DVD and VHS This Week: January 29th

By: John Thonen
Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2002

VIDEO NEWS

THIRTEEN GHOSTS was the second of Dark Castle's remakes of old William Castle films and, while not as big a hit as its predecessor THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, it would appear that its DVD release will be first rate. In addition to the expected behind-the-scenes documentary, the disc will offer a music video and audio commentary from the production designer (the man responsible for the film's amazing glass house) and from make-up effects coordinator Howard Berger (the "B" in KNB Effects). The most intriguing extra, however, would seem to be Ghost Files, twelve vignettes from the film's conceptual artist to provide a back story for the film's ghosts, an element the film suffered for the lack of.

Meanwhile, over

in the Department of Unwanted Sequels, some information is being shared on the direct-to-video DRACULA 2000 features which that film's director, Patrick Lussier, will also helm. DRACULA: RESURRECTION and DRACULA: ASCENSION will feature Jason Scott Lee, Jason London, Jason Vorhees and Jason and the Argonauts (just kidding on those last two) along with Roy (where'd my career go?) Scheider and Rutger (where's desert?) Hauer, who will be playing Drac himself. It should be mentioned that Hauer was Anne Rice's original choice to play Lestat in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE and that he did play a vampire in the movie version of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, plus he has also made a lot of movies that suck.

NOTEWORTHY NEW RELEASES

AMERICAN NIGHTMARE rates as one of the happier surprises of the year. It's basically a slasher tale done on a very low budget film with a largely unknown cast being released by a fairly minor video label. None of which sounds too promising, but this is pretty darn good. The central idea is kind of fun: finding a group of young friends sitting in a coffee shop as each calls in to a radio talk show and confesses their greatest fear. Sitting near them in the shop, a serial killer who now has the knowledge to kill each of them in the worst way they can imagine. Solidly directed, well acted (Debbie Rochon is great as the killer) and surprisingly well scripted, this is better than any of the theatrically released horror films of the past year - slim praise though that may be. Nightmare is not going to change lives or people's perception of right and wrong. It does, however, take a formula that is tired and overused and breathes a little bit of new life into it. And these days, that's a very refreshing thing.

ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE was a pretty bold move for Disney, an attempt to make a more mature film sans the songs and cutesy anthropomorphic non-human characters that have been their raison d'etre for decades. The animation style shows influences of anime, without wholeheartedly copying it, and the voice cast relies on performance capability rather than name value. It's an ambitious, if not fully achieved, effort from a studio not known for taking risks. The basic DVD comes with a commentary track, deleted scenes, a "How To Speak Atlantean" primer and a CGI tour of the film's submarine vessels. The special edition disc includes the same features plus a plethora of additional ones, including additional commentaries, and a second disc filled with extras. Again, an ambitious package. The film wasn't too successful at the box office, but I hope its failure won't scare Disney away from more such bold moves. In the long run, they need to become leaders in animation again, not half-hearted imitators.

BEVERLY HILLS COP [IMG4L]GIFTSET is, as you'd probably guess, a three DVD collection of all of the films featuring Eddie Murphy as streetwise Detroit cop Axel Foley, at work in Beverly Hills. Each of the films is also being re-released separately, and that's probably the best way to buy them. The original film is a great mix of action and humor, with Murphy at his smart-ass best. The second film is nothing to shout about, though there is some good action and Brigitte Nielsen makes a great villain. The third and final entry in the series is an improvement, but still a far cry from the first film. Thankfully, Murphy retired the character after number three.

DEAN KOONTZ'S BLACK RIVER is a new one on me, but it's never a good sign when an adaptation of a best-selling writer's work ends up quietly released on a minor label like MTI. For the record, this one has to do with a quiet little all-American town that is just a shade too perfect. Turns out the entire town is under the control of a self-aware super computer. The usually reliable Jay Mohr heads a pretty good cast, but my guess would be that this is no unknown gem.

DELIRIUM: PHOTO OF GIOIA is the latest live-action, Euro-horror release from Media Blasters, previously best known as a distributor of Asian anime. This one is a little known effort from Lamberto Bava, the uneven but sometimes effective son of master Italian director Mario Bava. Unlike his father, who excelled at atmospheric tales of the supernatural, Lamberto's best work is generally in the area of the giallo tradition of Italian murder mysteries, a sub-genre which fits DELIRIUM pretty well. Sex and gore abound in this tale of a nudie magazine model who starts receiving photos of dead people posed besides magazines featuring her pictures. This is not classic, but it's better than average and should appeal to Euro-horror fans, most of whom will be seeing the film for the first time.

THE GRAPES OF DEATH (a.k.a. LES RAISINS DE LA MORT, PESTICIDE) is a little known title from the prolific Jean Rollin, who has become something of a Euro-horror icon over the last few years. Rollin's films are often visually beautiful, even lyrical, with gorgeous women, minimal plots and a languid, hypnotic pace. This one has a little more conventional a narrative than the usual Rollin, involving a small group of people trying to escape zombies created by wine contaminated by a new pesticide. The effects are pretty gruesome and French beauty Brigitte Lahaie heads the cast, but Rollin films are an acquired taste, so approach this one with care if you aren't familiar with the director's work. The special edition DVD also features an interview with Rollin and with Lahaie.

Groundhog Day is the re-release of the best film that star Bill Murray or Harold Ramis (who wrote and directed) have ever been involved in. This tale of a cynical, unlikable TV weatherman who suddenly finds himself trapped in the same 24 hour time period, over and over, works on almost every level. With that chance to live his life over again (even if it's all the same day) Murray's character grows and ultimately finds himself. It's funny, it's romantic, it's got a message and it's wonderfully acted by a group of actors at the top of their form. Simply a delight.

Rat Race was

panned by most reviewers, but it proved to do pretty well at the box office for a very simple reason. It's funny. The all-used-to-be-stars cast is frequently wasted, too many of the gags fall flat, none of the characters is particularly likable and some of it is in pretty bad taste. But when this movie about six Vegas visitors out to win a two million dollar prize, if they can find it, hits its mark, it is truly hilarious. Most of the humor is physical explaining the film's poor critical response as most critics find this kind of laugh to be debasing and far prefer clever dialogue. However, if your criteria for having a good time with a movie is well, having a good time then RAT RACE ought to fill the bill.

SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS is one of those titles that ought to guarantee a great bad movie, but this one somehow falls a little short. Yes, you can enjoy seeing one-time name actors (John Ireland, Yvonne DeCarlo, Jack Kruschen, John Carradine) debase themselves by appearing in this. And yes, the cheerleaders do expose pretty much every inch of their skin, but the acting and music are so terrible and the plot so non-existent that this nonsense doesn't earn nearly the number of guilty laughs that it should. Still, you probably ought to see it, just so you can tell your friends you saw a movie called SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS.

VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN marks an admirable attempt by star Eddie Murphy and director Wes Craven to do something different than what audiences and critics generally expect of them. Unfortunately, however admirable their intentions, this one falls a little short of satisfying fans of Murphy or Craven, or anyone else for that matter. Murphy does well as the title character, as does Angela Bassett as the object of his lust, but the film has a curiously lifeless feel, as if Craven never knew what he wanted to do with it, or never cared. Great opening sequence though.

EASTER EGG HUNT

The recent special edition release of MAD MAX offers a hidden goodie for those not excited enough by the film's myriad car crashes and violent deaths.  From the main menu, press "Up" to highlight the "Mad Max" logo at the top of the screen. Now press "Enter" and you'll be treated to a segment on the movie's cars, including pictures and descriptions.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Looks like a light week as far as new releases go, so we'll be taking a look at some of the smaller video distributors and the lesser known films they offer, many of them available direct from the distributor over the web. Should be fun.

Vidiocy is our weekly Video & DVD column.