Category Archives: Collector’s Den

Lake Placid: Collector’s Edition (1999) [Blu-ray]

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Director Steve Miner and writer David E. Kelly’s “Lake Placid” is a B monster movie that knows what it is, and almost works against its type to offer something of substance. The harder it tries for satire and meta-storytelling, the more absurd “Lake Placid” is, thus more surreal. I wouldn’t classify “Lake Placid” as a great monster movie, but it has a strange energy to it that elevates it above usual monster movie tropes, but also keeps it firmly planted in the corner of a horror comedy bordering on a spoof quite often.

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Ginger Snaps (2000): Collector’s Edition [Blu-ray/DVD]

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Great werewolf films are hard to come by, so it’s a shock to see such an under the radar low budget horror film like “Ginger Snaps” not only get the formula right, but make its own mark in the sub-genre. Most times, the entire werewolf motif has been used to convey feelings of oppression and unbridled savagery as we saw with “The Howling,” and “The Wolfman,” but director John Fawcett aims toward a more feminine message. This werewolf film is about lycanthropy as a metaphor for blossoming in to womanhood. With such overtones and outright straight forward explorations of the themes, “Ginger Snaps” surprisingly knows how to balance its narrative themes well.

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The New Adventures of Superman: Season 2 & 3 (DVD)

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“The New Adventures of Superman” are mainly just shorts trimmed from the series “The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure” from the sixties, and given their own spotlight. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, but you can sense that the shorts here were once a part of something bigger and more diverse. That said, “The New Adventures of Superman” works considerably well if you’re okay with crude animation.

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The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) [Fair is Fair Edition Blu-ray]

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You could likely consider “The Legend of Billie Jean” a precursor to “Thelma And Louise.” It’s a film about female empowerment, and young women dealt terrible injustices that become folk heroes. Not to mention “The Legend of Billie Jean” has every chance to become exploitative man hating trash, but very cleverly straddles the line between goofy eighties adventure, and compelling coming of age drama. I won’t claim “The Legend of Billie Jean” is a straight faced character study, but it’s a fun and often exciting tale of a young woman who takes the world by the balls when she stands up for herself.

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The Final Terror (1983) [Blu-Ray/DVD]

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If anything you have to admire “The Final Terror” for being a slasher survival film that eschews the horny annoying teenagers. In exchange, we have younger adults that also happen to be forest rangers. And yes, they’re horny, too. But you take the good with the bad. Teamed together for some kind of task in the wilderness, they happen to mistakenly trespass in the backyard of a vicious hunter. Said hunter is part Jason Voorhees, and part Yautja sans the science fiction.

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Beware the Batman: Shadows of Gotham – Season 1, Part 1 [Blu-Ray]

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Yet another animated iteration of the dark knight, Glenn Murakami’s “Beware the Batman” tries to meet Cartoon Network in America down the middle. It’s an attempt to rework the Batman universe, while opening its world up to potential merchandise opportunities. Hence why much of the Batman universe here is filled with pandering, and characters so obviously built toward becoming action figures, it’s pretty sad. All things considered, the series was pulled very quickly by Cartoon Network, and it’s not difficult to figure out why. “Beware the Batman” is the most lifeless and lethargic of the animated Batman adventures, and we once had “The Batman.”

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Batman The Brave & The Bold: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray]

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For Batman fans that prefers their Batman with less substance and much more of the Adam West camp and adventure, “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” is right up your alley. With unique animation and solid voice work from Diedrich Bader, “Brave and the Bold” is mostly fan service, teaming Batman up with some of the most obscure and interesting Batman superheroes, while celebrating the more serial oriented side of the characters. There’s less of Bruce Wayne and his world involved in the series, with Batman mainly playing center to most of the events that occur.

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