Crime/Thriller/Mainstream

Starring: Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Fabulous Films/Fremantle Media

September 2021

Fabulous Films Ltd/Fremantle Media Enterprises releases a 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray of the classic psychological thrillerCape Fear, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis. Vicious psychopath Max Cady is released after a 14-year prison sentence for rape and battery, and begins an intensive terror campaign against his defence attorney Sam Bowden and his loved but unstable family. Cady appears to keep safely within the parameters of the law, and so Sam feels forced to take the law into his own hands. Events spiral beyond all sanity, resulting in a nightmare showdown in a houseboat on Cape Fear...

There are some interesting facts surrounding this film. It’s a remake of the 1962 cinematic thriller directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum – which is itself based on the 1957 novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald. Both Peck and Mitchum have cameo roles in this version. Scorsese agreed a film swap with Stephen Spielberg, who was originally in line to make the film. Spielberg wanted Scorsese’s Schindler’s List, and Scorsese himself was happy with getting Cape Fear, as he wanted to avoid any controversy after Goodfellasand The Last Temptation of Christ. Ultimately, it was a good arrangement. Scorsese’s direction is creepy and chilling, ramping up the aspects of threat and menace, and utilising some unusual camera angles. Some scenes have a sense of unreality, reflecting the reaction of the victims who just cannot believe this is happening to them.

I have to admit I’m not a fan of Robert De Niro’s acting, but in this one his portrayal is suitably psychotic, being outwardly friendly or passive aggressive, and not just threatening or violent but manipulative – taking his time to achieve his goal. Both he and Juliette Lewis (the daughter) were nominated for awards. De Niro’s commitment to the role cannot be denied after he not only allowed his body to be heavily tattooed with vegetable oils which take a few months to fade, but paid a doctor $5,000 to grind down his teeth in order to appear more menacing. After shooting the film he then paid $20,000 to have his teeth restored. Personally, I feel that Jessica Lange’s performance lets the side down a little, without being too noticeable. It’s a film that is quite powerful and effective; the kind that you’re glad you watched but wouldn’t be on your regular repeat list.

What makes this more of an attractive purchase is the reversible sleeve artwork by Graham Humphreys, the double-sided fold-out sleeve art poster, and the extras which consist of The Making of Cape Fear, Deleted Scenes, Behind-the-Scenes on the Fourth of July Parade, On the Set of the Houseboat, Photograph Montages, Matte Paintings, Opening Credits and the Theatrical Trailer. 

Verdict: 8 out of 10

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2021) 

Starring: Sienna Guillory, Jessica Alexander, Ruby Stokes

Directed by Ruth Paxton

Second Sight Films

October 2022

Second Sight Films releases a Limited-Edition Blu-ray of Ruth Paxton’s debut film, A Banquet. It is a psychological and emotional pot-boiler which pushes the boundaries of human existence and how we cope with our own and other people’s extreme experiences. Holly (Sienna Guillory of Resident Evil, Luthor and Love Actually) has just lost her husband to advanced cancer. She is distressed and broken but attempts to keep it together for the sake of her two teenage daughters. The eldest, Betsey (Jessica Alexander), attends a party but is thereafter ‘changed’ beyond all recognition. Initially, Holly believes it to be the result of substances she may have taken, but the alteration in character is beyond all recognition. Betsey completely stops eating; the very idea causes her to be physically sick. However, her weight appears to remain constant. She slips into prolonged trances, sleeps for much of the rest of the time and is periodically seen to be conversing with someone or something. These episodes deeply affect the rest of the family, and matters are exacerbated by the strict opinions of Holly’s mother June (Lindsay Duncan). But Betsey has a new secret revelation...
 

This offers a new meaning to the term dysfunctional family. The difference is that these events are real (whether they are believable is another matter). Right from the beginning we are subjected to an extremely disturbing scene wherein Holly’s husband is in the final stages of cancer. He suffers constant sickness, pain and distress, and his eyes are pleading. To be brutally honest, it is difficult to watch. The fact Betsey witnesses her father take his own life is a telling factor, particularly as she attempts to follow suit shortly afterwards. It’s easy to believe that everything which happens to Betsey – her gradual regression – stems from her father’s horrific death, but certain aspects leave it open to impression/interpretation. Firstly, none of these changes take place until she wanders into the woods behind a house party. Is she possessed or psychotic? Or something else. She talks about a new world order, but also stresses everything is for nothing. So, there is plenty of ambiguity – which is something I welcome in a film.
 

Some nice Special Features put the icing on the cake for a very effective and well-paced film exploring a fictional side of mental health. Deformity of the Flesh is an Interview with Director Ruth Paxton. Improvised Exorcism is an Interview with Betsey actress Jessica Alexander.Produced in a Pandemic is an Interview with Leonora Darby. Dark Edgesis an Interview with Cinematographer David Liddell. There is a Glasgow Film Festival Q & A with Ruth Paxton, Jessica Alexander & Sienna Guillory. Family Disorder is the Making of Banquet.

Verdict: 9 out of 10

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2022) 

Starring: Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Leslie Banks, Robert Armstrong

Directed by Cooper & Schoedsack

Eureka Entertainment

October 2022

Big game hunter, Bob Rainsford, is on board a ship which flounders on rocks in a strait when it is discovered danger marker buoys have been moved. As the ship sinks in shark-infested waters, Bob – the only survivor – makes for the nearest island where he is taken in as a guest of Count Zaroff. It materialises that Zaroff is a dedicated hunter too, but the connection soon turns to suspicion when two other guests – a brother and sister – reveal their party previously numbered four and the other two have mysteriously disappeared. By the time the terrible truth is known, only the beautiful sister (Fay Wray) is left. Zaroff hunts people, and Bob is challenged to survive until sun-up...
 

To celebrate the classic film’s 90th anniversary, Eureka Entertainment releases Cooper and Schoedsack’s The Most Dangerous Gamefrom 1932 on Blu-ray for the first time, as part of its Masters of Cinema series. This pre-code horror/adventure film, starring Joel McCrea and Fay Wray, is presented from a 2K restored scan. The film is adapted from the hugely popular 1920s short story by Richard Connell. So ground-breaking was the story that countless books and films wherein a human being is hunted-down for entertainment, information, money or a number of other reasons originates back to The Most Dangerous Game.
 

The film fully utilises the lavish jungle sets created for King Kong… whilst Kong was still being made! Many of the cast and crew worked on Kong during the day and The Most Dangerous Game through the night. This gives the film added gravitas. It’s easy with hindsight to dismiss Leslie Banks’ portrayal of Count Zaroff as pantomime-like, but in truth it is an intense representation of a character on the edge of madness. The movie proves to be a nice little pot-boiler; a claustrophobic horror/adventure. It even plays-out an elaborate final clash between hero and villain which was only referred to in the story.
 

There is a brand-new audio commentary by that regular double-act author Stephen Jones and author/critic Kim Newman. Kim Newman appears on many classic film release extras and he is equally enthusiastic and entertaining here, with his talk on the hunted-human sub-genre. Not so much an interview as an engaging talk on the subject, bordering on rhetoric. Along with Mark Kermode, Kim Newman is the best film historian/critic around. There’s also a brand-new interview with film scholar Stephen Thrower. A collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by Craig Ian Mann completes the piece, illustrated with archival imagery.
 

This is a good release. Buy yourself a piece of film history… before I set the hounds after you. 

Verdict: 9 out of 10

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2022) 

Starring: GWAR

Directed by Scott Barber

Acorn Media International (Shudder)

October 2022

Acorn Media International releases the Shudder exclusive Blu-ray This is GWAR, a feature-length Rocumentary by Scott Barber which charts the Metal/Art Movement band GWAR from its 1984 beginnings in Richmond, Virginia, USA. The collective of musicians, artists and filmmakers were originally known as Slave Pit Inc. – the intention being to raise money to make a movie based on some of their extreme comic art. The artistry and theatrics was the asylum which took over the music to a certain extent. Nevertheless, their antics soon made them fan favourites – being described in some quarters as the sickest band in the world. Costumes and props became increasingly more crazy and extravagant, including spraying the crowd with theatre blood and other fake bodily fluids. Using stage footage and interviews with the seeming cast of thousands who have been in the line-up, this is the story of the individuals who have kept the dream alive for more than 30 years...
 

Although as a Metal music fan I was well aware of the existence of GWAR, I never really got into their bizarre style. For me, the band – particularly in the early years – seemed to be more about the horror-fantasy schlock and blatant sexual connotations than the music. The balance being heavy weighted on the former. Compare this to an act like Iron Maiden, whose stage show is there only to enhance the effect of the music. This changed slightly when GWAR reached the 2000s, the improved musicianship attracting more interest from the record label. But it was still tempered by sometimes very explicit lyrics which the band refused to pull or moderate, resulting in bans and the ultimate loss of sales and backing.
 

No matter my feelings towards the GWAR act, I am more than impressed by the professionalism with which this story has been put across. There is no showing-off, grandstanding or ‘slagging-off’ of fellow band mates. It’s simply an earnest warts-and-all exploration and, indeed, explanation of what has occurred internally over the years. There is heartfelt emotion covering the entire gamut of situations. The GWAR members talk with enthusiasm, irony, regret, excitement and sadness. A couple of the contributors speak with tears in their eyes about lost compatriots and there is no doubt that they miss their friends from the band. As with the very popular from-the-heart Anvil documentary (2008's Anvil! The Story of Anvil), this one also has a genuineness about it.
 

There is a host of Special Features, which include: a Commentary track with Derks and Bob Gorman; Behind the scenes of a GWAR show; GWAR on Empire Records; The Legend of GWAR; Last Interview with Dave Brokien; A Message from the Scum Dogs of the Universe; Four Pillars of GWAR; Slave Pit walk-through with Michael Bishop; and GWAR from the outside. 

Verdict: 8 out of 10

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2022) 

Starring: BMG

Directed by George A. Romero

Acorn Media International (Shudder)

October 2022

Acorn Media International releases – for the first time on UK Blu-ray – the short film The Amusement Park from Night of the Living Dead director George A. Romero. Just short of 50 years after its completion, the film has been rediscovered and restored. It was released in selective cinemas in 2019, and now this Shudder Exclusive is available to a wider audience via retail sale and digitally. Martin (Lincoln Maazel) is an elderly man who purchases tickets for a day at an amusement park. What he believes will be an ordinary day emerges as a sustained nightmare, as he learns how the senior citizens are (mis)treated or ignored by the general populace in the chaotic surroundings of the crowds and rides. The release incorporates new artwork and a number of extra features...
 

The first thing you will discover when watching this curious movie is that the amusement park itself is an allegory for life itself. It exists in order to provide examples of obstacles, pitfalls and general ignorance the elderly come across in everyday life – in many cases, treated as second-class citizens, if they are considered at all. Bearing in mind when this was made (1973), it was not only an original idea but a very serious subject put across fairly dramatically. I’m not certain the central character’s reactions are entirely believable, and this is one drawback of having all the allegories of life in one location and on one day. However, it makes its point well. Right from the start there is a queue of elderly people having to trade their worldly goods for tickets and being right royally stitched-up.
 

A well-handled scene depicts a young couple entering a fortune teller’s tent, only to be shown in graphic detail what they will suffer in the twilight of their lives. There are two attempts to innocently converse with a little girl, only to be shouted at and threatened as if a potential sexual predator. It is telling that this example is given even back in 1973. I remember Tom Baker once stating in an interview that parents only allow their young children to approach two strangers: Father Christmas and Doctor Who. I’m not even sure this is the case anymore, and that’s sad. All of the interacting or peripheral people in The Amusement Park come across as strangers, offering the whole almost a documentary feel. It’s not entertaining but address a problem which still hasn’t been addressed/rectified all these decades later.
 

Extras include: an Audio Commentary by Michael Gornick; Re-opening the Park: with Suzanne Desrocher-Romero; Bill & Bonnie’s Excellent Adventure: with Bonnie Hinzman; For Your Amusement: with artist Ryan Carr; a Panel Interviewwith Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, Sandra Schulberg, Greg Nicotero and Daniel Kraus – moderated by Shudder’s Samuel Zimmerman; The Amusement Park official brochure; The Amusement Park script; and a Behind-the-Scenes photo gallery.  

Verdict: 3 out of 10

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2022)