DONNIE DARKO
© 2001 Newmarket Film Group

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DVD This Week: March 19

VIDEO NEWS

FROM HELL was a box office disappointment, but for those who missed the Hughes Brothers highly atmospheric take on the most legendary serial killer in history, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has recently announced that the film will be released to DVD and VHS sometime late in May. The DVD will come as a two-disc set and will offer a commentary from directors Albert and Allen Hughes. In addition to the commentary track, the DVD will include 22 deleted scenes and an alternate ending, all of which will also feature director's commentary. Other disc extras include four featurettes on the film's production, an HBO "Behind the Scenes" video, a Jack the Ripper documentary, an image gallery, a storyboard gallery and a short tour of the Whitechapel district of London where the real life crimes originally occurred.

VANILLA SKY is another box office dud which will be hitting video this spring. While the film has to be called a misfire, it's an ambitious one, and it deserves to be seen. In addition to the film itself (a remake of the Spanish OPEN YOUR EYES) the disc will feature a commentary track with director Cameron Crowe, star Tom Cruise and composer (and Crowe's wife) Nancy Wilson, who is probably best known as one of the two sisters who headed up the rock band Heart. The DVD will also offer two making-of featurettes, several music videos, a trailer, production stills and an audio introduction by rock photographer Neal Preston.

THIS WEEK'S NOTEWORTHY NEW RELEASES

ADRENALINE: FEAR THE RUSH is a 1996 release from director Albert Pyun, one of the most frustrating, and prolific, filmmakers around. Pyun has made several very enjoyable films SWORD AND THE SORCEROR, NEMESIS, MEAN GUNS but he has also made far more absolutely dreadful, nearly incomprehensible films. This is one of them. France's would-be Clint Eastwood, Christopher (HIGHLANDER) Lambert, stars in this one, along with oh-so-sexy Natasha Hentsridge, fresh from her SPECIES hit at the time. While supposedly taking place in a near future, post plague Boston, this was all too clearly filmed in some former Soviet bloc country. The plot well it's pretty close to non-existent to be honest. But it has something to do with some guy chewing people up and Lambert and Hentsridge are cops in pursuit. There's lots of running, some gunplay and gore and Lambert's usual somnambulistic acting. The truly amazing thing is that I can remember ads for the film's planned theatrical release by Dimension. It never happened, but how could they have even considered it?

DE SADE is a 1969 film which received a lot of coverage in PLAYBOY magazine just prior to its release. Considering that the film is about the man who gave sadism its name, and who pioneered depravity and hedonism as both a lifestyle and philosophical choice, it makes sense that it could be a perfect vehicle for an exploitation film that would take full advantage of the freedoms in depicting nudity and sexuality which had just become available to filmmakers. Unfortunately, the film turned out to be a boring, badly acted, badly scripted dud. And now, here it is, preserved for posterity on DVD. Just what we needed.

DONNIE DARKO

© 2001 Newmarket Film Group

DONNIE DARKO is one of those films which remind one why in spite of all the Jerry Bruckheimer productions, Steven Seagal comebacks, rap/pop star actor/actresses and overblown Tom Cruise vehicles you still think of cinema as an honest-to-goodness art form. This tale of the title teenager facing the usual problems high school kids experience, plus voices in his head and visits from a man-sized, rather malevolent rabbit, is such an imaginative and creative experience, filled with the trappings of horror and science fiction, without ever really committing to either genre, that one easily forgets its occasional missteps. The cast is great, the film never fails to fascinate and you probably won't have a clue what it's about when it's over but, like the best David Lynch films, you just won't care. Highly recommended! The DVD features a commentary by the writer/director, Richard Kelly, and star Jake Gyllenhaal, trailers, a music video, deleted scenes, productions stills and a production design gallery, plus a couple of extras called "Cunning Visions" and "The Philosophy of Time Travel."

GURU: THE MAD MONK is a decidedly obscure entry, even in the cinematic canon of its relatively obscure director, Andy Milligan. Milligan has been receiving some attention of late thanks to Jimmy McDonough's excellent biography of the filmmaker a gay, misogynistic devotee of S&M who helped start "Off-Broadway" theater and led a life both appalling and fascinating prior to his 1990 death from AIDS. While I strongly recommend the book, this movie is another story. Like most of Milligan's films, GURU is a period-based costume piece. Since the director's film budgets rarely rose over $10,000, the whole thing kind of looks like a very demented pageant staged at some school for the mentally deranged. This one involves an evil prison chaplain who is into supernatural deviltry, perverse sex and torture - there's always torture in a Milligan film (even if there wasn't any on screen, there would be in watching the movie). You've been warned.

HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME / HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME II: While the original film was more of a noble misfire trying, as it did, to be an honest drama and legitimate tragedy instead of offering the expected singing animals and dancing tableware the studio seems to have learned its lesson with the cheesy, uninspired sequel to one of the most daring films Disney Studios ever made. Originality and efforts to break out of the studio's tried-and-true formula are gone in part two. So the sequel has terrible songs, a pretty well-adjusted Quasimodo, and some Saturday morning cartoon show-styled animation. Small children will probably enjoy this one, but all others should just rent SHREK again.

RAPE OF THE VAMPIRE was the freshman offering of prolific French director Jean Rollin, whose career has brought us some of the most visually arresting and utterly baffling horror films to ever emerge from Europe. Like many of the director's films, this one involves young women, vampires, lesbians, old chateaus and very little in the way of plot or production values. If you're already a fan of Rollin's work, and many people are, then you'll certainly want to check out the film that started it all. If you're new to Rollin, this one is a great place to start. I'll be damned if I really know what's going on in this film, but I sure am glad I got the chance to see it.

TRAINING DAY is a riveting tale of a charismatic and highly effective narcotics cop who may also be corrupt, brutal and perhaps a killer. It's also the film that finally made Denzel Washington into the superstar, name-above-the-title actor he has deserved to be for over a decade now. Washington plays Alonzo Harris, a veteran cop who is assigned Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), a rookie who is to ride along with Harris for the course of the title's time period. Washington pulls out all the stops, walking a fine line between scenery chewing and magnetic intensity. The movie itself is only a better-than-average cop flick, but the cast (Hawke holds his own with Washington, playing a very different character) and gritty direction by Antoine Fuqua kick the proceedings up several notches to where you may think you're seeing a great film. Nope, just great acting and damn good filmmaking, and that's more than enough to recommend this one. The DVD features a commentary by director Fuqua, trailers, deleted footage, an alternate ending, a behind-the-scenes featurette and a couple of music videos.

13 GANTRY ROW is an as yet unseen (by the Vidiot) horror offering about a young couple who move into an old fixer-upper house and instead find that they've bought, duh, duh, duh, a haunted house. I kind of like the title and, while the basic idea is almost as old as film itself, this one might be a pleasant surprise like last year's 7 DAYS TO LIVE. If you see this one before I do, let me know.

TALES FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF

BAD SEED received an unheralded release a few months back, following a disappointing run at film festivals. It's a shame really since writer/director Jon Bokencamp's feature debut is, aside from falling apart in its closing minutes, a very assured and engrossing little thriller boasting some excellent performances. In a bold move, the film opens at the tail end of an argument between Preston Tylk (Luke Wilson) and his wife Emily, wherein she has admitted to a recently ended affair and the fact that she wants to make their marriage work again. There's no other introduction of the characters or their situation before Preston storms out to sulk in a nearby diner. When he returns to try and work things out, he finds Emily murdered. Suspecting the jilted lover, Jonathan, Preston finds some love letters in his wife's closet and goes to confront him. When he's attacked at Jonathan's home, Preston slips into a rage and kills his attacker. Only later does he learn that he hasn't killed Jonathan, but rather his mentally challenged brother, and now Jonathan is after him for revenge. Along the way, Preston picks up the classic down-on-his-luck private detective (wonderfully played by Dennis Farina) and the film plays out as a series of confrontations between Preston and Jonathan, with each repeatedly gaining and losing the upper hand.

Bokencamp relies on visuals to tell much of his story, rather than expository dialogue and, thankfully, his cast has the acting chops to pull it off. Ultimately, the film seems to be about the inability of most males to understand the emotional needs of others, and the ease with which they may turn to violence to avoid confronting their own emotions. Not that Bokencamp bores us by spelling that theme out; it's hidden well beneath a fairly suspenseful film with some surprising touches of humor. Sadly, the film has at least three endings and none of them are too satisfactory. But hey, if Spielberg can make that same mistake, and he did with A.I. , then a first time director is sure entitled. This one's worth a look.

EASTER EGG HUNT

In addition to its nifty BOOK OF THE DEAD cover, Anchor Bay's recent re-re-re-re-release of THE EVIL DEAD features a pair of hidden goodies. On disc one, select "Extras" from the menu and press your "Left" key, which will highlight a spectral fish. Now, press "Enter" and be treated to footage from a makeup effects test. Starting again from the "Extras," go to page two of that section and then press "Left" to highlight a skull. Press "Enter" now and watch several minutes of footage of the film's cast and crewmembers discussing the film following a Halloween 2001 screening. Thanks again to DVDREVIEW.COM for the great job they do in uncovering Easter egg goodies like this one, and so many others.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Giant spiders and giant lips dominate the month's end releases as summer camp arrives early with a host of camp out casualties and backwoods beasts. So, be careful what you wish for, or somebody might just make a series of sucky sequels.

Vidiocy is our weekly Video & DVD column.