The Purge (2013)

purge

It’s a shame that “The Purge” is only sub-par since the concept for it is fantastic. A new society allowing the world to murder, steal and wreak havoc for twelve hours as a means of catharses is a really good concept for a wonderful film. I imagine the scenario for the development of “The Purge” was something similar to “The Player.” A writer comes in pitching a great concept but with absolutely no story to offer the studio. So instead they just tacked on a half assed home remake of “Assault on Precinct 13” with a sanctimonious commentary on free will, and patriotism.

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

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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Cannibal Holocaust (1980) [3 Disc Blu-Ray/CD Combo]

CHolocaust

What is it about Ruggero Deodato’s vicious masterpiece that continues to elude horror fans and film enthusiasts to this day? Surely, it’s a shocking film with immense gore, but “Cannibal Holocaust” is about so much more than splatter and bloodshed. It still holds a volatile resonance in a day and age where the world is obsessed with voyeurism. “Cannibal Holocaust” is still such an enormous master work from Ruggero Deodato whose own film has pretty much guaranteed to outlive its creator. As well, it’s inadvertently posed as the template for all of the found footage films currently storming the box office. It’s a film about the media exploiting and demoralizing a primitive culture for the purposes of entertainment. It’s a film about entitled young Americans intruding on a foreign soil to manipulate their civilization. It’s also movie about how humanity is often a destructive and vicious force of evil consuming one another for nefarious purposes without conscience.

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Daniel (2014)

If there’s one really negative criticism I can lobby at “Daniel” is that it feels more like a prologue to a larger film, than a short film. And I’d love to see Peter Dukes create the long form narrative to this shot film someday. “Daniel” is a very good and creepy short film that centers on its big hook, and once it comes, it’s tough to forget.

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The Jungle (2014) (DVD)

On the back of the DVD box for “The Jungle,” there’s a picture of a hunter draped in camouflage pointing a gun, while a giant monster with devil horns lurks behind him with large teeth, prepared to pounce. Drink the image in as much as possible, because that’s the only glimpse you’ll get of an actual monster in the entire damn movie. Sure you see glowing eyes, and hands, but “The Jungle” lacks an actual point for existing. There are men hunting a monster, but no actual monster.

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Daniel (2013)

If there’s one really negative criticism I can lobby at “Daniel” is that it feels more like a prologue to a larger film, than a short film. And I’d love to see Peter Dukes create the long form narrative to this shot film someday. “Daniel” is a very good and creepy short film that centers on its big hook, and once it comes, it’s tough to forget.

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42nd Street Forever – The Peep Show Collection Vol. 1 (DVD)

The previous library of 42nd Street Forever” collections were DVDs and Blu-Rays that focused on compiling some of the more interesting and famous grindhouse movie trailers, where as “The Peep Show Collection” is an entirely different animal. Rather than collect porn trailers, this is instead a compilation of short porn and stag films from the seventies. These were often seen in peep shows and most likely dime booths that allowed limited viewing time for customers, and the like. All of the shorts here are comprised of 8mm video shoots with no sound, but are perfect for collectors of this kind of entertainment.

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