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.

Continue reading →

Interview with “Relic” Director Natalie Erika James

Photography credit: Ashley Mustow (https://cargocollective.com/ashleymustow)

With the recent limited theatrical and VOD release of critically acclaimed horror film “Relic”, Cinema Crazed had the chance to talk to filmmaker Natalie Erika James, who makes her feature film debut courtesy of IFC Midnight.

Continue reading →

1BR (2020)

Going in to “1BR,” its pretty clears that director David Marmor takes pages from Ira Levin’s psyche, reflecting many themes and ideas the author was known for. Director David Marmor builds a simplistic but absolutely harrowing thriller that confronts similar feminine themes. “1BR” feels so much like a movie torn out from 1979 and altered for modern times. That element works for the movie, as the lack of more modern constructs gives his thriller a very timeless displaced feeling. This sense of aesthetic contributes to the sheer claustrophobia and alienation that character Sarah experiences.

Continue reading →

TV On DVD: Legion of Superheroes: The Complete Series [Blu-Ray]/FLCL: Progressive/Alternative: Two – Series Collection [Blu-Ray/Digital]

“Legion of Superheroes” arrived during that darker time where “Teen Titans” and “Justice League” had ended their excellent runs and DC was embroiled in a lawsuit over the Superman name. Around this time DC and Warner were attempting to create series less about critical acclaim and more about making merchandise money. “Legion of Super Heroes: The Complete Series” (now on Blu-Ray with all 26 episodes) isn’t a bad series per se, it’s just as grand as “Justice League” or as entertaining as “Teen Titans” was. Even during its entire run, the best episodes were just okay.

Continue reading →

Volition (2019)

A man tries to change the future he has seen with taking things in his own hands.

Written by Ryan W. Smith and Tony Dean Smith with the latter directing as well, Volition is a film that requires attention in that it crosses timelines and the story becomes different with each attempt at making things better done by the lead. The story is one that is made for those who do not like when the film takes them for idiots or spoon feeds them what they want to see. Here the film takes its premise and makes the most of it, but it also becomes a bit complicated for itself, requiring the viewer to really pay attention. The film is well-written and directed, but something makes it hard to follow at times, perhaps making it a film made to be watched while fully awaken and energized.

Continue reading →

Shorts Round Up of the Week: Art Under Quarantine

It’s the middle of the summer and quarantine is still under way, sadly. We hope you and yours are doing well during these bizarre, frightening times. “Shorts Round Up of the Week” once again goes back to Quarantine, visiting a list of short films of varying genres that were created during quarantine. This scenario allowed a lot of great filmmakers to build genuinely beautiful, fun, and sometimes horrifying cinema, and it’s managed to be a great twist in such unusual circumstances.

For this edition we have some great short films including a documentary, a horror comedy or two, and yes, a zombie flick.

If you’d like to submit your short film for review consideration, submissions are always opened to filmmakers and producers.

Continue reading →