A group of American soldiers sets up in a French mansion during the war as their post for a short period. Once in there, things take a turn and they have a new enemy to content with.
The Hills Run Red (2009) [Blu-Ray]
Recently, Scream Factory put out a filled to the gills Blu-Ray of “The Hills Run Red” which felt like a “finally” on this film as it’s one that seems under-seen and under-appreciated. This slasher is one that came and seemingly went with the general public, but that slasher fans and many horror fans have been loving its release. It’s a brutal, meta slasher film that is a fun watch for fans of the genre and is a bit much for casual horror fans, which is exactly why it’s so great. The film itself is greatly entertaining and the kills are violent and bloody. It’s what a slasher fan wants and it’s what a horror fan in general wants. The story itself is strong enough to support the film without the blood, but there is more than that to this film. There is a lot here to unpack and it’s definitely a must see.
Coven (2020)
A coven of young witches find their 5th they had been waiting for in a new witch they did not realize the power of. Together they aim at bringing back a martyrized powerful witch named Ashura, unleashing more than they expected by doing so.
John Carpenter’s Escape from L.A. (1996): Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]
In 1996, John Carpenter essentially pulled a Sam Raimi with one of his key creations, Snake Plissken. While “Escape from New York” is a great scifi action film, Carpenter is this time given a bigger budget and decides to cover a wider field of his mythology, cramming in as much as he could with this sequel/remake. While I wouldn’t call “Escape from LA,” it manages to rise above the rest in Carpenter’s ouevre with some very good concepts, and Kurt Russell doing a bang up job, as always.
Mondo Balordo (A Fool’s World) (1964) [Blu-Ray]
There are some films you can sense where everyone put their best foot forward. And then there are some films where it’s obvious people were just running out the clock to get a paycheck. With “Mondo Balordo” you can sense Boris Karloff would shamble in to the studio, record his narration for this monstrosity and then leave back to his home. The absolutely awful “Mondo Balordo” is one in a series of pseudo-documentaries that exploit their topics to a certain degree.
A Girl, A Guy, A Space Helmet (2012)
Director-Writer Mike Timm’s passion project is a movie that jumps back and forth between fantasy and reality. It’s a very avant garde work of art that takes on the typically broader spectrum of the romance comedy and adds some creativity to it. While “A Girl, A Guy, A Space Helmet” has every chance to be a trite tale of a man and a woman falling in love, Timm’s unique direction and self awareness make it a worthwhile cinematic experience.
The Bootleg Files: Hollywood
BOOTLEG FILES 733: “Hollywood” (1980 British television documentary series).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On VHS and LaserDisc.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Difficulties in clearing the rights to the films in the series resulted in its absence from DVD and Blu-ray.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe someday it will occur.
One of the most impressive documentaries on film history was Kevin Brownlow and David Gill’s “Hollywood,” which was produced by Britain’s Thames Television for broadcast on ITV. Spanning 13 50-minute episodes, the series included interviews with many of the on-screen and behind-the-camera talent who were active in film production before the coming of the talkies.
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