Bluray Tuesday Featuring Piranha 2, The House of The Dead & Dark Crimes

July 31st 2018

The last Bluray Tuesday of the month arrives, this year has been flying by. Scream Factory starts things off thing week with Piranha 2 for the first time on Bluray with a new scan and features. I've never actually seen this one so I'm looking forward to checking it out. Next up is from Vinegar Syndrome which releases The House of the Dead (1978) for the first time on Bluray and with a new scan as well. Jim Carrey is back in a mystery thriller film this time titled Dark Crimes from Lionsgate. I haven't seen Jim Carrey in a film in quite some time and the premise seems interesting, just may be a blind buy for me. The original Village of the Damned hits shelves today from Warner Archives to join this weeks list of new scan and Bluray released films. Rounding out this week is comedy films Tully and Overboard remake as well as a few shows, Counterpart Season One and Star Wars Rebels Season Four. So what will you buy, rent or skip this week? Let us know in the comments. Until next week!

Piranha 2: Amazon - $22.99

A scuba diving instructor, her biochemist boyfriend, and her police chief ex-husband try to link a series of bizarre deaths to a mutant strain of piranha fish whose lair is a sunken freighter ship off a Caribbean island resort.

 

The House of The Dead: Amazon - $20.00

A man who is having an affair with a married woman is dropped off on the wrong street when going back to his hotel. He takes refuge out of the rain when an old man invites him in. He turns out to be a mortician, who tells him the stories of the people who have wound up in his establishment over the course of four stories.

 

Village of the Damned (1960): Amazon - $17.99

In the small English village of Midwich everybody and everything falls into a deep, mysterious sleep for several hours in the middle of the day. Some months later every woman capable of child-bearing is pregnant and the children that are born out of these pregnancies seem to grow very fast and they all have the same blond hair and strange, penetrating eyes that make people do things they don't want to do.

 

Dark Crimes: Amazon - $11.99

A murder investigation of a slain business man turns to clues found in an author's book about an eerily similar crime.

 

Tully: Amazon - $19.99

The film is about Marlo, a mother of three including a newborn, who is gifted a night nanny by her brother. Hesitant to the extravagance at first, Marlo comes to form a unique bond with the thoughtful, surprising and sometimes challenging young nanny named Tully.

 

Overboard: Amazon - $19.99

A spoiled, wealthy yacht owner is thrown overboard and becomes the target of revenge from his mistreated employee. A remake of the 1987 comedy.

 

Lego Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis: Amazon - $17.99

Aquaman must battle foes in the air, on land and in the depths of the Seven Seas, along with some help from The Justice League, to save the day.

 

Counterpart (Season One): Amazon - $27.99

A UN employee discovers the agency he works for is hiding a gateway to a parallel dimension.

 

Star Wars Rebels (Season 4): Best Buy - $34.99

This animated TV series is set in time somewhere between the events of Episode III (Revenge of the Sith) and Episode IV (A New Hope) and follows a group of ragtag but incredibly brave rebels as they watch with horror while the Empire increases its control of the galaxy. The rebels must band together to resist the Empire's vicious plan to hunt down and wipe out the last of the Jedi Knights. The series follows the adventures and tribulations of a scrappy rebel star ship as they use their wits and ingenuity to outwit the far more powerful Empire.

 

- The Impostor

Screenings in the Bay (Monday to Friday): Eaten Alive, Cult Cartoon Classics, Good Manners

I've never seen so many restorations in a single week! But in the next five days we have at least four lovingly restored films screening in San Francisco. In addition, we're also getting a Portuguese fantasy horror film opening at the Roxie Theatre, a dark religion double feature at the Castro Theatre, and a very young Robert Englund appearing in this week's Terror Tuesday at the Alamo Drafthouse. 

4 Star Theatre

The Third Murderer (2018)

Opens Friday 3rd (2hrs 4min)

Crime/ Drama/ Mystery (IMDB)

Leading attorney Shigemori takes on the defence of murder-robbery suspect Misumi who served jail time for another murder 30 years ago. Shigemori's chances of winning the case seem low - his client freely admits his guilt, despite facing the death penalty if he is convicted. As he digs deeper into the case, as he hears the testimonies of the victim's family and Misumi himself, the once confident Shigemori begins to doubt whether his client is the murderer after all.

Alamo Drafthouse

Terror Tuesday

Eaten Alive (1976)

Tuesday 31st @ 10:50pm (1hr 31min)

Slasher/ Thriller (Google)

A psychotic redneck, who owns a dilapidated hotel in rural East Texas, kills various people who upset him or his business, and he feeds their bodies to a large crocodile that he keeps as a pet in the swamp beside his hotel.

Weird Wednesday

Lady Street Fighter (1977)

Wednesday 1st @ 11:15pm (1hr 13min)

Thriller/ Action (Google)

Linda Allen travels to Los Angeles to track down the brutal mobsters who tortured and murdered her sister.

2K Restoration Courtesy of the AGFA

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)

Thursday 2nd @ 7pm (1hr 37min)

Drama/ Blaxploitation (Google)

Produced, directed, written, scored by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles, this landmark "blaxploitation" film was as controversial as it was popular for its then X-rated story of one African-American man's triumph over the Man. After beating a couple of white cops he witnessed brutalizing a local black revolutionary, sex show performer Sweetback (Van Peebles) has to go on the run. As he flees through decrepit South Central Los Angeles, Sweetback demonstrates his formidable potency through sex as well as violence, evading the police manhunt by any means necessary. As Sweetback runs off into the sunset, however, Van Peebles warns that the story, like the 1960s racial strife, isn't over.

4K Restoration courtesy of of Vinegar Syndrome

The Last Movie (1971)

Friday 3rd @ 6:30pm (1hr 48min)

Drama/ Thriller (Google)

The Last Movie follows a Hollywood movie crew in the midst of making a western in a remote Peruvian village. When production wraps, Hopper, as the baleful stuntman Kansas, remains, attempting to find redemption in the isolation of Peru and the arms of a former prostitute. Meanwhile, the local Indians have taken over the abandoned set and begun to stage a ritualistic re-enactment of the production - with Kansas as their sacrificial lamb. 

4K Restoration Courtesy of Arbelos

Castro Theatre

Double Feature

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Tuesday 31st @ 7pm (1hr 54min)

Drama/ Indie Film (Google)

With its stunning camera work and striking compositions, Carl Th. Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc convinced the world that movies could be art. Renée Falconetti gives one of the greatest performances ever recorded on film as the young maiden who died for God and France. Long thought to have been lost to fire, the original version was miraculously found in perfect condition in 1981 in a Norwegian mental institution.

4K Restoration!

-with-

First Reformed (2018)

Tuesday 31st @ 8:35pm (1hr 48min)

Drama/ Thriller (IMDB)

Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is a solitary, middle-aged parish pastor at a small Dutch Reform church in upstate New York on the cusp of celebrating its 250th anniversary. Once a stop on the Underground Railroad, the church is now a tourist attraction catering to a dwindling congregation, eclipsed by its nearby parent church, Abundant Life, with its state-of-the-art facilities and 5,000-strong flock. When a pregnant parishioner (Amanda Seyfried) asks Reverend Toller to counsel her husband, a radical environmentalist, the clergyman finds himself plunged into his own tormented past, and equally despairing future, until he finds redemption in an act of grandiose violence. From writer-director Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver; American Gigolo; Affliction) comes a gripping thriller about a crisis of faith that is at once personal, political, and planetary.

Landmark Clay Theatre

Midnight Madness

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Friday 3rd @ 11:55pm (1hr 25min)

Anime/ Sci-Fi/ Fantasy (Rotten Tomatoes)

In the year 2029, the world has become interconnected by a vast electronic network that permeates every aspect of life. That same network also becomes a battlefield for Tokyo's Section Nine security force, which has been charged with apprehending the master hacker known only as the Puppet Master. Spearheading the investigation is Major Motoko Kusanagi, who -- like many in her department -- is a cyborg officer, far more powerful than her human appearance would suggest. And yet as the Puppet Master, who is even capable of hacking human minds, leaves a trail of victims robbed of their memories, Kusanagi ponders the very nature of her existence: is she purely an artificial construct, or is there more? What, exactly, is the "ghost" -- her essence -- in her cybernetic "shell"? When Section Six gets involved in the case, she is forced to confront the fact that there is more here than meets the eye, and that the Puppet Master may hold some of the answers she seeks. But little does she know that he has been seeking her as well.

Roxie Theatre

Cult Cartoon Classics

Monday 30th @ 7pm (1hr 40min)

Animation

Cartoons, by design, often have some pretty strange story lines and themes. But some are so bizarre, so out there, that through the years they have obtained a cult classic status. Our program spotlights a crazed collection of some of the most odd-ball cartoons ever made from animation’s golden era of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Some of the selections from our vaults are well known—others are more rare and often unseen today. They’re just waiting for an audience to give them a cult classic certification!

Good Manners (2018)

Opens Friday 3rd @ 9pm (2hr 15min)

Fantasy/ Horror/ Musical (IMDB)

Clara, a lonely nurse from the outskirts of São Paulo, is hired by mysterious and wealthy Ana as the nanny for her unborn child. The two women develop a strong bond, but a fateful night changes their plans.

Satellite Girl and the Milk Cow (2014)

Opens Friday 3rd @ 7pm (1hr 21min)

Fantasy/ Sci-Fi (Google)

Il-ho, a satellite girl, wants to learn about human emotions, and crash lands on Earth. She transforms into a human girl and tries to help Kyung-chun after he is transformed into a milk cow.

-Huntress

Screenings in the Bay (Friday to Sunday): Our House, Dead Night, The Rocky Horror Picture Show

It's a pretty quiet weekend for genre movies that we're heading into, and the multitude of film fests happening right now may be the reason for that. My fingers are crossed that we'll be getting some new titles within weeks. What we do have in the next two days is a conclusion of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, two cult film screenings, and a couple of VOD releases that I wouldn't complain about watching.

Landmark Clay Theatre

Midnight Madness

Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Saturday 28th @ 11:55pm (1hr 41 min)

Comedy/ Scifi/ Horror/ Musical (Rotten Tomatoes)

This low-budget freak show/cult classic/cultural institution concerns the misadventures of Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) inside a strange mansion that they come across on a rainy night. After the wholesome pair profess their love through an opening song, their car breaks down in the woods, and they seek refuge in a towering castle nearby. Greeting them at the door is a ghoulish butler named Riff Raff (Richard O'Brien), who introduces them to a bacchanalian collection of partygoers dressed in outfits from some sort of interplanetary thrift shop. The host of this gathering is a transvestite clad in lingerie, Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry), a mad scientist who claims to be from another planet.

New Parkway Theatre

Cult Night

Tremors (1990)

Friday 27th @ 10:30pm (1hr 36min)

Comedy/ Horror (IMDB)

Tremors is actually two movies in one. On its own terms, it's an enjoyable modern sci-fi horror-thriller, with good pacing and a sense of humor; but it's also a loving tribute to such 1950s low-budget desert-based sci-fi-horror films like Them!, It Came From Outer Space, Tarantula, and The Monolith Monsters. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward are the stars, a pair of small-town handymen living in a small desert community, who stumble upon several difficult-to-explain phenomena, including a couple of people who've died under extremely strange (and, in one instance, very grisly) circumstances.

VOD

Dead Night (2018)

Limited Theatres/VOD Friday 27th (1hr 26min)

Horror (IMDB)

James and his wife Casey load up their two teenage kids and head out to a remote cabin in Oregon for a weekend trip. When James heads into the snowy forest in search of firewood, he encounters an enigmatic woman passed out in the snow. Bringing her back to the cabin for help, the family has no way of knowing that the woman's presence is the catalyst for a series of events that will change their lives forever. Mixing original storytelling with timeless supernatural elements, Bradford Baruh's directorial debut features a stellar cast of genre favorites including AJ Bowen and Barbara Crampton and delivers a wild and blood-soaked weekend away.

Our House (2018)

Limited Theatres/VOD Friday 27th (1hr 30min)

Horror (IMDB)

A machine that can bring back dead loved ones seems like a great idea...until you unleash the wrong spirits. When his parents are killed in a car accident, science wiz Ethan (Thomas Mann) must leave behind college and his girlfriend (Nicola Peltz) to care for his younger brother and sister. By day, he juggles the responsibilities of raising two kids; by night, he tinkers in the garage on an invention he hopes will change the world: a machine that can generate wireless electricity. He gets more than he bargained for, however, when the device awakens the dead souls that haunt the house. As Ethan and his siblings attempt to make contact with their parents, a horrifying realization sets in: not all the spirits in their midst may be friendly. This hair-raising science-fiction ghost story is a nightmare journey into a past that refuses to stay dead and buried.

-Huntress

Digging Up The Dirt with KillDozer and Caroline McFarlane-Watts, Artist/Miniaturist of Tall Tales Productions

Sometimes at conventions amongst all the sharp fanged sculptures ,blood drip t shirts,and Horror icon paintings you can find something completely out of the ordinary that inspires curiosity and imagination. Such a booth was spotted at the last Monsterpalooza I attended. Unique and dark miniature fairy tail worlds and characters drew me in immediately. I was lucky enough to meet Caroline McFarlane-Watts in person after admiring all the amazing and incredibly detailed characters at her booth. Witches of all sorts adorned her table in miniature form and look as though they would jump off the table or even speak to you the closer you looked. I knew I would have to dig up some dirt and find out more about this talented artist and the back story of her creations. 

KillDozer: I had never heard the term "miniaturist" before meeting you at Monsterpalooza and later reading about your work. Do you identify yourself as a miniaturist? If not, how do you classify yourself as an artist?

Caroline: Yes, it's a niche title - 'miniaturist'! I sort of stumbled into miniature model making when I was working on set and I found myself working specifically in the miniature section of the art department. I usually refer to myself as a 'sculptor' but more often than not I get hired as a 'miniaturist' or 'miniature model maker'.


KillDozer: What was your introduction into art? Where you inspired by your family to pursue this unique talent? 

Caroline: I loved drawing probably from the time I was old enough to hold a pencil. I remember getting a lot of positive attention for a drawing I did of some daffodils when I was a very little girl. That sort of thing has a massive impact, doesn't it? Getting positive feedback from adults when you're really young makes you want to keep doing that thing that creates positive attention.


KillDozer: What is the medium you most prefer to work with? Were you always interested in sculpting alternate realities?

Caroline: I always liked pencils and watercolour paints, but now working with clay is my default. I think we create what interests us (unless it's a 'pay the rent commission') and so a fairytale reality is most likely what you're going to get from me.


KillDozer: What is the process of putting together these beautiful scenes together like? Does it all begin with a sketch? Do your characters and settings all have backstories? 

Caroline: Planning is important, so yes, there will be sketches and measuring before building / sculpting!

KillDozer: There seems to be a fun yet spooky theme throughout your work, have you always been drawn more toward the "dark" or spookier side of fairytales when looking for inspiration or creating these characters and worlds ?

Caroline: Fairytales are inherently dark. They're simple tales about good versus evil written to keep children in line! I know Disney scales back the darkness quite a bit, which is probably a good idea, but the concept of the fairytale witch, the hobgoblin, the Snow Queen, Bluebeard... these are interesting and fun characters to work with.


KillDozer: Your pieces seem to have a personality all their own. The longer you look the more it feels as though they might smile back at you. Have you ever animated any of your creations or had a storyline in mind to do so?

Caroline: I'm glad you feel my characters have personality because the witches in particular all have a back story. I've been writing for Good Witches Bad Witches for a few years and have all kinds of plans for it!


KillDozer: How did Good Witches Bad Witches become a reality? What has the feedback been from this project?

Caroline: I started working on Good Witches Bad Witches in 2015 and the feedback was so positive and the audience grew to 80 countries so quickly that I felt like I was on the right track with it! I love working on it and am thrilled it has gained so much attention.

KillDozer: One thing I love about the talented people I meet and get to interview is finding out other fun facts or talents they have. With you it would have to be that you were on the show Cake Masters! What was that experience like? Is creating a cake similar to creating your miniatures? 

Caroline: Cake Masters is a great Food Network show and in each episode celebrity pastry chef Duff calls in a specialist to aid with a particular cake. In one episode his client was Dockers, and his team were creating a miniature cityscape of San Francisco as a cake - complete with miniature figurines wearing Dockers clothing. They needed a miniaturist for this one, and so they called in Hollywood's miniaturist! I had a lot of fun working with them on that fantastic cake.

KillDozer: You had a lot of incredible pieces displayed at Monsterpalooza. Where can people go to purchase these amazing creations of yours? Where can we go to follow your work?

Caroline: Thank you, I am glad you think so! I have a line of Limited Edition witch character figurines and a range of other miniature works at my webshop. I'm also all over social media and following me means you'll get the heads up on special offers and free video tutorials. My links are: 
WEBSITE - Tall-Tales.com


FACEBOOK - Facebook.com/TallTalesProductions


INSTAGRAM - Instagram.com/TallTalesProductions


YOUTUBE - YouTube.com/TallTalesProductions


KillDozer: What has your experience with conventions been like? Your work definitely stands out amongst the monsters and creatures usually on display. How do those in the "horror community" react to your work?

Caroline: Monsterpalooza was my first 'monster' convention, but I absolutely loved it and will certainly have a presence there next year and I'm sure for many years to come. For people who love sharp teeth and gore, the 'horror community' is just the nicest group of people! I love attending events like these. Also, I will be at other conventions such as Comic Con and Designer Con, so people can always look out for me there!

KillDozer: Among all your witches, if they battled to the death who would survive and why?

Caroline: Well the funny thing is, Good Witches Bad Witches is a world of opposites, of bad and good witches who are always pitted against each other. If a battle was green-lit I am sure there'd be many casualties...! My personal favourite witch is a witch I am still currently sculpting and will reveal on social media before long..


KillDozer: Name the best portrayal or witch character in a film, and why?

Caroline: Apparently she's a hermit, not a witch.... but I'm still going with Aughra from The Dark Crystal. I loved her as a child. She and the queen in Disney's Snow White were powerful, brilliant and captivating. I love the sorceresses in Pre-Raphaelite paintings, and in the paintings of Waterhouse and Burne-Jones.


KillDozer: What is the dumbest question people ask you about your work? (example-"does it take long?")

Caroline: I'm often asked if my miniature food (made of clay) is edible, if my miniature vessels such as minuscule teapots can "hold boiling water' and sometimes people ask if I can create entire sweeping miniature worlds for under $100 for them... ;)


KillDozer: If you could recreate any scene from any film in a miniature which scene would it be?

Caroline: If I had the time and inclination, then something from 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'... ooh, you shouldn't have asked because now I want to do this!

Look for the Tall Tales Productions booth at the next convention you're at to meet Caroline and her amazing creations in person! 

And don't forget to follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for updates, or head straight to the source at Tall-Tales.com!

-KillDozer

Bluray Tuesday Featuring: Ready Player One, In The Mouth of Madness & Beyond Re-Animator

July 24th 2018

It's that time again! New blurays are released today to add to our growing collections. First up is Ready Player One based on the novel of the same name. I've heard mixed reviews on this one and I have not read the book but do look forward to checking the movie out. Best Buy will carry an exclusive steelbook for this and Target's exclusive comes with a bonus disc with more features. Vestron Video releases number 15 and 16 in their Collector's Edition line with Dagon and Beyond Re-Animator. Both released for the first time on Bluray and must buys for me, so far I own the whole series of Vestron's releases and they sure look nice together. Scream Factory releases John Carpenter's In The Mouth of Madness today. This releases comes with a new scan, features and slipcover artwork. Slasher Video brings us Streets of Vengeance, the premise of which sounds cool and may be a blind buy for me this week. Rounding out the week is Supergirl (1984) for the first time on Bluray, The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey from Arrow Video and comedy thriller The Con is On. So what will you buy, rent or skip this week? Let us know in the comments. Until next Week!

Ready Player One: Amazon - $24.99

4K: Amazon - $29.99

From filmmaker Steven Spielberg comes the science fiction action adventure “Ready Player One,” based on Ernest Cline’s bestseller of the same name, which has become a worldwide phenomenon. The film is set in 2045, with the world on the brink of chaos and collapse. But the people have found salvation in the OASIS, an expansive virtual reality universe created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). When Halliday dies, he leaves his immense fortune to the first person to find a digital Easter egg he has hidden somewhere in the OASIS, sparking a contest that grips the entire world. When an unlikely young hero named Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) decides to join the contest, he is hurled into a breakneck, reality-bending treasure hunt through a fantastical universe of mystery, discovery and danger. Spielberg directed the film from a screenplay by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline.

 

 

Steelbook: Best Buy - $29.99

4K: Best Buy - $34.99

 

Bonus Disc: Target - $24.99

 

In The Mouth of Madness: Amazon - $22.99

Sutter Cane is this century's most widely read author and his novels have been translated into 18 different languages, spawning a billion dollar industry. When Cane vanishes just days before he's expected to deliver his last manuscript, his publisher hires John Trent to investigate his disappearance. Trent believe at first it's an ill conceived publicity stunt--until he and Linda Styles, Cane's editor, travel to New England. There, they wind up in a town that cannot be found on any ordinary map- called Hobbs End, a fictional village that exists only in Cane's novels. Has the investigation unearthed a fantasy world or has reality blended with the macabre imagination of Sutter Cane?

 

Beyond Re-Animator: Amazon - $28.99

The third RE-ANIMATOR film finds Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) getting out of jail after fourteen years for inadvertently killing a young girl as a result of one of his experiments. During his time on the inside, West continued to perfect his methods on rats. When a young doctor who is aware of West's discoveries, becomes the new prison M.D., he asks West to help him on a project he is working on. Before long, dead bodies are being reanimated left and right, and the prison walls are running red with blood...!

 

Dagon: Amazon - $28.99

Based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, Dagon tells the story of Paul Marsh. A boating accident off the coast of Spain sends Paul and his girlfriend Barbara to the decrepit fishing village of Imboca looking for help. As night falls, people start to disappear and things not quite human start to appear. Paul finds himself pursued by the entire town.

 

Supergirl: Amazon - $17.99

When she loses her city's vital power supply, Kryptonian Kara follows it to Earth in the hopes of retrieving it. Although gifted with powers like her cousin Superman, Kara struggles to defeat the evil Selena, who now controls the mighty object. To fit into her new surroundings, Kara disguises herself as high school student Linda Lee and says that she's Clark Kent's cousin.

 

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey: Amazon - $29.99 

A young boy in 14th century Cumbria (north of England) keeps getting visions he cannot explain. His village has so far been spared from the black death, but the villagers fear its imminent arrival. With the boy as their guide, a group set out to dig a hole to the other side of the world, so as to fulfil the visions and save the village. At the 'other side' is 20th century New Zealand!

 

Streets of Vengeance: Amazon - $21.99

After a former adult film star is attacked by The Sword, a misogynistic cult, she turns vigilante and puts a group of bad-ass girls together to seek revenge.

 

The Con is On: Amazon - $14.99

In an effort to avoid paying off a massive gambling debt to a notorious mobster in England, a couple flees to Los Angeles and hatch a jewel theft plot.

 

Tiger By The Tail: Amazon - $24.99

A Vietnam war hero, accused of murdering his brother, recruits his socialite girlfriend to hunt for the real killer.
 

 

 

-The Impostor