Britgeek here.
Happy New Year. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and here's to a fantastic 2012.
Back from the holiday break, here are some bitesize reviews of the latest DVD and Blu-ray releases to hit the UK in the last couple of weeks.
KILL LIST (Blu-ray)
Available now on Double Play Blu-ray & DVD
While most are hailing Joe Cornish's ATTACK THE BLOCK as the best British genre film of 2011, I'm firmly championing Ben Wheatley's hitman movie, KILL LIST. Almost in equal measures, the film is darkly comic, unsettling, vicious and unpredictable. I'm going to keep this brief as KILL LIST is not only a must-see that will stay with you for days after viewing, but the less you know about it the better. Let your curiosity guide you directly towards the film and not to any plot details on the internet. Just see it.
For a little bit more information, however, check out my interview with writer/director Wheatley.
Extras: A making-of feature, interviews with director Wheatley and the crew, and the trailer.
A LONELY PLACE TO DIE (Blu-ray)
Available now on Blu-ray & DVD
Set in the stunning Scottish Highlands, A LONELY PLACE TO DIE revolves around a group of mountaineers who happen upon a young foreign girl buried alive beneath a tall woodland. How did she get there and why? The twists and turns come thick and fast as the friends find themselves hunted by a threat they cannot see.
Us Brits seemed to lead by example in 2011 as far as genre films go. Amidst the quality-influx, RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER director Julian Gilbey teamed up with his brother Will to bring us this mountaineering thriller. Now, “mountaineering thriller” may sound somewhat boring, but trust me, this is a film that is fully charged with excitement and high (so very high) drama. It's a beautifully shot and at times horrific Brit-flick.
Extras: An audio commentary with director Gilbey; making-of feature; UK theatrical trailer; and The Challenge of the Alps: a look at the preparation and training that went into making such a physical film.
THE SKIN I LIVE IN (DVD)
Available on DVD & Blu-ray now
Like KILL LIST, masterful Spanish film-maker Pedro Almodovar's latest, LA PIEL QUE HABITO (THE SKIN I LIVE IN), is a film that best suits audiences that know little about it. As is usually the case with Almodovar, expect the unexpected and keep an open mind. THE SKIN I LIVE IN is a deeply disturbing and almost surrealist portrait of obsession that concerns a plastic surgeon (Antonio Banderas) who is bent on developing a kind of synthetic skin that is extremely resistant to all forms of damage. What I will say, though, is that it is a truly brilliant piece of film-making.
Extras: Behind the scenes featurette; photo gallery; teaser trailer; theatrical trailer; and footage from the UK premiere at Somerset House.
APOLLO 18 (DVD)
Available now on DVD & Blu-ray
The found footage sub-genre of horror heads to space, or more specifically the moon, in APOLLO 18, and with it comes rock monsters intent on harming the three-man crew of the eponymous spacecraft. The general premise of the film was interesting enough – found footage plus space plus a 1974 setting – so it's a shame that it failed to live up to its potential in every conceivable way. Produced by WANTED director Timur Bekmambetov, APOLLO 18 is a dull and lifeless exercise in sci-fi horror. Even the DVD artwork is beyond horrendous.
Extras: 15 deleted scenes, five alternate endings, a commentary with the director and editor, and the trailer.
FINAL DESTINATION 5 (DVD)
Available now on DVD & Blu-ray
2011 was full of surprises when it came to movies. As I mentioned in my last column, who really expected RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES to be anywhere near as good as it turned out to be? And who expected, four sequels later, that FINAL DESTINATION 5 would be the best of the lot? I've always enjoyed the series for what it is: a string of creative deaths loosely held together by a narrative that became uninteresting by the third film. But what FINAL DESTINATION 5 does to become the complete opposite is a rather simple, yet unexpected science; a welcome change in the formula that climaxes in a terrific twist. If you kept well away from the film when it hit cinemas based on your prior experiences with the franchise (and I don't blame you), give this fifth instalment a whirl. I hope it's a surprise as pleasant for you as it was for me.
Extras: Circle of Death: a brief feature on the, er, killer death sequences; suspension bridge scene visual effects reel; and an alternate death scene.
THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE (DVD)
Available now on DVD & Blu-ray
Based on the true story of Latif Yahia, a Kurdish man forced to become the body double of Uday Hussein, Saddam Hussein's most erratic and vicious son, THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE is as frightening as it is darkly humorous. Dominic Cooper pulls double duty as both Latif and Uday with an electric, awards-worthy performance. Identical in appearance, he has managed to portray two men with completely different personalities and give them their own identities. Distinguishing the genuine article from his double is never an issue, that's how good Cooper is. In fact, he's more or less the saving grace of the film, as while it's entertaining throughout, its structure is off-balance and the narrative is sloppily paced. Nevertheless, THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE is certainly worth seeing.
Extras: A making-of feature; interviews with Cooper and the real-life Latif Yahia; production design and make-up featurettes; highlights from the UK premiere; and an audio commentary with director Lee Tamahori.
SEX AND ZEN: EXTREME ECSTASY (DVD)
Available on DVD now (complete with 3D glasses and extraneous apostrophe)
Carnal lust takes a very strange turn as the SEX AND ZEN series gets rebooted and injected with a gimmicky dose of 3D. Somewhat based on the novel THE CARNAL PRAYER MAT, SEX AND ZEN: EXTREME ECSTASY goes back to its roots of horse penis transplants and mass orgies in what Wikipedia describes as “an erotic costume drama,” although it's a film that's neither erotic nor very dramatic. It is, however, ridiculously funny as a modern day CALIGULA with a fantasy twist added to all the debauchery. If you've ever wanted to see a brazen sex comedy featuring a man who goes from unfortunately endowed to quite literally hung like a donkey in just one scene, check it out.
Extras: TBC.
LOVELY BY SURPRISE (DVD)
The use of metafiction in films can often lead to screen stories degenerating into nonsensical messes or pretentious pools of dribble, but in the case of LOVELY BY SURPRISE, it's a device that works in perfect harmony with an exceptional cast.
Blurring the lines between reality and fiction, writer/director Kirt Gunn tells the story of a fragile author struggling with the direction of her first novel, not because of typical writer's block, but a strong feeling that one of her characters, Humpkin, is living and knows that he's being written. Meanwhile, an optimistic car salesman who is unable to actually sell a car deals with a daughter who has been mute ever since the death of her mother. But do these seemingly separate stories connect?
For a film that seems almost overblown with silliness and sheer nonsense, LOVELY BY SURPRISE makes perfect sense by its denouement; a testament to Gunn's beautifully written and structured script, which is what makes the movie a strikingly original, moving and powerful indie masterpiece.
Extras: The theatrical trailer, a deleted scene and an audio commentary with writer/director Gunn.
FRANKENHOOKER (Blu-ray)
Another cult classic from the unapologetically slimy recess that is American trash cinema gets the superb Arrow Video treatment. Exploitation favourite Frank “BASKET CASE” Helenlotter's FRANKENHOOKER has arrived on Blu-ray in a definitive white-box set that is sure to please fans of this truly outrageous and over-the-top body horror from 1990.
Five parts prostitute and one part compulsive-eating fiancée of DIY doctor Jeffrey Franken, the lurching monster of this gooey interpretation of Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN is less of a bolt-necked giant and more of a scantily-clad super-hooker. The motivation behind Franken's scientific madness is not to create life, but to restore it after his beloved Elizabeth met a sticky end in a freak accident involving a lawnmower.
Although the performances are dire and the clarity of the new remaster makes the props look even more unconvincing than they already were, FRANKENHOOKER is a fun slice of low-budget comedy-horror from the tail end of the '80s genre boom.
Extras: Your Date's on a Plate: The Making of FRANKENHOOKER; exclusive tour of the Gabe Bartalos effects lab; original theatrical trailer; Frank Helenlotter trailer reel; A Salad That Was Once a Woman: Patty Mullen Remembers FRANKENHOOKER; A Stitch in Time: The Make-up Effects of FRANKENHOOKER; Turning Tricks: Jennifer Delora Remembers FRANKENHOOKER; an audio commentary with Helenlotter and star James Lorinz; double-sided A4 poster; reversible sleeve artwork; and an exclusive booklet containing new writing on the film by critic Calum Waddell.
Until next time.
TTFN.
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