DVD and VHS This Week: February 5

By: John Thonen
Date: Tuesday, February 05, 2002

VIDEO NEWS

David DeCoteau, who spoke with the Vidiot a few months ago, has recently announced the latest films under production by his Rapid Heart banner, all destined for direct-to-video release in the near future. Never one to let a trend (such as LORD OF THE RINGS) slip by, DeCoteau has delayed THE BROTHERHOOD 3: WOLVES ON WALL STREET, to instead churn out LORDS OF THE KNIGHT. The story involves a group of teens (all gorgeous no doubt) endangered by a demon unleashed by their DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS-styled board game. WOLVES ON WALL STREET will follow next, followed itself by VOODOO ACADEMY 2: THE NOCTURNALISTS.

VIDEO BUSINESS magazine

recently listed the top DVD rental titles for 2001 and, not too surprisingly, discs of the fantastic film genres totally dominated. The top title on the list was UNBREAKABLE, with the fantasy film THE FAMILY MAN claiming third, while WHAT WOMEN WANT took sixth. Rounding out the genre titles on the list was WHAT LIES BENEATH in seventh, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON in ninth and HANNIBAL was tenth. The incredible growth in popularity of the DVD format was made clear in the magazine as well. The top DVD rental title in 1999 was THE MATRIX, with just under two million dollars in rentals. THE WATERBOY claimed tenth place that year, with just under one million in rentals. A mere two years later, in 2001, tenth place HANNIBAL did almost fourteen million in rentals, while the first place UNBREAKABLE claimed a whopping twenty million.

NOTEWORTHY NEW RELEASES

GHOST WORLD has a title that sounds like it ought to involve spirits and other dimensional realms. Sorry CINESCAPERs, but this is actually a critically praised drama albeit one with a caustic sense of humor about a pair of high school girls whose long friendship seems threatened by the changes graduation will bring. Thora Birch is wonderful as Enid, an outsider with no intentions of changing. The rest of the cast provides strong support for Birch and the film has the guts to not settle for the kind of fantasy "all problems are solved and everyone lives happily ever after" endings movies about teens usually adopt. Don't confuse this one with anything starring Freddie Prinze or some other intellectually vapid, if seriously attractive, actor. This isn't a "teen movie," but it is an outstanding movie about teens. By the way, the title refers to the way the girls view the town they live in.

PERVIRELLA is

an outrageous British comedy which one net critic has described as "John Waters directing Monty Python's version of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW." It's an amazingly apt description. Pervirella is a buxom young lass gifted with lethal sexual powers which can only be controlled by a magical amulet she wears. Unfortunately (for the men in the film, fortunately for the guys watching it) she doffs the amulet and her clothes with considerable regularity. While much of the proceedings here are reminiscent of numerous British sex farces of the past, the execution is quite a bit more racy and decidedly more twisted. There ought to be something here to offend and or titillate almost any viewer, and upset any die hard Anglophile, as everything from the Queen Mother on down gets righteously skewered. Not for all tastes, but crazed fun for some. You know who you are.

Believe it or not, that's all there is in this week's new releases that would seem likely to be of interest to Cinescapers, but since I've already lured you in this far, I'll ramble on a bit more.

WHAT A GREAT PAIR OF TIPS

DVD's burst of popularity has brought about a slew of inexpensive discs from little-known labels. Many of these releases are poorly created discs, which often offer badly cut versions of the films therein. However, there are exceptions.

CREATURE is a 1985 ALIEN rip-off on the Diamond Entertainment label. The film was directed by William Malone, who recently found some measure of success as director of last year's hit THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. This one involves a mission to Titan, a moon of Saturn, where some alien race has left a collection of alien monsters in suspended hibernation. Needless to say, one of them wakes up. It's pretty classic '80s exploitation, with some nudity, a good deal of gore and some plot points that make no sense at all. The first part of the film has an odd, almost washed-out look to it, but that's the way I recall it when I saw it in a theater in '85. During this part of the film the acting is awful and the pace really drags, but I think both might have been deliberate on Malone's part as performances improve dramatically once the spaceship lands on Titan. Klaus Kinski pops up for about a five-minute appearance and is later doubled (badly) for the film's climax. Filmed under the less generic name of THE TITAN FIND the film is presented widescreen and without noticeable cuts. The image quality is pretty decent, though artifacting is apparent in the many darkly lit sequences. The only extras are a couple of "fun fact" type items about the film, and filmographies on key cast members and a whopping four (count them, four) chapter stops. This early effort from Malone is no classic, but it can be found all over the net for under $8.00 and I picked up my copy for a mere $5.99 at a Best Buy store, and at that price the film more than delivers the goods.

HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY is also from Diamond Entertainment and also offers a scant four chapter stops and scant biographical info on the film's director, gore-meister Lucio Fulci, but it does offer a nice, and seemingly complete, print of one of Fulci's best efforts. Catriona MacColl, also the star of Fulci's masterpiece THE BEYOND, toplines this tale as an overly sensitive woman whose husband moves his wife and family to the remote title location to continue the research of a colleague who recently committed suicide. Even before they leave, their son seems to be in contact with a strange little girl with a link to the house. The expected haunted house noises, dark corners and gory deaths ensue before culminating in an ending nearly as surprising as that in THE BEYOND. Fulci's peculiar talent was to mix atmospheric visuals akin to those of Eurohorror master Mario Bava with the kind of stomach churning gore one expects from Rugerro Dedato or Joe D'Amato. The results, when it worked, were films that delivered both chills and shocks in a manner few other filmmakers have achieved. Anchor Bay offers this same title with a few extras, but there is little real reason to pay their price when Diamond's release is such high quality. Despite the many dark and gloomy sequences, there is little artifacting on display here and at under $8.00 ($5.99 at local Best Buy) this is one hell of a good deal for fans of Fulci and Eurohorror.

EASTER EGG HUNT

For The

Vidiot himself, one of the most welcome DVD releases to date was MGM's BUCKAROO BANZAI: ACROSS THE 8^TH DIMENSION. Recently unveiled hidden goodies on the disc are simply icing on an already delightful digital cake, but it only seems fair to share them. Select "Deleted Scenes" and then "Special Features" and press "Left" and then "Enter." This will bring up a faux-newspaper article about Perfect Tommy's attempts to resolve world famine by dropping watermelons from airplanes. Within the newspaper article, if you select "More" to go to the second page of the piece and then press "Up" you'll get the Banzai team logo. Select the logo and gain access to a brief interview with the film's director about the longstanding "what about the watermelon" issue and a recipe for "Chicken In A Watermelon." For those wondering what all this watermelon nonsense is about, buy the disc.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Hannibal the Cannibal has a taste for kids, while others prefer to hunt elves and Britney purses Elvis. All in a day's work for your friend, The Vidiot.

Vidiocy is our weekly Video & DVD column.