Terry's Reviews
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Fright Pack
– Anchor Bay Entertainment – 2005 |
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| Anchor Bay has come
up with a really neat marketing idea. They created a shiny aluminum-looking package that
looks like a six-pack of beer that carries six DVDs. The DVDs are selected for a
particular theme. "The Walking Dead" is the theme of this Fright Pack but
besides the movies, the case itself is just plain cool. Anchor Bay had previously released each one of the six movies, but this is a great way to get all of them in one fell swoop. Other companies have put together box sets with mixed movies but rarely in the quality of Anchor Bay Entertainment. |
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Let Sleeping
Corpses Lie Anchor Bay Entertainment – 2000 Directed
by Jorge Grau Starring |
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| This is an excellent
zombie movie that was released in 1974 also known as THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE
and DON’T OPEN THE WINDOW. Spanish filmmaker Jorge Grau does a sturdy job of
constructing suspense and shocks utilizing Francisco Sempere’s keen cinematography
and music from Giuliano Sorgini. Giannetto De Rossi’s make-up effects effectively
bring carnage to the screen. A new pesticide-killing machine that uses ultra high frequency sound waves is put into action on the English countryside. Little does the government know that these sound waves are revitalizing the dead back to life with a hunger for flesh. LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE is a fast paced zombie film that has humor in the scenes with the Inspector (Arthur Kennedy), but is deadly serious when it comes to zombie mayhem. The acting goes over the top, what foreign zombies films don’t? I liked the look of many of the people who were cast as zombies because each person had a distinct look and was memorable because of that. But the real reason to see this is for the look of the film and Giannetto De Rossi’s ghastly touch. Jorge Grau introduces the movie with a few words, which came from a recent taped interview and the DVD comes with TV & Radio Spots. I especially liked how the Photo Gallery was set up so the photos automatically changed and they were backed by music from the movie. Altogether LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE is a little gem of a horror film that you should see for the first time or rediscover on DVD. |
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Nightmare City Anchor Bay Entertainment – 2000 Directed
by Umberto Lenzi Starring |
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| An unknown military
cargo plane lands at a big city airport causing the police and other security to rush out
to meet whoever gets off the plane. It takes a few tense minutes before the plane opens it’s
door and when it does, a horde of pasty faced zombies are unleashed, running out of the
plane to kill everyone in sight. From this point on, the movie is literally one long
string of successive scenes showing the zombie’s kicking the city’s butt.
The zombies in this movie are basically like regular people. What I mean is they continue to do the things each person did before becoming a zombie and they move as fast as normal people do. Not only that put they punch & kick and even use weapons like a normal human being would. Umberto Lenzi creates the non-stop action horror landscape; slowing down every once in a while to try to develop some luke warm suspense or a little character development. But those are not this film’s strength. The never ending fighting between numerous characters, many times within the same shot is this film’s greatest attribute. Anchor Bay presents the film in Widescreen. Tales Of The Contaminated City is an all-new interview with Director Umberto Lenzi. The DVD includes Theatrical Trailer. NIGHTMARE CITY is lite entertainment that should put a smile on your face. |
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Hell of the
Living Dead Anchor Bay Entertainment – 2002 Directed
by Bruno Mattei Starring |
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| DAWN OF THE DEAD
really made an impact on the writing/directing team of this movie. Does this sound
familiar? An accident at a chemical plant unleashes a virus, and an elite SWAT team is
sent to New Guinea to investigate. But when they arrive on the island, they discover a
plague of flesh-eating zombies. The zombies move like NIGHT and DAWN OF THE DEAD, the film
has scenes that were practically traced from George Romero’s DEAD films and Mattei
licensed the same score Goblin performed in DAWN. The biggest differences between this and Romero’s films is Bruno Mattei’s crude direction is not as subtle, writing not as socially conscious, the acting goes way over the top and the special effects can’t hold a candle to Tom Savini’s ground breaking gore. HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD does feature a buffet of zombies munching on flesh, this includes a child eating his father’s guts and another favorable aspect is that a beautiful female reporter (Margit Evelyn Newton) gets down to just her skin to communicate with the New Guinea natives. The film is shot documentary fashion (without any cinematic style), the dialog converted to English language is silly and I didn’t particular care for the stock footage of human corpses & animals guts being eaten and slow motion shots of monkeys jumping from tree to tree, birds diving into water for no apparent reason. At times this film footage feels like an old episode of Wild Kingdom or National Geographic. Also known as VIRUS, NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES and ZOMBIE CREEPING FLESH, HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD has been transferred from original negative materials and is now presented completely uncut and uncensored for the first time ever. This DVD includes a 4-Page Collector's Booklet Supplements include Hell Rats Of The Living Dead - an all-new interview with Director Bruno Mattei who openly states that the inspiration from this film came from DOTD. Anchor Bay has also included Theatrical Trailer, Poster And Still Gallery and Bruno Mattei’s Bio. |
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City of the
Living Dead Anchor Bay Entertainment – 2000 Directed by Lucio Fulci Starring |
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| In the small New
England town of Dunwich, a priest commits suicide by hanging himself in the church
cemetery, which somehow opens the gates of hell allowing the dead to rise. A reporter
(Christopher George) and a psychic (Catriona MacColl) race to close the portals of the
damned and in the process encounter the living dead. Directed and co-written by the legendary Lucio Fulci, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (a.k.a THE GATES OF HELL) features some of Fulci’s most shocking and controversial sequences of all time: brains ripped out, gut-spewing from a woman’s mouth and a vicious head- drilling. This is the definitive version of Fulci’s mind-clawing tour de force of horror; uncut, uncensored and presented in Widescreen. This is Lucio Fulci’s best-looking film. Cinematographer Sergio Salvati engineers moody dolly moves and gives the film atmospheric lighting. The fog-shrouded scenes in the deserted small town with heavy winds and dirt are unforgettable and creepy. Giannetto De Rossi provides the stomach churning special effects. You sure to squint your eyes and mince in horror at the amazing work he does. He is Italy’s Tom Savini. The music score from Fabio Frizzi helps set the film’s ominous tone. Anchor Bay’s Widescreen transfer looks much better than the image quality I first saw on the drive-in screen back in the early 80s. This film deserves some kind of "Making Of" since it is so well made and revered by fans. This and an audio commentary by someone associated with the production (Lucio Fulci is not alive to do this) are sadly missing and something I’d love to see/hear down the line. ABE does provide the Theatrical Trailer, Radio Spot and Talent Bios. CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD is my favorite Lucio Fulci film. |
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House By the
Cemetery Anchor Bay Entertainment – 2001 Directed
by Lucio Fulci Starring |
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| A family moves from
their confined apartment in New York City to a house that sits next to a cemetery in New
England. Unfortunately for the young family, the previous homeowner was Dr. Freudstein, a
mad scientist so to speak, whose human experiments left a history of notoriety. Norman
(Paolo Malco), the father of the family ventures into the boarded up basement, which leads
to discovering the truth of what took place in the basement. Worse yet, one of doctor’s
abominations is still alive down there and the family will come face to face with it.
THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY features more Lucio Fulci & Giannetto De Rossi havoc; throats being ripped open, knifes to the skull, maggots spewing from the mouth and more representations of their brand of graphic onscreen violence. The monster in the basement is a hulking mass of terror with an odd face that’s unlike any other. Anchor Bay Entertainment presents HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY uncut, uncensored and - for the first time ever - digitally transferred from the original camera negative. You also get the Theatrical Trailer, TV Spot, Still Gallery and Talent Bios. THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY isn’t Lucio Fulci’s best film. But it’s not entirely designed to be taken seriously. Some of the dialogue and plot elements stretch the limits of believability but this is made to kind of be a "haunted house" ride. Attacking bats, monster in the basement, spooky girl in the window mixed with brutal bloodshed equals up to 87 minutes of horror amusement. |
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Dead Heat Anchor Bay Entertainment – 2004 Directed
by Mark Goldblatt Starring |
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| Criminals who can’t
be killed are shooting up Los Angeles, and the investigation leads LAPD detectives Roger
Mortis (Treat Williams) and Doug Bigelow (Joe Piscopo) to who is creating the super
criminals. But when Mortis is suddenly murdered, his coroner girlfriend Randi James
(Lindsay Frost) and Bigelow discover a machine that can resurrect Roger. They use it
turning Roger into one of the walking dead. Soon the police battle zombie hit men on equal
terms. DEAD HEAT is more of an action film rather than a horror film. Mark Goldblatt certainly has gathered some excellent experience before directing this film as he edited PIRAHNA, HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP, THE HOWLING, HALLOWEEN II, THE TERMINATOR and RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II. Those experiences taught him how to keep the action going and in this film, comical. Joe Piscopo really beefed up for this role. You can’t help but notice his pumped up physique as he is fighting and shooting up zombies. Treat Williams has less screen presence but is good as Piscopo’s dead partner. Steve Johnson provides some fantastic make-up effects and it is always cool to see Darren McGavin (THE NIGHT STALKER). Vincent Price plays in one of his last roles and is his normal charming, charismatic self. DEAD HEAT is loaded with extras. Audio Commentary with Director Mark Goldblatt, Producers David Helpern and Michael Meltzer, and Writer Terry Black highlights the supplements. Deleted Scenes, Theatrical Trailer, Original Electronic Press Kit, MIFED Promo, DVD-Room of Screenplay, Original Storyboards, Still Gallery and Talent Bios. Besides these features, Anchor Bay Entertainment has transferred the film in Widescreen and included a 4-Page Collector's Booklet. DEAD HEAT is kind of cheesy, action packed slapstick horror film along the lines of EVIL DEAD 2 and BRAINDEAD but not as horrific. |
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