors, bad movies from once good directors, good movies from erratic directors and Halloween goodies. Meanwhile, I'll be clearing more shelf space for my next deluge of DVDs. I mean, there is just no reason for my daughter to be tying up all this space with those damn Beanie Babies. A person has to have some priorities.