Shout! Factory has been very good about compiling films that are otherwise tough to find, tough to acquire, and or not usually on these compilations. These DVD assemblies aren’t anything remotely new to the format, but Shout! takes advantage by bringing together four really interesting old school kung fu movies. While they’re not masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination, they’re solid mid-70’s terrain from Golden Harvest Studios that should peak the attention of even Blu-Ray converts.
Tag Archives: Thriller
Three O’ Clock High (1987)
It’s surprising how “Three O’ Clock High” is about much more than a kid who gets himself in deep with a bully in high school. Deep down while it’s definitely a dark comedy about high school, it’s also about facing your problems. What “Three O’ Clock High” is ultimately about is that bad day that everyone has, and that horrific revelation that if something bad is going to happen to you, it’s going to happen to you, and most times you can really do nothing but try to get through the storm as neatly as possible.
Three O’Clock High (1987)
It’s surprising how “Three O’ Clock High” is about much more than a kid who gets himself in deep with a bully in high school. Deep down while it’s definitely a dark comedy about high school, it’s also about facing your problems. What “Three O’ Clock High” is ultimately about is that bad day that everyone has, and that horrific revelation that if something bad is going to happen to you, it’s going to happen to you, and most times you can really do nothing but try to get through the storm as neatly as possible.
Willow Creek (2013) (DVD)
What director Bobcat Goldthwait sets out to do with “Willow Creek” is deliver a found footage movie that gives the viewers every answer nagging at them. Except, he provides the answers through foreshadowing, subtlety, and a lot of ambiguity paired with clarification in the final moments of his film. Truthfully, “Willow Creek” is the anti-“Blair Witch,” in that it leaves so much to the imagination, but garners a very slick tongue in cheek toward its subject matter. There’s no prologue about sheriff’s finding this footage, there’s no epilogue about what happened when the camera shut off. Goldthwait doesn’t want us to believe that this might have happened. It merely begins on a mysterious shot, and Goldthwait takes us on his own version of a found footage horror film.
Veronica Mars (2014) [Blu-Ray]
While “Veronica Mars” didn’t exactly set the world on fire, it’s definitely a return to form for the cast and crew behind the cult series, revived by the loyal fanbase and Kickstarter. Creator Rob Thomas sets the series right in the place he left off, providing a much wanted return to the universe where Veronica Mars is still a pariah and still always five steps ahead of everyone in her life. The best fans could have hoped for was that “Veronica Mars” felt like one big finale, and lo and behold, it succeeds two fold. I won’t pretend “Veronica Mars” is a spectacular thriller, but it’s a simple and entertaining closer to a series that deserved a decent send off.
Poseidon Rex (2013) (DVD)
Director Mark Lester’s giant monster movie is a mix of rock bottom budgets and mediocre common sense. It’s a classic B monster movie about muscle bound pirates, busomy scientists, and a military battling a gigantic monster while operating out of a tool shed with only three people manning the helm. You also have to love how so much hoopla is raised about Poseidon Rex, with the military set to nuke the entire island that’s held Poseidon Rex, only for our busomy heroine to kill it single handedly with a missile launcher. How did no one think of that? What of its eggs in the bottom of the ocean? Also, how can divers talk while their lips are wrapped around air regulators?
Proxy (2014)
It’s a long road to go before “Proxy” ever really gets to the point of the entire narrative, and though director Zack Parker is very good at handling multiple sub-plots, “Proxy” is almost too crowded with them. “Proxy” is a seemingly simple thriller that over complicates itself with twists and turns that don’t really amount to much. It’s not many horror movies that revolve around the very disturbing psychological condition Parker highlights as a means of moving the narrative ahead, but “Proxy” often feels like it’s just jumping from shocking moment to shocking moment without much cogency or complexity. None of the characters are likable or empathetic, thus much of the movie feels cold and listless.