TerrorVision / The Video Dead (Bluray/DVD Combo) (1986)

It's about damn time that TerrorVision got the release it deserved. And this is it. Gerrit Graham and Mary Woronov are perfect as the swinging Puttermans, always on the lookout for the newest fad, including a brand new satellite dish that unfortunately picks up not only the local cable channels but a recently disposed creature from space. The hideous creature begins devouring the Puttermans, sometimes creepily taking over their personalities. Can the kids along with a helpful alien save the world? With the outrageous set design, kooky dialogue and other awesome cast members like Better Off Dead's Diane Franklin as the daughter and Bert Remsen as the grandfather, this is real B-movie gold. I was lucky enough to see this one in the theaters! The bonus features are abundant with interviews, commentaries and photos.

The Video Dead is a notch below the wonderful TerrorVision, about an old tv set that brings zombies into this dimension. Although the concept was good, the execution comes off a little shoddy. Overall, it kept my interest but pales next to the colorful and quirky TerrorVision.

A good double feature, but I must admit I bought this for TerrorVision!

I actually got this to get Video Dead, and to my surprise Terror Vision ends up being equally as good if not better! Both are very cheesy and fun to watch. Terror Vision has less horror and plays more like a bizarre Weird Science style film with vibrant colors and extreme stereotype characters. A fairly wealthy swinger couple for parents, a wacky survivalist grandfather, a valley girl punk rock daughter along with her metal head boyfriend and her younger brother who is the most grounded character in the film face-off against an alien "pet" who accidentally gets slingshot to Earth instead of incinerated and beams into their dish and through their TV. Video Dead is a weird Horror film about a couple kids cleaning a newly bought house for their parents only to have this old beat-up TV left in the attic become a gateway for ZOMBIES! A very interesting twist on a zombie film, from the way they act to the way to destroy or get rid of them... not your average zombie movie! The bonus features are very good, especially for Terror Vision and picture quality is pretty good considering. This certainly has been one of, if not the best blu-ray i have bought recently with a high fun factor.

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In my quest (I guess you could call it that) for some cult 1980s horror, I've come across quite a few of the same names over and over (Night of the Creeps, Sleepaway Camp, The Evil Dead, etc.) But, two names have come up very few times: "TerrorVision" and "The Video Dead". I read brief synopses for both movies and wondered why these weren't just a little more popular. They both seemed to have some interesting ideas (both having monsters of some sort being able to come to the real world through television). After seeing both on YouTube (lucky to find them there), I was sold on both of them. Then came my second question: why don't these have a proper release on home video?

This was around the time I started to hear about Shout! Factory's new branch, Scream! Factory. Being curious, I looked up what was to come from them and to my joy, saw that they planned a release of these two movies. Five months later, I was able to sit down and watch these two again, the way they were meant to be seen: on a nice TV with a widescreen transfer. It's nothing less than awesome retro horror and even though the films could very well fit into the "so-bad-they're-good" category, they're well worth the buy. There's a lot of great bonuses as well, and though I don't like blu-rays, the transfer for both movies on that is another welcome bonus.

Highly recommended. Don't miss out.

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I was beyond thrilled to find out that The Video Dead was finally being released and on Blu-ray at that! One of my best friends petitioned for this to be released for a few years and not only did his hard work and dedication payoff but he even got to join the cast of the film to record a commentary track for the film. I had never heard of TerrorVision before but that was quite a treat, I really ended up enjoying it. You get 1 DVD disc with each movie on the same side (Thank you Scream Factory I hate double-sided disc!) and 1 Blu-ray the same way. They both have limited special features but honestly it is way more than I ever thought I would see. Do not hesitate to add this movie to your collection, you will not be disappointed.

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Sorry for the inconveniance, just a review of "Terror Vision" !

I bought the Terror Vision/The Video Dead DVD/Blu-Ray combo mainly for Terror Vision. A b-rated horror/comedy from the 1980's that was a personal favorite of mine as I still have a VHS copy of it.

In a nutshell, the film is about a space monster that is accidently transported to earth via a unsuspecting family's satellite dish. However, the real highlight of the film isn't the monster, but the wacky cast of humans especially the very, disfunctional Putterman family. The swinger parents, gung-ho military grandpa, Cindy Lauper look-a-like valley girl Suzy (played brilliantly by actress, Diane Franklin), Suzy's boyfriend, a heavy metal clad "O.D." (played by John Gries AKA Uncle Rico from "Napolean Dynamite") and the brave, little hero Sherman (played by a very young Chad Allen who later played a sheriff in the "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" TV series). As I found out from writer/director Ted Nicolaou who stated in his commentary & special features interview, the film was bashed by critics & the general audience on its initial release, but developed sort of a cult following later after its home video release. Simply the type of film that you either love or hate!

Both the Blu-Ray & DVD look fantastic as both feature films are presented in widescreen 1.78:1 anamorphic transfers. Dolby Digital Audio for the DVD & DTS HD audio for the Blu-Ray. Both feature films on each disc (DVD & Blu-Ray). The special features are identical for both the DVD & Blu-Ray. I posted images of my set above.

For Special Features, Terror Vision has a full-feature length commentary with writer/director Ted Nicolaou, actress Diane Franklin (Suzy Putterman) and actor John Greis (O.D.). Besides all three commentators' personal experiences with the film that are discussed, most of the commentary is screen specific as all three participants pretty much talk about each scene as it goes.

A 34-minute behind the scenes & making of featurette is also included as we get the usual director, cast & crew interviews with some behind the scenes stills & video clips. We get current video interviews from writer/director Ted Nicolaou, actresses Diane Franklin (Suzy Putterman) & Mary Woonov (Racquel Putterman), actors John Greis (O.D.) & Chad Allen (Sherman Putterman) and many others. It was interesting to note the following;

Entire film was shot in location just outside of Rome, Italy with a predominately American cast, but predominately Italian film crew.

Chad Allen was only about nine years old in the film, but his concerned, religious parents viewed the set and had mild complaints about the numerous erotic, nude paintings that dominated the interiors of the Putterman household set.

According to the director, Belinda Carlisle was a cast consideration for the role of Suzy Putterman & Harry Shearer for the role of the father, Stanley Putterman, but both were either not interested in the roles or were unavailable.

Frank Zappa was a consideration to score the film's music, but was either unavailable or not interested so Richard Band, scored the film instead & a L.A. rock-band called "The Fibonaccis" performed the "Terror Vision" theme song.

Actress Mary Woonov was originally casted to play the late night TV show vixen "Medusa", but insisted on playing the mother, Racquel Putterman instead.

The special features conclude with a photo gallery consisting about twenty photos of cast/crew shots & multiple Theatrical posters (some international).

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Don Giovanni (1979)

This is possibly the most beautiful opera video ever produced. It was not filmed on stage, but on location in Vicenza, Italy, with absolutely stunning setting. It features excellent performances, including Ruggero Raimondi (the perfect Don) and Kiri Te Kanawa (the perfect Donna Elvira). Of the 5 or 6 greatest operas ever written (all Mozart's, in my opinion), some say Don Giovanni stands out as the most perfect achievement. Whatever your opinion may be, by getting this video you will be getting the very finest rendition of this masterwork I have ever seen. It is sung in the original Italian, with English subtitles. Incidentally, one reviewer complained of the poor quality of the sound. This is unfortunately true (shame on Kultur Videos!) but don't let this stop you from purchasing this excellent video you won't regret it.

This is a "movie opera", and I am not a fan of them, because I find some of the passion is filtered out when the singing is separated from the acting, and though this film is well done, it has a lot of that "lip-synch" look, which dims the dramatic impact. I would rather watch a filmed live performance, with less gloss, and more feeling.

The lavish production is stunning to look at, with great art direction (by Alexandre Tauner) and cinematography (by Gerry Fischer), a very attractive cast, and of course, Mozart's score, which I think is his most sublime masterpiece.

The singers are excellent: Kiri Te Kanawa as Donna Elvira, and Edda Moser as Donna Anna really shine above all, both so lovely and graceful, and vocally wonderful. Moser especially manages to be emotionally expressive. Ruggero Raimondi is a fine Don Giovanni, Jose Van Dam a rather elegent Leporello, with John Macurdy as Il Commendatore, Kenneth Riegel as Ottavio, Teresa Berganza as Zerlina, and Malcolm King as Masetto rounding out the cast well.

The sound: The volume fluctuates depending on where the singer is placed in the scene, fading out as they walk away for instance, which is dramatically appropriate, but a musical disaster. There is a quartet that is bizarre in its balance, since two of the singers are in the background. Lorin Maazel conducts the Paris Opera, which in this, and other recordings I have heard, does not have the richest and fullest sound in the world, and may be adding to the problems.

The Don's demise however, starting with the Commendatore's "Don Giovanni a cenar teco" is marvelous, and despite the camera inexplicably lingering on the servant boy instead of the action at times, it is a riveting scene, with some of the most superb music ever written.

Though well worth viewing, I would put this film into the "rent not buy" category, unless one is an inveterate opera collector.

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Joseph Losey's Don Giovanni is masterful. The opening scenes resonate perfectly with the music. The gathering clouds slowly darkening the sky and the melancholy sea beating against the shoreline foretell of a sea-change. Bad days are ahead for the Don. Ruggero Raimondi is the perfect Don Giovanni totally believable and true to Mozart's characterization. The location shots add a dimension to Opera that take this production to another level. Losey makes sure the music is always in sync with the action. When Don Ottario is singing in the Gondolla, for instance, the oarsman is keeping perfect time with the music which, esthetically, is a major improvement over what is normally a dry section of the Opera. Another interesting touch that Losey gives to this production is the character, played by Eric Adjani, called the "Silent Valet." A sly mephistophelean presence that provides an excellent counterpoint to the levity of José van Dam's Leporello. Though he never speaks, his demeanor encourages the Don's baser instincts (one might even argue that he is an image of the younger Giovanni). Losey is masterful in creating visual images that give the story more depth. There is a scene in particular, in which Giovanni watches a nude girl bathing. While she is unaware of his presence the scene is a combination of innocence and sensuality. When she does become aware of the intrusion, Giovanni gives her his penetrating stare, which she returns with a look that is knowing and somehow sad. There has indeed been a sea change and the Don is travelling inevitably down a road that will lead to his demise.

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I have a very personal relation to that production. Being a teenage vandal I used to record heavy metal music over the operatic masterpieces on Decca's cassettes there was a shortage of a quality tape in Russia these days.

One day in was Don Giovanni soundtrack's turn to fall victim my friend's Black Sabbath album yearned to be duplicated. I was in a strange mood so I just turned on the opera to make things worse for me the usual teenage masochism.

The sounds streaming from Hi-Fi made me listen till the end. Then I pushed the rewind and listened once more. Got hold of the film next day. Yesterday was a day of my 100th viewing give or take a couple times.

Since then I've seen a lot, but Losey's film is still my favourite. The movie is a perfect introduction to the world of opera.

It takes care of many preconceptions that prevent lots of people from enjoying the genre.

The casting is perfect. Many of us have a problem with separating a voice and a body. Young lovely virgin sung by colossal diva does not look veritable. Wrinkled and potbellied owner of the divine tenor voice makes us wish for a younger and leaner replacement for the romantic lover's part. How to solve that?

The sensous lips of deliciously breasted Sophie Lourent were opening to the voice of Renata Tebaldi in Aida's production but the result is pure kitsch.

Enter the Losey's masterpiece. Everyone is perfectly cast. Ruggero Raimondi makes you care for the character, despise the lecher and respect the brave man who challenges Fate. He contributes his eyes to the best closeups in opera films, his non-athletic body to the bathtub scene, when the fluffy clothes are shod and we see that sagging flesh the striking visual commentary on the nature of sin.

Kiri Te Kanawa is passionately unrestrained, she stalks the monster, warns the potential victims...and loves him till the final pyrotechnics. I suspect well after that too.

Donna Anna cradles her purity so fervently that you begin to suspect that such fervor is meant to fight the temptation that is equally strong.

Don Ottavio is corpulent and not very brave his self-inflammatory singing warms him up for the task ahead. And he looks funny when informed that after all these trials the physical consumation of his love is postponed for a whole year!

The rest of the singers are also the perfect match except maybe Theresa Berganza's Zerlina, who is lamely coquettish and unconvincing.

The production was filmed in Vicenza, the villas, the canals and gardens combine in a world of beauty. And very laconical, truly classic beauty that is. No dusty curtains of theater just marble, sky and greenery.

That production is terribly underrated, it does not occupy the place it deserves the DVD is a must, but there is still no disc, while a host of mediocre opera films has already got their tickets to eternity.

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I truly wanted to enjoy this Don Giovanni. Unfortunately, not enough advantage is taken of the film medium (for example, the entire "Mille torbidi pensieri" section of "Sola, sola in buio loco" is done in a single shot, with all the actors standing in a line, providing no advantage over a staged production). The sound, as it has been said before, is quite terrible, but what I simply cannot force myself to overlook is the character interpretation.

Raimondi is a decent enough Don Giovanni, being sinister, shameless, and coldly proper. Unfortunately, Don Giovanni is not the only character in the opera. If he were, this would be a pretty good movie. Much of our view of Don Giovanni's character has to do with his servant. Typically, Leporello is unwisely played as a complete doofus. In this case, Leporello is the opposite, if just as bad--almost completely devoid of personality, which is nothing short of a wonder, considering both the music and the text given to the character. I never knew that "Ah, pieta, signori miei" could be sung almost completely lifelessly. He looks somewhat unconcerned when his life is threatened in "Sola, sola in buio loco," and, far from being afraid of his master, seems quite indignant when Don Giovanni tries to blame him for the attack on Zerlina. The amount of propriety he displays would work for a more typical servant role, but Leporello is not a typical servant role, being both our access to the story and our contact with reality, and most of the comedy in the opera, to boot. I was severely disappointed in this case. I wanted the wit and sarcasm of Leporello to have more than a cameo appearance. I wanted him to have a little humor to him, maybe even the capacity for a smile. I wanted him to actually make sense.

Kiri Te Kanawa is a wonderful singer, but she seems to have a similar problem to Jose van Dam's in her Donna Elvira. She is angry, but there isn't exactly a personality to go with her anger. She reacts to the situations and the text, but without any great thought to why her character reacts this way. I found it very odd, actually, that she's singing "God protect my trusting heart" with a joyous smile. Her "Mi tradi" is slow, frustratingly lyrical, and altogether unsatisfying, but that is truly the fault of the conductor.

The filming of Masetto's "Ho capito, signor si" is a little silly. He is standing outside the house into which Don Giovanni and Zerlina have disappeared as he sings to them, which works until he sings, "Vengo, vengo" ("I'm coming, I'm coming"). This line is meant to be sung to Leporello, who is urging him to come away to Don Giovanni's palace. When Masetto sings this to the air, it doesn't make sense. Unfortunately, this sort of disregard for the text occurs throughout the opera. For example, Leporello imitates the footsteps of the statue without having actually heard them--he only sees a brief, ghostly visage of the statue, which quickly fades in and out, but never walks at all.

The rest of the cast is made up of gorgeous voices. I could have closed my eyes and been quite happy, but watching them is quite boring. The only one that shows a real glimmer is Zerlina (thank God for Teresa Bergonza), who very much seems to enjoy tormenting Masetto during "Batti, batti."

I did like the way the Catalogue Aria was filmed, if not the way it was sung. It is visually interesting for various servants to pull out enormous volumes and spread their single lengthy page far, far across what appears to be Don Giovanni's front lawn, down into the nearby village. It's over-the-top, but appropriately so. I also like that Donna Anna is not the first to see her father dead--that the Commendatore is killed in the middle of a street, and people are gathering and some servants are even lifting the body onto a stretcher when Donna Anna and Don Ottavio see the scene. I was quite happy that Don Giovanni and Leporello are literally shouting in each others' faces at the end of "Eh via, buffone," even if Leporello appears more stuck-up than angry.

One scene which made me excited for a brief moment was the Act I finale, just as we are entering the "Tremor, tremor, scellerato!" section. Don Giovanni seizes Leporello and pushes him through the crowd, and the Anti-Giovanni Wheel follows them. "Ah! Camera movement!" I thought excitedly. "They're taking advantage of the action in the music!" It was short-lived. The Don and his servant quickly reach a point where they stop and keep singing while everyone else stands some distance away. This is what I mean when I say this movie does not take advantage of the film medium.

There are definitely better Don Giovannis on DVD, including even the all-right von Karajan production with Samuel Ramey. Far superior is the Met production of 2000 with Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming, and Ferruccio Furlanetto, which I have reviewed on Amazon. While no specific production will please everybody, some come closer than others, and regrettably, this one does not even come close for me.

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Project X (1987)

One day my mother came home with a film she showed her kids in school that day. I was either 4 or 5 years old. The film was "Project X", a heart warming, no so far fetched idea, melodrama starring Matthew Broderick and Helen Hunt not to mention the extremely cute and hairy chimps.

The film is about an air force pilot who is transfred to an "Experimental Pilot Preformance Project" conducted by a strict doctor. From there he meets Virgil, an extremely smart and loving chimp who ended up there by mistake. He falls for the chimp like anyone else would and tries to save him with the help of the researcher who taught and cared for Virgil in the begining.

I found this film by mistake and quickly bought it. It's only special feature is the theatrical trailer and TV Spots but the film itself is well worth the ten bucks. The film has some very emotional scenes and some harrowing. Some of the scenes were honestly hard to watch. Being an animal lover one can only imagine how bad these kinds of experiments got. However, like all family films, this one has a great and happy ending.

This is simply a great movie that kids will love as well as adults. I'm 21 and I just love it!

I saw this movie when it first came out and have always wanted it. I could not believe I found it here at Amazon at such a great low price. This movie is so funny and yet so sad. It is the best movie I have ever seen. You have to see it. It is so sad to know that this kind of testing was actually performed on chimps by the US Airforce. This movie really makes you think. It gives you a sense of respect and love for these animals. (I was rooting for the chimps all the way.)

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PROJECT X is really a movie fairy tale for adults. It is billed as a comedy, and there are truly some humorous moments, but the basic thrust of the film is to transport the audience to a world of a deep and dark forest populated and run by evil witches and warlocks. The dark forest is a United States Air Force research test center and the resident warlock is a heartless and slimy researcher whose only stated purpose is to expose chimpanzees to lethal doses of radiation. Enter Matthew Broderick as a young and innocent air force recruit whose job is to bond with these chimps and basically and unwittingly get them ready for their lethal exposures. Broderick is young and boyishly goodlooking, but he is not the star. The one who steals more than a few scenes is Virgil the chimp. Virgil learns to trust Broderick, who in turn learns that the horrors of the dark forest are masked by the antiseptic environment that kills chimps in the name of science.

Director Jonathan Kaplan clearly tries hard to infuse PROJECT X with more than just the comic interaction between a chimp that is as at least as bright as his handler. Kaplan sets up the relation between Broderick and Virgil as a dramatic focus that zeros in on the rationale that the air force doctor slimily insists is the case: namely that if and when American pilots are exposed to killing radiation during a bombing run--perhaps to Russia--then how well will they be able to continue their mission? To Kaplan's credit, he has Broderick point out that unlike their simian counterparts in a flight simulator, a human pilot will certainly know if he has been exposed, and it is this knowledge that renders the entire PROJECT X experiment rationale as unneeded at best and evil at worst. Broderick is forced to juggle duty versus conscience, never an easy task at any time. By the film's midpoint Helen Hunt enters as a simian sign language teacher who, years earlier, had taught Virgil to communicate in contextually meaningful ways, thus intensifying Broderick's dilemma about the potential destruction of a sentient being that is not only cute but smart. It is this smartness that director Kaplan uses to ease the film into the slapstick world of farce. Not only is Virgil bright enough to help Broderick defuse a melt down in a lab experiment gone haywire, but he is also savvy enough to take an airplane up and pilot it in an escape.

PROJECT X is that odd but pleasant comedy/fantasy that brings the audience into the dark world of science to force the hero and the audience to wonder where duty ends and conscience begins. PROJECT X implies that a useful starting point is to define just what it means to be human--or in Virgil's case--near human.

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I am giving the movie 4 stars because It is one of the movies I remember from my childhood that really left an impact on my views about animals and humanity. As a child, soaking in every little bit of this movie really made me feel a lot more attached to animals and more intuitive to the fact that every creature on this earth has feelings and emotions, regardless of if they can't express them like humans do.

Project X is one of the few movies that I also can't get myself to watch again to this day. It always makes me cry. I just get so overwhelmed with emotions over the chimps and the testing. It's all so sad.

James Horner is my musical epitome of a soundtrack God! I will admit though that you can identify his scores immediately because they are all very similar, but they ALWAYS evoke such strong, powerfully moving feelings during the films and it really works here with Project X.

This is a movie that has a nice, happy ending..but there is sadness to get to it, and it makes me all mushy and emotional just thinking of it!

Just had to put some thoughts about this movie up out of boredom!

Great childhood memories film. Reminds me of being a kid in the 80's.

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This movie is a poignant reminder to me of how cruel and how kind the human race can be to other animals. I know it is mostly a fictional story, but I still root for the escape of the chimps, even for grumpy Goliath. Jimmy was being manipulated, same as the subjects of the "experiment" and he comes to realize he has to stand up for himself. He won't just be the wise-cracking card player anymore.

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The Sacrifice: 2-Disc Remastered Edition (1986)

THE SACRIFICE is a true work of art. It is probably the most beautiful film by the cinematic poet Andrey Tarkovsky. It is also the most accessible among his works: unlike his films prior to this one, the plot of THE SACRIFICE itself is quite simple and easy to catch. A retired actor journalist-author (some kind of an intellectual superman) hero living in a beautiful sea-shore house suddenly faces the end of the world: a nuclear war. What can he do to stop it? He prays to God, he who never believed in God before, and offers himself to be the sacrifice for saving the world as he knows, a world which for the first time, he realises how much he loves it.

The plot is simple, but its implication is complex. One who believes in God and the absolute love he represents can see this as a story of miracle. An atheist can see this as all being a hallucination of a repressed old man. Tarkovsky makes the film in a way that you can interpret it in whatever way you want. But in whichever way you see it, the film will lead you to our fundamental question; why we live? What is the meaning of our life? How we can achieve the state in which we can say when we face eternity, "I understood the meaning of my life and I fulfilled it"?

THE SACRIFICE was shot beautifully by cinematographer Sven Nykvist, one of the greatest master in the art of creating filmic images, whose talent is perfectly in match with Tarkovsky's narrative strategy of filling the frame with symbolism that the audience can interpret in what ever way he/her wants.

The disappointment with this rather expensive DVD is that, the transfer fails to catch the richness of Nykvist's work, and in the case of this particular film, it really hurts because it prevent you to create your own interpretation from what the film shows. The nature plays a big role in the story, and already at the very beginning, you cannot feel the richness of the green grass by the sea, the mystery of the trees surrounding the house. Later in the film you miss the richness of the shadows, the complex texture that the lights and shadows create on a simple wall, the subtle reflection on a framed painting (a study of the Madonna by Da Vinci). It actually looks like it was made from a video tape. The yellow subtitles are also build in the images, it's not an optional subtitling and you cannot erase it. I suggest you wait for a few years if you have already seen the film, then maybe KINO will come up with a better DVD. But if you have never seen it, well... it's a must-see film.

Kino on Video should be proud of their work releasing Tarkovsky's THE MIRROR and THE SACRIFICE on DVD. The DVD of THE SACRIFICE looks markedly superior to any version of the film available on home video. Doing a direct comparison with the old Image laserdisc, I was struck by how much better the DVD captured the film's subtle gradations of light and color, how it revealed details in the set design which I had never noticed before. For Tarkovsky this is all-important. In addition, the DVD includes a feature-length documentary on Tarkovsky which says a great deal about his working methods as a director and his thoughts on the cinema in general. If you have any interest in Tarkovsky or in film as an art form, the DVD is recommended.

This is not to say that the film itself is perfect. I strongly believe that Tarkovsky's last two films, made in Europe (the other was the Italian co-production NOSTALGHIA), are distinctly inferior to his Russian films, especially his masterpieces ANDREI RUBLEV and THE MIRROR. The same stunning imagery is there, and there are a number of truly great moments; THE SACRIFICE has two celebrated l0-minute takes--the tree-planting and house-burning scenes--which push the cinema about as far as it can go. But there is also a certain preachiness and an implicit sense that the film is Great Art, so therefore you must sit quietly and pay attention to everything it has to tell you. Many of Alexander's speeches sound suspiciously like the more didactic moments in Tarkovsky's book-length essay SCULPTING IN TIME.

Since it's Tarkovsky, I'm willing to listen--when I'm in the right mood--but not without a murmur of protest. His contemporary Sergei Paradjanov managed to be playful and profound at the same time, so I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. There is an underlying fundamental lack of vitality here compared to his Russian films. (Yes, I'm aware that Tarkovsky was dying of cancer when he made the film). However, under the right conditions I've found THE SACRIFICE to be a mesmerizing experience. I do urge you to see it.

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On the morning of his birthday, Alexander takes his young son ("little man") for a walk and plants a tree. It is no ordinary tree, but a tall dried out sprawling limb, supported by stones. Alexander tells his son that a single act, repeated daily, can change the world, and tells him the story of a monk who brought a tree to life by his daily watering and devotion. Events that unfold later that evening, raising the specter of a nuclear holocaust, suggest the possibility there won't be time to carry out any such plans. Alexander finds himself faced with a choice. Is he willing to make a leap of faith, a Faustian bargain with God, perhaps? to save his family?

Andrei Tarkovksy's final film, completed from his death bed as he died from lung cancer, is perhaps his most philosophically complex, and shows him at the height of his powers as a filmmaker. With cinematographer Sven Nykvist, the Ingmar Bergman favorite, Tarkovsky created some remarkably subtle and beautiful and provocative imagery, that cannot help but unsettle the viewer, and raise questions about the relative merits of intellect and conviction, of individuality and community, of realism and superstition. Like his previous two films, Stalker and Nostalghia, the film focuses on a troubled individual at the crossroads, doubting the moral validity of his life, and then faced with a choice to either act upon faith, where the task appears outwardly absurd but may make all the difference, or to refuse and rest secure in doubt and uncertainty.

One nice bonus included with the Kino version (this one) is the very fine documentary "Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky" that reveals a good deal about his filmmaking process as it covers his work making "The Sacrifice" and includes several of his personal thoughts on cinema as Brian Cox reads passages from Tarkovsky's Sculpting in Time. Highly recommended.

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Kino's blu-ray release of "The Sacrifice" is unquestionably a better release than all previous DVD versions. Unfortunately, it is also plagued by several forms of unnecessary manipulation by Kino. There are visible edge-enhancement halos everywhere, especially in outdoor scenes. The picture has also been egregiously bathed in excessive DNR, to where the image rarely looks filmic, but rather soft and digital. I'm ecstatic that Tarkovsky films are making their way stateside in HD, but you can't help but feel that the transfer would have been handled better by a distributor like Criterion, who knows how to restore films without such destructive tinkering.

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...that seems to be the opinion of some reviewers. This film Tarkovsky's final work is certainly more accessible than his others, more straightforward in its storytelling...but there's a lot of wonderful elements involved, and it certainly doesn't deserve to be relegated to the 'minor works' category. Other reviewers have also drawn comparisons between this film and the work of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman there is some of Bergman's 'look' to the film, perhaps because Tarkovsky chose to work with Sven Nykvist, who worked on several of Bergman's films. Even with this 'Bergmanesque' presence, this is definitely Tarkovsky's film and if it's more accessible than some of his other works, perhaps it's a good place for someone who is unfamiliar with his work to start.

Several of Tarkovsky's favorite themes are present in SACRIFICE alienation, an aching emptiness of the spirit, the slighting of nature by mankind. Erland Josephson portrays Alexander, a wealthy, semi-retired writer who lives with his wife, teenage daughter and 'Little Man', his young son, in a lovely house that sits rather isolated on the seaside in Sweden. His young son is obviously his favorite, the center of his soul and existence. We see him with the little boy, planting a tree, telling him a story about devotion to duty involving a young Japanese monk and his master.

Alexander's birthday is at hand, and his family, along with a couple of friends, makes ready to celebrate. As the group awaits dinner to be served, there is a roaring like a low-flying jet in the sky, followed by what appears at first to be a mild earthquake. A ceramic milk pitcher vibrates its way off a shelf, shattering on the floor news broadcasts on the television indicate that World War III has begun. Each of the characters reacts in their own way Alexander's wife falls to pieces and requires a sedative from their friend Victor, a doctor. Alexander is shaken as well but he's not sure what to do. He has lost his faith several years before, and yet he finds himself begging God to reverse the horrible events unfolding on the television screen. In one of the film's most poignant moments, we see him drained of strength, falling on his knees, barely able to speak, praying with all his might. He attempts to 'strike a bargain' with God, offering to give up everything his home, his belongings, his family...even Little Man, his beloved son, if the world can be 'put back like it was before'.

In a conversation with his friend Otto, the postman, Alexander learns of Otto's suspicion that Maria, one of Alexander's servant girls, is a witch and Otto suggests that if Alexander goes to Maria and sleeps with her, she has the power to reverse the horrible events. In his desperation, Alexander succumbs to Otto's suggestion he never voices his request to Maria, but she sees the pain in his eyes (and in his actions) and takes him to her bed in an attempt, I think, simply to comfort him. This scene like lovemaking scenes in all of Tarkovsky's films, when they occur is photographed beautifully and tastefully. Tarkovsky never stooped to gratuitous or graphic sex or nudity. We see the couple lie down, embrace and levitate, floating gently into the air, a lovely, tender visual rendition of the healing power of love.

You'll have to see the film in order to find out if Alexander's efforts in either theatre are rewarded. I don't want to spoil anything for the potential viewer. Suffice to say that even as the film ends, the viewer is left with as many questions as answers and that's one of the things I find so stimulating and rewarding about Tarkovsky's work. I can't give anything I've seen by this director less than five stars and while this might not be quite on the same levels as his other films, it's still head and shoulders above the commercial films coming out of the major studios.

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Losing Control (2012)

I'm a 24 year old UCLA grad (class of 2010) and I loved this film. I love how at the beginning, the director shows the audience Sam's life chart--a chart she made showing what she's accomplished thus far in the field of science and in her personal life(i.e. "first science experiment" and "first kiss" "first breakup" etc). Her life chart also shows what age she would like to accomplish certain goals. Among this list is "get an updated wardrobe," "travel," "get married," "get a pet," "assistant professorship at Harvard," and "tenure at Harvard." I laughed when I saw this chart because I feel like my friends and I have similar charts and even if some of my friends don't have it on paper, I know we have at least talked about what age we intend to accomplish certain things. What I love about this film is its originality. This film is more than just a cute love story. This film is about a woman who has a passion for science and discovery. She has always felt strongly about the subject and certain about its methodology, until she cannot prove her theory which she needs in order to graduate from her doctorate program. When she has trouble in the lab, the doubt she feels about her experiment carries over into her personal relationship with her boyfriend, Ben. Sam likes to ask questions she's cautious and analytical. She wants to find a reason for everything. In one scene, her mom says "How do I know?...You've been asking that question since you could talk. It makes for a great scientist, but it's ruining your life, Sam."

This is a great film about letting go of control and the need for proof. Like her boyfriend Ben says, "You don't need proof, you need faith." I used to hate science (I was awful at chemistry) but this movie made me feel so amazed at women in science. Watching this film actually made me curious about science much more than any article in TIME magazine could. I loved watching Sam create a lab in her own kitchen. For the first time ever, science looked fun to me. Through watching the movie, I understood why she was so passionate about it. There are so many great things about this film. I love the casting. I love that the main character, Sam, is not your picture-perfect-Blonde. I'm so tired of seeing movies where this super gorgeous girl gets the super hot guy. I think THAT is pretty predictable. I think the fact that Sam is a natural beauty and she still got a hottie like Sam says a LOT more. It says that he's attracted to her beauty and her passion. The fact that he proposed to her and was so certain about his feelings for her shows that SHE (even if she's not the next supermodel on the cover of Maxim) is the one for him. It shows that Sam being Sam (idiosyncrasies and all) is what makes her The One for him. At one point in the movie, when Sam is talking to a guy at the bar she says something like she suspected she was attractive but that she never received the attention you hear about "a man brining you flowers and all of that." Yet, at the end of the film, the audience realizes (just as Sam does) that what turns out to be more romantic than "flowers and all of that" is the fact that Ben loves that Sam checks her "sleeping stations." He accepts her, supports her dreams, and loves her for who she is.

I love the details that the director/writer focused on. For example, at the beginning we see a picture of Ben and Sam wearing yellow plastic ponchos in the rain. To me, this picture speaks a thousand words. It says that they are co-adventurers, which is exactly what Ben believes him and Sam to be. I love that Sam's mom is a hypochondriac. The fact that her mom is neurotic helps make Sam's upbringing not-so-perfect, which makes her more relatable. Plus, part of her own struggle probably has a lot to do with how she was raised and the types of thinking she was exposed to for the majority of her life.

I love this movie mainly for the following reasons:

The characters were so real and relatable. The actors who played them were fantastic.

The film made me feel respect for women in science

The film made me think about my own relationship and that I should be grateful that I have a boyfriend like Ben and I shouldn't push him away and I should just learn to "let go" and "have faith"

The film was written and directed by a woman. I am truly inspired!

I rented Losing Control in HD to watch with my wife and we both enjoyed it. It was a good choice for a movie rental date. I laughed out loud regarding the bedtime rituals of the main character. I recommend giving it a watch.

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This is a really great flick. Fun, funny, definitely worth the watch! Writing is solid, directing and acting sells the concept.

Read Best Reviews of Losing Control (2012) Here

I loved it a wacky, fun, clever movie. It is heartfelt like a John Hughes film, absurd like an Almodovar film, and very, very funny. Definitely see it !

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Night of the Devils (1972)

When I had read throughout various Euro Cult Cinema websites that Raro Video USA was releasing Director Giorgio Ferroni's 'THE NIGHT OF THE DEVILS' aka 'LA NOTTE DEI DIAVOLI"-1972 on BluRay , I shivered with anticipation. Available for over a decade in inferior VHS and DVD bootlegs, the film can now be fully appreciated in its wonderful 2.35 glory with updated English subtitles and gorgeous DTS-HD MA 2.0 audio. Director Ferroni touched many genres including sword and sandal and a quartet of Spaghetti Westerns with actor Giuliano Gemma but only made two entries in the Horror/Thriller genre, this one and the wonderfully atmospheric 'MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN' aka 'IL MULINO DELLE DONNE DI PIETRA'1960 available in a beautiful transfer from the Mondo Macabro label. The short story by Tolstoy 'THE WURDALAK' was unforgettably lensed as part of a horror trilogy by Horror maestro Mario Bava in 'BLACK SABBATH' aka 'I TRE VOLTI DELLA PAURA'-1963 starring Boris Karloff but now Ferroni reboots the tragic family tale into a modern setting somewhere in the Hungarian countryside. By having our protagonist confined to an insane asylum, we are allowed to experience the nightmare in flashback culminating in an exciting climax at the fade out. The cast is excellent: Gianni Garko who is known to Euro fans as the classic Western character Sartana : the stunning Agostina Belli who made many genre titles including Director Edward Dymitryk's infamous version of 'BLUEBEARD'-1972 (wait till you see her beautiful blue eyes in Blu-Ray) and other familiar faces including a wonderful cameo by actress Maria Monti who plays the eerie witch of the town. Monti also acted in Bava's 'DROP OF WATER' episode in 'BLACK SABBATH' .as the spiritualist's housekeeper. The true scene stealer is child actress Cinzia De Carolis who plays Irena predating the child vampires from such films as Neil Jordan's 'INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE' -1994 and Director Tomas Alfredson's 'LET THE RIGHT ONE IN'-2008 among others. De Carolis who also played in Director Dario Argento's 'THE CAT OF NINE TAILS' aka 'IL GATTO A NOVE CODE'-1971 as blind Karl Malden's sidekick plays her vampire role with animalistic gusto and is hard to shake after the film fades to black. I purchased this through a company called Fictions because it seems Raro Video keeps postponing the release through Amazon so scoff it up while you can, it arrives in good condition and it is a US release not an import. The release has a few extras including an unnecessarily loud introduction to the film by Fangoria magazines Chris Alexander and an interview with composer Giorgio Gaslini who seems annoyed with his interviewer throughout the Q's & A's. There is a booklet included with the same Q & A interview with Gaslini and liner notes by Alexander. Highly recommended for Euro Horror and vampire film fans, Raro Video should be commended for bringing this rarity into the digital age showing how Britain's Hammer Films were not the only memorable studios releasing excellent product in the late sixties/early seventies.

I was truly entertained by this lost masterpiece. Takes me back to Saturday night movie marathons (which no longer exists thanks to dumbed down American Idol TV wanting audiences). Raro Entertainment's restoration of this film is right on par with a Criterion quality release, be proud, very proud. What I got out of this film is that this is not a zombie move. It's not a werewolf, it's something in between.

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Giorgio Ferroni (1908-1981) was an Italian director that helmed almost every kind of genre of films, including war, ancient Rome, Mythology, and more. He also made incursions into the then popular culture of Italian horror movies during the early seventies, a great result being the penetrating and electrifying "The Night of the Devils."

Gianni Garko, who we meet at the beginning of the movie after being found in the wild and taken to the hospital, is Nicola, the unlucky fellow who crashes his car in the woods, trying to avoid a lady that crossed his way. He looks for help at the closest town that he is able to find. Only that this town is almost deserted and there is a good reason for it. The only family left is the one led by Gorca (Bill Vanders), who has told his family that if he doesn't show up at a certain time to the house, to not let him back in, because he will kill them all. Many that have done so in town have had that experience, and met a horrible dead. It is the curse of Vourdalak, that is, incorporeal material creatures, which has taken over the community and created a never-ending chain of death. Nicola, of course, is incredulous, but he will learn the hard way. In addition, things get complicated when he falls for Sdenka (Agostina Belli), Gorca's beautiful daughter.

The film is dark and the atmosphere is eerie, like a good horror flick should be. It also has some nudity, as it was required during those years in Italian Cinema, and it has survived the test of time as a Euro-Horror classic. The Blu-ray edition features interviews with Chris Alexander (Fangoria Magazine) and composer Giorgio Gaslini, and a great booklet with the story of the film and its director. (Italy / Spain, 1972, color, 93 min plus additional materials). Reviewed on December 3, 2012 by Eric Gonzales for RaroVideo Blu-ray

Read Best Reviews of Night of the Devils (1972) Here

I'm not sure what the deal is here but every time I click on this title Amazon does not have it in stock so I feel an urge to speak up. As of this writing the THE NIGHT OF THE DEVILS Blu-ray is still in print and can be purchased directly from Raro (that's how I got mine). Look them up. It's a fantastic disc. Show them your support. It's also worth liking them on Facebook. You not only get product updates but they sometimes offer a free bonus DVD with purchase. And no I don't work for the company I just dig what they are doing. Hopefully Amazon will clear this issue up (more sales for Raro) but it's been going on for months.

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I liked the A/V presentation.

It's definately a imptovement over the DVD counterpart.

Also It's great.

That all of the supplemental material is carryed over.

Thanks Walt Disney pictures for a great Blu-Ray release.!!

New Police Story (2004)

After the disappointing `Around the World in 80 Days,' Jackie Chan went back to his roots in Hong Kong film industry. What is amazing is that Jackie (who is over 50 years old) can still do the death-defying stunts, as is seen in this film. The fact that his best films are made in 1980s cannot be denied, but `New Police Story' delivers its goods with Jackie and some of the new faces from Hong Kong.

The story is given a new touch in `New Police Story.' This time Jackie plays a veteran Hong Kong police officer Wing, whose overconfidence leads to a botched raid. Feeling guilt deeply, Inspector Wing, now disgraced, is given to drink until a young `police detective' named Fung appears before him. With a help from Fung, Wing again begins to hunt the culprits responsible for the deaths of his men.

[NEW BREED OF VILLAINS] As in his `The Myth,' Jackie's answer to the recent boom of wuxia (Chinese period martial arts films), in `New Police Story' Jackie Chan clearly intends to do something different. The baddies of the new film are a bunch of masked young gangsters, who can rob and kill as if it is a video game. As a fan of Jackie's actions, I can swear that this is very unusual choice. For in many cases the villains of his films may have been assassins or gangsters, but they never acted like spoiled kids. It is certain that deaths are sometimes depicted, but not in this violent way. Violent, in this case I mean, for Jackie's film. The decision of director Benny Chan (`Who Am I?') would divide the viewers' opinions, but it is certain that he and Jackie are trying to seek a new direction.

[ACTIONS] But you want to know the actions. Good news is that Jackie is still alert and agile, and can move like when he was in his first `Rush Hour.' Considering the fact that he is now over fifty, this is just incredible. There are two outstanding scenes here; one is Jackie climbing down the vertical wall of a tall building in a very unique (and dangerous) way, followed by Jackie hanging on the roof of a runaway bus in the street of Hong Kong. The other is in a Lego showroom, where he shows a bone-crunching fighting against one of the baddie.

[ACTING] This may not interest you, but Jackie does another new thing, and that is acting. Well, of course he must have been doing that for long, I know, but what I mean is he takes more time to reveal the complex nature of the character he plays, to show his ability as actor. There is even a love interest for his character.

[SUPPORTS] Some of Jackie film fans seem not to remember the names of the supports, or you just don't care. For `New Police Story' Jackie assembled great cast. Nicholas Tse as mysterious Fung is a standout among them, and so is Daniel Wu as the leader of the gangs. Among the fighting scenes, Andy On shines who was wasted in deplorable `Black Mask 2.' As to the female players, after the 8 years' retirement Charlie Yeung comes back as love of Jackie's inspector, giving the rather generic story a human touch, and very busy (and very cute) Charlene Choine from the popular duo Twins also appears.

`New Police Story' may not be the right place if you are going to see Jackie Chan films for the first time. It is overlong, sometime unnecessarily serious and violent, and Jackie's stunts, thrilling as they are, are not his best. Having said that, I must say it is a welcome addition to the works of one and only Jackie Chan, far better than any recent English-speaking films of his.

Longtime fans of Jackie Chan -that is, those of us who were fans pre-Rush Hour -know that his craziest stunts have always been reserved for his Hong Kong productions, no doubt due to the conservative nature of American films' insurance companies.

However, in recent years, Jackie has been trying to lay the groundwork for his post-action career by taking on roles with minimal action so that he can display his acting prowess, which has often been overlooked by "pure" action fans. He has shown great depth from time to time, and recent films like "Gorgeous" eschew almost all martial arts action in favor of real acting.

In "New Police Story," Jackie appears to pass the baton to his young costar, Nicholas Tse. I compare this film to "Drunken Master" or one of Jackie's other early films in that it is a master/student story, except that here, Jackie is the master on his way to retirement.

Jackie is Hong Kong inspector Wing, a 'top cop' who is disgraced when he leads a raid against a gang of rich punks that goes horribly wrong. After falling into a drunken depression, the younger brother of on of the fallen cops from the raid (Tse) steps in to help Wing find revenge -and peace with himself.

Jackie has a number of dramatic scenes in this film and he carries them well -I almost forgot it was Jackie Chan and not Chow Yun Fat or another Hong Kong actor known for drama. Jackie has a few action sequences, but he seems to allow Tse to carry out a lot of Jackie-style "goofy fights" in his stead (using his own coat as a weapon, etc.). I should mention that this is a very dark, violent film, quite unlike the usual Jackie Chan fair. Of Jackie's prior work, only "Crime Story" comes close, and this film is far darker.

All in all, this film is well worth seeing, although I suspect only Jackie and/or HK cinema fans will truly enjoy it. 4.5 out of 5 stars!

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I've long been a fan of Jackie's films. He breathed new life into the genre like no other with his humorous style of combat; and it's inspiring to still see him move like he does at his age. The action in The New Police Story were just as fun as most of his lighter films; and the stunts were typically incredible, just as you expect from a Hong Kong production that isn't stiffled by Hollywood politics and/or insurance. And despite the more dramatic seriousness of Police Story, with a little Drunken Master mixed in, I found myself laughing much more than I expected. Aside from a few sequences that demand a little further explanation, The New Police Story was about as much fun as my favorite Chan films. The only real disappointment of the Blu-ray was that Lionsgate didn't include a lossless track for the original language. A lossless audio option is provided for the dub track; but only lossy audio is included in the original Chinese. That said, since I had a guest that doesn't like reading her movies, I opted for the dubbed track when we watched it and was surprised at the fidelity. The translation was word-for-word the same as the subtitles in the approx 5 minute portion of the film I compared the two. And the harmonics sounded very natural and dynamic. That Jackie did (most) of the voice dub for his character himself, further helped to make sitting through the dubbed track, not only bearable, but enjoyable.

Read Best Reviews of New Police Story (2004) Here

This movie is great action movie ever. This movie shows great of jackie chan's actions. I do have this dvd. I agree with the people to buy this movie, also this movie is the best action movie. I want you know this movie is awesome. They do hardcore actions. Even Jackie chan sliding on big builing in HONG KONG. I am big fan of jackie chan. I have all of his dvds but this movie is best action movie since rumble in the bronx or supercop. You have to watch that movie!!!!

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Don't ask questions, just buy this movie. If you are a fan of Jackie Chan, you have to own this one. This Ain't no Rush Hour. This is NOT an American action film. This is a Jackie Chan Action Film with all of Jackies crew. This movie has it all, good fights, good action, and good acting.

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Stargate: The Ark of Truth/Stargate: Continuum (2009)

The ending of the "Stargate SG-1" TV show left some threads dangling -the last Goa'uld System Lord was still in hiding, and the Ori were still threatening the world.

Fortunately those threads are more or less tied up in the two direct-to-DVD movies that followed: "Stargate: The Ark of Truth" and "Stargate: Continuum." While they don't quite have the unique flavour of the TV series, these movies do bring back all the favorite characters (and some departed villains) in a double finale to its winding stories.

"The Ark of Truth" is an Ancient device that brainwashes people -and SG-1 is searching for it, where they run into Vala's ex-hubby Tomin (who ends up teaming up with them). But soon they have a lead on where the Ark might be, and head for Celestis in the hopes of finding a bloodless method of stopping the Ori once and for all.

Unfortunately they have a slew of new problems -Ori motherships are approaching Earth with the intent to convert or destroy, a nasty IOA rep has created and loosed a very familiar enemy on the Odyssey, and Vala's malevolent daughter Adria has gained godlike power. Fortunately SG-1 has a powerful ally of their own.

And once again, there is time-twisting with "Continuum." SG-1 and General Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) are watching the execution and extraction of Ba'al... but unfortunately, it's not the real Ba'al. The real Ba'al has time-traveled and altered the timeline, causing Teal'c (Christopher Judge), Vala (Claudia Black) and the Tok'ra to vanish, and resulting in Jack's death.

Unfortunately, this alternate timeline becomes more perilous after a year -Earth is being threatened by the supreme System Lord Ba'al, his queen Qetesh (in Vala's body) and his First Prime Teal'c. But when Qetesh and Ba'al clash over his past on Earth, the altered SG-1 must band together to find and destroy Ba'al's time machine, and somehow restore the timeline to what it once was.

"Stargate: The Ark of Truth" and "Stargate: Continuum" are basically intended to wrap up loose ends, and as such they're not quite as satisfying as the television show was. "Ark of Truth" sometimes feels rather rushed and has a somewhat out-of-the-blue solition, and "Continuum" may need multiple viewings to keep up with the time-bouncing plotline.

But as finales they're solid pieces of work -lots of action, space battles, mysterious artifacts, and a way bigger budget that a TV episode would ever have allowed. And they both have everything that you'd expect from "Stargate SG-1" -pop culture homages ("Star Wars"!), some recurring characters (Apophis!), and alien nasties with overwhelming power. There's even some subtle moral dilemmas about belief and fighting the Ori followers.

It also has excellent scripting: plot threads drawn from the TV series, witty dialogue ("That is, after all, why we've come. Why we had to endure all of that singing. Get rid of the last bad guy and then there's cake"), and some nice quiet moments, such as Teal'c talking with Tomin about their bloodstained pasts. And they manage to throw some interesting twists at the audience, such as a shocking revelation about the Ori.

And seeing the actors as their SG-1 characters is like putting on a comfortable old shoe. Amanda Tapping and Michael Shanks are suitably brilliant and courageous, and Ben Browder gets to shine especially in "Continuum" as a strong, slightly quirky soldier. Christopher Judge gets to shine in "Ark of Truth" as a powerful, wise warrior, and Black gets to be both funny and emotional.

And of course, Richard Dean Anderson utterly steals the show whenever he appears ("Hey, have you ever tried to find a bathroom in a pyramid?") and Tim Guinee has a good smallish role as Tomin.

It's a little sad to see the main storylines of the Stargate universe end, but "Stargate: The Ark of Truth" and "Stargate: Continuum" are well worth seeing. Nice finales.

I'll be the first to admit I wasn't looking forward to the straight to dvd stargate movies. While I enjoyed the show, I wasn't expecting much from them. But it turned out Stargate prospered with the bigger budget! The first, ark of truth is the conclusion to the ori story. Though it started slow, it really picked up, and turned into a monstrously entertaining movie. Though I wish it could have been a few episodes (or instead a full season), what they did was very good, and a good conclusion to the Ori story.

As to Continuum, I was suprised with how much fun it was. Given the time travel nature of the story, I thought the fact that the show brought back feelings from so many seasons was a great effect. They also brought back old characters, including Goul'd Lords, who I haven't seen in years. Though the story was full of holes (like most time travel pieces) it was very interesting. For those wondering the difference between this and the seperate releases, there are none. They just put the discs in one new case, so if you have them both, you don't need to buy it again.

Buy Stargate: The Ark of Truth/Stargate: Continuum (2009) Now

The ending of the "Stargate SG-1" TV show left some threads dangling -the last Goa'uld System Lord was still in hiding, and the Ori were still threatening the world.

Fortunately those threads are more or less tied up in the two direct-to-DVD movies that followed: "Stargate: The Ark of Truth" and "Stargate: Continuum." While they don't quite have the unique flavour of the TV series, these movies do bring back all the favorite characters (and some departed villains) in a double finale to its winding stories.

"The Ark of Truth" is an Ancient device that brainwashes people -and SG-1 is searching for it, where they run into Vala's ex-hubby Tomin (who ends up teaming up with them). But soon they have a lead on where the Ark might be, and head for Celestis in the hopes of finding a bloodless method of stopping the Ori once and for all.

Unfortunately they have a slew of new problems -Ori motherships are approaching Earth with the intent to convert or destroy, a nasty IOA rep has created and loosed a very familiar enemy on the Odyssey, and Vala's malevolent daughter Adria has gained godlike power. Fortunately SG-1 has a powerful ally of their own.

And once again, there is time-twisting with "Continuum." SG-1 and General Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) are watching the execution and extraction of Ba'al... but unfortunately, it's not the real Ba'al. The real Ba'al has time-traveled and altered the timeline, causing Teal'c (Christopher Judge), Vala (Claudia Black) and the Tok'ra to vanish, and resulting in Jack's death.

Unfortunately, this alternate timeline becomes more perilous after a year -Earth is being threatened by the supreme System Lord Ba'al, his queen Qetesh (in Vala's body) and his First Prime Teal'c. But when Qetesh and Ba'al clash over his past on Earth, the altered SG-1 must band together to find and destroy Ba'al's time machine, and somehow restore the timeline to what it once was.

"Stargate: The Ark of Truth" and "Stargate: Continuum" are basically intended to wrap up loose ends, and as such they're not quite as satisfying as the television show was. "Ark of Truth" sometimes feels rather rushed and has a somewhat out-of-the-blue solition, and "Continuum" may need multiple viewings to keep up with the time-bouncing plotline.

But as finales they're solid pieces of work -lots of action, space battles, mysterious artifacts, and a way bigger budget that a TV episode would ever have allowed. And they both have everything that you'd expect from "Stargate SG-1" -pop culture homages ("Star Wars"!), some recurring characters (Apophis!), and alien nasties with overwhelming power. There's even some subtle moral dilemmas about belief and fighting the Ori followers.

It also has excellent scripting: plot threads drawn from the TV series, witty dialogue ("That is, after all, why we've come. Why we had to endure all of that singing. Get rid of the last bad guy and then there's cake"), and some nice quiet moments, such as Teal'c talking with Tomin about their bloodstained pasts. And they manage to throw some interesting twists at the audience, such as a shocking revelation about the Ori.

And seeing the actors as their SG-1 characters is like putting on a comfortable old shoe. Amanda Tapping and Michael Shanks are suitably brilliant and courageous, and Ben Browder gets to shine especially in "Continuum" as a strong, slightly quirky soldier. Christopher Judge gets to shine in "Ark of Truth" as a powerful, wise warrior, and Black gets to be both funny and emotional.

And of course, Richard Dean Anderson utterly steals the show whenever he appears ("Hey, have you ever tried to find a bathroom in a pyramid?") and Tim Guinee has a good smallish role as Tomin.

It's a little sad to see the main storylines of the Stargate universe end, but "Stargate: The Ark of Truth" and "Stargate: Continuum" are well worth seeing. Nice finales.

Read Best Reviews of Stargate: The Ark of Truth/Stargate: Continuum (2009) Here

This set comes as two separate blu-ray disc, one for each movie. They do not have any more extras than appear on the individual DVD sets. The transfer quality was excellent for "The Ark of Truth," a bit less so for "Continuum." However, even "Continuum" looked decent on my HDTV. Sound quality was good for both movies.

Let me say a word about the movies themselves. I loved "The Ark of Truth." I found it's storyline and ending deeply satisfying. It had an interesting plot, was visually stunning in blu-ray, gave a number of the actors nice scenes, and tied up all the loose ends and unanswered questions in a really nice way. Is there anything I disliked in the film? A few things. I would have shortened the long helicopter intro and cut out at least half of Judge's character walking, walking, and doing more walking. However, there's more a lot more right with the movie than wrong with it. Michael Shanks, in particular, has a remarkable scene when his character Daniel Jackson finally reaches his breaking point. His despair is appropriate given the circumstances he is in -jailed in another universe, abandoned by his ship, with one of the team thought dead, and tortured for no other reason than to make him suffer. His loss of hope, and how he finds the strength to move forward again, is all the more powerful because throughout the series, Daniel has always been tenacious and insanely optimistic. His crisis of faith is beautifully filmed and deeply moving. Shanks really brings it home, and it has become my favorite scene in the movie. All in all, I'd give "The Ark of Truth" more than 5 stars if I could.

"Continuum" is another matter. It is really hard to pull off a good time travel story. This does a fair job, has some nice moments, but on my first viewing, I felt it didn't quite pull it off, despite a wonderful scene where the survivors of SG1 meet the alternate universe Jack O'Neil. I also liked Michael Shank's scenes of finding a book written by his alternate self, and his attempt to encourage that other him by a long-distance phone call (I wished we'd seen the alternate him's reactions there). Shanks had some good lines, including "Are there any grown ups I can speak to?" to a Russian soldier. The actor, William Devine, who plays the US president is also excellent. My rating? I would say 3 and a half stars if seen by itself, and 4 stars if viewed after listening to the commentary track.

I need to say a word about the extras. They were disappointing to say the least. No deleted scenes. No bloopers. No alternate endings (although these were mentioned in the commentary tracks). "The Ark of Trust" had the worst commentary track I've ever heard. Really, really boring. They should NEVER have had the director of photography and director do the commentary. Perhaps they thought adding Christopher Judge would help. It didn't. All they did was talk about the camera lenses they used, the cost of the shots, etc. while Judge congratulated them on what a great job they had done. Hardly a word about the story, actors, or things that happened on the set. I kept thinking that sooner or later they HAD to talk about something more interesting...but there were only about 5-10 minutes worth of it that wound up worthwhile. The alternate track for "Continuum" proved to be the opposite, despite not involving any actors. In this case, the Director and author of the script provided a lively, fun, and insightful commentary, full of interesting anecdotes. It actually made the movie more interesting, so that when I watched it again, I realized "Continuum" was better than I'd felt the first time. The only other extra I enjoyed was the mini-summary/series review that you could run before "The Ark of Truth," which caught you up to date on what had happened up to that point. It was very well done and came out great on blu-ray.

I do not regret buying this set, although I'm glad I paid Amazon's discounted rate for it. Of the two, I really enjoyed the first movie more than the second, and may never watch any of the "extras" again. I really can't help thinking they could have at least given us a deleted scene or two and the alternate ending they nearly did for "The Ark of Truth." I don't see that it would have been that hard. Now days, every movie knows not to toss that footage out. I also would have liked a commentary by Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, and some of the other actors. As it is, the extras come across as really poor for something on blu-ray. Because of that, I'm giving it 4 stars.

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As a major Stargate fan and owner of almost all episodes of the series, I was slightly disappointed with both of these titles. As regular episodes, I believe they were great but to set them out as separate movies really created expectations that they did not live up to. I was really looking forward to seeing Richard Dean Anderson in the Continuum but he may have been on screen for a total of 15 minutes. Continuum focused on Sam, Daniel and Cam mainly leaving the other characters as occasional images in the story. As a time travel story it was good but as with most stories using that tool it leaves you questioning how it could have happened that way. Ark of Truth overall was a better story and helped complete the series as it should have been done. Overall, both movies had great action, team work and continued the story lines where they ended from the TV series. I would recommend it for fans of the series but those of you who have never seen the series will probably be lost and not enjoy it nearly as much.

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

I just finished watching `The Clone Wars' & to be honest it was pretty good. No it's not as good as the movies & it's not as intense as the Samurai Jack-esk `Clone Wars' shorts from 2003 but then again it's not supposed to be like ANY of those. It's like comparing apples to oranges.

ALSO keep in mind that Lucas is trying to broaden his appeal to kids with this movie's style & story telling as well as with the series on CTN so it's going to be, over all, a bit more simple in its execution but no less entertaining. Don't watch this expecting an Oscar performance. It is a CGI cartoon after all, how serious/critical are you supposed to take it? It has more of an Episode 2 feel to it, for me at least, but the action sequences are just as long, intense & still 'edgy' for a CGI cartoon. They flowed well & were non-stop action. Clone troopers got it pretty bad in this movie & the lightsaber duels left me wanting for more(longer duels, that is) but were pretty good for a CGI cartoon. It held my interest the whole time though the plot of helping the huts was a bit odd. The dialogue could have used a little help but what star wars movie couldn't? I wouldn't recommend buying this movie until you see it first but if you keep in mind what this movie is supposed to be/do & you don't take it as seriously as some, then you should have fun & you'll be just fine. Anakin's apprentice is there for the young girls as well as to be the little miss know-it-all pain in the butt for Anakin the way he was to Ben (it's called irony) so she may be a bit annoying for some out there (she's better in the TV series)...and who in this world isn't about money? There is a lot of story that can be told between episodes and he wants to tell it (whether is executed well or not). We all would do it too & you all know it.

`TCW' story line isn't a major one in the Star Wars universe. It feels more like a made for TV movie but it ultimately starts up the TV series so there is a longer broader story to set up here as well.

Simple, aims at a broader audience & still a fun watch, if only once, in my opinion.

I say rent it first, watch it for what it is & go from there.

The Star Wars motion picture saga told the story of one Anakin Skywalker. The Clone Wars is here to tell the stories of other Jedi and of the clones. To a lesser extent, The Clone Wars fills in the gaps and answers some of the many questions the motion pictures failed to explain. As someone who has been a fan of the saga since day one in May 1977, I always wanted more than Lucas was ever able to provide on the big screen.

The focus of The Clone Wars is the clones. This movie, and the 30 minute episodes shown every week on The Cartoon Network, go to great pains to show us the clones are individuals with their own personalities and quirks. They realize they are just Bantha fodder in the great Republic war machine, yet they fight and die without question. If you're hurt, just a bit, every time a clone dies... that was point of this exercise.

Not only do we learn of the clones, but also of the other Master Jedi. The Sith and the Separatists are explored in great detail. The Separatist droids provide the comic relief. You'll recognize Lucas's dated corny-ness in every moronic thing the droids say.

If you don't like it, no big deal. Go watch the original triology on Laser Disc and enjoy. Star Wars is George's story done George's way... not yours, mine or ours to tell. The Clone Wars isn't perfect. Some parts are down right annoying. I've changed a lot since May 1977... and so has Star Wars.

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I bought this for my 6 year old son who loves Star Wars and the Clone Wars cartoons. He is always asking me to let him watch the Clone Wars on TV but it is on past his bedtime. This helps satisfy his need to see the TV series. He loves it and I think its very imaginative.

Read Best Reviews of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) Here

The people who slammed this kids' film were, guess what? bitter adult Star Wars fans who have refused to recognize the saga has moved onto the next generation. This is not a continuation of the live-action films, it is a computer animated interpretation of Tartakovsky's Clone Wars animated series, hence the super stylized faces and character designs. It's a great way to get young children, like my nephew who has never seen a Star Wars movie interested in the idea. Face it people, this is a kids' show and always will be. If you want the darker, more realistic side of the saga, wait for the live-action TV series to come. Relax, and enjoy the lighter side of Star Wars once in a while.

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The characters work, the story is watchable -already it beats 'The Phantom Menance' and 'Attack of the Clones'. Add some genuinely exciting action, a sexy new villianess and some tongue-in-cheek humour and you have a STAR WARS film.

The story follows the typical father/son Lucas path (what is with George and his daddy issues?), this time with Jabba the Hutt losing his slimy newborn. Anakin Skywalker and his new Jedi apprentice are sent to rescue the Huttlet as Obi-Wan Kenobi chats with Jabba.

Some of the dialogue is overdone or badly planned (for example, Obi-Wan assures his droid that "...I'm sure Jabba will be in a good mood" despite the fact that Jabba has recently lost his son!) and some characters remain wooden (Mace Windu badly needs a personality) but there is enough eye-candy and energy to keep viewers interested. Count Dooku finally establishes himself as a half-decent antagonist, but it is his slinky sidekick who steals the show.

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Slither (2006)

James Gunn first got his chance to work in the horror-comedy genre with his time in Troma Films. His first contribution to the genre being a send up of Shakespeare's Romero and Juliet aptly titled as Tromeo and Juliet. He next moved on to penning scripts for the major studios with his first two being the critically-panned, but profitable two Scooby-Doo live-action films. Gunn next moved on to writing a script reimagining George A. Romero's classic Dawn of the Dead. Despite howls of protest from the original film's legion of fans, the film went on to be a modest success and helped bring about the renaissance of the current zombie mania in all facet of entertainment. Gunn follows up the success of his Dawn remake by not just writing the script but finally getting behind the camera and directing it himself. I'm glad to say that James Gunn's first directorial debut with Slither has turned out to be one fun, gross-out, disgustingly hilarious horror-comedy that brings to mind the splatter-comedy films of the 1980's.

I say that Slither has alot in common with the horror-comedy during the 80's just for the fact that we've not seen a film of this kind since. Slither brings to mind such 80's B-movie shlock classics like Critters, Return of the Living Dead, and Night of the Creeps. But Gunn also pays some an homage to cult classics like John Carpenter's The Thing. One of the character's in the film and a store are even named after The Thing's badass antihero, R.J. MacReady. Then there's the tip of the hat to Romero's zombies, though this time around I would say that Gunn had more in mind the quickthinking and funny undead from John Russo's Return of the Living Dead. There's even a shout out to Invasion of the Body Snatchers as the alien slug-controlled populace are actually part of a much larger organism who thinks for all.

The story Gunn came up with for Slither was pretty straightforward and simple. Intelligent alien organism bent on world domination hitches a ride on a meteor which travel the depths of space until it falls on an unsuspecting planet. Unfortunately, the planet in question for the film happens to be Earth. Right from the get go the comedic aspect of the film begins even as the alien-laden meteor crash lands its way to one Wheelsy, N.C. A podunk town where the most interesting to happen each year is the annual Deer Cheer which signals the start of Deer Hunting season. We get to see the mundane day-to-day life of the townspeople from the pretty high school teacher Starla Grant (adorably played and with a strong sense of marital fidelity by Elizabeth Banks from 40-Year Old Virgin), the town's obnoxious and foulmouthed Mayor MacReady (Gregg Henry's performance was hilarious and he gets pretty much all the best one-liners), to its Chief of Police Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion in Han Solo mode).

The alien soon finds a host in the town's richest person who also happens to be Starla's much older husband, Grant Grant. Michael Rooker (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer) plays Grant and his performance was both funny and sad. He pretty much starts morphing into a creature somewhere between Jabba the Hutt and a Lovecraftian squid-person. But through it all, Grant's love for his wife manifests itself by way of the alien's collective intelligence. When the townspeople all start getting infected by the large, slug-like offsprings of the main alien, it's hilarious to find that they all share Grant's love for Starla. It would seem that the alien collective learned abit or two from Grant about marital love and also a love of Air Supply's syrupy ballad, "Every Woman in the World." These zombies chant the word "Starla" instead of "brains." The rest of the film was pretty much Starla, Bill Pardy and a small band of survivors trying to stop the Grant-alien, the slugs and the zombified townspeople from spreading out of Wheelsy and out onto the rest of the planet.

The film balances well between horror and comedy. The horror aspect of Slither comes from the many gory scenes. Trust me when I say that this film has more than its share of blood, gore and splatter. We're shown dead and gutted pets and farm animals. Not to mention the requisite flesheating performed by the zombies. the great thing about the scenes of horror in Slither was the absence of CGI except for a scene or two and even then it was difficult to pinpoint which was CGI and which was animatronics and make-up effects. Slither's monster effect owes alot to the work of Rob Bottin and his crew who did the disgustingly creative effects on Carpenter's The Thing. I'm glad to see that Gunn decided to forgo CGI for these scenes and went for more realism. Even if such realism were nauseatingly disgusting and gross. Just what a horror movie was suppose to be. The comedy part came not from the aliens and the scenes of horror, but from the characters reactions to the unfolding events around them.

Just like Shaun of the Dead, Slither's characters stumble, bumble and trip their way through the crisis. Even Fillion's character of Bill the Chief goes against the stereotypical hero from these type of film. He's a smartass about his job and how he sees the people he's suppose to protect, but when the time came to do his job as protector he tries to do the best he can even though the best he can doesn't measure up to what we're suppose to get from our heroes. The dialogue is fast and crisp which made for alot of hilarious one-liners and most of the m coming from the mouth of Slither's Mr. Pibb obssessed Mayor MacReady and his penchant for overreacting to everything and also for calling everyone c**ksucker. Gregg Henry's character by far got the most laughs whenever he said something on-screen.

Slither doesn't try to be anything but what it set out to be: a funny horror film with a large helping of slapstick, splatter and slime. In thet respect, James Gunn succeeded with his writing and directing of Slither. The movie doesn't bring any originality to the horror-comedy genre. To be honest, there's not much originality left to bring to the genre, but Slither takes all the usual conventions from those 80's horror-comedies and gives it a new millenium vibe. The acting by the cast was well-done and showed that they must've have fun doing the film. The special effects were done old-school style with nary a CGI-effect to be seen except for a few brief scenes. In the end, Slither was one fun rollercoaster of a movie that scared the audience into jumping and recoiling in their seats and at the same time making them scream, shout and laugh when doing so. I've never had as much fun these last couple years watching a movie like I did with Slither.

Over the last year or so, the true horror films (meaning, the non-PG-13 teen fests) took themselves very seriously. We had enough hacked off limbs (Saw II), weird decapitations and spewing blood (High Tension), torture (Hostel and Wolf Creek) and just plain good scares and gore (The Descent, The Hills Have Eyes) to last a lifetime. Most of these films had some connections to the 70s gore flicks in which the premise is made to instill terror and to disturb those watching it. While you can't call some of the films "fun" exactly, they are all excellent in instilling terror and disturbing their viewers.

Into this fray comes a little film by James Gunn, the writer of the Dawn of the Dead remake/re-imagining, this time as not only writer but also director. James Gunn began his career making Troma films like Tromeo and Juliet. If you don't know what these films are, well I'm not about to explain them to you just go rent one. Slither feels like a Troma picture with a bigger budget, a better script and with better actors. What you can expect here is tons of gore but done in a fun, gross, over-the top way that makes you laugh as well as cringe. Its about as close as you can get to the previously mentioned films while at the same time being so far removed.

Slither is about a very sleepy town in which the town's police use the speeding radar to track how fast the local birds fly and in which a meteor crashing into the forest behind them goes by totally unnoticed. It's also a movie in which a man can be named Grant Grant, be an egotistical arse and become a host for a slug-like parasite. It's also a movie in which seeing a squid-man, slugs and a bloated woman elicits nothing more than a "this is some f---ked up sh-t." It's campy, but it's supposed to be.

It also is a movie that ends up being a total homage to movies from the 80s. Everything from Evil Dead to Aliens to The Thing to even Predator (listen carefully to the music in one scene) to, of course, The Blob pops up. By far, the most inspired moments are zombies who are all crying "STARLA!" in reference to A Streetcar Named Desire and the famous line "STELLA!"

This is a good time to be a horror fan. Slither is a fun film that will leave most horror fans giggling. It reminds me of the 80s and the time when horror films were gross, maybe scary, but mostly fun. Don't get me wrong, I will be the first one in line to see the other intense and disturbing films that bring back memories of the 70s goresploitation films. But sometimes its nice to grab a bag of popcorn and watch alien slugs try and take over the world.

Buy Slither (2006) Now

How many times have you seen a review title like that? How many times have you then read said review only to find out the reviewer likes crappy movies? It happens all too often, though there really is no accounting for taste especially when it comes to horror movies. Well, as a minor validation of my title, I don't get too excited about movies very often (for what that's worth) and I have pretty broad tastes in movie. I can accept "stupid but entertaining", "great story bad acting", "simple plot with lots of good action" and of course "great movies". I can't enjoy "The plot to nowhere (see "The Ring"), "pretentious and pointless (see "suspect Zero") and I really draw the line at "boring no matter how intelligent".

When I first saw trailers for this film, I thought "Cool, a movie about killer slugs!" and then quickly gave up all hope of actually going to the theater and seeing it (my wife hates horror movies and I don't enjoy going alone). As a busy father of 2 young kids, I don't get to see these types of films. It won't fit in the schedule. So, I forgot about "Slither" until I recently went on one of my annual Halloween DVD buying binges. The good reviews here and the low price convinced me it was a good choice. (Sorry this is taking so long) The point is; I really had "Low budget, entertaining horror film" expectations.

Boy; was I wrong. This film is entertaining on so many levels. Here's a list of superlatives that easily describe this film:

-funny, scary, gross, intelligent, creative, genuine, well-acted, high-quality, shocking, surprising, fast-paced, entertaining, crazy, demented... well I could just keep going.

Don't get me wrong, this is not "Citizen Kane" or even "Alien". What this is is a great horror-homage film that sets its own standards for horror-comedy. It's not so funny that it's ok if you don't like horror. You really need to like horror to appreciate this film. It's not so scary that it's ok if you don't like comedies. This film takes itself seriously enough to give it credibility, but also pokes fun at itself constantly. It would also help if you can appreciate sci-fi horror. It also would not hurt if you were a fan of Nathan Fillion (Firefly). He is absolutely perfect as the reluctant, de facto hero. If you like "Dead Alive" or "From Beyond" then this is nirvana!

What this film lacks are characters that do unbelievably stupid things (like walk alone, BACKWARDS, into a dark room), Unnatural human behavior (people are truly stunned and flabbergasted by what is occurring) and convenient caveats to help the characters weasel out of trouble (nothing ever goes according to plan). Lacking all of these standard horror movie "flaws" makes "slither" a pure joy for fans of this genre.

A fun game for horror/film fans is trying to pick out how many films "slither" references throughout. Here's a list of some of the references I caught after 1 viewing;

"Streetcar named Desire", "From Beyond", "Night of the Living Dead", "Return of the Living Dead", "Alien", "The Thing", and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". See if you can pick these and other references out. There are definitely more.

A strange review, I know, but this film excited me so much I just had to share that with people. This DVD is chocked full of good extras, so a great value. Just so you know; the slugs are minor player in the overall appeal of this film.

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If you like all those campy horror films that came out in the 80's, you will have a blast with Slither. This movie does a good job combining gross out effects and a wicked sense of humor. I am glad they used very little CGI, because practical effects are much more disgusting (and believable) in films like this. I will be adding this one to my DVD collection, and I have a nice spot for it beside Re-Animator. Who would have thought this would be the highest rated movie of the year so far on rottentomatoes.com?

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Slither (James Gunn, 2006)

I have to admit, James Gunn has really impressed me in recent years. Despite beginning his career as a stable boy for the moronic (at best) Troma, since branching out on his own, he's dome some fine, fine work-first writing the screenplay for Zack Snyder's surprising Dawn of the Dead remake, then coming up with the highly underrated mockumentary LolliLove. Now, he turns his attention back to comedy/horror with Slither, but worry not-all traces of Troma seem to have left his system.

Slither is everything you liked about brainless eighties horror-comedies, and nothing you didn't. The movie has gotten (surprisingly) some of the best reviews of the year, and has certainly garnered the closest thing to unanimous praise from critics of any movie that's popped up yet in 2006; it's all warranted. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll remember why on Earth you found yourself loving movies like C. H. U. D. 2: Bud the Chud and Ghoulies.

Grant Grant (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer's wonderful Michael Rooker-great to see him back on camera) and his wife Starla (Seabiscuit's Elizabeth Grant) are not your typical husband and wife. Well, maybe they are; Starla married Grant as a way to get herself some respectability. He paid for her education, etc. And now their marriage is on the rocks. After a fight, Grant storms off to the local bar, where he runs into Brenda (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' stunning Brenda James), and the two of them stumble off into the woods to do things that married folk simply shouldn't do. They get sidetracked, however, by a slime trail leading away from a meteor. They find the thing that left the slime trail. It attacks Grant. If you've seen a single eighties alien-invasion horror flick, you probably know what's coming next.

Much of the criticism surrounding the film-what little there has been-has centered around the word "derivative." And, sure, there are elements of any number of eighties horror films here, most notably the brilliant cult flick Night of the Creeps. But to call it derivative is simply silly; one of the best things about Slither is that Gunn knew exactly what he was doing, both while writing the script and behind the camera. It's useless ripping off a film that nine-tenths of your projected audience has already seen. He's paying homage, folks. (And if the Night of the Creeps reference was the only one you caught, do you really know enough about eighties horror to be making such pronouncements?)

A lot of the American horror films that have come out over the last few years-and I include even the best of the lot in this estimation-have either tried too hard to be high art, or have been brainless remakes (or, worse, both). Slither gets us away from all that. It wants nothing more than to be a stupid, silly horror-comedy. With a good stable of actors, a terrific script, and competent direction, it delivers in spades. Slither is, quite simply, one of the best American horror films of the past two decades. See it. **** ?